It all happened so quick. A blistering day on the shores of Somalia. Trekking the hot sand barefoot was like walking across hot coals. The bottom of my feet blistered with each step I took. Our unit was engaged with Somali pirates off the coast of Aden. Bullets whizzed past my head. The faint smell of gunpowder penetrated my olfactory. I fought hard as our unit was picked off one by one like lambs to the slaughter. I knew I would drop like a fly and join my comrades very soon but sheer adrenaline and willpower kept me fighting to the last second. A bullet from an AK-47 tore through my frontal lobe, I didn't even have time to process my death.

I found myself floating in a seemingly endless void. I perched my eyes forward. The rest of my body lay motionless. I was not a particularly religious man, but in times of trouble I still found myself appealing to a higher power. There was a sort of calm almost serene feeling about the nothingness surrounding me. I floated for what felt like an eternity until I heard a voice yell "Got one over here." I turned my head towards the voice and saw a man clad in a sort of heavy polyester gear, It resembled a space suit. In the back of the gear was an illuminated rope that stretched very deep into the darkness behind it. The man spoke "My name is Newton. You must be very confused. Come with me and I will explain everything." The man wrapped his arms around my still motionless body. " We are going to be traveling at a very high speed now, please try to stay as still as possible," explained Newton. One push of the button on his suit and we were both pulled very violently, I had experienced these same forces before during g-force training in the US air-force. A sudden stop and as my eyes adjusted I saw an entrance to a futuristic looking tunnel paved in white. "This will take us to civilization," said Newton. We entered the tunnel and instantaneously found ourselves in a building.

It was simply me and Newton in a small room no bigger than what used to be my bedroom back home. Everything was colored in white and the beautiful architecture was like none I had seen when I was still among the living. Newton took off his gear, He was a tall man, mid-20's with jet black hair. "Who are you?" I stammered. Newton looked at me and smiled "You finally speak. I am what they call a retriever here, my job is to navigate the void looking for lost souls so that they may be bought back to our civilization. Traversing the void is a tricky affair but we have state of the art suits designed just for that purpose. What is your name so that I may address you properly? "Douglas," I answer. What has become of me? am I still alive? what of my family back home? Newton sat down with a sorrowful look in his eyes. "Doug, you are no longer alive. The void is where everyone goes when they die, If your family back home is still alive they will not join us until they pass as well." My eyes lit up at this wonderful news and for the first time since coming to the void, I smiled. Newton looked at the floor, dejected. "Unfortunately Doug, not everyone is found. The great scientific minds here have theorized that the void in its entirety is several times larger than the observable universe back in our times. Where you wind up in the void is seemingly random. There are still men and women floating out there that died at the start of humanity. Even with our state of the art technology it was a miracle that you wound up so close to our world and I found you. We simply call this place 'Voidland'. My four brothers and three sisters as well as my dad are still lost in the void, they are my inspiration for what I do since I hope one day to find them. My date of death is September 2ND, 1876. Judging by your clothing you must have died very recently, we retrievers are very good at identifying stuff like that.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I sat there dull-eyed trying to process everything I just heard. "Rest assured," said Newton. "We will do everything we can to locate everyone who has been lost in the void, It's an ongoing effort. For now please place your eye near this scanner." I place myself close the scanner and see a blue light emanate from it and recede quickly. "Says here that you have a great grandmother living in section five of Voidland. I can take you to her, it's good to stay with family in a place like this, I can brief you more on the ride over". Newton leads me to the roof of the enormous building where there are many small aircrafts lined up in rows, all uniform in shape, size, and color. In the distance I see two large murals painted on the sides of two buildings right next to each other. The signature on the left mural was signed "Bob Ross" and the mural on the right was signed "Van Gogh." "There must be a lot of great figures from history in Voidland huh Newton?" Newton replies "Yes-sir you see this massive dome encompassing the whole of Void-land several miles above us? That was the combined genius of Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. This place is a utopia filled with great philosophers such as John Locke. Our scientific achievements have long passed the primitive stuff we used back on earth." "Where did all these resources come from?" I ask. "Great question," Newton replies. "We have harnessed the power of the void in order to create resources, from that very same resource. This gives us an endless supply of whatever material we can dream of. Void-land has a very storied history, as you might imagine. The first resources were taken off the person of the first people to arrive here. I was told that Voidland was started on a large rock that was floating in the void, the rock has since been dubbed 'Miracle Rock.' The early science here was very primitive as there was limited resources and lack of scientific mind and technology, but with everyone that comes to the void not being bound by death, there was infinitely more room for growth scientifically than there ever could be on earth. The science really didn't pick up until top minds such as Edison were found. That's just the shorthand version of our history, I can recommend you some books or documentaries if you like. Come now we must get in the craft." Newton motions me over as the dome on the vehicle lifts to reveal two seats, I sat in one of them and Newton, in the other. "Don't worry." he said. "This plane is automated."

We traveled through the air at an impossible speed. Newton was happy to answer any question I threw at him, we even shared some laughs as we told stories from the times we were alive. Finally the plane came to a full stop and touched down near a large gorgeous house. "Here we are at your great grandmothers" Newton said. "She lives here with her brother and mother. Fair warning that age is not a thing in a Voidland, everyone simply looks the way they would in their mid twenties. And now I must bid you adieu, I wish you luck on your endless journey Doug." I say my goodbyes to Newton as he hops in the craft and leaves. I then look at the large house in front of me. Glorious pillars extended from the roof to the porch, flying buttresses extended from the sides of the house, a true marvel of architecture. I stand outside the door with my heart palpitating rapidly. I summon the courage to ring the bell, ready to go wherever this journey will take me.