Synopsis

Sally is dead, or so she is told by Larry, an officious celestial administrator covering for St Peter, who is busy dealing with a rush in Bognor. Having entered hospital for a routine hysterectomy, she finds that things didn’t quite go according to plan on the operating table and she is now in a queue with others at the gates of heaven.

Sally is in denial and won’t believe Larry that she is dead, claiming that this is nothing more than a bad dream and demanding to be returned to her hospital bed, her loving husband and three unopened boxes of chocolates in her bedside locker. 

Whilst waiting for Larry to sort out her paperwork, she sits on a bench next to Bernice and Melvin who also recently died but whose circumstances are rather different. Depressed Bernice has taken her own life as she had little worth living for and death held a certain appeal. Melvin, who has died of a heart attack on the tennis court, was widowed some year earlier and has been faithfully waiting to be reunited with his wife Annie.

When Larry reveals that Bernice and Melvin’s lives have been saved and they can choose to return, Sally is furious as she is the only one who believes she has a life worth returning to. Melvin discovers that Annie is now enjoying her time in heaven with a Frenchman so chooses to return to life. With Bernice being tempted to return and make the most of her second chance, Sally becomes further enraged.

Eventually, a clerical error made in the admin department gives her back the life that she realises she so desperately wants, however it’s not without its twist.

Duration

Characters