For Whom the Belle Tolls

Thirty-four-year-old Lily sits in her car, which will not start, grieving and raging after her doctor’s appointment. She is terminally ill with cancer. Though the doctors offered treatment options to prolong her life, she cannot afford them, and she knows she will die. Her mother messages her for news on her diagnosis. Lily’s car starts then, and she mentally prepares herself for the heartbreaking conversation she is about to have with her family.

Lily dies after a rapid deterioration. In the end, she feels relief after suffering and pretending to be strong for her family and friends for so long.

Lily experiences nothingness until she is materialized into a lobby, known as the Front Desk, where all souls are brought after their death to be judged and sorted. The lack of her heartbeat causes her anxiety, but she willfully calms herself and eventually marvels at the lack of pain and swell of energy she feels.

She is greeted by Siedah, a soul who works at one of the desks, who explains that the Afterlife attends to every belief system (or lack thereof) and all souls receive Judgment by the precepts of their belief system.