Fields of Heaven

Acceptance

Andrew

                       I was able to convince Madison that death wasn’t as horrible as she was imagining.  Yes, everything that we knew of the physical world was left behind—friends, family, pets and swimming pools—but, in death there was no need for sleep, showering or cleaning up after one’s self.  Everything was the perfect rose colored glasses view of the world that people on earth could only imagine.

           We came to an agreement; she would stay on earth and observe her family and I would return to purgatory, for just a few earth years.  I was fine with this set up, because frankly, I needed to speak to Daniel.  Madison’s case was still unclear to me—what business did a seven year old have on earth, before ascension?  I knew that her presence in her old home was harmless because she hadn’t yet learned the secrets of channeling her ‘ghost’ abilities, so I thought once again, ‘solid,’ and turned her doorknob, leading back to the in-between.

        When I arrived, the skies were flooded with tiny diamonds that gave Madison’s field an eerie appeal.  I called him, once, but received no reply and then twice.  By the third time, Daniel appeared, ready to answer my questions.

“What can I do for you, young man?”

“Daniel, I don’t understand; why was Madison assigned to me?” Daniel rubbed his palms together and engaged in deep thought—“You will understand in due time; just know that she will continue to grow, as if blood still warmed her heart, until the twelfth year has passed.”

“What? What does that even mean? Why is she going to grow if she’s dead?”

Daniel sighed, “Because it was not her time to die.”

I rolled the idea around in my head, “So why did she die if it wasn’t her time?”

“Life is complicated and so is death—Daniel gathered the ends of his robes and kneeled, before he crossed his legs on the ground; he then patted the soft soil next to him and I followed suit—there are many things written in the stars, but because the Lord has given man free will, destinies can be altered.”

“So why twelve earth years?”

Daniel rubbed his chin and cleared his throat, “Because it is at that age that she meets you and falls in love.”

I nearly choked and died all over again.  Daniel had to be out of his mind; he may be a servant, but he was definitely not a mathematician.

“Do you realize that if we both lived that I’d be at least forty-five?”

“I am well aware of what age you would have been, Andrew.  You two were destined to meet each other, one way or another.  You died before your time and now she is here to follow.”

I felt sick.  I didn’t know how to respond to such information.  I spent my time in purgatory trying to conjure up ways to ascend, long after I’ve helped someone else, but the key to my ascension was a seven year old girl.

“You cannot tell me that God’s original plan for me involved a teenage lover!”

“No, Andrew, it didn’t.  If your lives would have gone according to God’s plan, Madison would have met you in her freshman year of college; you would have been her creative writing teacher.  Her writing would have been disturbing, due to the years of growing up with a promiscuous single mother.  When you read her work, you would have felt her pain and when you looked into her eyes you would’ve seen the sadness.  Somewhere along the lines, you pulled her aside and sat her down just ‘to talk’.  She would tell you things about her childhood— terrible things that she could remember and yet wanted to forget.  You would have listened and then shared your experiences with growing up without a father and in that moment, she would have fallen in love.”

              

 I still didn’t understand, “But why is she the key to my ascension?”

“Because, Andrew, you were meant to love her too.  Platonic love and romantic love are not drastically different; they both require the other person’s true heart and devotion—she changed what would have been your life, and you, hers.  That is why you are each other’s destinies; your existence would have been the direct alteration of the next.”

“So what should I do now, Daniel, fall in love with a seven year old girl?”

“Once again, you have to change her life, Andrew, so that she can change yours.”