— Have I died yet? the man asked.
«Yeah,» nodded the angel, not stopping from studying the thick, imposing book. — Died. Absolutely.
The man insecurely stepped from foot to foot.
— Now what?
The angel glanced at him, and again he fell into the book.
— Now there you go, he pointed his finger without looking at the inconspicuous door. — Or there, — his finger turned towards another, exactly the same door.
— What is it? the man asked.
— Hell, Angel replied. — Or heaven. Under the circumstances.
The man stood in hesitation, turning his eyes from one door to another.
— Oh, what should I do?
— Don’t you know? – I raised my eyebrow.
— Well, the man hushed. — Not much. Wherever I am, according to my actions.
Hmm! The angel laid his finger on the book and finally looked directly at the man. — By deed, then?
— Yeah, what else?
All right, all right, the angel opened the book closer to the beginning and began to read aloud. It says here that at the age of twelve you took an old lady across the street. Was that it?
— There was, the man nodded.
— Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
— Good, of course!
— Let’s see… — The angel turned the page — five minutes later this old lady on another street ran over by a tram. If you hadn’t helped her, they would have missed her, and the old lady would have lived another ten years. How is it?
The man blinked.
— The angel opened the book elsewhere. At the age of twenty-three you and a group of comrades took part in the brutal beating of another group of comrades.
— They were the first to go! the man raised his head.
— It is written differently here, said the Angel. And, by the way, the state of alcoholic intoxication is not a mitigating factor. Anyway, there’s no way you broke a seventeen-year-old two fingers and a nose. Is that good or bad?
The man was silent.
— After that, the guy could no longer play the violin, but he had high hopes. You ruined his career.
— I accidentally, the man mumbled.
— Of course, Angel nodded. The boy hated this violin since childhood. After your meeting, he decided to go into boxing to be able to stand up for himself, and eventually became a world champion. Shall we continue?
The angel turned a few more pages.
— Is rape good or bad?
— But I did.
— This child became a wonderful doctor and saved hundreds of lives. Good or bad?
— Well, I guess…
— Among those lives was a maniac killer. Bad or good?
— But…
— A maniac killer will soon stab a pregnant woman who could become the mother of a great scientist. Okay? Bad?
— But…
— This great scientist, if he were to be born, would have invented a bomb that could burn out half the continent. Bad? Or good?
— But I could not have known all this! the man shouted.
— Of course, agreed. On page 246, you stepped on a butterfly.
— What came out of that?!
The angel silently turned the book to the man and pointed with his finger. The man read it and the hair moved on his head.
— What a nightmare, he whispered.
— But if you hadn’t crushed it, this would have happened, God pointed his finger at another paragraph. The man looked and convulsively swallowed.
So I saved the world?
— Yes, four times, the Angel confirmed. Crushing a butterfly, pushing an old man, betraying a comrade and stealing a purse from his grandmother. Each time the world was on the verge of disaster, but with your efforts, it got out.
— Aah. — The man paused for a second. But on the verge of this disaster…his, too, me?
— You, you, be sure. Twice. When he fed a stray kitten and saved a drowning kitten.
The man’s knees shattered and he sat on the floor.
— I don’t understand anything, he sobbed. Everything I’ve done in my life…what I’ve been proud of and ashamed of…it’s the opposite, inside out, nothing is what it seems!
— That is why it would be utterly wrong to judge you by your deeds, said the angel. Unless by intention, but you are your own judge.
He slammed the book and put it in the closet, among other books.
— Anyway, when you decide where you’re going, go to the chosen door. I still have a lot to do.
The man raised his weeping face.
— I don’t know which one is hell and which one is heaven.
— It depends on what you choose, said the angel.
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Orthodox stories from life
