SCOT

"Wow," a rough male voice moaned. "Talk about a hangover."

My head pounded so hard I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a headache this bad. It was so incredibly painful that I could hardly bare it.

I didn't open my eyes for fear of what I'd see. It would be something strange… that much I knew instantly.

"I didn't drink last night," it continued. "Honest!"

My curiosity got the best of me as I slowly opened my eyes. Grass. Green, dew-covered grass as far as I could see. No trees, no plants, no buildings. Just endless grass.

"OK, maybe I had a sip, but-"

"Shut up," another voice said.

I sat up slowly and found Graycee, Greg, and Andy sprawled out, scattered across the plain. "Guys?" I asked. "What happened?"

Andy got up and walked over to Graycee. He pulled her head up. "You awake?" he asked gently. I thought it was cute.

"Don't kiss her," Greg warned. "I think she'll turn into a frog or something."

Andy gave him a confused look. "Man, you are drunk."

Graycee moaned and opened her eyes. "Andy," she said. "Why are you…

what-" She turned her head and looked around. "You're kidding," she muttered.

"Yeah, I am," Greg said, walking towards her and Andy. I did the same. It was only about seven yards, but it felt like seven miles.

"Is this… did Ania do this?" I asked.

Graycee shook her head. "I don't know. I'm as lost as you are."

"Geography isn't my best subject, but I'm willing to bet this isn't the home planet," Greg said.

"Why?" Graycee asked.

"Look around. One: grass doesn't get this green. I'm pretty sure that it's physically impossible. Two: ground is never exactly flat. Even if you go to the Great Plains or whatever, there are always little centimeters of dips and whatever. Not here. Perfectly flat. No way. Oh, and one more thing. It's brighter here than on good ol' planet earth, but have you noticed that there's no sun?"

He was totally right about everything, to my surprise. Greg isn't the kind of observant guy. He's closer to the guy who's always last to understand things, and here he was making discoveries?

"You're right," Andy said. "This is way weird."

Then, out of nowhere, a picture appeared in the sky. A picture of Ania.

"Look!" I said, pointing to what I think was East.

"Ania!" Graycee said. She jumped to her feet. "Come on, you guys! We have to reach her!" Graycee took off, and the rest of us shot after her.

Wham! I hit the ground. I don't know how… my legs just gave out.

"Owch!" I said, not bothering to get up. I noticed the others falling down a lot, too. Over and over.

"Come on!" Graycee called to me. "She's getting away!"

I got up, but no more than five seconds later I fell back down. Andy grabbed my hand and pulled me back up. Then he fell and I pulled him up. Then I fell and he pulled me up. You get the picture. Graycee and Greg did the same thing. Finally, I couldn't take it. I fell and refused to get back up.

"Come on!" Andy said.

"What's the use?" I whined. "If I get up, I'll just fall back down again."

"When you fall, you don't fail," he answered. "You fail when you don't even try. Get up! Come on!"

I sighed and got up. We ran and ran and ran, falling every five, ten seconds, until we were all drenched in sweat and tears. That's right- tears. I was crying like a baby. Couldn't help it. I just got so incredibly frustrated with the situation. Here we were in another universe with no sun, chasing after an object that might as well have been a star, and falling down every five seconds. Fall down, get up, run. Fall down, get up, run. Finally, a primitive-looking city appeared and our legs worked normally again. Greg fell down, anyway, since he was so tired. And as hard as Graycee pulled, he wouldn't get back up.

"No way, man," he said. "Look at me! I might as well have just taken a shower! I'm wetter than I was when I went scuba-diving last year!"

tears were still streaming down my face, but I had to keep up a positive attitude. "No," I said. "We can't give up."

"Not quitting is all fine and good, but so is staying hydrated. And I think if I walk another inch I'll loose the last of my bodily fluids, but thanks for the offer."

I would have argued, but I was far too tired to. So instead, I sat down next to him.

"Fine," Andy said. "Sit here for the next ten years. Graycee and I are going into that city to get answers, water, and showers. Later." He turned and started walking away. Graycee followed.

I got up. "Wait a minute!" I called. They stopped and turned around. "You're not leaving me here with dumb and dumber, are you?"

Andy smiled. "Come on, then," Graycee said. "Let's go get something to drink."

"Drink?" Greg gasped. He started to get up- slowly. "Just my luck," he muttered on our way to the city. "I wake up in an alternate universe with the hangover of a lifetime, get up and run to chase after some kind of hologram, get half dead-"

"Get half dead?" Graycee asked. "Nice sentence structure."

"Shut up. You aren't helping."

"Neither are you."

We approached the city in silence. I looked around, wanting to absorb every possible detail. From farther away it looked old, but once closer it looked new. Amazing. Like stepping between two totally different rooms.

I can't capture it's glory with words, but I'll try. It was a perfect square. I don't know how big, but big enough. More than sixteen million feet per side. All I know for sure is, it was huge. The wall that surrounded it was about eleven feet thick. It was made of jasper, and the city itself was one-hundred percent gold and decorated in wonderful artworks using every kind of precious stone.

"Nice digs," Greg said quietly. Then he looked at Graycee, who was gaping wide-eyed at the walls. "What?" he demanded. "What's up with the big eyes?"

"Heaven," she whispered.

"I'll say!"

Graycee punched him in the arm. Not a hard punch, but not a soft playful one, either. "Really," she said. "The real Heaven."

"Are you religious?" Andy asked. I didn't know anyone that believed in God back then. Heck, I didn't really know anyone that had an actual religion back then.

"Yes. Well… no. I mean, my biological parents took me to church before I was adopted. I was confirmed in the Lutheran Christian Church, but I never really believed all of it. It was more of a "my parents are making me go" deal than anything else."

"And this is what Heaven looks like?" Greg asked, suppressing a laugh.

Graycee ignored his masculine giggling. "I think so," she answered. "I never studied Revelation much, but-"

"What's Revelation?" I asked.

"The last book of the Bible. It talks about Judgement Day."

"I did a paper on Christians once," Andy said.

"That's nice," Greg muttered. Then he pointed to the open gate. "Look! Someone's coming out!"

We walked up to her. "Hello," she said. "You are Ania's group, correct?"

We looked at Graycee.

"Um… I guess," she answered. "Who are you?"

"Cecelia."

"Where are we?"

She smiled. "A place of wonder and perfection."

"Which would be…?" Greg asked.

"Mortals would call this a city of splendor and riches. We call it the Holy Dwelling Place of God."

"Heaven," Graycee repeated.

"Yes. You are smart."

"How did you know we knew Ania?" Andy asked.

"The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ revealed it to me."

Greg studied her. "Who's that? Some kind of psychic?"

Graycee slapped him. "No, you moron! He's the King of the Universe, basically."

"And he's psychic."

Graycee rolled her eyes.

"You might be able to say so, however we prefer to call Him omniscient."

"Say wha'?"

"All-knowing," Andy translated. "Right?"

Cecelia nodded.

"So… why are you leaving Heaven if it's all fun and nice and stuff?" Greg asked.

"I am your guide."

"To?"

"This person for whom you are searching."

Greg leaned closer to me and whispered, "This chick's sentences are really getting on my nerves."

"We'd like some answers," I said. "Can you help us?"

"I will leave you with these words. Listen thoughtfully, and consider them with care. A perfected one questions tradition, in which case she will have came to earth as a fallen star, disguised as one of their own."

We all looked at Graycee.

"What?" she demanded. "Suddenly I'm the expert?"

"You know Christianity better than any of us!" I answered. "We can't figure this stuff out alone!"

Graycee looked at Cecelia. "Some kind of riddle or something?" she asked, the smallest hint of annoyance in her voice.

Cecelia didn't answer. She just turned and walked back into the city.

"Hey!" we all yelled after her. "Where are you going? Come back!" She didn't.

"I'm going in after her," Greg said, starting towards the gate.

"You can't!" Graycee said. "Only the pure-"

"Purify this!" Greg made a rude gesture with his hand.

"Hey!" Andy said, slapping his hand down. "Don't get like that! Let's just figure this out, OK?"

"Whatever. Have a good time, do what you want. I'm going to Heaven. There's gotta be some cute chicks in there. There would be in my Heaven."

He walked up to the gate, but once he reached it he stopped.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I can't go in. My legs aren't listening to my head!"

" 'Cause your head's the part with ears," Andy said smiling.

"Shut up, man! I'm s'posed to be the one cracking the jokes! Besides, that wasn't funny, anyway."

"Just turn around," I suggested.

"Oh, fine idea. Only one problem with that- I CAN'T!"

Then a semi-young girl approached the gate from the inside.

"Hi," Greg said. "Can you help me? I… uh, I can't move."

She smiled. "I can, but won't."

"Why not? I have money!"

"My powers do not exceed The Lamb's."

"Are you trying to tell me that there's a lamb who can kick your butt?"

"Not a lamb. The Lamb."

"Well, could you get Mr. I-eat-grass over here to fee me?"

The girl looked confused. "Who?"

Graycee walked up to them. "Tact," she hissed to Greg. Then turned to the girl. "Excuse him, he has no idea. Um, could you convince The Lord God Almighty to let him go free?"

"Man, she's talking like them now," Greg muttered. They ignored him.

She nodded. "Oh, yes. Christ is merely trying to make a point by doing this. That mortals mustn't enter here."

Graycee shot Greg an I-told-you-so look. "We learned our lesson. Can he go now?"

She nodded and said, "Certainly." Then Greg quickly walked back to me and Andy. "That wasn't cool. This Heaven thing isn't funny anymore."

Graycee continued talking to the girl. "We need some help. How are you with riddles?"

She laughed. "No cheating, now. I know who you are, and I'm not allowed to help you."

"Well, who's it talking about? Could you at least tell us who this "perfected one" is?"

The girl looked at Graycee mysteriously. "All born in the Holy Place of God are perfect." Then she went back into the city.