Dimensions of Genesis (28 page)

“Well, that aside, it was pretty darn
impressive.” the angel grinned, obviously patting himself on the
back for teaching his student well.

While David was still feeling the rush of his
practice run, he was pretty sure that the next encounter with the
dark creatures might not be so easy. Especially considering the
lost soul he was asked to save. He was sure it wasn't every day
that someone had to rescue a level ten being.

“Hurry up, Dave.” Michael urged, “I have
something to show you!” he added with a mischievous grin.

Doppelganger

“We’re here.” Gabe stated his voice
monotone.

“Yay!” Hope said as she took off her seat
belt.

Lily peered out of the side window, confused.
This was certainly not the cemetery on Berry Hill.

As they walked toward a large building, Lily
read a sign along the path, ‘Wiley Institution Emergency
Entrance.’

Institution? She thought, her mind
reeling.

Lily followed Gabe and Hope, winding through
hallways and stairwells. Apparently arriving at the right floor,
Lily looked up to the black and white sign above her, ‘Psych
Ward’.

“Oh boy.” Lily thought with a sinking
sensation in her stomach.

Upon reaching a room at the end of the hall,
Hope suddenly ran into a room on the right.

“Mommy!!” Hope yelled as she raced over to a
female figure standing by the window.

Gabe hung back, out in the hallway, to speak
with one of the doctors.

Lily forced herself to walk into the hospital
room, terrified at what she might see. She watched as Hope hugged
the woman, who did not reciprocate the gesture.

Who is that? Lily asked herself, she was sure
she knew the answer; but didn't want to admit it yet.

The woman, small and very thin, stood still
as she stared out the window, mumbling incoherently as Hope
chattered about Mr. Binx.

Lily walked with trepidation toward the
woman, examining every aspect. The most obvious, and frightening,
thing she observed was that the woman was completely bald.
Thousands of tiny hairs protruded from her pale scalp, creating
harsh stubble. Several huge scars littered the landscape of her
head, creating a road map of past pain.

“Then Mr. Binx told me a story about bunnies.
It was so funny, Mommy, you would've laughed!” Hope chattered,
making Lily giggle.

Glancing back at the hall, Lily could see
Gabe and the doctor having a very serious conversation. For once,
she was glad to be invisible, it made eavesdropping much easier.
Sneaking out into the hall, she overheard their conversation.

“What sort of things?” Gabe asked the doctor
seriously as Lily entered into the discussion.

“Well,” the silver-haired doctor replied, “up
until a few months ago, all she ever talked about was being trapped
in a wooden box, but lately, she's been talking about shadows,
snakes, angels and...” his voice trailed off.

“And?” Gabe asked, appearing impatient.

“And...Hope.” the doctor answered as he
nodded toward the little girl, a look of disbelief on his face.

“Hope!” Gabe's eyes widened.

“Yes, it appears that she is...improving.
Remembering Hope's visits, perhaps.” the doctor appeared as
surprised as Gabe. “Of course, we'll have to run some tests and
whatnot, could be just a temporary anomaly.” the doctor rattled on
in his professional tone, but Gabe wasn't listening as he looked at
the woman.

“Is this sort of thing common with…catatonic
schizophrenia?” Gabe inquired, still looking at the woman.

“Um, well...” the doctor stuttered, “she's
the only case I've ever worked with, so, I can't really say what's
common or not. It's a rare case as it is; most schizophrenia is
caused by psychological and physical abuse, not just sustaining
trauma.”

Lily left the conversation, stunned and
confused.

What the hell was going on? Anger rose
uncomfortably into her heart. I'm not...dead? If I'm not dead, what
am I? Looking at her babbling counterpart, she added bitterly,
Apparently...I'm crackers. Great.

“...and then I danced like a ballerina with
my new dress, it's pink with white flowers. Mr. Binx danced too,
except, he didn't wear a dress 'cause he's a boy.” Hope nattered
on, holding the woman's hand.

Lily took a deep breath as she walked towards
the woman.

I have to see...if it's really me

Lily walked slowly up to the woman and forced
herself to look at her face. Observing the bald scalp up close was
difficult, but Lily tried not to look.

God, I'm...she's so pale!

The skin on her face reminded Lily of the
white pastel make-up she'd used when she was a child dressing up as
a vampire for Halloween. Walking in front of her faded twin, Lily
looked into her dull green eyes, the spark that had once resided
there, now dim and lifeless. Vacancy shadowed over a once vibrant
glow.

Expressionless, the void in her body's soul
was apparent.

Empty. My body is soulless.

As Lily leaned in to have a better look at a
nasty scar on the side of her face, the dormant stare of her
lifeless doppelganger suddenly twitched. Instead of staring off
into space as she was before, she suddenly focused directly on
Lily; eyes wide and alarmed. Opening her mouth wide, her soulless
twin began screaming like a siren and flailing her arms, as though
trying to swat something in front of her.

Lily jumped back just as Gabe and the doctor
rushed in to see what was wrong. Immediately shielding Hope and
pushing her away, Gabe tried to calm the screaming banshee by
rubbing her back. The doctor frantically examined her, trying to
determine what was wrong. Several nurses rushed in to assist.

What the hell?! Lily thought, bewildered.

Once calm was restored, Lily again wandered
into her body's line of sight; only to set the hysterics into
motion again.

She can see me!

Moving out of the way, Lily allowed her body
double to calm down. Sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, she
began to cry; mostly due to confusion.

None of this makes any sense. How can I be in
two places at once? Literally!

Hanging her head in her hands, Lily wept. She
just didn't know what else to do. Her life, what was left of it,
had been incinerated like ashes drifting through the wind after a
fire. She felt torn apart, empty, and hopeless.

Lying on the bed, Lily succumbed to sadness
and faded away.

Family of Light

The sunsets were interesting in Heaven. On
Earth, an amber sun slowly faded into the horizon amidst shades of
coral and gold, swallowed into an ocean of darkness until the
dawning of a new day.

Heaven's sunsets, however, could make any on
Earth envious.

The Sun in Heaven radiated pure white. Nearly
four times the size of Earth's, its rays stretched across all the
boundaries of Eden. Silvery beams of twilight reached out to kiss
the citizens of Heaven good-night. When this Sun set, every colour
in existence danced in the sky, rainbow choreography performed as
though bidding the star good-night. As it set into a bedding of
clouds, a melodic hum could be heard as though it had sung itself
to sleep.

“That's a big Sun, much bigger than Earth's.”
David spoke, his voice only an octave higher than a hush.

“Same Sun.” Michael responded, “We're just
closer to it.”

David and Michael sat upon the peak of a
tall, ancient mountain, looking down upon the wonderment Heaven's
sunset.

“Have you ever been human, Michael?” David
inquired, his eyes fixated on the atmospheric presentation.

“No,” Michael answered, sombre. “can't take
that journey.”

“Why not?”

Sighing, he answered, the tattoos around his
eyes crinkling as he smiled, “Angels can't be human, David.”

“Really?”

“Nope, we're a different being than you, a
different species, to be specific. Human's are members of the
family of light, whereas angels are, well, just angels.”

“So what makes us able to become human?”

“You are light beings whose evolution is
dependent on adaptation, unique compared to all the beings in the
universe. Light beings are the only ones who can inhabit many forms
and lifetimes. This,” Michael stated as he opened his arms in
presentation of his body, “is my only form, I am body and soul
combined. While I cannot die, I also can't experience life from
different perspectives.”

“Different perspectives?” David asked,
watching a shower of meteorites scattering tiny lights onto the
black canvas of the sky.

“Yes, being female or being male. Becoming
different races, creeds and ages. A creature of light energy, you
guys get to experience everything there is.”

Absorbing the information, David contentedly
watched as the white sun made its final descent into the horizon.
Twilight succumbed to darkness for only a moment before the light
of Heaven's moon shimmered down upon the valley.

“Such a pity.” David spoke with a reverent
hush in his voice.

“What is?” the angel asked.

“That we don't truly appreciate life until
after we die.”

Valley of Death

Lily slowly opened her eyes and found herself
in unfamiliar surroundings. The ground under her was dry and
cracked, as though parched by centuries of dehydration. She sat up
and looked around to see barren landscape spreading for miles in
all directions. The red earth beneath her was hot to the touch. Her
eyes adjusting, she could see mountain ranges completely
surrounding her, their jagged peaks snarling at her like an
enormous mouth of razor-sharp teeth.

Her long hair whipped at her face as a hot,
breathy wind tormented the air around her. Searching the area for
anything, or anyone, she finally stood and began to walk aimlessly.
With nothing for miles, she finally sat again on the crusty, arid
ground. Tears attempted to form and run down her face, but the
desert air denied her the moisture.

“Where am I!!” Lily screamed into the bleak
valley, her voice echoing off the sharp mountain peaks as though
mocking her.

Lying face-down in the red dirt, she wept dry
tears. Frustrated, lost and alone, she felt as though she'd died
all over again.

“You are in the Valley of the Shadow of
Death.” A male voice, sleek and velvety, spoke.

Ceasing her weeping immediately, Lily sat
straight up, and searched the perimeter for the owner of the voice.
Upon seeing him, she felt herself blush a little. Before her was
certainly the most handsome man she'd seen since Gabe. His dark
skin complimented his grey eyes while his black hair ruffled in the
wind.

“Hello there,” the gentlemen said as he
extended his hand, assisting her to standing. “my name is
Gideon.”

“L..Lily.” She stammered, trying in vain to
wipe the red dust from her white dress. “Do you know how I got
here?”

“Yes,” his voice rang with a mild English
accent, “I brought you here.”

Instantly annoyed, she marched up to him with
intentions of giving him a piece of her mind.

“I thought I'd save you from that wretched
existence you've been forced to endure.” he stated quickly,
subduing her anger.

Lily glared at him, her green eyes narrowed
in attempts to decipher his motives.

“Why here?”

“I'm only following orders my dear.” Gideon
answered with a smile. “Shall we?” he offered her his arm
cordially.

“Where are we going?” she asked, hooking her
arm onto his.

“Impatient little princess, aren't we?” he
answered with a wink.

~

Since sleep was not necessary for beings of
the fifth dimension, the Great City was alive with music. In fact,
the city came to life during the evening, even more than it did
during the day. Children played, people sang and loved ones
reunited.

The entire city was illuminated by the
moonlight. David sat on a grassy hill, alone, a little ways from
the city of glowing beings. Taking it all in, he reflected on his
life, his death and his existence.

The philosopher in David quietly asked
permission to speak. Granting the request, his eyes sparkled with
humour at the notion of his own thoughts being so polite.

Closing his eyes, he allowed the energy of
his soul to bring forth the words it desired. It gently brought him
back to the day he stood in his office, questioning the existence
of man through the passage of the raindrops.

“If you were a droplet of water placed into
the ocean, could you pull yourself out or would you simply blend
with the waters?” His soul spoke softly from the centre of his
heart.

David pondered the question once again. It
was so different now that he was in this form, from this
perspective. The idea of being different, unique, was so appealing
when he was alive. Blending with ocean, before, meant giving up
power and control.

Now, it meant being a part of the whole.
Blending with the waters didn't have to mean conformity, but
existing within a community. If one could add to the whole, give
meaning to it, the entire ocean could be filled, not with dark
waters, but with hope.

It was very clear to him now. The ocean was
the Source, and the droplet of water was the individual. The irony
of it all was, as humans we feel separate from the whole of
humanity, alienated from the Source, the truth is; we never left
it. We will always be swimming in the ocean of light, not drowning
in it, but enlightening humanity from within it.

“I sensed you up here.” A beautiful voice
spoke that could only be that of Evangeline.

“Hi.” David spoke, shifting gently from his
philosophical dream and smiling at her.

Seating herself beside him, she looked up at
the constellations that shared their powerful energy with the
dimensions below.