Legacy of the Dreams

Interlude 1 - Watching the Faithful

The Lord looked down on his faithful and smiled.

"You see? It wouldn't matter if I had allowed you to take her today," the Lord told Satan. "My faithful would accept it either way."

"That's because they expect it. You have already told them her fate. They know she is Yours and not of the earth in the usual way," Satan replied. "But let them face an unexpected threat, a loss they can't foresee, a tragedy unanticipated, then we'll see."

"The decision for when to take a soul is mine and mine alone," the Lord said.

"Yes, but if you will allow me to choose the means, I still say their faith, their wiliness to accept loss and to help others will be shaken," Satan said.

The Lord considered what He held in store for those His faithful loved. Some of His children were ready to come home. They lived in loneliness, searching the reason they still inhabited the earth when the purpose for their life, from their point of view, was gone. There were two in particular the Lord was watching closely, listening to their prayers, waiting for that moment that would serve His purposes best when they came to Him. And yet He knew that without His permission, the Angel of Death would continue to stay his hand.

The Lord considered the ongoing challenge between himself and Satan, and finally he made His decision.

"It is done. There is one who is nearing the end of this life. My Angel will bring the soul I choose to Me at the time I've decreed, but you may choose the means," the Lord said. "Then we will see how my faithful and those around them weather this latest storm."

Satan smiled with glee, already anticipating the havoc he intended to impose on the Lord's chosen people.

"Remember, the time is of my choosing," the Lord commanded.

"Thy will be done," Satan agreed, and he turned his attention to making his plans, for one specific soul chosen by the Lord.

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