ALLISON’S HAND WENT NUMB, AND the journal slipped from her hands and thumped onto the carpet next to her feet. She barely noticed. She stared at her mom, words sputtering out of her mouth.
“What?” She poked her finger in the direction of the journal. “Did you do this, Mom? You shouldn’t have done that. It’s not yours or mine to write in.”
“I didn’t write in it.”
She knew it wasn’t her mom’s handwriting, and the air grew thin in face of the fact there was no explanation for how the old name and address had vanished and hers had replaced them.
“Then . . . who . . . who . . .”
“Breathe, sweetie.” Her mom rose and limped over to her. “It’s okay. Just breathe for me, all right?”
Allison forced herself to slow her breaths, then eased back into the chair she’d been in before the world had gone crazy.
“Who wrote in there, Mom, if it wasn’t you? Who did this to me? What is that thing?” She jabbed her finger at the journal again as if it were alive.
“I don’t know what it is, and I don’t know who wrote in it, but I have a theory.”
Allison’s mind continued to spin. “I don’t think any theory is going to stop me from freaking out.”
Her mom gingerly bent down, lifted the journal, and settled onto the corner of the chair next to Allison. She set the journal on her lap as Allison inched away from it.
“The writing is on the wall.”
“What?” Allison scooted another inch farther away from her mom. “What do you mean? Are you saying I should have seen this coming?”
“That’s my theory.” She opened the journal and tapped the writing at the top. “Mene mene tekel upharsin.”
“Oh, that explains everything. Thanks, Mom.”
“Daniel chapter 5, in the Old Testament, the story of Belshazzar’s feast. That’s what I think this is. You remember the story, don’t you?”
“Not really.” Not really? That was a stretch. She didn’t remember it at all. The last time she’d cracked her Bible to the Old Testament was three years ago. Her mom looked at her as if she knew the truth but decided to ignore the white lie. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and half a minute later began to read.
“King Belshazzar held a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles and drank wine in their presence. Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that his predecessor Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines could drink from them. So they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, wives, and concubines drank from them. They drank the wine and praised their gods made of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
“At that moment the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the king’s palace wall next to the lampstand. As the king watched the hand that was writing, his face turned pale, and his thoughts so terrified him that his hip joints shook and his knees knocked together. The king called out to bring in the mediums, Chaldeans, and astrologers. He said to these wise men of Babylon, ‘Whoever reads this inscription and gives me its interpretation will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain around his neck, and have the third highest position in the kingdom.’ So all the king’s wise men came in, but none could read the inscription or make its interpretation known to him. Then King Belshazzar became even more terrified, his face turned pale, and his nobles were bewildered.
“Because of the outcry of the king and his nobles, the queen came to the banquet hall. ‘May the king live forever,’ she said. ‘Don’t let your thoughts terrify you or your face be pale. There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your predecessor he was found to have insight, intelligence, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods. Your predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the diviners, mediums, Chaldeans, and astrologers. Your own predecessor, the king, did this because Daniel, the one the king named Belteshazzar, was found to have an extraordinary spirit, knowledge and perception, and the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems. Therefore, summon Daniel, and he will give the interpretation.’
“Then Daniel was brought before the king. The king said to him, ‘Are you Daniel, one of the Judean exiles that my predecessor the king brought from Judah? I’ve heard that you have the spirit of the gods in you, and that you have insight, intelligence, and extraordinary wisdom. Now the wise men and mediums were brought before me to read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not give its interpretation. However, I have heard about you that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain around your neck, and have the third highest position in the kingdom.’
“Then Daniel answered the king, ‘You may keep your gifts, and give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription for the king and make the interpretation known to him. Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, greatness, glory, and majesty to your predecessor Nebuchadnezzar. Because of the greatness He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages were terrified and fearful of him. He killed anyone he wanted and kept alive anyone he wanted; he exalted anyone he wanted and humbled anyone he wanted. But when his heart was exalted and his spirit became arrogant, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken from him. He was driven away from people, his mind was like an animal’s, he lived with the wild donkeys, he was fed grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky until he acknowledged that the Most High God is ruler over the kingdom of men and sets anyone He wants over it.
“‘But you his successor, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this. Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you and your nobles, wives, and concubines drank wine from them, you praised the gods made of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or understand. But you have not glorified the God who holds your life-breath in His hand and who controls the whole course of your life. Therefore, He sent the hand, and this writing was inscribed.
“‘This is the writing that was inscribed:
“‘MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.
“‘This is the interpretation of the message:
“‘MENE means that God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.
“‘TEKEL means that you have been weighed in the balance and found deficient.
“‘PERES means that your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.’
“Then Belshazzar gave an order, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
“That very night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was killed.”
Allison’s mom set her phone down and gave a satisfied nod. Allison shook her head. “Are you saying God wrote in that journal? That he wrote the poem? That he’s trying to tell me something? Like I’m going to die?”
Her heart rate spiked.
“No, not that part, just the writing part.”
“So the writing in that journal came from God.”
“Do you have a better explanation?”
“Sure. There’re a million things that could explain it.” Her mind scrambled for ideas and didn’t land on any inspired enlightenment. Highly unlikely someone sneaked into the house and erased Alister’s information, then sneaked in again and wrote down her name and address. The invisible ink theory was laughable, and unless some angel— Oh boy, she’d returned to God in two quick steps.
“God writing in there? That’s crazy. God doesn’t do things like that anymore.”
“God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. If he did it thousands of years ago, why couldn’t he do it today?”
“I’m not sure I believe he did it thousands of years ago.”
“Maybe not.” Her mom patted Allison’s leg. “But is there a better answer?”
Her mom’s words made a memory pop into Allison’s mind. A philosophy class from college where the professor had lectured on Occam’s razor.
“For each accepted explanation of a phenomenon, there may be an extremely large, perhaps even incomprehensible, number of possible and more complex alternatives. However, the simplest answer tends to be the correct one,” the professor had said.
Allison stared at her mom. “If you’re right, what do I do now?”
“If that really is God’s hand, then apparently it’s your journal now. So I think you should do what you always do with journals. I think you should write in it.”
“I don’t know if I can do that.”
“I don’t think you have to know at this point. Just think about it. Pray about it. Then decide. For now, just be open to the idea.”
Her mom had always been able to make things simple.
Allison extended her arm and mouthed the word Okay.
Her mom set the journal in Allison’s palm as if it were a butterfly’s wing and gave a little smile. Allison opened it and looked at her name and address, then read the poem again.
Who we are, and truly are,
A matter of perception.
Choose the truth, and find yourself,
Step through the veiled deception.
Know it from the inside out,
Not from the outside in.
Though fear and trepidation wait,
It’s time that you begin.
Allison peered at the writing. From a black pen. A strange style, with the edges of each letter bleeding onto the page as if the paper had soaked up too much ink.
The words were written in a thin, flowing script. An artist’s penmanship. The words intrigued her. Even more, she was captured by the feelings they stirred inside her. Scared. Excited. And more than those, a sense the poem was written for her.
“My journal, huh?”
“For now apparently.”
“But why me?” She closed it and rubbed the supple leather. Stared at the Tree of Life tooled into the cover. Imagined herself taking a pen to the journal’s thick, creamy pages.
“Why not you, sweetie?”
“I don’t know, Mom.”
“Do what you do with journals. Get it out. Whatever’s inside you.”
She turned the first page and ran her finger down the blank paper. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe.