by C V Ricks
“What if we did something different to catch them off-guard?” asked Journey.
“Like what?” I asked.
“Like maybe when we are visible to also start glowing real strong and kind of blind them out,” said Journey.
“That's an interesting idea,” I said. “Is there some rule against that, though?”
“Not that I know of,” said Journey.
“Okay, then we'll try it and see how it works. Let's plan on who will try to unfreeze who so that we don't all try it at the same time,” I said.
“Yeah,” said Kevin. “How about, if Ally gets frozen Journey unfreezes her and visa versa and the same with me and Felix.”
“All right,” Journey and I agreed.
Professor Occult announced, “Everyone, time to start.”
We put on our rings and began floating around the room. We were doing pretty well, but I kept seeing someone chasing after me. I think it was Gretchen because of the color of her ring. Finally she caught me and I became visible. I waited to see if Journey would come and unfreeze me. A few seconds later I saw Journey's ring floating in the air heading toward me. There was another ring of the opposing team near me, I supposed it was my guard. That ring started chasing Journey's ring, to scare her off from trying to unfreeze me. She went back a ways. Just then I saw Kevin become visible because someone had tagged him. When that happened, Journey snuck by her guard and tagged me. I was visible and unfrozen. Both Journey and I shone our glowing powers to the best of our abilities, thus blinding the opposing team, who were trying to tag us while we were visible. We quickly got away and then the three seconds were up and we were invisible. Our opponents were baffled and I heard one whisper, “Is that fair?”
Professor Occult answered, “There is no rule against it, so I suppose so.”
We continued to float around. If we could make it for twenty-five minutes without all of us being frozen, then we would be proclaimed the winners of that point and thus the game. So, we had to keep hanging in there. I saw someone become visible, and it was Felix. I happened to be right behind him so I quickly unfroze him and continued flying by hoping no one would catch me. After I unfroze him and became visible, one of the opposing team saw me and headed in my direction. I quickly floated backwards and towards a divider to try to hide. Fortunately, after I hid I became invisible again and my opponent didn't catch me. I then saw that Journey had been tagged and was now frozen. I was officially the individual who was supposed to unfreeze her according to our plan, but I was afraid it was kind of risky. I could see a couple of rings floating near her guarding her. So I waited a bit. However, just then Felix must've decided to chance it and unfreeze her and he too was caught. Now it was just Kevin and me left. But I knew the time was ticking so I didn't want to chance getting caught while unfreezing the others. If Kevin and I could just stay unfrozen for a couple of more minutes we would win. So, I tried to stay as hidden as possible and not take any risks. Finally I saw Kevin get tagged and frozen as he was trying to unfreeze Felix. I just had to try to keep from being tagged for a few more seconds even though I knew they may all be ganging up against me.
I could feel the tension in the air and the energy on me. I stayed as still as possible, thinking that if I started floating around they would be more likely to see my ring. I could hear them whispering among themselves, obviously they hadn't learned telepathy yet either. I could see some of their rings floating past me. They were floating quickly trying to scope out the entire area, but didn't look carefully at me. The suspense was killing me, but finally the buzzer went off and we had won!
After our 11:00 activity, I was ready for a quiet lunch hour. I was exhausted from that game, but exhilarated, too. We floated over to the lunch room and made our food choices and sat down with our meals.
“What is our 1:00 activity?” asked Kevin in between bites of enchilada.
I swallowed my water and set down my salad fork. “I don't remember.”
“It's Catch the Ghost game,” said Journey, after a spoonful of soup. “It sounds a lot like the Invisibility game we just played so we better rest up.”
“Isn't that where we are all against the ghost who is It?” asked Felix. “We have to catch him before he catches all of us?”
“Yes,” said Kevin, after crunching a piece of a nacho cheese covered chip. “But when our flashlights are shining he can see us and when they are not we're pretty much invisible. The game is played in the dark. We have to try to shine our light on him, but it is tough because you can't see him in the dark. He can sneak up on you and tag you because he can see you when you shine your light, which is most of the time.”
“Okay,” I said. “But if you don't shine your flashlight then he can't see you, right?”
“That's correct,” said Kevin.
“That game sounds like fun,” said Journey. “I wonder if we can strategize.”
“Probably,” I said.
“Just like the last game,” said Felix. “When you are trying to bring a “dead” teammate back to life (one who's been tagged by the ghost) you are most vulnerable. This is because you have to shine your flashlight on them for a certain amount of time to give them enough energy to get up and going. The flashlight's light gives them life.”
“And while you are shining your light on them, you are susceptible, right?” I asked.
“Yes, the ghost can just come up to you and tag you while you are saving someone.”
“I see,” I said, a bite of crusty Italian bread in my mouth. “The good thing about it, is that there is only one ghost and four of us, right?”
“Right,” Felix said.”
“Suppose two of us shine our flashlights at the same time on a 'dead' teammate, would they come back to life quicker?”
“Yes, they will,” said Kevin.
“Okay,” I said. “We've got to catch the ghost before he catches all of us.”
Chapter 19
We finished eating and started toward the room where the Ghost Chase game would take place.
“This day is a blast!” announced Journey. “Do we get a day like this every Saturday that we are here at the Academy?”
“Maybe so,” said Felix, scratching his chin. “I hope so. It's a lot of fun.”
“I heard that Saturdays are a surprise. They don't tell us what we are doing until the day before,” I said.
We floated into the Ghost Chase auditorium. It, too, had dividers making it maze-like. Professor Angel Agnes was in charge of this activity. She seemed a little brighter and cheerier today than usual. She explained the rules of the game to us. Felix, Kevin, Journey and I chose to play against the ghost. A student by the name of Paul chose to be the ghost. There were other rooms where some students also went to play and other assistants went with them to mediate their games. Angel Agnes stayed in our room with us.
“If you would like to talk to your teammates for a moment, go ahead, and then when I turn out the lights play will begin. She handed us each an official flashlight. The flashlights activated a mechanism that brought you back to life. When you were tagged by the ghost a mechanism went on, causing you to freeze and glow. Then when your teammates fully energized your mechanism, the mechanism allowed you to move. Your glow would then go out and you were free to go.
“Do we have any strategies?” asked Kevin after we got in our huddle.
“I can't think of any,” I said.
“Why don't we just play and as we learn things, we'll strategize later,” Felix offered.
“Okay,” said Journey enthusiastically. “Let's go!”
The room became pitch dark except for the lights that we flashed back and forth as we floated around. We kept flashing our lights so that if the ghost snuck up on us we could hit him with our beam. We tried to turn around in circles continually to be sure we shone our lights behind us as well as in front of us in case the ghost snuck up from behind. Finally, someone was caught. It was Kevin. We could all see him. When you were frozen, you also glowed
so everyone could see you. Quickly we headed in his direction so we could unfreeze him, but we had to be careful because the ghost could be in those whereabouts guarding him. I came from one direction and Journey came from the other direction. We wanted to sneak up on him, so we didn't shine our lights. When we approached him we both shone our flashlights on him. While we were doing so, the ghost tagged me. But we were successful in freeing Kevin. He and Journey were free, but now I was frozen. It didn't seem like we accomplished anything.
“Forget about me, just try to catch the ghost,” I said. As I said that someone came up and shined their flashlight on me. The ghost also caught another person a ways away, but I was now free. We continued traveling through the mazes, trying to find the ghost. All of a sudden I felt myself freeze and I started glowing. The ghost had caught me, but right behind the ghost was Felix and he shined his light on the ghost, killing him instantly. We had won! Now it was someone else's turn to be the ghost.
“Who would like to be the ghost for the next round?” asked Angel Agnes.
“I would like to be it,” said Felix excitedly.
Chapter Nineteen
After playing another round of Ghost Chase and Felix winning, it was 2:00 and time for the Hoverslide. We floated outside and followed the golden trail signs which led us to a large Hoverslide park. It looked like a great waterslide park, but there was not water. You got to float, single file, over the stairway (which was just used for other events by freshmen who couldn't float) to the top of the slides, which sure beat walking, and then Hoverslide down. You had to be able to basically float and all of us could do that now. There were many slides, so you didn't have to wait long in line. Some went fast straight down, some had twists and turns, and others had little caves in them. At the bottom of the slides, instead of a pool of water like in a waterslide park, was a soft puffy cloud. Anyway, it looked like a cloud and was soft, puffy and white.
At 3:00 it was time for our flotation ball tournament. Flotation ball is like volleyball only you float and fly in the air. The net is suspended in the air. The ball is like a strong balloon that you must hit over the net to the other team. There are six players on each side. Me, Journey, Alex, and Kevin were on the same side along with a couple of girls who chose to join our side. We named our team the Guardian Angels. Not too original, I suppose. The team we were playing named their team the Flying Aces.
I got to serve first. I hit the ball over the net and the Flying Aces returned it. It came right to me and I set the ball up for Kevin. He hit it over the net. The ball came back and Journey set it up and Felix, in the front row, smashed it over the net, giving our team a point. We continued playing until the game was over. Our team had won by three points. We went on to play the next team which was called The Angel Acrobats. They were a team comprised of red robed angels. As they warmed up, they lived up to their name, even doing flips in mid-air to get the ball.
They served first after which we set up the ball and smashed it over the net. They retrieved it and smashed it back over. We were not particularly ready for the return and it got by us. Next they served the ball again and we returned it. They once again smashed it over, but we were able to retrieve it and hit it in a corner they weren't expecting. It was now our serve. Kevin served the ball and the Acrobats returned it after doing a few flips and stunts. They reminded me of the Harlem Globe Trotters basketball team on earth. We hit it, set it up and spiked it over the net. The rally continued back and forth. Finally we were able to get that point. After playing for some time, it came down to the last point, which was game point. I was surprised this team hadn't beat us long ago. We took a time out and huddled together to try to strategize.
“What can we do to surprise them?” I asked.
“Let's act like we are going to smash it and then just drop it over the net in the front corner,” said Journey.
“Everyone for that idea, say I,” I said.
“I,” said Kevin
“I,” said Felix.
“Okay, let's go Guardian Angels!”
We went back to our positions. The Acrobats served the ball. We hit it up, set it and then dropped it in the front corner, acting like we were going to smash it hard. We caught them off-guard and won the last point.
Now it was 4:00 and time for the Saving Gallery game. In this game you were either a shooter and tried to shoot the ducks going by or you were a saver and tried to float in front of the ducks and save them from being shot down. I chose to be a shooter first. Journey also chose to shoot first. Kevin and Felix chose to be savers.
Journey and I took our places at one of the rifles at the starting line. When the starting shot went off, I started shooting at the ducks going by. Angels flew in front of them and shielded the ducks. Those bullets bounced off of them and fell to the floor. I laughed at them because they looked so funny. I continued shooting as quickly as I could, trying to at least hit down one of the little yellow rubber ducks. The angels defending them were so good, I wasn't able to knock any of them down.
Then, I got to be one of the angels protecting the ducks. Journey and I went to our starting places for the next round, this time as savers and Kevin and Felix went to their places as shooters. After the starting shot, I flew back and forth wherever I thought the bullets would go and saved many of the little rubber duckies.
At 5:00 we did our laundry and letter writing. The machine for laundry here was more advanced than what they have on earth. It was like one of those coin machines on earth where you drop the coins in and a ticket comes out. You drop the clothes in the shoot and in seconds they come out clean and folded. “Wow,” I said, this is the first time I can actually say I like doing laundry.”
“Yes, same here,” Journey said. “Now I will write a letter to my parents and my sister. Who are you writing to?”
“I'm writing to my parents and my brothers,” I said.
“Don't you have a brother who is a guardian angel?” asked Journey.
“Yes,” I said. “He recently graduated from the Academy.”
“I can't wait until we are guardian angels. I think it will be great to watch over people.”
“Yes, I think so, too,” I said.
At 6:00 we joined the boys for dinner in the cafeteria.
“On Monday morning we get to meet the new academy students and help show them around,” said Kevin.
“Does everybody get to do that?” I asked.
“Only those in the top ten percent of each our class get to,” said Felix. “They inform you, by sending you a message in your message box.”
I checked my message box from a small tablet I pulled out of my pocket. It was kind of like email for people on earth. “Yes, I got one,” I said.
“Me, too,” said Journey.
“We all scored pretty high on our tests, then,” I said.
After dinner we went to the movie theater. The movie theater had comfortable reclining seats. But those who were comfortable float-reclining did so. Angel Crystal floated up to announce the movie.
“This movie will be a history of the world since the inhabitants of humans,” she announced.
Oh... and boo...sounds erupted from the audience.
“I think you will enjoy it, because it is different from anything you have seen before. The major historical events shown in this movie include the behind the scenes guardian angels involved.”
Now sounds of clapping and cheering erupted from the audience.
“So, without further adieu, we will show the movie.”
The movie began. Angel assistants passed out soda, popcorn and candy. It was interesting to watch the history of the world taking place and see it with the involvement of guardian angels. I knew that there was heavenly help at times, but it was amazing to see it. So many times the world could have been in turmoil by the evil spirits and evil people trying to take it over and guardian angels were there to help thwart the evil ones. We may think that the earth is filled with evil and indeed there is much opposing force
s, but the good wins out many times and helps to keep the earth from being totally destroyed. Only in the time of Noah, was the evil so prevalent that it took a flood to clean the earth.
After the movie, Journey and I headed back to our room. It had been a great day.
In the morning, we woke up to the sound of a beautiful choir of angels. Every Sunday at the Academy, the white-robed angels arose early and sang hymns for the entire Academy to hear and listen to as they started their day. We could hear the music as we got dressed and ate breakfast. Finally, we entered the great auditorium where the angels were singing and sat down for church. We sang many songs with the choir. We read from scriptures and worshiped and rested. We were able to wear whatever dresses and suits that pleased us for our Sunday attire. We didn't have to wear our robes. Visitors from the Spirit World came to teach us as well. And finally, at the end of the day we were allowed to go to visit our families in the Spirit World.
When Journey and I got back and lay in bed, we talked about our families. Journey looked a bit sad. Her sister, Melissa, was ill. “I think she may be joining us soon,” she said.
“Well, that's good news now, isn't it?” I tried to cheer her up.
“Yes, I suppose it is,” Journey smiled.
My first week of guardian angel school went well as did the next three weeks. Finally, I graduated. My grandparents and other relatives attended my graduation. I was given my assignments to watch over. Included in them were my own children.
I received a desk in the guardian angel Earth-watching building looking out a large glass window. I sat by my grandparents. I watched to see what my son Budd and Louise and my husband's lives were like. I saw what happened the day that I died. And here is what I saw.
After I went to heaven, Budd and Louise sat in silence listening for any sound of me. When they heard a thud, they scooted out of their chairs and ran to the bathroom. Budd's eyes widened and his mouth dropped when he saw me lying upon the cold surface. He fell to the floor and patted my pale face. “Wake up, Mommy. Wake up!”