by John Mellor
He had to the first time, to make a necessary point. But that point had been made now. If those who lived on the Earth were ever to understand his gifts, it seemed fairly obvious to her what had to be done. And she had exercised her not inconsiderable talents to ensure that it was.
She watched the boy walk away from the water till he found a large rock at the edge of a pool. He sat down on the rock and, with his elbows resting on his knees, he lowered his chin into the palms of his hands and stared out to sea.
There was just one problem, the Angel reflected. Her slight modification to the general run of events on Earth might make it rather difficult for his final, and most precious gift to be accepted. On the other hand, she knew that without her assistance he would have just as much difficulty getting any of the gifts accepted as he had had the last time. Something had to be changed, and someone other than the boy had to change it. He would never have countenanced what she had done if he had known.
Well, no doubt he would sort that problem out. He had read the stories; he knew how these things were done. Besides, it would do the people of Earth no harm at all to make a bit of an effort in the aftermath. Hopefully they might have learnt something by then. If they had not, they never would.
She walked slowly down the beach towards the rock upon which the boy still sat, still staring out to sea. She had no doubts that he now knew who he was, and what he had to do. And what his seventh gift was.
The Angel stood quietly behind him for a few moments, alone with her thoughts and her singer; then she closed her eyes and looked deep into her mind, down onto the still-smoking rubble piled high up where the old Snow Queen's palace had once stood. She watched the rubble slowly erupt in an expanding mushroom of dust and stones as her wild, yellow-haired singer emerged with his band and once more headed across the kingdom, spreading yet again fear and hatred amongst those remaining as he sang new songs drawn from mountains no man had seen. His music raged ahead across the land, a wild, swirling cloud of chords laying waste like locusts to all that was soulless before it. No building, no business, no graven image, no icon, no treasure, no wealth, no monument, no falsehood, no priest, no king, no courtier, no Prince could stand beside this music - only people. People were all that his passing spared; and a great fear was wrought in many on seeing this.
And their fears were fanned by the breath of the dying Beast into a hot and foetid hatred that clamoured for the death of the singer's songs. But the bandmaster could no longer be destroyed, for he marched now with Nellie Matilda at his right hand and Henrietta on his shoulder, and ahead of him went the philosophers, the gardeners and the sailors, to prepare the way.
These disciples built with him a new kingdom that would one day enable the young boy to break the people's bonds, for they worked with tools the others had not possessed.
In the wake of the band the young boy walked alone and calm through the scattered human debris, seeking survivors amongst the emotional wreckage of the Angel's actions. No bitterness accompanied him for he now understood why she had done this thing. And as he walked, those capable still of seeing such on this sad and lonely Earth saw who he was and reached out, like drowning men, for the gifts he offered. And to each he gave gladly.
Then from the spirits of these few his seven precious gifts spread inexorably, like slow ripples on a pond, into the spirits of their children, and thence their children's children and their children's children's children; until eventually the day came when all the people on Earth were imbued with the spirit and the essence of the young boy's gifts.
Then the gifts awakened a new Spring that threw off the shackles of the Angel's Winter and the people at last grew straight and strong. The veils with which science and religion had blinded them for so long crumpled and fell away from their minds, and they saw Space and Time and Consciousness coalesce into a solitary unified vision; and a fresh cycle of understanding finally began. Harmony swirled through this genesis like a thousand wheeling honey bees spiralling kaleidoscopically outward to drive all distrust from the land; and the Philosopher's Wisdom spread ever into the souls of the people, until its swelling power and glory drove the final floundering remnants of Lucifer into the chains of his thousand-year exile.
The people could now turn themselves inward towards the one true goal worthy of the spirit of a man - Eternity. And the young boy's seventh and final gift gave the inspiration and strength needed for this great journey into the farthest reaches of their souls:
Like the white dolphin, his most precious gift of them all
- LOVE -
swam soundless and endless through all their hearts; guiding them ever onward, safely away from the spiritual death and darkness of their earthly materialism towards the true destiny of immortal men.
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The young boy brought all this to them
with a little help from the Angel
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And as we each of us now go also through our own endless personal cycles of hope and disillusionment;
as each one of us struggles to free his soul
from the chains of these material bonds;
as each of us seeks to strengthen his spirit
for the singer,
so the Angel
- through the eyes of her Fairy Tern -
watches us too.
For this is not the end of the story
This is the beginning
The end of the story we write ourselves
with a little help from the Angel:
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‘Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break through and steal:
but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves do not break through nor steal
for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also’
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Then will the Fairy Tern wheel on her long white wings
and leave
The Angel will wipe away all the tears from our eyes
And we none of us
will ever again
be the people we were
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‘Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby
some have spoken with the Angel unawares.’
- loosely taken from Hebrews 13:2