Visions of Whereafter

The story begins when James McKeever finds himself in an unfamiliar place where he is met by an elegantly-dressed man who says that he is his 'Guardian'. James's Guardian takes him to a village where a former colleague, who died recently, is waiting for him. James is taken to a bar to see Elvis Presley and his band play. As a result of his first uplifting adventure among the dead, James decides to write a memoir of his new life. As the memoir unfolds, James meets and befriends a number of people that he admired when they were alive. The most important friendship that James cultivates and treasures results from a visit to a very private family: the Frank family. James strikes up a strong bond with Anne Frank and they meet on a number of occasions in George Harrison's garden, where Anne uses the summerhouse to write. James meets Primo Levi while hiking in the hills above his village. They talk about Primo's writing and his survival from Auschwitz concentration camp. As a result of this meeting, James decides to tell Anne about his visit to Auschwitz, even though the telling of this visit might put their friendship at risk. When several months have elapsed in his new life, James reports in his memoir that he experiences a recurring dream that gives him a greater sense of foreboding each time he wakes from it. This dream becomes more intense and real as time goes on until, towards the end of the story, James begins to question his new existence. The boundary between reality and visions become blurred until James is faced, at the end of the story, with a stark choice. The story is, ultimately, about the vicissitudes of life and the interplay of alternative realities that are revealed at the boundary between life and death.