Evelyn Elmer
The golden streets had been desolate for a long time. Foot, and wing, traffic used to flow like quicksilver throughout the holy city. Triumphant notes woven from voices of angels and strings of lyres used to dance around the ears of many, but now only the lone two strands of music flow from the empty cathedral. The hollow song echoed off the stained glass and lifted shimmering dust off the pews while the two last citizens of heaven watched.
No one quite knew why heaven slowly emptied over the past millennia, only the Lord himself knew, but He had retreated long ago. He never abandoned His kingdom, and those who were left assured themselves that He had His reasons. And He did.
This was exactly what the two left had on their minds as they watched the last strands of a chord fade in the colored light. Considering the fact that heaven was paradise, everyone down on Earth begs to spend eternity here, why exactly, the two left wondered, did everyone leave?
“I wonder,” the first broke the silent spell, “If this is how He felt, you know? Before the creation, before He created Adam and Eve. Seeing this place empty, and wishing it was full?”
“Nonsense!” the other objected, “The Lord had a plan from the beginning, He knew this place would thrive.”
“But did He know that it would empty again?”
There was silence.
“Of course.” the other said softly, “He knows everything.”
The two left sat in dejected silence for what seemed like eternity, and as far as they knew, it could have been. The first who spoke eventually stood up and walked out of the beautiful, white cathedral. The other joined, an unspoken promise conjoined the two in tragedy -- well as close something can come to a tragedy in heaven.
They wandered the abandoned, gleaming streets until they came to the glass lake. The eternal light reflected off the crystal-clear surface creating a soft glow of yellow light surrounding the only window to the universe below. If heaven did not remove all mortal fears, the two left would have felt their stomachs drop as they stepped onto the stars. Instead, they felt nothing as they stared out into The Creation. The vast, extense of the intricate handiwork of Him, an amalgamation of complex sciences and miracles lay out before them. When the two arrived, they stood in this exact spot for the first time reveling in paradise.
Now they just stood. They did so in silence because the two left did not know if it was something said that sent the others away. The quiet was eerie, and it seemed almost temporary as if their brethren were simply hiding. Unfortunately for the two left, they were not. The two were alone. Just them in heaven, and everyone else below.
“I’m scared.” The first who spoke whispered, “Is that possible?”
“I thought not,” the other spoke even softer, “But I was wrong.”
Another long stretch of silence followed, lasting another eternity. The two left did not seem to mind, they did in fact have an eternity of eternities.
“This is no heaven.”
“Blasphemy.”
“Am I wrong?”
An eternity passed.
“Am I? “
“No.”
The simple word struck heavily on the two souls and reverberated through the golden streets.
Heaven fell.
The two left watched the collapse of paradise, it was almost beautiful. The remnants of bliss assured the only consistent order of this sacred place: there are no tragedies. So the two left watched the destruction in awe, as an enchanted play and nothing more. No fear, no guilt, no regret.
“So what now?” The first who spoke stared at the universe below, almost in a sense of longing. “This is no home for us.”
“This is the only home we have.” The other’s voice was final.
The silence that followed, however, disagreed.
“How can you want to leave,” the other’s betrayal was nearly tangible, “when the only place for you is here?”
“This is no life!” The anger in the first’s voice shook the glass they stood on, as if this is the first touch of malice heaven had felt burning her skin.
“You have no life, you lived long ago. This is not life, this is eternity,” the other could feel the searing, unnatural wave rising inside. The other was more successful than the first at holding back, but even angels succumb to sin when heaven falls. “If you want to leave, then go.”
“What?...”
“Go to Hell.”
“And leave you here all alone?”
The two left stared at the ruins, and then down at The Creation below their feet. Heaven represented everything good. But when heaven falls…
Everything in life requires a foil. Darkness needs light to define itself. If one thing defined the universe, there would be no need to define it. It simply is.
So when there is no heaven, there is no hell.
In the spot where the two once stood, there was nothing.
Author’s note – This story was built around a dialogue prompt found on Pinterest. Meaning the exchange “Go to Hell” “And leave you here all alone?” was both not my own words and the inspiration for the concept of this piece.
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