In a moment, a young Middle Eastern looking woman with long flowing locks and a long flowing white robe appeared before them.
"Hi," she said. "You know me as Jesus. But lately I'm Hope."
Eileen and Sam blinked at her.
"Wow," Chuck said.
Hope turned around. "That's right, Dad. Alexandra is undoing so much of what you did."
Chuck made a face at her.
"I don't understand," Eileen said.
Hope turned her back on Chuck. "I was supposed to be born a girl. My mother, Mary, wanted to call me Tikvah, which means hope in Hebrew, or Pandora, you know, because of how there was hope left in the box. My father, Joseph, didn't like either of those names, particularly Pandora. Not a great name for a Jewish girl.
"But Chuck, in his infinite wisdom, decided he wanted another son and turned me into a boy, who Mary and Joseph named Yeshu, which means salvation. Joke's on Chuck. He created a whole new religion without even meaning to. I was supposed to be the embodiment of hope, not the promise of salvation. Alexandra helped me get back to my true self."
"I need to sit down," Eileen said.
"Chuck, could we have chairs?" Sam asked.
Chuck snapped his fingers and three chairs appeared.
"You shouldn't have any powers," Sam said.
"And you shouldn't be on my front lawn, but here you are," Chuck riposted. "You're lucky I didn't shoot you on sight. I could have, you know."
Sam grimaced. "Thanks for that," he said.
He, Eileen and Hope sat down.
"Who's Alexandra Osterwind?" Eileen asked. "How is she God?"
"And why did she write a TV show?" Sam added.
"Every God feels the need to create," Chuck put in.
"We don't need any interruptions from the peanut gallery," Eileen signed.
"I know sign language, by the way," Chuck said.
"I know," Eileen signed.
"Do you have time for a megillah?" Hope said.
Alexandra stood with her guide, Norbu Sherpa, on the line to get to the very peak of Mt. Everest. To get to the peak you had to climb a rope and it was one person at a time - one went up as another went down.
The man ahead of her finished climbing down and he gave her a high five as he passed. Norbu urged Alexandra forward. It was her turn.
She was exhausted. Her lungs and muscles were burning with effort and she almost didn't notice what she was doing. And when she got to the top, she felt like her heart had stopped. She was on the roof of the world - the highest a person could without literally flying into space. She reached out her hand to the sky as though to touch it.
Suddenly, the sky turned dark, a light flashed, and everything went black.
When Alexandra opened her eyes she could tell she was in a hospital. There was a woman checking the machine she was hooked up to. When she noticed Alexandra was awake, she motioned that she would go and come back, apparently not an English speaker. The hospital was in Nepal.
The doctor came in and spoke good but accented English.
"Hello, Miss Osterwind, it's good to see you awake. How do you feel?" he asked.
"Like I was hit by a truck," Alexandra said, her throat dry.
The doctor chuckled. "Under the circumstances, that is perfectly normal. Do you remember what happened?"
"Not really. I got to the summit and then-"
"Witnesses say you were struck by lightning and fell down the side of the mountain. You were lucky you weren't killed."
"I wouldn't be the first person to die climbing Mt. Everest," Alexandra said fatalistically. "At least I made it to the top."
"Yes, true. But, here is the strange thing. There were no scorch marks on your clothes and your body was not burned. There is no indication that you were hit by lightning."
"Oh." Alexandra didn't know what to say. "Is that good or bad?"
"Good, I suppose. Merely strange."
"Right, well . . . so, when can I go home?"
"We will keep you overnight for observation, but if no complications occur, you can go home tomorrow."
"Thank you, doctor."
The next day Alexandra was able to fly home despite still feeling like she'd lost a prize fight. It took over twenty-four hours to get back to her home in Olympia, Washington. She called her parents to tell them she was back and she'd call again after she'd slept for a week. Without unpacking, she took off her shoes and dropped into bed.
When she woke up she was in a plain white room wearing a long, white robe, laying on a white chaise longue. This was not a hospital room or could it be? Alexandra suddenly sat up in a panic. Where was she? How did she get here? Was this a padded room in a mental hospital? But the walls weren't padded.
In a moment in walked a man in a white suit.
"Welcome, my Lady," he said, bowing.
"Pardon?" Alexandra said.
"I am Katriel and I am here to welcome you, our new God, to your heavenly throne."
"What?!" Alexandra shrieked and fell back onto the couch.
Katriel was nonplussed. "I am an angel of the Lady and I am here to do your bidding," he said.
"So this is a looney bin," Alexandra said. "I'm God, you're an angel? Where's Jesus? How about Moses?"
"Jesus will come if you summon him. Moses . . . is loyal to our Lord and will not come voluntarily."
"A looney bin or just a dream? Yeah, must be a dream."
"My Lady, this is not a dream. I'm sorry that I am a poor welcome. Jack will be able to explain things better."
Katriel vanished and Jack took his place.
"Hello, Alexandra!" he said.
Hope interrupted the story. "Jack told Alexandra basically what he told you. And then she summoned me, and I did the same. She convinced me to become who and what I was supposed to be - a girl named Hope."