Page 112 of An Unexpected Ascension
A beautiful,serene graveyard. Grassy hills ripe with luscious vibrant green grass, not a soul to be found.
There’s an overwhelming sense that this is a glimpse of what’s waiting for us all.
The quiet world so at odds with how I came to know it.
The market lies empty, stands abandoned. An array of different fabric sits lifeless, still, that ever-present breeze stifled as if the Gods ceased all effort at keeping Heaven afloat. It’s a forgotten world, empty... desecrated.
The kids!
Running up the stairs in the orphanage, I already know. The usual busy chatter, crying, squealing, it’s all gone. Silence bleeds down the hallway. As I stand at the top of the steps, I glare at the stain-glassed God peering down at me. He’s taunting me with that shimmering light, reflecting so beautifully with all those colors along the wooden floors.
With each step, every silent room I pass, my heart grows heavier.
Behind every door, nothing.
They’re all gone. Every saint, every angel, every friend, child, loved one. Gone.
With a brutal yank,I’m flung backwards, falling into an abyss. The drop never seems to end, until it does and I’m tumbling to a stone ground.
Mom?
She’s here! My mother!
“Mom!” I call again, but she can’t hear me.
It’s another moment in time where I don’t exist, just forced to watch.
She stands, arms heavy at her sides, her eyes glittering with unshed tears. Her thin mouth is pulled into a grimace. She looks so bleak, like she did when she died.
I take account of the room. I’ve seen it before, this stone tower, and around us sits four thrones–one for each God. It’s the deity with the white gown draped across his body adorned in gold accents. The magnificent crown glitters atop his head, highlighting the dark tan of his skin.
Achaz.
He’s just as breathtaking as he was when I first saw him, but I can never get used to the way his kind features contrast so largely with his arrogance. That soft look in his hazel eyes is all a lie. It’s a lure to calm the souls that sit in front of him before he?—
Shit!
“Gyllian Gayle Sanderson. Over forty years of devotion and yet, on the brink of death you throw it all away.”
There’s a sick amusement in the God’s tone, matching that slow creeping smile.
My mother’s head drops, her gaze finding an invisible spot on the pristine floor. A small tuff of her grey hair blows in the breeze, but she doesn’t so much as lift a finger to fix it.
“Mom?” She doesn’t answer.
“Do you know what happens to the souls that forget their Gods?”
His fingers drum along the golden arm of his throne in wait.
“Forgive me, my God. My last few years on Earth were hard. I?—”
“Yes, well we have been known to be... forgiving. Haven’t we, brothers?”
Achaz looks to the other Gods.
Kao grunts his displeasure.
Amadeus averts his gaze, narrowly catching mine as if he could see my love like a physical thing stretching between my mother and me.
