God Is Dead

The Box

We all got so tied up in breakfast that it was noon before I remembered the box. I asked Gabriel to bring it to the living room for me because I too need to retrieve something from my bedroom. Ed had left something to each girl. A gift. And I know he fully expected that they get it. Dez was to receive his Ham Radio as she was a more hands on person and did not like all the reading and research and such. She could listen for disturbances in radio waves and pick up on demon movement. Angels could also be heard over the frequencies. Cali was to receive her father's journals in their original leather bound forms. She was the reader in the family. I loved both reading and hands on stuff but Cali was obsessed with knowing as many facts on things as she could get her hands on. I knew that he'd left her coded messages in there just for her. So the little book worm could solve on more puzzle. That puzzle being where we came from and the true identity of both himself and me. Our birth names. He'd left her some homework so to speak. And I couldn't wait for her to have it.

Gabriel came from the entrance of the basement carrying the box. This was no ordinary box. It would be breathtaking to an outsider. Hand carved of eastern red cedar, inlaid in silver, a wrought-iron lock with an intricate filigree rendering of our family sigil. Inside was a deeply violet velvet, and crimson ribbons tying everything contained in the box in place. Each gift/tool labeled for the person intended in his beautiful script. I nearly gasped at the beauty myself. His handwriting was always one of the things I loved so much about him. I'd missed it so. Also with each piece was an instructional note. Each note laid out the how's and why's in such a way a child could use them. The girls gathered at my side. Gabriel stood on the other side of the room. I could still see the mourning in his eyes. But that was another story and discussion for another time. For now he was satisfied to be the outsider. Cali was actually anxious to see what daddy had left her. But Dez was silently letting the tears flow. I could hear them hitting the floor beside me. For she'd seen what was in store for her. The mic. Resting in its velvet cradle waiting for her. She and her dad had used it together a thousand times. So much laughter and mystery and time in this piece of black plastic attached to a cord made of rubber. So cold compared to her dad. All this was written on her face. Plain as in any book you might ever read anywhere at any time. But as she knew her father would want, she gracefully took it from my hand as I held it out to her. She knew she would no doubt have a specific thing that would have to be done with the mic a d radio that it went to. So immediately she left the room for the basement where her life would change again drastically for the second time this year. Cali sat down on the sofa beside me. Hugged me as if it would be her last. And held out her hand to receive her puzzle. I placed her dad's journal in her hand. She inhaled its scent deep into her lungs. As she held it up to her ear she flipped the pages. And a tear rolled down her freckled cheek. Immediately she opened it up and began the task Edward had left for her. Little did I know this was the beginning of the end, on this plain, in this life.
After the girls set out on their mission, Thierry father's final request, I sat quietly. Gazing at the plush inner lining of the box I could see something my children hadn't seen. There was a slight raised area about six inches by 4 inches underneath the deep purple velvet. I knew he'd left it there because he knew I'd examine the box as soon as it came into my sight. I'd know more about that box in one glance than most will know in years to come. That was part of my gift. For instance, when Gabriel brought it into the room I noticed that the filigree iron work lock was slightly off. Edward had had trouble getting the iron to the right temp in  the curvature of the letter O. So there was almost a corner in the top right  of the letter. And the color was just ever so slightly a gray rather than black. But those things were so minute that no normal human could see them. I could see every line of every grain in the wood. I knew his hands had been shaking at times when he was hand sanding the piece because there were places that rose and fell almost on a microscopic level. He'd done this piece after we found the bruises. The foretelling for Lucifer's wrath upon him, and vengeance upon me. I could smell Edward's tears he'd shed into the velvet interior as he placed each item he was to leave to his precious girls. His grief resonated from deep in the white oak he'd used. His anger sounded from within the sigils he'd burned into each interior of the lid and bottom of the box. I realized we were to reuse this box. Items taken from it were to be returned to it and we were to add to it. Then I found it. The clever little lip in the paneling he'd used to make a secret compartment for my gift. I gently depressed the raised wood, a soft but audible click. Gabriel, as so often he does, appeared out of thin air. He said "May I please help you with this? I know what it says. This will be hard for you. So please allow me." I could sense his anguish and knew he would never interfere with business belonging to Ed and myself. So I let him take the parchment from my hand. As he unfolded the piece a beautiful silver and gold cross pendant with a quartz crystal in the heart of the cross fell to the floor. I picked it up and light shot through from ceiling to floor and engulfed me in a shaft of terrifyingly bright light. It was his last gift. His status and power as a sentinel was handed to me! I was completely confused. That wasn't supposed to be mine. This belonged to both our daughters. Not me. Oh God! What was wrong? How? Why?
I knew there had been a terrible mistake. But I fell into a sleep state before I knew what had happened. Just a moment before my eyes closed I saw Gabriel's face. Tears streaming. I felt him catch me then darkness.