Truth and Light

Chapter 6

The person I spent the least amount of time with, but who I wanted to spend the most with, was Gabe. He always seemed to be busy directing new people, ordering supplies, assigning rooms, organizing, and teaching classes, checking in with the teen ward, spending time with the youth and working with Greta to arrange the chore roster. There was always something that needed Gabe's attention.

A few times I did see Gabe working with a study group going over this book that looked like a workbook with a sun on the cover. Whenever I asked Callie what it was, she just gave me a weird look and said it had to do with running Illumination. After a while I just stopped asking.

I did see Gabe every day at dinner and before I went to bed at night. Illumination always ate dinner communally in the Dining Hall, like a big family. Even the families not living in the main building joined us. Gabe would say a few words about the day and if there was any news about tomorrow. He would talk about people at Illumination who did a great job that day and encouraged any areas that were having a harder time. He would then say a short prayer to say thank you for the food. It was always a nondenominational prayer, but it was heartfelt and solemn. Everyone, even the children, were respectful of Gabe's evening meal speeches.

After the prayer, Gabe would come sit next to me. Callie sat on the other side of the table, always between Jaxon and Jace. Sometimes Joshua, or a few others would join us, but more often than not it was just the five of us. They would chat about their day and although I never felt comfortable speaking, everyone was always okay with my silence. I did love to listen to the rest of them talk. Greta, Sue and Denny, sat with two other older couples that lived at Illumination with their kids and grandkids at a table next to ours.

I tried helping in different areas of Illumination. There were so many things that needed to be done to run a place like this. The farm and fields were not my favorite, I ended up sweaty and itchy. The animals scared me, and I hated getting dirty. I also tried working in the kitchen. Although I loved to cook, and didn't mind doing dishes, I did not like serving food because everyone in line would try to talk to me.

After the mandatory training, the main job I signed up for was the nursery and youth ward. I especially liked getting to know Joshua. It took him awhile for him to warm up to me, but once I shared with him how I had been a foster kid too, we became close friends. He taught me how to play a board game called Settlers of Catan, and I taught him how to play Gin Rummy.

I did like to spend time with Sue and Denny, after I had gotten over Sue drugging me. They became like adoptive parents to me, just like they had stepped in when Gabe and Callie's parents died. Denny was one of the biggest men I had ever seen, he wasn't just tall, but had broad shoulders and huge arms. At first that terrified me, but I quickly learned that Denny didn't use his size to get what he wanted or hurt people. He was a quiet guy and, like me, liked to listen more than he liked to talk.

He wasn't shy exactly, if he had something to say, he said it. I constantly wondered if his quietness stemmed from his wife's chatter. He had golden blonde hair like his sons, but Denny's was cut short in a buzz cut.

Sue loved working in the gardens and fields. Illumination had several raised garden boxes, an herb garden, fruit trees, fields filled with wheat, corn, hay, and soy. It also had a stable for the animals and a gigantic chicken coup that the twins had built. Denny supervised all the work with the animals. There were horses, chickens, ducks, pigs, cattle, a bunch of cats and a few dogs.

Although the bigger animals scared me, I loved to pet the cats and their kittens. One day, after working in the kitchen, I had saved some leftover chicken that the kitchen staff was just going to toss into the pig's slop and brought it to the cats.