Dying is the Easiest Part

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Three Little Sweet Creatures

I woke up early in the morning. Gabriel woke me up with his soft knocks on my door. Up until now, I'm still surprised that he could actually knock and not just poof in front of me just like what he always does.

"You look different today, Maeve," is what he said after telling me to get dressed because my Dad has something to show me.

"What kind of different? Like a good kind of different or a bad kind of different? Because different is a single word that could mean a lot of things. It is-"

"Oh, dear," he breathes through his thick British accent. "Now I just want you to stop talking." He says and I gasp and I laugh and I was amused.

"For a guardian angel? You are far too sassy," I tell him, still smiling with amusement.

He laughs. "I'm kidding," he says as his eyes scans me again. "But it's a good kind of different. You look... you look like flying." He says and I smile at him.

"I feel it, too." I whisper. "I feel like I'm flying... and floating... and loved." I tell him, honestly.

"You are always loved. I'm so glad you finally understand how God loves you."

And I just smile at him because I'm glad, too.

***

My Dad and I are on the used-to-be dead place that is now so much alive just because he stepped in.

"This is me, isn't it?" I ask him, roaming my eyes around the place. It used to be a place that is so dark and so dead, but now... it's so alive and so beautiful. The way every flower blooms beautifully.

The lilies.

The roses.

Magnolia.

Jasmine.

And so much more.

The place is so beautiful that it's almost shining and shimmering.

"This is you," he nods.

I know. I realized that now. I used to be dead, but he stepped in and breathed me back to life. I used to be broken but he mended me, fixed me, completed me. I used to be nothing but ashes but he touched me and I breathed again. I live again.

"Am I going to stay here? For the rest of my life?" I ask him, suddenly.

He smiles at me. "It's your choice. Gabriel and I can take you with us... back to our home where you could be with your brother, Nathanael."

Nabuhayan ako.

My brother.

My baby brother.

I get to spend time with him? I get to play with him? I get to be with him?

"How was he?" I ask him. "How was my brother?" I ask him, almost sounding eager.

"Oh, he's great." He smiles at me. "Come," he says nodding his head towards a certain direction. And there I saw a green leaves, hanging onto a passage, serving as a curtain that separates what's here and what's inside that passage.

The hanging leaves split into two when my Dad stood in front of it. He walked inside the passage that looks like a cave and I followed. It was dark at first but as we keep on walking, I can see a glimpse of light that my Dad and I both followed.

"We're here," he announced and I gasp. Narating namin ang dulo ng kweba. Mayroong ilog sa harapan namin na namamagitan sa dalawang lugar.

Itong kweba kung saan kami nakatayo at ang sa kabila naman ay tila ba isang panibagong hardin na naman mula sa panibagong dimensyon.

I clamp my hand against my mouth when I saw a little boy, glowing with the white clothes that he's wearing. It's the whitest and purest fabric that I've ever seen.

He's running around the beautiful garden where he's surrounded by glowing butterflies. My heart almost drop in panic when I saw a lion approaching him.

Instead of being terrified, the little kid run to meet the lion in the middle, wrapping his tiny arms around the lion's legs. I watch as the lion rubs the side of his head on the little boy's forehead, making him giggle.

"That's him... Nathanael," Dad announced with a delicate smile on his face. I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything. Wala akong ibang magawa kung hindi panoorin siya habang nakikipaglaro sa hayop na ginawang mabangis, ngunit napakaamo pagdating sa kanya.

He looks carefree. He looks happy. In this world where there is no pain, no operation, no medicines, no sufferings.

I couldn't help but to cry as I watch him, looking so happy and so healthy. Free from pain. Free from death. That's him. That's my baby brother.

Oh, God. I wish I could hold him. I wish I could play with him. Tell him how our mom and dad loves him so much, how they miss him so much. I wish my mom and dad could see. I wish they could see that Nathanael is beyond okay. That he is happy and healthy and beautiful.

For a second, I was watching him, only him... but I was intrigued when two little beautiful girls appeared, running towards him and together they played around the garden, chasing each other while giggling the sweetest and happiest giggle that I've ever heard.

"Those were your sisters, Maeve." Dad said and I looked at him, with tears falling from my eyes.

"S-Sisters?" I ask, surprised. Does he mean those two miscarriages that my mother had?

He nods. "They're doing great here, Maeve. They're okay. He doesn't have to suffer anymore, Maeve. He doesn't have to be in pain anymore..."

I vehemently nod as tears keep falling from my eyes as I watch my brothers and sisters play and laugh as they glow in their full spectrum. I wish my parents could see. I wish they could see what I'm seeing right now.

I wish I could talk to my mother right now.

Because she needed this the most more than I do. She have suffered for too long, mourned for too long. She deserves to know that they're all doing okay, that they are happy and free from pain.

"Do you want to stay here, Maeve? With them?"