“Go forward, do not stray.”

“This is what you were told by preacher and pastor, father, mother and teacher.  Don’t go out of your way.  Don’t poke your nose where it does not belong.  It seemed like sound advice.”

“It kept you safe.  It kept you out of trouble.  You went forward and never strayed.  You studied and worked.  You kept your nose clean.  You lived a fairly happy life.”

“Yet you missed out on so much as well.  You missed out on adventure, artistic release, beauty, and love.  You missed out on what some would call life itself.  Now here you are with me, your friendly Relocation Processing Registrar.”

The young man leaned back in his chair.  At least, he looks young in his face.  It’s hard to tell as his hair has gone white and his dark eyes looks as though they have seen far too much.  He shuffles through the papers in the file on his desk, stacking them neatly.  His stark black suit and tie with plain white shirt looks so out of place in a room filled with so many colorful books.

“Look, you’re basically a good man.  The only reason you’re even here is because your life was so mind-numbingly boring that the powers-that-be felt you had been cheated.  So, you have two choices.”

He slams his hands down on the folder with a BANG, and when he moves them a pitifully thin book remains, no thicker than a child’s story book.  He places it on the shelf behind him.  Leaning back he picks up the nameplate on his desk as he kicks his black-booted feet up onto the desk.  The silver toecaps glint in the light as he polishes the nameplate with a white handkerchief.

“I can send you back and you can start over, live out the rest of your life and have a little adventure, or you can go on to your eternal reward.”  He sets the nameplate down on his desk.  You can see it reads “Nathan Stillwinter, R.P.R.” in neat block lettering on the brass plate.

He takes out a form and slides it across the desk to you.  "Just fill this out and take it down the hall and to your left, room four.“  He stands and places a surprisingly cold, hard arm around your shoulder as he guides you back to the door.  Opening it, he can barely suppress a chuckle as he points to the door down the hall and says, "Go forward, do not stray.”