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33. Houses of the Holy

Providence, Rhode Island

A young woman, Gloria, was sitting in a dark room, watching television and smoking. She wore smudged hooker makeup and the table to her left held several small angel statues and an ashtray filled with cigarette butts.

"How little?" a woman asked.

"How about "a little eyeshadow"?" Drew questioned as a laugh track sounded. "You know, all this stuff, it's just very unprofessional."

"Don't touch the troll!" Mimi cried.

"Is that what your mom used to say to your dates?" Another laugh track sounded.

"Put the trolls down or I'll put a staple right between your-"

Gloria sighed heavily and lifted the remote control. She flipped to a televangelist station.

"Now I know it's hard," the televangelist said. "It's hard to look up when you're down. It's hard to look up and see the light. But I'm here to tell you folks, the Lord is with you."

Gloria turned off the television; the lamp to her right began sputtering and flickering. She looked around, frowning, and stomped out her cigarette. The television suddenly turned on again, and Gloria gasped in shock.

"You don't have to suffer, you don't have to be lost. The Lord is talking to you right now; he's saying, you are my child and you have a purpose! You think God forgot about you? I tell you no! All you got to do is listen! Can't you just hear those angels singing? Isn't it beautiful? It's time. It's time to receive the message he's sending. It's time to listen to the Word of God! Do you hear the glory? I said, can you hear it? I said, can you just hear the glory?"

The lamp was still flickering and the entire room began to shake. Gloria clutched at the couch, looking around in panic. Behind her, a blinding light glowed, and she turned to face it in horror, then awe.

"Oh my god," Gloria said.

INT. PSYCH WARD - DAY

Gloria was seated quietly on her bed in a psych ward. Her hair was straight and her face clean; she was wearing a bathrobe and reading a book held in her left hand. The door opened behind her and she turned.

"Good morning," Gloria greeted. "You're not the usual guy."

Sam, in white scrubs, held a clipboard and said, "No, uh, just filling in. So how you feeling today, Gloria?"

"I've never felt better."

"So, no disturbances lately?"

"You mean am I stark raving cuckoo for cocoa puffs?"

"I didn't say that."

"It's all right. I know what people must think."

"What do you think?"

"I think what I saw was real."

Sam looked around, pulled up a chair and set the clipboard down. He leaned forward, elbows on knees, and gave her an intensely earnest look.

"I'd like to know what you saw," Sam said.

"It was all over the news," Gloria replied. "I stabbed a man in the heart."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because it was God's will."

"Did God talk to you?"

"No. I get the sense God's a little busy for house calls. No, he, he sent someone."

"Someone?"

"An angel. It came to me in this beautiful white light, and it filled me with this feeling. It's, it's hard to describe."