Harrison Lobb

10/14/13
Understanding Death and Dying
The Concept of Heaven
The End: Eddie is a maintenance man at an amusement park by the ocean called Ruby Pier. We
know that his death is creeping up with minute countdowns every few paragraphs. Eddie is gruff old
man and today is his 83
rd
birthday. Eddies job is to keep the rides in working order and making sure they
are safe. One of the rides called Freddys Free Fall had malfunctioned with riders at the top of the ride.
Eddie races over to help and sees a little girl at the bottom where the ride is about to collapse. Eddie
goes as fast he can but is limited by his injured left leg, arthritis, and shingles. He lunges for the little girl
and feels two small hands, a blinding flash of light, and then nothing.
The Journey: Eddie finds himself floating in a undisclosed location where the sky is the shade of
a misty pumpkin. All he could remember was try to reach for that little girl, but couldnt remember if
he saved her. He felt calm, like a child in the cradle of its mothers arms. He couldnt feel emotions.
The sky started to change colors and he found himself floating in the sea. Then he became submered
underwater and then there was only silence.
The Arrival: Eddie awakes at ruby pier but does not feel like the old man he once was. He felt
wonderful. However Ruby Pier was not the one he just departed from, it was the one from his youth. He
looked like the same old man but felt incredible; he felt limber and had no pain in his leg. He then hears
an announcer for a freak shower he heard when he was a child. He enters the theatre to find a man with
blue skin who says, Ive been waiting for you.
1
st
Person and Lesson: The first person Eddie meets is known as The Blue Man but his name is
Joseph Corvelzchik. He is a Polish immigrant, who was prescribed silver nitrate for his nerves, but he
took too much and it turned his skin blue. He lost his job at the factory and was employed with a
sideshow called The Curious Citizens. One day he had borrowed a friends Ford Model A to practice
driving when a young Eddie runs in front of the car while chasing an overthrown baseball causing Joseph
the swerve and the jolt of adrenaline killed him. The lesson that Eddie learns is that there are no random
acts. Everyone is connected.
2
nd
Person and Lesson: Eddie finds himself in a battlefield where he finds his dog tags atop a rifle
and a helmet. He finds the burnt remains of a village that has haunted his dreams, then appears his
Captain from the war. They discuss the men from their company and when they were captured and
held in awful conditions, forced to kill their captors to escape. During the escape they are burning the
village when Eddie sees a shadow and is determined to try and save what he thinks is a small child. He is
halted by a bullet ripping through his left leg. The lesson the Captain taught Eddie was that sacrifice is a
part of life.
3
rd
Person and Lesson: Eddie is transported to a diner where he sees his dad but receives no
acknowledgement. He then meets the third person, a gaunt old woman with narrow blue eyes. She told
him a story about a man named Emile who used to court her and eventually married. Emile wanted to
capture eternal happiness and built her an amusement park and named it after her, Ruby Pier. She
taught Eddie that Holding anger is poison and Eddie had the opportunity to apologize to his father.
4
th
Person and Lesson: Eddie is transported yet again to a small room with only a stool and a
mirror, which when looked into the room expanded into a row of doors, each door lead to a wedding
ceremony of a different nationality. One wedding a woman holding a basket of candy-covered almonds
comes up to Eddie and he realizes its his wife Marguerite. They continue to go through doors attending
numerous wedding ceremonies talking about the past. She taught Eddie that even though life comes to
an end, love doesnt.
5
th
Person and Lesson: Eddie is now surrounded by only white and silence. Then ground appears
and he can see children playing and he saw a young girl standing on top of a white boulder waving at
him. She appeared to be Asian and between five or six years old. Her name is Tala. She says that Eddie
burned her and her skin turned charred and scarred. She told Eddie to wash her and as he did her skin
began to return to a normal state. Eddie then discovers that the hands felt after his death were not from
the little girl he tried to save, it was Tala pulling Eddie into heaven. Tala teaches Eddie that his lifes
purpose was protecting the children who came to the amusement park.
1) The lesson of forgiveness I believe was the most crucial for Eddie to learn. The contempt he
had for the stains his father left on him forced him to adopt his fathers old life and stop pursuing his
dreams. To be able to forgive his father allowed Eddie to move on from what held him back most in life.
2) Ruby was my favorite person and lesson. It was exciting to find out she was the muse for the
building of the amusement park that entrapped Eddies life and how much pain it brought to them. Her
lesson was also the most critical in my opinion for Eddie to learn to forgive someone who had brought
him so much hate and pain.
3) For me, I do not believe in heaven. However, the idea that you get to choose your heaven and
go through a journey that explains your existence and reflect on the people that not only impacted you
the most, but who you affected as well is very consolidating and intriguing.
4) Up to this point in my life there would only be one person I would like to meet; my twin
sister. She was the person most like me I could ever know and I hardly knew her. I feel lost and I dont
what lesson I need to learn but I would hope I could be provided with directions.