David, Annie, and Mercy ate delicious meat, vegetables, and fruit until they could hold no more. Then they took a look around their new home.

"Whoever lived here before certainly kept it in good condition," said Annie.

"Mommy, where are the people who lived here before?" asked Mercy.

"They're either with Jesus waiting for the Millennium to start, or...don't worry, Mercy. Wherever they are, Jesus is taking care of them." To Annie's relief, Mercy seemed satisfied with that answer.

"I like my new room, Mommy," Mercy said later, when Annie was getting her ready for bed.

"It's a very nice room," Annie agreed. It was painted pink and had ruffled curtains at the window. It was obvious that another little girl had lived there before. Annie didn't want to think about what might have happened to her.

Annie got Mercy settled in bed and then went to the master bedroom, where David sat in bed reading. He looked up and smiled when she entered.

"Our first night together in a real house," she remarked as she slipped into bed and into his arms. Their dwelling in Petra, although clean and cozy, had been more of a temporary structure.

David held his wife close. "I can't wait to make love to you in our new bed in our new home."

"What happens next, David?" asked Annie.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, since the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and Satan are all gone, can't the people who died and went to heaven or were raptured come back to live on earth now?"

"You have to remember, hon, there are still unbelievers living on earth," David reminded her. "Those who took the mark or never decided one way or the other. Jesus must deal with them first."

"So there will be more death," she said softly.

"It's sad, I know," David said gently. "But they made their choice." He began to kiss her, and she melted under his caresses.

One morning soon afterwards, David and Annie awoke simultaneously with the identical conviction.

"Today's the day," said David.

"It is," Annie agreed.

They heard tiny footsteps outside their door, and Mercy appeared, her hair tousled from sleep, holding her favorite blanket. "Jesus talked to me. He wants me to come see him again."

"That's where we're going, sweetheart," David told her. "He talked to us too."

"Hurray!" shouted Mercy, jumping up and down.

"I don't know about the blanket," Annie mused.

"Oh, let her take it with her. I'm sure it'll be fine," David assured her.

The family joined the countless throngs who were all headed toward the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The sky was filled with many angelic beings, and on a throne in the Eternal City sat Jesus. He directed them to their left, His right.

Many people, including most of David and Annie's friends from Petra, also assembled on Jesus' right, but as David and Annie watched, an even larger group began to assemble on Jesus' left.

"Those are the bad people over there, aren't they, Mommy?" asked Mercy, pointing to the group on Jesus' left.

"Well...yes, they are," Annie told her.

"What is Jesus going to do to them?"

"Well..."

"He's going to send them to a place where they can never hurt anyone again," David told his daughter.

"You mean like jail, Daddy?"

"Yes, something like that."

"You always know exactly the right thing to tell her," Annie complemented her husband.

As soon as all the nonbelievers had gathered at Jesus' left, Jesus pronounced their sentence, and as before, the earth opened and swallowed them up. Also as before, the eyes of Mercy and all the other children present were shielded from the horrible sight.

When only the believers were left standing, Jesus summoned forth all the Old Testament saints. David and Annie watched, mesmerized, as Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, and many others came forward to receive honor and recognition. They knew that it would only be a matter of time before they were reunited with their own lost loved ones.