What comes after … ?

As the moments of life begin to dwindle I find myself wondering what comes after. Does everything just fade to black? Is there simply nothing after I draw my last breath?

Maybe the only trace I’ll leave behind is a ghost flickering in the memories of my children. I’ll linger in the gentle shape of their smiles – echoes of my own. In the way they laugh, or bend to tend the creatures the world forgets. Small, borrowed pieces of me, still breathing, even as I drift into the shadows.

Will it be like falling asleep? Warm and welcoming. Encircled in the arms of those who came before? Held in the quiet of forever.

Or just – nothing?

The question presses heavier as the days slip away, and the seasons ahead feel far shorter than those that lay behind me.