Paint Me Beautiful Horizons

Adam’s had this job for a while. Well, he’s not really sure if you’d call it a job - more of a calling; his destiny, really. In all his time as a Soul guardian, he’s seen just about everything imaginable - heavens that are full of anything from video games to oceans of kittens. He’s watched as every Soul’s heaven shifts from what made them happy during their living years to the wonders they’ve discovered since their passing. One thing, though, always remains the same; the vibrancy and excitement permeating it all.

That’s why, he supposes, his Soul catches Adam’s eye; because he’s so vastly different. Adam doesn’t know the name he was given while he lived and to be honest it doesn’t matter to him but if he’s learned anything watching his Souls it’s that they all love to name things - stake their claim. He doesn’t though. Not once.

When his Soul first arrives, Adam’s more than slightly excited to expand his responsibilities, help guide another Soul and ensure they spend their afterlife happy. He knows nothing about what brought this Soul to Heaven; of shivering in motel bathtubs, gasping for breath, fumbling with pills through alcohol-bleary vision until finally it all stopped and he was free. What Adam does know, though, is that this is the most peculiar heaven he’s ever come across.

Unlike the usual abundance of colours and sceneries stretching as far as the eye can see that he’s usually confronted with upon visiting his other Souls’ heavens, Adam finds himself in a single room. He tries to sense past it, to take in what wonders or comforts the Soul has unconsciously created but - there’s nothing. Just this dark, chaotic room covered in wood panelling and carpeted beneath mounds of clutter with a single, small window tucked up near the ceiling that lets in such a blinding light he can’t make out anything beyond it.

It unnerves him, to be honest, but he brushes it off as a result of not having had a new Soul in so long. If he thinks hard on it, he can remember that the others did something similar - their worlds only stretching out from the familiar after a bit of time. But something feels off, here. With the others, there was always the promise of more to come; the hint of a shadow beneath a door, detailed scenes beyond the windows. Here, though, there’s nothing. From the whited-out single window to the darkness that creeps beneath the door leading up from the basement, it’s not so much a blank canvas waiting to be painted as the definitive border of where things come to a halt.

He’s so taken with this odd choice of happiness that the Soul has manifested without his notice. Adam’s sure this is the form he took during his life, as all Souls initially do, and wonders how long it will be before he sheds his former visage and creates his true self as he desires to be seen. Half buried amongst the piles of dirty clothes and books precariously balanced on the bed, a black-haired lump shifts enough for Adam to catch a flash of pale chin before it’s buried back under the blanket.

Perhaps this heaven isn’t the kind that he’s used to but Adam can see and feel the sheer contentment rolling off the Soul in faint baby blue waves, pulsing through the room to warm it. It leaves Adam without a doubt in his mind that this is where the Soul wants to be, and that brings a bright, pleased smile to his face. Sure that for the moment nothing is required of him, Adam leaves the Soul to rest and enjoy his haven when a sharp tug under his lungs alerts him to the requirements of one of his other charges.

The buried bundle doesn’t notice the angel watching over him, too foggy with relief and happiness to register much beyond the safety of his room.