JT Raper

Purgatory: a place that holds all of those who died before their sins were atoned. It is a vast room, shaped like a dome. The walls feel like they are made of rock, yet they are clearly not, as they exhibit translucent properties. The dead can see images and moving pictures with minimal sound of those that are still living. Over time, entire families and communities and those that are like minded come together to watch their living family members and friends go through their struggles. In the center of the room is a tall staircase, square in shape, that folds back on itself. It climbs high into the dome and disappears into the darkness at the top. The recently deceased will descend those stairs, after the sound of a "door" closing. This happens each time anyone dies...no exceptions. There have only been two that did not, and they are never spoken of in Purgatory.

This short story accounts the lives of the dead before Jesus died, and their possible interactions between the righteous and unrighteous can be found, played out over hundreds of years. They all know what to expect each day to be, but then Jesus is born, and things start to look different. Maybe, there might be room in Purgatory for the one word that has been missing since Abel first descended those stairs: hope.