Chacone

         Chloe's eyes very slowly opened. Finally, she had woken up. Nothing seemed right, though. Clearly she was in a different place, some place that she had only seen in movies: a white space without walls or doors. What is going on, she wondered.

         Another figure appeared near her. This gentleman was close to 6 and a half feet tall with thick but short cut tresses. He was dressed in all black: slacks, polo, boots, and overcoat.Further assessing the gentleman, Chloe guessed he was about thirty. If I was just a little older, she thought.

         "Hello," the gentleman in black said.

         "Oh! Hello," Chloe replied. "Where are we? This isn't Manchester..."

         The man chuckled lightly. "Well, Chloe, you're in what we call the recovery room."

         "Recovery room?" Chloe asked.

         "It's a place for the newly deceased to mentally come to, if you will. You were out quite a while."

         "I...died?" Chloe asked, now worried.

         "Yeah, you did," the gentleman said. "My name's Luke, by the way."

         "Nice to meet you, I suppose," Chloe said. "Still, I'm dead? I can't quite grasp that. And where are we?"

         "Oh, you are dead. Dead as a doorstop. As for where this recovery room is, well, welcome to heaven."

         "Heaven?" Chloe started. "You have to be kidding me! This is a joke, right?"

         Luke just shook his head in reply.

         "No? This isn't a joke? Wow, the standards to get in must have been lowered. I mean, if I had a dollar for every time I swore, well, why work?

         "Now, now, Chloe," Luke said, "It's not as hard to get into heaven as you might think."

         At this, Chloe's eyebrows perked imperceptibly. From her studies of the religions, it seemed that rising to the great kingdom required a squeaky clean record. While her record wasn't riddled with mortal sins, Chloe was not what Earthlings would call angel material. She had a foul mouth and a temper. Plus, she had become agnostic due to being raised by parents of heavily conflicting branches of Christianity. Thus, by the time she was sixteen, Chloe figured she was bound for purgatory or even hell. Winding up in heaven was the last thing she had expected.

         Still, all she said to this statement was, "Oh really."

         "Really," Luke replied.

         "So...now what?"

         "Well, as a member of the Appointment Committee, I'm here to guide you to your department," Luke said. "See, here in heaven, we don't float on the clouds all day watching those still alive on Earth. We help to carry out God's plan. Yeah, God used to have an angel per department, i.e. faith, luck, animals, business, things like that. These days, though, we have several hundred people working in each department. The Appointment Committee is composed of the original angels, and they decide essentially who does what."

         "That's interesting. How come we don't know about all this on Earth?"

         "Earthbound beings having knowledge of the afterlife would ruin it for us. We'd have a completely different struggle ahead of us if total free will was executed. If Earthlings had a clue, they'd be fighting our actions all the time."

         Chloe stood there for a moment. Then, she started shaking her head. "No way," she said. "This doesn't sound like heaven to me."

         At this, Luke cocked his head asking Why's that?

         "We...angels...we work," Chloe said. "We already did a bunch of that crap on Earth." Her last few words made her blush in shame. She had sworn in front of a seemingly important official.

         Luke smiled. "That's what they all say, my dear. It looks like we still have some work to do on you."


         Soon, Luke and Chloe were on Main Street in a small town in Florida, Chloe's home state.

         "Recognize this place?" Luke asked.

         Looking around, Chloe said, "Yeah. It's Main Street in downtown Avon Park." She turned to face him before continuing. "We're at the bandstand by the Jacaranda. I remember this place from my band days."

         Luke removed a modified PDA and proceeded to bring up some data. "But you lived in Sebastian, about 100 plus miles away," he said.

         "The band did a lot of travelling. We came here for Solo and Ensemble festival one year, my junior year," Chloe replied.

         As she said this, Luke continued to enter commands in his PDA. While he did so, Chloe looked around from her view atop the bandstand. She saw a few other people with PDAs mill around. While a normal sight in most of America, Chloe found it unusual to see so many people wandering around downtown Avon Park with PDAs. The last time she was here, she had snuck away from the high school a mile down the road to the Domino's not far from Route 98. She remembered how...homey the downtown area seemed. The people that dared to brave the cold were quietly talking to each other and not manipulating electronic devices.

         "How long have you been using those Palm-like devices?" she asked.

         "Five years, Earth time," Luke replied. 'The time structure in heaven is a little different than Earth, but no need to rush into that."

         Chloe nodded solemnly and continued to look around. As opposed to the day she snuck out with her friends, it was fairly warm with clear skies. People were everywhere now, some making their way to the bandstand. One gentleman carrying a brown paper sack walked up the stairs of the bandstand and proceeded to walk right through Chloe, who took notice.

         "Luke! That guy...he just walked through me!" Chloe yelped.

         Luke looked up and simply gave Chloe a Look. "Of course he did. You're dead. You don't have a solid form..

         At this, Chloe began to cry. "Oh, God," she whispered.

         "God can't do anything about it," Luke said. "Your death went against his plan, but because humans are still infantile in their comprehension of various natural phenomena, he can't send you back. Everyone would think you rose from the dead. Humans aren't ready for that."

         By this point, Chloe was shaking violently as she wept. Luke decided it would be best if they returned to heaven.


         "Believe me now?" Luke asked upon their return.

         "Yeah," Chloe whispered.

         "Okay. Well, since that's been taken care of, the next step is to show you your room. Judging by your looks, you need to rest and have some time to yourself."

         Before Chloe had a chance to fully take in Luke's words, the duo was in a fairly big room with a clear ceiling that let the sunlight in. The room itself consisted of a small bed, a full length mirror, a walk-in closet, and several computers. Navy blue seemed to be the motif for the room's decorations. A PDA rested on a table by the bed.

         "Your room," Luke announced.

         "Nice," Chloe muttered. "What's with all the computers?"

         "Don't worry about that. You'll find out tomorrow."

         "Uh, okay."

         "Now just stay here for a while. Edna will be here with your dinner in a while."

         "Dinner?"

         "Yeah. You're still a human here. You eat, drink, sleep, and what not, like you did on Earth. We'll talk more tomorrow. Rest up."

         Luke tapped Chloe on the shoulder before leaving, shutting the door behind him.

         Some time later, Chloe was laying on the bed when someone knocked on the door.

         "Who is it?" she asked

         "Edna, " came the voice from the other side of the door. "I have your dinner.

         " I'll be right over."

         With that, Chloe made her way to the door. Upon opening the door, she found a slim older lady at her door holding a tray.

         "Hello, Chloe, " the lady said. "My name is Edna. Mind if I come in?"

         "Um....no," Chloe said, and she stepped aside to let Edna enter the room.

         When she entered the room, Edna was taken aback. The apprentices are getting nicer rooms these days, she thought to herself. She set Chloe's tray on one of the tables near the computer workstation and turned to look at Chloe. She studied Chloe's lithe form and eerily tranquil countenance. Idly she wondered why Saint Valentine had chosen to have her as a new apprentice. To Edna, she seemed too naive, too optimistic for the role.

         "Your dinner is on the table, Chloe," she said. "I didn't just come to bring your dinner."

         "Really?" Chloe asked. Her eyes narrowed at Edna's prolonged stay.

         "I'm here to discuss your duties up here," Edna stated.

         "How would you know what my duties are?" Chloe asked. "I hardly have any idea what they are! Nobody tells me anything around here. Now I have you, a maid telling me what's in store for me. How can I trust you?"

         "Woah, now, Chloe," Edna replied, "First, I'm not a maid. I'm your advisor. I'm the first to know what you'll be doing around here. From the looks of your room, if I didn't actually know what your duty is, I'd say you have a very important job, or at least will later on."

         "Huh?"

         "Think, Chloe. With your history, you think that you'd get all this stuff if you were just a layman up here?"

         "I didn't even think I'd get to heaven."

         "Hmm....." Edna hummed. To her, Chloe was a bit more cynical than her countenance suggested.

         "So you're saying I have something important to do up here," Chloe stated.

         "Well, yes, Chloe," Edna replied. "I'd say that you have a very important job, much higher status than what most people get upon their arrival in heaven."

"What kind of jobs do most people get?"

         "Usually service jobs up here. Cooks, cleaners, secretaries, techs. As opposed to what people think on Earth, things are not perfect up here. They're just better than on Earth. Things break; they get fixed more quickly and work better. We get hungry; food is made and served without wait. That reminds me. You better eat."

         At that, Chloe got her tray. Upon examining it, she found plentiful portions of her favorites: roast beef, boiled cabbage, scalloped potatoes, and chicken noodle soup. She took the silverware Edna had brought along and proceeded to cut a small piece of roast beef.

         "Now," Edna continued, "as I was saying, mostly of the new arrivals get entry level jobs. Some like their jobs well enough, but those that are ambitions and or have good records on Earth have the opportunities to become guardian angels assigned to people all over the world, whether or not they believe in a higher being. After that, there are managerial positions, apprenticeships, minions, department leaders, and then of course God himself."

         Pausing from her hearty meal, Chloe asked,"Interesting, but where do I fit in this arrangement?"

         "Well," Edna said, "you have been blessed with an apprenticeship."

         Chloe nearly spit out a scoop of potatoes upon hearing that statement. "How'd I manage that?"

         "Your record on Earth, from what I can gather," Edna said. "You had a pattern of matchmaking that somehow caught the eye of Saint Valentine."

         "Saint Valentine, as in the same critter for whom Earthlings have created Valentine's Day?" Chloe asked.

         "The same, Chloe. Despite the fact that you are not fond of Valentine's Day, your matchmaking efforts caught Saint Valentine's attention. So, he looked up your expiration date. By the time you were supposed to be here, you'd have been in great shape for a quick apprenticeship. You'd have become a love minion- or as Earthlings call us, cupids- in no time."

         "Well," Chloe interjected, "since I'm dead and there's no way I can return to Earth, do I get to find out how long I was supposed to live and why I was taken so soon?"

         "The second one they're trying to find an answer to. As for how long you were supposed to live, you were supposed to join the elite group known as centenarians, 105 to be exact."

         "Damn!"

         "And you'd have made some successful matches after a marriage and three children. Alas, that's not to be. Still, Saint Valentine had signed you up as an apprentice a year or so back. Thus, he has to take you now."

         The last statement, more specifically the wistful tone in which Edna had uttered it, concerned Chloe. She was beginning to think Edna disapproved of her. Hey, I don't blame her, she thought. If I was in her position, I wouldn't approve of myself, either.

         "Don't worry, Chloe," Edna said. "I know what you're thinking. I don't disapprove of you. I'm more worried than anything. The word of your apprenticeship is going to be tough for a lot of the people around here. Most work very hard to get managerial positions for the guardian angels. I'm worried of jealousy in the ranks. I'm also worried for you, as you're about to inherit a very difficult position. Without love, a lot of the other departments wouldn't exist. If something goes wrong in the department of love, it hurts us all. A mismatched couple upsets the equilibriums of many departments, most specifically fate, new life, and death. It also creates a lot of work for the detectives, those who investigate accidents like your death. It has happened many times, but it's been happening a lot more lately. What is most disconcerting is your age of death. Compared to many apprentinces, you are just born. You don't have much experiences with a wide variety of relationships on Earth, so your job mastery is going to take a lot more time to hone."

         "Sure sounds like I have a hell of a challenge ahead of me," Chloe mumbled in between sips of soup.

         Edna smirked wryly. "Hell has never encountered challenges like the one you are about to face." She then looked at Chloe's empty tray. "Good girl. Now get some sleep. You have a big day ahead of you. I'll wake you when you need to get ready."

         With that, Edna gathered up Chloe's tray and left the room. Once she was gone, Chloe returned to the bed. Many thoughts raced in her mind. I am so lucky! It looks like I get to matchmake in heaven, she thought. Heaven? Yes, I am in heaven.

Intermezzo Vivace