………………………………………………………………………… Chapter Two: NEVER-ENDING. ‘Reality is nice, but I wouldn’t want to live there.’ -Unknown He’s lost in white cushiony clouds. Randy wakes up, shaking and panicking. It’s like he’s been sleeping on a white feathered mattress forever and he just woke up and now he has no fucking clue about where he is. He still has his five senses. He can feel the softness of the clouds, he can see the bright whiteness everywhere, and hear his panting lost in a complete silence. He gets up to his feet unsteadily and tries to walk like a newborn baby on the white fog and feathers. Randy breathes frantically. He combs his fingers through his longish blond hair with both hands. “Gale.” It’s all he can think. “Gale!” He yells. He walks in the empty space faster. He swallows hard and pants heavily. “Rand.” He hears Gale call him. He quickly looks behind him and sees Gale standing there, looking confused but happy to see him. Randy runs to him and hugs him as tight as ever. Gale wraps his arms around the blond too, perplexed and also breathing very fast. “Where the fuck are we?” Gale says and looks at the blankness surrounding them. He kisses Randy senseless and holds his lover tighter. But a pain breaks through to them, they grab each other’s skins, screaming in torture. It feels like their backs are breaking and being cut open. They curse and moan. Little white wings quickly grow out of their backsides. They become bigger and bigger, as the pain gets worse. It stretches out, ripping their skin apart. They finally extend to their fullest and the pain suddenly stops, leaving Gale and Randy panting and gasping. Their wings are about the size of their arms’ length and end at their mid-back. They’re pure white and feathery. They itch a bit but the feeling goes away quickly. They let go of their embrace and look at each other’s wings. “We’re dead. When did we die?” Randy asks terrified. He touches his wings. “Come here.” Gale wraps his arms around Randy and kisses his lips, closing his eyes. As he opens them slowly, he sees a huge white palace appear before them, like by enchantment. It’s clear white, twirling with soft colors like midnight blue, red, yellow, purple, sparkling white, pearl, gold, and pale blue. Shimmering twinkles drop like a waterfall from the left side, and little angel figures fly above the beautiful castle. Red rose bushes surround it and blue forget-me-nots follow a gray stone path that leads to the door. Gale gasps. “Randy…” He can barely speak. Randy turns and sees the castle. Gale takes Randy’s hand, intertwining their fingers together, and they walk towards it. They step along the stone-like path, everything is blurred and moving. They get to the door and open it with one hand. Randy gets in first, followed by Gale. It’s not an indoor palace now, but a different, blissful place, like a never-ending world. Angels are flying in the sky and others, without wings, are walking on terraces and stairs. There’s a large lake and lots of different colored trees. Lots of those trees grow green apples and only one of them has red apples. The red apple tree is far away in the center of an island. There is a man and a woman standing on it and a green snake moving around the branches. There are people of all ages walking around and they all look happy and captivated. There are harlequins, kings and queens, unicorns, and fairies. Sea creatures swimming in the lake, people you would only see in circuses. The sky is a mix of dimmed rainbow colors, sparkling and slowly rotating in different movements. They take a step closer but a big gray gate closes in front of them and blocks their passage. It’s high, way too high to climb. When a man steps before them, he’s young and handsome, with brown hair. It’s evidently God. “You’re not in heaven.” He says. Gale and Randy watch Him with a classy and serious look. “Heaven is beyond this; it’s an even more beautiful place.” He smiles, answering their questions since He knows what they’re thinking. “To get there, you’ll have to find your way back. Together, you’ll be taken to another dimension. It won’t be Heaven nor Hell, it’s somewhere lost in between and only you can save yourselves.” He explains. “How come we have to find our way?” Randy asks Him. “You committed suicide, this happens to everyone who has.” He pauses. “But you are lucky, you have each other, therefore wherever you are, you won’t lose your mind by being alone. But you’ll have to be careful, there are things in there that can hurt you so much that it will make you give up.” Gale and Randy stares at Him in comprehension. God looks at the two lovers holding hands and He smiles inwardly. “There are three things you need to know: First, if you want something, you can make it appear on demand, simply think about it and it’ll be there, although if it’s a knife or anything to help you break free of situations, it won’t work. Then, for the time you’ll be in this other world, there will be hints about where to go, don’t be blind and ignore them or you’ll get into deep trouble. And your wings, you can control them, it’s like moving your arm or your head. Just try.” He tells them. Gale and Randy try to move, close or furl and hide their wings, and they realize that it’s not as complicated as it looks. It’s like a closet in their backs that keeps their wings safe inside. “Now close your eyes…” They look at each other, terrified; they close their eyes at the same time. …………………………………………………………………………