Mara Louis; Girl of Mystery

by Timothy Paterson

finally came true, you did not hesitate. You were afraid, but you put the safety of those children ahead of your own. You had unquestionable faith that God would watch over you. You see Mara, God loves you no matter what you do, because you are one of his children.”

  “So, what now?” asked Mara, “what happens next?”

  “God has big plans for you Mara,” said Michael. “Remember this; no matter how difficult the task may seem, God is with you. Trust in his love for you. There will be times ahead when you will doubt yourself. There will be times in your life when you will fail. However, you must never give up. Never accept injustice. Remember, God is always with you and he will not abandon you.”

  Mara was suddenly filled with a pure love, God’s love that she had never felt so intensely before. It was as if her whole body was love itself. She knew that she was in the presence of God at that very moment. She fell to her knees and started crying. “Thank you God” she said. “I promise to serve you always. I will try not to disappoint you. I will do my best to please you.” Then, from somewhere deep inside her, she heard a voice answer her; “I know you will, Mara, my child.”

  Michael helped Mara up to her feet and he handed her a square piece of soft white cloth, to wipe away her tears. She wiped her eyes and closed hand around the cloth. When she opened her hand again, she saw that it had turned into a pure white rose petal.

  Michael hugged Mara and told her that it was time to go. “Your family and friends are waiting for you. Go in peace. Go with love. Go with God.”

  Mara opened her eyes, and when she looked around, she thought she was still dreaming. If she was awake, then she should be in a hospital room, she thought, but the room that she was in resembled no hospital that she had ever seen.She was wearing silk pajamas and she was lying on satin sheets, and was covered up with a fine wool blanket. They were all decorated with oriental design, as were the other furniture in the room. If Mara did not know better, she would swear that she was in Tokyo.

  A tall handsome boy wearing a red lab coat walked into the room and placed a vase full of flowers on her bedside table. “Where am I?” Mara asked the teenager.

  “You’re at Denver Memorial Hospital” he replied. “How are you feeling Mara?”

  “How do you know my name?” asked Mara.

  “I knew you years ago,” said the boy. “I wasn’t such a nice kid when we first met in third grade. It was because of you that I quit acting so tough. You defended me when I was accused of stealing money from the classroom.”

  “Now I know you,” said Mara. “You’re Billy the bully.”

  “Actually, I prefer Bill Decker” he said. “I left Baltimore in the fifth grade when we moved to Denver. I volunteer at the hospital two afternoons per week. I hope to become a doctor some day.”

  “Well” said Mara, “It’s good to see you again Billy, I mean Bill. Could you please get my parents for me?”

  When Mr. and Mrs. Louis walked into the room, Mara had a big smile on her face. “What time is it?” she asked them.

  “It is seven-thirty p.m. on Friday July 28th,” said Mrs. Louis. “You have been sleeping for over fifteen hours.”

  Mara’s next question was; “Why does my room look like a hotel room in Japan?”

  “The Emperor of Japan shipped it here for your sixteenth birthday,” said Mara’s father. “He told us that he never had the chance to thank you properly for saving his life and the lives of his children in Hawaii. This entire bedroom set with everything in this room is for you. He is also paying to have it packed up and shipped to our house in Baltimore.”

  Then, Mrs. Louis asked; “Are you up for some more visitors? Pastor Joe, Pastor Mike and Reverend Long have been here all day long waiting to see you.”

  “Yes”-said Mara. “In fact, there is something that I want to tell them and you and Dad as well.”

  When the three clergyman and her parents were standing around her bed, Mara began telling her story; “While I was asleep, I had the best dream of my life. In the dream, I was in part of Heaven and God touched me. I could feel his presence within me.”

  As Mara told them the story about Michael the angel, and what God wanted her to do, they were simply amazed. They had no doubts that it was true. As she was finishing the story, she told them; “and when I opened my hand, I was holding a beautiful white rose petal.”

  As she was saying it, Mara opened her hand and there, was the white rose petal from her dream. She had brought it out of her dream. Mara started crying again. Her parents hugged her and they knew that Mara was going to be okay, because God was indeed watching out for her.

  Suddenly, Mara remembered the other dream. “Mom” she said, “I must see Mr. Logan right away, before he speaks at the press conference.”

  “How did you know about the press conference?” asked Mara’s mom, but then she laughed, because she forgot whom she was talking to. Mrs. Louis went to the phone to call Mr. Logan. Mr. Logan told her that he would be up right away.

  Five minutes later, Mr. Logan entered the room and Mara asked; “Mom, where is my backpack?”

  Mrs. Louis got the back from the closet and handed it to her. “What do you have in here?” she asked, “rocks?”

  “About your mine” Mara started to say. However, Mr. Logan interrupted her.

  “Don’t worry Mara,” he said. “That worthless mine will be blasted shut this afternoon. No one will ever get trapped in there again.”

  “No, you mustn’t do that,” said Mara. “Do you own the entire mountain?”

  “Yes, I do,” said Mr. Logan. “Why do you ask?”

  “Because, not only is the mine not worthless, but it is the most valuable gold mine in the nation’s history.”

  “What are you talking about Mara?” asked Mr. Logan. My great grandfather dug that mine, and he never found so much as a single nugget of gold.”

 

  That’s because the main shaft of the mine was located just beneath the mother lode,” said Mara. “That’s why the tunnel collapsed, from the weight of the gold.” Mara opened her backpack and took out a chunk of gold twice the size of her fist. “According to my dream, there is over one thousand tons of gold in that mountain,” said Mara.

  “I am seventy-five years old” said Mr. Logan, “and I have no family. I don’t need the money.”

  “There are children all over the country and around the world who could use the money, to pay for food, clothing, education and medicine. You could do so much good with that gold.”

  “You’re right, Mara” said Mr. Logan. “That’s an excellent idea.

  After Mr. Logan left, Mara suddenly remembered something else. “Was I dreaming, or did I see really Tony, when I was carried out of the mine?” she asked her mother.

  “Yes, he was there,” said Mrs. Louis. He and his parents flew in from Philadelphia.”

  “Can I see him?” asked Mara.

  “The doctor said that if you get enough rest you could leave the hospital tomorrow morning,” said Mrs. Louis. “Why don’t you try and eat something and then get some more rest. You can see Tony, Scott and Betsy tomorrow. Okay?”

  Mara was hungry, but she did not want to eat hospital food. When the food was brought in, she was surprised to see that it was brought in from an outside restaurant, and it included all of her favorites, macaroni and cheese, chicken fingers, and root beer. After eating dinner, Mara’s parents kissed her goodnight and turned out the light.

  Mara slept through until six o’clock the next morning. When she woke up, she found her parents sitting by the side of her bed. “Happy Birthday” they said together. “We have a special present for you”. Mr. Louis handed his daughter a set of keys.

  “I told you that I didn’t want you to buy me a new car,” said Mara.

  “Who said anything about a new car?” asked her father.
We got you an eight year old Honda Civic with 85,000 miles on it.”

  Mara laughed and said; “In that case, I am happy to accept it.”

  There was a knock at the door and President and Mrs. Morgan, Betsy and Scott walked into the room. They all wished Mara a happy birthday. Mara thanked the president for helping to get her out of the mine. He asked Mara and her parents to meet him at the convention center at eleven o’clock, as some people wanted to meet Mara.

  After the First Family and Scott left, there was another knock at the door. There were four adults and seven children standing there. Mrs. Maureen Reeves walked over to Mara, hugged her, and thanked her for saving the lives of her five children. Then, the children hugged her and thanked her as well.

  Next, Mrs. Peggy Reeves told Mara; “My children have something to say to you.” She pushed her sons, Eddie and Grant towards Mara.

  “We’re sorry that you got trapped in the mine because of us,” said Eddie.

  Mara was quiet for a moment and then asked Eddie and Grant; “How would you have felt if your five cousins had been trapped in that cave-in? That was a very dangerous and mean thing to do. Your cousins got help for me right away. If I had not come along, how long would it have been before you went looking for them? Would you have gotten to them in time? How would you have felt if they had all been killed?”

  By this time, both Eddie and Grant were crying. “I said I was sorry,” sobbed Eddie.

  “Saying you are sorry