Chapter 6: Soul Castle

   In Soul Castle we aren't able to know what day, week, or year it is. It's just useless for us to know since we're dead. I'm actually having a good time here, but I still miss everybody on Earth.

   "Are you ready for me to show you around?" asked Aly.

   "Um, sure." I said nervously.

   Aly could hear how hesitant I was. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine, Leah. Do you want to see a list of the places where we're going?"

   I nodded. She handed the list, and it said,

                                                  'Rooms: Levels 5-20,
                                                             Directory: Level 2
                                                             Shopping: Level 3
                                                             Dream Room: Level 4
                                                             Therapy: Level 21
                                                             Rec. Hall: 22
                                                             W.Y.W: Level 22
                                                              "Movies:" Level 24
                                                              Elders: Level 25'

   "What's W.Y.W?" I asked.

   "It means Whatever You Want. When you're in the room you see whatever is in your mind, it's amazing!" Aly explained.

   "Also, why are there quotations around the movies?"

   "When you're in the room you can watch anyone on Earth. It kind of helps you move on, it helped me movee from level 20 to level 15. Do you know what I mean by levels?"

   "Not a clue." I said confused.

   "That's okay, you'll understand. When you die your emotions go out of control. I was extrememly upset, so they sent me to level 20, but then my roommates took me to the "Movies." I watched my ex-boyfriend on Earth, and some of my emotions cleared up. Oh, when you're on a higher level, you have more roommates. I wonder why you're already on level 15? You only have 10 more levels to go." Aly explained.

   "Oh, that is actually a really good idea. Why doesn't it say say anything about level one?"

   "No one knows exactly what there is on level one."

   "That's cool, I can't wait to see this place!" I lied.

   "Alright, first up on the list is the directory. That level is huge."

   Aly and I walked down thirteen flights of stairs. I am so surprised that I walked that much. It was one of those staircases that kept on twisting around. There was a beautiful rug that went all the way down the stairs. It looked as if it should be in a mideval castle.

   "Okay, we're here." Aly said.

   "You're right, this place is huge! It's really crowded too."

   "It's filled with all of the people who died, and then came here. You've been here right?" She asked.

   "Yes, but I didn't realize it was so big! What's next on the list?"

   "Level 3. Shopping." Aly said with a huge grin.

   Aly was finally speeking my language. Shopping was my favorite thing to do when I was alive. "Ya know, I think we're going to be great friends Aly Brown." I laughed.

   Luckily we only had to walk up one fligth of stairs. I think that there isn't a gym, because we walk so much up and down the stairs. I was getting a little tired, but I did not care because we were going shopping.

   When I walked through the door there was nothing in the entire room. "Uh, Aly, is this the right room? Why isn't there anything in here?"

   "Close your eyes, and imagine any store you want. Then, it will appear." Aly said.

   I did what she said. First, I closed my eyes. Then, I imagined Hollister (Hollister has been my favorite store since I was about twelve years old). After that, the store appeared.

   "Oh my goodness! It worked!" I was so excited.

   "Hollister. Nice choice, any questions before we go in?"

   "Do we need money?" I asked.

   "Good question. No we do not." Aly smiled.

   "Wow! I am totally flabbergasted! I'm going to love this place!"

   I walked into Hollister for the first time in a long time. As I walked in I could smell the perfume they spray around the store. I had a huge smile on my face the whole time I was in there.

   The clothes were two times better, the hot workers were twice as hot as the ones in the stores on Earth. It is official, I love it here.

   In the store I bought two pairs of skinny jeans, five pairs of denim shorts, three button up shirts, four pairs of sweat pants, six tank tops, and three bathing suits. I did pretty good in Hollister today. So did Aly. She bought: four pairs of skinny jeans, two pairs of denim shorts, five graphic tees, three tank tops, two pairs of sandals, and one bathing suit. I love this place.

   "Okay, my turn." Aly smiled.

   "We stepped out of Hollister, and it just dissappeared. Then I realized we had other places to go. "Don't we have more places to stop by?" I asked.

   "Dang it! We do, next stop the Dream Room."

   We walked up one flight of stairs till we got to the dream room. I don't think she knew that I had already been there. "Oh, Aly, I've been here before." I said.

   "When?"

   "On my first day here, I walked down the stairs untill I found a door, and this was the first room I found. I talked to the first person I saw, and they told me to go the directory." I explained.

   "Okay, skipping the Dream Room. Therapy it is," She looked at the list. "level twenty one. Ready for a nice long walk."

   I smiled and said, "Of course."

   Seventeen flights of stairs! That was a very long walk! Now I see why everyone there was so skinny! I had no clue that life after death would be the way it is.

   "Okay. Here we are. Therapy For The Old Soul. All the therapists are really nice, they really do help you." said Aly.

   We walked around the office, and it was huge. There must have been at least four hundred rooms for the therapists. "How many therapists are there?" I asked.

   "Around five hundred. Each therapist has at least three thousand patients a day."

   "How can they fit in three thousand people in one day?"

   "Nobody knows the time here, so there's no time limit in the whole day. By the way, would you like to meet your therapist?"

   I shook my head. "I haven't gotten my schedule yet. I'll just meet him or her, when it's time for me to come in for my first session." I said.

   "Okay, I think we're done here. Let's see what's next. " She looks at the list. "Rec. Hall, are you hungry?"

   "Starving actually. Why am I hungry when I'm dead?" I asked.

   "That's a really good question. However, nobody has an answer to that. No one knows really." Aly explained.

   I thought that was strange. We walked up a flight of stairs to the Rec. Hall. When we walked inside I was in awe with how the place looked. It was increadibly huge! Also, the food in there smelled amazing. I had a huge craving for my favorite food, pizza!

   "So, what are you going to have?" I asked.

   "My absolute favorite food, sushi." Aly smiled.

   "You actually like that stuff?"

   "Of course! What do you feel like eating?"

   "My favorite food, pizza." I said.

   "Well that's one food we both like." She laughed. "Let's go find the pizza stand."

   We walked not too far from the entry before we found pizza for me. The sushi stand was right next to the pizza. "So where are we going to sit?" I asked.

   "Right over there" Aly pointed. "I see two seats with our names on it."

   We walked across the room to a little table. I did not know anyone there, so I was hoping that Aly would introduce me to some people. She did not though. We just sat there, ate our food, and talked about our lives on Earth.

   As we walked out of the Rec. Hall I saw a sign of relief on Aly's face. "Did you know anybody in there?" I asked.

   "Nope. Not at all. I only moved to the fifteenth floor last week. Nobody has been very welcoming." She answered.

   "Oh, well that has definitely got to change. We should introduce ourselves tomorrow! Where are we going next?" I asked.

   "The W.Y.W." Aly said with a smile.

   We walked up yet another flight of stairs, and there were two big doors once we reaced the end of the staircase. Above the doors it said, 'Whatever You Want!' The doors opened, and we walked in.

   "Alright, are you ready for me to tell you what to do?" Aly asked.

   I nodded. "Okay. Close your eyes, and think of your favorite place to be. Then, wish thirteen times that you were there. After that, open your eyes and you'll be there." She explained.

   I did as she said. I closed my eyes. Next I thought of my most favorite place to be. The beach. My favorite beach, Laguna Beach, California. After that, I wished to be there thirteen times. When I opened up my eyes I was there.

   "Where are we?" Aly asked me.

   "My favorite place in the entire world, Laguna Beach." I said smiling.

   "Oh, did you grow up here?"

   "No, this is where I had my first kiss." I told her.

   "That's so sweet! Tell me about it!" Aly got excited.

   "His name was Jackson Ramirez. We were over there by the tide pools." I said.

   We walked over by the tide pools, so I could show her where Jackson kissed me. "How old were you?" Aly asked me.

   "I was thirteen he was fifteen. We had only known each other for about two weeks."

   "That's really cute! What did he look like?" She asked.

   "He was about 5'7, had short brown hair, the bluest eyes, and a really nice body." I said.

   "He sounds cute." She said smiling.

   "So where are we off to next?" I asked.

   "The movies."

   I could not wait to go to this next level. I wanted to check on someone who I had not seen in a very, very long time. As we walked in Aly asked me, "Who do you want to see?"

   "A man I have not seen in fourteen years. The man who bailed out on me and my mother. My father." I responded coldy.

   "Okay, then I need you to tell me his name and date of birth."

   "His name is Christian Night. He was born on July 10, 1975." I said.

   "Alright, just wait a few minutes and he'll come up on the screen." Aly told me.

   I was actually a little nervous to see my father. He bailed out on me and my mom when I was only two, but he was a teenage father. He could not handle the responsibility. I just wish he could have been there for me: to see me grow up, to teach me how to drive, to give me all of the best advice. He didn't do those things however. My mom and her boyfriends through out my life did. That is not how it is going to be anymore though.

   "Okay, here we go." Aly said.

   There he was, my father. Just the way I remember him too. He was the same brown hair as me. Also, the same eyes. There was something not rigth with him however. He looked quite upset. He was crying, there was a woman in his arms. She looks quite familiar. Then I realized who she was. That woman was my mother, she told him about my death.

   "I can't watch this anymore, Aly." I said.

   "Okay, we'll just go and see the elders now." Aly said.

   I did not want to see the elders, but I had no choice. What I wanted to was to be on Earth in my daddy's arms, but that is not going to happen.

   "Why are we going to the elders?" I asked.

   "Good question. Let's just go back to the room. It's been a long day." Aly said.

   She was right. Why is it that days are always so long, and lives are too short? I think the answer to that is that days try to make it seem as if your life is longer. So, you just look forward to another day in your short life.

   When we got to the room Aly went to bed. On my bed was my schedule for therapy. I had to go every other day until I moved down two levels.

   This was my fourth day at Soul Castle, and I still cannot get to sleep. Instead, I just tried to remember what happened the night I died.