The 5 People You Meet In Heaven

Eddie walks around Ruby Pier, where he works, and goes about his normal day-today business: he rode the Ghoster Coaster to assure that its brakes and steering were solid, talked with Dominguez in the shop, chased teenagers off the railing, and made an animal for a little girl out of pipe cleaners. Eddie was daydreaming when an unfamiliar voice alerted him; a woman had brought to his attention that one of the carts was tilted on Freddy’s Free Fall and people were clinging on to keep from falling out. Eddie tells Dominguez to go up the ladder and tell the ride operator, Willy, to release the safety restraint so he can get the passengers out. As Dominguez was getting the passengers out. Eddie yelled for Willy not to release the cart but no one heard him. The carts began falling and one killed Eddie. Now he doesn't know it but he is on the journey to heaven. Eddie awakes in some kind of amusement park. He is able to pull himself up and walk without his cane; he does not feel any pain. He then notices that he is at Ruby Pier. The colors and the attractions seem different and he realizes that he is at the Ruby Pier from his childhood, over 75 years ago. Eddie runs and jumps around, taking advantage of his newfound limberness and the fact that he no longer needed his cane. He passes by the sideshow and notices a man, who he vaguely remembers, with blue skin.

The Blue Man tells Eddie that he knows him from when he was a child. Eddie is trying to find out why is at Ruby Pier but he cannot speak. Eddie finds it quite ridiculous that heaven might be Ruby Pier, since he had spent most of his life wishing he was away from Ruby Pier. The Blue Man informs Eddie that he will meet five people in heaven who were each in his life for a reason; this will help him understand his life on earth. Eddie is able to mutter out the question of what killed the Blue Man; the Blue Man replies that Eddie killed him. The next birthday flashback is Eddie's seventh birthday. He and his brother, Joe, are playing catch with Eddie's new baseball. Eddie mistakenly throws the ball off of the boardwalk. They search around the sideshow tents and freaks, from the freak show, catch them. Eddie and Joe become very scared, they grab the ball and run away.Eddie learns his first lesson from the Blue Man. Eddie feels terrible about killing the Blue Man and cannot understand what good came from the Blue Man's death. The Blue Man tells Eddie that in life, there are no random encounters and that we are all connected in some way. The Blue Man had completed one of his steps in heaven and has to leave. As he leaves his skin turns back to a perfect caramel color, unblemished and smooth.Eddie finds himself in some sort of wooded area and notices that some of his limberness is gone. He hears bombs exploding in the distance; he crouches to the ground and finds a dog tag with his name on it.

When Eddie was younger he enlisted in the army. Since he had never fired a rifle he began practicing at the shooting arcade at Ruby Pier. One night while Eddie was practicing, a drunk Mickey Shea approached him and told him not to think while he is at war; he told Eddie that thinking will get him killed and that he should just shoot with out thinking about who he is shooting or why. A few days later Eddie headed to war.Eddie recalls when he was in the war and he, and four other soldiers, were taken as prisoners. They were kept in bamboo barracks and barely fed. One morning their captors lead them into a coal mine. Eddie and the other prisoners, including the Captain, are forced to strip coal to help the enemy's war effort. A few months later one of the prisoners, Rabozzo, developed a severe sickness and was unable to work. One of the captures shot him in the head, in front of Eddie and the rest of the prisoners.

Three weeks later Eddie found one of the captors, Crazy Three, trying to juggle rocks. Since Eddie knew how to juggle, he decided to create a diversion for the prisoners to escape. He juggled for Crazy Three who then called in the other captors to watch. Eddie captured their attention with his juggling and then began to throw the rocks into the faces of the captors. Eddie and the other prisoners were successful at killing the four guards, enabling them to escape. The end of the chapter takes us back to Eddie's birthday right before he goes off to the War. Eddie and Marguerite walk around the pier to spend Eddie's last few moments home, together.Right after Eddie and the remaining prisoners escape, they steal the enemies’ weapons and decide to destroy the prison they had lived in for almost half a year. He then remembers being carted away in a transport vehicle. The Captain tells Eddie that it was he who shot him. He did not want Eddie to burn to death and he knew Eddie would hurt him if he tried to get him out of the hut. Eddie is furious at the Captain for ruining the rest of his life; he beats him furiously, not harming him. Eddie then learns that the Captain died later that night trying to secure a path for the vehicle containing Eddie and the two other soldiers.The Captain tells Eddie his second lesson. After Eddie shakes the Captain's hand, the war grounds turn into lush green scenery; the Captain also appears cleaned up and in a neat, pressed uniform. Eddie asks the Captain if he saved the little girl at the pier but the Captain does not tell him.

Eddie now finds himself in a beautiful mountain range. Eddie notices that his body has changed once again. He is older, fatter and his knee was in terrible pain. Eddie thought the pain would disappear forever once his visit with the Captain was over. He finds a diner and can see all of the patrons inside, who appeared to all be from different decades. Eddie sees his father through one of the diner windows; he bangs on the window and yells for him, but he never looks up.The story flashes back to Eddie’s 24th birthday in the V.A hospital. Eddie then recalls the death of his father and the following events; after his death Eddie and Marguerite move back to the apartment building where Eddie grew up so he could help his mother and continue his father’s job at Ruby Pier. Eddie cursed his father’s death, for it forced him to work and lead the life he was forever trying to escape. It is then Eddie’s 37th birthday and he is having breakfast with his friend, Noel. The two talk about an amusement park accident in Brighton. It all fades away and knows he will go to the next person.

Eddie now finds himself in a purely white and silent setting. He hears a horrifying noise and notices that he is clenching his cane; his body is old and in pain just as it was before he died. The white setting disappears and turns into a river where children are happily playing. Eddie sees a young girl motioning for him to come to her.Ruby Pier re-opened three days after the accident. The ride, which had collapsed, reopened the next year with a new name, Daredevil Drop. Eddie's apartment was rented to a new tenant who covered the window with leaded glass, blocking the view of the carousel that Dominguez had saved...

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