Antuki: A Little Boy's Story

Chapter 7: The Second Heaven

The following night, Akio was awakened by Yoko whispering excitedly in his ear.

"Aki-chan?" she said. "Wake up, please, we have a visitor!"

Remembering the kitsune's words from the night before, the little boy sat up alertly. He turned to see who their visitor was, only to find an ordinary Japanese man in the room with them.

Akio's shoulders sagged with disappointment. He'd expected a heavenly messenger, but he thought that his appearance would be a little more impressive. The most remarkable feature about this man was that his clothes were all white; but otherwise, he'd be able to walk the streets of Okayama unnoticed.

The man bowed courteously to Akio and Yoko and gave them both a kind smile. "Greetings, children of the Father," he said, "I'm a messenger sent from the One to show you the work He's prepared for you."

Politely, Akio got up and returned the bow. "You honour us by your visit, kind sir," he answered, "but I confess that you haven't the appearance of an angel."

"I have the appearance of a stranger," said the man, "as it is written in the Holy Book, 'Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.'"

"Forgive me for my unbelief," said Akio, humbly realising he had much to learn. "Why have you come, and where do you want to take us?'

"Come with me," said the man, as he led the two friends out the door of the room. To their surprise, they found themselves not in the corridor adjacent to their room, but in a vast open space. There was no ground to speak of, but neither were they floating as if in mid-air. Instead, the three of them would simply move from place to place as the angel willed.

"Where are we, sir?" asked Akio. Being a spirit, Yoko had a better sense of what this place was but held her peace.

"This is the Second Heaven," explained the angel. "The sky and atmosphere around the Earth are called the First Heaven, where men and birds have been permitted to fly. However, only a few people have been allowed to access the Second Heaven while they are alive in the body."

"Why is that, sir?" asked Yoko innocently.

The angel's expression suddenly became very grave. "Because this is the realm where Satan has his throne."

At this, Akio's eyes were opened, and he saw for the first time that they weren't alone in this place. Thousands upon thousands of beings were present in this Second Heaven, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. If all people on Earth were brought here, he felt, they'd be outnumbered by the creatures who lived here.

"Who are these, sir?" asked Akio, trembling. For the first time in a long while, he was afraid.

"Don't be afraid, child," answered the angel reassuringly. "No harm will befall you here, though we are in the presence of a multitude of enemies. These myriad beings you see are the implacable foes of Adam's children, the spirits who followed Lucifer in his rebellion."

Akio was shocked. The millions of creatures which inhabited this strange place were the evil spirits responsible for man's suffering. Confronted by the sheer scale of cosmic wickedness for the first time, he was suddenly no longer surprised by the excesses of human history.

"All of these..." said Akio in stupefaction, slowly taking in the sights and sounds around him, "are what we humans know as 'devils'?"

His guiding angel nodded affirmatively. "And 'gods', too," he added.

That last word gave Akio pause. The Japanese word the angel had used was kami, the term used for the Shinto nature spirits and even for the Christian God. Was he really saying what Akio thought he was?