The Quest for Christmas

Chapter 7

Everything happened so fast. First I arrived in Jerusalem, then I met Mary, had a vision, traveled to Bethlehem, the baby was born; we named him Jesus, and now the shepherds. They said something about following a star. I was so tired I barely paid any attention.

After the shepherds left, I felt an urge to walk outside. I told Mary where I was going, then exited the stable and walked toward the main road. Suddenly, I had some sort of flashback. Well, it was like a flashback, but the events had never happened.

First I was running from something. Whatever or whoever I was running from, I had the feeling that I did not want it to catch me. Then scenes changed and I was falling into a dark, seemingly endless abyss. I was flailing my arms wildly and... wait. There was someone else falling with me, two other people, to be exact. Before I could try to identify them the scene changed a final time. The last scene was the scariest and most vivid. I was fighting a much more powerful enemy sword to sword. We were somewhere that looked very familiar. However, he slashed away my weapon before I could identify the location. Keeping his face hidden in a hood, he kicked my sword out of reach. Then he slashed at my face between my left ear and the left corner of my mouth. I tasted blood.

With a start, I woke up. I think I blacked out, a second time. I didn't know where I was but I felt the left side of my face burning. There had always been a scar from my left ear to my mouth, but I never knew how it had gotten there. I knew the "flashback" had something to do with it.

When I stood up I noticed that I was back in the strange white room from my dream-o-vision. I also recognized an all too familiar face. "Hello, Gabriel."

"Hey."

"Why am I here? Am I having another dream?"

"It's not a dream it's a... never mind. You are here because it is time for you to go home."

"I'm not going home without answers. What was that flashba... whatever I saw?"

"All the answers will be revealed to you in the future. Not even I am allowed to know what they mean."

"Well, I want..."

"I know you want answers but I don't have them. You see, it's the information you want, but not the information you need right now."

He then reached into his back pocket and pulled out a red ticket like the ones they give you for door prizes. He cut it into thirds, gave me one third, and put the other two back in his pocket. He then pulled a small journal out of his side pocket and wrote something in it. He mumbled as he wrote.

"Phillip... Christmas story... trip number one..."

"Hold on" I asked, "What do you mean trip number one? Will I come back again?"

He turned to me and closed the book. "That's for me to know and for you to find out." Reading my look he added, "Don't worry you'll find out very soon."

With that, he gave me the ticket and instructed me on how to leave.

"Read the number on the ticket aloud and you will be taken back to your tent at precisely eight o'clock in the morning. But, before you leave, my Master told me to let you have a little snack."

He took me through a door that appeared in the white room. To my surprise, it actually was a room. The rest of the "house" had a visible floor and was colorfully decorated throughout. As he guided me through a long, narrow corridor, I saw other, similar, rooms along the hall. On the walls were paintings unlike anything other paintings I had ever seen.

One painting was of an image still vivid in my mind. It was a dark endless abyss. The abyss was simply drawn, but I knew the painting had a meaning deeper than I would ever understand.

At the end of the hallway was a simple wooden door with a utilitarian brass doorknob, but what was behind the door was neither simple nor utilitarian. A large Brobdingnagian room, at least four football fields long and five wide, contained a massive table with every dish that you could imagine. French bread, they had it. Nachos, plenty in stock. Chicago style deep-dish pepperoni pizza with extra cheese, a lifetime supply. It was like heaven... wait... was I in...

"I know what you are probably thinking," Gabriel commented, "This isn't Heaven, not even close to it. Welcome to La Palacio del Sol or, as you Americans call it, The Palace of the Sun."

"Wait, we're in the...?"

"Yes, we are in the sun."

"Then why aren't we burning."

For the first time, Gabriel didn't give me a death glare, as I now called it, but he actually smiled. "How do you humans really know what exists in the inner sun?"

"Well, we don't but..."

"Precisely, you never explore, you just speculate."

"But..."

"Son, just don't."

"Whatever, how did I get here?"

"Stop questioning me and just eat. But, I have my ways of getting in here in case you wanted to know."

"Wow," I marveled gazing at all the food across the table, "Can I get a to-go box?"

This time Gabriel grinned wider than the Cheshire cat, "Sure we have those too." A massive forklift brought in an enormous crate and set it on the ground

"I'll pass on the to-go box."

"That's what I thought."

"So, this is just a snack?"

"You should see dinner."

"Maybe I'll come back and try it."

I sat at the table and ate a little bit of just about everything. I took maybe two chicken legs, a bowl of pasta, half of a steak, a slice of pizza, a piece of fish, two slices of bread, a bowl of Italian salad, a Chick-fil-a chicken sandwich, two enchiladas, a plate of fettuccini primavera, an apple, a hamburger, a quesadilla, some onion rings, a bowl of green bean casserole, a bowl of rice, three hot dogs, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, two eggs, some sushi, a bowl of refried beans, a stuffed turkey leg, a milkshake and seven helpings of deluxe nachos. I could definitely get used to eating at this place. When I finished the meal I didn't think that I would need to eat for at least an entire year.

I began to pull out my ticket when Gabriel called, "Wait, there is one last thing."

"What's that?"

"You almost forgot to explore the palace. You'll love it."