Conversations with God

Note: Some aspects of this chapter (the nature of "heaven") are taken from The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
Monique looked in horror as Shelly plunged into the roaring waters, and was lost to sight.

"Someone—Help…" She paused, What if we get Shego?

"Felix!" Kim shouted, "Fly above her… everyone else will follow along the path!" Felix nodded, and with a whir of fans, his chair lifted off. Monique looked at Kim her face strained and pale with worry. "Go, Monique." Kim said, "I'll stay here and call… someone. Then Ron was up and running along side the crevice, the path descending gradually as they kept on going. Ron was muttering something about a flashlight, when Bonnie pulled out a light from her purse and held it on the water.

"A light, Bonnie?" Monique asked.

"Oh yeah—you would have no idea how many guys forget that in their cars." Bonnie said.

Back up at the top, Kim got her one functional crutch and made her way to Zita, who was sitting, arms around herself.

"Hey." Kim said, "You okay?" Zita looked over at Kim, seeing her face.

"No." Zita said. Those eyes… hateful, staring at her like she was some… some thing.

"That was Shelly?" Zita asked.

"No…it was Shego…but I…" Kim shook her head, "I think that Shelly was fighting her…and won."

The sky was incredible. Shelly blinked at that. It was like every summer morning and winter afternoon she'd ever seen. It was… perfection. Below it, trees and hills formed an unbroken wonderland, with one mighty mountain towering above all, the sun behind it, it's rays turning the undersides of some of the clouds crimson. She was oddly happy it wasn't fully risen yet—the thought rose her body would be vaporized by the merest lick of the light that was promised.

"Ow…" She hissed. As she tried to walk, the grass hurt her feet… because it was like it was grass made of diamond and steel—it didn't even bend under her feet, not even the least bit.

"The grass can be hard to walk on, if you're not used to it." A voice came from behind her, reminding her of… Shelly shook her head. She couldn't place it, but it was familiar. Turning around, she blinked at the sight. There was a bearded man, in his mid thirties. He walked over to her, the grass crushing under his feet, his form solid and at home in the strange place, even making it seem less solid than he was. A kindly face looked down upon her, as he took her by the arm and lifted her up effortlessly. For a moment Shelly tried to pretend that she was getting used to the place—but no, the only reason the grass didn't hurt was that he was holding her up.

"I'm…" Shelly shook her head. "This is crazy, I…"

"Can't believe the evidence of your own eyes? You and Thomas would get along, but I shan't use the method I used on him. You modern people are too easy to gross out." Shelly gulped—his voice…she now remembered what it sounded like—her father, mother… but… How could it….

"Because I was there?" He asked. Now Shelly turned around and looked around, before trying to meet His eyes and failing.

"This can't be… I'm… you're…"

"A hallucination? In reality you're drowning and this is just the sparking of dying braincells?" He chuckled. "That's not a comforting possibility."

"Then what could you be?"

"I could be Christ." He softly said. "Beloved Daughter…what do you wish?" At that question, Shelly couldn't hesitate, couldn't say anything more than the thought that had lived in her since Shego had revealed herself.

"I wish I was Real."

"You are."

"But Shego made me."

"No. Shego made memories some of her, some created… you made yourself. Shego told you a lie of going to church, you made your faith. Shego put you close to Kim and Ron…you made them your friends…"

"And Shego would do anything to survive…and you would do anything to protect those around you. You are my Daughter. Shego is a puppetmaster who created a puppet that was greater than she. "

. "This is just…" He chuckled.

"Strange? Terrible?" He paused, "You stand on the bordermarches of heaven—no matter what I am, Christ or your mind, you are very close to death and heaven… and that is terrible. All wonderful things are."

"It's wrong." Shelly said angrily. "What happened to Kim and Ron was wrong." If she was going to die, she could at least- "If you're God, why did you let it happen!"

"Sorry kid." He said matter of factly, "That's kind of implicit in the way things work— if you have free will….you have the freedom to screw it up." He paused, "Or in your case, triumph…." A crackle of thunder echoed across the sky. "Well…. It looks like our conversation is coming to an end."

"Am I going to die?"

"Eventually? Of course." He said. "But not by water… you will be in the hands of those who have no reason to trust you, who have no pragmatic reason to spare you, given what has happend. Your fate will depend on them giving off pragmatism in favor of faith and charity." He shrugged, "But know this, Shelly…Shego outsmarted herself. Her story is at an end…so whatever chapters beyond this, are yours to write." He looked up and then incongruously, produced an umbrella, opening it against the patter of rain.

"Take a deep breath, Shelly…. And have faith."

"Take a-" The rain suddenly came down in a curtain and Shelly barely had a chance to do what He said before she was in the river, underwater, cold sucking the energy out of her body… And an indistinct figure grabbing her.

To be continued.