(9)-The Kids.

Having seen Bruce's car parked by the church, Clare drove up to New Hope Village and got out of her station wagon and ran toward the building. She hated the way she had ended things with Bruce yesterday and decided to patch things up with him before leaving the state of Illinois again. Especially since this would likely be the last time she would ever see him or any of her other few remaining friends.

Clare rushed inside the church where she saw Bruce sitting on the pulpit stage, with four teenagers sitting on the floor around him. Three of them were white and one of them was black, three of them were boys and one of them was a girl.

Bruce and the kids looked and saw Clare standing in front of the double doors.

"Clare." Said Bruce as he and the kids stood up.

"Bruce...i need to talk to you." Said Clare.

"Miss Clare?" Said a familiar blond-haired boy.

"Ryan?" Clare said in disbelief. What was Ryan doing here? Why wasn't he gone like all the rest of the children under 13? If her calculations were correct, Ryan would be 12 now, since he was 11 last year. She figured he'd be gone too, but...he wasn't. He was still here. Left behind.

"Miss Clare!" Said Ryan in excitement before he and Clare rushed down the aisle up to each other where the two embraced each other with a hug.

"Oh, thank God you're still here. I thought maybe you were gone too." Said Clare. She and Ryan then ended the hug as Bruce and the three teenagers walked up to them. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at home with your parents?"

"I...have...no parents." Ryan answered.

"What? I don't understand." Said Clare.

"What he's trying to say, Clare, is both of his parents died in the aftermath results of the Rapture." Bruce explained.

"Oh, no." Said Clare. She didn't know how much more she could take. First Tommy disappeared along with millions of other people, then she learned that Irene, Raymie and Jackie were among those who were missing, and now she'd learned that Ryan-a now 12-year old boy-had been among those who had been left behind. And both of his parents were dead. "How did they die?"

"My Mom was killed in a car-crash and my Dad die in a plane-crash. Everyone on board the plane was killed." Ryan answered.

"Oh, my God." Said Clare.

"You don't know how right you are." Said the black teenage-boy.

"What? Who are all of you?" Clare asked, noticing the three teenagers.

"I'm Judd Thomson. I'm 16 years old." Answered the first teen-boy.

"I'm Viki Byrne. I'm 14-years old." Said the teen-girl.

"And i'm Lionel Washington. I'm 13 years old." Said the black teen-boy.

"Nice to meet all of you, i'm Clare Dunning. Where are your parents? Are they dead too?"

"No. They're in Heaven with Jesus." Lionel answered.

"What?" Clare asked, confused.

"We lost our families in the Rapture. They were among the millions of people who had vanished." Judd answered.

"If what you say is true, and it was in fact the Rapture, how come you guys didn't go?" Clare asked.

"Well...the truth is Clare...none of us ever believed that Jesus would come back and take his people to Heaven. Even though the Bible said he would." Judd said.

"Well, i can't believe that God would do such a terrible thing. Take the families of teenagers, leave them behind, and leave a 12-year old boy alone in this now chaotic world, as well as make him an orphan. This event was not of God, it couldn't have been. There must be some other explanation." Said Clare.

"Name it." Viki said.

"UFOs." Clare answered.

"Aliens? Yeah, right. What made you jump to that conclusion?" Said Viki.

"California. They're saying that aliens are behind the disappearances. And i believe them. And i am just so scared for Tommy, Irene, Raymie and Jackie. I hope they're alright." Said Clare.

"Tommy? Miss Clare, are...are you saying that-"

"Yes. Tommy was among those who vanished." Clare admitted, cutting Ryan off.

"Oh, no. Not another one of my friends. First i learn that millions around the world have vanished, then i find out my Dad died in a plane-crash, then i find out that Raymie, my best friend, is among those who vanished, followed by learning that my Mom was killed in a car-wreck, and now i find out that my other best friend, Tommy, is also among the missing." Said Ryan.

"Don't worry Ryan. I'll find out where the aliens took all of the missing people and then i'll bring them back. You'll see." Clare assured. But quickly regreted saying such a thing, as she didn't know where in outer space the aliens had taken all of the missing people.

"She doesn't believe." Said Judd.

"Oh, Miss Clare...do it now...please...before it's too late. None of us could go through this without him. You can do it, Miss Clare. Please, you've got to." Viki begged.

"Yeah, we're all scared...but try not to think about it, okay?" Said Judd.

"I can't." Said Clare.

"Yes, you can, just put your thoughts on the Lord." Said Judd.

"The Lord? Is he gonna help you now?! Is he gonna help you tomorrow?!" Said Clare.

"Clare, if you're not a believer-and it doesn't seem like you wanna be-don't you realize you don't even have to buy what we're saying? You can just dismiss it all." Said Bruce.

"She knows God exists and she believes in him, just like the rest of you." Said Ryan.

"Well, Heaven forbid if anyone should die not believing that God exist. But if you're not a believer...Look, Clare...let's pray right now. You can ask God to forgive you-"

"I can't." Said Clare, cutting Bruce off.

"Yes, you can, you've got to." Said Bruce.

"I don't believe God had anything to do with this." Said Clare.

"Clare, don't you realize what will happen to you if you refuse to recieve Christ?" Bruce asked.

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?!" Clare screamed.

"Then you've got to do it now." Said Bruce.

"Come on! Do you expect me to believe that a God of love has caused all these hidious things to happen?! If God really loves us, then why did he allow those aliens to take all of those people? Why are we having to go through all this?" Said Clare.

"Miss Clare, these days of the Rapture-aftermath...are God's way of letting evil destroy itself. If you turn your back on the truth now, you'll be destroyed." Said Judd.

"Paul said in 2nd Thessalonians 2:11 and 12 "And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be condemned to believe not the truth...but have pleassure in unrightousness"." Said Bruce.

"What does that mean?" Clare asked.

"It mean's, Miss Clare, that some people will say no to the truth and refuse to believe it. Now, God will allow that...but he's gonna judge those people accordingly." Said Judd.

"To choose for Christ, Miss Clare...means to spend eternity with him." Said Viki.

"It's your choice." Lionel added.

"You call that a choice?! The aliens are either gonna come back for the rest of us once they've recharged their ships, or if they don't, then we have to live in this now crime infested world we no longer recognize, and you think that is God's choice?!" Said Clare.

"Look, why don't you all just leave her alone? Maybe she'll feel better tomorrow." Said Ryan.

"Hey, Ryan, the time for putting this off is over." Said Bruce. "Clare...why did you come back here?"

"I just came by to tell you how sorry i am for blowing up at you during our last meeting yesterday." Said Clare.

"It's okay. I'm the assistant pastor, i should've known better." Said Bruce.

"I heard about your wife and kids on the radio when they were talking about the assassination of the mayor. I'm sorry. Really." Said Clare.

"It's okay. They're in a better place than we are." Said Bruce.

"Fair enough. Well, i gotta go. Road trips aren't going to do themselves." Said Clare.

"Wait, where are you going?" Bruce asked.

"I'm going on a road trip. I'm gonna look into the disappearances and try to figure out why they've happened. Who knows, maybe i'll be able to find out where the aliens took all of the missing people and help bring them back." Said Clare.

"But Miss Clare-"

"No, Lionel. Let it go. This is something Clare needs to figure out on her own." Said Bruce, cutting Lionel off.

"Thank you. Finally, someone understands me." Said Clare.

"Clare...before you go...uh...i, uh...i have to ask you something i've never wanted to ask people before. I wanna know if...if you're ready to recieve Christ right now. I'd be happy to pray with you and lead you in how to talk to God about this." Said Bruce.

"No." Clare stated.

"No? You need more time, Clare?" Bruce asked.

"Well, surely this isn't something you rush into." Said Clare.

"It's certainly something i wish i'd rushed into." Said Bruce.

"Bruce, i hate to cut this meeting short, but i gotta get out of here. Tommy's father, Scott, is back in town and chances are he knows i'm in the area and has contacted the police. I better go before the cops find me. The last thing i want is to involve you and the kids in my mess. Thanks for your time. Thanks for giving me advice." Said Clare.

"That's all i can do." Said Bruce. "But let me say, uh...there are no guarantees of tomorrow. I'm not gonna push you into something you're not ready for. But let me encourage you. If God impresses upon you that this is true...don't put it off. What could be worse than finally finding God and then dying without him...because you waited too long?"
####################################################

Please review.