Free Just Like Heaven by Steven Slavick

she could explore without reaching the end of that pathway. After all, each aisle contained volume upon volume of every individual’s life history on e arth . And considering that around one hundred billion people had walked on the planet, at one time or another, God needed to create a n edifice that could continue to expand in order to store the recorded history of each person’s life .
    “I see that some of your memory has returned,” Mei Lee said. “How much do you remember?”
    “Just that I’ve lived many lives. How many?”
    “One hundred and thirty four.”
    “That seems excessive. I must be a total screw-up.”
    “Not at all. You have an adventurous spirit. That is why you continue to visit e arth and continue to work on your spiritual advancement.”
    “How many times have you re incarnate d?”
    “Four.”
    Nina recalled that Spirit Guides needed to have visited at least once before fulfilling their responsibilities to their charges, but she had no idea why she would have chosen Mei Lee – if she’d had such limited experience on e arth . For someone with thirty times more human experience than her Spirit Guide, Nina considered whether she should have selected someone with more insight into the human condition. But one look into Mei Lee ’s kind eyes told N ina that she couldn’t have found a more devoted friend and trustworthy ally. If she needed to go to battle, and these moments on the Other Side convinced her that living any place other than heaven could only be described as a battleground, she couldn’t have picked a more supportive soul than Mei Lee .
    Besides, even though Nina didn’t recall much about her relationship with Mei Lee , other than that, for whatever reason, she felt completely at ease in her presence and trusted her wholeheartedly, she now realized why she hadn’t chosen a Spirit Guide with excessive human experience; because it may have amounted to a more haphazard approach when guiding her. Therefore, her decision made sense: she would have wanted someone who could empathize and guide in a gentle but firm manner. But how did Mei Lee fulfill these duties? If she resided in heaven, how could she help Nina on e arth ?
    “ I know why I wanted you as my Spirit Guide,” Nina said, “but I’m still a little fuzzy on how you guide me. ”
    Mei Lee offered her a smile. “The most immediate way is through intuition. On e arth , people often confuse intuition with instinct. But they are two different concepts. Instinct is encoded in your DNA and is a result of evolution. For instance, if you were to examine the chances of jumping from one cliff to another, your genetics and physical condition might give you an idea of whether or not you could make it to the other side. So you may be certain you could complete the jump. But som ething at the back of your mind will e ither convince you to jump or not to jump. That is intuition. Many times, someone will just know without an ability to explain why they feel one way or another. That is where your Spirit Guide comes into play. We are often that voice of reason , prodding you in one way or another. ”
    Nina thought back but couldn’t recall a specific instance where intuition guided her. The example about jumping from one cliff to another made sense in the context of explaining instinct and intuition. But for some reason, she got the impression that Mei Lee had chosen the example of jumping from a cliff for a more specific purpose, but she couldn’t pinpoint why . “ The cliffs. You mentioned that for a reason. Why?”
    “ Some of us have nicknames here. Yours is Roxy.”
    Nina stared at her, aghast. “ You’re joking. Was I a stripper? ”
    “I’m afraid not .”
    “Was I born in the 1920’s ? ”
    “Your nickname has been in existence much longer than one hundred e arth years. After all, time moves much faster on the Other Side than it does on e arth .”
    “That makes sense , but I don’t know why. Am I hazy on the