On Cloud Nine

Ted had to admit it, he just wasn't having any fun now that he was
in Heaven. He was grateful for being there of course, but he'd been in
Heaven for almost a week now and he was beginning to think that it
wasn't half the place it was cracked up to be. He'd finally come to
terms with the fact that he was now, to all intents and purposes, dead.
He didn't have any choice but to accept his death, but he had taken it
pretty well all the same. He knew he probably wouldn't ever see the
earth again and that upset him a little, but other than that he was now
quite used to the idea of having to spend his eternity in Heaven. One
thing that helped this situation was that his cloud had to be the most
comfortable thing he had ever sat on. He'd been sitting on his cloud
for all the time he had been dead and had never once felt uncomfortable
or had to change his position. He had his own harp and a pair of wings
on his back as well as an incredibly tasteful set of cream robes, but
nothing could alter the fact that the whole thing was beginning to get
a little tedious.

Ted had even tried to play his harp a few times, after all, he supposed
that if he was to be in Heaven for eternity he may as well find
something to do. However, playing the harp had proved incredibly
difficult. It seemed to have thousands of strings and Ted didn't have
the faintest clue where to start plucking it, or indeed, if he should
strum. He wondered if everyone who came to Heaven felt as he did and
went through the same problems he was now having. Ted shuddered at the
thought of being this bored for the rest of eternity. He wished there
was someone else who he could talk to, but he hadn't seen a single
other person in Heaven since he had arrived. It wasn't all bad though.
The cloud Ted had wasn't very big, but it accommodated him well enough
and it was extraordinarily comfortable. He had learnt how to move his
wings a little too and felt good for having achieved that much.

And then there was the music. The music that emanated from somewhere
below Ted's cloud. It had to be the most harmonious and beautiful music
he had ever heard. It sounded as though all the greatest musicians that
had ever lived were playing in perfect synchronization. It was truly
incredible. After a few days, Ted had begun to hear voices too - happy
voices, voices of people who sounded like they were having a great
time. Occasionally, Ted would hear laughter too, and recently he had
begun to hear the voices even more clearly.

He was irritable to peer over the side of his cloud to see where the
voices where coming from, but he was terrified of heights. He didn't
like to think about how high in the air Heaven was, but he imagined it
to be unimaginable. He could flap his wings a little, but he certainly
didn't have the confidence to try and fly. He was afraid of falling and
dying all over again. Ted knew he'd done some questionable things in
his life that God may have overlooked when he had died and he didn't
want to risk dying all over again in case he didn't make the Heavenly
grade a second time. He might be finding life in Heaven a little slow
at the moment, but he really didn't want to see what the other place
might be like. However, as he lay back on his cloud in his tasteful
cream robes and pondered over his predicament, Ted started to hear his
name being called from somewhere below him. Over the next few minutes
the voices slowly became louder and clearer as more people seemed to be
calling to him.

"Edward," the voices said. "Edward, come down and join us." Ted was
growing increasingly worried by this point and wasn't at all sure of
what to do. He tried to ignore the voices and pass the time by playing
his personally initialed harp again. The silver letters on the side of
his harp read "Edward Parker" next to two parallel vertical lines with
a small space in-between them. Ted was still perplexed as to what the
two lines could mean, but had decided to overlook this small mystery as
he was sure there was a very good reason for them to be there. The
voices were still calling to him from below and as they became more
insistent, Ted realised he couldn't ignore them any longer.
"Don't be afraid Edward," they said. "Look down and you'll see."

Ted was still very anxious at the thought of falling from his cloud in
spite of all the reassurances, but he eventually crawled to the edge
and looked down. Below him, on a cloud that seemed to stretch out for
miles in every direction, were thousands of people all talking,
drinking, listening to the music and generally having a terrific time.
A group of other people, all dressed in the same cream robes that Ted
wore, were standing on a cloud about ten feet below his own and another
fifteen or so feet above the large cloud. They were looking upwards at
him and when they saw Ted peering over the edge of his cloud, they
beckoned for him to fly down towards them.
"I can't fly!" Ted called down to them.
"Don't worry," they replied. "It's all taken care of. Come down and
join us. You're the only angel not at the party."

Ted was still unsure of what he should do, but then he suddenly felt
the wings on his back begin to flap and lift him slowly up off his
cloud. He was so startled that he was now flying he dropped his harp
and it landed back harmlessly on his cloud. After his initial surprise
wore off, Ted began to gaze around him. He could see millions of other
clouds scattered all around the sky, roughly the same size as his own,
although the biggest cloud was the one that he was now flying towards.
There were more people on the cloud than he could ever have imagined if
he were not now greeted by the sight before him. All the people that
had been calling to Ted also started to fly down from the cloud they
were on to the party below.

As he flew down past his own cloud, he saw that there were two marks
somehow inscribed into its side. They were two parallel vertical silver
lines, with a small space in-between them, exactly like the ones etched
into his harp. Ted wondered what the marks could mean, pondering over
this thought as he slowly drifted down past the cloud just below his
own to the huge white expanse of cloud where the party was being held.
When he landed, his thoughts were lost in the revelry taking place all
around and he joined in the conversations of the people already there.
Someone handed him an exquisite tasting orange coloured drink and a
smile formed on his lips as he suddenly realised why everyone was so
happy.