All characters in this blog, including the blogger, are purely fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead, or otherwise, is entirely coincidental.

Eventually, I got to where I could predict when Cosmo would get chatty and Lady Day would come around. For a while, it was mostly when I was taking a shower or putting on makeup, and only when I wasn't in a hurry to be somewhere or do something. I'd leave the bathroom door open so Cosmo could come in, and suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I'd become aware of her sitting there, looking off into space, with her ever-present cigarette. She didn't say much at first—I got the idea that she wasn't really thrilled to be there—but I just kept asking questions, and eventually she seemed to relax and open up a bit. I was especially curious about her current situation.

"Oh, girl, I can't tell you much about that. We're sworn to secrecy. I'll only say I'm here for a while before moving on."

"Is it like, you have to go on guardian angel duty before you get into heaven permanently?

She laughed. "Yeah, I'm Clarence, a pudgy little white guy, and It's a Wonderful Life." She flicked ashes off the tip of her cigarette. "Nah, nothing like that. I'm just here between incarnations, until the next time around."

"You mean you don't go straight to heaven?"

"Heaven's not a place you go to. It's more like something you become. And not without a lot of work. You can't get it all done in one lifetime."

"So you get a second chance."

"And a third, and a fourth, and on and on until you get it right. You didn't think it all depended on one go-round down here, did you? That everything hinges on the choices you make in this life?" She took a long drag from her cigarette. "God's not that small."

"What about animals? What about Cosmo?"

"Dogs are heaven," she said, scratching Cosmo on the butt just the way he likes it. "They're both here and there. They go back and forth."

"Do you remember heaven?" I asked Cosmo.

He looked past me. "Yes, when I'm playing, or running around in circles, free, really fast—or when I'm chewing on a pork rib, or someone gives me a hug, or a beautiful lady talks sweet to me."

"So it's like one continuous state of love and joy all the time," I said.

"Yes, love and joy. But there's no time. Time is a human invention. It doesn't really mean anything." He paused. "Can I have a cookie?"

"Sure, in just a little while.  Be patient."

"Aw, give him a cookie," said Lady Day. "Life's too short to deny the boy a little pleasure."

"Yeah, but if I give in every time he wants, I'll be doing nothing but running back and forth to the kitchen all day."

She laughed. "You'll work it out."

I turned to Cosmo. "So, if heaven is so wonderful, why did you come back here?"

He looked at me with innocent brown eyes. "Love and joy."

I went to the kitchen and got him a cookie.