Peak Time [尖峰时刻]

Shrewd

Would you imagine a scene like this -- you were floating in the sky hundreds of thousands of feet above the earth, and in every direction there was endless blueness, just as you can see when standing on the highest mountain peak. And under your feet was a path paved with cloud, extending upwards into the infinity. There was a road sign made of unknown material just infront of your sight, glowing as neon light on earth, and the message carried with was so eye-catching: Heaven, 3 1/4 miles, exit left.
Yes, this was the heaven freeway, no traffic at all. And I found myself driving on it -- or more like being driven on it. Richard I. S. Goodman is my name, call me Rich if you want.
My mind was clear, at least I was pretty sure that I was not dreaming, neither was I seeing illusions. Not knowing anything about how and why I came here, my memory was still filled with collision, fire and suffocation. Even though Heaven would be the final destination that anyone would be longing for, I was still following the road signs, -- fortunately no speed limits and no cops at all, and trying hard to remember what had happened to me.
I must have been too concentrated on my own thoughts, when I ran into this lovely young lady. Her appearance, yes I mean it, her appearance seemed so sudden that I didn't even have time to take a good look at her. But Now I saw her: she's wearing a snow-white tunic, with gold lace -- I guess fashion was the same everywhere; her blonde hair was reflecting the sunshine, and lighting up all my fantasies; her eyes were blue and deep as the ocean, sending softest waves into my heart. Her voice was like an angel, and I couldn't find any word on earth to describe it, -- because neither she or her voice belonged to earth, and she was speaking to ME: "Welcome to Heaven, I am Rachel Asiam, intern angel. I will be your guide today."
As I stayed stunned, a smile was shining from her face, even brighter than the ring above her head: "Briefly, welcome to Heaven, Mr. Goodman. Call me Rach if you want. I will help you to cancel you old earth ID, and you will get a brand-new Heaven ID. Now, would you please follow me?"
Cancel my earth ID? and get a new one from Heaven? My eyes opened widely with confusion: "Eh, hold on please Rach, could you explain a little more about it?... I am pretty confused here... you know this is my first time here in Heaven..."
The charming smile stopped on Rach's face for almost one second, then she was begging my apology: "Oh I am sorry, I am probably going too fast, you know it's my first day...Basically, it's like you move from California to Massachusetts, and you need to get a new driver's license. But don't worry about it, I will be with you until you get familiar with life here in Heaven."
The embarrassement and apology were showing their extreme on her attractive face, and so was her irresistible voice. How could you be so uncool in front of a pretty girl? and how could you resist an angel like her, --moreover, she was one! So I just caught up my steps, and stayed quiet.
Walking, or maybe being driven on a place with total emptiness made me loose the sense of time, perhaps that was the whole point of heaven. Several minutes or several hours later, I was standing at the foot of a immense gate. It was so imposing that even the largest plane on earth would appear as a sparrow comparing to it. It was made of marble, or clouds; Roman-style pillar was crowned with rainbow, and sun was shining across the gothic arch. The whole scene was as beautiful as a dream, I couldn't help but appreciate it. Only if I had my digital camera with me...
Rach stopped at the door, which was shut tightly. "Here we are," she said, "Saint Peter from Soul Resource will be here in a couple of minutes, he will help you to cancel out your earth registry and register you in Heaven, then you will become a citizen here."
"What should I do then?" I was a little nervous. If opening the door was the first test to enter Heaven, I was afraid I may fail.
Rach's smile was encouraging me, "go ahead, just follow the instructions." she said, "it's very simple and user friendly, even children can complete it without any problem."
Frankly, it seemed quite a bit different from what I have read in Bible. But if you think of the changing modern technology in our lives, it might be true that administrative system in Heaven was updating as well. I wouldn't care if it's a PC or Mac, as long as it would allow me in.
I was trying to calm myself by these weird thoughts as I put my hand on the door, suddenly I was covered by a net of lights. Then I found myself in a silver emptiness, tons of light spots were scattered above me, below me, or more like all around me. They seemed like an immense spider net with dewdrops. And the web was woven by some unknown fibers that were extending outside my eyesight. I saw them swinging, trembling and vibrating, as if they were touched by invisible wind.
"You are on the right track to Heaven." A delightful male voice sounded in my head. "Shall we start, young man?"
I wasn't sure that was the voice of Saint Peter since I didn't see anyone, I only had a screen as high as my height in front of me. Then I read the words on it: Saint Peter's Heaven-Earth Registry Executive System (S.P.H.E.R.E.S), Heaven Custom. And there was a line of smaller words: Copyright by St. Peter, 0001~9999. When these disappeared from the screen, another sentence appeared:
"Welcome to SPHERES, are you ready?
Text, Voice, Cancel?"

[To be continued]