Heaven

By solarhalfbreed

It was clear, sunny and warm the day Miriallia Haww passed away.

She was old, weak, and sickly; and there wasn't a husband, daughter, or son anywhere to be found - they didn't even exist. There was only her in her little hospital room. Her doctors knew she was dying, and so did she.

The nurses all thought there was something peculiar about her, though. There she was, alone and about to die, and yet there was always the most pleasant expression of relief on her face. Maybe she wanted to die, they thought. Maybe she just didn't want to suffer any longer. Curiosity got the best of one nurse, and so she kneeled down next to Miriallia's bed quietly.

"Miriallia, can you hear me?" She reached out her hand and placed it on top of hers.

"Mm. Yes." Her deep blue eyes fluttered open softly. She was still smiling.

"You look happy. Do you think you're pulling it back together?"

Miriallia closed her eyes again and coughed out a soft chuckle. "No. My time is about up."

The nurse's expression saddened, and she moved her hand up to gently rest on Miriallia's head. "May I ask then, what are you so happy about?"

Her eyes opened again - one last time - and she looked to the nurse. "I've got something waiting for me in Heaven."

The nurse looked intently at her patient for a moment and then smiled back at her. "I understand."

Miriallia gave a weak nod and then, still smiling, let her eyes slowly fall shut. With that, she was gone.

There was a short period of darkness after that. Warm and dark; almost as if she was about to be born again. But eventually her eyes opened to reveal a pale blue evening sky. She counted a few stars, and then stood up to take in the scenery.

A gently rolling countryside was what she saw, with one particularly wide tree very near her. She walked slowly towards it, and a strangely surreal feeling started to seep through her. A presence. Something felt so powerfully familiar that she took off running, her heart set on finding its source.

She ran and she ran until her legs buckled and gave out. She fell flat on her stomach in the grass, the surging warmth of strange familiarity still resounding within her.

And then the realization hit her that she had died only moments ago. She no longer even existed in the mortal world.

Was this Heaven?

She raised her head and looked all around her - still seeing only the landscape. A beautiful one, but not another soul in sight. He wasn't there.

She lay her head back down on the ground, her eyes beginning to tear up. This wasn't what she had wanted. This wasn't what she envisioned on her deathbed.

Eighty years of life alone as a mortal, and now she was alone in Paradise. Could this be Hell, instead? She'd spent her life alone since she was seventeen years old. Since her life was torn into pieces. Since she lost…

"Miri."

….the love of her life.

This was Heaven.

A/N: Well, this was kinda written for practice. I'm on some new anxiety meds and they tend to make me do something and then wake up the next day hardly remembering it. That happened with this story. I don't think I'll be keeping it too long. oo