The Faith of a Mustard Seed

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Blinking Melody looks around her. Instead of the cold frozen field with a circle of trees, she's laying on a soft moss-covered ground right beside a creek with bubbling water, surrounded by many wildflowers. Standing shakily to her feet Melody, calls out, "Where am I?"

A soft voice from behind replies, "The in-between."

Shocked Melody quickly turns, her eyes landing on a girl about her age with long flowing brown hair, brown chocolate eyes, and freckles across the bridge of her nose. Fear making her heart thump, Melody asks, "Who who are are you?"

The girl smiles sadly, "It's okay, no one can harm you here. You know me, well you know of me. Can you guess who I am?"

Frowning slightly, Melody studies the girl closer, the laughter in her eyes, the slight way she stands, shocked Melody takes an automatic step back, "You're Gracie, but you're dead." Stopping suddenly Melody's eyes going big, "Does this mean I'm dead too?"

Shaking her head sadly Gracie replies, "Not exactly. You're in the in-between. You are neither dead nor alive, but you could go either way. Would you like to sit?"

As Gracie finishes speaking, she points to a little white swing bench sitting right beside the water. Melody looks from the bench to Gracie a few times, before nodding slowly. After they had sat down Gracie smiled over at Melody, "You probably have a million questions, I won't bite you, you can ask me anything."

Hesitating slightly Melody finally asks, "When you said I could go either way, what did you mean?"

"Well, from what I was told, you get a choice, which is rare."

Frowning Melody interrupts, "A choice?"

Laughing Gracie nods, "You are a lot like Nate, he likes to interrupt too. Yes, a choice. From what I understand, your body isn't past its overall final point, and there is still more for you to do in the living world, but......"

Gracie stops her eyes on the creek. After several minutes of silence, Melody prompts, "But what?"

Shaking her head Gracie finishes, "But you've been through a lot, and to journey back would be extremely hard. So, if you wanted you could go on, and be at peace."

Melody gasps, "You mean I can choose whether or not I survive this? How is that even possible? I thought everyone has a set time to go. Did you get a choice?"

Smiling Gracie shakes her head, "No, I didn't get a choice. I had done everything I was meant to do, besides you've read my journal, you know what I would have chosen if given the choice. And yes everyone has a set time to go, but as you know there is the whole free will thing, and some people's choices lead them onto paths, that can end in multiple ways, and the ending to a certain path leads to one or more possible futuristic outcomes."

Gaping at her Melody shakes her head and asks, "English please?"

Gracie chuckles, "Sorry, basically yes everyone has a set time to go, but your choices have put you in a rare situation. You see, by choosing to stick to your faith, and undergo what your parents had ordered, your path collided with Nathan's.

At the mention of her cousin, Gracie stops for a second then continues, "When you met him, you had a choice, befriend him or shove him away. You chose to befriend him, which thank you for doing that, you saved him from himself. Anyways, by doing so it created a new path for you, which led you here. Follow that okay?"

Frowning Melody clarifies, "So because I chose to fight for my faith, I put myself on a path that would lead to my death, but because I chose to befriend your cousin, it opened a second option?"