'The In-Between' by Jennifer Lai

The pearly gates of Heaven don’t open when I try to enter. I step back, then forward to activate the motion detector. Nothing. I wave my hand over my head. Still nothing. Not even a light to indicate that I am here. I start to panic, unable to figure my way in. I wonder where I will go if I cannot get in. I poke my face through the iron gate slats and look around. Hundreds of people drink from tiny white mugs, pinky fingers sticking in the air. “You need to wait your turn,” says a heavy-set man on a fluffy white couch behind me. There’s a cigar in one hand, a beer bottle in the other. He points to the Customer Service Counter where I grab a drink and take a number: 15,872,409,964. A voice from above says, “Now serving 53.” I relax on the couch next to him and sip my beer. It’s perfect: sweet and roasty. Or maybe something in between.