Journey of a Soul

Chapter 1

The memories appeared swiftly... as if the sun rising and setting were years passing instead of days.

A weeping mother.

Susannah Constantine gazed at her from across an aisle whose plush carpets ran red as blood. On the far side of the room, the woman stood facing her, motionless, solemn, her tear-stained face hidden by a veil. In her hands, she grasped a rosary, rubbing a bead as her lips moved silently. The stillness of death was in the room.

No, the woman sobbed. She is too young.

Susannah heard the words as if she heard them inside her head. "Mom, why are you crying?" she called out, but her voice made no sound.

Look for Grandpa. Say hi to him from me, she whispered. Go to the light Susannah, go into the light!

Susannah took a step towards her mother, but she could see the carpet twisting into a gust of wind picking up velocity. Instantly she was caught twirling round and round as if she was in a merciless tornado being flown away.

When Susannah opened her eyes again to see her mother, the room had become a tiny speck in the solar system. There were wisps of energy like a cold winters breeze, nipping at her from all directions. Her body seemed to have vanished, and in its place was a ghostly figure that flickered like a candle flame dancing with the air.

She could hear her name being called, angelic echoes in a vast canyon of emptiness.

The darkness was getting brighter, and with every second, she could see more and more light. She was being drawn to the light as if she was a mesmerized fly. The light was a magnet pulling her closer and closer. She could not escape.

Susannah was disoriented, and her memory was foggy. All she could remember was. . . try, try to remember. As Susannah tried to focus, she noticed a faint glimmer. She tried to move closer, but her feet would not move. Looking down, she gasped, for she had no feet or hands, just a vaporous body that floated in the mystical energy.

As she looked up the twinkle of light caught her attention again. The opulent sparkle of the gates was incredible. There was no mineral back home that could create that shimmer. It was like imagining opalescent paint covering the pearl essence of an ocean shell under the most transparent blue water.

She could see now a vaporous shadow of a figure standing just inside the gates. As she thought of the form, she instantly was there, lightly floating just outside of the elaborately ornate gates.

The entrance was as magnificent as in any Hollywood movie. Silver and gold metal with carved designs etched into the surface. If one looked at the detail of the gate, an intertwined story was engraved throughout the framework.

You could see through the spaces beyond into the most brilliantly colored serene garden. "I have never seen flowers as beautiful as those," Susannah called out. She pushed on the gates to open them, but they were locked.

"Can you please open the gates? I would like to come in," She asked the figure standing with it's back to her.

The figure turned around and became opaque. It took the form of a man walking towards her, holding out his ancient hand as if expecting something from her.

"Who are you?" Susannah whispered.

In response, the man slowly turned his hand back to his side. He was strikingly beautiful, and yet older than Susannah had imagined. Majestic, noble, ageless, like an everlasting saint. He had a stern set jaw, deep soulful eyes, and longer, silver-grey wavy hair that tickled his shoulders as he moved. He wore around his neck an intricately designed vintage brass skeleton key strung through a thick pewter chain.

Susannah sensed she knew him, trusted him. But how? Why?

He pointed now to a very rustic, thick padlock. Even Samson, who the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The man that was given immense strength to aid him against his enemies and allow him to perform superhuman feats. Even he could not break this apart.

Carved in the lock was a glowing symbol, a burning cross with an S etched deep into the metal. S? She thought, uncertain. As in . . . Susannah? "Is that . . . me?"

The man's face revealed nothing. , he sent the thought to her and silently walked away, disappearing into the garden as if he was never there.

"Wait, wait, please come back! How do I get into the garden?" Susannah yelled.

Without warning, she began being pulled like a particle of dust into a vacuum, deeper and deeper into the abyss. Her entire body vibrated intensely, and then, in a twinkle of an eye, she exploded into fragments of disheartened darkness.