Chapter 46
Into the Light
Amy Ann McCoy walked in lightness shedding her early sorrows - her fears, her worries about her mother and who would feed her dog when she passed. She thought of the first person she would want to meet in heaven, if she got there. She hadn't done much in her life to deserve either damnation or salvation, but she had been glad to be surrounded by angels when she passed.
Some people said that heaven would be a golden gate with St. Peter as the gatekeeper but she doesn't want that to be the first person she saw. She hoped it would be her beloved grandmother, who passed when she was 5. The girl still remembered freshly peeled oranges at her Nana's kitchen table.
She thought of reuniting with the other patients stricken with cystic fibrosis who had passed on before her. At their death beds they promised to meet each other on the other side, whenever that fate should happen to be. Maybe she'll find a famous historical person or celebrity to chat with. The King! She hoped the first person she could meet would be that noteworthy singer.
She didn't expect the cowering figure by the crossroad, the only dark figure in the brightness of the light.
"Mr. Block?"
The con man was mumbling incoherently, only speaking to himself. The girl leaned closer to hear his words.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
She frowned quietly. He was at her side when she died. How did he beat her to the afterlife?
Andrew appeared before her to her surprise, quoting a well know passage, "With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years one day."
Amy smiled up at the kind angel before turning back to the shaking man. "What happened, Andrew?"
"His heart finally gave up on him. James lasted a few more years with the grifting life behind him and a better diet, but it was finally his time."
The young girl pressed a hand against the man's shoulder. This was the first person she was to meet in heaven, and she knew exactly what words she had to say to him.
"I forgive you, Mr. Block."
The man raised tear filled eyes to the little patient he had encountered in the worse period of his life. Again, she was his salvation in the next.
She smiled at him, took his hand, and together the pair walked into the bright light together.
This was based off of the Terry Pratchet novel, Feet of Clay. It's a standalone novel that most people start off with. Everyone is so selfish in the episode. It was nice to see a young Kirsten Dunst.