Finish this story: Alice tried to remember who had given her the key...

Alice tried to remember who had given her the key, but the faint figure was fleeting from her memory rapidly. How long ago was it that she had acquired the key, and where had it taken place? The only piece of the story that still held on inside her mind was that it was a man with a very tall hat. She knew that this man was a friend of hers, but she did not know anything else about him.

As she contemplated all of this, a cat ran across her path in the street, and under a door with an old fashioned padlock keeping it from blowing open in the slight breeze. It clattered in the wind, and looked as though one big gust would rip it from the hinges. She followed the cat, and went up to the door. She grabbed the padlock and shook it to see if it was loose in any way but it would not budge.

“Curious.” She said to herself. “I wonder if this is what that key is for.”

She pulled the key from her pants pocket, slid the teeth into the lock and turned the handle counter clockwise. It made a distinct clicking noise as the pins inside lined up, and the shaft came free, opening the lock. She removed it from the door and gently set it on the ground beside her with the key inside.

She opened the door slowly, and crept inside the damp, dingy building. There was no electric lighting system inside, and the only source of light that she could see were 4 faint candles running along what seemed to be a table set with teapots and coffee cups…

Describe what heaven might look like and whom you might or might not find there.

I have no idea what heaven might look like, but from what I have read in Revelation, the streets are made of gold, and lined with precious gems but of course, this is only figurative to try and convey how glorious it actually looks. John took things of earthly beauty and tried to make sense of heaven by comparing the two, but I am quite positive that heaven is gloriously more splendid than just golden streets and jewel encrusted building. I do not think that we could begin to comprehend the majesty and holiness of heaven, so that might in itself give you an abstract idea of it's appearance to our eyes.

As far as who might be there, and who might be missing, I would not have the slightest clue. I could make a few inferences of who would or would not be there; judging solely on character and actions, but only God knows where a person's heart is in their lives. I would be chauvinistic to assume myself better than someone else and say that I am going to heaven because I am a "good person" and that this person is in hell because of their "evil deeds." I bet that ever last one of us would be surprised to see who is in heaven and who is not. Though you might not know who is not there because there is no sorrow in heaven and if you knew who was not, the first human reaction is to be sorrowful over loved ones who wasted their lives and ended up in hell. Maybe we will know who is not with us in heaven, and will understand why they are not, and can look at everything with clear, open thoughts. It is difficult to try and think about things that are outside of human nature.

Write about a time that you were lied to and how that made you feel.

I have eight minutes to write about how I felt when I was lied to once. Well, I have been lied to many times, and I myself have lied many times. I cannot recall one particular instance where I was lied to and felt an immense amount of sorrow because I usually do not care anymore when I find out they lied to me. My parents have been pretty straight forward since day one, and they do not sugar coat the truth with white lies, and do not cover up error with big lies. Not, the fact that I had some strange idea why my parents got a divorce was not a result of a lie, but a withholding of information for the good of everyone involved. I filled in the blanks with made up stories until I was told the whole story. How bad it would have been to have that information before getting to know my dad, and maybe not of giving him a chance to begin with. I am guessing that I am getting slightly off topic, so I will try and resume my writing on the topic. As a result of my not being able to recall any great lie told to me, I could only infer on what the pain would feel like when I see those people that I have lied to, and the grief that my lies have caused them. It would sound sadistic to say that I only lie to observe, but that is not the case. I observe because I have lied, not the other way around.

If you found $1,000,000 in a dumpster, what would you do with it?

Before I did anything with a million dollars, that I found in a dumpster, I would first take a minute to analyze my life and how I got to the point where I was in a dumpster looking for something that was actually worth while... I would no doubt have to think for a very long time about it, because I can not for the life of me imagine myself in any dumpster anywhere looking for something.

I would suppose that after the initial shock of realizing that I was actually in a dumpster, I would then proceed to the bank and deposit half of it into my savings account. I would of course explain to everyone that I had found it in a dumpster in hopes of creating a fad for dumpster diving. I would find it amusing and would justify my reason for being in that dumpster with that fact alone.

After depositing half of that money, I would then proceed to buy a house. I would probably buy a house that cost no more than $300,000. With the rest of the money, I would pay off the mortgage for my church so that they would not have all of the financial restrictions that they have. I'm sure that they do not have that much left on it, so the rest of that money I would use to refurbish the church and school.

Now, back to the money that I banked. I would leave it there and never touch it. Let it gain interest, and I would continue working. Perhaps I would pay off my loans for school after I graduate, but then would never touch it again and simply continue in my career until retirement, at which point the money would have compounded into million and I would have the most fun an old man could have. I would get a wood shop in my backyard, and an art studio upstairs. I would have the most insane entertainment center that you had ever seen in a 65 year old's house.

If you were trapped in rubble, what would you think about? What could you find to be grateful for, and what would you regret?

If I were trapped under rubble for 8 days, I think that the first thoughts going through my head would be, "When am I going to die?" or "Who would be so fortunate as to pick up this single piece of rubble and free me from my demise?" The first few days would no doubt have little to no thought involved in anything worthwhile, but after those few days, I would realize that the worst that could happen is that I die and go to heaven. So I have to sit here a while under rubble and think. Maybe God wants me to reflect on a few things before passing. I would think about religion, and the mysteries of the universe and how they fit together, probably soon realizing that they don't fit together, the universe is a creation of God and that without him, nothing would be in the order it is today.

One thing that I would be grateful for is that I had lived a life that I had wanted to live for the most part, and that it was a decent life. Mistakes were made, but you forgive and forget, and hopefully others do that for you as well. I would be grateful for my parents who took me to church every Sunday, and who put me in a private elementary school, and then transferred me into a public high school. It really gave me a clear sense on the reality of some things. I am a realist, and I see things the way that they are. I don't sugar coat anything, and I don't down play anything. Things happen the way they do for a reason and if that's not good enough, oh well.

You ask us if there are things that we would regret. I don't think that I would regret anything in all honesty, because regret implies perpetual remorse, and I do not dwell on my mistakes. I take them, learn from then, hold onto those lessons and move on.