By: Ms Missy B ©️September 16, 2024
Chapter 1: The Rope Snaps
Selina never imagined it would end like this. Then again, she had stopped imagining any kind of future a long time ago. The room felt too quiet, like the world was holding its breath. She stared at the rope, at the way it hung from the ceiling, at the way the light bulb flickered—an almost ironic last hurrah from the universe.
The chair beneath her wobbled slightly, and she took a deep breath, hands trembling as she balanced her weight on the edge of the seat. It had to be today. There was nothing left for her. She was done. The people she loved had drifted away, her job had been reduced to mind-numbing monotony, and the booze—well, that was the only thing that stayed loyal.
One last deep breath.
Her foot kicked the chair away.
And then… nothing.
No darkness, no final curtain call, no release. Just the loud crack of wood splintering and the rope snapping like some cheap movie prop. Selina’s body crumpled to the ground with a thud, knocking the wind out of her.
“Seriously?” she groaned, gasping for air as her head throbbed. It figured. She couldn’t even do this right.
For a moment, she lay there, eyes closed, waiting for something—anything—to happen. Wasn’t she supposed to be dead by now? But when she opened her eyes, it wasn’t her dimly lit apartment she saw. She wasn’t even sure where she was.
Selina sat up slowly, her head spinning, and took in her surroundings. The room was… well, it wasn’t a room. It looked like a waiting area from some outdated hospital—gray walls, plastic chairs lined up neatly against one side, and a receptionist’s desk up front. A dull hum filled the space, almost like elevator music but worse, and everything had an eerie stillness to it.
“Hello?” she called out, her voice echoing.
A figure appeared behind the receptionist’s desk—a man in a crisp, white suit, his hair slicked back like he’d just stepped out of a 1950s ad. He looked up from the massive book he was flipping through and raised an eyebrow.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” he said, his voice cool but not unkind.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” Selina muttered, her hand instinctively going to the spot on her neck where the rope had been. But there was no rope now, no bruise, nothing. Just her. Alive. Or… maybe not.
The man gave her a sympathetic smile. “Purgatory. You’re in purgatory. But it seems there was an oversight.”
“An oversight?” Selina echoed, getting to her feet. “Like I’m on the wrong list? Can you just send me back? Or… you know… send me down?”
He closed the book with a soft thud and stepped around the desk. “That’s not how it works. Purgatory is for those whose stories are unfinished. You’ve got some things to work through, Selina.”
Her stomach twisted. She had been hoping for an escape, not more work. “What things? I’m done. I tried to—”
The man held up a hand, stopping her. “It’s not about what you’ve done. It’s about what you haven’t faced.”
Before Selina could ask what that meant, a small black cat appeared at her feet, as if summoned by her confusion. The cat stared up at her with unsettlingly intelligent green eyes. Selina squinted. “Radar?”
The cat’s tail flicked, and to her utter disbelief, it spoke. “Yes, it’s me. And you’ve got a lot to figure out. But don’t worry—we’ve got all the time in the world.”
Chapter 2: The Therapy Circle
When Selina thought of purgatory, she imagined something a little more… fire-and-brimstone. Or maybe clouds. Lots of clouds. Not this strange middle ground where everything felt like a hazy, half-remembered dream.
Radar—the talking cat, yes, she was still processing that—led her down a narrow hallway until they reached a small room. Inside, there was a circle of chairs, occupied by people who seemed as confused as she was. Everyone had an animal companion—just like Radar—sitting beside them or on their laps. Dogs, birds, a ferret. The whole scene was surreal, like a bizarre group therapy session at the world’s strangest pet shelter.
“Take a seat,” Radar instructed, hopping onto one of the empty chairs.
Selina hesitated before sitting next to him, her eyes scanning the room. It felt too real to be a dream, but it didn’t feel like death either. The people around her all looked… tired. Like they had carried the weight of something unbearable for too long.
A man in a flowing white robe, with a calm presence that screamed “therapist,” stepped into the circle. “Welcome,” he said. “I’m Micah. This is your space to work through what brought you here. Each of you carries something heavy. Today, we’ll begin to unpack it.”
Selina’s stomach knotted. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about herself. She didn’t belong here, not really. Right?
Micah gestured to a young woman across from Selina. “Kelsey, would you like to start?”
The woman, who was clutching a poodle to her chest, nodded slowly, her eyes downcast. “I guess it started with grief,” she said, her voice soft. “My boyfriend died last year. Overdose. We were both in recovery, but after he died, I… I couldn’t handle it. I relapsed, just once. I didn’t mean for it to go that far.”
Her voice cracked, and the poodle licked her hand, offering some form of comfort. “It was an accident. But now I’m here, and I left my son behind. He was all I had left.”
Selina shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Kelsey’s pain felt raw, like it had only just happened. She wasn’t sure how to respond, but thankfully, Micah stepped in.
“Thank you for sharing, Kelsey. Grief often clouds our choices. But we’re here to work through that.” He turned to the young man beside her. “Chris?”
Chris was sitting with a Labrador at his feet, his hand gripping the dog’s fur. He looked like he had been carrying the world’s weight for far too long. “I don’t even know where to start,” he said. “I had everything. Soccer. Scholarships. And then… one night at a party. Things got out of hand. There were accusations.” He swallowed hard, staring at the floor. “I couldn’t deal with it. My parents… they didn’t need more problems. So, I made the decision for them.”
The room fell silent, the weight of Chris’s words hanging heavy in the air.
Selina felt her chest tighten. These were real people, real stories. And they were just like her. She had been ready to escape, to vanish, but now she was being forced to confront the very thing she had tried to avoid.
Radar nudged her leg, his voice low and gentle. “Your turn will come. You can’t run from it forever.”
But the truth was, Selina wasn’t ready to face it yet.
Chapter 3: Familiar Ghosts
Selina wasn’t sure how much time had passed. Days? Weeks? Purgatory didn’t seem to operate on a normal schedule. Every morning she woke up in the same hazy twilight, with Radar curled at her feet. Every day, the therapy sessions continued, and she listened to Kelsey and Chris unravel their stories, their pain slowly lifting.
But her own story stayed buried.
“I don’t belong here,” Selina muttered to herself as she wandered the dimly lit streets of this strange dreamlike world. The buildings looked like pieces of her memories—her old apartment, her high school, even her childhood home—twisted and blurred around the edges.
“Selina?”
She froze at the sound of the voice. A voice she hadn’t heard in years. Slowly, she turned around.
Standing there, bathed in the soft glow of streetlights that seemed to appear from nowhere, was her mother. But that was impossible. Her mother had died when Selina was still in high school.
“Mom?” Selina’s voice cracked, her legs trembling as she stepped closer.
Her mother smiled, a sad, gentle smile that reached her eyes. “I thought we might see each other again.”
Selina’s heart pounded in her chest. This couldn’t be real. “How are you here?”
“I’ve been waiting,” her mother said softly. “But I’m not staying long. I’ve been accepted. I’ve moved on. But I’m allowed to talk to you before I go.”
Tears welled up in Selina’s eyes, the weight of everything she hadn’t said, hadn’t done, crashing over her. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“I know, sweetheart,” her mother replied, stepping closer and brushing a tear from Selina’s cheek. “But you have to forgive yourself. That’s the only way you’ll make it through purgatory. You can’t carry this guilt forever.”
Selina’s chest tightened as the words hit her, and for the first time since she’d arrived, she felt like maybe—just maybe—there was a chance for her too.
Chapter 4: Selina’s Story
The next morning, Selina woke with a weight in her chest. Today was the day. She had spent enough time running, enough time hiding from the truth. Radar hopped onto her shoulder as she made her way to the therapy circle.
Micah greeted her with his usual calm presence, and this time, when he asked if she was ready, Selina nodded.
“My name is Selina, and today is my first day in purgatory.”
The words felt strange leaving her mouth, but they came anyway. And slowly, painfully, she began to unravel her story. The drinking, the isolation, the hopelessness that had led her to that final moment. The chair, the rope, the split-second decision to leave everything behind.
When she was done, the room was quiet.
Micah nodded gently. “You’ve taken the first step, Selina. You’ve faced the truth. Now, we can begin.”
Chapter 5: The Journey Forward
Purgatory wasn’t a place of punishment—it was a place of growth, of understanding, of letting go. And as the days passed, Selina started to see the truth of that.
Kelsey found peace with the son she had left behind, and Chris began to confront the weight of his guilt. And though they still had work to do, Selina knew she wasn’t alone in this journey.
But there was still one final step she had to take—a step back into the world of the living.
The gate appeared before her one evening, bathed in soft, ethereal light. Micah stood beside it, his hand resting on the latch.
“You’re ready, Selina,” he said softly. “You’ve faced your past. Now it’s time to face the future.”
Selina’s heart raced, but this time, it wasn’t out of fear. It was out of hope.
Radar rubbed against her leg, his familiar presence grounding her. “You’ll be okay. I’ll be with you, always.”
With one last breath, Selina stepped through the gate.
Chapter 6: A Second Chance
Selina’s eyes fluttered open, and this time, it wasn’t the fog of purgatory she saw. It was her apartment—the real world. The broken rope still lay on the floor, but she was alive. She had made it back.
As she sat up, the weight in her chest felt lighter. She had been given a second chance, and this time, she wasn’t going to waste it.
Radar, curled up on the couch, blinked at her lazily. “You did it.”
Selina smiled, her heart full of something she hadn’t felt in a long time: hope.
She had faced purgatory. Now it was time to face life.
THE END
Epilogue: The Gatekeeper
Years later, Selina found herself in a different kind of therapy circle—one filled with people who were struggling, just as she had once struggled. She wasn’t a therapist, but she was something else—a guide, a friend, a voice that reminded people that their stories weren’t over yet.
And every now and then, when the world grew quiet, she could almost hear the echo of purgatory, a place where lost souls found their way back to the light.
But Selina wasn’t lost anymore.
She was living.
And that, she knew, was the greatest gift of all.