Steve was walking on sunshine. He woke up before his alarm this morning, got the number of the cute barista at Starbucks on the way to the office, and narrowly missed getting marinara sauce on his suit at lunch. With some time left on his break, Steve set out for a walk.

Crossing the street, he headed towards the new park that had just opened a couple of blocks over. A bit of green grass this afternoon was just the thing he needed. His phone buzzed. Pulling it out of his pocket, it was a text from his mother. A loud horn honked. As Steve looked up, he saw the car just before it hit him. Sprawled out on the pavement, the last thing Steve remembered was someone yelling to call an ambulance before everything went black.

The next thing Steve saw was an elevator door closing. He looked down frantically, nothing was broken. His suit wasn't even dirty. He was alone in an elevator, save for the operator, which was strange by itself. The tall olive-skinned man looked impeccable in his uniform. Mellow xylophone music played while the elevator hummed into action.

"Where am I?" he asked the operator.

The man smiled, "In an elevator."

"But where are we heading?" asked Steve.

"Up," replied the operator genially. Steve looked at the man's name tag: Charon.

The elevator made a ding and came to a stop. The doors opened to reveal an old Asian lady. She hobbled in quickly and turned back to the door, which promptly closed and the lift jerked back into motion. Steve asked her if she knew where they were going but the old lady just smiled politely.

The lift stopped three more times and now there were about eight people in the elevator before Charon announced the final stop. The doors opened and what was behind them looked like the most immaculate airport terminal that ever existed. As the occupants streamed out of the elevator, each one was met with someone in a white suit smiling pleasantly.

"Hello, and welcome," the man said to Steve. He seemed youthful and old at the same time. "I'm sure you have many questions, Lyle, and I promise we'll answer every one of them, but first, there are some basic things we need to take care of first," he said tapping a clipboard.

"My name's Steve."

The white-clad stranger's brow furrowed, and he looked down at the clipboard, then back up. "Sorry, I don't...you're not Lyle Anderson?"

"Well, no. My name is Steven Hilborn. I'm not really sure-"

"But you're," the man cut him off, then frowned and looked at the clipboard. Touching his finger to his perfectly symmetrical ear, the man spoke in a hushed tone. "Uriel, I need a moment of your time to sort a discrepancy in Receiving." The man turned back to Steven and smiled. "I promise, this won't take long."

"Yes, Gadriel?" said a deep voice that made Steven jump. He hadn't noticed him there before or heard him walk over.

"You see here?" Gadriel walked next to his supervisor and pointed to the clipboard. "There seems to be some discrepancy with his paperwork. Apparently, this is Steven Hilborn."

Uriel looked at the clipboard and then back at Steve, who smiled awkwardly. Looking at a clipboard that was suddenly in his hand, the supervisor thumbed between a few pages. "Ah, there you have it. The driver. Simple mix up." Turning to Steve, he gave a reassuring smile. "We'll sort this out for you. Please accept our humble apologies for this inconvenience."

Before Steve could ask about the mix-up, Uriel pulled a pencil from the clipboard and erased something. Suddenly, Steve was lying on cold pavement. Looking up, he found a circle of concerned onlookers. "Don't try to move!" said a blonde in jogging clothes.

With a smile, Steve sprung to his feet and brushed himself off. His suit wasn't even dirty. "I'm actually alright," he said with a smile. "I think the driver might be injured though." No one knew what to make of that. In fact, Steve couldn't remember why he had said that. Calmly, he strode away towards the park. After all, it was a beautiful afternoon.