Ryan Daley looked around in wonder. He'd just arrived in heaven, and it was more beautiful than he'd ever imagined it would be. A field of green grass extended out for as far in each direction as he could see, under a clear blue sky with little puffy white cotton candy clouds. On the horizon was a river bank, with small groups of people standing in clumps along its shores.
Suddenly two of the figures turned and looked at Ryan. In a flash he recognized them and ran to meet them.
"Mom! Dad!" His heart was almost bursting with joy. "I thought I'd never see you again!"
"We just did make it," Ryan's mother said as she hugged him. "I realized that I was about to die, and suddenly I remembered all the stories I'd heard in Sunday School when I was a little girl. With my dying breath I cried out to God, and He heard me!"
"A similar thing happened to me," Ryan's father added. "I grew up in a Christian home as well, but when I became an adult and got married, I pretty much forgot about it. Then when I realized that I was about to die, I knew that I had to make a decision then and there. I called upon the Lord, and He had mercy on me and saved me."
"We're both very sorry that we didn't raise you in a Godly home," Ryan's mother told him. "If only we'd taken you to church and made sure that you knew about Jesus and how to be saved, then you wouldn't have been left behind when the rapture happened."
"It's not completely your fault," Ryan told her. "Raymie and his mom tried to tell me the truth, but I didn't believe them. I'm just so glad that I met Bruce and Judd and Vicki and Lionel right afterwards. I don't know how I would have ended up if not for them."
"Well, it's all over now," Ryan's father said. "All three of us are safely in God's presence for all of eternity, so we have nothing to fear anymore."
"That's right!" Ryan agreed. "I think I'll go say hi to Bruce and Raymie now..."