***
BEHIND DALTON, BILLIONS of souls appeared, each waiting to be led home. At long last he could reach out to Marissa and have her beside him. As he descended down even further to the ground, he set down beside her and reached out his hand to touch her. As he did so, she jumped with surprise and opened her eyes to see him standing there in His white robe and love in his eyes. She grabbed him and held him so fiercely that it seemed like she would never let him go. She cried openly now, cried for all they had been through, cried for the separation they had had to endure and cried to feel his arms encircle her once more. As they stood there, God came before them and reached out to Marissa.
“It has been eons since I have seen you both together,” He said, his voice as smooth as silk. “Marissa, you now have felt the betrayal that I felt so long ago, in the beginning when you ate from the tree I had forbidden you to eat from. You listened to the snake who despised you and tricked you rather than listen to me, the Father who loved you beyond all else. Even worse, you convinced Dalton to eat from the tree as well and I was so hurt and angry that I couldn’t find it in my heart to forgive you. Many, many years have passed. There have been chances and chances to gain your forgiveness that you failed at Marissa, but this time, you have won. You have managed to lead the people here, so that they may eat from the Tree of Life and live for all eternity in the houses I have prepared for them. My child, you have done well and I not only thank you, I forgive you. Come, let’s lead our people home.”
God banged his staff on the ground and as He did so, the people behind them began to walk to the Tree of Life which had appeared in the middle of the prayer labyrinth, each branch flowing for miles long. Death sat close by watching, calculating, trying to find a way to escape his termination. As each person walked to the tree and grabbed the fruit from it, they would take a bite and watch as a piece of Death disappeared. Death howled in pain and rage and swung the sword he still held in his hands. Nothing happened, no one died and Marissa knew that finally his reign of terror was over. Piece after piece dissolved before their very eyes. Now that people had eaten from the tree, there would be no more dying. God had defeated Death after all. She watched as they would take a bite of the fruit, shimmer and earn their glorious white robe, and then be lifted above the clouds often reuniting with family members that had been lost to them for years on their way up. They watched as Amelia Erhardt found her father and mother and held them close, one on each side of her. They watched as Kaske and his villagers rose and found their place in the Heavens. All of the people who had been in the Third Heaven looked to Him on their way to their eternal homes, each waving and bowing in thanks.
Finally she walked back to Dalton, slipped the ring off of her finger and drew his hand to hers. Slipping the ring on his finger, she said,
“I have needed you for all of my lifetimes, for every day I breathed. There has never been anyone else for me, only you my love. For now and until the end of time, I am yours.”
Dalton looked at her with tears in his eyes and told her,
“Marissa, I knew the day I first seen you that you were the only one for me. I have loved you for all of my lifetimes and have needed you like a man dying of thirst needs a drink. You are all that I am, you are all that I will ever be. You are a part of me that I cannot live without. My love for you knows no bounds and together we will be for all eternity the way our Father meant it to be from the beginning of time.”
Slipping the pink diamond he had bought for her so long ago off, He reached for her hand and slipped it onto her delicate finger. Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed it and then drew her to his side, the side that had originally given up the rib from which she was made, and held her close, smiling as the scent of her hair wafted up to his nostrils and the lily of the valley shampoo she had always used enfolded him once again. Hand in hand they ascended to the Heavens, lost in each other’s eyes while down on the ground a small piece of black throbbed in the furthest corner of the prayer labyrinth. It throbbed and pulsed and calculated unseen by anyone. The day would come where he would live again. He promised.
***
THERE ARE ALWAYS those special people without whom you never would have been able to write the book. My uncle, Bob Heigh, was invaluable to me through out the writing of this book, my aunt Peggy Heigh as well. Thank you both from the bottom of my heart for the countless reading and re-reading of the manuscripts.
For my kids who put up with me being so distracted the past few years with all of the research and time I put into this novel. Especially you Krysten Shores. You kids will always be my best work of art.
Lastly for my husband Mark, who had faith in me and supported me throughout the whole process and never once complained when his dinner was late or his shirts were wrinkled. I love you so much.
***
WENDY J. SHORES was born in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada and resided in-and-around there until she relocated to Baltimore, Md after meeting her husband on the internet. They have been together now for 14 years and married for 12.
Wendy beat the odds twice now, having beat a brain cyst which she had removed in 1999, and is now in remission from Lymphoma. She continues to write and will be coming out with novel number two, Breathless, hopefully next year. She hopes to soon publish the children’s books she has had written for several years now.
For more information about Wendy and her books, visit:
Website (http://ravensgirl62.wix.com/lost-souls)
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wendy-J-Shores/1514259842188149)
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Lost Souls Page 16