Written for Steemit: Purgatory - Life is an adventure and no one is ever certain what it is about or what

will be faced, or in this case learned ©Jeff Kubitz 2017 - All Rights Reserved.

Vestas, Chapter 1.1 of Purgatory

Photo by Jeff Kubitz

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Chapter 1 - Table of Contents

What is purgatory and what is the spirit world? It is exactly that, the spirit world, or what is really the eternal universe, or a section of the eternal universe.

It is where your soul goes if you are not quite good enough to make it to heaven and not evil enough to be bound in hell. Paradise is much better than purgatory it radiates light and love and peace and joy. Paradise is where one should want to be and I know I want to be there but as luck would have it or rather my acts, purgatory is where I am. My name is Vestas and I have been here a very long time and will be your guide.

How long have I been here? I have forgotten it has been that long, it is many thousands of years though, I remember that much.

I have explored much of this place though only a thimble full because it is endless, it goes on forever.

I went to heaven to be judged and was sent into here. The place is not bad on a day like today. So I would not want you to be afraid that there is no rest here; the Gods are merciful to those of us not quite good enough.

So let’s begin a journey together that is never ending, life, or continued life. The first thing about this world is that most of the same rules of nature apply as on Earth and at the same time, if one is skillful, ignored, that is gotten around. A person has all their senses, and what I call feelings, or knowing. If one has a bad feeling, it is time to pay attention to all that is around and perhaps flee.

But today is a good day. It is light, like the Earth was and with a difference, at night, most can still see. It is not as bright but the stars themselves are enough to light the places well. Even in a cave, it will be light enough to see. There are a few places that are dark and they are places for most except the evil to stay away from.

In here, the senses can be subjected to the whims of others and all spirits who enter here are whole. No matter what was wrong with them in life, it is gone when they enter here. If they had no arms, even if they were born with no arms, they will have arms, at least to start with. If they were blind, they will have their eyes and so on.

People, animals, and other things start their life here whole. All their senses, smell, taste, hearing, and so on are made whole upon entering. There are those, who for whatever reason, sometimes travel as they were on Earth but for the most part, people are in their prime of life, the best that they are at or ever were at, like I say the Gods are merciful; there is another chance for everyone.

Most everything that was on Earth such as cities is here. But often, like my town, where I lived, it is gone. What is interesting about this place is that, if enough people gather together, then the city can return as long as enough remember it, as long as they are gathered together.

Today, I am sitting next to a wonderful river, more of a stream on some moss covered rocks under the shade of palm trees. There is grass and flowers, bushes and such as grows a short distance from the stream but not far from the edge of the stream, all is a desert of dirt on both sides away from the stream.

Today is a good place to rest and a good time. I am eating some dates. It is hot and so I dip in the small pool every once in awhile to cool off then move back to the rocks, maybe climb a tree and pick some more dates, get some berries.

There are fish in the pool and even though I would like to catch and eat one, it is not something I would suggest anyone do. The reason is that even though the fish look small and appear safe to eat, were I to grab one, it could turn into a monstrous fish in a second and eat me. Not here though, this is my place.

There is a way to do it. It is like a prayer perhaps. Or, it is like making a dream real. It is something people here, beings here, learn to do in time. If you want to eat some fish, it is dreamed and those are the fish one eats. Like I said, to catch a real fish here, well, it can have its challenges, or so I have learned. I suspect most learn it in time.

So, this little stream with its little pool is a dream of mine. And while I dream it, I do have to stay alert because in this place, things can be very deceiving and they won’t be deadly because we cannot truly die again but they can be painful.

So, like today, when a spirit like myself, although, I think of myself as a person, as I am, I am alone in an area and I dreamed up a nice place to be. In order for it to stay nice, all I have to do is watch and relax, keep my wits about me.

Is it really necessary to be alone to have a wonderful time? It is not and it is possible someone I know, even people throughout the ages, or another type of living thing such as animal, well that are all sorts of beings that I know, spirits, that I get along with and who like me.

One of things of which one needs to be alert for are those who are new, especially if they arrive in groups or large groups, like say an army, or they passed through a great disaster just before they came here. At first, they can be dangerous, not knowing where they are. It is best to move away from them, maybe only find one on the fringes but one does need to be careful. When they come in like that, what brought them here is usually so strong in them that, one can be swallowed in it.

Now time here is different, well, it is the same but one does not notice how much time truly passes. I could sit in a place like this for a hundred years but to me it might seem like I was here a day and a hundred years would pass. So, the sense of time passing is different here, it can be very different.

Here comes somebody now, walking across the desert, the wastes, outside my dream area. It is a lone person and I believe by the look, someone new. This is the problem with this place. Things and people are not always what they seem to be so caution is always exercised. Care must always be taken. The person must see my little spot here and is heading directly toward me.

As she comes closer, I just watch and wait. And, I do not feel anything of darkness about this person. Lovely, then most are with her deep brown hair and at an age of twenty or so, she is tall and inviting. She holds a bag of sorts, like a shoulder bag, oh, it is a purse. She wears a white flowered dress with red and purple flowers on it and it is much too large for her. It seems her shoes are some sort of sandals.

“Hello, my name is Carol, I am lost, can you tell me which direction, Highway Interstate 10 is?”

It is best to not reveal to them they just entered this world for eternity, “I have not heard of that and I don’t know where it is at, Carol. I am Vestas, where are you traveling?”

“I was on my way to El Paso when suddenly I seem to have somehow lost my car and wandered off into this desert.”

“How long have you been walking?”

“I has been some time now. I don’t remember but I must have somehow wandered into Mexico or something and I can’t find a road anywhere.”

“Yes, well, why don’t you sit down and relax with me for awhile if you have been walking for a long ways and rest for a bit? Dates?” I held out some of my dates to her.

“Why yes, I could use something to eat.” She sits down next to me on the rocks and I hand her some dates and she takes them.

“Vestas, you said?”

“Yes, Carol?”

“Do you mind if I wash in the pool, it is hot?”

“No I don’t mind at all at your leisure, if you want Carol?”

“Thank you Vestas.” Carol started to enter the pool when she screamed, “My reflection!”

“Lovely reflection I am sure.” I answered.

“But I look nineteen again.”

“Yes, you do.” I answered, “Aren’t you?”

“Well no, I am seventy.”

“Not by what I see, how old do I look?”

“Same as me, maybe a little older,” Carol observed while she looked at me.

Sometimes one just cannot resist the banter with a new spirit, not that any of us is really all that young but since I will end up helping her to adjust to her new life, some play is in order, just for fun. “Yes, I thought I was that old, myself. Well, life is a dream.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh nothing much at all Carol, are you enjoying your time in the pool?” Changing the subject is a must.

“Why yes, after that walk across either the Texas or the Mexican desert this is a slice of heaven.” She dropped below the surface for a minute then came up, “Ah, wonderful.”

Oh yes, one really does not need to breathe as a spirit, or eat, or drink water but it is nice to do as a remembrance of what is gone, or to do until one realizes one no longer needs any of these normal things the body once needed. Carol knows none of this yet.

“Why don’t you come in here with me?” Carol asked. Now this is where, after all this time here, one has learned to not immediately jump into the desires that are completely natural because what if Carol is faking being new? What if she is not a new spirit of a beautiful young woman but something else?

“Perhaps a little later after I finish some more dates but you go ahead and enjoy. I’ll just eat and watch if you don’t mind. I am enjoying myself just sitting here.”

“Are you saying you do not want to come in with me?”

“No, I am not saying that at all, Carol.”

“Perhaps…Oh look, my clothes are all wet, do you mind if I remove them?”

“No, I don’t mind that at all. Like I said, I am just sitting here eating dates and enjoying myself.”

“Watching me?”

“Why yes, watching you Carol is very enjoyable.”

Now there is something else I meant to say to you which is one of the more important things but while I am watching Carol, it escapes my mind completely and if you are fortunate and I am fortunate and Carol is a nice person, someone I might want for a companion for a time, I just might remember what that important thing is.

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