Garder mon Ame

Chapter Twenty-Five: There is no Epilogue when Speaking of Eternity

Let us go then, you and I

When the evening is spread out against the sky

Like a patient etherized upon a table;

Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,

The muttering retreats

Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels

And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:

Streets that follow like a tedious argument

Of insidious intent

To lead you to an overwhelming question ...

Oh, do not ask, "What is it?"

Let us go and make our visit.

~T.S. Eliot

The little girl with dark brown hair and brilliant green eyes followed her guide to the stunning building in the distance. Of course she was captured by the Judgment Palace, by a few of the daisies that grew in abundance of colors and vividness, but she had room in her glistening eyes for the city in the distance as well, so quaint, so perfect.

She thanked her guide politely, and he pointed to where a woman with black hair waited for her. She walked slowly up to the cubicle, glancing at the three staircases behind. Then at the door. The little girl smiled.

The woman gave her name and courtesies, obviously a tad bit bored, and the little girl shifted in her sandals. She was anxious, not nervous, but she still jumped when the woman exclaimed loudly:

"My God!"

The little girl stared at her judge with wide eyes. "I didn't do anything." There is nothing like the declared innocence of a small child!

"Oh, honey, I'm not saying you did, it's just. . . ." She shuffled through what the little girl presumed was her story, to be scrutinized, but the woman just put them down and leaned forward in her chair. "I don't think I'll believe it if I don't hear it. What's your name, sweetie?"

The little girl bit her lip a little, wondering if her name was not already printed on that first sheet of paper and every one after. But still, she replied, "Elia. Elia Ardin Rupe."

The woman's face positively glowed. "I just can't believe it is all! Elia Ardin! What a pleasure!"

Elia shuffled anxiously again and started to play with her braids. "Um, it's nice to meet you, too, but I don't see how this has to do with my con . . . contrish. . . ."

"Contrition?" The woman smiled. "And what do you have to regret, child?"

Elia shrugged and made a noncommittal noise, not quite understanding what the woman was trying to tell her. So, she finally just said, "I don't get what's going on at all."

The woman made an "o" shape with her mouth and said, "So sorry. It's just that . . . someone is expecting you."

"Me?"

"Yes. If you are here, then he should be here any moment for you."

"Am I in trouble?" Elia asked, worry beginning to grow in the pit of her stomach. She glanced at the wooden staircase. She imagined how hard it would be for her to climb, even if she was tall for her age.

"No, Elia Ardin. Quite the contrary, actually." The woman then looked up from Elia's green eyes. "Oh, look, here comes your answers."

Elia followed the woman's gaze which rested on a lanky man than was walking towards her. He had disheveled ginger hair like a lion's coat, gray eyes the color the sky turns after a storm, untainted, gorgeous white wings that fluttered from his back. Elia's eyes grew big. She stared at an angel, a real-life angel, and just about squealed with amazement. She found herself grinning a winning, though tad crooked smile at the newcomer.