🚀 go-pugleaf

Morning Stars II
Chapter Four



‘3 words saved my life Cheryl.  3 words.’

She looked at him.  Really, he was cute, quite cute.  But most of them
had been, over the last practically million years.  Most of them had
been cute.  But this one seemed different.  Less fake, less after her
for her fame, less after her for her body.  In fact, it was 3 words
which he had said when he met her, that sparked something.  Something
different about Nathan.

‘And what 3 words are those, Nathan?’

‘You should know.’

‘No, I don’t.  Please tell me, please.’

‘They are written on my heart for you, inscribed in eternal letters,
of hopeless devotion, and constant affection.  And they will never
change, Cheryl.  They will never change.’

She smiled.  He was smooth.  At least he was smooth.

‘How old did you say you were again, Nathan?’

‘Nearly as old as you.  Just a few years younger.  Late 1990s.’

‘Right,’ she said.  It was surprising, then, that she hadn’t perhaps
run into him previously, if he was such a big fan and all.  But
perhaps he had been shy.  Perhaps he had been scared to confront
someone who may have been his big idol.

‘Well, ok Nathan.  I’ll go with you to the club tonight.  I am
presently single again, and the last man I was married to was quite a
while ago now.  I am comfortable with a date.’

‘You won’t regret it.’

‘We’ll see, dear young Nathan.  We’ll see.’



*   *   *   *   *



Frank, now that life had gotten back to normal, was interested in
contacting Daniel the Seraphim if possible.  He did not doubt that the
fellow got millions of requests on a daily basis, but perhaps with his
new won fame he might have a chance at some sort of contact.  It was
at least worth a try.



In fact, it was only 7 weeks later he got the invitation to come to
the realm with a special pass to gain him access, and as he flew along
in the rocket to the portal gate he considered his queries.  He wanted
to ascertain just how legit this prophecy was, as Daniel had refused
to speak with anyone on the issue.  But he had a hunch, just a hunch,
that the Seraphim had something for him to hear.  Something useful.



He arrived at Danielphon, knocked on the door early in the morning,
and Ariel, who he recognized from her online pictures, answered.  ‘You
must be Frank Archer, right?’ queried Ariel.

Frank nodded.  ‘Yes, Ariel.  It is a pleasure to meet you.’

‘Well, come in.  Daniel is expecting you.’

Ariel ushered him into a lounge room filled with bookcases, a computer
and fireplace, and various clocks on the wall.  Daniel was perhaps a
collector of such things.  Soon Daniel himself came into the room,
looked at Frank, and sat down opposite him.  ‘Well, Frank,’ he began.
‘I am glad you could make it.  Normally I wouldn’t speak with anyone
on the subject, but you broached the Gabriel theory.  And all I really
want to say is this – keep on digging at that theory.  It could prove
interesting in the long run.  I am neither going to affirm or deny the
interpretation you have come to, but I do ask that you continue to dig
at the idea, and feel free to share this view with whoever you wish.
You have my approval to consider that idea in your interpretation.’

Frank felt better.  Really, there had been some backlash from a number
of sources on his theory, but with Daniel himself supporting him, well
it looked excellent now.  And the fame it offered him, well, that was
something to really delight in.

‘Thanks Daniel.  It is very reassuring to hear that from you.’

Daniel nodded, looked at a clock on the wall, and said ‘Well, would
you like to join us for morning tea.  Ariel has prepared some tea and
we have some delightful chockie bikkies.’

Frank nodded. ‘Love to.’



As they ate Frank shared some of his life and experiences since coming
to life on New Terra and his walk with God in the Pentecostal Church
of the Living God.  Daniel spoke some very interesting stories of
Jesus from his younger days, and Frank was overwhelmed hearing things
about Jesus which nobody out there really knew.

‘Oh, and he is very passionate when you push him.  Despite the calm
exterior he exudes to everyone, he really gets going sometimes when
his dander is up.  We always worried about that Cherubim, especially
when he got his religion going.  ‘We’ll hear no end of this,’ were
Michael’s words once.  And, funnily enough, we haven’t yet.’

‘Fascinating,’ said Frank, sipping on his tea.  ‘Tell me, please.
What is the name of his twin.  Nobody has ever been told, and the
whole universe wants to know.’

‘Sorry Frank.  Jesus has asked all angelicdom to never speak on the
issue.  As you know on the lists his name is in the 21st slot, but he
refuses to allow his twin’s name out there, and she has never
objected.  Some things we have to wait till the end of eternity for, I
think.’

Frank smiled.  It had been worth a go to try and get the name, but
alas no luck.



They spoke on until lunch time and feasted.  In fact Daniel invited
Frank to stay for a few weeks, and when Frank eventually left,
returning home, he had a life time of tales to share with his church
and family.



*   *   *   *   *



After the club they were back at Cheryl’s place, and Nathan seemed to
perhaps be making the obvious moves.  Cheryl was experienced with men
and what they wanted.  They were all the same in some ways, wanting
the carnal entertainment.  But that was only natural after all.
Still, while he seemed to be giving some signals, when she made it
obvious in her body language that he could have her, he simply made no
move.  She really didn’t understand until a few weeks later.  He was
trying to be a gentleman, it seemed, but his body language was not so
much trying to get her into bed straight away, but rather showing his
absolute affection towards her.  And then, knowing those 3 words he
had said upon meeting her, she considered him a little more strongly.
Perhaps he was the one.  The one to last a bit longer than the
others.  Of course, when he had told her he was also Ketravim, 37th on
the list, the one she’d never had much detail on, things started
immediately falling into place.  She was at 16, a very high position
amongst the growing Ketravim community.  It was Jack, Jack Dagger, who
had talked to her first of all, explaining why she was still living
when everyone else was dead.  And then he had explained that a
community had been growing worldwide, called Ketravim Angels, and they
were living, perhaps forever, and had a special destiny with God.
She’d studied then, learned about the other Ketravim before her, and
then witnessed to James, the 17th Ketravim on the list, somehow
knowing in her heart he was the next one after her.  She lost touch
with the latter additions in the late 20s of the list, looked into
them from time to time, but never managed to meet number 37.  And now
she had, Nathan Yeltsin, a lovely Russian born man who had been raised
in the United Kingdom from his early teens.  And Nathan had seen her
girl group, fallen for her, and been a fan forever, so he had told
her.  But only recently had they finally met.  Only recently.  Cheryl
Colson was not a naïve woman, well understanding in the ways of love
and romance, but Nathan was different from other men.  There was
something about him, something different, and yes, he was a real honey
in his smooth ways, and perhaps a boy like him was exactly what she
needed.  Apparently he had all 12,345 ‘Supergirl’s’ albums, her band’s
albums, having finished their run at 12,345 just for the heck of it.
She herself had a few thousand of them in the back room on CD, not
bothering trying to collect them all for her own home.  They were out
there, and the full collection of diamond, platinum and gold discs
were at ‘Girlspace’, the ‘Supergirl’s’ business centre at Nazraphora,
the 10th disc.  But Nathan had them all at his place, and apparently
every last CD Single as well, which made her smile.  He really was a
devoted fan.  But perhaps, now, more than that.  As he was Ketravim,
perhaps, perhaps he was the one for her.  Perhaps that much should be
obvious, especially from his devotion.



Sitting in her room, on the disc of Terraphora, thinking about Nathan,
she smiled to herself.  Maybe you had to wait a long time for love.
Maybe a very long time.  And maybe it had to be with the right person,
the one God had made especially for you.  Maybe that was the way it
really was.  So if Nathan was that one, she would think about him and
watch him.  Watch his devotion and his way of life.  But it would be
good to love again, really, it would be good.  And drinking her
coffee, listening to a ‘Supergirl’s’ CD, she was in her little piece
of heaven, and things were quite fine and dandy for the Ketravim
Cheryl Colson.



*   *   *   *   *



When Frank had arrived back on New Terra he began sharing some ideas
that Daniel had spoken to him about with his wife Daphne.  Very
strange ideas, but very compelling in a way.  They were ideas about
what constituted the ‘Firstborn’ of God.  Daniel had stated quite
simply that all who were born were destined, in time, to become the
firstborn children of God.  And that this was achieved when people
became a part of the oldest 1% of humanity for humans and Angelicdom
for angels.  Frank had straight away said, ‘but your birthplace is
fixed, so that can’t happen,’ and then Daniel had explained the
obvious, that birthranking could never change, but of course people
never stopped making babies, and that because of this everyone
inevitably, over time, became part of the oldest 1% of people and
angels.  As the total grew your birthdate simply became older and
older, and you gravitated towards a special group who received God’s
strongest attention and blessings.  And Daniel had spoken of a passage
in the Israelite Torah which taught to rise in the presence of the
aged, which clearly showed that, along with the commandment to honour
your parents, that God blessed those who simply committed to living
life.  That he blessed those who simply committed to eternity, and
that with such people he made his home and showed them his special
love and affection.  And Frank, realizing that one day he too would be
amongst such a group, smiled to himself and thought on all the
delicious ironies of the situation.  And Daphne laughed too.



*   *   *   *   *



Hosannuel looked at Gabriel.  Gabriel was a fearsome and proud warrior
on the Rugby League field, and when playing for his Canberra team the
‘Raiders’ the young bulldog Hazem was overwhelmed with his older
brother’s skill on the field.  But hey, hey, hey, every dog has his
day, and Hazem was ready.  He was captain of the Bulldogs, who had
succumbed to the wooden spoon for 14 straight seasons in the 40 team
NROERL Cup.  But today was different.  They had finally, after working
up the courage, pushed Callodyn into the coaching position of his
beloved bulldogs, and when he had put on AC/DC’s ‘Dog Eat Dog’ on the
loudspeakers for their first training session, they knew something was
up.



Today was the Grand Final, and the Raiders were up at half time 12 to
6.  But now, 10 minutes to go, the raiders leading 24 to 6, things
were dire.  But they had an ace up their sleeves.  They had been minor
premiers, which won them the rights to play on their home ground.  And
as such Hosannuel turned, looked up at Callodyn in the coaching
position, and nodded.  And then, just a few seconds later, that
familiar tune began and ‘Dog eat Dog’, which had only been played at
the training sessions, blasted out on the loudspeakers all over
Belmore oval in the heart of eternity.  And then things began
happening.  Hazem intercepted a Mal Meninga pass, and scored, right in
the corner.  He kicked the goal, ran quickly back to the halfway line
and looked at the clock.  8 minutes to go and 24 to 12.  Shortly Terry
Lamb sneaked through, got one off to Turvy, who scored under the
posts.  It was an easy conversion and it was soon 24 to 18.  The
raiders were tiring and the crowd were going mad to ‘Dog eat Dog’.
Shortly Polla-mounter scored and the conversion was successful.  And
then, with 3 minutes to go, it was tied at 24 all.



Later that night, reflecting on Jamal Idris’ storming run from the 20
metre line all the way up the field to score with 2 seconds left on
the cross, Hosannuel sighed a sigh of relief.  It was true – ‘Every
Dog had its Day’.



*   *   *   *   *



The first kiss was something special.  It was on the lips, but no
tongue.  She really wasn’t sure if he would try that, he didn’t seem
the kind.  Perhaps why he was chosen for becoming a Ketravim angel.
Conservative, gentle, dignified, proper.  But still human in most
ways, given over to a strong physical affection.  Not that she was
complaining, mind you.  Not that she was complaining.



They were at an art gallery in the disc of Terraphora, in the district
of Pellerphora, were many art galleries were located.  She was looking
at a painting of Elenniel, and Nathan was sitting on a couch against
the wall staring at her.  She noticed him, looking at him from the
corner of her eyes, not trying to be too obvious in that, but not
trying to hide it too much either.  Yet he was looking at her,
shamelessly almost, not hiding his affection – no, not hiding it,
making it perfectly obvious.



Later, as they were in the coffee shop of the gallery, she talking
about some of the art pieces, he was still looking at her, being
obvious.  But, somehow, it was not off-putting.  Somehow it wasn’t
that.  Somehow it was appropriate, and she welcomed his attention.  In
fact, now, she wanted his attention.



‘Love is a many splendid thing, Cheryl,’ Nathan said, interrupting her
conversation.

She looked at him straightly.  ‘Why do you say that?’

‘Oh, just something which came to me.  Listening to your knowledge,
your wisdom.  And thinking on the love you have for learning and
growing.  The love you still have for simply being alive and enjoying
yourself.’

‘I think I made those choices a long time ago, Nathan.  A long time
ago.’

‘They come and go, so I am told, out on New Terra and amongst the rest
of our human kin.  So many are born yet wither away, not somehow
desiring the gift of life God offers to them.’

‘I think it takes perseverance, or God’s grace, or perhaps both.  Or
perhaps even just the right choices of the heart.  The right level of
repentance.  It’s strange, really, a mystery to me.  But it is the way
things are, and perhaps those 3 words are what we need most of all.
Those 3 words to save our lives.’

Nathan nodded.  ‘Probably Cheryl.  Probably.  I do, you know, love
you.  I do, you know.’

She looked at him, looked down and smiled.  She picked up her coffee,
looked at him, and took a sip.  And he just continued smiling at her,
apparently enraptured with Miss Cheryl Colson.



*   *   *   *   *



Frank looked at the copy of ‘The Prophecies of Daniel the Seraphim’ in
his hand, and then stared into space.  He was sitting on his couch in
his room, just home from work, thinking things over.  He had put up
some of the comments of Daniel onto his own website which was gaining
more and more webhits every day.  But he was thinking over God and
Destiny and Life.  And how the meaning of it all was so much to grasp
in so many ways, and how things like prophecies could dominate his
thinking so easily.  And he was thinking, should it?  Should he be so
caught up in something which, in the end, had not even been proven
true anyway?  But then, after a while of thinking that he thought on
the word which Daniel had spoken to him which had provoked his
thinking.  ‘Eternity’.  As Daniel had said, ‘Why not spend a trillion
years reading just one book or pursuing just one agenda.  It didn’t
end, did it Frank.  And as such, why not simply commit to pursuing
something for a hell of a long time when, in the end, it was only a
small fraction of a much larger number, and you reached that number in
the end as well, didn’t you Frank?  So did it matter that much?  As
long as you were entertained along the way.  As long as you were
happy.  As long as you were still bloody alive.’  And instantly Frank
had challenged that, questioning wether he was really doing the things
he should be doing, and wether he should be somehow serving Daniel in
the way he was.  But then, now, he thought on Daniel’s words.  If it
entertained you, may as well commit to it for a while.  Life went on.
It never ended, did it.  It never ended.  And Frank thought, well, a
trillion years of pursuing an agenda could be interesting, and
commitment was made of such stuff.  So it didn’t really matter in the
light of eternity, did it.  It didn’t really matter.  And thinking,
just then on the eternal, he was happy.  He was happy.



*   *   *   *   *



Cheryl looked at her bank balance.  The numbers were quite long.  That
much she had saved in her royalties from nearly a million years of
record sales.  It was always nice to be rich, despite prices ever
going up in the centre of the Realm for land and other items.  The
older angels charged a lot of many for their actual physical labours,
which were mostly done by robots throughout the realm.  But she was
getting richer and richer, and looked every day at the prices for
units in Zaphora and Zaphon tower itself.  ‘One day’ she thought to
herself.  ‘One day.’



*   *   *   *   *



Daniel was sitting with Valandriel, thinking about life, while
Valandriel was playing the pinball machine in the Games room of
Danielphon.  Daniel looked at his brother, who had been the machine
for 7 hours since that morning, still engaged in the same game,
determined to get onto Daniel’s all time top 1,000 scores.  ‘It takes
a while,’ was all Daniel had said to Valandriel, not sharing with him
the various ways to complete the special missions to get the extra
points.  But hell, nobody had told him either to start with, and
Michael had just grinned when he had rolled out the machine, querying
‘Who would end up Realm Champion?’.  Many of the Seraphim and Cherubim
had the very same machine, found all throughout the realm, and Daniel
had managed to score the top 1000 scores on his own copy.  But
Valandriel had started recently playing Daniel’s machine to see if he
could crack some of Daniel’s scores.  Daniel had cheerfully let him,
not minding, but insisted Valandriel one day return the favour and let
him play on Valandriel’s machine.  His brother had been a little
hesitant right off the bat, but had quickly agreed.  And now, seeing
that Valandriel had been on the machine for 7 hours and at the rate he
was going would need probably another 5 or 6 to crack Daniel’s top
1000 list, he was thinking he might have not too much of a challenge
in reaching Valandriel’s top 1000 list.  Still, 3 balls could be lost
so quickly if you lost concentration.  On the game Valandriel was
playing he was on his second ball, and Daniel felt the fellow was
trying to last as long as possible.  He would probably end up letting
the ball go to rest for the night and start on the 3rd ball in the
morning.  There was nothing wrong with that, as he could wait as long
as he wanted to pull the plunger.  But Daniel, for the moment, felt
his scores were probably safe, but time would only tell.



He thought on his new friend Frank Archer who he had received
correspondence from that morning.  A special USB device was
transported to the Realm from the various human planets and vice versa
every day on the postal travels, which contained all the
correspondence between the places.  Correspondence from New Terra
arrived pretty quickly, and the data on the USB drive was downloaded
to the Realm Web and instantly new emails were delivered.  Of course,
giving the huge populations of the various planets and angelic realms,
you would perhaps expect quite large USBs, but they were only 10
centimetres long each, the various few copies which were delivered.
Microsizing memory had come a long way in computing technology it
seemed.



Ariel came into the room, smiled at him, and walked over to talk to
Valandriel.  His son Andrew would be over soon with his new human
girlfriend Jessica Smith.  He liked Jessica.  She seemed a sensible,
conscientious girl.  A little surprising Andrew would go with a human,
but that was life, wasn’t it.  Not always that predictable.  He roused
himself, came over and stood next to Ariel, looking at Valandriel’s
efforts.  The angel was just about to complete a mission by the looks
of it, and his score would advance a reasonable amount.  Time to
challenge him.  ‘Make sure you don’t lose the ball, Val.  That really
would be a shame.’  Ariel nudged him, and Valandriel held the ball on
a flipper, looked at him with a ‘Watch it Daniel’ look, and resumed
his game.  Daniel grinned.  Perhaps he would try again, but decided in
the end against it, and wished the best for his brother in his
ambitions to crack Daniel’s top 1000 scores.



*   *   *   *   *



Hazem was thinking the contract offer over.  It would take a lot of
work, to be that fit, but perhaps the money was worth it.  The
bulldogs club president had gone into detail how the club was now in a
position to field a team in not only the NROERL competition with its
salary cap restrictions, but also in the planned launching by channel
7 of the new Super League competition.  Canterbury where going to
field teams in not just one competition, but in both competitions, and
for the Super League no salary caps where in place.  Hazem was offered
the captaincy for BOTH teams, with opportunity to have two concurrent
contracts.  It meant playing twice a week much of the time, but
fortunately they would always have a home game each week, with the
planned move of Super-League to alternate the home games with the
NROERL.  The club president was talking with a number of players and
looking for major signings.  He would certainly have to be fit, but he
loved his club and thought it would be worth the effort.  And having a
home game every week would be great for Belmore.  Just great.



Thinking it over he nodded to himself.  ‘Yeh, it would be the right
thing to do.  And the club would simply prosper because of it.’



*   *   *   *   *



‘1000 words.  A 1000 words.  How to write a 1000 words,’ Daniel
thought to himself.  He had been set an essay by God himself, the
theophany having drifted down from home to chat with his son.  And the
subject of the essay, well, the ironies of life.  What else.



He sat there, thinking it over, and knew he had to be witty.  He
guessed that God had likely set others the challenge, and perhaps
prizes were on offer.  He would think carefully, come up with an idea,
and do his best.  And whatever would be would be.



*   *   *   *   *



‘I won’t fall out of love, you know Nathan.  Once I fall, that’s it.
It’s forever.’

‘I bet you say that to all your lovers.’

‘No.  Never.  And I haven’t told you I love you yet, have I?’

‘No, you haven’t,’ he said softly.



They were floating along on a Canal in an Italian city of Mitraphora
disc, enjoying life, taking things easy.  Cheryl was starting to get
used to this new man, and his wealth, which seemed alarmingly great.
He had homes all over the realm from what he was saying, and
businesses galore.  She did not know how wealthy he really was, as he
wouldn’t say, but it was quite apparent he could afford the very best
things in life.



The floated along in the Gondola, staring up at the cream buildings,
all in a Venetian style, so very likeable and traditional.  It was a
latter established city, modelled directly on Venice itself, and it
was a city full of splendour and revelry.  It was called ‘Diagio
Venice Splendida’ as the full name of the city, and it was so
welcoming and full of vibrancy.  Italian angels and many humans as
well were all through the city, and they had been there for weeks,
enjoying the sights and sounds of the sprawling metropolis.  They’d
had a memorable lunch at midday, and were now relaxing on the canals,
life busily swimming by in the canals and streets of the city.  As
they floated along Cheryl gave more consideration to her Ketravim
friend.  She was, in truth, starting to fall for him somewhat.  She
already knew that it may well be part of God’s design, this new
friendship, but that didn’t mean she would naturally feel love for
him.  But, perhaps she was starting to.  Perhaps she was starting to
respect this Nathan Yeltsin.  He was handsome, well mannered, had wavy
brown hair and green eyes, and was a striking figure when dressed in
the suits he wore often.  Really, what more could she want in a man.
And to top it all of he expressed his deepest love for her.



Her band ‘Supergirl’s’ sang many songs about love, as so many bands
did.  So much had been said on their various albums, so much brought
out from their hearts on what it was all about.  And she had tasted
that love to a degree, more than once.  But she had never, yet, truly
fallen deeply in love with a man.  She had been married many times,
thought she had loved him, but had eventually drifted apart.  They had
not been what she was looking for in the end, and the passion had come
and gone, and it had not worked in the end.  But perhaps this Nathan
was different.  Perhaps he was special.



It had never really occurred to her to choose the most obvious type of
mate, one from her very own Ketravim community.  Perhaps that was too
obvious a choice, and perhaps too discriminatory.  But, thinking about
it, mating with those who you had the fundamentals in common with was
perhaps the very best of ideas in the end, and something so obvious
that people took it for granted and in a politically correct way had
somewhat overlooked.



Nathan was Ketravim, high up on the list, and really very successful.
And perhaps that was what she really needed.  One from her own
community, one who could help her achieve her dreams of living in
Zaphora, and one who would always be relevant, as a Ketravim, to her
life anyway.  Yes, perhaps it was as simple as that.



As they floated along, she thinking over her new romance, the clouds
rolled on by above ‘Diagio Venice Splendida’ and happy angelic and
human lives continued on with there merry and happy lives, Cheryl
Colson Ketravim amongst them.



*   *   *   *   *



A swan glided over the water, graceful, pure, wonderful.  Ariel
watched the swan, laying against her husband Daniel, enjoying the calm
waters of Golden Lake down on the north shore near Glimmersphon.  She
was thinking.  Thinking over her words for the next chapter of ‘Ladies
of the Seraphim Torah’, an ongoing work in progress by the female
Seraphim of Eternity.  In turn each of the Seraphim ladies added a
short chapter to the website hosting the work, and so far they had
been through the entire list twice, Ariel now contemplating her third
addition.  It was a pre-requisite to read the entire words from the
start of each new section, naturally beginning with Elenniel’s first
contribution.  At 45 she had a degree of study and thought required
from her to remain consistent with the new ideas and contribute her
own special perspective on the developing thoughts and ideas.  The
first section of 70 chapter had a distinct theme of the love of God,
the second section focusing on how he required his daughters to remain
holy.  But the third section had touched on a cavalcade of subjects
and ideas, flowing freely from each new contribution into the next
one.  And Ariel, seeing her opportunity to bring in a brand new idea,
was thinking over some of Daniel’s suggestions to try and make an
impact, to do something to be remembered, to do something to be not
forgotten.



Certainly she could be dramatic, and perhaps that was what was
required.  But, instead, she was thinking over a spirit of quality and
excellence, and matching her twin’s output of writing with a lengthy
and well thought out dialogue on a specific spiritual theme.  She
would, in fact, spend a few years working on her next contribution,
aiming to match the entire length of the 3rd section so far by all the
contributing first 44 female Seraphim.  And perhaps go the extra mile
and double that.  Certainly it would be a lot of writing, but there
was as yet no established protocols for when she should finish, so in
the way her twin suggested, this much would leave her unforgotten, and
hopefully be an eternal and memorable contribution to the life of the
angels of eternity.  It would prove an interesting life experience
whatever else.



*   *   *   *   *



Cheryl looked at him, sleeping soundly, seemingly without a care in
the world.  She wondered what he was dreaming, his eyes twitching
madly.  Perhaps he was fighting dragons, or slaying monsters.  Perhaps
he was rescuing a maiden, even herself, or perhaps he was just down at
the local pub getting wasted.  It might prove interesting asking him,
if he remembered.



She laid back down, staring at the ceiling.  It was dark, night having
descended and much of the realm lost in dreamy slumberland.  But she
was restless, unable to find the rest she knew she needed physically.
But no, rest wouldn’t come, so she rose, went off to the other room,
and put on the Kings X album ‘Faith Hope Love’.  Sitting there,
listening to ‘We Were Born to be Loved’, she melted away into the
song, and melted away into a dream of love, a dream of Nathan, and a
dream of all things wonderful and good.  And suddenly, in her dream,
she was walking down a corridor, a long corridor of many doorways, and
an angel was walking in front of her, but walking backwards, facing
her.  And he spoke to her and said ‘There are so many doorways, aren’t
there?’

And Cheryl nodded.

And the angel said ‘This is eternity.  It is a corridor of unending
doorways, each going off to a world of love, fantasy and desire.  And
these doors represent your chosen mates, and you have had a number
now.  Yet, we have a challenge for you now, dear Cheryl, in your
eternal walk.  A challenge which some are still fulfilling.  Can you
enter a door, can you enter a door, lock it behind you, and never
return to the corridor.  Can you Cheryl?’

‘Yes, I can,’ she said.

‘You certainly have confidence.’

And suddenly the angel opened a door, entered, and closed it behind
him.  But a voice trailed behind him, softly saying, ‘Can you enter
this door and never return to the corridor.  Can you?  If you can,
perhaps you will need to at least look at the name on the door,
Cheryl.’

And she stared at the door, and looked at the name, the name of
Nathan.  She looked at it for a long time, and in her dream 70 years
passed, and she still hadn’t entered the door.  And then 700 years
passed and she still hadn’t entered the door.  And then 7000 years
passed and she still hadn’t entered the door.  And, finally,
700000000000000000 years passed, and she still hadn’t entered the
door.  And then she walked a little further down the corridor, and
looked at a door with the name ‘William’ on it, and this door she
opened, and entered, and locked behind her.



see http://noahidebooks.angelfire.com for the rest of Morning Stars
II, part of the Chronicles of the Children of Destiny by Daniel Thomas
Andrew Daly