The road to heaven is different for everyone, and Liam was no exception. But, one might reconsider that once they heard about the corridor. Instead of an intense darkness which is ofter accompanied by whirling colors with the final destination being a comforting, blinding white light, Liam's corridor was different. It was lush with a soft dirt road, a pale gray sky with stalks of bamboo that seemed to desperately reach for the sky above...
Seeing no other alternative, Liam began to walk. He'd walk and walk, and walk some more. He'd walk until hid feet donned blisters. He'd walk until his legs grew painfully numb. Liam would walk until it was clear that there would be no end in sight. Dropping to his knees, Liam clutched his stomach which had started to growl. He laid there in the middle of the narrow dirt road for god knows how long.
Time passed and seemed to have no clear-cut meaning, for the gray sky seemed not to change. The wounds on his feet seemed to fester and ooze as Liam laid there like a corpse to be. Confused and alone, Liam took off his shirt and ripped it into shreds in order to bandage his feet. 'Forward... I must keep going' he thought as he crawled to his feet despite the agonizing pain. Drifting towards the left side of the road, Liam grabbed onto the green stalks of bamboo for support. To his surprise, they were almost soft to the touch. But strong. Liam could put his weight on them as he walked.
After what seemed like forever, Liam noticed that his feet had stopped hurting. Looking down, the boy noticed that the wrappings had fallen off. Behind him was a trail of blood and pus. His heart sinking, Liam choked back his tears and began to wonder if this truly was the path to heaven. Having lived his entire life on the straight and narrow, Liam had assumed that when he died he'd go straight to heaven. But as he walked, Liam began to wonder if in that way of thinking got him there. It didn't matter that he'd suffered his entire life, however short it was. The boy was of the tender age of thirteen when his heart gave out to the tumor that strangled every beat. Dropping to his knees, Liam began to cry. Not because of the apparent injustice, but because of how ignorant he'd been about the road to Heaven. Soon enough, the boy wiped his tears. There was no sense crying over it. He was here-wherever "here" was- and he figured it was his path that he alone had to take. A thin bony hand raised to wipe the tears, and Liam rose to his feet and continued to walk without fear or hesitation. It didn't matter anymore, if there was a destination or not. Liam was smart enough to know that there was no use in crying over the possibility of that this could be Hell, or Purgatory. This was the hand he'd been dealt and it was his and his alone.
Liam's mind was now all but empty. The visage of the bamboo corridor seemed to fluctuate every now and then. Suddenly frightened, Liam began to run. He ran as fast as his blistered feet would take him. Faster and faster the boy ran until suddenly his world, the world he'd come to know went black.
Pain. Pain flooded over his frail, little body like lightning. Once, twice. Three times did the lightning strike. Then Liam simply didn't exist. he was nothing but the floating consciousness of a boy that once was. "Liam... Liaaaam" cried a voice from within the darkness. Confused and disoriented, the lightning seemed to strike the little body once more. "LIAM! LIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAM" screamed the voice. Suddenly, the air seemed disappear and Liam felt as if he were stuck in a void. Pinpricks of light began to flash before his eyes as the air grew thinner and thinner. Panic began to set in as the boy realized he couldn't breathe. 'I DON'T WANNA DIE! PLEASE, GOD, I DON'T WANT TO DIE!' he screamed in his mind. After one more jolt of pain, the voice seemed to multiply. Frightened, Liam shut his eyes in the darkness and kept them closed. He kept them closed until he felt a hand on his face. A hand. Flesh and blood, warmth. Startled, the boy opened his eyes to see the blurry faces of people crowding around his tiny frame. "Liam, baby? It's momma... Can you hear me? Baby, please answer me?" cried another voice. Liam's heart skipped a beat as he realized the voice belonged to his mother. His throat dry and scratchy, Liam managed to choke out four words. "Hi... Mom... I'm back"