Chance "The Ghost" Loveless, as he liked to think of himself, was born with all the promise of any child. So, what changed him? As Chance began placing his bomb, the fifth of the year, in a maintenance shaft beneath the stadium, he felt no regret for those who were about to die. Chance did feel something akin to joy when looking into the eyes of his victims, both young and old, watching the light leave their eyes and the feel of their souls as they passed from the living into him. He reveled in the mass fear and paranoia of the crowds fleeing after one of his bombs blew up in a crowded venue. Perhaps the anticipation of the upcoming conflagration caused Chance to miss seeing the loose electrical wire. That lack of attention would cost him. He did not notice when the wire made contact with his device, causing his homemade bomb to explode prematurely as he attached it to the main support beam near the gas line going to the central boiler.

   Chance awoke sometime later and screamed. He opened his eyes into a bright, hot sun directly overhead that was beating down on his naked, blistering body. He groggily stood up and looked around. Chance looked down at his new digital watch, which told him it was 7:11 am. The white sand burned the bottoms of his bare feet. Chance found himself standing on a small spit of land surrounded by water as far as he could see. Behind him was a lone small palm tree that was just big enough to give the hope of someday creating some semblance of shade. Next to the palm tree was a crude little table and rough wooden chair. A glass of water, ten saltine crackers, a tablet of yellowed paper, and a pencil stub with no eraser were on the table. Next to the table, he saw hundreds, perhaps thousands of bookshelves filled with books. The first shelf floated just above the sand; the others floated just above the water; they went straight to the horizon. 

 The first bookshelf was labeled:

"Chance, These Books Are a Record of Your Life."

"Welcome to Your Private Version of Purgatory"

"Year 1 Day 1 through 250"

The next shelf was labeled:

"Year 1 Day 251 through 365"

The third bookshelf was labeled:

"Year 2 Day 1 through 261"

  As Chance waded into the ocean to read the label on the fourth shelf, the salt from the water hit his blistered feet and ankles. He screamed from the pain and fell to his knees, which caused more pain as the salt hit other blisters. He crawled from the water and passed out on the shore.

The fourth bookshelf, which Chance did not read until much later, was labeled:

"Year 2 Day 262 through 366"  

The rest of the shelves were labeled, well, you get the idea — many bookcases and a lot of books.

When Chance regained consciousness, he stood, walked up to the table, drank the water through his dried and cracked lips, and ate a saltine. He then went to the first bookshelf and pulled book one off the shelf, picked up a saltine, pulled the chair from the table, sat down, and began to read the book.

   The first page contained just one word, Preamble; turning the page, Chance read:

   Chance, these volumes before you are a record of the many people and lives you had affected by your actions back when you were among the living. It contains the pain and heartbreak you caused those people and their loved ones. You never felt any sadness or regret for the evil you inflicted on many people and animals. You felt only pleasure and a perverse sense of self-satisfaction in all your malicious deeds. You went through your life with no friends, acquaintances, or anyone to share your life experience with. So, here in this place, you will remain alone without contact with any living thing. You will feel the heartache, pain, and grief you caused all those people and animals. So, get ready for a long ride down memory lane. You must read one book a day to get more water and crackers. And you should also consider conserving the water and biscuits as the days here in purgatory can be just a bit longer than the 24 hours you were used to when you were alive. And, by the way, you will get hungry and very thirsty as another reminder of the pleasure you found from watching people and animals starve and dehydrate, almost within reach of food and water. You must read all the books before you can hope to move on to the next step in your journey. Oh, one more, by the way, don't think you can kill yourself by starving or drowning because that's never going to happen. In any case, you have seen firsthand what happens when you enter the water. Don't ever forget that you are already dead, and you cannot die twice. So, sit back and enjoy your new life. Your only means of redemption for your pathetic and useless life is to find where you went wrong. Find where you left the path of kindness and love for all living things that all children have at birth. Find where you entered the way of hate and the thrill of causing misery. You must discover some redeeming value somewhere in your past, just one. If you cannot find anything well, you will have a long time to consider your life. So, Chance, take your time because you are not going anywhere and have two millenniums to conduct your search. Oh, a third, by the way, the nights here in purgatory are as long, cold, and dark as the days are long, hot, and bright. So, Chance, have a beautiful long day.

Chanced looked up into the hot sun that remained directly overhead. He sat at the rickety table, turned the page, and began reading. He glanced at his watch, which displayed 7:12 am.