Meeting

William Berg suddenly found himself in a completely unfamiliar place. The pain and fear vanished in an instant. He was now on a dirt path. He was surrounded by rolling hills covered in grass a beautiful shade of green. The landscape stretched to the horizon. He felt warm and pleasant. The sun shone high in the cloudless sky. Somewhere above, a bird chirped merrily. His orange clothing no longer exuded that unpleasant odor. He only remembered that once, this garment had evoked a strange sense of dread and unpleasant feelings in him. He didn't know what had caused them, though; he only remembered that he had felt something. But it didn't matter now. He felt good. He looked around. The landscape was the same everywhere, and only the dirt path he suddenly found himself on broke the idyllic monotony. After a moment, he set off along it. He walked for a while, basking in the sun and enjoying everything around him. After a while, a small brown spot appeared on the horizon. Gradually, approaching, he realized it was a rock. A man was sitting on it. It was an elderly man. Despite his slight wrinkles, he looked happy. He was smoking a pipe and wandering with absent eyes. He seemed to be pondering something. He didn't notice Berg standing before him.

"Excuse me, do you speak English?" William asked politely. The older man suddenly snapped out of his reverie. He looked at Berg and smiled kindly.

"Does that matter?" he replied, taking the pipe out of his mouth for a moment. "Yes, I did say that once, but here it probably doesn't matter much because we all understand each other anyway.

" "Excuse me, but what exactly is HERE?" Berg asked again. The older man smiled indulgently.

"Here. Don't you have any idea what HERE is? It's quite possible. Sometimes, at first, you don't remember the end of what was THERE. I think it's best if you remember what happened to you THERE. Then you'll understand everything yourself.

"I hope so. And what's your real name?

" "I'm John Tolkien." This time the old man's smile took on a peculiar expression.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm...

" "Wiliam Berg. I know.

" "But... how?" Berg asked, surprised.

"Is it important? I know... What matters is that you're already HERE.

" "Hmm... Is there anyone else HERE?" Berg was starting to get impatient with the old man's secrecy. He now burst into hearty laughter.

"Everyone. At least implicitly. And many actually. Like you and me.

" "So why don't I see anyone else besides you?"

"Don't be so impatient. This will take a while. Sit next to me and enjoy the view." The old man slid down a bit, making room for Berg. The stone itself seemed to stretch slightly, as they both sat comfortably on it. They sat for a moment in silence. Suddenly, the old man casually whispered,

"Oh... look now!" A rather tall man materialized right in front of them. He was bald. He was certainly older than Berg, but also younger than Tolkien. He was wearing some kind of hospital pajamas and slippers. For a moment, he stood staring at them. Terror flashed in his eyes, but it faded very quickly. He looked around. He looked down and slowly touched both of his legs. He felt his spine, and his expression instantly changed. The man laughed loudly and began jumping up and down with joy. Berg and Tolkien had been watching him the entire time. While Berg's face showed surprise, the old man seemed pleased with what he saw. When the man calmed down a bit, he turned to the strangers sitting before him.

"Hello. I'm Christopher Reeve. Mr. Berg and Mr. Tolkien, I presume?

" "Yes. Hello, Christopher.

" "Is it possible?" They burst into another wave of joy.

"Yes. This is...

" "Heaven! This is heaven!" Berg suddenly exclaimed, startled by his own words. "I remember now..." "They shudder. It was terrible..." He suddenly began breathing faster. Panickedly, he began to feel his neck.

"Yes... But it's over. And it's never coming back. In time, you'll understand everything. It will come. William—you left there... in a terrible mental state. Hence this momentary amnesia. But now you understand? In time, you'll understand everything. It will come.

" "What joy it is to be here..." Reeve laughed again. "I left practically without hope."

"What am I supposed to say?" Berg asked in a bitter voice. "How did I die? Was it fair? Imagine how my loved ones must feel. Those beasts... they recorded it all. Not to mention how I felt.

" "That's not what justice is, William. Only HE has the right to decide what is fair and what is not. And we don't even know HIS intentions here yet.

" "It's easy for you to say, John. Your life was simple," Reeve said bitterly.

"Do you consider early orphanhood and participation in the hardest battles of World War I an easy fate? I happened to live a little earlier than you. You don't know what it was like in my time. But everything is bearable. We have to learn to extract the good from our lives. And try to live by that goodness.

" "You were a poet," Berg interjected. "For you, there is only black and white. There are no in-between colors." This way of thinking is convenient, but if you experienced real misfortunes in your life, you would change your way of thinking.

"There's some truth in that," Reeve nodded. "I was the happiest man in the world. And suddenly... that one unfortunate jump. It changed everything. That's when I saw that not everything is so simple.

" "I understood it very clearly, though only towards the end of my life. At such critical moments, one begins to reflect." Berg nodded.

"And yet, by trying to deny what I'm saying, you confirm my thesis. You said, Christopher, that the accident changed your life. And what did you do after the accident?

" "What seemed most important to me—spinal cord research." He replied with a shrug.

"I tell you. Life is something strewn with injustice and meaninglessness. Although I must now admit that in its final destination it has meaning..." Berg said.

"Life is beautiful, but incredibly perverse and at times cruel," Reeve stated.

"I think you should use the past life form WAS... In my opinion, you're partly right, but the most important thing here is HIS will and our own actions related to how we live.

" "But we don't always have much to say..." Berg shrugged. At that same moment, something started to happen. A dozen or so meters away, a point of light suddenly appeared in the air. It began to expand rapidly. When it reached approximately the size of a man, it stopped expanding. Two luminous figures emerged from it, whose faces they couldn't see, and with gestures they invited Berg and Reeve to join them.

"They've come for you. Go with them. You'll learn many interesting things.

" "Will we meet again?" Berg asked uncertainly, his voice a bit frightened. Reeve was already moving briskly toward the two figures.

"Undoubtedly, more than once." The old man smiled warmly. "We'll finish our discussion about life. We have plenty of time.

" Berg reluctantly followed Reeve. They both entered the luminous circle. The figures disappeared and the circle closed.

"Infinitely many, actually," Tolkien said to himself. He put the pipe to his mouth and returned contentedly to his thoughts.