The Summerland
-Meri
The Summerland is Jungian jumble of nearly every Elysian Fields type of nice afterlife known to man: Heaven, the Great Hunting Ground, the Elysian Fields, Valhalla, all of them. The Summerland is eternally warm and beautiful; the flowers eternally blooming; the skies eternally blue and clear. The Summerland is a place of happiness beyond human existence, where nothing bad could possibly happen. The Summerland is wonderful. The Summerland is-
"-bloody BORING!" Nikki sulked. "If you ask me."
"Which, by the way, no one did," sighed Lizbeth. Nikki refused to call the woman Silver Moonbeam, no matter how many times she insisted. She had no problems with nicknames or pseudonyms in most cases. But names like that? New agers. Pft. "Look, Nicole, can't you just be happy? That's what you're supposed to be. That's what this place is for. You're supposed to rest for the next life, not bounce around like some Eris-possessed ping pong ball!"
"I don't bounce." Well… Nikki looked up at herself. Faded, blue jean legs were hooked over the branch of a massive oak, no doubt the Tree of Life itself. Her Velvet Hammer tshirt slipped halfway up - or was it down? - her stomach, leaving a lot of tan skin bare. Her whitish blonde hair hung down nearly to the ground. Maybe she was a little bouncy, but only when she was bored. "Much, anyway."
"Uh-huh," said Lizbeth sarcastically.
"And I'm tired of resting. I'm bored. This place never changes! It's always summer. I never liked summer. Have you ever seen a summer in Texas? We could fry eggs on the sidewalk in June. 100+ degrees for weeks on end. No rain. I liked fall. Fall was nice and bearable. Isn't there a Fall-land I could go to?"
"Lord and Lady, give me strength," Lizbeth muttered to herself.
"I mean, I know it could be worse. I could be stuck singing never ending praises to a cross between a Santa Clause nightlight and George Burns, or battling and drinking mead - not that that would be so bad sometimes- but still! I want to go back. Yeah, earth may have been pretty freaky, but at least it was different! I died too young. There were too many things I never did, y'know? I mean, I never went traveling or graduated high school or went to college keg parties or had really good sex or tripped out or had a job other than waiting tables. Gods, I never even tried a cigarette! Yeah, it's bad for you, but it's one of those stupid teenager things that you're supposed to do. I never got any of that."
"Breath."
"Why? I'm dead." But Nikki inhaled anyway. "Dying young sucks. Y'know, if I had known it would end up like this, I would have at least followed the Morrison credo."
Lizbeth stared at her for a second before saying, "Am I supposed to say something here?"
"A 'what's that?' would be nice."
"Ah. So what's the credo?"
"It's 'live hard, die young, leave a good looking corpse.'"
"I see." The older woman said quietly. "Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle; she died young."
"What you said." Nikki swung back and forth on the branch, sending the world into swervy rise and fall patterns. "I didn't even live sort of hard. I never did anything."
"You know," Lizbeth said with a thoughtful tone. The other woman was leaning against the trunk of the great Tree, looking like she could meld into it at any moment. "Some people say that those who die young are close to perfect souls who already learned their lessons for that life."
Nikki frowned, lines creasing her young face. "I don't feel wiser. I just feel frustrated. I want out of here, Lizbeth. I want to go. I mean… this place is nice and all, but I feel like I'm suffocating. It's like a…a… luxurious jail cell, y'know? Like a chocolate-covered razor, y'know? It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here, and all that. I just-hmph." Swinging up onto the branch and then down to the ground, Nikki joined Lizbeth on the ground. "I'm getting out. I'm tired of messing with Ouija board kids and hanging out with dead Wiccan writers and people claiming to be Merlin. I'm blowing this pop stand." The young girl turned and started towards… well… somewhere. Where ever the entrance/exit was. They would have to let her out. It wasn't like they could keep her here, right? Before she made a few steps, Lizbeth grabbed her arm.
"Wait! You can't leave!"
"Why not? Isn't that what reincarnation is all about? Eventually giving the ol' wheel of fortune another turn and hoping you don't hit bankrupt?" Nikki shrugged off Lizbeth's grip and smiled. "I was never one for enforced naptime in kindergarten Lizbeth. I don't want to go through with it again in the afterlife. See ya later." With a final wave, Nikki headed off towards the great Somewhere that would let her out.
