I snarled at Larry and turned away from the group. I slouched and plodded over to a corner by myself and sat, arms crossed defiantly, in an overstuffed chair facing a window overlooking a park of some sort.

There were large roller coasters and Ferris-wheels, loop-de-loops, and flying saucers. It was bigger than a state fair. Less commercial, too. There were no lines, and no crowds. It was strange to see only adults on the rides, however. The children were hovering at the exits waiting for their adults to dismount when the ride was over.

Some of the adults had mastered going through heavenly matter, and boy, were they hilarious to watch! They’d ooze through the back of their seats onto the laps of the souls behind them going up the coaster hills and seemed to almost blend into the poor splatted soul’s being after the car passed over the top of the climb and shot like a rocket towards the ground. When the car skidded to a quick stop at the bottom, the unconfined souls shot off of their rear car-mates laps and slammed into the backsides of the souls in front of them. I laughed so hard my sides ached. The riders were various shades of pukey green, and floated a bit wobbly, but they still looked happy. The older adults who were the splattees and the slammees were green, too, but not because they were splatted and slammed. Their green color was of the jealousy shade, as they thought it looked like fun to be able to go through the seats and were envious of the ‘free floaters’. They didn’t seem to notice that most of the unconfined souls didn’t tend to go on a second run…I guessed it was a bit too scary to feel like a loose cannon ball…

But the souls whose seatbelts slid right through them on the scramblers REALLY didn’t want a second ride. When they were flung out of their seats, they had a rather rough landing, usually in the treetops. A few managed to land in a Ferris-wheel seat, or at the top of the bungee ride. The souls in the Ferris-wheel and on the bungee were laughing hysterically as the flung soul hung on to them for dear life. I about wet my pants laughing (if I’d have had to pee) when I saw the look of sheer terror on one of the flingee’s face when he realized his bottom half was still in the scrambler!!! Even his child was laughing when he helped put the poor guy back together after both his halves were done with their respective rides.

I wondered if Julia could take me to the park, if I needed an escort. I never liked rides when I was younger because I tended to get a bit motion sick. My friends were always careful to NOT sit too close to me in case I ‘tossed my cookies’, or cotton candy, as the case may be. But there was no getting away from my emissions when I was on the swings. It sprayed EVERYWHERE. I think it was after that particular ride that I started to have a harder and harder time getting back on ANY of the rides. The carnival guys had begun to recognize me by then. Or so it seemed. The rides always seemed to suddenly fill up just as I got to the front of the line, and then it needed ‘maintenance’ until I’d give up and leave the line….

As I remembered those days of old, I decided I’d rather watch than risk being sick. I had hoped motion sickness would not be a problem in Heaven, and wondered if the pukey green souls actually enjoyed being sick, like kids enjoy being dizzy. I never enjoyed being sick or dizzy. I just didn’t want to look like a wimp, so I tried to keep up with the guys.

As I sat watching, I felt an urge to abandon the mission, and just stay here with Arnie and Harry, and go on a random dream now and then. There was so much fun to be had, places to explore, ‘care-free-ness’ to enjoy……

I looked over my shoulder at the others. They looked so serious and intense. So responsible.

I turned back towards the park, and poof! There was Julia, hovering between me and the window. Her expression was rather neutral and hard to read.

“Would you like to go to the park?” she asked sweetly enough.

“I don’t know.” I was surprisingly honest with my answer. I didn’t know what I wanted anymore.

Julia didn’t say any more. She just hovered. And watched me as I tried to make up my mind.

“Just go by your feelings. When you feel overwhelmed, ask for a break, and you can have one. Time here is very fluid. We have no deadlines. The only pressure we feel is what we choose to feel.” Julia was making less sense than George with his ‘Unification Theory’.

“So, if I spent a couple of years enjoying myself first, when I decided to get on with it, I would in effect be right back here, on this chair, as if no time had passed?” It sounded too crazy to be possible, even in Heaven.

“Not exactly, but close. It’s all up to you. If you can wait to see what happens, you can ‘put the book down’ in effect. Then you can pick it back up when your interest in finding out what happens next becomes stronger than your need to relax. It’s part of why Heaven is so ‘heavenly’. A small part, but a part nonetheless.” Julia explained.

“So, how long do you think I’ll want to rest between ‘chapters’, then, little one?” I teased. I knew. And I knew she knew.

“Go on back to the others, then, Mr. Burns,” Julia smiled. “And do your best to not lose any of the strength of your curiosity gene!”