At Heaven's Gate

Dying doesn't feel like anything, Gregory had learned.You don't experience pain, you don't see a bright light, and you don't see yourself sailing above your body.His last memory before dying was coming around a corner on Highway 16 on his way home from the casino down almost $2,000.He was telling himself that it was the last time when a seven-foot moose stepped onto the road and gave him just enough time to swerve off the mountain road and soar into the heavens.One moment he was airborne above the ravine, and the next, he was standing single file with hundreds of thousands of other people somewhere in the clouds.Heaven looked like you'd probably expect.A golden gate glittered at the entranceway and a light glowed through its bars so intensely that the other side could have been the sun's surface.On either side, spiraling watchtowers made of the fabric of the clouds rose like stalks of corn before harvest.To be honest, Gregory hadn't thought that there was a Heaven at all.He had denounced the idea around the time his friend Traveis died in a motorcycle accident 15 years ago.Since then, he had resigned himself to the idea that there was nothing more than life than work, regret, and the blackjack tables at The Lucky Duck Casino and Lounge.As Gregory stood in line, he peered around the shoulder of the middle-aged woman standing in front of him.It was difficult to say how far the line extended since it winded in a seemingly endless series of S shapes.When he squinted, he could barely make out a green road sign with an arrow pointing downwards and the words "Hell -390,000 km." "This is going to take an eternity," shouted the woman in front of Gregory after several months without moving.It didn't take an eternity, but it did take two years before Gregory could make out the booths at Heaven's passport control.Time passed slowly for the first six months but started to move faster when he started chatting with the man behind him."So, how'd you die?" the man asked him.