“Coming,” he called, chuckling.
What was this about CDs, anyway? And was there a reason it had to be in the middle of the night?
Edward glanced at the clock again as he and Masao made their way to the now-cozily crowded living room. He heard the boys behind him and turned to watch as they moved toward their mother.
“Rose,” Paloma said, inwaving toward the young woman who was flagging toward sleep at the kitchen table. “Would you come here please?”
An exhausted Rose stood and, after a moment of wobbling, took Angelique’s hand and moved toward her.
“I know you may have owned some of these songs before, but this is a CD I put together for you yesterday – well, the twenty third,” she said, laughing lightly. “I did it when the boys and Cherish were over at Jason and Me’chelle’s while Edward was still at work, and… and I really hope that it speaks to you.”
Duncan handed the crystal-clear and black case over to Rose, the silver disc shining in the light.
“I know there are a lot of other , newer ways to listen to music, Rose, and we’ve used them plenty. But I wanted to give you something concrete. Something you could see and touch and read,” Paloma said, smiling. “Go ahead… it’s alright to check it out.”
Rose blinked a few times before taking a closer look at the music in her hand. Edward could see her gulping for air; tears in her eyes.
“Well, what does it say, Rose,” S. Gillam asked, standing to his full height of 5’11”, the gentle paunch of his belly pushing against his worn leather belt.
“Just a list of songs and their artists, but I don’t know who all of them are. Some of them are pretty recognizable, but…. Wow,” she said, turning to Paloma. “Some of these, I wouldn’t have even guessed…”
“Well,” Mark asked her. “Are you going to read the titles for us? I’d be curious as to what Paloma thought was so important to share with you at nearly two in the morning on Christmas Day.”
“It’s a really long list,” she said, sighing as she opened the case, only to see that there were two of them.
“Well, if you don’t want to read them,” Mark began, “I could always….”
When will Mark learn to mind his business, Edward thought distractedly as he saw the color in Rose’s cheeks rise.
“It isn’t about not wanting to read them; it’s about being tired and cranky and thankful and wishing I could have a drug fix and knowing I can’t and that if I were anywhere else but here, I might have done that, in spite of the circumstances,” Rose said, stepping back away from the man. “So if someone wants to read them, go ahead; I look forward to listening to it, I do, but I’m just so…”
Her eyes met Edward’s; green eyes that pled with him for help.
“Would you like me to read them for you,” he asked gently.
She nodded, handing it over.
“Well, let’s see here,” he began. “The first disc says What Faith Can Do, by Kutless; When You Believe, by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston; What a Wonderful World, by Louis Armstrong; Praise You in the Storm, by Casting Crowns; The Wind, by The Fray – wow, what a good song; fitting,” he said, pausing a moment before continuing.
“I see Let the Waters Rise, by MIKESCHAIR; Hero by Mariah Carey; You Never Let Go, by Matt Redman; Walk on the Water, by Britt Nicole; The Space In Between Us, by Building 429,” he read, turning the CD around as he spoke in order to see everything more clearly. He paused to rub the bleariness from his eyes a moment before resuming.
“There’s Take Me, by Hawk Nelson; Day After Day, by Kristian Stanfill; Draw You Near, by Out of Eden; Because I’m Forgiven, by Phillips, Craig, and Dean,” he read, trying to remember the words to many of them. As he read, some of the songs brought to mind moments he’d listened to them; moments they’d touched his own heart.
“I’d Need a Savior, by Among the Thirsty; On My Knees, by Jaci Valesquez; I Call You Faithful, by Donnie McClurkin; Glorious Day [Living He Loved Me] by Casting Crowns; Smile, by Sixx AM; Worn, by Tenth Avenue North;, and Alpha and Omega, by Israel Houghton comprise the first CD.”
He flipped to the other side of the case to read the second disc, impressed at the variety and touched at the time his wife had taken to put together such a project.
“The other CD has We Fall Down, by Kutless - another great one, I might add… probably one of my favorites,” he told the group before resuming. “No Sweeter Name, by Kari Jobe; He is With Us, by Love & The Outcome; Back to You, by Mandisa; Alabaster Box, by Cece Winans; Artist of My Soul, by Sandi Patti – wow! I haven’t heard that in ages,” he said, chuckling.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Mark’s face falling more and more as he read.
What’s been going on with him lately, Lord? You’d think he’d be happy that Rose is becoming more like You, he prayed quickly as he continued twisting the disc, reading it carefully.
“Then there’s Here With Me, by MercyMe; Faithful, by Hawk Nelson; Lay ‘Em Down, by NEEDTOBREATHE – yeah, that’s another great one! And let’s see… there’s You’ll Never Walk Alone, by Barbra Streisand; Joy, by The Newsboys; Reach, by Peter Furler; Live Like That, by the Sidewalk Prophets; A Baby’s Prayer, by Kathy Troccoli; Adonai, by Avalon, God-Shaped Hole, by Plumb; All or Nothing, by Athena Cage; and, finally, last but not least, there’s Skin, by Sixx AM.”
Edward sighed as he closed the case, handing it back to Rose, who was now sitting, nearly asleep, in the recliner.
Moving more toward the center of the room, careful to avoid stepping on any presents, he spoke one last time: “And I hate to bust up the party, but I think that’s going to have to be the finale for tonight. We have a little space upstairs if there’s anyone too tired to drive, but… we’ve got to get some sleep. Really,” he said. “We really appreciate you all coming. It humbles me to no end that you’d spend your Christmas with us,” he told everyone. “So, kids… time to go get ready for bed now; say your goodnights. And Paloma, my Darling… you go ahead, too. I’ll see people out unless they need to go upstairs.”
As he gauged the responses of his audience, he saw everything from glee to disappointment, and boredom lay slack on his daughter’s tired face. Jason’s eyes lit up, and as others moaned, complained, or said their hearty goodbyes, the man came up to him and asked to speak in private.
Edward nodded, feeling his stomach growl. The crook of Jason’s finger winked at him as he ushered the way toward the stairs.
How long had it been since he’d last eaten? He couldn’t even recall.
“I just wanted to remind you about Monday. And I hear you’re thinking of a vacation; you’re fine on that. Your sick time may be overdrawn a bit, but your vacation is aplenty,” Jason began, smiling at him as they sat down at the base of the stairs. “And the mirror and photos… those were from Malik and I. We thought we’d give you something to think about before we tell you what I found the other day, because, Edward, the new info’s priceless. If you thought Skeeter and Pinky were something interesting, you haven’t even begun to dream.”
Edward’s heart beat hard within him, and he began to get dizzy.
“Are you serious,” he asked after he was able to get the dizziness under some semblance of control. “Are you…?”
“I’m as serious as a church mouse hunting for food on a fresh swept floor, my friend. I’d never kid you about something like this. But I think before you go on vacation, we need to look at the… artifact one more time. Still where you left it up there,” his brother-in-law asked him, nodding his head toward the attic.
“Absolutely; of course, I’ve only been up there about twice this year.”
“Well, Edward… that’s gonna have to change, quickly…. Friday, maybe Saturday, before we go over the new findings; maybe take time to go back over what’s already known for sure?”
Mark and Eugenie popped their heads into the stairwell and called goodnight, followed by Tom, Tawny, and their girls before Edward could answer.
“Well, if
you think that it would help with…”
“I know it will, Edward. You just have to trust me; no wild chasings after geese.”
“I guess it’s settled, then. Friday afternoon?”
Jason put his hand out to shake, and Edward obliged before they stood once more.
“Absolutely.”
And with that, Edward watched Jason go find his family and quickly wave goodbye.
“Friday,” he said again on the way out the door. “Don’t forget to write it down.”
As if forgetting was an option that even existed…
“Friday,” Edward replied back.
“What’s Friday,” Paloma asked him from where she stood behind him. The sound of her voice startled him, and he jumped.
“Friday begins the rewind before we fast-forward into the mystery,” he told her as he turned around. “Friday, we go over clues and we prepare ourselves for the next step in the adventure called life.”
Heaven’s Otaku
Book Five in The Angels’ Mirror Series
by
Harmony L. Courtney
Heaven’s Otaku: Book Five in The Angels’ Mirror Series
1st Edition Kindle- Published 2014
Copyright © Harmony L. Courtney
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Scriptures quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 The Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Acknowledgements:
I’d like to thank those who have been my patient and encouraging early readers, and my family, without whose support this would not have been accomplished as easily.
Kevin E. Gates, thank you, once more, for your insights and suggestions, which helped shift this book into its current form. I truly appreciate it.
Nan Barber, Larry Roberts, Steven Winston, Anna Malchert, and Lisa Marie Farfalla, thank you, as well, for your helpful input. Thanks to Bridgett Mahoney, for unknowingly helping to inspire one of the characters herein.
Thank you, as well, to the anonymous Elvis-meets-dinosaurs dreamer who helped bring life to Angus’ new digs.
Last, but not least, thank you, Cheryl Good and Gerald Darnall, for your help with editing. It is highly appreciated.
Thank you all!
To Dreamers Everywhere…
Disclosure:
As with any novel that brings in characters who were real people once upon a time, it is not this author’s intent to malign any person, historical or current. I have sought to create as true-to-life characterization as possible for all who you find on these pages, but at some point, real people must, of course, become fictionalized to tell the story.
I have done as much research to assess the characters who once lived as those who are purely fictional and done my best to create scenes that are realistic regarding earlier settings as I possibly can. Any omissions or commissions that are incorrect are solely due to an error in my own research, and is not to reflect on the people or settings portrayed in the text.
A number of the characters in earlier timelines – or those discussed by the historians within these pages - were real people. In instances where real persons existed but names are not known, names were created to enhance the storyline. Other than a handful of specific buildings, places portrayed within the text are real.
Any errors to foreign language portions within this text are the interpretational error of this author.
Though this is a book from the Christian perspective, this novel contains some more mature content than some readers may prefer. Please be advised.
With that, I leave you to enjoy Heaven’s Otaku. Thank you for your support of this book. Stay tuned for the rest of The Angels’ Mirror series to learn the rest of their story.
Prologue de Trois
Vancouver, Washington… December 28, 2024
“So, let’s go check over that mirror and see what we may have missed,” Jason said, setting down his tea. “There has to be something, considering the new… evidence Malik and I ran across last week.” He moved to stand, smoothing his hands over the chinos he wore and then grabbing his coat. “I’m guessing the attic isn’t exactly warm this time of year,” he continued, chuckling.
Edward nodded as he moved to grab a coat from the mudroom closet and rejoined his brother-in-law. “Uncle Masao should be here any time… don’t you think if we wait for him, it’d be better?”
He wasn’t sure who was more excited – he or Jason – and at the moment, he didn’t really care. He just wanted to get this over with… the more they learned and recalled the better.
But to do this without a new set of eyes to the nuances of the antique, he felt, would be a waste of time, and he was thankful that Masao had accepted the proposal of coming along upstairs for such a purpose.
The Christmas celebration – which doubled as Edward’s fiftieth birthday party – had been a mix of wonder and confusion, but ran longer than expected, with people popping in every day but Friday. It had truly wiped him out. Therefore, despite that the callers-upon them had been to wish him a happy belated birthday, Edward had done his best to remain restful.
Not only did his health command it, but his family had requested it, too. And their worry was not without warrant.
So, on Friday, he, Paloma, and their children – twelve-year-old Fourth of July twins Duncan and Chosen, as well as eleven-year-old Cherish – had taken the day to turn off all the phones and watch Christmas re-runs and movies on the television some friends had loaned them for the holidays. They’d ordered in pizza and lasagna, and it had sufficed to help calm things down enough to cope with the coming few days before deciding on vacation plans.
“I think Masao will forgive us,” Jason told him, interrupting his thoughts.
“Be that as it may,” Paloma said as she entered the room, sitting down on the chair between the two men, “why not just wait for him? I’ve never known him to be late for a single thing… not without something quite important happening to prevent it.”
Her long curly red hair, now laced with a handful of off-white streaks, was pulled back in a towel and there was a trace of dampness to her grey blouse proving evidence of her recent shower.
“Well, I just thought that we could-“
The sound of a car pulling up stopped Jason in the midst of his sentence, and Edward heaved a sigh of relief. “I think that’s him,” he said, smiling as he reached for his mug to capture the final dregs of his Moroccan Mint Green Tea.
Paloma moved to the kitchen and peered out the window. “Yep, you’re right. Now, give him a few minutes to acclimate and get settled in before you pounce on him for help, Jason,” she said, laughing. “I think you’ll find he’s much easier to talk to that way.”
“Yeah, fine,” her brother said, moving his cup to the sink and peeking from the window, himself. “And it isn’t that I’m trying to be impatient; it’s that I just want to know what-”
The doorbell rang, and Edward, being the closest to the door, went to let the older man in.
Uncle Masao and Aunt Anouk Chanel were a kind, but generally quiet couple. While they were technically cousins to Jason and Paloma, the titles of Aunt and Uncle had stuck, Paloma had once told him, because when Jason was little he had mistaken Anouk Chanel for an aunt over the phone one day.
H
er voice, so much like her mother, Céleste Anouk, had taken young Jason by surprise, and she had been “Auntie” ever since. So naturally, when she married, Masao had become “Uncle,” in spite of their being only a few years older than Jason and Paloma themselves.
“Welcome,” Edward told the man, bowing slightly as he entered before offering him some tea.
“Thank you, but I am fine. I am much more interested in seeing what we can gather about this angel mirror of yours,” the man said, smiling.
Standing firm at 5’5”, Masao was a wiry man, always impeccably dressed and prepared; it seemed he was prepared not just for the expected, but for anything that could come his way.
His blue-black hair was cut short, and Edward could see a few speckles of white shining in the midst of the sea of it. The golden shimmer of a capped tooth gleamed in the light at his smile, the gold nearly the same shade as the ring he wore.
Edward watched as Masao moved toward the others and greeted them before Jason announced that, since the kids were all over at his house for the next few hours, it would be an opportune time to begin their investigation.
“I’ve brought gloves for everyone, and hopefully the dust cloth has protected it well enough that we won’t have much of a problem with that. So, given the new clue that has been found, we are looking to see if there are any hidden drawers, pulleys, or panels in the wooden areas of the piece.”
Huh? Hidden panels, pulleys, and drawers? What is Jason even talking about, Edward asked himself as he waited with the others for Jason to retrieve the gloves he’d brought along.
If this new clue has to do with some hidden area of the mirror we have yet to find, is there a way to really find it? I don’t know how many times I’ve glanced over it; how many times Paloma has, or we have as a team. And Justice sure has gone over it a few times, too. So, what…?
The Angels' Mirror Pack 2: Books Four through Seven Page 31