[ WP ] A device has been invented that allows the user to gaze upon Heaven or Hell . Hell is terrifying , and those who see it often need counselling . But their terror pales compared to those who witness God 's domain .

It had been 24 hours since I removed the headset. I sat quietly sipping my coffee as patrons walked in and out. Some of them clearly aware of what I'd witnessed. One elderly chap even patted me on the back. His time, most likely nearly up, he knew what he had to face. Something we on this mortal coil could n't imagine. Unlike our ideas of hell which were very graphic, with violence, demons, fire, and all the other unspeakable thing, our ideas of heaven were usually just simple wishes. Things from our lives that we hoped would stay with us. Our family, friends, pets, sports, music. But once you'd put the headset on, that was it. You knew where you stood in the grand scheme of things. It was n't that what you'd felt before was n't real, but after the headset, it felt somewhat faked. As if your whole life was a big con. Your likes, dislikes, the feelings towards significant others. That place, unending, somehow, despite being immaterial, was, to put it simply, love. Pure love. It made your heart feel like it was going to explode in your chest. If the rush when seeing your girlfriend were like the rush of a stream, this was like a whole ocean smashing into the rocks. Every little bit of you knew you did n't belong there. You knew you belonged somewhere else, isolated from this place. It was terrifying. Utterly so. Both places were so far from our imagination, you could barely motivate yourself to live after the experience. Hell, so lonely. The gnashing of teeth were our own. The flesh, our own. Spending what seems like an eternity trying to climb out. But Heaven, in choosing that path, you were facing your inner demons. Facing all your choices, and being judged fairly on them. That was something I do n't think anyone was ready for. Even the religious. Some would even choose hell over that. But it came back to the love and that terrified even more. That there was a judgement, but you were still loved, unconditionally, unending. And if you accepted that, you could spend eternity in that love. 
 
 I blew into my coffee, took a sip, and began to wonder, which path did I want to choose.
