Alfredo's Afterlife

Alfredo Trani is a retired Italian-American Professor of Physics. He lives with his wife in the town of Positano, on the Amalfi coast of Southern Italy. Born in Rome, Alfredo was baptized Roman Catholic and grew up in that faith. In his retirement, however, he develops agnostic feelings as he meditates on the meaning of life on earth and in the universe. One day, during one of his frequent solitary walks in the woods, he suffers a heart attack. Rescued by a stranger, he ends up in a coma at the local hospital. While comatose he finds himself lost in a thick forest. As he looks for a way out, wandering aimlessly in the wilderness, he arrives at a large private building where he is welcomed by a poker-faced older man looking like a butler. Soon thereafter, Alfredo realizes that he is living an out-of-body experience and decides to make the most of it by asking a lot of questions of his knowledgeable host. As a result, he is made aware of the dangers involved in the deteriorating social life on earth and is encouraged to be an agent of change when he comes out of his coma.
Once discharged and fully recovered, Alfredo resumes his usual life in Positano but is under increasing pressure from his religious wife to talk about what he saw, if anything, while he was comatose. Eventually, Alfredo decides to confide in Padre Antonio, his parish priest and family friend. Padre is impressed by the social message contained in the story and persuades Alfredo to share it with a few of their influential friends.