[ WP ] On the day of their death , every human gets to have a vision of meeting the man they could have become .

`` Late to work again,'' grumbled Joshua. 
 Unbeknownst to Joshua, today was his last day on Earth. Stepping on the subway train for the last time, a rather disheveled looking man stepped off of the subway train at the same time Joshua was stepping on. They collided. Joshua, surprised by this clumsy oaf bumping into him, dropped his coffee which spilled all over the man's coat. 
 `` Look at what you've done you moronic fool!'' shouted Joshua to the man. `` Do you know what a coffee costs nowadays? Probably not, because you ca n't even afford one you poor hobo!'' 
 The man looked at Joshua and said, `` I'm truly sorry sir. I did not mean to bump into you.'' 
 `` Well you did, and there's nothing we can do to reverse it. So scram you bum.'' 
 -- - 
 `` Sir, you have a call on line 1,'' said Joshua's secretary. 
 `` Thank you Linda, and can you fetch me a coffee?'' 
 `` Yes sir.'' 
 `` Thanks hotstuff.'' 
 Joshua picked up the phone and replied with his snarky greeting of, `` Yes, what is it?'' 
 A cold voice replied on the phone, `` Joshua Parker?'' 
 A chill ran up Joshua's spine as he heard the voice. 
 `` Yes, and who is this?'' 
 `` Someone you're going to see very soon.'' 
 `` Look, I do n't have time for games,'' replied Joshua. 
 `` You're going to die at 5:38 PM today.'' 
 Joshua immediately hung up. 
 `` I hate crank calls.'' 
 Linda walked in with Joshua's coffee and handed it to him. Joshua took the coffee. As Linda walked away Joshua gave her a firm slap on the behind. Linda turned around and gave Joshua a glare. 
 `` Come on baby. You know you love it.'' 
 -- - 
 Joshua entered the subway station talking on his smartphone. The station was empty except for a few people. Joshua sat on one of the benches in the station and waited for his subway to arrive. A man approached him. When the man was directly in front of Joshua, he took out a gun and pointed it at him. 
 `` Do n't scream, just give me all your valuables.'' 
 Joshua, not being used to situations like this like most people, yelled for help immediately. The man pulled the trigger of the gun, shot and killed Joshua, and then grabbed his wallet and smartphone and then ran. 
 In his final seconds Joshua could have sworn he saw a hooded figure standing on the opposite platform and the last time he glanced at his smartphone he read the time, 5:38 PM. 
 -- - 
 Joshua opened his eyes and found that he was laying on the ground of the subway station he had died in not a moment before. 
 He slowly stood. Around him everything looked the same about the subway. Except there was not a single person in it. At least before there had been a few, but now there was no one. It was completely deserted. 
 The sound of approaching footsteps surprised Joshua and he turned to the stairs of the subway. The hooded figure descended the subway stairs and approached Joshua. Joshua stood still, shocked by everything that was happening.'I must be dreaming,' Joshua thought. He began to pinch himself to see if he would wake up, but to no avail. 
 The hooded figure was now in front of Joshua. He stood at least a foot taller than Joshua, and his face was concealed by his hood. 
 `` I am Death,'' said the figure. `` I have come to escort you to the next life. First though, let's look at what could have been.'' 
 Joshua could not even speak. He was stunned, but eventually he managed to say, `` Am I really dead?'' Death just laughed and then pointed to the opposite platform. 
 Joshua looked but instead of seeing another subway platform, he saw images of his life. They were not the same though. It was him alright in the images, but it was not his life. In the images he was shown helping others and being an all around good person. This was the life of another. Joshua had been the man who shipped his parents off to a retirement home when they began to fall ill and then never visited them again, Joshua had been the man who worked as the CEO for a tobacco company for a quarter of his life, Joshua had been the lustful man, the greedy man, the envious man, the gluttonous man, the wrathful man, the lazy man, and the prideful man. 
 After watching this alternate reality play out, Joshua looked back at Death. Death stuck out his hand and a scythe materialized out of thin air. Death grabbed hold of the scythe. 
 The sound of an approaching train alerted Joshua. When the train stopped, the doors opened and Death pushed Joshua inside. 
 `` This is our train,'' said Death. 
 As they stepped on, the train began to move. A voice over the intercom said, `` Next stop, Heaven.'' 
 Joshua was surprised to hear those words. The train suddenly stopped, and the doors of the train slid open. Joshua began to walk off the train, but Death wrapped his scythe around Joshua's neck and held him back. 
 `` Ah, ah, ah. Ours is the next stop,'' said Death with a cold laugh. 
 

