I was so naïve. Eileen didn’t care for me being with Zane, no, she wanted him for herself. And most likely had been the one Zane had been unfaithful with and not some other woman. I had put her fretfulness behind me and had gone forward with our engagement party plans. I figured she was going through a twins’ separation phase.
Then the incidents had begun happening. Lipstick on Zane’s collar in shades not like mine, hang-ups in the middle of the day and ghost pages on his beeper that were unanswered, missed appointments, longer hours at the office and other little things. I had become suspicious, and even approached Zane with my concerns.
“Darling, I am working longer hours so I will be caught up, when we go on our honeymoon.” He soothed me and quickly I shelved my fears.
He had an answer for all the mishaps. When he could fit me into his busy schedule, he would spend the time making love and showering me with presents to take my mind off my suspicions. And it had worked. I knew Zane couldn’t be untrue and that he loved me beyond a shadow of a doubt.
The afternoon of my accident, I had talked to Zane’s secretary about a surprise dinner at Topela, our favorite Cajun cuisine restaurant. She cleared his late afternoon appointments and made the reservation. I had run a few errands, and it was later that day that I met my sister coming out of Carter’s Pharmacy. She looked irritated and I could tell she had been crying. I tried to get her to talk to me but she just brushed past me and ran for her car. The weatherman had predicted cats and dogs to hit by four o’clock. At precisely four thirty the bottom fell out of the sky. I barely made it back to my car before the downpour caught me. Roads that moments before were safe, had become doused and slippery.
I focused all my attention on the road. I had felt the car swish a few times on small curves, but it was when I approached the bend, where so many car accidents occurred, I slowed the car and moved with trepidation and care around what the media had dubbed “Bloody 98, Dead Man’s Curve”. I had almost come out of the turn, when something red ran out in front of me. I panicked, slammed on the brakes, and spun out of control. The car went over the old wooden barricade and sent me splintering down the embankment. My sight was blurred and sound roared in my ears. My car landed at the bottom of the wooded ravine with a jarring crash.
I knew my bones were broken, I felt the pain as it ricocheted through my body. Blood splattered the interior of my car and dripped into my open eyes. My lungs had been punctured, my throat filled with blood. I just slipped away while my body drowned from extensive internal injuries.
Moments…mere…seconds before impact, a bright light had flared and filled the confines of the car. My last thoughts were of my fiancée as my soul entered the light.
Angels embraced me and flew to Heaven’s Door. Tears flooded my eyes and when the door opened. I shrugged myself free from the angelic arms and stood before the door to eternity. Expecting Jesus to be standing there, or some old man, I prepared to ram my fist down the throat of whoever appeared. The unexpected form who greeted me was a CHILD!
The child looked to be about ten years in age. He was of slight build with sandy blonde hair and crystal blue eyes swimming with unshed tears. His eyes betrayed more depth than eyes of a mere boy, but more like the souls of thousands. His eyes were ancient. He reached for my hand; I pushed his hand away. His reaction was instant and caused me to cringe. Tears leaked from those unfathomable eyes and a slight frown hid I his boyish lips. He stepped back.
A voice like none other I have ever heard roared from the mouth of this child. The thunderous pounding of the oceans’ surf rushing ashore couldn’t begin to describe the vibrations of his voice. As he spoke the angels bowed down and their wings touched the smoky white floor.
“Elaina, you are saddened, that I have brought you here. I am sorry for your pain. I tried to intervene sooner, but my Angel was blocked from your sight by a red-haired demon and cast aside. I had hoped to take you before impact, so that you would not break in body and spirit.”
I shook my head, this could not be real. Was this someone’s sick idea of a joke perhaps? Could it be a nightmare? Just the same, I shuffled my feet and turned to pull the wizard’s curtain aside and see who was behind the nightmare. I was stunned to find no curtain, nor any wizened old man pulling levers or pushing buttons. Only the child and three Angels I arrived with were present.
“HERE? Where is here and how do I get back to Zane?” I whimpered.
The child stepped closer and reached out for my hand. “Elaina, I know you are bewildered and I wanted, truly, I did want to shield you from this pain,” he started, “but there is something you should know. It was not your time, but your Guardian Angel, who came to have council with me in your behalf…”
I interrupted, “I don’t believe in Guardian Angels and I certainly didn’t ask, it to intervene on my “behalf”. Who are you? Why am I here? What kind of monster kills an innocent woman?
The child reached down deep in his pocket and produced a white worn handkerchief. He handed it to me and continued, “Crying, even disbelief is expected here, as it is on Earth. Only those who believe, ever truly make it to MY door. I know that as a child you believed. You knew your Guardian Angel. Elaina, you have called upon your Guardian Angel during many ills in your life. You know her as Aria.” He finished with a smile.
“A-a-r-i-a … I thought … she was just an imaginary friend from childhood. I n-e-v-e-r t-h-o-ugh-t…” I stammered.
“Aria is real! She has always been there when you called her. She was the first being to see you enter this world and she was the last to carry you out. Turn and behold your Guardian Angel, Aria. She has cared for you, all through your earthly life and before, when your soul had yet been sent forth into your mother’s womb.”
I turned and gasped. Kneeling behind me, there was the most beautiful Angel. Her robe was iridescent with shimmery pinks and purple hues. Her long hair was the color of finely spun silk with golden flecks that sparkled and her eyes the most brilliant purple. She smiled. Aria rose from the floor and stood with open arms. A cry escaped my throat, “Aria! Aria you are real!” I ran to her like a child to a loved one.
The ethereal being who embraced me with first her love and then her arms smelled of sunshine and roses. A memory slowly took form of me: a moment as a child, who had fallen from her crib. I was the babe who cried for her mamma and reached up in the darkness for help, only the hands that lifted me up were not my mother’s. They belonged to a beautiful young woman. The woman whispered her name as “Aria” to my infant ears. Aria had pressed me close to her bosom and rocked me back to sleep, singing an ancient lullaby. Other memories flooded my mind’s eye, other moments in time spent with Aria. She was as real to me as any member of my family.
Greedily I hugged Aria to me. Aria‘s love seeped inside me and helped to lessen my pain. With her eyes she implored me to listen to the child. I turned around, never leaving the comfort of her arms, and gave the child my full attention.
The child went on to weave a tale so farfetched and wretched, I couldn’t believe his words. I had only to turn and look up at the sympathetic face of Aria, to know he spoke the truth. I felt the angel shiver with horror as the tale continued. Time passed and yet it didn’t. I listened for hours only to learn seconds had passed. Time at the door was not measured in seconds or minutes, it just was.
The child told of deception and lust. His tale told of my murder. My automobile had been tampered with, the food that awaited my arrival at the restaurant poisoned; in case the brakes hadn’t failed. My biggest threat of all was not a stranger.
“It is saddens and sickens me, that you sister took it upon herself to play God with your emotions and your life, so that she could replace you with herself and be free to love Zane for her own. She conspired with Zane as he had the choice of free will; he is not blameless in this murder, he helped.” He lamented.
The child went on to tell me why Eileen did it and why Zane went along with her evil plan. “Elaina, Eileen had di
scovered a clause in your grandmother’s will that caused distress not only to her emotions, but the way of living she had grown accustomed to, on the verge of being a wealthy woman.”
“My sister conspired with my fiancée to kill me over a clause in my grandmother’s will?” The words left me in a burst.
“Yes, I am afraid so. The will stated in the event of your untimely death, that your sister, Eileen would inherit your share of your grandmother’s estate and money she left to you both.” He responded.
I let what he said sink in a bit before I began my explanation, “My father’s mother had long since favored my sister and me over the rest of the family. If asked, grandmother would have told you I was the favored one. I was the one who had freely given my time spent with her, all through her sickness. I was the one who sat up countless nights when she couldn’t catch her breath as the cancer ravaged her. I devoted my time to her comfort in her final days, not for riches beyond my wildest dreams, but because I loved her. She was my Granny Mag and I loved her. She was more like a second mother. I did what I could for HER, not for any riches! I did it out of love.” Anger punctuated my every word. How could Eileen be so brutally selfish?
The child walked nearer and put his hands on my shoulders while I cried and sagged against Aria.
“I had heard your grandmother and father argue just before her death. She wanted to leave her estate and money to you, Elaina,” explained the child. “Your father said that would cause a rift in the family. He advised his mother to divide it up, as she had initially planned before she got so sick. It’s not that your father was choosing your sister over you; he was trying to prevent future hurt and chaos for the family. I think she admired his compassion more than she gave him credit for, and in the end, she left the will divided. The clause over either of you prematurely dying being added is something only she knew to do.” He continued.
It broke my heart all over again to hear this child accuse my loved ones of conspiracy. Even more horrific, that they would attempt to kill me.
“I am her twin. Eileen and I were bonded since birth. We shared everything. The only thing or person I didn’t share with her was Zane. I had thought in time, she would find someone to love. I never dreamed it would be over my dead body.” I pulled away from Aria and walked around the child shaking my head. I tried to make myself understand the ramifications of what Eileen had done…No, what Eileen and Zane had done to me.
I braced myself and turned around and tried to explain to these beings that Zane would never do this to me…to us! I had to make them understand.
“Zane and I were high school sweethearts. We had felt destined to be married and have children. Dear, sweet Zane, who oozed southern charm and promised a happy future, filled with a house full of children and security, I loved Zane! I was prepared to give him my body and soul for an eternity, however I was not prepared to lose him and my life, and to lose him to my sister! I just can’t wrap my mind around that. Are you sure they did this to me?” I questioned them and all that I knew to be true was suddenly clear. They did conspire and they did kill me. Something about that just pissed me off. A fire in my belly erupted and I could feel the birth of vengeance flare up within me.
All of the incidents Eileen had told me replayed over in my mind. Zane had had an answer for every little thing. He smoothed over my ruffled feathers and allayed my fears with soft kisses. FOOL! Fool that I was I had fallen in perfect alignment with his and Eileen’s devious plans. The big pay off would surely ensure his future in politics. I had turned a blind eye to the two people I trusted the most and lost them both plus my life.
Aria bristled with anger at the hurt Eileen and Zane had bestowed upon her charge. It was she that had asked for council with the child. She didn’t want to see me die at their hands. She knew that my premature death was not in God’s design or what my grandmother had secretly wished. The child stepped back toward the door and turned the knob.
“No! I don’t want to go through that door. Please, don’t make me! I am not ready! Please, don’t let them get away with murder. Please!” I begged the boy.
Aria spoke, but when she did, it was not in any kind of language I had ever heard. But the child heard and from his posture he understood her plea.
The child turned back to face us. There was a wicked glint in his ancient stare, a clearly defined look of something not known to me. Aria walked over to me and stepped between the boy and her charge, Elaina. She spoke again in the rapid bird squawk language. The child broke out into a mischievous grin. Something was about to happen, to change all things changed.
“Elaina, you have been misplaced. You are not ready to go through the door. I think I WILL send you back and right the wrong thrust upon you. I request only a few promises which you must keep.”
“Yes, yes, I promise. I promise anything you want, if you just send me back.” New hope flared inside my breast. A chance to reclaim my life, there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t promise to get there!
“You must promise to seek council and overcome your issues with God…”
I shook my head up and down and exclaimed, “Oh, I will, thank you—“
“Do not interrupt me! Listen to me.” he said firmly. “You must promise to not seek revenge on your sister or Zane.”
I bristled with that condition, because I had lots of ideas for revenge and being told to ignore vengeance was a tough promise. But to have another chance at life, “Yes I promise no revenge!”
The child smiled as he continued, “You must promise to return to school and fulfill your dreams with the gift your grandmother left you. And most importantly, you MUST not write a book about your near death experience with God. If you agree to these things, then you may return to reclaim your life.”
A resounding “YES I PROMISE!” That earned me a big smile from the child.
“As I was saying, I will return you to the time of MY choosing. Vengeance is mine and mine alone!” He said.
I was a little awed up until he said the “Vengeance is mine” part; I couldn’t let that slide, “You, a mere child, expect much of me. I have promised to do as you ask. And I am thankful for your help, but don’t you think, you will pay a hefty price for imitating God at Heaven’s Door?”
The child tipped back his head and laughter erupted. “Silly girl, I am not imitating Myself, I am myself, and I am GOD!”
Confusion clearly written all over my face drained away as I responded, “How dare you assume you are GOD! If I were you, I wouldn’t play GOD in front of his Angels!”
The angels turned aside and giggled. I turned around and saw the looks of mirth on their angelic faces. Holy crap! My assumption proved false, the child was no ordinary child, but GOD indeed!
“Elaina, you bring light where ever you go and laughter to an old man. If I had appeared to you in any other form, I feared that you would attack with all that anger at me that you have trapped within you. So, I chose the most innocent form, which would beseech you to not harm me … a child.”
Before I could marvel that God had a sense of humor, Aria had kissed my cheek and sent me funneling back down to reclaim my life. Moments passed and I stopped whirling at light speed and landed with a jarring thud.
I opened my eyes and couldn’t believe where I had landed. I stood outside the very funeral home, where I recently had been viewed. There was an odd charge in the air. Hmm, this must be more of that Heavenly Humor.
“Hello Elaina, we are so sorry for your loss. She will be missed. Please, let us know if there is anything you need.”
I turned and was surprised to see my neighbor and her husband. They could see me! They were talking to me; therefore I must be real! I am back! I am truly back! They must be confused, my grandmother had already passed on, and they were acting as if it was the day of her funeral. Hmmm, what was going on?
I thanked the couple and wandered down the hall. My feet led me while my head went blank. I saw more friends and family members congregated outside in the hall
s. Another wake was going on and people were everywhere. And onward I walked. Just around the corner I spied my room, where my family and friends had viewed me.
I stopped at the threshold and shuddered with revulsion. Determination prompted me further into the room. Over to my right, I saw a line formed that led straight to my grieving parents. I got in line behind some distant cousins. Time snaked by and finally it was my turn. My Father reached for his handkerchief, I bent down to my mother. She grabbed me and held me close.
“Elaina, what are we going to do without your sister? It’s not fair. It’s just not fair that she should die so young.” My mother blathered.
Goosebumps covered my arms and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. And then I smelled a familiar scent. I stood to see Zane embrace my Father. Zane, he looked the same as earlier. Was this movie in reverse?
“Elaina, love, how are you doing?” he asked.
“How am I?” I responded. Good question, I wondered myself.
I must have said what I was thinking, because my mother’s head glanced up and I saw her heart broken face a washed with tears. I wanted to spare her that pain twice in one day. How cruel. I sent a prayer up that she would be spared. An invisible force brushed up beside my mother and I knew her Guardian Angel was here.
I turned and looked back at Zane and he had walked over, to the head of the casket. I went to stand beside him. He put his arm around me and pulled me close. Lying there in my favorite suit with her hair piled on top and that life-like make-up job Aunt Ida and Cousin Ella-Claire gushed on and on about was my sister Eileen. Oh, my God, HE did it, I had been replaced! A smirk broke out on my face, one that didn’t escape Zane’s notice.
“What on Earth could you possibly find so funny about the death of your sister?” He asked in an angry hushed tone.
Not missing a beat, I looked up into the pained eyes of my lover and stood up on my toes, and whispered into his ear, “Maybe nothing on Earth, but I know the Sun is shining and the Devil is whining because another one of his minions has gotten her due!” I spun on my heels and turned my back on my sisters’ corpse and my lover’s stunned face.
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