SPIRIT IN THE SKY
A Soul Caliber novel
Chapter 1: Preaching a sermon…
"What a beautiful world this will be… and we shall all be judged by the beauty in thee… and we will all sing in the great dog's sacred night: free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we are free at last!"
And the gathered chanted along: "free at last, free at last, and thank God almighty we are free at last!"
"You may sit" said Gabriel Sr., stepping down from the altar… Gabriel Jr. watched on… he knew this was now one of the biggest sermons his father had ever given… and right now, as he watched his father step down from the altar… it was time for the most exciting moment of the sermon itself: the issue speech.
It was something that most priests were practicing (and mastering) nowadays… it confronted not only God's word… but man's word, what was happening nowadays, and the thoughts that ran amuck nowadays… however, it was not this that was bothering little Gabriel Jr….
"Today is a special, blessed day" said his father, walking down the main aisle, next to the many gathered next to him, sitting, staring, appraising and beloved of a man that had preached to them for almost thirty years; some of them elderly, some of them young, and some of them in the cradle of life…
Gabriel Jr. stared at his father like everyone else was doing… you see… this may sound, like, completely un-Christian… but just seeing him there, tall, built, his greying-black hair shining in the sunlight, in his commanding voice, in his white robes… it was like his father was God……
"Today is the twelfth birthday of someone that has been with us for almost twelve years… my son, just another gift of God descended upon from the heavens, just another beautiful thing that God gave us on this Earth… today, he will be giving a sermon that all will find enlightening… Gaby, could you step down please?" And Gabriel did as he was told…
And, just like Jesus was praised almost years ago like his great, almighty father, Gabriel was praised almost equally… the elderly called him the "Gift of God", the young the "bookworm" and the infants just "Gabo"; quiet, educated, envisioning, and taller and smarter than all the other boys combined…
"Let us pray, brothers" said Gabriel, quietly, in a feeble attempt at imitating his father's deeper, greater voice… nonetheless, the crowd remained enthusiastic, and they responded "Amen"… Gabriel cleared his throat for a bit while his father stepped back, sitting at a throne-like chair behind the altar…
However… Gabriel was… well, maybe I'll just let him explain it:
"Have you ever heard the phrase… "We are both blessed and cursed"? Well… I and we all know how significant that phrase is nowadays… God surely has gifted us with all of these great, beautiful things with enthusiasm and good intent… but sadly… we are all cursed as well as blessed with them… for we are cursed to abuse them… we are cursed to solder in the fire of doubt… of uncertainty… as to how and why we must treat these gifts… be they with… calm… and… and… understanding and control… or will it be to the submission of the most despicable things created… be they hate… the powerful angst inside of us… or will it be… with something that I fear the world is enveloped in…"
Suddenly… a loud bang came to the church doors… "…blindness…" another, louder bang came… "… or insanity?" Then, the church doors were splintered open… and several spears and swords came poking through… insane, in-human laughter came from those on the other side… they were breaking all the way through…
"BARBARIANS!" screamed a female voice…. The entire room went into complete commotion as hundreds piled to the front of the small church… some pushed all the way back, absolutely frightened… some kneeled at the altar and prayed… Gabriel, tangled into the crowd was pushed to the back…
"GABRIEL!" he heard his father cry, and he saw him… he stood, with his hands on several people's heads, blessing their souls… some wept at his father's feet… some wiped their tears on his robe… "COME HERE, QUICK!" Gabriel did as he was told… "Do you know the closet… the one I tell you never to open?"
BANG! The barbarians were now visible… they were recognizable as some definite barbarians… but among them were Roman soldiers, priests… even a few nobles and politicians… "Open it… use what is in there… don't worry… God will forgive you…" His frightened son rushed off...
"DO NOT BE AFRAID OF DEATH, MY BROTHERS!" roared Gabriel Sr., "FOR IT IS GOD WHO WILL PROTECT YOU!" Then… the doors were demolished… and the attackers stormed the tiny church… "IT IS GOD THAT WILL JUDGE THE WORLD!" he continued… those close to the door were periodically stabbed to death…
"IT IS GOD THAT WILL BLESS YOU… BUT ONLY YOU CAN ACCEPT YOUR SINS AND REPENT!"… After he said this… he felt an axe hit his torso… but he didn't care… they were close to the gathered… "IT IS GOD…"
Suddenly… a priest and a noble stabbed him with a pair of rusty, bloody spearheads in the chest… they were grinning insanely… they both then pulled down on the blades… The tall priest could feel them slicing open his lungs… cutting off his veins and displacing his heart… "God bless your souls" were his last, breathless words…
He fell… and those that stood at his feet were killed… and so were those behind him… all those who were praying had their spines ripped out… all those who had thought about and feared death had been stabbed through the eyes… and those who weren't thinking at all of what they were doing… they faced… Gabriel… who instinctively was feeling the wrath of God…
He raged out from the back… and he stabbed… and he slashed… and he gutted… and he gouged and ripped out those men there… hatred was alive… it was like his body was aflame… but only others could feel it… and it was like it burned their skin off…
Strange… when you think about it… what? Well, I'll let you find out that little jam of symbolism there…