• “Zarek, Zarek…” whispered a voice. Zarek sat up in bed, gasping for breath, sweat dripping off his forehead. He looked around the room hastily, shadows slowly creeping to his bedside. He fell across his bed and desperately tried for the lamp. With each turn of the switch, the room remained dark.
    Shadows turned to remorseful memories. Zarek leaving his family for business meetings; his wife developing breast cancer, his wife dying a few months later, his children taken from him for custody purposes.
    “Leave me be, you monsters!” he shouted at nothingness. He jumped out of his bed and ran to his window. The large window overlooked the city, and practically inhabited the entire wall. Zarek’s hand began to fog the pane with heat, his breath showing on the cold glass.
    “Zarek,” the bleak voice hissed again. “Why do you forget?” The glass shattered before Zarek, sending him into a helpless fall towards the bustling streets of Time Square. Zarek screamed, but not a sound came out. He saw the sidewalk approach faster and faster. With the impact, he was enveloped in darkness. He landed roughly in a white room, with no doors or windows. Only he and a cloaked figure stood in the room.
    “So kind of you to drop by, Zarek,” hissed the man. “So why did God take your wife and children? Was it something you did?” A grin flashed under the man’s hood.
    “No, I can’t listen to you. It’s all a lie! I did nothing wrong!” shouted Zarek. He gripped his head with sweaty hands. He pulled his hair; he doubled over in pain as each memory flashes before his eyes. His wife pleading for him to stay for their son’s birthday, she crying for an important discussion of her health that he disregarded, his daughter begging him to stay for her graduation.
    “Make it stop! Please, I did nothing wrong! I was only doing my job!” Zarek yelled with all his strength. The cloaked figure turned his head quizzically and appeared at Zarek’s side. His black, dead fingers held Zarek’s face close to his.
    “Such selfish words,” whispered the man. “And you had no part of this? You were the cause.” Again, the malicious smile appeared underneath his hood Zarek felt his body rip apart, pain seared through his mind as each mistake he made echoed through his brain. Suddenly Zarek was at his wife’s bedside. She seemed to look through him.
    “Mara,” his whispered faintly. But she did not hear. He watched his shadow self walk to her side. Her face, pale as death, crinkled into a weak smile. He saw himself place flowers by her on the table. He remembered this all to well, and he would never forgive himself for such cruelty.
    “Why didn’t you tell me about this?” Zarek heard himself ask roughly.
    “Oh Zarek,” she muttered softly. “You don’t think I didn’t try? You said you never had the time,” her smile faded back into her delicate features. A single tear streaked down her face.
    Zarek turned his head and blocked out what was said. He could not bear to watch this again. When he looked back, he saw that his former self had stood abruptly and left the room, knocking the flowers down in a fit of rage.
    “Well Zarek, you have a cold heart, if one at all,” said a smooth voice behind him. He swiveled in his spot to see a kindly man leaning up against the wall, casually. Lavish red hair, tied loosely in a ponytail, framed his bold features. A valiant halo hung over his head. His green eyes pierced through Zarek’s being, which made him look down shamefully.
    “Your not here to haunt me too, are you?” Zarek choked
    “Haunt you?” he threw his head back and laughed. “No, no. I am here to give you a second chance.” Zarek looked at him questioningly, not entirely gripping at what was being said.
    “There is no hope for you with him, Zarek,” the empty voice screeched behind him. Zarek turned with a start and stared horrified at the cloaked man. “I am your god of second chance.” Horns emerged from beneath the hood and piercing eyes challenged him. He turned back to the other and was caught at a crossroad.
    “Zarek,” the angel said. “If you come with me, you will be safe. God cares for all his children.”
    “Zarek, I can erase your pain. It will be as if nothing happened, no death no suffering,” smooth-talked the demon. “No memory of any of this happening. You will have everything you ever wanted, with no recollection of this phenomenon.”
    “This is your choice Zarek. I can redeem you of your mistakes,” the angel whispered. Green eyes looked into his, pleading for an answer.
    “If you follow him, you will only suffer more death,” trailed the velvet voice of the demon. “You will be tricked”
    Zarek’s mind raced furiously. His haunting nights had lasted over a decade of his life. Who do I believe? I have lost faith in the Father, but has the Father lost faith in me? But if I go with the angel, I might be fooled. The demon proves a much likelier cause….
    His thoughts ceased. With both powers breathing down his neck, he made a decision.
    Zarek was driving down Time Square in his new Mercedes. He stopped at a red light and waited while the other half of the busy streets came to life with people and roaring engines. The light turned green. He began to edge forward, reaching down to his cup of coffee. Suddenly, there was a clash of screeching tires and torn metal thrown all around the square. Seatbelt snapping, Zarek flew forward through his windshield and the car was thrown over his ragdoll tumble. The Mercedes landed next to Zarek’s bloodied body with a squealing shrill of steel and glass. He lay there, listening to the sirens of the approaching ambulance, listening to his racing heart. Zarek’s eyes began haze over with tears of pain and anger. The light that filtered into his eyes was blocked by a figure. He recognized him immediately as his red hair caught fire in the morning sun.
    “Not quite the wisest of choices, Zarek,” the angel said lightly. “Is this what you had in mind?” Zarek stared at him through squinted lids, blood pooling next to his skull.
    “This can’t be real,” he whispered hoarsely. He strained to move his arm to his face, but could not. “I made the right decision.” He coughed, blood spilling from his mouth. The realization hit him. “I made the selfish decision.”
    “As I said before, God helps those who need it most. Allow me to give you the final chance. The real chance.” Before Zarek could protest, the angel touched his shoulder lightly and he was enveloped into a sheet of white light.
    “Zarek, oh will he be okay?” Zarek’s faint hearing made out a woman’s voice. Mara’s voice. Blinded by the brightness of it all he made a slight groan and sighed heavily. He heard his wife gasp. “Zarek! Oh, Zarek, you’re alright!” he felt his wife’s tender lips on his face. His eyes opened widely as he saw his son and daughter eagerly waiting in the corners of the hospital room. Their faces full of concern.
    “The real chance,” he heard the angel say. A switch of places to set things right.
    “Yes Mara, I do believe I will be alright.”