2. Paradise

I believe in one god the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. As a catholic, I believe that there is a heaven. Of course, if you are not a catholic, you have Allah, Buddha and so on. I grew up in a Muslim country – mixed with Buddhist and Hinduism – so I am sure when your time (your intended time) is up; they will take you to Paradise with them. But anyway, my mother told me once that suicide is not the way to go; she told me that if I ever thought or did suicide I would not go to heaven – or Paradise, as I would call it – because it is a sin. Think about it, would you prefer Paradise, where all is well and beautiful, or hell, where all is the opposite? I would certainly want to go to Paradise.

When they had gone down through the stairs and out the building, Suzy looked at the busy people of Manhattan. They went by their lives, unaware of the transaction that had occurred up on this very building. They passed her by like an invisible being. Occasionally though, they would bump on her shoulder, which somehow made her feel better; it told her she was still alive. Looking up at the sky, Suzy smiled. Perhaps a sign, she kept repeating to herself like a mantra.

“What are you looking at?” Myungsoo nudged.

Suzy shook her head and replied softly, “Nothing.”

Myungsoo snorted. “Suzy?”

“Hm?”

“Do you believe that there is a paradise after this life; A God in heaven?”

There was a pause; wherein Suzy contemplated the answer to that question. Did she believe that there was a paradise after this life? Was there really a God sitting on a throne with his son that he so greatly sacrificed for mankind? She had heard the story from her mother when she was younger; she had seen the statues in churches. Still, the question remained unanswered: was there a God and was there paradise after this life?

“I do,” Myungsoo said, snapping her train of thoughts. “I believe that there is paradise after this life; I believe in God, the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe that when my time is up he will take me there, and I will be granted eternal rest.”

Suzy looked up at the sky above and smiled. “Do you really?”

“My mother once told me that no matter what religion, we must not result to suicide. If we do, we will not be able to enter paradise. And does that not scare you, Suzy? If not heaven, where? Somewhere ugly, I suppose. That would not be a nice place to go to.”

Suzy looked Myungsoo in the eyes; they were brown, with kindness and a glint of hope. Yet again, she smiled and nodded because she understood what Myungsoo was trying to say. She understood the message he was trying to send her: live, so that one day, when your intended time is up, you will see the beautiful paradise. “Okay, Myungsoo,” she told him.

The boy smiled and nodded. “It’s getting late. Come, we’ll go to my place to rest.”