In Limbo
...then the three old men's faces reappeared. They were smiling now; each of them placed a hand on Matt's head and all at once began to speak. Matt could not make out many of the words; most appearred to be in an Asian tongue. But occasionally he made out one in English.
"What's to judge?" one of the men said.
"Lord have mercy upon him," the man to Matt's left pleaded.
His smile had now gone and his face become dark.
"He's a good man," the third figure said.
Without warning they all took their hands off Matt's head and said, "if not there, then youmust go where all dreams begin, you must have a chance," and then they vanished. Matt began to feel cold. In the old men's presence he had been at ease, but now they were gone fear washed over him.
Matt could see his sister in the bed across from him. She had three figures standing around her.
Each emanated a warmth, different from those that had surrounded Matt.
"Rise and be at peace," the figures said. As they did, the lights in the room began to flicker. The silhouettes around Jess opened their mouths and out spilled pure light. It came together above Jess and then went black. Jess disappeared with the shapes around her.
All Matt heard as he slowly fell asleep was the ticking of a clock, then everything went quiet.
