"The popular notion which goes like this-God rewards good people and punishes bad people-is turned on its head when we read the Bible." - Alistair Begg
For a while, everything turned black. It was like a long sleep of silence. But then... I opened my eyes and realised that I was flying. I was soaring through the skies, with clouds beside me and the wind brushing my face. My entire body was glowing with golden light. "Is this heaven?" I thought to myself. Everything is so peaceful here—no more screaming, no more pain. I was at peace. Everything felt just right.
"Perfect, isn't it?" a voice echoed.
I immediately looked around and found no one. "This is how the world should be, no?"
I continued to look around to try to find the source of the voice, but found nothing. "Quiet, peaceful, everything in order." A boy suddenly appeared and surprised me. He was about the same age as me, but was wearing a hat and foreign clothes similar to those of the mysterious man. "Do not be afraid, child. For I am not here to harm you," he said as he offered his hand. He looked like a child, but he behaved like a grown-up. I shook his hand and asked, "Who are you, mister? Are you Dewa?"
The boy smiled, "Fortunately for you, I am not."
"Then who are you?"
"I am many things to you, but you simply need to know me as the good guy."
"The good guy?"
"Yes, while others have their egos and prides that more often than not, conflict with the bigger picture, I always have my attention on the biggest picture there is. I am basically the most unselfish being in all of creation!"
"Really?"
"Yes, my boy. However, lately, I have been having problems doing my job, you know, saving the world and so on. And I need your help!"
"Help? What can I do? I am dead, am I not?"
"No, no, my sweet child. You are not dead, for I have saved you."
"You saved me?"
"Yes, I did! Now, as I was sayi..."
"Can you save my parents, too?" I interrupted him. I was full of hope, for I had believed he was a god. I couldn't see the boy's face as his back was facing me, but he didn't immediately answer me. He stood in silence for a few seconds. He then turned around to look at me with a smile and said, "Nope, they are gone."
Hearing that, my body froze, my mind went dark, and my stomach was ill. It felt like I was going to puke and vomit as my wish was ripped out from my soul once again. I fell to my knees, crying once more. I begged him, "Please, I know not who you are, but if it is true that you saved me, why can't you save my parents?"
"Oh, that is simple, boy. They are simply not significant enough."
My despair and sorrow turned to anger and hatred as I threw a punch at the boy for saying such a thing. He blocked my punch and proceeded to flick me away with a finger. I landed on my back, as my whole body was hurting from that one attack.
"Huh, humans.... always so emotional. You reminded me of him when he was still learning. I wonder if it will take me another thousand years to get you to understand. You are special because I have chosen you to be my tool. Your parents lost their purpose when they brought you into this world. How hard could it be to understand that?"
I got up and ran at him again, "Bring me back my parents!"
"Oh well... you bored me... I guess I'll just let him handle you after all."
Before I could reach him, the ground disappeared, and I fell into the abyss. For a moment, it was dark once more, but then I saw dots of light. It started with four to five dots, but then there were more, hundreds, maybe thousands. Those dots then turned to lines as I moved toward them with incredible speed. Those dots turned out to be stars. I was moving through the night skies. I saw multiple suns moving past me. My perception of the world shifted so drastically that I couldn't fully process what was happening. But then... I saw them.
Terrifying, gigantic creatures were chasing me from behind. Their enormous hands were trying to grab onto me. But before any one of them could catch me, I could see that I was approaching some kind of green ball. The ball grew larger and larger, and I realised it was a planet after all. I crashed into the surface of it, creating a small crater. My body hurt so bad, and yet I was alive. I stood up and saw that I was surrounded by an enormous amount of vegetation, more than I have ever seen in my life. Dark waters began to fill the crater.
I was in awe of such a different environment, but it quickly ended as I felt the ground shaking as if the world was ending. I began to run away, but a gigantic foot suddenly appeared from the sky and fell in front of me. Its shockwave sent me flying. I quickly tried to recover and saw that it was the foot of an elephant. Fear took hold of me once more, as I found myself incapable of moving my body. Everything was just happening too fast for me to understand, and I just began to weep. The skies roar, and the ground continues to shake for hours. I cowered in fear for hours, praying for the nightmare to just end. But then, it was all quiet.
My body was trembling in fear, but I gathered all the courage I had left to see what happened, only to see a giant snake standing above me. "What a bright soul," a voice echoed. The snake was fast; I didn't even realise it had bitten me. My body lost all of its strength and fell to the ground. "But without your physical body, I can not consume you properly," the same voice echoed once more. "Let's find out where your real body is, shall we?"
After that, I had lost consciousness and couldn't remember what happened. When I woke up once more, I was in the desert, lying beside a small fire, staring at the night sky. "Was it a dream after all?" I thought to myself. But then, I realised i was in the middle of nowhere and that two men were talking to one another not far from me. I thought they were ordinary humans until one of them stood up and began to beam out to the sky. It was then i realised, I had to run away, for the nighmare continues.