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THE CARE HOME STAFF lessened as they traded workers for the night shift. Amidst the dwindling voices, Alameth hummed his lullaby. Fog followed his feet down the hall. He stopped before a shut room.
Jediah approached close behind him. His fingers trembled as he adjusted his scarf. “After you, old friend,” he offered.
Rolling his eyes, Alameth chuckled, “We’re all the same age, remember?”
“It was a joke,” Jediah said in a resigned tone.
Alameth shook his head. “Let’s leave the jokes to Nechum, sir. At least, he’s funny.”
A dimensional rift opened, and Nechum stepped in. “Am I late?” he asked.
“No, you’re just in time,” Jediah answered.
Akela, Laszio, and Eran exited the same portal. “Phew,” Akela remarked to the others. “Told you we were going the right way.”
Sergeants Laszio and Eran checked the hallways. Their braids swung around as their heads moved in diligent vigil. After a minute, they nodded to each other, faced Jediah, and saluted. “All clear, Captain.” Their serious expressions quickly gave way to relaxed smiles, as their postures turned casual.
Alameth considered their brief security check unnecessary, but he recognized their actions for what they were—their way of showing support.
Akela fiddled his fingers. “Well, can’t keep everyone waiting.”
Alameth felt odd at first when Jediah waited for him to lead, but realized Jediah needed him to. He and Jediah’s forms dissolved through the wood and reassembled on the other side.
Upon sighting the bed, Alameth removed his hood.
Sunset doused the blank walls in orange. The breeze that slipped in brushed gauze curtains. Heart monitors beeped, and the mechanical clicks from a machine controlled the old woman’s breaths. Her hands, worn and wrinkled by toils and cares, were held tight by younger, mournful visitors.
Alameth watched Jediah wander to the dresser. His fingers traced the rows of picture frames, each set in meticulous order. A proud graduate displayed a certificate. A groom kissed his radiant bride. A child cuddled in his young mother’s arms. Vacations, portraits, and parties and a baptism. Then Alameth noticed Jediah’s chin quiver to see what sat on the end. A worn Bible, its pages wrinkled and kinked, laid open, and its bookmark was a single yellowed letter with a familiar signature.
Alameth gave Jediah a few minutes before he turned his attention to the sleeping woman. Her Mark of the Trinity cast heaven’s glow, and Alameth heard the Holy Spirit within her beckon him. Singing in a low register, the angel of death touched her brow. She trembled. Her lungs stilled. The rims of her lips purpled. Her skin paled into a blue, grey tint, and as Alameth’s hand dissolved into her mouth, she sank into the mattress. The wispy hairs of her head disappeared into her pillow.
The Mark shimmered bright.
The monitor emitted a single tone, and Alameth called Jediah over. “It’s time.”
Jediah inched toward the bedside. The Mark stretched open and consumed her body. Entering the spiritual realm, Chloe opened her spiritual eyes for the first time. Gone were the wrinkles. Her hair sprouted thick and long. Eternity’s wonders were now hers to cherish, and Jediah would be her first sight.
She shielded her face at first, trembling before the angel who gleamed as of welded bronze—whose wings glistened like a golden sea and whose eyes were vibrant stars.
Jediah leaned over and touched her shoulder. “Fear not, Chloe. Your Lord has sent His servants to take you home.”
Chloe gasped at his voice. She peeked at the stranger again, this time slack-jawed.
Jediah’s shining smile stretched from cheek to cheek.
Chloe looked him over again. “You... You were—” Sitting up, she touched his tear-stained cheek. “Jack?”
“Well, actually,” the angel laughed. “God calls me Jediah.”
Chloe shook her head in elated disbelief, and before another word could be said, she threw herself into his arms. Her embrace tightened as Jediah buried his face into her hair.
Alameth could have watched their reunion for hours and by the looks of Laszio, Eran, Akela, and Nechum, they could have too.
Jediah pulled back. “Come,” he said to her. “The King has requested His daughter to enter His courts.”
Crying, Chloe seized his palm with a sure hold. “Take me to Him.”
Jediah picked up where Alameth’s song left off and led her out of the room.
The other angels let them pass, drinking in and sharing in their rapturous joy.
A new path to God’s country opened. As Alameth watched Chloe and his brothers cross the dimensional plain, he could make out Jesus, standing on the pearled shore.
Chloe released Jediah’s hand and rushed into the Son’s arms with nary a look back and bawled in her Savior’s robes. He stroked her head, weeping for joy over one of millions He gave His very life for.
Alameth smiled. “Worth it,” he said to himself. “Always worth it.”
THE END
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“Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven...
things into which angels long to look.” 1 Peter 1:8-12 (ESV)