The shelling had died down some time ago. And then the mine went off with a tremendous explosion - it was a terrible noise, a blast of judgment day and angels blowing their horns. And they waited. Too long, really; the Germans certainly knew they were coming. "Well Bill, it's about time." The two men leaned against ladders up on the side of the trench wall, warm in their still relatively dry mud covered uniforms and great coats. They were surrounded by the men of the 2nd. "Could be worse. At least it's Canadians near us this time."
William Loomis reached for his pocket watch, then stopped and looked at his new wrist watch. It was about time. "Find your platoon, sergeant," he said. "Up and at'em, Puttees!" The men came pouring out of the trench. The English barbed wire had been taken down in the previous weeks and they were told that the mine was set to explode under the battlefield, thereby destroying the German trench defenses.
It quickly became apparent this was not the case – the German defenses were largely intact. But far worse, as they advanced, Loomis realized they were alone. No other units, not Canadian or English, were to be seen on the battlefield. He grabbed his runner's shoulder to order him to return with a message when an artillery piece landed nearby. The concussion knocked him off his feet. He found himself holding his runner's forearm. A second nearby explosion stole his consciousness.
It was quiet when he woke up next. Loomis was completely disorientated. He tried to stand, but could not. His legs were not responding. "Probably a stinger," he said, trying to buoy himself with optimism. "The Johnson boy got up after three days in bed after the final."
Loomis pulled himself into a shell crater. There was water at the bottom of it. The land here was always soaked. He used to curse it. Now, as he pulled out two handkerchiefs and filtered the water, he decided maybe it was not so bad. He tried to crawl up the shell crater, but could not do so. He fell asleep later to the sound of artillery thumping in the distance.
His consciousness slipped in and out over the next several days. He awoke, clearly delirious, but with the disconcerting knowledge that he was delirious. The rat was eating his leg. The noise was distinct but not unpleasant. Loomis reached for it. The rat scurried out of distance. Loomis threw a clump of soggy mud at it and missed.
The water level in the shell crater had risen. Loomis yelled for help until he was hoarse. Loomis yelled until he was out of breath. Loomis yelled until he was out of hope. He pulled out his revolver but the action was hopelessly fouled. Another day passed. Loomis tried crawling out of the trench, but had not the strength. The rat had returned and left again. Then returned and left again.
"William Loomis, you have died in battle." He opened his eyes. A beautiful vision was standing before him. "I am Goddess, First Class, Unlimited License, the Valkyrie Lind." The angel glanced disdainfully at the rats on Loomis. She waved her hand and they disappeared. "Do you know what a Valkyrie is?"
Loomis tried to respond. He knew about Siegfried. He saw that opera when he was in Boston with his daughter. Brunhilde had blond hair, not blue.
"Shhh, it's alright" she said and leaned down to pick him up. "We take distinguished warriors to the afterlife. I am here to take you to heaven." The slim goddess had picked up the large man.
"Stop right there, Valkyrie," came a new voice.
Lind and Loomis both turned to face the new comer. She was standing on the water in the shell crater. The black haired woman was taller than Lind, standing erect and proud. She had a beautiful circlet with other assorted jewelry. "I am Goddess Second Class, Administrative License, Wunjo. I represent the Earth Assistance Office." She stopped there, as if that explained everything.
Lind had an appalled expression of disbelief. "Stop profaning this man's death, Wunjo."
"Hush, he is not dead yet. Mr. William Loomis, the Earth Assistance Office exists to redress unbalances in fortune. Your stars have been out of alignment for, well, since we're running short on time, I am here to grant you one wish. Just one, mind you."
Lind said, "Wunjo, are you serious? He is fevered and delirious. Let me take him to Folkvangr. He does not need to go through this. Look at him, he's nearly dead."
"He's not dead yet, Lind. Are you not overstepping your bounds?"
Lind's frown increased slightly. Although a Valkyrie, she had a strong dislike for watching men suffer and did what she could to ease their pain.
A quiet but masculine voice said, "I want to see my daughter Annabelle Loomis. She's in Boston, take me there." Loomis had summoned all his strength. "Let me say good-bye."
Lind's lips suddenly shifted upward. She summoned a blanket that wrapped Loomis. "We'll go to your daughter, Mr. Loomis."
"Hey, wait a minute," exclaimed Wunjo, her dignity slipping badly, but it was too late. Lind was already flying off, carrying Wunjo's target. "Wait!" she called again, ineffectually. Lind disappeared into the fog.
Annabelle Loomis' home was located in easy walking distance of Tuft's College. School was closed for the Independence Holiday, but Loomis had to feed her rats. She was gathering up her satchel when the front door burst open. A blue haired woman with South Seas tattoos on her forehead was carrying a something in a blanket and walking through the doorway. Annabelle looked more closely and her heart fell. She raised her hands to her mouth and yelled "Papa!"
Covered in the mud of the Somme, William Loomis smiled. He tried to speak, but could not do so. "Hush, papa," Annabelle said, then almost yelled, "Take him upstairs. Put him in my bed."
"Of course," said Lind. The warrior goddess swiftly moved up the stairs and put the soldier in the girl's bed.
Captain Loomis was placed on the bed. Annabelle Loomis came back up with her medical bag. Lind looked at it, and then at her. "It's not pretty," Lind said, "You may not want to do that. It can't save him."
"You brought him from France?" asked Annabelle. Lind nodded. Annabelle continued, "I take it you're an angel then. I'm a doctor. Please move," stated Annabelle, ignoring the advice and shoving the Valkyrie aside. With the skill of a woman that had spent years in medical practice, she cut away her father's clothing. Although appalled at what she saw, Annabelle kept it from her face. Lind watched from the side of the room, attempting to be detached. Annabelle was cleaning her father's wounds when he expired.
"You can't help him anymore," said Lind quietly.
"LIND!" yelled a voice from below. "Damnit, where are you!"
A young man, perhaps in his late teens, was standing next to the bed. "I look bad," he said.
Captain Loomis laughed and turned to Lind to speak. "Are you going to get in trouble for this?"
"Maybe," said Lind, "but it'll be OK."
Annabelle Loomis looked confused. "Who are you talking to?"
Lind said, "Your father. He's dead now, but his spirit is standing over there. I am escorting his soul to heaven." Lind walked over to the bed and picked up William Loomis' service revolver. She put the gun in Annabelle's hand. "Everything that belonged to your father now belongs to you. And with that, Annabelle Loomis, I take my leave. I hope we never meet again." Annabelle's confusion continued unabated. But at that moment, the door to the bedroom flew open and a disheveled Wunjo entered.
Lind turned to Captain Loomis, "Ready?"
"Yes," he said. He stepped over to his daughter, kissed her on the cheek, and stepped out the bedroom door. Lind followed.
Wunjo yelled loudly, "Lind!" She went after her but the Valkyrie and her charge were not to be seen.
Annabelle came after Wunjo, still holding the service revolver. For the third time in her life, Annabelle swore. "Goddamnit, what am I going to do with this body? I wish someone would stay and help me." Wunjo's forehead exploded in light.
In the years to come, Wunjo would come to forgive Lind for what she had done. Or at least she would say so.
Doctors Loomis and Wunjo were regarded in academic circles as what they were – two friends that had occupied a home together for over two decades. Loomis was a respected lady physician and professor. Wunjo was noted children's psychologist and also a professor. They routinely coauthored academic papers condemning child labor, the abominable state of psychology, and the necessity for social reform. The two ladies had even engaged in some protesting. Some muttered about a Sapphic relationship, but this was generally regarded as what it was in reality - jealous nonsense.
The truth of the matter was that the lady and the goddess were simply stuck in the same house and they initially made the best of the situation. Wunjo, partially out of boredom, went to school at Tuft's. One day during a psychology class, she viewed appalling conditions in a sanitarium and dedicated her time on Earth to repairing that appalling inequity. Loomis paid for Wunjo education (degree really, Wunjo already having a more profound knowledge of the human psyche than any human), regarding it as the least she could do for trapping her new friend on earth. As they grew older, they had become the best of friends.
One evening, the two ladies were reading in the comfortable living room. Annabelle looked over at her friend. "Would you pass me the Saturday Evening?"
Wunjo, not lifting her nose from a journal she was viciously demolishing in the margins, grabbed the magazine, folded it tightly, and threw it across the room. The magazine fell apart midflight from the force of the throw and was magicked back together before it hit Annabelle's lap. "Pass, not throw. Honestly, were you born in a barn?"
"Technically, it was the second floor over the barn," replied Wunjo distractedly. "But what's your point? So was that Jesus person you weirdos go to church for."
"We're Episcopalians – the very definition of normal. You're the weird one – ya damned atheist." The last came in a voice mocking a fellow professor.
Without looking up, Wunjo stuck out her tongue. "Professor Robinson is an ass. And I'm not an atheist, I just know the truth."
"Oh? And what's that then?"
"Gods and goddesses are amazing.
"Well, who made you?"
"The Almighty One."
"And who made him?"
"Mind your own business."
It was quiet for a few minutes, then a paper airplane made out of the back page of the Saturday Evening Post struck Professor Wunjo square in the ear. "That's IT!"
Annabelle was laughing her head off as she ran out of the room. Wunjo chased her, catching and grappling her in the kitchen. Wunjo grabbed an inkwell that had been left out and a braid of Annabelle's hair that had fallen loose in the struggle. Between spasms of laughter, Annabelle was saying, "Don't you dare, don't you dare."
A shriek of laughter emitted from the kitchen. There was a knock at the front door.
Wunjo answered the door. Standing outside was a tall goddess holding a staff. "Anzasu?" asked Wunjo in a wondering voice. "Hello. Would you like to come inside?"
Anzasu replied sweetly, "Yes, that would be best. I am here on official business."
A expression of horror, shock, and disbelief passed over Wunjo's face as she said, "We've never even kissed. We certain aren't lovers!"
"But you are pair bound," replied Anzasu continuing sweetly. "I am afraid that if you want to continue to be on Earth, you and Miss Loomis must go submit yourselves to the Judgment Gate."
"But we don't even touch. Can't we do that?"
"I'm afraid not," said Anzasu, "as that would defeat the purpose of the Judgment in this instance."
Wunjo blanched. "Let me get Anna, please wait here."
"Of course," said Anzasu.
Annabelle was cleaning her hair in the kitchen. "Can you help with this?" she asked with her hair and head in the sink. She looked up. "Wunjo, what's wrong?"
Wunjo whispered a small cleaning prayer, then answered reasonably calmly, "Anna. Annabelle, there's a goddess here. Her name is Anzasu and she is the Interspecies Intimacy Inquisition Officer. She's here to test our friendship."
"What?" asked a bemused Annabelle.
"In order to keep Gods and Humans separated, a test was devised. We are being subjected to it."
"Why?" demanded Annabelle, "We aren't together, we're just friends."
"It doesn't matter. It's just the law of Heaven. I'm sorry, Annabelle."
Anzasu was waiting in the living room. Where there had been a fireplace, there was now an impressive looking arch. "Please pass through it together," said Anzasu. The goddess and the human looked at it and took hands. They stepped through together.
When Annabelle emerged back into her living room, she was alone and the Judgment Gate was gone. "What? Where am I? Where's Wunjo?"
Anzasu looked on passively. "I'm sorry, Annabelle Loomis. You and Wunjo did not pass the test."
"The hell!" said Annabella under her breath, and then louder "That was nonsense, we aren't lovers!"
Anzasu said, "Yes, the test was not necessarily designed for your situations. But our models show outcome should be the same. It is better this way. It is very painful for Goddesses when their mortal lovers, companions in your case, die."
"So what can I do to get Wunjo back?"
"The System Force will prevent you from ever seeing her again. Nothing you do will help."
Annabelle began to realize the magnitude of the situation. "You can't take Wunjo! No! I don't even have children! She's all I have!" She stumbled over to her chair.
"I am sorry for that, Annabelle Loomis, but you must get on with your life as best you can. With that, I take my leave."
"Like hell you will, you bitch." Annabelle reached into a drawer of the end table next to her chair and drew her father's service revolver. Anzasu looked on passively. Annabelle fired the gun four times at Anzasu. The bullets had no effect.
"I bid you farewell, Professor Loomis," said Anzasu. She turned to leave.
With a look of pure hatred, Annabelle put the barrel of the gun into her chin and pulled the trigger. Gore sprayed over the room, including on Anzasu. Annabelle Loomis' remains collapsed twitching onto the floor.
The Valkyrie Lind walked into the room.
Anzasu said, "Lind, it's been too long, how are you?"
Lind ignored the greeting with a barely concealed look of contempt. "Annabelle Loomis, how do you do?" The young spirit of Annabelle was standing next to her corpse. The gray hair and lines were replaced with full skin and strawberry blond hair. She looked as she had when she first met Lind.
"Lind?" said the human.
The blue haired warrior goddess smiled, "Yes. You died in a battle of sorts, Miss Loomis. I am here to take you to heaven."
"Can I see Wunjo?," asked Annabelle hopefully.
"Unfortunately, the System Force will not allow that. But you will find your family. Come Annabelle, see what awaits you. I promise it is better than you have been treated here." The last was said with more than a touch of derision.
"Thank you, Lind," said Annabelle. The two departed for heaven, leaving Anzasu in the living room, the look of fixed sweetness still on her face, together with offal.