Homer got off the floor, and stared up at the place where God had been. "But, what about…….?"

Lisa never got the concert tickets. Or her pony. Homer just hoped she knew he'd tried.

Six months later, Homer found himself outside huge black gates, just sitting in the clouds. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep at work. Now he was here. Wherever 'here' was. It kind of felt like Missouri.

The gates swung open. "Zeus is expecting you," A harsh secretary-type voice rang out into the emptiness.

"The 'Zeus thing' again? I thought that was over. Well, I guess not," Homer said to himself, as he walked in the haunting gates. They closed with a crash behind him as he walked into some mist. "Hey, where'd that come from?"

Homer looked around. The mist had somehow just disappeared. He was standing in a garden, filled with trees and flowers, but everything was kind of dead looking. As if it had been burnt. "We have been burnt," A small voice said as Homer walked up a black cobble-stone path.

"What?" Homer turned around.

"I said, 'We have been burnt." 'Oh,' Homer thought. 'It was only a flower….A FLOWER!' Homer looked back questioningly at the small flower, it's singed petals about to fall off.

"Yes," The flower tried to smile. "Zeus throws bolts of lightening out his window when he is annoyed by something-or someone. So we always suffer."

"Aww," Homer knelt down beside the flower. "He's that bad, huh? I have to go see him in a minute, and I'm kinda nervous. I don't have anything prepared."

"It doesn't matter. You can't prepare for Zeus. You'd better be going. You're late," The flower put it's head down. "Good luck," it whispered.

Homer continued up the path. He stopped when he came to a sign pointing to a black door, hanging off it's hinges. Another victim of Zeus's wrath. The sign read:

This way to your doom.

Or, if applying for a job,

head in the opposite direction

(which also leads to your doom)

'So I guess either way is good' Homer sighed.

"NO!" The voice thundered from nowhere in particular. "Are you applying for a job? No, you're not! So you go in the opposite direction to the people who are applying for a job!" The voice paused, slightly confused. "Or, just,…… READ THE FREAKIN' SIGN!"

"O-okay," Homer stuttered, turning the handle on the door. There was, in fact, a waiting room. It looked just like any waiting room Homer had ever been in, be it a doctor's or a dentist's, or that time he had to get a blacksmith to cut off that horseshoe… but that's another story. There was one problem with the waiting room; there was no receptionist.

Homer sat down, and immediately that voice came back. "Homer Simpson; second door on the left."

Homer looked for the door. But there were only two doors in the room; one of which being the one he came in through, and the other was a door on the right. "But, uh, there isn't any door on the left…."

"JUST GO THROUGH THE DOOR, YOU IDIOT!"

"Yes sir," Homer squeaked. The voice growled. "I-I mean yes ma'am,"

Homer entered the dim room. Zeus was there, but he was really tall, so Homer could only see a torso and a beard, Zeus's head was somewhere near the top of the ceiling, which was a long way off and populated with clouds.

"Homer, do you know why you're here?" Zeus thundered. Homer shrugged. "May I remind you," Zeus shouted. "That I cannot see you, and therefore I did not see that shrug,"

"But you just said-"

"SILENCE! There is no room for stupidity in my office. Now, answer me. And do it properly."

"Yes sir. And, um, no, I don't know why I'm here."

"Oh," Zeus sounded embarrassed. "Well, neither do I. Did anyone tell you at all?"

"No. I only heard that you wanted to see me from God." Homer felt slightly more relaxed now that he wasn't being shouted at, and it helped that Zeus seemed quite uncomfortable.

"God? That conniving little… So, no-one mentioned it to you at all?"

"No," Homer repeated. "But my memory kinda sucks, so someone could have said something to me….. But I generally don't remember things again until someone gives me some morphine….."

"Homer," Zeus boomed. "I'm not here to give bribes,"

"What're you implying?" Homer narrowed his eyes. "I never do anything like that…." He paused. "Meet me by the pile of ashes in five minutes," He mock-whispered.

"HOMER!"

"I really don't know what you're implying," Homer folded his arms, and turned away. Then he looked back and winked.

"Do you even realise-"

"Tut-tut," Homer sighed. "This has already been discussed. Don't you know how much of my time you've wasted? For shame," He glared up at the ceiling.

"You're right Mr. Simpson. I'll try to do better," Zeus had taken on a child-like air.

"Yes, that's right, young Zeus. You keep thinking that and one day you'll be the little goodie-goodie who everyone at school picks on,"

"You really think so Mister?" Zeus asked.

Homer nodded. "I sure do Timmy-uh, I mean, Zeus." He added hastily.