Billy finally closed his eyes, the weight of sleep beckoning him, his eyelids feeling heavier than usual. The pull on his drowsy eyes became irresistible, causing his hands to relax, releasing the sheets. Then, in a dreamy fog, he heard the caressing whir and soothing sounds of chopper blades coming to rescue him, sensed gentle hands caressing his wounded leg, and in the mist above, saw a kind face beneath a helmet marked with a red cross. When Billy instinctively reached up to touch the cross, he, or a part of him, became unmistakably airborne, looking down and seeing himself in the cozy, nest-shaped center of the mattress.

 

He looked so peaceful, at long last, as he slept.

 

Billy continued to rise higher and higher until the farmhouse, the barn, the windmill, and the small pond disappeared in the dark. Onward he flew, soaring through the atmosphere until Earth was a blue ball in the dark expanse of outer space. His body pulsated with a warmth he had never known, burning so hot that his flesh sloughed off until he became a blue streak of light and energy, emblazoned by fire, flying in the dense darkness of deep space toward a pinhole of light in the far horizon. And as his blue light and energy multiplied, a mysterious force seized control of his flight, guiding him to an inevitable collision with the pinhole. He burst through it at the speed of light, a mighty explosion of red fire lighting the sky and erupting from the darkness as he descended gently into bright sunlight, entering another world, until—

​

***

 

High above the courthouse, Billy gaped in awe at the mass confusion. Then, a haze or fog drifted into the courtroom, obscuring his view. Time slipped away from him.

 

Was it minutes or hours that had passed?

 

He caught glimpses of medical personnel tending to several wounded people in the courtroom and gasped when he saw himself bleeding on a gurney.

 

Billy watched from above as he was loaded into an ambulance and hauled to St. Mary's Hospital. He soared above the ambulance as it raced to the hospital, then floated into the emergency room and watched as a nurse shaved part of his hair with a razor. He grimaced as a surgeon sliced his skull, drilling holes in his head and removing the bone that formed the contour of his orbits and forehead.

 

Billy turned away, sickened, as he saw his exposed brain, and he tumbled into the sky until he was lost in the clouds.

 

***

​

“Billy, you're not crazy. It's all out there in the sky, all that there ever was, all that might have been, and all that will ever be. And, I believe, what you will be.”

 

***

 

“The world is filled with pain because people are free to make choices, and each of us, every single one of us, make choices that inflict pain on others. That’s why the world is nothing but chaos—because every choice hurts somebody. So we must accept all the choices, even those that cause harm to us. We must accept it all. Forgive it all. Because when you finally accept it all and forgive it all, choices can no longer hurt you, the real you, the part that flew to this place. It will be as if all your choices and all your worlds blend into one, and you will achieve your greatest life. Your spirit will find its true home at last.”