No Geek Rapture for Me_I'm Old School

by Jonelle Renald

  After most of the welcoming crowd had left, Mia went to Enoch and gave him a hug. “Greatest Grandfather, I can’t ever thank you enough for what you’ve done for me, for bringing me here to your home with you. It’s a wondrous place!”

  He smiled at her. “Looking after my family is a pleasure that never dims. I’m glad to know you’re safe now, especially in the sense that you’ve chosen God’s side. But for now, Daisy, will you show Mia to her room? She’ll need clothing as well.”

  “And shoes,” Mia added. “My bare feet are in need of shoes.”

  Daisy smiled and said, “We’ll find you everything you need. But don’t worry too much your lack of shoes — bare feet are a common occurrence around here.” She picked her foot up to show she also had no shoes on. The red-headed woman of twenty-five was average height with slender build, fair skin and freckles and had a very open and friendly nature. Chatting about life at Ismarsettehka, she led Mia to her room in a tower on the third floor that overlooked the farmland and the river. The furnishings in the spacious room were beautiful and handcrafted, the carved wooden bed covered in hand loomed fabrics, wild flowers in native clay vases, watercolor paintings on the wall with April Huse’s signature. With sheer white curtains billowing in the breeze, French doors opened onto a balcony large enough to sit on and enjoy the quiet clamor of the farm workers and animals below. A large stone fireplace flanked by book shelves on either side took up one wall of the large room, and there was a comfy stuffed chair to read in.

  It was still two hours before supper would be ready — too early to go back down. She didn’t intend to sleep, but the bed was so inviting. As Daisy left to go find a change of clothes and a pair of shoes, Mia said, “I think I’ll lay down for a couple of minutes and rest for a bit.” She promptly nodded off. A few moments later, Daisy returned with the clothing Mia would need. She quietly put everything into the closet, then slipped out and pulled the door shut behind her.

  31 | Touch

  It was dark when Mia woke, but she was too hungry and thirsty to go back to sleep again. After a big stretch on the balcony plus a look up at the starry night sky, she went back inside and lit the oil lamp on the dresser. Then she looked in the closet for the new clothes Daisy brought her. She selected a dress made of cotton with a simple and beautiful cut. It looked vaguely medieval, something Sleeping Beauty might have worn with long sleeves and a long, full skirt, plus a sleeveless bodice to wear over it, in shades of dark and light blue. Her new shoes were made of supple gray leather that fit comfortably, with no pinching or tightness anywhere. At last, she was freed from the black body suit! She wadded up the hideous black thing and decided to take it with her to the kitchen. Maybe someone could incinerate it for her.

  After several wrong turns, and directions from two different people, she found the large dining room and the kitchen next to it. Inside the kitchen, a tall woman in her sixties wearing glasses with dark hair just starting to turn gray, who was almost as wide as she was tall (and she was nearly as tall as Mia), was sitting by herself at a long pine table flanked by benches, reading a book under the light of a series of oil lamps hanging overhead. She closed the book as soon as Mia came in.

  “Hi, Mia! Enoch did a quick introduction earlier, but you probably won’t remember. Benida Tallis, but please, call me Mother Tallis.” She shook Mia’s hand. “Can I fix you something to eat? We rotate chores, and it’s my day to be chef.”

  Mia sat down across the table from her. “Are you the Mother Tallis that Enoch said sent the beautiful tunic for me to wear?”

  She smiled and nodded yes.

  “Oh, thank you so much for sending it for me!” Mia said. “I was carried between Earth and Hell — literally — wearing this horrible black body suit they forced me to wear during the experiment in the Noonan Hall lab.” Mia picked up the black bundle and handed it to Mother Tallis. “I would love for someone take this and put on a fire somewhere and burn it. Immediately. Completely.”

  “Here, let me take that.” She nodded and took the bundle from Mia. “Absolutely we can do that for you! You won’t ever see any trace of it ever again.”

  “Good riddance!” Mia laughed, then continued, “So glad to finally get rid of that hideous black thing! Every time I caught a whiff of the chemicals I’d been submerged in, every time I looked down at it — I can’t say exactly why, but it made me feel so ashamed to be still wearing that awful thing. Maybe because it reminded me of every decision I’d made since my idiotic decision to work for iCon, some earlier ones too, where everything fell apart in spite of my good intentions. I wanted to help my friend Jan keep her job, but instead, my so-called help ended up causing her more harm than good. I thought I could ignore my misgivings about what iCon was doing, and I ended up being a victim of the very things I was closing my eyes to.”

  Pausing, Mia said, “I’m so sorry!” She smiled wryly at Mother Tallis. “I’m not usually one of those people who blurts out their entire life’s story in the first thirty seconds after I meet someone. It’s just — once I get started — well, I appreciate details and I’m not very good at knowing when enough is enough for other people. Also, I can be too blunt, and only know how to say what I’m thinking, without making it sound more acceptable to other people. Please accept my apology. No good deed goes unpunished as they say. But your thoughtfulness to send that beautiful tunic for me really did touch my heart. I’ll bring it down and return it to you tomorrow.”

  Mother Tallis said, “Oh, no need to bother returning it. Please keep the tunic as a gift from me. I’m so glad to hear it brought you comfort. And in return, let me pay you the compliment of being frank as well. I see many visions which help guide Enoch, but it’s not often there are opportunities to provide happiness through what I see. I’m glad you told me how happy it made you. What you’ve told me has made my day — and evening.”

  The older woman got up and gave Mia a hug. “Let me fix you an omelet. The eggs are fresh, from the chickens we raise here on the farm. The bread — it’s baked daily. We make the cheese too. We make pretty much everything, come to think of it. I’m not mentally used to this, even after all the time I’ve been here. Have to remind myself there’s no store or market to go to for groceries. Or anything else for that matter.” She laughed. “We grow and preserve all our food. Once you get into the rhythms of this life, it really works very well. For Enoch, this way of living is normal and natural, and he knows what needs to be done. And when. The longer I stay here, I more I’m convinced that everyone helping everyone to be self sufficient is a totally normal and natural way of life. And it all works, without electricity and computers. And with none of the so-called experts of every kind trying to make master plans and decisions for everybody else.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you been here?”

  “More than thirty years now. Of all the people currently seeking sanctuary with Enoch, I’ve been here the longest. How did you sleep?”

  “Oh, very well, thank you. My room is just perfect. And I love this dress Daisy picked out for me. Everything here is just perfect. Don’t know why it is, but it feels healthier being here, so much better than back on Earth. The air here, so clean, so fresh. Where are we? I’d guess not on Earth, even though it looks exactly the same. Can’t see any evidence of twenty-first century life at all. Not in the sky, on the ground, or in the water either. I don’t know anyplace where a person could go that is so far removed from it all as Ismarsettehka seems to be.”

  “Our location. Yes, I’ve wondered about that too. Seems to be a difficult question to answer. I asked Enoch, and he will only say that Ismarsettehka is his home, a refuge from evil. Obviously, this isn’t Earth or Heaven either one. We can travel back to Earth through the nexus way station whenever we want, so we’ve not crossed the River Jordan or left the earthly plane of existence. We seem to be protected from evil incursions through our gateway, but you m
ay have noticed that Enoch has set up guardians to watch constantly in spite of that. He’s taking nothing for granted, or perhaps he remembers something that happened before.”

  Benida looked out the window. “To me, everything looks and feels like this is an uninhabited version of Earth — like nothing here has changed since very early on the sixth day of creation. Dr. Adjani agrees to some extent and thinks we’ve moved to an alternate timeline or a parallel dimension on an earlier, unspoiled Earth. Joseph Freeland thinks we’re in a place like a brand new Fifth World described in the traditional Navajo stories his grandfather told him about, with First Man and First Woman leading the people up from the Fourth World to the Many Colored Earth. Wherever or whenever this place is, there doesn’t seem to be any other settlement here, no other people or domesticated animals to be found anywhere. Over time, once he started building the house, Enoch brought livestock, horses, and the larger wild animals with him through the gateway.”

  Smiling at Mia, she said, “Of course, we may all may be making things too complicated in our efforts to figure out an explanation. It might as simple as God provided Enoch with a planet where he could build a home for himself, and over time, it has become a home for any who needed a refuge or a safe place to live.”

  Mia said, “I know at least one person who lives here who would have been condemned to the horrible Limbo of nothingness that people like Dante believe in.” Mother Tallis looked puzzled so Mia explained further. “Kit — do you know him? I’m saying he died before he was born, but now he lives here.”

  “Gotcha. I see,” Mother Tallis said. She took a moment to consider. “You’re confirming one of my speculations. Because Kit’s probably not the only one like that here at Ismarsettehka. As you said, not that everyone agrees with the idea, but I think the Bible teaches that God takes to Heaven those little ones who die too young. I don’t know why some seem determined to make God cruel and teach that the souls who die without receiving baptism or salvation go to hell or as you say a wretched Limbo, no matter how young they were. Some say the Bible teaches that Adam’s guilt is passed down to each soul through the generations, and so they say the very young deserve their fate even if we aren’t comfortable with it. However, I say that’s a misreading. What it says in Romans is that death is passed upon all people, not the sin, not the guilt. Chapter 5, verse 12 — “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, because all have sinned.” Babies are born ‘Not Guilty’ because they haven’t sinned yet. To be sure, we will all follow Adam’s example, and so we all sin and become guilty by our own action. But keep in mind that the text says ‘death was passed upon all.’ Doesn’t say guilt was passed to all. Death. And that word for sin, it means ‘sinning against someone, missing the mark.’ Action taken, not a condition. And what if you do read it ‘guilt spread to all’? How is Jesus without sin then? You can push that sinless perfection off to an earlier generation, but you’ll have to admit that at some point, someone had to be born without the guilt of sin when all of the rest of us weren’t. For some unknown reason through some unexplained mechanism. Well, I don’t think God works like that. I think he always sticks to the rules of his legal system. He plays by the rules and doesn’t make himself exempt from his laws. Always. So saying death, not guilt, passes to us all makes the most sense to me. Those who die innocent before rebelling, before taking an action that deliberately misses the mark, they go to Heaven — the unborn, those too young, those who cannot make such a choice for whatever reason, they go to God when they die because their Savior opened the door for us all, and they were not guilty of the sin that brought humanity death.”

  “It’s good to hear that.” Mia sighed and looked away. “That’s what I have always believed, but I never knew how to say it as a doctrine. I agree. God says their soul is innocent, they haven’t done wrong yet. It’s guilty rebels who chose to defy God that will go to hell. My ideas about it came from what David said about his baby who died after his adultery with Bathsheba. ‘No one can bring him back to life, but I shall go to be with him one day.’ It doesn’t say he would someday be comforted by being made to forget all about that child who was sent to Hell. He was confident they’d meet again someday, as father and son. And who would say David isn’t in Heaven?”

  “Never ceases to amaze me at how people find sanctified, church-y ways to turn God into a harsh, uncaring, unfeeling deity,” Mother Tallis said. “I’ve met people who say they hope they get amnesia in Heaven, so they don’t have to think about their child in torment in Hell. Of course God would never send any innocent soul to that place of torment. What an insult against God! If we wicked humans can look at babies and think they are innocent, I can’t understand why anyone would suppose that God thinks something different, something worse. He’s not a pagan god handing down cruel penalties without a second thought. As if any parent could love or care about their young one more than God does. They couldn’t. Ever. Same thing is true about adult loved-ones in Hell. We don’t need amnesia to forget about them to be completely happy ourselves either. As if we love them more than God does! We’ll know how God loved them and offered them chance after chance to escape that fate, and we’ll agree that if someone is in Hell, it’s because they told God, ‘I’d rather be here than choose to obey you.’ No one’s in Hell who wants to be in Heaven.”

  Mother Tallis paused for a moment to let her brief episode of irritation pass. Then she continued, “Anyway, after talking to some of the people here, I had wondered if they might be souls who had died before they were born or at an innocent young age, souls that maybe have chosen to come here to Enoch’s home to learn about living life, rather than spending all of their eternity in Heaven. Sometimes they come to the house and listen to us talk to each other. I have tried to ask them questions, but I don’t get much information beyond reports on what they do each day. I think they’ve been warned to take those of us seeking refuge here with a very large grain of salt. Probably because we make compromises and have taken moral shortcuts in our lives, and aren’t really as good as we think we are. But they are interested in hearing about our spiritual life, particularly about becoming a worshipper of God. So they don’t actually shun us, and appear to learn from us on occasion. In any case, I am constantly learning from them, even if they don’t say much to me. They are so joyful, and are like Nathaniel the apostle — totally without guile.”

  Just then, three noisy, active people (two men and one woman), burst in through the back door into the kitchen. The short muscular man (who looked much too young for his head of totally gray hair) said, “Mother Tallis! So it’s your turn to feed us, the worthy hungry. What’s for supper? Something smells great!”

  The short, athletic woman with long dark hair quickly strode over to the stove. “What have you started cooking for us, Benida? Preston — omelets! Any mushrooms?”

  He opened the door to the pantry. “Yes. Oh glory, Sofia! Green chiles too.”

  The third ranger, a tall man with moustache, beard, and strong arms, grabbed the other two and pointed at Mia, whispering loudly so she could hear. “New person alert.” He waved hello to her while snitching a strip from the green peppers Mother Tallis was cutting up for the omelets.

  Smiling, she shooed them over to the table. “Ethan, get away from the stove. Scoot! Now! You all go get acquainted with Mia, and let me fix you all something to eat. I can cook, but not very well when I’m distracted. Unless you like burnt, or raw eggs — or burnt AND raw eggs.”

  They all obliged and took seats on the benches at the table. Mother Tallis got down a plate and brought Mia’s omelet to the kitchen table.

  “Let’s share,” Mia suggested. “I’ll cut this into quarters.”

  “I’ll get three more plates,” Sofia said.

  “Perfect! Thank you, Mia! I’m so hungry. I’m Preston Sullivan, by the way, sometimes known by my monogram, ‘The PDS’ —
Pretty Dangerous Situation.” He shook her hand across the table. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Preston.”

  Sofia returned with the plates. “I’m Sofia Lonzi, the brains of this squad. And Preston’s nickname — it’s multi-functional, and can mean many other things, as the situation requires.” Preston snapped to attention and saluted Sofia smartly.

  “Nice to meet you, Sofia.” Mia reached across the table and shook her hand.

  Completing the introductions, Sofia said, “And lastly, Mia, Ethan Hargadain. Ethan, Mia.” He was sitting on the same side of table as Mia, at the other end of the bench. She wasn’t sure, but she thought he looked familiar, like she had seen him before. Many of the details of her rescue were fuzzy and unclear, but she remembered that one of the men who had rescued her at Noonan Hall had been named Ethan. He was looking straight ahead across the table, and she looked at his profile, trying to remember. She shook his hand, and heard the quiet voice in her ear say, “This is a kind man.” She was positive that she’d heard that before.

  Mia introduced herself to the rangers. “Hello. I’m Mia, Dr. Maria Marwitz actually, but please call me Mia. I think one of you standing watch must have seen us —.” (Ethan motioned with his hand.) “I heard the herald of our arrival when Enoch and I arrived earlier. It was such a long day for me yesterday, or maybe it was today? It feels like several days past normal for me, so I’m not entirely sure what day I’m on right now. Anyhow, I slept through supper, so I am eating with you on the second shift.”

  Ethan said, “Speaking of eating, we better eat soon, or this good food will get cold. I’ll say grace.” He bowed his head.

  “Blessed be the Lord our God,

  And thanks we give to the King of the Universe,

  Who provides us with food from the earth,