The River and the Sea

"Hello there."

Wren turned around from staring at the ocean in front of him to a person smiling at him. He had wandered towards the sound, wondering if she was there too. She always loved the sound of the sea. Her dream was to live in a cottage on a cliff somewhere in England or Massachusetts or Nova Scotia. He felt a pang in his heart when he realized that he couldn't give that to her.

"Hi," he replied, feeling confused.

"My name is Charlie, you seem to be new here..." she said.

"I'm Wren. Yeah, uh, I don't really know where I am. I'm looking for my wife, actually," he replied, instinctively looking around again. He realized the sun was still in the exact same position in the sky and it had been like that for what felt like hours to him.

"Oh, you still don't know?" she asked, her expression changing to one of sadness.

"Know what?"

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but this is the afterlife."

"The what?"

"You're dead, Wren."