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Into the Light

Knockin' on Heaven's Door

By James BradleyPublished 5 years ago 2 min read
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Photo by Thomas Willmott on Unsplash

The doctor removed the stethoscope from his ears and, looking at one nurse, shook his head slightly. I felt a sudden shock then, realising the patient had died. Hushed words were spoken as the doctor left the small room and the two nurses began to attend to the deceased.

Standing at the bottom of the bed, I watched their actions, knowing that it was important to learn all of this stuff. That was why I was here after all, right? I was less sure now than I had ever been.

Looking at the man who had just passed away, I knew he seemed vaguely familiar. The sort of sensation one gets on meeting an old acquaintance from years back, when you recognize the face but can’t quite remember the name. There were so many faces and names to remember.

After a few moments, the nurses finished their work and, without a word to me, left the room. I assumed I was to wait there for them to return.

As I looked at the figure on the bed, I felt sorry for him. I was very new to all this, it was true but, all life is sacred after all and here was a life that had just left this world behind and yet I appeared to be the only one feeling the sorrow of his passing.

The silence in the room was deep, almost oppressive and I longed for the return of the nurses if only to have that living presence in the room with me again. My eyes felt heavy, tired. It was very early in the morning now but it wouldn’t do to be found asleep here, would it? Not now.

Suddenly, the door opened and the two nurses entered again. Both moved to the bed and gently placed the body of the man into a white bag which they then closed the zipper on so that it no longer looked like a human figure at all really. As I looked at this, I began to feel a sudden deep, sense of simultaneous loss and detachment that was unfamiliar to me and to which I was quite unaccustomed.

Slowly at first, I became aware of the room getting brighter, a light shining on the bed, illuminating this grim scene and growing in its intensity, as if someone was moving a strong arc light into position. I turned to see where the light was coming from and, as I did so, then I knew, I understood!

With a final quick glance back over my shoulder at my body laying there, I stepped into the light, knowing now that my time here was over and I was about to go elsewhere to start learning all over again…!

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About the Creator

James Bradley

Published Author, blogger and freelance writer.

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