”Is this your final decision?” Akın heard a soft voice that could warm up his heart. ‘’Who is this?’’ He didn’t expect to be interrupted. He didn’t see anyone when he arrived here, or on his way here. He was not expecting anyone. He could not remember mentioning this idea to anyone. ‘’It doesn’t matter. Are you sure you want to do this?’’ the warm voice asked again. Akın slowly and carefully walked through the voice, right above the bridge, there was light. He climbed up to the bridge again and kept walking to see the creature closer. ‘’What do you want from me?’’ ‘’What do I want? Why would I want anything? I am your angel!’’ She pouted at Akın against his words. ‘’My angel?’’ Everything seemed clear now. As he walked closer to the light, he saw a small woman that looked like a fairy. She had blonde hair, yellow wings, and a wand in her hand. She looked like a fairy more than an angel. At this point, Akın couldn’t deny the truth. ‘’Yes, Akın. Your angel.’’ Angel’s expression turned more sad and pitiful when she saw Akın’s reaction. ‘’Are you sure you… Want to end your life?’’ The day had been such an emotional roller coaster for Akın. Now, there is a shining divine being standing right in front of him, questioning and pitying him. ‘’I-… I can not take it anymore. Everything was so good-… Only if I didn’t…’’ Angel raised her eyebrow as she was expecting for Akın to explain himself. Akın sighed. ‘’I had a job I was working for four years. To get this job, I studied college for six years. I had a master’s degree. I never murmured about it. Designing is my everything, I enjoyed every little part of it. I was so happy and successful at my job, but I had a huge argument with my boss. I got... Fired today.’’ ‘’What was the argument about’’ the Angel asked. ‘’It was… It was a silly topic. I was so down and depressed since my girlfriend left me.’’ He put his head in his hands ‘’We had a wedding two weeks later. Everything was so good. She said she was not sure about the wedding she needed time.’’ A few teardrops spilled from his cheeks ‘’I am all alone, I have nothing, nothing to live for…’’ Angel nodded with a saddened smile. ‘’I have an offer for you. You can refuse it if you want. I will take you to some dead people, people you already know. Talking to them might change your mind. What do you say?’’ Angel reached for Akın’s hand. She had small hands like a baby doll. Akın looked at her shining hand. What did he have to lose? Akın looked back up at Angel and wiped his tears. He straightened his back as if he were trying to pull himself together. He nodded a bit, then carefully reached for the small hand. The moment Akın touched the hand, he felt like he was being sucked in by time. He felt like the whole material universe was being emitted by the hand he was holding, but it didn’t hurt. It happened in milliseconds, and when they were done Akın pulled his hand back to cover his spinning head. He closed his eyes and when he opened them back, they were in a room. The room seemed fancy, with hand-crafted wooden furniture. He saw some notes on the slightly messy table. When he turned his head towards the window, he saw a tall man standing with a black tailcoat and a fedora. His eyes went wide open and he backed off a step as an instinct. Was that… Lincoln? He is in the same room with Abraham Lincoln? He looked at Angel as if he were waiting for a confirmation, but the confirmation came from a different space. ‘’Hello, son,’’ said Abraham Lincoln, turning his head from the window to Akın. ‘’H... Hello, sir.’’ He stuttered and tried to look more respectful against the Leader of America once upon a time. He connected the buttons of his coat and straightened his back. Lincoln chuckled at Akın’s excitement. ‘’It’s okay, we are all dead souls here!’’ he came closer to pat Akın’s shoulder. ‘’Actually…’’ Angel flew between Lincoln and Akın. ‘’He is not dead yet. I brought him here so he could speak with you before he decides to come here.’’ ‘’He decides? You aren’t planning your death, are you?’’ Lincoln raised his eyebrow as if he were questioning Akın. When Akın looked down, Lincoln sighed slightly and politely showed his sofa in front of his desk. ‘’Please sit, let us have a conversation.’’ Akın sat down after Lincoln, still looking down like a kid that had just dropped his ice cream. ‘’Why do you want to end your life?’’ ‘’I feel like… I don’t have any motivation to live anymore. I lost everything I fought for and I feel hopeless, I can not find anything to make me happy.’’ Akın looked back at Lincoln, bringing together his hands on his lap. ‘’What was your motivation?’’ He asked with a tiny; shy voice like it was the last thing to ask a leader and especially Lincoln. However, Lincoln seemed delighted with the question. A warm smile appeared on his face and he took off his hat, pressed it against his chest. ‘’I certainly had an ideology, a target. I believed all men were created equal, and liberty is not just a word to keep for ourselves. We faced great obstacles, a war…’’ Lincoln started telling his story. However, the passion to tell his story was astonishing. He stood up as he continued his story, started walking in the room, and when there was an action happening in his story, Akın felt it through Lincoln’s eyes. The way Lincoln was telling the story, felt like Akın had been through all that. He couldn’t believe the storytelling Lincoln was accomplishing, it was impressive. He stopped listening and started watching Lincoln, how he was living the story, how he was expressing the emotions by using gestures and expressions. He didn’t see anyone else who was so good at storytelling. Akın started smiling, he felt happy seeing a person so passionate about something really small. ‘’I think I got you there, son.’’ Lincoln stopped the story when he saw Akın smiling. ‘’Oh, I am so sorry-‘’ ‘’No. I would be pleased if I could help you with your story’’. Lincoln put his hat back on and smiled back at Akın. Angel joined the smiling, reached for Akın’s hand. ‘’We have more stops to go.’’ Akın didn’t want to leave Lincoln, he seemed like a guy who would lighten your day and enlighten you about many things. ‘’It was really nice to meet you, Mr. Lincoln Sir.’’ Akın smiled and slowly reached back for the hand. They disappeared from Lincoln’s study room to a valley. This time, Akın didn’t have much of a headache but his heart was beating like it wanted to leave his body. He couldn’t believe he saw and talked with Abraham Lincoln. Akın looked around, he was ready for another surprise. People were walking with only one piece of white fabric. They looked relaxed like they were all occupied with some work but they felt so comfortable about it. ‘’Are we in… Ancient Greece?’’ Akın turned his head to Angel. Angel thought for a second and nodded. ‘’The afterlife of it, yeah that’s one way to put it’’ She pointed at a figure sitting on the bricks of a pool. This person had grey hair and slightly more proper clothes than the others. ‘’That’s Aristotle over there. I brought you here so that you could speak with him.’’ After hearing Angel’s words, Akın’s eyes went wide open again. ‘’Aristotle? Are you serious? I owe him my high school and university life!’’ ‘’Yes all of the humanity owes him a lot, now go talk to him.’’ Angel pushed Akın to the Greek figure with her small hands. Akın slowly approached the great professor, he brought his hands together and cleared his throat and he asked with a cracked voice. ‘Aristotle, sir?’’ The white-haired and white-bearded man turned his head at Akın, then his eyes gazed upon the Angel. ‘’Hello, young man. Are you brought here by the angel?’’ ‘’Yes, sir. She brought me here so that I can ask you something. Are you available right now?’’ Aristotle made a hand gesture that would politely invite him next to him over the bricks. Akın sat and looked down like he did with Lincoln. ‘’Sir, what was your motivation to live?’’ Aristotle leaned back and caressed his beard with a humble smile. ‘’ It was to accomplish my purpose as a thinking animal, to learn and live a happy life. It is just as I mentioned in my book.’’ He glanced at Akın, keeping the smile. Akın put his hands between his legs, he felt shy for not reading the book. ‘’Yes of course…’’ ‘’Anyway…’’ Aristotle continued, ‘’I was a philosopher and a scientist, but most importantly, I was a teacher. I contributed to biology in so many ways. I was interested in nature mostly,’’ He stopped and chuckled. ‘’One of my students was so eager to help me with my studies. Every time they traveled they would bring me a new animal to study.’’ He cleared his throat. ‘’Anyway. I also worked on the theory of elements…’’ Aristotle kept talking about what he contributed to humanity. Akın listened carefully, but whenever he was talking about a new topic, he couldn’t stop but talking about his students. At the end of the conversation, Akın had a warm smile on his face like when he was with Lincoln. The way Aristotle cared about his students and how passionate he was about teaching warmed up Akın’s heart. ‘’Yes, I understand, sir.’’ Akın nodded slightly as Aristotle smiled back. ‘’I am so happy to hear that. Would you like to have a cup of wine?’’ ‘’No sir, I should leave now. You really enlightened me and taught me about humanity. Thank you.’’ Aristotle made a quick and a simple nod and opened his arms. ‘’I am delighted!’’ Akın turned back at the Angel with a smile on his face and held the hand that was extended to him. This time, they were in a small room with dim light, a woman was scribbling notes on her desk. A middle-aged woman, she seemed tired and focused on her work. When she saw Akın and the Angel teleported to her room, she smiled a little bit. For as long as Akın could remember, that woman was Virginia Woolf. ‘’Hello, Angel’’ she had a soothing voice, however, she sounded tired as much as she seemed so, ‘’what news have you brought me today?’’. Angel pointed at Akın, ‘’I thought you two might have something to talk about.’’ Akın nodded and smiled. ‘’Hello, Mrs. Woolf. It’s very nice to meet you. Angel brought me here today so that I can you motivation to live.’’ The moment the words were spilled from Akın’s mouth, he remembered Virginia Woolf’s life that he learned in his literature class. She committed suicide, multiple attempts. Virginia and Angel looked at each other, Virginia nodded as she showed the bed for Akın to sit. ‘’That is a contradictory issue for me. I was struggling with major depression, bipolar, and some other mental diseases. I was…’’ she was talking calmly, she looked down before she continued. ‘’having hard times after I lost both of my parents. I couldn’t see any point of living when you don’t have anyone, and my first attempt was when my father died. But I met Leonard. He gave me the happiness I could never found without him.’’ A painful smile appeared on her face as she looked up at Akın. ‘’However, his small attempts to make my life better couldn’t help my mental state. I believed I could not be fixed. In the end, I didn’t want to make his life painful like mine. This is at least I can offer him.’’ Akın was surprised. He didn’t know what to say, but he could relate to her words, that was the hardest part for him. ‘’Motivation to live, you said. I am sorry, but life has been a burden for me and death was the escape. I tried everything to do better get better, sometimes fighting with no power hurts you more than death.’’ Woolf continued. He didn’t understand why Angel brought him there, but it was all his decision now. He nodded with blank, thoughtful looks. ‘’Thank you… Mrs. Woolf. For sharing your story with me’’ Woolf smiled a little and nodded. That was the last thing he saw before Angel reached Akın. They were in a small grocery shop that looked familiar to Akın. Akın was thinking about their conversation with Virginia Woolf. She really understood Akın, but he was distracted when he saw the person in front of him. ‘’Kemal Abi*!’’ He opened his arms wide and ran for the old figure standing in front of him. ‘’Hooopp!’’ Kemal Abi laughed and hugged back Akın tightly. His amusement didn’t last long. He frowned right after the laugh and pushed Akın. Kemal Abi was the grocery owner right under Akın’s apartment *Abi is a word used for ‘’brother’’ in Turkish but can be referred to as a person you see close and respect. and his neighbor. He died two years ago from cancer. ‘’Why are you here? Did you-‘’ ‘’No, no… Angel brought me here so that I could ask you something.’’ ‘’Oh!’’ Kemal Abi nodded like he was expecting a question. ‘’I had some money I won gambling. It’s right under the cupboard-‘’ ‘’No, Kemal Abi, not the money…’’ Akın raised an eyebrow after interrupting Kemal Abi. ‘’It’s about… Your motivation to live.’’ Kemal Abi shrugged at the question. ‘’My son, I didn’t have anything. I only had this grocery shop, my wife Zübeyde, and my children. I suffered a lot in my life, you know. Sometimes I believe my life was only about envying rich and crying for myself.’’ Kemal Abi seemed too sensitive as he was telling his story. She has the most sincere and sad smile Akın has seen. ‘’I am not sure about the motivation, but I had my small moments.’’ He reached for a couple of DVDs on the shelf and showed them to Akın. Akın remembered whenever he entered the shop, and Orhan Gencebay or a Müslüm Gürses song would be playing. He remembered Kemal abi contributing to the songs, sometimes they sang together. ‘’Music was my passion, though. It was my medicine.’’ Kemal abi smiled as he looked at the DVDs. Akın nodded and hugged Kemal abi again, a goodbye hug this time. He and Kemal Abi were both trying to hide tears, trying to stay away from being emotional. Kemal Abi pat Akın’s shoulder. ‘’Take care of yourself, okay? And give my money to my wife.’’ ‘’I will, Kemal abi. I will…’’ Akın nodded with a pained smile. He took a step back and touched Angel’s hand one last time. They were back on the bridge. Akın was looking straight to the sea, the Marmara Sea with so many lights reflecting on it, from large skyscrapers, small shanty houses. Each represented someone’s life. Some had a motivation, some didn’t. Angel’s soft voice was disappearing in the cold wind that covered Istanbul’s night for the last time. ”Is this your final decision?’’