"Welcome back, Mckaenna."
The booming cry shook the very foundations of the scintillating jewel of a palace. The gem-laden pillars trembled at its resonance. Every crystal, every speck of gold, every bead of glory—they all mirrored the boundless joy that exuded form every shining face and smile.
And there was Master.
The love in his eyes reminded me briefly of what I had seen in Cameron's eyes before his last words to me. The intensity and depth of it alone took my breath away.
What made me paralyzed was that He was not sitting in His Chair, but instead running. Master—the Creator of everything, the Creator of me—was running . . . to me.
And then, His arms were suddenly around me. I realized that I was crying, no, sobbing into the light that surrounded Him and made up every part of His being, His presence.
I had no choice but to utter those two terribly difficult words. There was nothing else for me to do.
"I'm sorry," I whimpered with a larger flow of tears.
"I know," He whispered gently, instantly hushing my tears. "You are forgiven."
Forgiven. What a concept.
He slowly let me go, though I could still feel Him all around me. The joy that now inhabited the room and its owner put the beforehand atmosphere to shame.
His hands lovingly reached out and held my face. I was instantly overwhelmed by the light that closed in over every part of me.
Through the brightness that overtook everything like the blackest of night does to the world, I saw only two things: the ever-present face of The Master, and the faraway smile of Cameron in the background.
Master's words encased me. "And that is why, Mckaenna, I choose to make you whole."
Then I passed into the everlasting light.
- - - - -
I had forgotten how much fun hurtling towards Earth had been. Floating rocks, fiery balls of burning gases and empty gravity flew past me as the blue, green, brown, and white miracle orb grew larger and closer. Tell me when a human ever got to experience something like this.
Colors began to separate as shapes appeared instead of the blogs they had been. Shapes became continents, continents became countries, and countries became states as I free-fell towards what had been my temporary home.
Things hadn't changed, in that they were still changed. That became increasingly evident as I traveled through the city. Posters of Miley Stewart adorned the billboards of the city. People who ahd before been counted as the good of Earth's people now were either cruel dictators over the others around them, or mass murderers. Time had only made this opposite world even more messed up.
Not to mention the news reporter I heard saying, "Well, the results are in. The new President of the United States is California's own Paris Hilton, who beat candidate Nick Jonas in a landslide of twenty-two million votes. That's right, girls, get out your tissues.
"President-elect Hilton claims that her first act in office will be to enact her long-awaited executive order, which she has now renamed 'FAB' or 'Fat Are Bad.'"
No comment there.
The sky was just turning dark when I finally found Lilly. She was sitting on an old, rusted swing in a park, watching the lightning churn up the black clouds in the distance. Even the thunder that cracked like a snapping whip couldn't drown out her prayers.
"You said You would always be with me," she whispered fiercely, bitterly.
I looked over to where Master sat—the swing next to Lilly. He smiled a knowing smile at me, but it was tainted by sadness and pain mirrored in Lilly's hunched form.
I took a chance. "That never changed, Lilly."
She stiffened, but didn't turn to meet my gaze as her fists clenched the iron chains of the swing with rage.
"Leave. Me. Alone."
Once again, I'm breaking up this chapter so that I can have more time to work on it while still letting you guys have something to read. Sorry for the wait!!
