Chapter 2: The Path
*This isn't so bad...really, it isn't.*
Isaac stared out at the horizon. The light of dawn was just barely
beginning to touch a sea of trees in the valley below him.
*I don't have to sleep, I don't have to eat...it's really not that bad.*
"Isaac."
He turned around. No one was there.
"Isaac," this time, the voice, which was deep and sounded very kind, was
more insistent.
He got to his feet. "Who's there?"
"Isaac, are you ready to come home?"
The landscape in front of him changed until he was looking down a path
bathed in sunlight. Trees with striped candy for fruit lined both sides,
and the scent of a new morning after the rain was carried down on a wind
to meet him. He breathed it in deeply, catching a hint of the almost too
sweet smell of the trees.
"Just step onto the path," the Voice said gently.
He wanted to. He wanted to just take one step onto the path and leave
the world behind.
"Wait," he hesitated. "People still need me. I can't be dead yet."
*But I want to be,* he reminded himself.
"That doesn't matter anymore," the pathway became brighter.
"Yes it does. Even if I'm dead, I must still be here for a purpose,"
Isaac replied, even though everything in him told him to step on the
path.
"Your father left when you needed him," the Voice reminded him.
"Sometimes people need to learn to stand on their own. You did."
*He did die when I most needed him,* he thought bitterly.
But then Mia's sad face came into his mind.
"Well, I wouldn't still be here if I couldn't do anything," his words
betrayed his thoughts.
"You win, Isaac," the Voice laughed softly. "But remember. The path is
always here."
*****
And to all of the people who asked, yes! It is raining fire! It's the
third sign of the Apocalypse! Run for you lives!
*This isn't so bad...really, it isn't.*
Isaac stared out at the horizon. The light of dawn was just barely
beginning to touch a sea of trees in the valley below him.
*I don't have to sleep, I don't have to eat...it's really not that bad.*
"Isaac."
He turned around. No one was there.
"Isaac," this time, the voice, which was deep and sounded very kind, was
more insistent.
He got to his feet. "Who's there?"
"Isaac, are you ready to come home?"
The landscape in front of him changed until he was looking down a path
bathed in sunlight. Trees with striped candy for fruit lined both sides,
and the scent of a new morning after the rain was carried down on a wind
to meet him. He breathed it in deeply, catching a hint of the almost too
sweet smell of the trees.
"Just step onto the path," the Voice said gently.
He wanted to. He wanted to just take one step onto the path and leave
the world behind.
"Wait," he hesitated. "People still need me. I can't be dead yet."
*But I want to be,* he reminded himself.
"That doesn't matter anymore," the pathway became brighter.
"Yes it does. Even if I'm dead, I must still be here for a purpose,"
Isaac replied, even though everything in him told him to step on the
path.
"Your father left when you needed him," the Voice reminded him.
"Sometimes people need to learn to stand on their own. You did."
*He did die when I most needed him,* he thought bitterly.
But then Mia's sad face came into his mind.
"Well, I wouldn't still be here if I couldn't do anything," his words
betrayed his thoughts.
"You win, Isaac," the Voice laughed softly. "But remember. The path is
always here."
*****
And to all of the people who asked, yes! It is raining fire! It's the
third sign of the Apocalypse! Run for you lives!