Judging the Multitude

M. Stanley Bubien

Let me make one thing clear. I was dead. And I had absolutely no idea where I was.

Fortunately, I was not alone. On either side of me stood a multitude of people. Surely, I thought. One of them must know where we are.

"Excuse me sir," I said, turning to my left, "Do you---" I cut myself short. I was facing someone who looked exactly like me. Glancing left then right, I realized---disappearing into the distance were millions of me!

"Well, I see you've met yourself." A grey-bearded man stepped forward.

"Are you... God?" I asked.

"Well, I like to think so," he answered. "But I'm sure you have more pressing questions." He waved his arm to encompass the multitude. "Mainly, who are all these people?"

I swallowed and nodded.

"Well, they're you of course."

I swallowed again.

"Heard of quantum mechanics? Well, every time anyone makes a decision, the universe splits---creating one universe for the positive choice, another for the negative."

I stared at him.

"To your left stand all the yous from bad-choice universes. To your right, all the good choices..."

Frowning, I completed his thought. "And my judgement is based on how many good verses bad mes there are."

"Well, yes. And you've made so many decisions! You'd better get counting."

I stood stiff. "Counting? Don't you know how many there are?"

"Well, of course not! I don't have time for that. It's entirely up to you."

"But that'll take forever!"

"Well, yes."

Suddenly, I knew exactly where I was.

Copyright ©1996 M. Stanley Bubien. All Rights Reserved.

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July, 1996 Issue #4

256 Words

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