As in ‘Did I just get shipped to Hell?’ hurt. Reason you might want to ask for this cup to pass from your lips is…Well, the best that’s going to happen is minor miracle. But the Boss wants you to do some stuff, first. You’re already in, that’s not the problem. To be honest, and that’s sort of what we’re supposed to be, you probably should ask for a straight pass to the next point. So, up to you, there might be a minor miracle. “And you’re the right candidate to do it. “The Boss thinks you’ve got some stuff to do back on earth,” the man said. “I’d be an atheist with no morals or conscience whatsoever. “Honor thy father and thy mother?” I asked. “While you’re a borderline case, not for that reason.”
“I guess I’m a borderline case?” I asked. I regret to inform you that the rest of your platoon is, in fact, already through… in-process and settling in nicely.” He seemed from time to time to be listening to someone as if he was getting a radio call with the right terms. But, honestly, fishing like this for the rest of eternity might just turn into hell ’cause I was already seriously bored. There was a distinct lack of hellfire and brimstone which was good. Last I remember I was hitting the rack in the barracks.” I looked around. “You weren’t in Kansas when you died,” the man said then winced. “I’m starting to get the feeling I’m not in Kansas anymore.” The man tossed it a ball of the bait and it kicked its tail and swam away. When it got to the dock, it carefully spit out the blunt hook. He carefully reeled in and the koi simply followed the line in, no fighting. More like the fish politely tugged on the line to get his attention. He had what must have been one of the gentlest bites in history. “The Boss says they’re just temporary until humans figure out quantum tunneling. “Those things,” the man said with a slightly aggrieved sigh. “Is that… earth down there?” I asked as something whipped past. Waaaay down there were what looked like clouds. I really couldn’t tell how big they were because it was so clear I couldn’t get a feeling for distance. I could see a school of fish, they looked like koi, below us. I looked down into the water and it was as clear as air. “You usually dream about girls on a beach with low morals,” the man said. He took the rod from me and nodded thanks. But I…dislike and don’t understand these modern things. “I don’t want to use the term ‘hate’ for something like this,” the guy said. He hadn’t even taken the cover off the reel. I put some bait on the hook, took another bite, and tossed out the line. I could literally live on that stuff the rest of my life. Yeah, smelled like honey and…I don’t know what. It sort of looked like bread but the smell coming from it was heavenly. The bait was as odd as the rest of the place. The ball cap was a New Orleans Saints cap.
He looked sort of like the various ragheads I’d come to known and loathe (Christian or Muslim they were all ragheads to the One-Eight and equally shitty.) But I didn’t really get a “loathe” vibe from him. He was maybe in his fifties, long brown hair and beard. I went over, sat down on the end of the dock and examined him more closely. The guy was wearing a T-shirt and ball cap. Next to him, to his right, was a bucket presumably filled with bait. There was a guy sitting at the end of the dock trying to get his reel to work. It was, easily, the most beautiful place I’d ever seen. There were hills on the far side and they were such a perfect green it was literally unearthly. The water was a perfect blue as was the sky. In this case, I was standing on a dock on a lake. Generally my dreams involved a blonde on a beach who was very open minded.
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