Welcome to Heaven
By: Richard Saunders
“Welcome to Heaven,” the computer screen in front of Jack Waters said. He wiped his brow, anticipating some sweat to come off, but to his surprise, none showed. Interesting, he thought, you don’t
sweat in Heaven.
The computer screen asked for his name and birthday and place, and he quickly entered it via the
touchscreen keypad. “Processing,” the computer chimed, once and then over and over again. “Success! You have been approved to enter Heaven. Welcome!” The computer shut off, and the large,
golden gate in front of him slowly opened. He walked through and to his surprise, there was nothing.
Just white all around him. He looked behind him, and the gate he just entered from had disappeared
as well. Suddenly, as he turned his head front ways, a large man in a suit had appeared. He was a
handsome man, with jet-black hair and a goatee. Not a hair was out of place, and his suit followed the
rest of his appearance in the same style. It was slim cut, and the white shirt underneath fitted well.
His tie was thin, and near the top was a tie clip made of what appeared to be platinum. Jack froze as
the man in black began to speak.
“Hello, Jack,” this figure said, as he slowly began to walk towards him. “Welcome to Heaven.”
“This can’t be Heaven,” Jack responded, with a confused tone. “Where is everyone? Where is everything?”
“This is it,” the man in black said. “This is what you’ve been looking forward to all your life.” The
man continued towards Jack, eventually reaching for a file on a desk that had suddenly appeared. He
picked up the file and with a finesse Jack had never seen, opened it and flipped through it’s contents.
“You’ve been a good boy,” the man said, as he read through the papers.
“I’ve tried. I’ve done my best to try to make you happy.”
The man in black smirked, a slight chuckle escaped from his mouth. “I don’t think you have,” he said,
“and I would hope that you hadn’t. Let’s see here. You’ve been a good, devout Christian man. You
had a family, 2 sons, and a daughter. You had a lovely wife, who I’m sure will miss you. You donated
to charities, you helped out your elderly neighbor take out the trash. From all accounts, you’ve been a
good person. That won’t do.”
Jack looked at the man with confusion. “I don’t understand,” he said. “I thought you would be
pleased with my behavior. I’ve tried my hardest to do my best. Why won’t that work?”
“That would work on my brother,” the man said. “He would love you. You’d be welcomed here
with open arms. Well, unfortunately for you, his reign ended. Quite a long time ago, as it is.”
Jack slowly began to piece together the puzzle, and when he was done thinking, he cautiously
asked, “Who are you?”
The man in black answered that question with another smirk. “I’ve been called many things. The
name that my mother gave me, however, is Louis. No one expects that to be my name, they always
expect it to be something sinister or scary. No, it’s just Louis.”
Jack figured it out, finally asking, “Are you… the devil?”
“They call me that on Earth, don’t they? It makes it seem like what I do is evil or something. Well,
what is evil is up to the eyes of the beholder, isn’t it? Some would call me evil, others, not so much.
My brother used to call me evil. Until he died, of course.”
“Who’s your brother?” Jack asked.
“His name was George, but you lot called him your God. The power got to his head, him being a
God. Someone had to do something, so why not me?”
“You… what did you do to God?”
“He went out quietly,” the man in black said. “It didn’t hurt for him. I just… dethroned him. There
wasn’t a fight, simply a change. I own this,” the man said as his gestured towards the white, empty
space. “All of it. With the deed to the land comes some interesting powers as well. For example, my
brother used that power to reward the people, who he saw as ‘good,’ which is, of course, a very sub-