“No, it’s only part of it, Kathy. Please hear the Rev out.”
They all looked in the direction of the Reverend Peter Thomas.
“It’s to do with bringing Mackenzie back,” the Rev said.
James stood upright. “I don’t know if we want to discuss this again. We told you before. We don’t believe it would serve any purpose.”
“But God does and that’s why he wants to do it. Not us, but Him. He wants to do it. And He has told me that. Please, if you believe Churchie can see things unseen, please believe me. I heard the voice of God, and He told me that He wants to restore life to those two bodies.”
“But is that biblical?”
“Jesus told us to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.”
“But didn’t he also tell us not to communicate with the dead?”
“That’s not what we’re doing. We’re laying hands on the deceased and seeking God’s direction. We are letting God do what He wants to do. And He has told me He wants to raise these people. It is not for us, it is for Him. He has plans.”
Silence pervaded the room.
The Rev stood up. “Could I suggest that we pray for God’s guidance here? I only want to please Him and to do what is right for you people. I need your permission to pray over Mackenzie.”
The Rev walked over to Kathy and James and placed his hands on them. The Rev bowed his head. Aaron did the same.
“Heavenly Father, creator of life, I have heard your voice and want only to please you, but I also want to do the right thing for my brother and sister here. I ask that you put peace into their hearts so that they may also believe in what you have planned. I ask these things in the mighty name of Jesus.”
Aaron thought it would be okay to raise his head but the other heads were still bowed. He watched as Kathy slowly raised her head. There were tears on her face, and she held her husband’s hand. He had also raised his head and was looking towards the Rev.
Churchie was standing, swaying, like he was dancing with his angel.
James and Kathy exchanged quiet words, then James spoke to the Rev. “It is done. You can come with us to the mortuary this morning. And my, the world will be a different place today if these bodies are raised back to life.”
Part 4 - To the realm and back
Chapter 22
SILENCE. MACKENZIE HAD FALLEN from somewhere.
Where am I?
She needed to sit up. Lord, be with me. She could hear faint sounds, screams, shouts. She turned in the direction of the sounds and saw what looked like a solid wall, its colour the darkest black she has ever seen. The wall was pulling her, like a black hole sucking things in. Yes, the blackness beckoned her, but she knew that wasn’t where she belonged.
“Help me, Jesus,” she whispered.
Ignoring the darkness behind her, she stood up and tried to take in her surroundings. Outside, it was night-time, a greyness with no colours. The moon and stars provided ambient light. Her eyes adjusted. She wondered if this was what Aaron saw when he wore army night vision goggles. Out there looked like the normal physical world, a paddock, trees with branches swaying, fences, mist. But there were no sounds.
I wish it wasn’t night-time. Brightness came; she saw colour and movement, God’s creatures coming out of their slumber. Is it morning? She thought she heard some kind of positive response to her mental question. She turned to her left—an endless white passageway. Turning to the right, the same, except she saw movement, a figure approached, just a blur. Mackenzie felt no fear. The figure quickened; it must have seen her.
“Hello . . . hello,” the figure shouted.
She waited as the figure approached, and watched as a form took shape. She saw that it was one of the men from the ‘transit’ group, the one who wasn’t nice to them, who was a bit different.
“Hello . . . do you know where we are?” Mackenzie asked.
“No idea. Are you okay, not hurt anywhere?”
Mackenzie was surprised by his question; there had been no sign of a caring nature with the group. “No, I seem okay.”
They both stared ahead of them, not down the passageway, but out into the world that was presented to them. They could see things—it was like watching the world on a big screen—a fenced paddock, trees, cows. Just past the fence line, the grey bitumen of a road stood out against the greenery. A few cars passed. A cow came towards them, stopped, bent down to chew some grass, then it looked up and continued its stroll. It walked straight through them. They turned to see where it went but the darkness obscured their view.
“It’s like we’re in some kind of tunnel.” The man turned. “I’m not sure about the darkness there. I got close to it when I tried to avoid an oncoming car. It felt like something was trying to lure me in there.”
Mackenzie nodded. “I agree. I’m sure I heard screams coming from there. They were faint, as though they were coming from a distance away.” She looked down the passageway. “Where do you think it goes?”
She sensed movement and saw a flock of galahs flying straight at them. She ducked and bumped up against the man. The birds flew through them. Mackenzie felt nothing, and realised that she didn’t feel any physical contact when she bumped the man either. She stood back and touched his arm. Again, she felt nothing.
The man looked down at her hand. “I think we’re out of the physical world.”
Mackenzie stood there staring at the man. “Maybe we’ve ended up in some kind of spiritual dimension.”
Mackenzie was excited; she had no fear. Was that possible? There was a clarity in her thinking—no clutter here, no worldly preoccupations. Her thoughts were crystal clear, solid and direct. She looked at the man. She hadn’t wanted to be anywhere near him at the other place but this felt different. “I think our senses are different in this world or whatever you call it. Maybe we should explore the passageway.”
The man nodded. “Maybe . . . there wasn’t going to be a bus trip . . . they did a transfer on us . . . I think something went wrong with the transfer technology, so we’ve ended up here. Maybe this passageway is what we got transferred along but normally wouldn’t be aware of. Maybe we got off the train too soon, got off at the wrong station. If so, they’ll be trying to fix it and locate us.”
Mackenzie thought about Paul. She hoped that maybe he’d got off at the wrong station too, and that they would soon meet up.
“Lots of ‘maybes’ . . . I hope you’re right about them trying to locate us.”
“So am I.” He raised his hand and pointed to the front. “I noticed the passageway moves with you. If you walk to the front, the passageway advances. Look at that large tree there, and see that it has a sign on it, too far away to read. Watch.”
Mackenzie watched as the man walked toward the tree. She was being left behind, so followed him. The passageway moved with them. The tree got larger and the words got larger. ‘Private Property. Stay Out.’ She wondered about the opposite direction.
“How do we go the other direction? How do we get back to where we started, where we couldn’t read the sign? The idea of walking into the darkness doesn’t appeal to me.”
“A good question. A remote control with a rewind button would come in handy,” he said smiling. “I think this passageway has its own navigation system and we just need to work it out. Maybe the passageway detects your presence and anticipates things.”
“It’s funny—we can’t see what lies behind us here. It’s the opposite in our world, where we can’t see what lies ahead of us. Does that make sense?”
“It does. It would be nice not to see, not to remember what lies behind us.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean that to be a negative.”
“That’s okay. I’m getting over it. But to be honest, I feel a lot lighter here. No negative thoughts have attacked me. But back to your question, how do we go back?”
“Another thought, I believe that we’re in some kind of spiritual dimension. I always relate thoughts to the spiritual world. Maybe we just need to think what we want to do or maybe say what we want to do—words translate to thoughts.” She remembered something strange happening when she wanted night-time to go away.
“Besides, we have voice commands on our smartphones in the real world, so I’m sure we’re in a much more advanced place here. But in reality, I really do believe that what we think will happen, because I believe in a God who is in charge of all these things and I trust him and I think he gave me a demo before. So our words or thoughts may be the key. Let’s try it.”
The man seemed to be analysing what Mackenzie just said. “A demo?”
