I’m not sure when the darkness surrounded me.

I remember a soft light before it, a warmth caressing my skin. Now I was alone, my feet floating below me, not able to reach any type of solid ground.

I should have panicked, should have called out for someone…anyone, but there was this overwhelming feeling of happiness. Pure and unconditional.

I existed there, in the void, for what felt like eternity. The only unnerving part was the fact that I had nothing to see, nothing to enjoy. The thought of the things that brought me joy caused a sense of grief, mixing with the peace the void also brought, like a big pot of emotional soup. I felt myself melting under the weight of all that I was feeling. As the sensation from it all hit its climax, my mind began to explode. Not literally, no. But the pressure around me thickened and a series of twinkling lights, fireflies I imagined, darted across the nothingness. They moved faster than anything I’d ever seen until they came to an abrupt stop.

At once they all filtered together, forming a line of light directly in front of me. I followed the illumination with my eyes and the light focused on an object. The object sat against a brick wall. I felt my eyes widen, with curiosity I reached out to touch the surface, running the tips of my fingers against the rough texture until I could feel the object. A phone.

The phone was mounted to the wall but I could not make out any attached cords. This seemed to have baffled me more than the darkness itself. Next to the phone I could just barely see a note fluttering in the nonexistent breeze. I gently grabbed it, my nerves building by the minute. Bringing it closer I saw a familiar handwriting.

Mine.

It was clear as day; the curve of the ‘W’, the hard shading of the ‘O’. But what did it mean?

“When you are ready, He is only a call away.” I read aloud through a whisper.

A smile formed on my lips, though I don’t know why. I had this urge to grab the phone and bring it my ear, to let it carry me away into something more. I wrapped my fingers around the handset and put the receiver up close. Static rang in my ear before a voice, low and foreign, cut through it.

“It’s time.” The voice said and the darkness peeled away with such ease.