The Path of Life

"Everything is quiet. Why is everything quiet?" John was thinking as he opened his eyes, he was nearly blinded by the splendor of the golden light radiating off the person standing in front of him. "Could you tone down the light a bit please?"

The light coming from the person quickly died down to where there was hardly any light coming off of her, the person was indeed a female. She had an angelic face, with beautiful blonde hair, her eyes were gold in color. Her skin had a golden hue to it which made her look slightly fuzzy.

"Thank you"

"Yes, you are welcome," a voice inside his head stated. "Also, there is no need to speak, all you have to do is think to communicate here."

"I assume, I am dead."

"Your assumption is correct."

"Was I the only one that died or was injured?"

"Yes."

"Good. So, this must be the afterlife correct?"

"Wrong, this is where your soul's fate will be decided by a tribunal of what you would consider gods."

"What I would consider gods? So, they aren't gods?"

"We are beings that have transcended life and death and now pass judgment on those below in the lesser planes and their worlds."

"Huh, how many are there, and what are my options?"

"There are around fifty thousand different beings. Your tribunal will be made up of 101 of us. You only have one option, reincarnation on a different world in a different plane."

"If there is only one option, how can you decide my fate?"

"We will tell you at the tribunal. But first, there must be a review of your life, as you and I travel down this path, which you will notice is a timeline. We will be able to see your life as if it were what you would call a slide show. This slideshow will start on the day you were born. You may pause at any moment, but you may never go backward. Once we get to your present you will enter the Pantheon. Once in the pantheon that is when your fate will be decided. So, shall we…"

John cut her off and started to run down the path towards the Pantheon. As he was running, he was seeing his life displayed to his left and right. When he got to the image of him meeting his wife John immediately stopped and turned to watch that moment he would never forget. Andrea was wearing a beautiful yellow sundress with a flower in her hair. She was beautiful in the evening sun, her blonde hair soaking up all the reds, oranges, and yellows of the setting sun. Her skin was tanned from the island's days and her blue eyes sparkled like the ocean. They met on a street in Oahu Hawaii. He was there for work; she was there for a spontaneous vacation. He was about to try his hand at surfing when he almost hit her with the board. Even though she was scolding him for being careless, her voice was the most gorgeous sound he had ever heard. After a thorough apology, he asked her out for a date. Come to think about it he never did go surfing.

John stayed at that spot on the path for what must have been an entire day, tears were coming down his cheeks as he cherished this moment. Noticing the god just standing behind him he began to rise to his feet. When he finally got back up to his feet, he started down the path again to see his wedding day. But he didn't run, he walked ever so slowly, taking in every moment he got to see his wife again, even if it was just an image. Every time an image of his wife came up, he would pause for a brief second then continue. Once he got to his wedding day, he again sat down and relived that moment in his heart. He recited his vows, and then hers over and over again. She was wearing the standard white dress, John didn't much care for the design, but it was his Fiancé's big day, so there would be hell to pay if he spoke a word about his thoughts. But still, seeing her in the dress she picked out was enough to bring him or any man to their knees. As the time passed, he finally got up and started to walk down the path on the most important day of his life. Years of images slowly moved past him, all the good days, all the bad days, the lovemaking, the fights, and arguments, that seem so petty now. But even those arguments allowed him to see his beloved wife again.

The image he was waiting for, the most important day of his life, finally appeared to him. The day his children were born. His son and daughter were fraternal twins born at 1438 on 11 December 2050. His son Miles 7lbs 5oz born first. His daughter Saxon 6lbs 13oz born 3 minutes after. This was the happiest day of his life, and nothing could replace that day.

He again cried knowing what was to come. He started to walk even slower down the path staying longer at each image of his kids and wife. Birthdays and anniversaries, at least the ones he was able to make it to. He wasn't only walking slower because of his need to see his family again but because he feared what was to come. He knew that these images of his happy life and family wouldn't last long. Time passed slowly and so did the images, not slow enough though.

"You can hear all of my thoughts cant you?" John asked the god beside him.

"Yes, even your most private thoughts, I can hear. We are like this so nothing can be hidden from us. Truth reigns supreme here, and honesty is the best policy."

"I am sorry I didn't ask this before, by what name do I call you?"

"You can call me Freyja."

"As in that Freyja? The Norse Goddess?" John asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes," Freyja said in a soft voice.

"Huh, what are the chances that I would get a goddess from my world to escort me to my fate?" he mused to himself.

"Very small," Freyja answered. "Shall we continue?"

They had come to a stop while they had their conversation, so John started to slowly walk forward again with a very heavy heart. The day everything changed was coming up and he wasn't in any rush to see it again.

The day everything changed, 21 February 2054, he was sent out to the desert to test his antimatter bomb. After setting up the bomb for detonation at the old trinity test site, everyone was ushered into an underground bunker that was linked up to live video feed from the overhead drones and satellites. The bunker was built to withstand multiple direct hits from nuclear weapons and was over 1000 feet deep. The time of detonation was set for 1200 sharp. That time came and went, his bomb, his most awesome and terrifying invention detonated as planned. When the bomb went off it completely erased the test site and a 10-mile radius within seconds. What wasn't planned was the amount of destruction that it caused. It just kept going 20-miles, 30 miles, 40 miles before it stopped. The crater it left was 40 miles wide and 500 feet deep. No one could escape its destruction; the nearby town of San Antonio was wiped off the map. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed by the bomb. But the horror wasn't over yet, the bomb's destruction hit an ammunition holding bunker that was housing ammunition and other AM bombs. the chain reaction was uncontrollable. The AM bombs detonated and started the destruction all over again. Only this time the Airforce base that John and his family were stationed at was only 20 miles away.