Life After Death: Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Forms and Registration

     Lydia stepped forward. After waiting hours in line, she was glad to be rid of the weeping cheerleader behind her, who still had the limp noose hanging around her neck. The lady behind the desk before her had scowl lines and looked as if she hadn't smiled once in her life. The lady pushed her half moon spectacles up her aged nose and shoved a form at her.
     "Don't bleed on the tile," she nodded towards the gushing stream of blood advancing down her dress. Lydia rolled her eyes and trudged over the one of the free seats. She glanced over at the boy next to her. He was about her age, he was chewing on his pen, contemplating his form, unaware of the fact he was getting red ink all over his lips.
     "Funny and cute," she thought. Lydia chuckled quietly to herself and looked at her form. Not very lengthy, the usual questions save for a few select questions pertaining to her death and things related.

     Name:
     She sat quietly, staring at the dull times new roman print. She hated her name. Lydia. Who would name their daughter that? It was so weird… She grinned slightly. She could easily just go by an alias. No one would care, she was dead after all. She nodded slightly, silently agreeing with herself. Her green pen scratched across the surface of the paper.
      Name: Aalaea
     She smiled to herself, much prettier than Lydia.
     Age: 17
     Cause of Death:
     Lydia closed her eyes. She could feel the shard of glass lodged in her chest. She could still picture the rolling semi, the bloody face of the driver who had fallen asleep on the highway, inches above her windshield, seconds before she died. No, it wasn't his fault she died. She won't blame him. Anyways, it doesn't matter who did it. There's nothing she can do about it, she's dead and so is he. She shivered as her still warm blood flowed down her body, the hem of her dress soaking in the crimson blood.
      She glanced around the room. Her eyes lingered on the janitor, who was glaring at the pool of blood slowly accumulating at her feet. She gave him an apologetic grin and quickly looked back at her form.
      Cause of Death: Car collision…
      Reason for not "moving on":
She her pen paused, she didn't actually know the answer. She had no reason for sticking around, that she knew of. She sighed.
     Reason for not "moving on": Unknown
     Traits of Identification: Wavy red hair, gray eyes, very pale, blood stained dress
She laughed silently; it sounded like a typical horror movie character, too bad this was real.
Habits or Mannerisms: Talks to self a lot, plays with hair often
Haunting Residence:
Lydia frowned. She hadn't found a residence, after all, she'd only been dead for a few hours, or so it seemed. She wasn't sure.
Haunting Residence: n/a
     She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. It was nearing 3 am. Tick…. Tick…. Tick….  The ancient clock that hung on the wall reverberated across the almost silent room. She could still hear the boy's pen scratching on the paper.

     "ALL NEW COMERS AND IMMIGRANTS, ILLEGAL OR NOT, PLEASE BE PRESENT IN THE ORIENTATION ROOM IN APPROXIMATELY 30 MINUTES FOR A BRIEF PRESENTION OF THE AFTER LIFE. THANK YOU," the booming voice echoed throughout the room. People looked up from their forms and conversations. Some stood up and shuffled to the orientation room, afraid of being late to a presentation that doesn't start for 30 more minutes. She smiled. They reminded her of the freshmen at her high school, or at least used to be hers.  Others went back to filling out forms or their conversations.
      Lydia sighed and leaned back in her chair again. Her eyes drooped; the stress from dying made her very fatigued. The voices started to slur around her, colors mixed as her eyes closed. Then all was silent.