Beginning and the End

He left. Just like that. One moment here, gone the next.

His limbs... They felt different now. He could move them perfectly. His body felt no more pain, no more aches like which he has felt over the years. His mind was clear. Clearer than ever before. It was like his memories were now laid out in front of him, waiting to be rediscovered.

Around he looked, and there he spotted a clock; unmoving under his curious gaze. It was probably then that he realized that he was no more a being bound by mortality. He could move time at will, and it was effortless. Timelessness was his, but where should he go? Not into the Light. Not yet. He had to do something before he could leave in peace.

He travelled, far and wide, to see them all. One by one. One by one he visited them, and one by one, he said a prayer in his heart. These people he loved deeply, and here he was to see them one last time.

"...I pray all these in the name of the Lord. Amen"

As he prayed for them, their souls cried out to him in agony- in protest- of their lives.

"I'm living in apathy of God right now."
"Work's all piled up. I don't have time!"
"I'm lying to myself."
"I'm a complete, wretched sinner..."

One look, however, and their physical expressions told a different story. They were wearing masks, most of them. So that was what the problem was. Another prayer was in order. Blessings were all he could give, but there he knew that there was Another who would help them.

A smile wrought itself across his face.

"Thank you Lord."

He then touched their souls and left, up and up, into the beautiful realms of which he had believed to exist; welcomed by a Light, embraced by the One.

"It is done. Now rest here in peace, deserving Servant. Reap here the fruits of your labour."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

In memory of a beautiful life, a loving grandfather, and a man pure at heart.