This Tragic Affair
What You Deserve
The next afternoon I woke up, just a little more than confused. I didn't remember where I was or what was doing there. I only knew that I wasn't in my room, or anywhere I recognized. I sat and looked around the room for a while when it just sort of hit me.
I was dead.
It slowly came back to me how I had met My Chem yesterday, how I had freaked out, and how I had decided not to dwell on it. Then I remembered that this was Ronnie's house. I decided to get up and go thank him.
"Here she is!" he smiled. I sat down at the small table and rubbed my eyes absentmindedly. "Sleep well?"
"Yeah. Thanks for last night."
"No problem." Ronnie poured himself a mug of coffee and got me a glass of milk before sitting down across from me. "We've got a lot to do today, so we'd better head out soon."
"What exactly are we doing?" I yawned.
"Well, we've got to get you set up around here. You didn't think I was gong to let you mooch off me forever, did you?" He smiled from behind his mug as he took a quick sip.
"Of course not, but how are we going to do that?"
"There's a whole data base of open houses and stuff downtown. We'll stop by there first, see what's available."
"Alright." This would be interesting. I'd never lived on my own before. Sure, I had spent many a night by myself, but I always knew that someone was going to be there when I woke up the next morning. I swirled my glass of milk and mulled in my thoughts. Something struck me as odd about all of this. "Hey Ronnie? How do I afford all of this?"
"Well, it's difficult," he began. "You don't pay for most of what you get. The city council gives you what they think you deserve. How you live here is basically determined by how you lived your life before this. A lot of it is based off of your accomplishments, like the good and bad things you did. Then there's part of it they base off how you were used to living, like the area and the type of house. It's weird, I know, but it's how they do things here."
"So basically, if you were a shitty person, you get a shitty afterlife?"
"Basically."
Okay, I figured I'd do alright. I mean, sure, I wasn't Mother Theresa, but I wasn't that fucked up. I thought I had been a half-way decent person. I hadn't done anything to fuck myself or others up. I loved my parents and friends. For God sakes, I was a vegetarian! At worst, I figured I'd get a small apartment and crappy furniture. I mean, I had spent my life in an apartment with mismatched furniture. If I got a crappy apartment, I could deal with it.
"Okay," Ronnie sighed as he finished his coffee. "Let's hit it." He got up from the table and took our glasses into the kitchen and dropped them in the sink. He grabbed his keys and led me out of the building into the bustling world around.
It was the first day of the rest of my afterlife.
I was dead.
It slowly came back to me how I had met My Chem yesterday, how I had freaked out, and how I had decided not to dwell on it. Then I remembered that this was Ronnie's house. I decided to get up and go thank him.
"Here she is!" he smiled. I sat down at the small table and rubbed my eyes absentmindedly. "Sleep well?"
"Yeah. Thanks for last night."
"No problem." Ronnie poured himself a mug of coffee and got me a glass of milk before sitting down across from me. "We've got a lot to do today, so we'd better head out soon."
"What exactly are we doing?" I yawned.
"Well, we've got to get you set up around here. You didn't think I was gong to let you mooch off me forever, did you?" He smiled from behind his mug as he took a quick sip.
"Of course not, but how are we going to do that?"
"There's a whole data base of open houses and stuff downtown. We'll stop by there first, see what's available."
"Alright." This would be interesting. I'd never lived on my own before. Sure, I had spent many a night by myself, but I always knew that someone was going to be there when I woke up the next morning. I swirled my glass of milk and mulled in my thoughts. Something struck me as odd about all of this. "Hey Ronnie? How do I afford all of this?"
"Well, it's difficult," he began. "You don't pay for most of what you get. The city council gives you what they think you deserve. How you live here is basically determined by how you lived your life before this. A lot of it is based off of your accomplishments, like the good and bad things you did. Then there's part of it they base off how you were used to living, like the area and the type of house. It's weird, I know, but it's how they do things here."
"So basically, if you were a shitty person, you get a shitty afterlife?"
"Basically."
Okay, I figured I'd do alright. I mean, sure, I wasn't Mother Theresa, but I wasn't that fucked up. I thought I had been a half-way decent person. I hadn't done anything to fuck myself or others up. I loved my parents and friends. For God sakes, I was a vegetarian! At worst, I figured I'd get a small apartment and crappy furniture. I mean, I had spent my life in an apartment with mismatched furniture. If I got a crappy apartment, I could deal with it.
"Okay," Ronnie sighed as he finished his coffee. "Let's hit it." He got up from the table and took our glasses into the kitchen and dropped them in the sink. He grabbed his keys and led me out of the building into the bustling world around.
It was the first day of the rest of my afterlife.