Anita Maranyeli (1984 - 2020)
There was darkness. And there was a door. And the door led to the theater.
The theater I just entered was the largest I had ever seen. I started wondering where the corners of this gigantic room even were.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Ms Anita Maranyeli!" I was suddenly bathed in a golden light as a voice boomed from somewhere. "A tragic death. A passenger plane crash. But a noble cause for wildlife conservation throughout her life."
I had no idea how to react to the entire audience suddenly clapping at me. Since 2005, I have been involved with the International Parks and Nature Organisation (IPNO). Though I was a Magarati citizen, I had spent most of my adult life across the Isles. To say I was a busy woman would be an understatement. I remembered now how my life had ended. Royal Savannahs International Park in Martenyika. The passenger plane we were in was in flames. The burning flames are all I remember.
I also remembered the conflict back home in Ghale Gaun. After all, my younger sister Numa was in the epicenter of the entire thing. Poor Numa. She lost people on both sides. She lost the man she loved, her friends, her family and now...she has lost me as well...I just hope she does not think of killing herself.
"Please take a seat, Anita Maranyeli."
I still had no idea where the voice was coming from but I decided to take the nearest empty seat I could find. The voice mentioned something about an intermission.
"The last movie only lasted 36 years. Let us hope the new one will last a little bit longer." The woman seated left of me said. "No offense to you."
"So I am really dead?" I asked her and though the theater was still dark, I could see her head nod. "So...you guys have been watching me for 36 years?"
"Watching every second of your life, dear."
"Wow, I feel so violated..." I remained silent for a few moments. Then I had other questions. "Are the other folks on the plane here? What about my uncles? Did they arrive a week ago? Will I be able to see if my sister is okay?"
"The other passengers and the uncles you mention are probably in other theaters. Your sister's life is probably being screened in yet another theater."
"There are many more of these theaters?"
"Yes." Came the reply. "But I have no idea how many other such theaters exist."
"Why are we all in these different theaters? Is it the way we died? Is it the karma we accumulated in our lifetime?"
"Oh dear...Well, I guess nobody mentioned it to you yet. But everyone in this theater is you and not you at the same time."
"So reincarnations?"
"Exactly." I know it was still dark but I felt as though she was smiling. No, I was smiling at myself.
"So we are going to watch an infant and follow the rest of his life for how long he or she lives?" I asked another question.
"Judging by the pattern I am seeing here, it will most likely be a he. The one before me was a man. So was the one after me, who was also the one before you."
"I guess we better remain silent for the film to start..." I said as we all heard the cry of a newly-born infant before the visual set in.
