A Second Chance

Regret

Heaven was beautiful. The air was crisp and refreshing. The sun shined softly on the gentle green grass; and when there was rain, it never poured. It never rained hard enough to chip the paint off the neighborhood of houses that lined the pristine, almost luminous street. The houses were cute little spectacles, all varying in colors and styles and shapes as to fit the likings of its owners. Some of them were big mansions with powerful pillars and a grandiose presence. Others were smaller, more modest houses with friendly gardens and happy little windows freckled on them. As William looked out of his window, he found himself in a lone, silent agreement. Heaven was beautiful, even lovely. Yet....

William is briefly snapped out of his thoughts when he hears an annoyed bark behind him. He slowly twists around to see his friend holding his leash in his mouth and looking at him expectantly. William chuckles and grabs the leash from his pets mouth: "Alright, alright, old sport. I'll take you on a walk." Contentedly petting the dog, he quickly clips the leash onto his collar, getting a quick flash of his friend's name tag: Blackjack. William feels a small jab of grief before quickly pushing it aside. No, he was determined to go outside today, especially since he'd stayed in all of yesterday. Or what he thought what was yesterday, anyways. William mentally shrugs, not wanting to wrestle with the overly convoluted idea of time in the afterlife. Having thoroughly distracted himself, he and Blackjack both walk through the living room and leave through the front door, since they both found out the hard way they couldn't leave through the window anymore.

They exit the house, and begin their walk down the street. William observed the many houses in front of him. He could make out the gentle grins of the parents, carefully keeping watch of their front yards filled with smiling, giggling children running around playfully with their old friends, kids that had suffered the same fate as everybody else here did: Henry, Freddy's, himself.

William felt himself slow down and tense as he approached the other houses. It was partially because of the thought and partially because of the houses. William stared at the ground in shame as he walked past the houses, feeling the parents' glares stab into his back. He briefly glances over to one of the houses on his right, where he sees similar looks of fear and disdain on the children's faces. He decides to quicken his pace, Blackjack happily trotting along at the new tempo of their walk. He was completely oblivious to the looks everyone frequently shot at his friend.

There were two things that were different in this heaven that William had noted. The first thing was that here, Blackjack was more or less a regular, if not intelligent, dog. He never spoke anymore, seeming to prefer to barking and wagging his tail excitedly then to speaking in English or in that strange code he used to be fluent in. William always found it rather funny and sweet that Jack's soul was a dog. If Jack were here, William would have made a horrible furry joke at his expense, but...

The second thing was something William picked up on almost immediately when he arrived. It was from the fearful glances from the children and the murderous looks shot at him from the parents. Even when Dee had explained to them all that William had helped with saving the children, he could still feel it. He could still feel the unbridled horror and repulsion they had held for him, having helped Henry cause so much suffering. He still feels it now whenever he walks down the near endless street, the sweet neighborhood acting bitter towards him. He had learned something the first "day" he had come here. He learned that not everyone was forgiving in Heaven.

William slowed down again, his shoulders slumping. He felt incredibly downcast. He looked ahead of him, toward the horizon, and saw his destination in the distance: a small park, with a lone tree in the middle of it. Off to the left of the park, across the street, there was blue two story house. Blackjack whimpered as they got closer. William sadly glanced at the soul, guilty that he hadn't come visit Dee, Steven, ans Peter for a while. He hadn't had the heart to. While they had a forged a close bond with one another through their adventure, there was an air of cordial awkwardness. They had no reason to see each other or to even be friends with him anymore. They'd all tried to hang out, and they had fun but something was missing. Something wasn't the same.