“What is it, my friend?” Andrew soothed the upset opossum with just the right strokes of gentle fingers.
Too upset to even think about those magical pockets, and wringing his paws, “I don’t know if you do porcupines, but this one is so special ... and ...”
With a soft chuckle the angel replied “our Creator knows when even a sparrow falls. Of course we ‘do’ porcupines”.
“She was another ambassador of sorts. She came from a different rescue group, but one the woman follows ... is that how I knew of her? The cats talk about a “writey box” and I know my human mama Pam used one ... are her tears how I knew?”
“All of you are united one way or another. All of you know when one comes, and there are many angels, and many meadows. But the one you are wanting is over there, much like you were, sleeping on a tuffet of clover. She will awaken soon. You and Duncan may greet her.”
“Who’s Duncan?”
Duncan took that as his cue, and spoke.. “I’m down here! You were too upset to notice me!” Duncan didn’t think it was at all weird that an opossum was upset about a porcupine. He’d been here almost a month, had met SO many other critters, and had realized that they all had a connection. It didn’t matter to him that he didn’t understand it all, he was just glad for it. And he had learned to watch over Newhouse, because those were the wonderful people who took care of him.
“Is it time?” He asked, looking over at the sleeping porcupine.
“I think so,” the angel replied, “we’ll wait for you here.”
As Duncan waddled away, Rudy turned on the angel’s lap, to get a better view. And a treat had appeared, which he munched on while he watched. Duncan gave a gentle nosy rub to the porcupine, and whispered to her “Hello Luv, time to wake up.”
“Samantha opened her eyes, and looked about. She had had the sweetest dreams, about Sammi and Poppi, and for a moment wondered where they were.
“It’s just you, the others are fine. Come with me, there’s some water here you just MUST try!”
Duncan led her to the creek, which indeed WAS the best water she’d ever tasted. Having had her fill, and fully awake, the questions began.
“I know you, you’re Duncan! But you left us almost a month ago. Why did you come back?”
“No, I didn’t ‘come back’, you came Here!”
“But, where is ‘here’, and why am I?”
“It’s not a particularly long story, but I’ll try to explain. Come, we’ll go meet my friends who are waiting over there on that big rock” he said.
Samantha looked where he had indicated. There was a man sitting on a rock, at least she thought that’s what he was, and there was an opossum sitting on his lap, watching her. ‘This ought to be good’ she thought, but followed Duncan as he made his way.
The man set the opossum down, and as they grew near, reached out for Samantha and put her on his lap. She was about to tell him to be mindful of her quills, but for some reason he wasn’t bothered by them.
“Hello Samantha, we’ve been waiting for you!”
“You have? Why?”
“The time on earth given by the Creator is different than that for mankind, and is quite short. There are people who rescue and take care of sick or injured creatures great and small. You were with people who kept you safe, though they knew you were never going to be well enough to live on your own. They loved you, and watched over you. You were able to raise two beautiful babies, one your own, and the other an orphan. And because of the “writey box” as so many of you call it, people all over the world followed your journey.”
“But, why am I HERE?”
“It was time. There was nothing more they could do for you, to keep you with them, so the last most loving thing they could do for you was to send you here, quietly, painlessly, and in the sure and certain knowledge you would be made whole again.”
“So, does that mean you ‘fixed’ me, and now I can go back?” she asked, not sure she was going to like the answer.
“Nope!” Rudy had finished his snack and looked up at Samantha on the angel’s lap. “But it’s all good! You will be happy here, with others of your kind, and all of the rest of of us, and some day, when the people at Newhouse reach the ends of THEIR lives, they’ll be here too!”
“But you don’t have to wait that long to see them!” Duncan put his front paws against the angel’s legs so he could stand up and see her face to face. “The best part is you can send your love and your thoughts to them, whenever you want! We’ll teach you! And in some ways you can help them understand what they can do for others of your kind.”
Samantha looked from Duncan to Rudy, and up at the angel. This was a lot to take in. But she didn’t feel stressed about it, in fact she felt rather peaceful with it.
“Come on you two, it’s time we took this one to the Bridge.” As the angel rose, he cradled Samantha in his arms. Once again she wondered how he did that without being impaled on her spines. Rudy and Duncan pressed themselves close to Andrew’s gown, and they were gone ...
... to appear again upon the great Bridge made of every color one could imagine. She had heard about the Rainbow Bridge, and as if he heard her unspoken question Andrew explained. “Our Creator pledged that He would know when even a sparrow falls, and that one day we would all be with Him for eternity. The Bridge is His sign of that covenant, that never again would He destroy the world he created, as he once did.”
“And now you have to jump off, that means you accept that promise!” And with that, Rudy and Duncan tumbled off the Bridge as they had before, landing softly upon a pair of beautiful dogs with golden fur.
“Just jump!” Duncan urged.
Looking up at Andrew, and over his shoulder at things she could no longer see, she sensed that everything really WAS all right. Andrew set her down on the Bridge, and peering over the edge at the waiting dog, she closed her eyes and gave a little hop.
Maggie’s tail wagged, and she grinned at Andrew as he faded from sight. She sat, which made a bit of a sliding board for Samantha. She was immediately surrounded by so many critters! All talking at once, and all being understood by each other no matter what language they spoke.
Duncan and Rudy slipped away, and went to the edge of the meadow. “It’s all good, she’s here with us. Don’t worry, we’ll teach her soon to send you her thoughts.
“Oh, and thank you.” Duncan blushed a little (though it’s hard to see on a porcupine). “You were all so good to us, not only our care, but all the prayers and good vibes we got from all over the world. We will never forget you.”
Though gone from sight, Andrew watched. His heart was full. At that moment he though ‘I’ve got the best job in all of Heaven’.
...... ....... ......
Jane wiped a tear as she looked at her computer screen, called to the others, “You just have to see this! We’ve heard from Duncan and Samantha!”
©️Rose Scott 2020
No comments:
Post a Comment