The last I can remember before I died was how I told my wife I was going out for a midnight stroll and that I will return later. Then I went out. The night was beautiful, full moon, stars glowing, and solar night lanterns lighting up the streets like fireflies. I hadn't been out for very long and already, this driver in a red blazer came barreling down the road. Either he was drunk or he was enraged because he was zig-zagging all over the place. Nonetheless, the blazer hit me and everything went dark in an instant. I couldn't hear anything, see anything, feel anything. It was too quiet. Then, I saw it; a light far ahead of me. I was scared because it wasn't my time to go. I was sure of it! Then, as if an invisible force was pulling me, I began to approach the light. It grew brighter and brighter until I saw a silhouette. The light dimmed and I saw a large wall and mountain reaching into a circular cloud, only the mountain was really a castle. The gates, blazed with gold, opened and I entered. There, I saw a man in silver armor and helmet standing nearby. He was armed with a sword, like those knights I saw in the pictures. He gave a cheery wave to me. "Welcome, friend!" he said excitedly. Growing up, I was always told that when you die, you would approach the golden gates to Heaven and meet Saint Peter. All those times, I thought that Heaven was a big field of clouds and Saint Peter was an old man in a robe with a large book. This looked nothing like I imagined.

"Are you Saint Peter?" I asked the guard. He cocked his head sideways. "Who?" he asked in a confused tone. "Saint Peter," I explained, "someone who I'm supposed to meet at the pearly gates to Heaven?" The guard then laughed. "Oh, no," he said heartily, "This isn't Heaven. There is no Saint Peter. I'm Steven. I came here, oh, maybe two years ago. I'm not sure. Time isn't relevant here." 

No Heaven? I thought to myself. "Am I in Hell?" I asked worryingly. Steven shook his head. "No..." he was even more confused, "Geez, what do they teach you in the World?" Now it was my turn to be confused. "Then... where am I?" He extended his arm to the mountainous castle. "This, my friend, this is Elsvyn!"

I never heard of this name before. "I'm sorry?" I asked him. He approached me and placed his hand on my shoulder. "Elsvyn; a place of paradise for you and me. Here, we get to live our Second Lives for eternity." My confusion went away and was replaced with curiosity. "Who's all welcome here?" I asked.

"Why, everyone! Well, almost everyone." Steven answered before he began his explanation, "Elsvyn has been around for a very long time, much longer than you and I have been alive. Here, you can do almost anything you want. Food is endless, night is eternal in some areas, daytime in others, and you can marry and have children or you can reunite with your other and have children if you weren't able to in the World. Of course, that applies to the whole "man/woman" relationships. Of course, there are couples who have adopted children of Souls who've either returned to the World... or perished." He seemed pretty grim at the end of his explanation.

"So we can die in Elsvyn too?" I asked. He nodded grimly. "The True Death, as it's called, for if you die in Elsvyn, you are erased from existance entirely. The One is always torn apart each time a Soul perishes."

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"The One?" I asked. "Oh, He rules over all of Elsvyn and he passes judgment onto Souls who enter the Darkness. If you are a decent Soul, you are given entrance to Elsvyn, like how you came. If you are indecent, you are sent to the Wastelands."

He pointed to the stairs. "Follow me and I can show you The Wastelands." Without saying another word, I followed Steven up the stairs. We reached the tower and he handed me a telescope and pointed to a scary-looking desert with dark clouds hovering over it. "Look!" he said. I raised the telescope to my eye and my heart dropped. I saw a vast dry land, as if there used to be an ocean before it dried up entirely. There were crooked trees and branches sticking out in vast areas but none of it prepared me for what I saw next; a shriveled-up humanoid, completely unrecognizable, moving very slowly. It was worse than seeing a raisin, I could see the ribcage and spine within the shriveled skin. I handed the telescope back to Steven. "I take it you saw a Waste." I nodded as I tried not to vomit. "Yeah, they're definitely disturbing. From what I've learned, the truly Wicked Souls are sent to the Wastelands where they wander aimlessly. They suffer pain in ways you can't imagine; thirst and hunger that can never be quenched, pain in every bit of movement, including blinking, and breath taken. Even rest is denied. Their senses are heightened to torturous levels." He then shuddered, "I hate just thinking about it."

"How do you know if you entered The Wastelands?" He looked at me. "When you enter The Darkness, after you die, The One looks into your past and determines your fate. You would know if you enter The Wastelands because you wouldn't see a light, but instead you would hear thunder before you open your eyes to see the dark clouds. I asked him about it and that's what he told me."

Now it was my turn to shudder. To suffer a fate like that, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. "What were they before they became the Wastes?" I asked. Then Steven's face turned to anger but his tone remained calm. "Pedophiles, rapists, zoophiles, people who committed mass murders, dictators, even animal abusers who show no regret for their actions. The One hates them himself."

That gave me some bit of comfort but nonetheless, the thought still lingered. "Of course, that was just to name some of what we call the True Evil. But only The One can decide that for himself."

"Is The One God?" I asked. "I'm not familiar with that but I guess in the World, he is as well as whatever else people call him." I finally had to ask. "You keep saying "The World". Are you referring to Earth?" 

Steven gave a nod. "But technically here, it's known as either The Physical World or The World." I couldn't help but let out a bit of a chuckle. Then I went back to The Wastelands topic. "Back to The Wastelands, are there any monsters or demons?" "Naaaaaaah," Steven exclaimed, "they live in The Void." "The Void?" I asked. Just then, a trumpet sounded. "Ah, you're being summoned. We mustn't wait. I will explain more later when you return." Steven said.

I felt myself being lifted to the air and I flew towards the top of the castle, beyond the clouds...