Chapter 31 Welcome Home

Carter's body lay in a pool of blood in Rose Square. Deep inside him, his spirit slowly let go of his body, and began moving down the path. As he moved, Carter saw images of his life flash before his eyes.

"We now sign this pact, binding ourselves to our new friend, the Harvest Goddess!" Carter shouted to the crowd which stood before him. "I have traveled this far for the purpose of leading the Almighty Goddess to this island. She has been with me my entire life, and now I have found her a place to stay. And you have accepted her!"

The crowd cheered, happy at the arrival of the Harvest Goddess.

"But why am I still talking?" Carter asked. "Why not let the Harvest Goddess speak for herself?"

The crowd grew silent, for many weren't sure they wanted to hear the Goddess speak. Suddenly the lights in the room dimmed, and a bright neon green mist appeared in the front of the room. The town's people gasped as the mist flowed round and round, hissing as it moved. Then, the mist disappeared, and in its place there stood a large statue of a girl who could only be the Harvest Goddess.

"She has come!" Carter said. "She will speak to us through this statue of her! All bow before the mighty Harvest Goddess."

The people did just that. The statue's eyes glowed, and it shrieked in victory as the town's people fell before it. Smoke poured out of its ears, and it warbled loudly. Deep inside the statue, a creature lurked, smirking happily at the success it had received so far.

"Now you see the statue of our great Goddess!" Carter said. "Now! All of you who will be loyal to this Mighty Being, come forward and sign this Paper, and complete your Ceremony of Unity to the Goddess."

The town's people slowly walked to the front of the room and wrote there signatures on the paper.

"This is wrong!" someone in the back suddenly said. All heads turned to find the source of the voice. In the back a middle aged man stood watching all the other town's people walking up to sign the Oath of Unity.

"Carter," the man said. "Ye brought this Goddess here, so whaddaya plan to do with her?"

Carter said nothing.

"Is she really true to all, or is she only true to you?" Carter once again said nothing.

"Look at all of you," the man said, gazing at all the town's people. "Yer all practically running up there to sign an oath of loyalty to a person you have never known before. How do ye know she isn't playing you all false?"

The crowd was silent.

"What about the past? What about the old ways? Are we going to give them up so quickly and easily? Are we going to forget who we were? Carter, you are new here, and you seek to make us all worship this new Goddess you have. Well how do we know she is true? I stand by the one who stands by me. I stand by the one who was here long before the Harvest Goddess came with you. Aye, I stand only by God, and he has said: "You will take no other God but me," so I will take no other God. But what will you do? Give up the one who died for you in exchange for this being who so far has only let smoke out of her ears, and made here eyes glow? I on the other hand, will have no part of this."

The man then turned, and walked out the door.

"Remember!" Carter shouted after the man. "All who disobey the Goddess will die!"

"I was here long before she was," the man said. "She has no right to take my life."

"Stupid farmer!" one man in the crowd shouted. But others hushed him, saying that the man was a good person, even though his views were flawed.

"The Goddess is greater than any God that has ever been here before!" Carter shouted, so sure of his words. "No one can challenge her might!"

That moment sparked the beginning of the Goddess' reign. That was twenty five years prior to the farmer's death at the hand of the Goddess. Carter had been twenty five at the time. But how had all that started in the first place? Carter had met her as a teenager. She had become his Spirit Guide. She stayed with him for years, until finally revealing to him that she was a mighty Goddess. Carter now reflected on how easily he had been taken in by her lies. The farmer had been right. The town's people had signed that oath of loyalty too quickly, without considering the consequences. Carter wept as he remembered how he had been the cause of all of this. He had brought the Goddess to the town, and now he payed the price of this with his life.

He knew he couldn't expect to find heaven now. Suddenly he found himself in a bright shining room. Before him stood a gigantic gate of such splendor that even gold and silver looked ugly in comparison to it. Clouds and the souls of many people all floated around him, stepping up to the gate. Oh, how much he wanted to go through that gate! Some of the people made it through the gate, but others were not allowed. Those who failed to enter the gate sorrowfully floated off, away from the gate, off towards a dark area off in the distance. Carter hoped he wouldn't have to go to whatever the dark area was, but he had little hope of passing through the mighty gates. In front of the gates stood a tall man clothed in white who shone with a radiance unlike any other. Even the beautiful gates looked small and useless compared to him. His bearded face was happy every time one of the souls was let through the gate, but his face became sad each time one of the souls did not possess what was needed to pass through. Tears even fell from his eyes each time. On both of his wrists there were scars.

Suddenly Carter knew exactly who this man was. Carter immediately fell to the ground, and tried to hide among the souls which floated all around him. He did not want the man to see him.

"Stand up please," a voice suddenly said.

Carter looked up to find the source of the voice, and was shocked to find himself lying at the feet of the man. Carter immediately fell back down against the ground in somewhat of a bow.

"Please," he cried, "please don't turn me back. I know who I was, and I don't believe in it anymore! My life was taken! And now I will bear the punishment. I know I can never make it through those pearly gates, but please, at least let me look at your face before I go."

The man reached down, and lifted Carter back to his feet, and then gave him a sad smile.

"Do you know who I am?" the man asked.

"You are Jesus," Carter said. "You are the savior."

"If only others could say the same thing," Jesus said as a tear fell from his eye.

Suddenly a soul on the other side of the gates stood up, and pointed at Carter.

"You chose to follow a false Goddess, and listened to everything she said. You refused to listen to the truth. You are the one responsible for leading many people into darkness. And what about your thoughts? Many times in your youth you lusted after women, and many times fell to your lusts. You have blasphemed the name of God on several occasions. You once thought about taking revenge on someone. You never actually took revenge, but the thoughts are a sin in themselves. You allowed a demon to take you and use you to threaten a child of God..."

Carter's head bowed lower and lower as the man behind the gate told every sin which Carter had ever committed. Jesus' face grew sadder and sadder as each was mentioned, for Carter's sins were numerous in quantity.

"...you once cursed your father. And how many times did you dishonor him? You once got drunk in a bar and got in a fight with a couple of other drunk men. You spoke badly of your cousin. You cheated on a test when you were in school..."

By the time the man had finished, Carter was on the ground weeping, for he knew that there was no way he could make it through the gates with such a heavy and unworthy soul.

"All these sins were committed by you," the man said. "You are responsible for all of them."

"Thank you Moses," Jesus said quietly.

Carter waited for Jesus to command him away from heaven and to the only other place he could go to, but he didn't. Jesus just put an arm around the former church man, and cried with him. Jesus then held out a large book to Carter.

"This is the Book of Life," Jesus said. "In it are the names of all who will walk through these pearly gates. Now let me see if I can find your name."

Jesus flipped through book, looking at every page, searching for the name of the former pastor. He reached the end of the book, and stopped, and looked up at Carter with tears in his eyes. Carter slowly stood, and began walking away, towards the dark world which stood far away, opened to all who could not make it through the gates. As he walked, Carter felt as if he was above himself, watching himself walk. As he walked, his life fell apart all around him. There would be no more joy, only sorrow, and suffering. Now he had reached the end of his life, and no 'happily ever after' awaited him.

"Stop Carter," said a voice. Carter turned and saw Jesus standing looking down after him.

The tears then stopped falling from his eyes, and a broad smile appeared on Jesus' face. Carter then suddenly appeared right in front of Jesus again. Jesus slowly turned the Book of Life around until it faced Carter. There was his name! Written right there in the book! How was this possible?

"You were a late entry," Jesus said. "Right before you died you repented. But here is your name, right here."

Carter's face lit up as he realized what had happened. He had been forgiven! Carter fell down at the feet of Jesus, and began crying in his joy. Jesus then reached down, and lifted him to his feet, and then embraced him like a brother. "The Gate opens to you," Jesus said as he let go of Carter. Then, the mighty doors of the gate slowly creaked open. Carter turned, to look for the man who had told him what his sins were, and saw him standing at the entrance smiling with a joy that could never be found on Earth. Carter slowly walked forward, through the pearly gates.

"Feels good doesn't it," the man said. "To be forgiven I mean."

"I... who... what?"

"My name is Moses," the man said.

"Moses?" Carter said.

"Never heard of me?" Moses asked.

Carter shook his head no.

"Not all have," Moses said with a grin. "Come on. There is a certain person who wishes to see you again."

Carter suddenly found himself walking along soft, smooth grass. He wore no shoes, but was clothed in comfortable white clothing. Everything was beautiful. Light shone all around the field of green, even more beautiful than the light of the sun. In the distance there stood beautiful mountains which put the Swiss Alps to shame.

"There he is," Moses said, pointing to a small figure who was running down the hill towards Carter. Carter's eyes then widened in recognition.

"Staid!" he shouted as the tiny Harvest Sprite ran down towards him.

"Carter!" the Harvest Sprite shouted.

Carter suddenly found himself running towards his friend again. Then, when they reached each other, they embraced like old friends who had not seen each other in years. And they cried in their incredible joy.

"I thought you were dead," Carter said, before remembering that the two of them were already dead. "I mean, I thought you were, you know, dead and gone."

The Harvest Sprite shook his head, and smiled.

"No Carter," Staid said. "I am now truly alive."

Carter looked at the Sprite in confusion, so Staid explained.

"Right before my... death, as you would call it, well, lets just say the old Staid died, and the new Staid came alive."

"You were taken by the Right Hand," Carter said.

"Yes," Staid said. "But right before he tore me from my body, I gave my life to Christ. Then, he couldn't drag me to Hell. God rescued me from his clutches, and here I am. I only wish I could warn my brothers that the Harvest Goddess is false."

"Remember," Moses said, walking up to the two of them, "they have the words of the Prophets to guide them. If they do not listen to them, then neither will they listen to a messenger from the dead."

"Of course," Staid said. "You're right Moses."

"What happens now?" Carter asked.

Moses smiled.

"Now has begun the days of eternal happiness. There will be no more sorrow, only joy, and happiness. The dream is over. Now you are home."

"I am home," Carter whispered to himself.

"Indeed," Moses said with a smile. "Welcome to heaven my friend."

Carter then turned, and watched as many Saints of the past ran out towards him with their arms outstretched. Among them he saw Zach's grandfather, and other people he had known who had died.

"Welcome indeed," Carter said before extending his arms to the sky, and crying out in happiness.

Yeah, I suppose you guys are wondering where I got some of the ideas. Well, in one part of the Bible it says that Jesus will not be the one to accuse you of your sins when you reach heaven, Moses will. So yeah. That's why I put him in there.