Thanks to everyone for the great reviews! As you can probably tell, I'm not making much of an attempt to make the episodes the same length that they would actually be on the show. As well, I should let you know that the season is not going to be as long as it would in real life, as I don't think I can keep up the storylines I'm planning for that long. Much of the middle of both seasons were filler anyway, so I'm going to stick to the meat for the most part. I'm thinking it'll be ten episodes or so.
Also, in response to Poeticrebel's comments on Grace being out of character: I always saw her angriness as hiding a more emotional core that she was ashamed of, and the synagogue fire would have brought those emotions closer to the surface.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Helen sat drinking her coffee, studying the faces of her two dining partners. After checking if it was okay, Lilly had told Father Ken about Helen's visions, and they all agreed to meet and discuss it. First, though, there was an uncomfortable silence as they waited for her to finish.
Helen realized the awkwardness she was causing and put the cup down. "Sorry. I guess I'm still not too comfortable talking about this." Father Ken said, "Well, if what you've been experiencing is indeed a charism, there's no reason to feel embarrassed about it. It's a gift that few have, something to be grateful for." "I know," she replied, "it's just that I can't stop thinking, why me? Until last year I wasn't even all that religious."
Lily said, "Maybe it's because something is going to happen to someone close to you that you're meant to stop." Helen struggled to maintain her composure, saying, "Then why couldn't it be Kevin's accident I stopped, or Will getting shot? My son is crippled and my husband is in a coma because I didn't get those visions soon enough to do anything!" As reassuringly as he could, Father Ken said, "You've told us that it's typically an image of clowns that signal the charism. Is there anything else you can remember about them? It might give us a clue to what they mean."
Helen thought for a few seconds. Then, it came back to her. "In the dream about the church, I saw this teenaged boy dressed like some goth punk. I don't know how, but somehow I knew it was God." Helen saw something odd in Father Ken's face just then. She couldn't quite discern what his emotion was, just that he had had a somewhat bigger reaction to the news than seemed appropriate.
The priest quickly regained his composure and said, "Did you say anything to him?" Helen nodded. "I asked him to stop the clowns, and he said he couldn't. Then he disappeared." Helen suddenly remembered something else. "Wait a minute. Around that time the year before I had a dream where I was in a church and God talked to me. It wasn't the punk kid, though, just some boy in a brown corduroy jacket. He said he'd been talking to Joan. That she had everything to do with something." She noticed the same reaction in Father Ken's face, but this time there was something from Lilly too.
Something told Helen she wouldn't get much from the father, so she turned to Lilly. "What, does that mean something to you?" Lilly shook her head. "It's just that there was this kid in a corduroy jacket hanging around the shelter while Joan was working there, and she spent quite a bit of time talking to him. I'm sure it's nothing." Helen replied, "Well, I'm desperate and ready to cling to straws. Tell me more about what he looked like."