I sigh as I walk down the street to my apartment down the block. The smog drifted through the air as I strode through older parts of the city that have been neglected and are not policed. I had just lost my job to one of those stupid robots that had been taking all the human jobs for years now. I never thought that it would happen to me since my manager had the firm belief that humans are superior to robots. But when he died and when his son took over it all changed. The new manager started replacing employees with robots left and right.

I pulled out my phone and started scrolling through my music. The phone had lived with me since I was 21, I'm 32 now. Its screen is cracked, and it has seen its fair share of the toilet bowl. I just haven't had enough money to buy one of the new shiny phones with the cool AIs.

I look up as I approach my apartment building. It probably used to be baby blue before the older parts of the city fell into poverty. But now it is a dull grey with small patches a stained blue on the sides. The windows are dirty, and you can barely see through them.

The door squealed as I opened it and stepped in. I walked across the creaky floorboards up to the stairs and climbed up to my room. My room was a mess. There was a TV in the corner with a chair facing it, the kitchen was horrible I hadn't cleaned for a year and the area around the microwave is filled with junk I took off my jacket and picked up the TV remote, the TV was an older one from 2027, and turned on a show. Hungry I turned to my mini-fridge and pulled out a tin-wrapped taco that could be heated and stuck it in the microwave.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

I pulled out a folder from beneath the junk beside to my microwave and flipped through it until I found what I was looking for. The time that my rent was due. I did not like what I saw. “Fuck! Why does it have to be Friday?!” thoughts raced through my mind of how to get the money to get another month. My paycheck had been cut off by the new manager. An di did not have enough money for the rent. I was counting on the paycheck.

I was interrupted by the fire alarm going off. I looked up and the microwave and the surrounding area was on fire! All my documents were getting burned. The microwave was right next to the door so I couldn't get through there. And the one window in my apartment has a twenty-foot drop.

“Help! Anyone please! Help me! Fire!” I couldn’t hear coming to help me. Panicking I decided to get through the door anyways. I ran towards the door but as soon as I put my hand on the doorknob It got scorched. ” Fuck!” cradling my burned hand I run towards the window and open it. Taking a deep breath and looking at the drop. I might survive and get another job and pay off my rent. Then I jump.

The street rushes towards me and I realize just before I hit the ground. I jumped with my face first. I hit the ground. Pain fills me as I feel my skull pulverizing. The pain falls away. Darkness surrounds me. Then I see a speck of light. The speck grows and grows until I'm enveloped in it. I find myself in a pristine white room with chairs and table. A force draws me to one of the chairs and only now I do I realize that there is a figure wearing a shining gold robe that covers their whole body.

“Welcome to the afterlife”