There is a guy in a grocery store who is slowly realizing that something is very wrong. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s in Hell.

He’s a young man, with jet black hair and a green eye - the other is a milky white. The black hair is combed and clean, and sticks out of the top of the sweater he wears, but the rest of him is a bit rough. His clothes are stained, his jaw is sharp, and the milky white eye is the obvious sign of a lot of violence. <br><br>He walks down the aisle, whistling. He’s pleasant and calm, and he puts the groceries he’s chosen into his basket, including two jugs of milk. He heads to the register, and the young woman working the register smiles and greets him. “That’ll be $8.50” she says.<br><br>He looks down at his wallet, opens it. He moves the money around with his finger, and frowns. He looks embarrassed. “I don’t have enough” he says.<br><br>“I think I’m out too.” The woman at the register says. She opens her wallet. “I don’t have enough money either.”<br><br>The man with the black hair looks around him, embarrassed. He has only $8.25, and he adds in the change from his pocket to make it $8.30. But he is still short twenty cents. He looks at the people around him who are waiting in line, and he clears his throat. <br><br>“Excuse me. I need twenty cents. Does anyone have twenty cents they could spare?”<br><br>The people in the lines look at each other, and they all shrug. “Sorry” one of them says. “I’m short too.”<br><br>“I’m out as well, sorry.” Another says.<br><br>The man with the green and white eye sighs and bites his lip. He thinks for a moment, then he smiles. “I know. I will buy 8.30 worth of groceries. We will call the rest my payment for helping you stock the shelves. How does that sound?”<br><br>The cashier nods. “That sounds wonderful. You are so sweet.” She winks at him. “You’re going to break hearts.”<br><br>He smiles and blushes and takes his groceries. He takes the milk jugs over his arms and he walks out of the store. He walks past the parking lot, where there is only one car, a black car with tinted windows. There are people in it, but none of them look back at him. <br><br>He keeps walking, to the street, where he turns right. He takes this road for a long time, enjoying the air and the sights. It’s a quiet neighborhood of homes, lots of families with children and dogs and barbecues. The houses are all ranch style, one story and long, and they have big yards. <br><br>He keeps walking and eventually the houses disappear. He finds himself walking along a beach, with sand beneath his feet and the ocean in front of him. He looks out over the water and he takes a deep, happy breath. <br><br>He realizes that he has been walking for quite a while, which means he will have to walk for quite a while to get home. He has milk, and the milk will go bad if he takes too long to walk home. The milk cannot be left out in the warm air of the beach, or it will spoil.<br><br>He looks down at the milk. He shrugs and smiles, then he tosses the milk into the ocean. One of the jugs splashes into the water, and the other jug breaks open on a rock. The milk spills into the water, where it dissipates into tiny streams of white that are carried away by the currents. <br><br>He shrugs and he keeps walking, whistling. The beach takes him to a forest, and he walks over the sand covered path of the forest. He reads the signs on the trees, and he chooses a path to walk down. <br><br>This path takes him to a clearing, and in the center of the clearing is a house. The house is huge, it’s made of wood and it has a big yard where a family is having a barbecue. He walks through the yard and he smiles at the people, who look back at him and nod. <br><br>He goes through the front door, past the big window, and inside. The inside of the house is a huge empty space with white walls and a white floor. There is nothing inside except a desk, where a man sits. <br><br>The man is fat and balding, and he looks up from his desk. “Hi Paul.” He says. <br><br>“Hi.” Paul replies. “I didn’t have enough money for the milk.”<br><br>“I know. I gave you a little less money than you needed. But it’s okay! You gave some of your time to help someone else.” <br><br>Paul nods. He thinks for a moment. “But I have to go all the way back home now. I will be out late, and the milk might go bad.”<br><br>“That’s okay. You threw it away.” <br><br>Paul looks at the fat balding man. He’s beginning to get confused. “How did you know that?”<br><br>“I know everything.” The man says. “I can see and hear everything.”<br><br>“But I threw the milk away on the beach. Did we have a beach? I didn’t know we had a beach.”<br><br>The man grins, and he leans forward. “Paul, I have some bad news.” He says. “You died.”<br><br>Paul scrunches up his face. He’s confused, and he doesn’t understand. “What?”<br><br>“You died. You’re in heaven.”<br><br>“How did I die?”<br><br>“You were shot, Paul. You were shot in the head while you were robbing a store.”<br><br>Paul looks confused. He thinks for a moment. “A Convenience store?”<br><br>“Yes, a convenience store.”<br><br>Paul looks concerned, and he runs his hand through his jet black hair. “I knew it was a bad idea” he says. <br><br>The fat man laughs. “Don’t worry, Paul. Some people get something nice, and some people get something… less nice. You’re one of the people who gets something nice.” Paul looks up, and he raises an eyebrow. <br><br>“What do you mean?”<br><br>“Well, usually Hell is flames and burning and suffering. But I think that’s too cruel. That’s why this place is so nice. You can roam around wherever you want, and you can do whatever you want, and nothing will ever change.” <br><br>Paul looks confused. “Hell?” He asks. <br><br>“Yes, Paul. You’re in Hell.”<br><br>Paul looks around him, and he sights. He shrugs, and he turns around and walks away.