"Grab her!" I hear a luminous voice say, as an arm hooks around my chest and I'm lifted into the air.
The Beast roars and lunges at my feet, but a winged man intervenes, and a second later so does another. Their arms flex and their muscles strain as they use all the weight of their 9 foot frames to hold the Beast at bay.
I'm whisked away from my body and into the hallway; where I see Ralph approaching. In his haste to run towards the bathroom, he knocks over the candle.
As we float higher into the air, I now can see Linda carrying the small boy out the front door of the cottage. Consuela hustles to keep in step with her as they run towards other uniformed officers approaching the premises.
We increase our speed and burst through the dark clouds into the twilight of the atmosphere; and make our way at lightening speed towards higher elevations. The dark clouds shrink to barely cover a piece of land, which shrinks to become a distant continent as we float higher and faster away from Earth.
All I can see as I'm being transported, are expansive wings on both sides of me that span 12 feet in each direction. The arms that hold me are soft and firm.
I am safe.
We pass the moon, then the planets, then the galaxy and head towards an alternative plane that is not comprehensible to the mind we are given on Earth. In this celestial alter-universe we fly towards pink and indigo galaxies; towards a luminescent patch of galactic clouds, and eventually land on a plane that seems and feels familiar.
I take a moment to recalibrate before I stand.
When I have composed myself, I turn to face my rescuer.
"Deandra?" I say with shock as I view an entity that stands many feet taller than me and glows a different intensity of light than I am giving off. Her large hands reach out to pat my hair.
I run into her hips to give her a hug of appreciation, and then take a step back and look way up. The face that smiles down at me is similar to Deandra's, but I'm not so sure.
The creature sits on the ground, and so I nestle beside it/her and wait for a response.
I stare at her face for a moment. It's hard to believe that this is my Deandra.
"Is it you?" I ask, unsure of what is happening.
"Yes," she says and smiles, all the while patting my hair.
I look around. I have no idea where we are.
"It was you patting my head when I was upset..." I say out loud.
Deandra smiles and nods, "I wanted to make sure you were ok," she tells me.
I start to think about what a relief it is knowing that Deandra is still alive...but then it dawns on me...
I am not.
"Come," says Deandra as she stands and begins to walk away, "I have something I want to show you."
I stand and follow behind her, and a moment later the scenery around us changes. We are now standing on a cloud looking down on a battle that is taking place on a supernatural level just beyond Earth's surface.
Angels wrestle with Beasts as humans walk obliviously along a street. Sometimes the Beasts lunge into the human bodies, and it is then that we see strife, and anger, and conflict.
A moment later we are whisked to a war front, where Beasts march along occupying human bodies as they fight and kill each other.
A moment after that we are in the halls of a mental institution as Angels attempt to whisper in the ears of humans whose minds have been taken captive by the Beasts.
"You will help them all," says Deandra as we continue to fade in and out of scenes.
"I will?" I ask. I don't understand how I can help them if I'm dead.
"You're almost done your movie, and they will see the truth of who they really are," says Deandra as we walk in and out of scenes on Earth where Angels try desperately to ward off the Beasts.
From behind me I hear --
"We're all so proud of you darlin'!"
I whisk around to see Charlie standing there with a big smile across his face. I run over and nestle my head into his shoulder, and give him a long, strong, remorseful hug.
A moment later, Deandra and I are standing at the Pearly Gates. A sea of people enter. Their eyes are wide with complete amazement.
"You're helping them return to their home," she says to me as we're transported to a grassy field filled with poppies and bunny rabbits. Indigo and Pink lights flow through everything.
It takes me a few minutes to build up the courage to say what I have to say next. I stall for a moment as a bunny rabbit hops towards me and sniffs my toes. Finally, I speak.
"I didn't finish writing my movie," I tell Deandra.
She laughs.
"You will," she says and stands. "It's time for you to return," she tells me as she gives me one more loving look and pats my hair.
"So I'm not dead?" I say slightly confused.
"No, you are not dead." She tells me with a big smile.
A moment later I am reeled away from her smiling presence, back through the Pink and Indigo celestial galaxy, back through the Universe, past the moon, down through the atmosphere, into the storm clouds, towards the cottage...
And then blackness.
