A Spirit Guide Named Momo

Learning about love, loss, and redemption in the afterlife.

Bob Olson is the host of Afterlife TV, the author of Answers About The Afterlife, Insight from Hindsight, and The Magic Mala, and the founder of BestPsychicDirectory.com.

Photo by Hu Chen on Unsplash

This week’s entry is a fictional tale I wrote about the afterlife. Writing The Magic Mala taught me that it’s often easier to convey lessons through storytelling than nonfiction articles. I believe it helps people visualize intricate concepts for a deeper understanding.

You’re about to meet a man named Guy and his spirit guide, Momo. While the story begins with a death, Momo’s presence brings a lighthearted touch to the narrative.

I’m sharing this with you because the storyline allowed me to impart much of what I’ve learned about life after death in a short story. Enjoy!

THE TRANSITION

Guy stood in his bedroom beside his bed, feeling bizarrely intoxicated, utterly unsure of how he got there. As his sight changed from bleary-eyed to clear, he saw a person lying on his bed.

He jumped back. It was a dead body!

Guy’s vision alternated between sharp and fuzzy as he stared at the body. It was the body of a man much older than himself. The man appeared sickly. Guy strained to see more clearly.

“Shit! The old guy is me.”

This can’t be real, he thought. I’m dreaming. That’s it. I’m dreaming.

Guy stared at his body on the bed.

“I’m dead, but I’m not.”

He ran to a mirror. There he was. He certainly looked healthier than that guy on the bed, even younger.

“How can I be dead if I can see myself in the mirror?”

Guy heard someone running up the stairs.

“Dad?” yelled a voice.

“Oh no. No-no-no-no-no! Stop! Don’t come in,” Guy yelled.

He tried to block the door but was ineffective. The door opened right through him.

His son, Danny, walked in the door shouting, “Dad, are you up?”

Guy noticed his son had a light around him that glowed a bluish-green.

He attempted to block Danny’s view of his body, but his efforts were futile once again.

Danny stopped mid-stride and stared at his father’s lifeless body. His mind tried to process what he was seeing.

Guy watched the blue-green light around Danny turn to a grayish-black.

Danny lunged toward his father and pushed on Guy’s lifeless shoulder.

“Dad!”

He pushed again.

“Dad. Come on, Dad!”

Danny threw himself onto Guy’s body, his head on his father’s chest.

“No, no, no, Dad, no...”

Guy pleaded, “Walk away, Danny. Please walk away. Go call the police.”

Danny sobbed until he began to choke. His body convulsed. The choking forced him to take a few deep breaths. He dropped to his knees and howled.

The grayish-black aura surrounding Danny had expanded, filling most of the room. Guy stepped inside it, instantly losing his breath as he felt Danny’s grief. It hit Guy like a jolt of pain and despair.

Guy attempted to hug his son. He couldn’t connect the embrace, but he could tell where Danny’s body began and ended. It was like hugging water. As he held him, he felt his love for Danny pour into his son’s aura.

Guy noticed Danny’s aura reacted to his embrace. It changed to a brighter gray with a hint of blue swirls in it. Not a significant change, but a definite one. He held onto Danny, sending him love as more blue swirls filled his light-gray aura.

Danny lifted his head off Guy’s arm and took a deep breath before standing upright. He touched his father’s lifeless shoulder gently, then walked out the door.

THE SPIRIT GUIDE

Guy watched his wearied son leave the room, closing the door behind him. When the door clicked shut, Guy turned to look at his dead body on the bed. He really did appear older than he thought he’d looked, even sickly.

My god, he thought to himself, I look just awful.

It was difficult for Guy to think of his body as his own. As he turned away from his body, he was startled by a massive being of light who glowed with a blinding brightness.

“Jesus Christ!” Guy shouted in shock.

“Nope, not J.C. Name is Momo.”

Guy held his chest.

“Holy crap, you scared the hell out of me!”

“So sorry. I have to stop sneaking up on people. Haven’t figured out the proper entrance yet.”

Guy stepped toward Momo, then stepped backward.

“Okay, that’s weird,” he told Momo. “I don’t know how to say this, but it feels really good to be near you.”

He stepped forward again.

“The closer I get, the better it feels.”

“I get that a lot,” said Momo. “It’s love.”

“Um, I don’t think so. I’ve felt love before. This is like love times a thousand. Plus, I feel relaxed, even happy, like everything will be all right—despite...” He looked at the bed.

“Welcome to the spirit world, Guy. You’ll get used to it.”

Guy cocked his head sideways, “Spirit world? Is that what this is? Feels like my bedroom.”

Momo sat on the end of the bed. “It’s both. The spiritual plane and physical plane exist together. They overlap. I’m your spirit guide, by the way.”

“My spirit guide’s name is Momo?”

Momo jerked his head back. “Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know. Kind of a funny name, isn’t it?”

“Better than Guy. Guy’s a noun, not a name.”

“Sorry, Momo, didn’t mean to hit a nerve.”

“You’re right. You’re right. I’m not making a good first impression. Guess I’m a little pissed at you for shooting yourself.”

Guy looked at his dead body on the bed and grunted.

“That’s fair, I guess. But wait, why are YOU pissed?”

Momo wrapped his large arm around Guy’s shoulders.

“Cause it was my job to try to stop you.”

Guy looked at Momo curiously.

“Oh crap, am I in hell?”

Momo laughed. “Doesn’t exist. Hell’s just something humans invented to scare people into following the rules.”

“No kidding? Didn’t work for me, I guess.”

They both looked toward the bed.

Momo shook his head, “Nope. Didn’t stop you from doing that.”

Guy continued, “So you’re serious, no hell?”

“Yup, no hell.”

“How do I know you’re not Satan trying to trick me.”

Momo laughed as his big belly jiggled. He put his massive hand on Guy’s shoulder.

“Satan, Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, even the Tooth Fairy...same story. That’s funny, though. Nobody’s ever met me and asked if I were Satan.”

“If this isn’t hell, then where am I?” Guy’s voice fainted to a whisper, “Is this heaven?”

Momo leaned his head back and scratched his chin.

“I gotta be honest. We don’t call it that. We just call it... um, I don’t know, home, I guess.”

Guy contemplated it. “Home, huh? How ‘bout the afterlife?”

“We don’t say that either. Home’s where you came from before you were born. Would make more sense to call it the beforelife.”

Guy chuckled and gently punched Momo’s arm.

The sound of sirens could be heard in the distance.

“Hear that?” asked Momo. “We don’t have much time.”

Guy was still stuck on naming the spirit world. “Can I call it the spiritual dimension?”

“Whatever works for you. Listen, Guy, do you realize what’s happened here?”

Guy shrugged.

“You took your life, and pretty soon, you’re going to realize how that’ll impact your loved ones.”

“My son Danny’s already been here. Was horrible. Can you send me back, Momo? I’ve heard of people who’ve had near-death experiences, and they were given the choice of whether to return to their lives or stay in heaven... home... the spiritual dimension, whatever.”

“You’re not having a near-death experience, Guy.”

“Okay, but you have to undo this. I wasn’t thinking about Lilah and Danny when I... well, when I did what I did. It was a mistake. I see that now. You have to help me.”

“Look at yourself, man. Does that look like something I can undo? The only way I can help you now is to prepare you for what’s to come. Once you realize how this will affect Lilah, Danny, and others, the only thing you can do is try to help them as much as possible. The only thing worse than suffering ourselves is watching someone we love suffer because of something we did. You won’t feel peace until they do, and that will take a while. So, before we move on, I want you to be prepared for what’s to come.”

Guy stepped back and looked around him.

“Shit, am I stuck between worlds, like between the physical and spiritual dimensions? I heard that can happen to suicides.”

“No-no-no, that’s another myth. You’re already in the spiritual dimension. You’re not stuck anywhere, Guy. Do you really think that the infinite intelligence that created human beings and what you call heaven and earth is unable to get Its children home?”

The sirens grew louder.

“Well, it doesn't make sense when you say it like that. I’m starting to realize how gullible I was.”

Momo chewed on his lower lip while thinking. “Look, Guy, don’t think of yourself as gullible. Humans believe what they’re taught as young children. But you do have a lot to learn—or unlearn. It’s more about remembering what you knew before entering this life.”

Momo shook his head to clear the confusion. “Never mind that right now, Guy. What’s important, before you settle in here, is to take care of your wife and son. I know you’re disoriented right now. You’ve been through a major transition, and you’re probably feeling amazing simply because you’re out of your physical body. Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?”

Guy smiled. “Honestly? I feel free, like I could fly.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll get to that. What you don’t know is that because you’re near me, you’re also feeling detached from Lilah’s and Danny’s grief. I’ll explain this more later, but my point is that once I’m no longer in your presence, your wife’s and son’s emotions related to your suicide are going to hit you hard—like a bug hits a windshield. And I’m not just talking about their grief. You’re going to feel their anger, confusion, shame, even feelings of possibly being responsible for not preventing you from taking your life.”

“What? This wasn’t their fault. They didn’t even know I bought a gun.”

“No, it wasn’t their fault, but they’re going to wonder if they could have done or said something that would have helped. They will question if they missed a sign or cry for help from you. It’s never true that loved ones are responsible, but they don’t know that.”

The sirens became loud outside the house, and then they stopped.

“How bad will it hurt, Momo, when you leave?”

“You already felt it when Danny walked into your room. You followed your instincts and surrounded him with your love. Best thing you could have done.”

“All I did was hug him.”

“Yup, and that was the right thing to do. We call it an ethereal embrace. It comforted him, at least in the moment. We’ll discuss this more later. Right now, though, we have to leave cause this room is about to get busy.”

The door handle began to turn.

Guy looked at Momo for direction.

Momo reached out for Guy to take his hand.

Guy placed his hand in Momo’s enormous palm, and they disappeared.

THE REUNION

Guy stood in the middle of a vast room surrounded by hundreds of spirits. Each spirit sent him a cord of love that appeared as a single stream of light. Every spirit sending Guy love was a family member or friend who had died before him. And their light cords filled him with an intimate affection so potent and profound that he wondered if he might explode. He was suspended in ecstasy from the sheer joy of it all.

From an outer perspective, Guy appeared to be the hub of a wheel, and every cord of light was a spoke. He glowed a luminous gold with a brilliant aura that expanded miles in every direction. His entire body quivered as he absorbed the love, joy, and acceptance his loved ones sent him.

To Guy, each spirit appeared as a body of light, yet he somehow knew who each person was. He could feel the essence of each personality even if he couldn’t identify them by sight.

Momo stood beside Guy with a smile.

“How’s it feel?”

Guy tried to respond but was overcome with emotion. He just nodded to acknowledge he was feeling incredible.

“This is your homecoming celebration. Every person in spirit you ever loved, and who ever loved you, came from far and wide to welcome you home.”

“I’m not worthy,” Guy told Momo. “I’m ashamed.”

“Ah, there it is. Self-judgement. Just so you know, it’s the only kind of judgment you’ll experience here.”

“I appreciate all this. I just don’t feel deserving.”

“We’ll work on that. It doesn’t matter how you came home, Guy. Everyone gets a homecoming celebration. Just absorb it and enjoy.”

Guy nodded as he bathed in the affection he was receiving.

After what felt like hours, the energy coming from the cords lowered in volume. Guy continued to feel an influx of love, but it eased up enough that his awareness of the moment returned. One of the spirits in the circle surrounding him stepped forward. His appearance changed from a being of light to the human being Guy had known.

Guy took a deep breath at the sight of him.

“Dad.”

The two men hugged. It was a lengthy embrace that expanded and brightened both their auras.

Guy’s father held his son’s shoulders and gazed into his eyes.

“Welcome home, Son.”

“I can’t believe you’re here, Dad. I always thought that maybe you were...”

“In hell?” his father laughed. “No, but watching you suffer felt a bit like hell. I’m sorry about what I did. So, so very sorry.”

“I hated you for it if I’m being honest. But I forgave you. And look at me now; I’ve repeated history.”

His father teared up and took a step back. He looked at all the other spirits surrounding them.

“That’s why I’m the first to step forward. I set the precedent for your choices later in life. My suicide gave you permission to end your own life. It wasn’t what I wanted for you. I never imagined that taking my own life could influence you to cut your promising life so short. Yet here you are, having made the same nearsighted choice that I did.”

Guy didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t considered that his father’s suicide permitted him to take his own life. He didn’t have much time to think about it, but the idea did ring true once his father said it. Guy couldn’t help but wonder if his own act of taking his life might influence his son, Danny, to do the same someday.

“You needn’t worry about that right now, Son. There will be things you can do to offset that.”

Guy raised his hand to stop his father from talking.

“Wait, did you just read my thoughts?”

“Oh dear, Momo didn’t tell you? Every spirit can read one another’s thoughts. We communicate telepathically. We’ve only been using our mouths while communicating to help you ease your transition. We do it until you get reacquainted with being a being of light.”

“What do you mean, reacquainted?”

“You’ve had many lives, Son. This is where you begin and always return after completing a human life. Momo will catch you up in due time. Right now, others want to step forward and say hello.”

Guy looked around at the people in spirit who were drawing closer.

“Is that Aunt Della? Uncle Lester? Oh my goodness, Gram? And Uncle Donald? Wait, is that Buckshot, my sweet Dalmation?”

Guy began to choke up emotionally. He breathed deeply to contain himself.

“They’re all here for you, Guy, and excited to see you. I’ll step aside and let you see everyone. Before I go, however, let me remind you about how you felt in the days, months, and years following my death. Are you ready?”

“Ready for what?”

Guy’s father touched his shoulder, causing Guy to re-experience every effect that his father’s suicide had on him. Guy saw himself as a boy when his mother told him his father had died. He remembered hearing his mother crying in her bedroom with the door closed. He revisited the moment a classmate publicly announced that Guy’s father had hung himself and the coldness in the classmate’s demeanor when he delivered the news. He saw himself at his father’s wake, which was the first time he’d seen a dead body in a casket. Then there was the funeral, and later, visiting his father’s grave site, yelling at him in anger.

His father pulled his hand off Guy’s shoulder, and the reminiscing stopped. It was a brief moment of memories that felt to Guy like hours.

“Why would you show me that, Dad?” Guy asked.

“To show you what Danny is about to experience. It won’t be the same, but there will be similarities. You can do a better job with Danny than I did with you. I’m telling you this for both his sake and yours. What you’re about to experience, witnessing the ripple effects caused by your suicide, is going to be grueling. But you can help Danny through it, plus Momo and I are here to help you as you need it.”

“Momo said there’s no such thing as hell, Dad, but that sounds pretty awful.”

“Let me fill you in on a secret, Guy, that nobody on the physical plane knows. There are two stages of the human lifetime. The first stage is when you’re physically alive. You know, the part where you’re in the human body. The second stage—I’ll call it the second half of life—is witnessing the ripple effect of all your human choices, words, and actions. This second stage happens here on the spiritual plane.”

“I think I know this one, Dad. Is it the past-life recall or life review?”

“Humans refer to it that way, but it’s not what they think it is. It’s not a brief moment where you experience your lifetime in fast motion. This is a much more in-depth event where you experience the effects of everything you said and did while alive, only you do it in real-time, meaning real time for the humans you left behind. For example, from the moment I died, I watched how my suicide affected your life from childhood into adulthood until today—the day that history repeated itself.”

Guy just stared at his father, trying to take in the secret his father revealed. It was difficult for him to fathom it, considering all the other spirits continued to send him love through the cords of light.

“A human lifetime is not made up of a single act,” his father continued. “A human lifetime includes millions of tiny acts, many of them positive. Yes, you will witness the effects of your suicide, but you will also witness in real-time the ripple effect of every act of generosity, love, compassion, and kindness that you displayed while alive. Even one simple act of kindness or generosity can profoundly influence a person’s life, and you will have the blissful opportunity to observe how this influence plays out as the human beings your life touched grow older. A single regrettable act doesn’t cancel out the other loving acts. They are all there for you to experience and learn from, my son. Overall, I guess, a lot depends upon what kind of person you were as a human being.”

Guy’s mind was racing with thoughts. He was trying to remember if he had more moments where he showed others kindness, compassion, love, and generosity than he did the opposite of those virtues.

Guy’s father surrounded his son with an ethereal embrace. “Don’t worry, Son. You were a good person.”

Guy’s mind was filled with questions, but his father transformed from human form back to light before returning to the circle of spirits. Once his father had vanished into the group of light beings, Guy spoke with the other spirits in the circle, one by one.

THE FUNERAL

Guy and Momo walked into the entrance of St. Mary’s Church. Guy saw his wife, Lilah, sitting in the front pew beside Danny.

“Wow, Guy, quite a turnout. Many people are too uncomfortable to show up when a person takes their own life, but there must be three hundred people here.”

“I expected a lot less. Didn’t realize I even knew this many people.”

Pallbearers carried the casket from the hearse into the church and up the aisle.

“Nice casket,” remarked Momo. “Is that mahogany?”

“Good god, why did Lilah buy such a nice coffin? Pressed wood or corrugated cardboard would’ve sufficed.”

“Least of your concerns, Guy.”

“Why are we even here? I mean, really, why do I need to attend my funeral?”

“Fair question. I can tell you it’s not to see who comes to your service or how many people attend. It’s also not to hear the nice things people say about you, although that’s a bonus. You are here so you can comfort the loved ones who mourn your death.”

An altar boy walked the aisle swinging a large ball on a chain that emitted smoke from burning incense, which permeated the air.

“Ah, the thurible,” said Momo. “Don’t you just love the smell of frankincense?”

Guy breathed in the air through his nostrils. “Mmm, that is nice. Are spirits ever too busy to attend their own funerals?”

“Never. You’ll find out soon enough that we can be in several places simultaneously. Heck, you can visit Paris and Rome while also checking on loved ones in Texas, Maine, and California. There’s truly no limit.”

“So much to learn,” said Guy.

“So much to remember,” Momo corrected.

Guy took in the scene before him as he and Momo remained silent.

Momo broke the silence, whispering, “Listen, I’m going to step away. You won’t see me, but I’ll be nearby. You can even talk to me. You just won’t see me.”

“What if I need your guidance?”

Momo put his hand on Guy’s shoulder. “When I step away, you’re going to feel what other people are feeling, especially Lilah and Danny. If it becomes too much, I’ll know and pull you back. You need to feel what they’re feeling without getting too immersed in it.”

Guy turned to Momo, “I’d rather you...” but Momo had disappeared.

Guy’s attention was drawn toward his wife and son. His face changed from indifferent to dismayed. His left hand reached for his chest, and he began to breathe deeply.

“Momo. Momo? I can feel their grief. Oh dear, I can hear their thoughts. Momo, I’m not ready for this. Momo?”

Guy looked around, but his spirit guide did not respond. He walked down the side aisle toward the front pew where Lilah and Danny sat. As he passed people he knew, he felt their grief hit him like a wave of sorrow.

“Momo. I can feel everyone’s sadness and hear everyone’s thoughts. I feel their love for me, but I also feel their anger. It’s too much, please.”

Guy’s energy shifted. He felt like he had been pulled back but was standing in the same location. The emotions and thoughts he’d been picking up from everyone diminished. They didn’t stop; they merely faded to a more tolerable level.

“Thank you,” Guy said, unsure where Momo was located.

He walked further toward the front until he reached the first pew. He stood in front of Lilah and Danny. They appeared numb, defeated. Guy closed his eyes, taking in their pain. He breathed heavily, wondering to himself what he was supposed to do.

He heard Momo’s voice, “Sit between them. Let them feel your presence.”

Guy sat between Lilah and Danny on the pew and placed his arms around them. Danny straightened his body in response, appearing to feel his father’s presence. Lilah immediately fell to tears.

“Momo, she’s crying. I’m not doing it right.”

Momo told him, “She feels your energy. Tears aren’t always a bad thing. She needs to mourn. Let her cry. Just sit and focus on your love for them. They will sense it.”

Guy did as instructed. Momo turned up the volume on what Guy felt from them as he did. The more he detected their sadness and grief, the more love he sent them. Danny began to cry, and Guy squeezed his son’s shoulder. Now, Lilah and Danny were both sobbing uncontrollably, which also made Guy cry. The three of them resonated in grief and love.

The priest approached the microphone and pulled it toward him, making it squeal. He looked over at the teenage boy in charge of the audio controls. The boy moved a lever on the mixer and nodded to the priest.

“Welcome,” said the priest. “We’re gathered here today in honor of Guy Davis.”

As the priest began to talk, Guy noticed a being of light behind the priest. The spirit had a hand on the man’s shoulder. Guy looked at the teenage boy controlling the audio levels, and he, too, had a spirit at his side. He turned to look at all the people in attendance. Every person in the church had a spirit by their side with one hand on their shoulder.

Guy noticed the spirits were glowing brightly, altering the energy field of the human beings in attendance. The auras of the people in the church were getting brighter and brighter. Guy had never seen an aura while he was alive. He’d heard of an energy body that surrounded the physical body, but he was never sure if it was real. Now he could see them, and each person’s aura was a different color. Guy wondered if he could raise his energy and make Lilah’s and Danny’s dark-gray auras more beautiful.

He tried to will his energy to become brighter, but nothing happened. Then he recalled Momo’s instruction, so he concentrated on his love for his wife and son, and his aura brightened. As his light increased, so did theirs.

Guy thought about the day he and Lilah married, and his light amplified. He thought about the day Danny was born, and it brightened even more. The more memories he recalled, the greater his illumination. It wasn’t just his light that showed brightly. Lilah and Danny glowed radiantly as well, and their gray colors turned to varying shades of purple.

Guy noticed that Lilah and Danny were no longer crying. As the priest gave his tribute to Guy’s life, Lilah and Danny had a hint of smiles on their faces.

“It worked,” he said to Momo. “My love comforted them. I get it now. I can ease their suffering. It’s going to be a long road. Death is not the escape I had expected, but I’m glad it’s not. If it were, Lilah and Danny would be left on their own. With your assistance, I’m ready to do what I can to help them. Thank you, Momo, for showing me the way.”

I hope you enjoyed meeting Guy and Momo. If you’d like to explore more of Guy’s story, please share your thoughts with me. Your feedback will guide my decision on whether to continue this story into a book. I’m also curious about which aspects of the story resonated with you—what impacted you the most? You can reply to this email or, preferably, leave a comment in the comments section.

With love,
Bob

Bob Olson is the host of Afterlife TV, the author of Answers about the Afterlife, Insight from Hindsight, and The Magic Mala, and the creator of the most trusted directory of psychics, mediums, animal communicators, and energy healers, BestPsychicDirectory.com.