Paradise World

by Dan Edmund

Chapter 33 - Encounters and Miracles

  After this incident, the whole atmosphere within the house literally brightened. The thick, dark reddish hue that had filled the house was suddenly gone, replaced now by natural sunlight. Gone too was the pungent odor, along with the cold and heavy depressive air. George and I immediately felt our spirits rise.

  "What in the world happened?" George exclaimed.

  "We've just witnessed another miracle!" I uttered with reverential awe.

  "Yeah, I can see that. But how?"

  "We've been visited by an angel, the Apostle John himself!"

  "I didn't see him," George said, shaking his head in confusion. "But I sure can see and feel the effect. But look at Ron!"

  I did. He again had his back towards us, staring blankly into the smoldering fire, again seemingly oblivious to everything.

  "I don't understand. He doesn't seem to have noticed the change," I said.

  "I don't understand it either. But I'm sure gonna try to make him see that something special just happened around here." George then crouched next to him and gently held his arm. "Hey, come on, man, look around. God's given you a blessing! So what do ya say to that?"

  Ron's only answer was a blank stare.

  "Hey, come on, man, what's the matter with you? Can't you see what's happened?" George then looked at me and heaved a sigh of desperation. "It looks like the miracle wasn't strong enough."

  "It was!" came the disembodied voice.

  George suddenly froze, knowing that the voice was neither Ron's nor mine. He gazed around the room but saw nobody. He stared at me. "Did you hear that?"

  "That was him!" I replied.

  "But where, I can't see -"

  George did not finish his sentence. The angel once more appeared. George gaped but remained speechless. However, spirits suddenly and mysteriously appearing now no longer shocked me, and I calmly asked him why Ron was not responding, and why he seemed totally oblivious to everything, including the miraculous change within the house.

  "Perceptions, whether visual or auditory, are not always what they appear. They may differ amongst individuals," came the mystical reply.

  "I don't understand. What do you mean?" I asked.

  "He's not seeing this room the way you're seeing it, although he soon will be, if he allows his mind to open. However, at the moment, his exterior perceptions of his surroundings remain the same as before."

  I walked towards the window and saw that the white mist outside had disappeared. The sky was now sunny and cloudless. "That's incredible!" I exclaimed, then faced the angel once more. "Did you do this?"

  "No," came the reply.

  "So, who did? God?"

  "It is as I said."

  "I'm not sure I understand what you're saying."

  The angel only smiled and replied, "You will in a little while."

  "All right, but what about Ron? What are we meant to do?" I asked.

  "Ron will now make progress, but he will still need more help." The angel, John, then turned towards George and said, "Please, my friend, do not be alarmed."

  "No, I'm okay," George replied, forcing a smile. "I recognize you. You're the one I saw within the -"

  "Light. Yes. In my human life I also had visions, and these I wrote down in what became known as the Book of Revelation, as you were just thinking."

  George looked stunned. "You can read my thoughts? I thought only God could do that."

  The angel smiled. "Do not be alarmed. That is the normal way we communicate in the heavens, and how we communicated with you when you had the vision within the Light. Like David, you are also on a special mission to help this tormented and disturbed soul before you."

  George nodded. "I understand, and I want to help. After all, I owe it to him! But it seems he's not responding. What do you suggest?"

  "Do as you had planned. However, stay with him tonight, and the next few nights. You are the strength he needs, and will trust. Also, your wife's training of the human mind will also be of some help. In a few days he will be ready to go down to the cave below, where you and Florence can care for him until he is ready for his next journey." The angel then faced me and said, "You have done a noble deed by what you have done, and although you still do not understand, you have helped him greatly by your show of kindness. Your service is almost complete, only now please go back to the cave, and tomorrow bring Florence up here." He then paused and gave another one of his angelic smiles. "On your way down, you will see yet another vision. Although only an image, it will be an image of love." With these mysterious words, he vanished.

  George was momentarily too stunned to talk. Finally, he shook his head in dismay. "Incredible! Wonders will never cease!" He paused again, then chuckled. "Well, we better do as we're told!"

  "What? Are you spending the night with him alone? Will you be all right?" I asked.

  He flashed a huge smile and laughed heartily. "All right! Are you kidding? After witnessing another miracle like this, hey, I know everything will be all right! Look! There's even a spare bed for me. So, do as you're told and get back down. I'll see you tomorrow with Flo."

  I then stared again at Ron, still sitting zombie-like next to the fire, totally oblivious to the miracle that had just happened.

  "Go on!" George exclaimed. "Don't worry about him. Just go!"

  So, off I went, down the mountain alone, glad to get away, glad to get back to the company of my family and friends, and the warmth and comfort of our temporary cave home. Now the trek seemed easy. The thick, depressive fog had lifted, the sun was out, and the wind was gone. A feeling of euphoria now swept over me. I had faced my killer successfully, without malice, and after the miracles, without fear. Now I felt as confident as George. I then thought about the angel's mysterious message of seeing another vision, an 'image of love' as he had called it. Naturally enough, my thoughts drifted towards Jenny. Then, halfway down the track, to my utter astonishment, there on a grassy patch of ground next to the path in front of two large trees, I saw a radiant looking woman sitting cross-legged on a blanket, a piece of bread in the one hand, and a bottle of wine in the other.

  "Jenny!" I screamed with delight.

  It happened. It had actually happened! I could hardly believe my eyes, nor could I contain myself. I had expected her resurrection soon, but not now, and not in this wilderness. But what did it matter? She was alive! She is ALIVE!

  I raced towards her, all the while ecstatically crying: "Jenny! Jenny!"

  Then, less than ten feet away, to my horror, the whole picnic scene vanished before me, gone without a trace, as if the whole thing had been nothing but a dream.

  "No! No!" I cried in utter despair. "Come back! Come back!" I pleaded, yet all in vain. I dropped haplessly to my knees and began to sob, pleading God for her return. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I spun around. "Jenny, your back!" However, the hand that touched me was not Jenny's but that of the angel, John. My sorrow changed to rage. "Where's Jenny? Where is she?" I bellowed at the top of my voice. "What strange and sinister games are you and God playing with me?"

  He shook his head and smiled serenely. "You misunderstood. I told you that you would only see a vision, an image of love. She never was here. It was only through the power of your thoughts that seemingly brought her here."

  "What! What weird thing are you -"

  He raised his hand to silence me. "Shortly after you return back to your village, you will meet a friend, who is with his friend. Then, with the next coming of the Light, your dearly beloved will wake up upon Anastasis."

  "You mean, she will be...."

  I did not utter the next word. I did not need to. His serene smile said it all. Then, as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared, leaving me both astounded and euphoric.