 
# Found People

Copyright 2012 by Mark Lively

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords License Statement

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

## Chapter 1

Manny woke up and lay in bed for a bit. He had forgotten how soft and comfortable his bed was. It seemed to him that he had been running from place to place for years and this was the first time in a long time that he was home. He stretched and then swung his legs onto the floor. He was alert and awake and his knee wasn't hurting. This was going to be a good day.

He stood up and looked at walls. A subtle geometric pattern covered the walls. It started dark by the head of his bed and was almost entirely white by the foot. The carpet felt warm and soft under his bare feet as he padded to the kitchen. Without thinking much about it, he filled the coffeemaker with water and then measured coffee into the basket. The coffee had a rich, warm smell even before being brewed. This really was going to be a great day.

Manny walked off to the bathroom while the coffee was brewing. He stepped into the shower and turned on the water. It was instantly warm and the hot water beat down onto his flesh. It was almost painful, but it felt so invigorating. He turned and faced away from the showerhead. The hot water drummed into his normally sore back. His back had been hurting for so long it was odd to think of it not hurting. What had promised to be a good day might very well turn out to be the best day he had ever had.

He finished his shower and grabbed the towel, which was delightfully warm and soft. As he toweled off, a smile crossed his face. He went back to the kitchen, opened up a cabinet and took out the only coffee mug. It was black ceramic, heavy and real. It was a serious mug for serious coffee. He filled it up and took a long sip of the coffee, savoring the warmth, and the layers of flavor, a slight nuttiness, and an almost fruit taste. He felt the coffee warm him up as it went down. He checked the refrigerator. He grabbed a couple of eggs, some shredded cheese, and the bacon. Soon, the bacon was sizzling in a pan while a pat of butter was melting in another frying pan. Manny whisked the eggs briefly as the butter started to pop. Into the pan went the eggs. Manny grabbed the pan's handle and gently tilted it in a slow circle. He then did a quick shake to break the egg loose from the bottom and in went the cheese, a little salt and pepper.

Manny looked back in the cabinet. He took down the only fork, plate, and glass.

Manny went back to the skillet with the omelet and gave it a couple of deft flicks of the wrist had the omelet folded over in thirds. With a quick thrust of his elbow and another wrist flick the omelet was flipped and back on the burner. He quickly filled the glass with orange juice and then put the omelet and bacon onto his plate and went over to the table.

He was about halfway through eating his breakfast when he saw a note on the table. It was a folded rectangle of paper with his name written on it. Manny lifted it and read the contents of the note inside. "Yesterday was the last day of the rest of your life."

"Odd." he thought. Manny refolded the note and looked back at his breakfast. He took another bite of eggs, savoring the texture and flavor. They were light and fluffy. The cheese provided a tasty tanginess and counterpoint to the subtlety of the eggs. He took another sip of his coffee and felt warm and happy. Then he remembered. Yesterday, he had been so tired and in a strange place. He hadn't been away from home traveling for work. He hadn't been tired from work. He had been sick. Had he been in the hospital? Not a hospital, a similar sounding word, a hospice? He couldn't remember clearly.

Manny took a long, slow drink of coffee. He stood up and walked to the window and turned back and looked at apartment. This wasn't any home of his that he remembered. This wasn't how he lived. He had a small bungalow. This was an apartment in some city. Turning to look out the window, he saw the city below and around him. He must be near the top of a very tall building. Everything below seemed so far away. Looking straight out, there were a series of massive towers arranged in circle. Looking to the left, he saw three towers taller and more massive than anything he had ever seen before. After the third tower, there was water. It looked like an ocean and it went on as far as the eye could see. There were three more towers coming out the water. Continuing to the right there were five more towers. Including the one he was in that made twelve in all. Beneath the towers there were more buildings arranged around central roads getting smaller towards the center. In the very middle it looked like a park with a giant tree.

Manny looked up and saw what he had been assuming was the sun. It was a large ball of light that seemed to radiate peace and warmth and happiness. It reminded him of a time he had gone skinny dipping as a child. When he got out of the water he was cold and shivering but then looked up at the sun and basked in the rays and was no longer cold. Whatever this light was, Manny was saw it and felt it just like that warm sun on his cold wet skin, but it was so much more. It was a warmth that promised he would never be cold again. It promised joy and happiness and release. He felt his feet start to lift off the ground as the light was pulling him in. He shook his head and said not yet. There is more to see here.

Sitting back at the table, he looked around the apartment for things that he had missed. The one of everything should have been a dead giveaway. Who only had one coffee cup, one glass, one fork and one plate? There didn't even seem to be a spoon around. The beautiful glass table had only one chair.

Manny smiled and decided to take a walk around. He picked up his dishes and carried them to the sink and quickly hand washed them and placed them in a drying rack that he hadn't remembered seeing when he made breakfast. It must be part of it he decided. Things are there only when you need them.

He went to the bedroom to look for clothes to wear. In the closet there was a large assortment of pants, shirts and a beige kilt. Manny took a look at the kilt and smiled. He thought that he had always wanted to try one but didn't have the courage. It's a new world, a new me, why not try a kilt? He grabbed a black t-shirt to go with it. It took him a couple of tries to get the kilt right. It wasn't a traditional kilt. There were a couple of pockets and the front snapped closed. He completed the outfit with a pair of sturdy boots and a ball cap. On the cap was a logo like a clock face with 12 rectangles arranged in a circle. All of the little rectangles were white except the one at the 7 o'clock position, which was red. He hung the hat off of a carabineer on the kilt's belt.

With a feeling that he was setting out on something momentous he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

## Chapter 2

Manny stepped out into the hallway and looked back at the door. Instead of the internal door that he saw from the inside, there was an old blue exterior door. The door was a bit weathered and had a small black plaque with his name engraved in neat block letters. He ran his fingers over the letters and felt their shape with the tips of his fingers.

As his fingers drifted off of the plaque he felt the heavy weathered wood of the door. It was familiar to him. It was something that he remembered feeling before but he wasn't sure where. It slowly came to him. This was the door to his house back in life. It was the door to his home.

He firmly planted his palm against the warm wood. As he held his hand against the door, he watched his hand change. It became his hand as a young man opening the door to view the house he was interested in buying. He felt the sun shining down on him that day and remembered the smell of cookies coming from inside. The house was empty at the time, but it still smelled of fresh cookies. It was a cozy little bungalow with two bedrooms. He knew he had to show it to his wife, but he knew she would love it. It was a good starter house. He would need a house with room for children. It would do for a start and it had a big back yard for kids to play in. It would be good for one child or maybe two. The price was good and he could upgrade in a couple of years.

His wife had loved that house. They painted the living room a nice cream color and restored the hardwood floor. Their bedroom was painted a soft blue color and the baby's room was yellow. They had fun painting and furnishing the house. Most of the furniture was secondhand. The crib had actually been Manny's old one. Their child was going to be the second generation in that crib, and the third one to sleep under the little crib quilt. They didn't know if their child was going to be a boy or girl and they didn't really care.

They had a son. Manny remembered opening the door and carrying him into the house with his wife by his side. The son grew up quick and strong with posters covering the walls of his bedroom. He loved music and sports. He played baseball and was a pitcher on his high school team. The team did okay. His son won a few big games and lost a few. He was a good player at the high school level but not good enough for a college scholarship. Manny hadn't made enough money to send him to college and regretted it. Manny remembered his son going off to war and the party when his son came home. Manny remembered his son bringing his new wife home and them moving into a place of their own.

Their second child was a son as well. It had been a rough delivery and Manny remembered many nights praying for his wife and new son with his first son. It was hard explaining to a five year old that his mother was sick. Both mother and son had survived. The second son was never as big or as strong or as fast as his older brother, but he was clever. He ended up as a construction foreman, supervising projects on the high steel.

As Manny held his hand on the door, he continued remembering all the times that he had walked through it. It started with the happier memories, walking in with his wife, bringing home their children for the first time. Slowly, he ran out of happy memories. He started to remember the sad times walking through the door, after his fathers funeral, when he was laid off from his job, closing the door before he headed to the hospital when.... He let go of the door and the memories stopped. There were things that he didn't want to remember and he knew that they were coming. The longer his hand was off of the door the more the memories faded. He felt profoundly sad about what he was about to remember. He knew it had been something terrible, but the feeling was fading quickly.

Manny saw his name printed in white letters on a black plaque on the door. He ran his fingers over it and smiled. The door was vaguely familiar to him; he knew it was his, it just felt right. He turned and started walking down the hallway. Maybe there was an elevator.

Manny walked down the hall looking at the different doors. Each had a name on it and they all seemed different. Mostly the doors were in good shape and a lot of them were freshly painted. He passed a number that looked like beach houses. A few obviously belonged in apartment buildings. They were of a medium weight, something that would take a little abuse but not hold up to the weather. A few of the doors were interior doors, like the door to a child's bedroom. Some had bumper stickers and crude "keep out" signs on them. There was even a heavy steel door with rivets that was covered with graffiti. Manny guessed that the graffiti had been important to the person who was now behind it. He stared at the graffiti trying to make out what it said. Glancing at the nameplate, it was no one that he recognized. He shook his head and muttered, "Kids" and continued on the seemingly endless hallway.

One door that intrigued him was a wooden door with stained glass set in it. The stained glass was patterned in the shape of a cluster of three white lilies. The lilies were tied with what looked like a red ribbon. The ribbon was made of a different textured glass, which, while only being subtly raised, gave the impression of a much greater depth. The lilies themselves were made from a frosted glass with surface bumps giving the impression of fresh morning dew. It was very intricate. It looked like a showpiece, a demonstration of the craftsman's talent. As he was admiring the door when he heard a bang from inside and started to smell a foul burning scent. He grabbed the door handle and opened the door, suddenly worried for the safety of whoever lived inside.

The door opened easily and smoke started billowing out. A woman dashed out through the now open door. She was bent over and coughing. Manny looked her over. She was wearing a floor length blue dress and a heavy leather apron. The dress was of an old fashioned style, with long puffy sleeves and a high neck. The sleeves were now covered in soot. She had long dark hair that was up in a bun with a few stray wisps that fell down over her face.

"Are you okay?" Manny asked.

"I'm sorry." The woman said. "I didn't mean to cause a fuss. Father would be ever so perturbed if he knew I was bringing out the neighbors again. Please don't tell him."

"I don't know your father." Manny said as he looked into her deep blue eyes.

She smiled at him shyly and looked up and down the corridor. She gaped in amazement. "Where are we? What happened to my home? Where's the factory?"

Manny shook his head. "I don't know. We are high up in the largest building I've ever seen. I came out of an apartment down the hall and was looking for a way to the roof."

She looked back and forth; dumbfounded.

"I'm Manny," he said offering his hand.

She laid her hand in his and said, "My name is Susan."

Susan turned and faced her door. "I designed this." She smiled. "I actually came up with the process for the dewed glass. It took months of practice to get the little globes on there just right. If the temperature was off just a bit they would either puddle or pop off. Once the beads popped off and went flying around the room. Father was so furious with that. Even though he laughed at it himself."

Manny noticed that her hand was pressed firmly against the glass now.

"I so wanted to be a glassmaker like father, to make new colors and tints. He used to let me stay with him in the factory. I would watch the journeymen and occasionally. I would blow a piece or two if he was behind. The first time I made my own cup, I was 8. I was younger than the apprentices but just as big. I gathered the glass just like I had seen my father do and tried to blow it. It was an awful mess. One of the craftsmen, Antonio, came over to help me. With his guidance I finished it, without burning myself too badly." She absentminded rubbed a spot on her right hand.

"The piece was dreadful. The color was off. There were these strange bubbles in places and only the most generous person could call it round. I even think there was a heat fracture or two."

She had a far away look in her eyes. "It was so nice being close to the factory like that. Father would come home from work some days. He would have lunch with his work apron on. One time, he took a roll from the oven with his work glove. Miss Potts the maid was cross, but couldn't think of what to say."

"It was hard work in the factory but I enjoyed it. It was wonderful in the wintertime, to come in from the cold and work at the furnaces. It was horrible in the summertime though. We could never get enough air through, or drink enough water. It was summer when Antonio died. He was a big man and it was a hot summer. We had a large order that we needed to get together. It wasn't something that we could trust to the journeymen."

Susan's eyes were more distant now. She had a sad look on her face. Manny knew what was going to be coming next, not her details, but he knew that it was going to get more painful for her. This is the point where he had chickened out. He wondered if he should stop her, pull her hand off the door. She was starting to cry. It was difficult for Manny to watch but he knew that she could stop it at any time.

"I loved to experiment. I loved to try out different mixtures for colors. Sometimes it didn't work. I almost burned down the house. I did burn down the house. There was a fire. I was burning." She was wailing now. Susan collapsed into Manny's arms. She was sobbing. "I had forgotten it all."

Manny held her; as slowly she stopped crying. "I thought about pulling you from the door before you saw all of it. I couldn't stand to see the worst parts of my life."

"No. Thank you for letting me decide. I think I am going to lie down for a while." She turned toward her door, and then looked at Manny. "You wouldn't mind?", she asked indicating the door.

Manny smiled and pushed open her door. As he touched the door he got the impression of Victorian England, and thought he saw a young girl running through the door.

Susan walked in and said, "Thank you. I wouldn't mind seeing you again."

After the door closed Manny continued walking down the hall.

Eventually, he came to a bank of elevators. He noticed there was no up or down button. There was just one button to summon a car. He pushed it and a car appeared immediately. Stepping inside he saw four buttons on the panel inside. There was an up arrow, a down arrow, a button labeled with house and finally a question mark. He pushed the up arrow. The door closed and he felt the car rising. Soft music was playing and Manny started humming along with it. It took him a while and he realized it was one of his favorite hymns. He picked it up on the hallelujahs. Just as he finished the last verse of the hymn, the doors of the elevator opened.

Manny stepped out onto the roof. There was a cool wind blowing but he still felt comfortable. The bright light in the middle of the buildings was even brighter here. He felt a warmth and serenity down to the very center of his being. He started walking forward and saw all sorts of people around him. Like him, they were all staring at the light with bright smiles on their faces.

Manny walked close to the edge of the roof and saw an old woman start to slowly fade. As she faded, she started lifting up and the cool wind pushed her up off the roof and toward the light.

He looked over across to the other buildings and there were people on those roofs. They also were lifting up off the roofs and floating up toward the center.

Suddenly, Manny heard the elevator he came out of ding and a voice shouted, "Make way! Make way!" A naked young man dashed past Manny and ran headlong off the roof. As his feet hit the edge, he jumped and was instantly transformed into a ball of light, which sped its way toward the center. He saw people on the other towers running towards the edge while others slowly walked. A few people stood still and just watched. Manny was feeling the pull of the light. He knew it would be perfect happiness to reach it. He felt a longing and a craving, but he also knew that once he made his way there he wouldn't want to leave, and there was so much more of this marvelous place to see.

He walked back to the elevator and stood with a group of people on their way down. A man turned to him and asked, "Is this your first time up?"

Manny nodded.

"It's a bit overwhelming, isn't it?"

Manny nodded again.

"There are a bunch of us who come up here regularly. We all have something holding us back though. Some of us have more living to do. Some people are waiting for others to show up. You look like an explorer though." He said and looked down at Manny's kilt.

"Something like that, when I looked out my window this morning I knew there was so much more to see here and I just wanted to know."

"Heaven is very personalized, everyone's slice is different. My name is Hector. Why don't you come with me, and see what my day is like."

"I'm Manny. I would love to see what this place is to you."

"So, Explorer Manny, how did you end up on the roof?"

"I just pushed the up button. Up seemed as good as the others, and I assumed the home would do nothing."

The elevator arrived and a half dozen people walked in.

"Well, home takes you home, but as you were home, I am not sure what it would do." Everyone pushed the home button as they filed in. Manny was about to press the home button when Hector stopped his hand.

"You're coming with me today, right?"

"Right."

The elevator started descending and people got off. Manny and Hector were the last ones on the elevator.

"Have you been here long?" Manny asked. "I think I just arrived."

"It's really hard to tell." Hector said. "I've been to the roof hundreds of times. I honestly lost count, but since there aren't clocks, and there isn't night and there aren't any seasons so who can say?" He shrugged.

"Why do you go? I know it was hard for me to leave, I can't imagine leaving over and over again."

"It is tough, and it doesn't get any easier. I go up there to check the departures. When you are in place you get a sense of the people there, who they are. Like that leaper. He had a hard, dark life, with no real joy in it, no love or connections. He craved that joy more than anything, and now that he can have it, he grabbed at it with both hands. I was up there to see if my cousin, Mira, was on her way through. I figured if she passed through I would have a sense, or find a note. Some people leave them before they jump."

The door of the elevator opened and they stepped onto what looked like a factory floor.

"This is your corner of Heaven?" Manny asked.

"Seems a bit odd, but this is what I did in life and I liked it. Come on." Manny followed him as he went in.

## Chapter 3

The factory floor was a large open space. There were a series of workbenches set up and a conveyor system of hooks running around the outside with what looked like backpacks in various stages of assembly. There were a number of men and women working at the various stations though it seemed they were doing more laughing and joking than actual work. There was some loud Latin music playing and some of the people were swaying to the beat as they worked.

"Hector!" One of the women shouted. "Dragging in late?"

"That's okay Rose, I'll make up for it by leaving early." The woman laughed and went back to placing zippers. She would grab a zipper from a bin and then take two pieces of fabric, align them all and run it through a machine. Her hands flew.

"This is my new friend Manny, I am going to train him up on the cutting machine."

Hector showed Manny how to run the cutting press. It was a fairly simple operation. Manny would load sheets of fabric off a stack. He then hit a button and the hydraulic press came down and cut the fabric. Then Manny would separate the scraps and the pieces. Once he had a stack of 25 pieces he would carry them over to the assembly stations. He even found himself dancing along to music.

The work was dull and repetitive. Since the work didn't require much thinking there were lots of conversations. There was some flirting, lots of talk of baseball. It seems there was a tournament going on of the best players from before 1940 and the best players after 1940.

After what felt like a few hours they everyone took a break. They went out what looked like a loading dock door and into a long hallway. Across from them in the hallway was a taco truck. The owner recognized everyone and had their regular orders all ready. Manny was a bit surprised when he got to the front of the line and didn't know what to order.

"I'll take what Hector had."

"A chorizo burrito, and a guava soda." Manny nodded and accepted the food.

"It's pretty good, isn't it?" Hector asked.

Manny smiled and bit into the burrito. It was hot and spicy; he could taste the onions and peppers. They tasted so fresh. "Best I've had."

Rose came over picking at a salad with some ground beef on top. "So where did you find him, Hector?"

"He was on the roof."

"Talked him down from jumping, to join us in the salt mines."

"No he wanted to see the world, so I brought him to the most beautiful person I could think of."

Rose blushed, and said "One of these days Hector, you will say something."

"And one of these days you will too."

Manny looked around and thought he saw something strange about some of the other people. They didn't seem to be entirely there. "Not everyone is real here are they?" He asked Hector.

Hector got quiet, "No, this isn't paradise for enough people. There are a few who come through now and then, but it often is a short trip to the roof. There are angels that fill in. Hard workers, nice enough people, but just not the same."

Manny went to look at the guy running the taco truck but that section of wall had slid away down the hall.

"The truck is gone?"

"Sure he has other stops to make. Come on, you have fabric to cut."

They went back to work, Manny was cutting the fabric, Rose assembling zippers, and Hector putting the frames into finished packs. As Manny got into the hang of things he started noticing the people who were real and weren't. There was a subtle difference, an almost transparency that he could see out of the corner of his eye. The angels were real to touch and to look at directly, but when he look at them sideways they sort of faded.

After what felt like a few hours quitting time was called. Manny, Rose and Hector started walking out.

"Come on Manny, _mi abuela_ has dinner cooking."

"You coming with us, Rose?" Manny asked. She looked a little shocked. "Sure, I would love to come."

Manny and Rose followed Hector down some side hallways until they came to a narrow staircase. "Six floors up. _Abuela_ always had to have a view."

The climbed the staircase and watched as it changed from sterile white painted walls to walls covered with old and yellowed wallpaper. The staircase had taken on the look of the inside of an old brownstone apartment building. There were various doors off the sides but when they reached the top, there was the door that obviously belonged to Hector's grandmother. It was wide open with rich cooking smells coming from inside.

Hector walked in followed by Manny and Rose. A short, round woman with grey hair pulled tight in in a bun walked over and gave Hector a big hug. She was wearing a bright flowered dress with a white apron. "Hector, you've finally brought friends over. I've worried about you. You need to see more people. So who are they?"

" _Abuela,_ this is Manny, he just arrived. And this is Rose, I work with her at the factory."

"Pleased to meet you." Rose said shyly.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs.?" Manny asked wondering her name.

"Everyone calls me _Abuela_ , grandmother." She said pinching Manny's cheek. "Come sit, you all look famished." They sat at the table and _Abuela_ began pulling all sorts of wonderful smelling dishes from the oven, enchiladas, corn casserole and many more. She brought over a plate with a mound of queso on it. They ate and talked. The conversation was about where various relatives where and what they were doing. Some were working like Hector; some had "passed on". When _Abuela_ mentioned passed on, Manny looked confused.

"Where I found you this morning." Hector said.

"You were going to pass on this morning?"

"No, I just wanted to see what was up there. I didn't plan on going just yet. There is more that I want to see."

_Abuela_ turned to Hector, "You checked departures for Mira, any word?"

"No, there was no sign of her."

"Did you..." She started, then paused.

He shook his head. They were both uncomfortable about something though Manny wasn't sure what. After dinner Manny tried to help clear the plates but was chased away. "You kids talk."

Manny, Hector and Rose headed out the door and started down the stairs.

"How does she remember everyone and everything? I barely remember that I had a wife and kids and she knows great grandchildren."

"This is her heaven. We all try to make it by and she has us try to hunt down those relatives who were close to us. Some didn't make it. It is really hard to break the news to her about them. Some have moved on, joined the light. You saw that this morning. Then there is Mira. She made it here somehow but there is no sign of her. No one knows anything."

"That is so sad." Rose said as she put an arm around Hector.

"I try to find her. I check the departures; I even check the arrivals occasionally. It's difficult to check the departures and then the other place..."He shook his head. "When I check there, the only thing I want to do is take a flying leap at the roof."

"What does she look like? Maybe I will find her while exploring." Hector took out a picture. It looked like a high school graduation photo. She was a young Hispanic woman with soft brown eyes and long hair. She had a sad look about her.

Manny took the photo and said, "I'll find her."

"Come on then. We've got to get you some supplies." They went back up the stairs.

" _Abuela,_ Manny is going to look for Mira. He is good at finding people. He'll bring her back."

She started crying and hugging Manny. "Please find her. She needs me. I know. You need some food. It will be a long trip." She handed him a paper sack and started loading loaves of bread into it. She wrapped all the remaining queso in a cloth and put that into the bag and then she added a bunch of plantains. "Make sure to cook these." She kissed Manny on the cheek.

"Come on Manny. You have the food, now lets get you something to put it in." Rose said.

They went back to the factory. Off to one side of the factory there was a pile of packs. Rose picked through the pile until she came up with a brown and green one.

"These are the rejects." She said holding one up. "None have been added recently, but it seems there are always a couple." She smiled and handed it to Manny. "The mismatched ones are usually otherwise good. This one will last you a lifetime."

Manny took the pack and looked at it. The front, back and right side were a dark green while the left side panel was a dark brown. It had an internal frame and several straps for hanging equipment off of and an integrated water bladder.

Manny placed the paper bag in pack and put it on. Hector adjusted the straps. "You make mismatched work. Thank you for finding Mira." He said and hugged Manny.

"I haven't found her yet."

"You will." Rose said and gave Manny a hug.

"So I guess I check... down... first?"

"Yeah, hit the down arrow. Pick a direction and walk away from it. Whatever direction you most don't want to go, head that way and you'll find it. Thank you again."

"You two should take tomorrow off, go see a ball game." Manny suggested as he walked away.

Back at the elevator he hit the home button. When he got inside he set the backpack down next to the table and placed the picture of Mira on the table next to it.

## Chapter 4

Manny woke up in his bed feeling warm and refreshed. He stretched in the bed and smiled. This was going to be a good day.

He got out of bed and walked out into the living room. Light was streaming in through the huge picture window. He turned and went into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bowl with two eggs.

From a cabinet by his knees he pulled a mixing bowl and a cast iron skillet. The skillet went onto stove. He added some oil and started heating it. Flour, baking powder, baking soda, and buttermilk went into the bowl. In another bowl he whisked the eggs and then combined the two with a few quick stirs. He carefully ladled the pancake batter into the hot oil and smiled as he flipped them. The edges were slightly crispy, just how he liked them.

After placing the pancakes on the plate he placed butter and syrup on top and carried them with the cup of coffee over to the table. He looked out the window and saw a number of huge buildings, bigger than any he had ever seen. He knew he must be fairly high up in a similar building.

The pancakes were some of the best he had ever had. Light and fluffy with crisp edges. The butter and syrup had soaked nicely into them. He savored every bite and wondered what he was going to be doing today. He knew he was fairly high up. He wondered if he could get to the roof of the building. As he thought of the roof of the building he remembered something. He had been to the roof. He had gone other places as well. He remembered Hector and Rose. He looked and saw the picture of Mira. He remembered his promise to _Abuela_. He knew that Mira was somewhere and needed help.

The apartment before had seemed perfectly suited to him being alone, with food for one that replenished mysteriously. He went hunting through to see if there were in fact more supplies. He didn't find anything. There were just his clothes and the items he got from Hector. He filled the water bladder of his pack and headed out.

As he was closing the door behind him, Manny stopped and lingered. He held his hand on the door and relived a brief happy moment with his wife and kids. It was picnic in the park. Springtime. There was a gentle breeze blowing and the kids were flying a kite that Manny had made them. With a smile on his face he set off to find Mira.

He walked down the hall looking at the various doors. He remembered how he caught the glimpse of Susan's life when he touched her door; he thought he would try it with some of the others. He saw one door that looked like a bedroom door with a sign on it that said "Keep Out! Toxic Waste." When he touched it he saw a teenager who had loved loud music and died too young.

The industrial looking door he saw the night before had a night watchman, who would read comic books between rounds, one of his favorites had been one with the Easter story. Manny guessed if he opened the door he would find the man in his uniform reading the comic book for the millionth time.

A bit further down the hall he felt drawn to a simple brown door with extra deadbolts and a peephole. A city apartment he thought. He reached out his hand and touched it. He saw what could best be described as a lost soul. The woman had been a drug addict and a prostitute. She had a miserable life. She made a lot of bad choices and had even more thrust upon her. For Manny it was like watching a train wreck. He wanted to turn away but he knew he couldn't. Then he saw her face. It was Mira.

Manny threw open the door expecting a tragic scene inside. Instead he found a clean white room. He stepped in and looked down at the white carpet. It was soft beneath his feet. There was a white lounge chair ahead of him with a stack of magazines with incredibly white covers. Off to his left was a small efficiency kitchen, with everything in a gleaming white. The only color in the whole room was a bowl of mixed fruit on kitchen counter. Technicolor strawberries, grapes, and cherries were topped with a beautiful red apple.

It wasn't at all what he was expecting. "Then again," he thought, "if your life was hell would you really expect heaven to resemble it?"

"Mira!" Manny called out. There was no response. He called again. He walked further in and saw two doors off to the right side. The first held a bathroom. There was no mirror or any reflective surfaces. Everything was pure white. All of the fixtures, knobs and handles, everything was pure shining white.

Manny knocked on the second door and called out again. He opened it and saw what looked like a bedroom but with no bed. There was a frame, with a headboard and footboard, but there was no mattress or box spring. It was a place where a bed should go, but didn't.

He opened the closets and saw all manner of clothes. All in the purest white. There were dresses, jeans, blouses, shoes, and every part of everything was white. Manny was getting to be more than a little creeped out by the lack of color. He left the bedroom and saw something in the main room he hadn't seen before. There was a brown paper bundle sitting on the white kitchen table. He was so blinded by all of the white; it almost looked black, but after looking at it a while he recognized it as normal brown paper. He walked over to it and saw a note lying on top.

Manny,

This is a lot to ask, please help Mira. Look for her and you will find her. Take this package to her and bring her home.

PS. Go ahead, have the apple.

The letter was signed with a stylized dove. As he looked at the dove it seemed to move. Manny placed the brown paper package in his pack. He took the apple and headed down the hall. He was almost afraid to touch any of the other doors.

He came to a door that he clearly remembered. It was Susan's door.

He looked at the nameplate and then knocked.

Susan was immediately at the door and welcomed Manny in, "I was hoping you would stop by. I need to thank you for your help the other day. I thought about looking for you but I don't know which door would be yours."

She opened the door and went in and he followed her inside.

"Please make yourself comfortable" she said, and Manny placed his pack by the door.

The door opened into a parlor with elegant Victorian furniture. The walls were covered in green and gold wallpaper and there was a gaslight sconce on the wall providing light. There was a piano against the opposite wall and a couple of small sofas and two large high backed chairs with a small table and a large pile of books between them. There was a hallway leading down the back with odd clattering sounds coming from it.

Manny stared intrigued at the gaslight. It was a copper pipe coming out of the wall that split in two at a T. Each branch turned and went up through a polished copper plate. The side of the plate next to the wall was bent up and served as a reflector. A frosted glass globe surrounded each flame.

"I tried talking my father out of this wallpaper. It's a lovely shade of green, but it has arsenic and can be poisonous." She bit her lip when she saw it wasn't the wallpaper that Manny was looking at.

Manny looked at the wallpaper and it was a very nice shade of green. "I was looking at the light. I haven't seen one of these before."

"No gas lights? I can tell we are from different times, the odd style of clothes for instance." She said, pointing at his kilt. "I guess you must be from a later time." She said as she lightly touched the sleeve of his T-Shirt. "Such fine knit, but on an obviously informal garment. Cotton?"

"I think so. I never gave it much thought, and it doesn't have a label."

Susan scrunched her face a bit, like it was something that bothered her, but then she let it slide.

"Would you like some tea, Manny?" She smiled and led him back down a hallway in the rear.

When they got to the end he saw a large room with a blackboard on the back wall a small table with a teapot, two cups and saucers and small tray of sandwiches. The room was dominated by large lab bench. All over the bench were a variety of different powders and liquids. Each was labeled with a paper label that had elegant cursive writing. Each had a name and reference number. Manny recognized some of the names but others were a mystery to him. It the end of the bench was large green ledger book. In the middle of the bench was an unlit burner.

"This is my work. I have been categorizing the reactions between the chemicals. I have a whole closet full of different things: rocks, powders, crystals, and even some strips of metal. I even have some pure sodium stored in oil. It actually bursts into flame when it gets dry.

She maneuvered a stand over the burner and then lit it. She grabbed a round-bottomed glass flask and filled it with water from a tap. She then rested the flask at an angle over the flame on the burner. "Don't worry about the lab glass. I keep it scrupulously clean. The water is incredibly pure as well. I must have boiled a thousand gallons of it down to nothing with no residue. As they waited for the water to come to a boil she started pointing out the various substances and showing the Manny the pages in her lab book. At the top of the page in large letters was the name of the substance. Underneath were known uses, sources and methods of preparation. There were listings of other substances that could be made with it and cross-references.

Manny was impressed with the size and thoroughness of the book and wondered just how long Susan had been working at this. When the water boiled Susan used a pair of tongs to pour the hot water into a teapot and measured in four heaping spoons of dried tea. "How do you take your tea? Milk, lemon, sugar?"

Manny shrugged, "How ever you have it is fine." He wasn't much of a tea drinker so he wasn't sure what to ask for. She poured two cups without anything in them and handed one to Manny.

"I don't usually put anything in myself. It's strange. I thought that I only had one cup. I was going to use a beaker for myself but there was a second one."

"I've decided not to question it. It was perplexing when I first noticed that I had exactly what I needed for breakfast, but this is either a dream or heaven. If it is a dream than some inconsistencies are to be expected and if this is heaven, why wouldn't everything thing be perfect?"

Susan smiled and took a sip of the tea. She then reached down and picked up a small sandwich. It was a tiny chunk of ham with a small piece of cheese on a tiny biscuit. The biscuit was light and fluffy but had no crumbs. She shook it a few times and still nothing fell off. She bit it neatly in half and then shook it again. Everything stayed put. There were no crumbs. Once again there was a puzzled and frustrated look on her face.

Manny picked up a small sandwich himself and bit into it. The bread was soft and he smiled, as he tasted the peanut butter and jelly. It wasn't what he expected to find on the plate but it was delightful.

"This is wrong." Susan said frustrated. "Yesterday I only had one of everything and now there are two. All of my experiments seem to come out too perfectly. If everything is perfect how can I be sure of what I find? If I look for calcium in a sample and want to find iron, will I find iron in it? If I look for iron in everything will I find it in everything? How can I trust what I find?"

"How can you ever trust what you find? Before, when you boiled down the water it left a trace? Which means that anything you mixed with the water contained a trace of what ever was in the water. Here the water is pure. Just look for truth and I am sure that you will get the right answer."

She didn't look sure. "I don't know."

"What have you been doing?" She asked trying to change the subject.

"I've been exploring. I went up to the roof. Up there, there is a light; warm, soft, and glowing. It is happiness and joy, and people float away into it. I met a man up there, Hector. He was looking for his cousin, Mira. He called the area 'Departures'"

Manny related going to work with Hector and Rose, and meeting Hector's grandmother.

"I am about to go to what Hector called 'Arrivals'"

"Arrivals? What is that?"

"Not sure. I think he used a euphemism for _Abuela'_ s sake. I am also not sure that the description is accurate. He said to find it, just go in the direction that I don't want to go."

"And talking here with me is a distraction, preventing you from going."

"I never thought of that. I guess getting to there is going to be more difficult than I thought."

"I won't keep you, but please come back."

## Chapter 5

Manny walked down the hall toward the elevator. As he headed there he thought about going back to his room, and that he thought he forgot something. He realized that it was an unnecessary distraction and that he had better get going.

He pressed the elevator button and waited. He knew there was something in his room. He turned to head back but then stopped. This was going to be a feat of will. The elevator dinged and he stepped in. Unlike the last time he got on the car was full. He hit the down button and the elevator started up.

There were five other people on the elevator. They were wearing straw hats and Hawaiian shirts. Four of them were holding signs with made with magic marker and glitter that said "Bon Voyage Fred!" The fifth, Manny assumed was Fred. Everyone was laughing and smiling but Fred.

"I'll miss you guys." Fred said with tears in his eyes. He hugged them.

"Hey, we'll be right behind you." An older looking man said.

"We might even decide to come with." Said a young woman.

"No, you guys are having too much fun. I just miss..." Fred paused. He looked confused. He was clawing at his memory. "Sam... I miss Sam. He was a good person."

"But not all good people make it." The young woman said. Manny shuddered and wondered what it meant for some of the special people in his life. He tried to thing of various people, and every time he did he got a vague sense of where they were and what they were doing. His wife he knew had gone through Departures, a long time ago it seemed. His sons were about somewhere. He thought one was on a boat and the other behind a plow. He shook his head. Such an incongruous thought.

Manny was thinking of other people in his life, but there were some who when he tried thinking of his mind just sort of slid off of them. It was like trying to grab a squirming fish. He thought he had it, and then suddenly it was gone.

Manny tried thinking of Mira. His mind didn't dance of off her but he couldn't place where she was. He remembered the package for her and realized that he had forgotten his pack. He had left it with Susan. He contemplated going back but realized that might just be a distraction.

The elevator opened onto the roof and Fred walked out.

The young woman said, "I think I am going too. It's been a great run, but I think I'm partied out. I am going to go with Fred. I'll see you all on the other side."

"Wait Fred!" She shouted and ran out.

As the door closed, Manny saw them join hands and run towards the edge.

The older man turned to his friends. "I figured she would go before he did."

"Figure she was waiting for him?"

"I think she was waiting for anyone. Losing yourself entirely is a big step. I'm scared myself."

Things were quiet for the ride down. As the elevator descended the people in the Hawaiian shirts started telling stories. The stories all started with "Remember the time..." and all seemed to end with a mixed up order, cases instead of boxes, pallets instead of cases, and the granddaddy of them all a box of pencils instead of a truck load. The mood was lightening.

"Remember that sales competition back in '68? Ralph and two other guys were tied at the beginning of December."

"Yeah, who were they. There was Ralph, and um..."

"Fred?" Manny asked.

"Right, Fred, he's a great guy. Do you know him?"

"I met him once. He did seem like a great guy." Manny said.

"Right, so Fred, and Ralph, and what's his name, Fred's best friend, were in this competition to see who could sell the most in a year. The winner would get a trip to Hawaii. Fred is going all gangbusters, calling people making sales. He's working all his contacts. Ralph was the new guy then and didn't have the contacts, so he is calling around madly. Ralph ended up on the phone with the mayor's office. The mayor's assistant thought Ralph was his idiot brother and ordered a mountain of supplies. So the other guy was behind the 8-ball."

"Sam" Manny mouthed. The moment the name came out he regretted it. Everyone looked confused, and nodded.

"Right, Sam, the best friend a guy could want, Sam was behind the 8-ball. He didn't know what to do. Fred had hit the usual suspects; Ralph got a massive city contract. The other guy needed an idea. Then it hit him. Paper chains. He put a few together, mimeographed some instructions and then hit the schools with a special on red and green paper. He cleaned out the storerooms, we had to send to Chicago to get the paper to fill all his contracts." The old guy was laughing as the door opened.

The door opened out into what looked like an office. There were rows and rows of desks. Some had typewriters, some had ledger pads and most had phones. Along the ceiling were paper garlands and in the back was a table that was covered with various bottles and a stack of cups. There was big band music coming through the air.

"Come on." The older man said. "Join the party."

"I have to get going." Manny replied.

"Right, right after we do a toast to Fred." He threw an arm around Manny and pulled him through the door, which closed far more rapidly than Manny expected it to.

"Ralph, get our new salesman here a drink!"

Ralph was by far the oldest looking person there. He came over with a nondescript decanter with an amber fluid in it and a stack of glasses. He handed out the glasses and then filled them from the seemingly bottomless bottle.

"To Fred!" The older man shouted. Everyone drained their glasses and Ralph filled them up.

"To paper chains!" shouted someone else and everyone drank.

The toasts were coming quickly. The people were toasting each other, customers, and office supplies. Things slowly settled down as people started drifting off to dance between the desks.

Ralph pulled Manny aside, "You don't belong here."

"No"

"Someplace you need to be?"

"Somewhere I need to go."

Ralph nodded. "I've been here the longest. I used to work here. I worked here a long time and made a lot of friends. This party," he gestured, "was 6 months after I got hired. Fred was my mentor. All of these people I knew and loved. They are great friends."

"When I first came here they weren't real. They were the shadows, or angels, or stand-ins. I am not sure what you call them. They aren't real people but kind of stand in."

Ralph took a drink. "People started coming in off the elevator looking shell shocked. They would sit down at a desk and start working. One of the shadows would then wander off and I didn't miss them at first."

"Fred didn't really belong here. He was always old and tired. He missed too many people who could never come. He actually went downstairs to see them. It really broke him to see them there. I'm glad he came back to say goodbye."

Manny looked at his glass. There was only a little bit left.

"You are going downstairs?"

"Arrivals, yes."

Ralph laughed hard. "Arrivals? That's not exactly accurate, but it makes a good dichotomy. Well, safe travels. I think I may move on myself, catch the elevator upstairs."

"Could you wait for the next car? I don't want another trip to the roof." Manny said as he hit the elevator button. He stepped into an empty waiting car and pressed down.

## Chapter 6

The elevator opened out onto the street level and blazing light. Manny felt the warm comforting glow that he had felt on the roof earlier and almost stepped out. He pressed the down button again and the door closed and the elevator went down a floor and opened into an ill lit service area. He peeked out of the elevator and saw the shadow people waking around aimlessly. He didn't feel right. It was a sense of dread like this was a horror movie and he was about to be jumped. He went to push the down button again and almost hit up.

Down the elevator went again and this time it opened to pitch black with an unsettling whirring sound. Manny hit down and nothing happened. He pressed the button again and again, but the doors stayed open.

He heard a creaking dragging sound out in the darkness. He pressed and held the down button but the creaking started getting closer. A cold breeze blew into the elevator. It was a damp cold that chilled Manny to the bones. A deep, sad, cold that made Manny feel alone and afraid, more afraid than the creaking had. The creaking sounded like it was only a couple of feet away when the door closed and the elevator went down one last time.

The door opened into what Manny could tell was the true bottom. It was a large white room with a white suited man sitting at white desk. Behind the desk there was a plain white door. Manny was surprised at how friendly it was compared to the above stops. It wasn't friendly, really. It was neutral, sterile, plain. Manny screwed up his courage and stepped forward into the white room.

A man ran out of the white door and straight toward the elevator almost knocking Manny over. The man dove into the elevator and Manny could see him hammering on the up button.

The white door opened again and a number of the shadow people came out, each carrying a person. The people being carried were all unconscious. The shadow people filed into a waiting elevator.

Manny walked up to the desk and the man sitting there said without looking up, "You are here to see if Mira is here."

Manny nodded.

"You know that she is not here but still want to look. Do you know that looking will be a highly unpleasant experience?"

"Yes." Manny said.

"You know that you will relive unpleasant memories and that unlike other previous flashbacks you will retain some of these unpleasant memories."

Manny didn't expect this. "Okay."

"There will be no actual harm but you are strong advised to not enter."

"I said I would. I think I have to."

The man at the desk finally looked up and Manny saw that he had no eyes. "You don't have to. It will help you understand though."

Manny opened the door and walked through. As Manny stepped through the door he heard the screams.

Behind the door was a white hallway with a slight tilt down. As he walked down the hallway he realized that the screams weren't actual sounds. It was a scream that he was feeling in his soul, not an actual sound. It was pain and anguish mixed with pride and defiance. The screams were growing louder in his head. It was a piteous sound. It evoked in him a sense of horror, and pain. He knew that whoever was making the screams was in agony. At the same time the rage and hatred in the screams kept him from feeling pity for them.

He turned a corner and the hallway continued to slant down. There was less lighting and things were feeling grimmer. There was a person standing in the hall. He looked like he was about to cry. "You don't have to go on." The person said.

Manny could feel tears in his own eyes. "Anyone who makes it this far is going on."

"I couldn't make it. My sister. I have to see her."

At the mention of the sister the screams grew worse and both of them inadvertently took a step back towards the exit.

"Come on. We'll go together." Manny took a step forward and the other man followed him.

They continued and Manny said, "Yesterday, I saw someone take the elevator to the top and make a headlong sprint for the edge of the roof."

"What? Why?"

"You haven't seen the roof yet. Imagine a feeling as wonderful as this is terrible."

The turned the final turn and the only light in the hallway was an evil red glow coming from the end of the hallway.

"On the roof there is a glow. Some people just stand there and bask in it. It is wonderful warm and calm. Others walk towards it. You've heard the old saying 'walk towards the light?' That has to be that light." Manny said talking to calm the man's nerves.

The red light coming from the end of the hall wasn't a solid light source. As they approached the end of the hall they saw that it was a series of columns of fire coming down from the ceiling. In the center of each column of fire was a single person. Some were on the ground writing in pain. There were others who were standing upright shaking their fists. They were screaming in rage. Manny watched as bits of flesh started peeling off of some of the people. The flesh peeled away and fell and burned. The people in the flames were disintegrating and regrowing at the same time. Always burning but never consumed.

The other person started running between the columns. Manny followed. The man came up short at one column and looked down. Manny saw a pile of something in the fire. As he watched it seemed to have a vaguely human shape. A face appeared in the pile, or the semblance of a face with hollow sockets for eyes and a gaping hole where the mouth would be. It looked like it was screaming. The man reached in to touch it and collapsed and started to write in pain as the fire started to spread across his body.

Manny grabbed his ankles and tried pulling him out of the fire. The fire was spreading up his body and Manny pulled harder. Manny gave one last heave and pulled the man out. He pulled so hard though he lost his footing and stumbled back and fell into another column of fire.

Manny hit the column and immediately rolled out of it. He felt the fire burning him, but it was worse than the just the fire and the pain. He remembered. Every tongue of flame that was burning his back was something that he did wrong. Candy he stole as a child, a drunken brawl in college. He felt every blow that he dealt out, he remembered the anger he felt while doing it and it was a searing pain in his stomach. He felt the pain he caused. His face hurt from the swings of the punches he had thrown. He felt the column of fire burning in him and through him.

All of the terrible things he did came flooding back to him and all of the repercussions. One of the people he kicked while fighting had a slight limp for the rest of his life. Manny felt his knee aching and knew that every time it rained the man's knee had hurt him. Manny knee ached. It was years of aching pain coming all at once.

The guilt and pain were too much for Manny. Thousands of lies he told came flooding back to him. Other people had suffered for them. People who got into trouble because of things he said. He felt their punishments. He remembered hours of other peoples detention in school for things he had done wrong and gotten away with. He felt their anger at being wrongly punished and it gnawed at him.

He felt the disappointment his parents had felt in him when he defied them and it cut him doubly hard. He knew that he had been wrong, and now he was feeling their pain and the guilt for causing it.

Still, the fire burned. Through the suffering and pain he caused the fire was burning. He knew he deserved it. He doubly deserved it. The fire was almost a kindness though. It was honest and deserved pain. It wasn't like the senseless hurt he had caused others in his life. The fire felt like it lasted forever.

"In the name of the Father" came a voice as water splashed down over him, and the memories started to retreat. "And of the Son" the voice said as more water came down and quenched the fires. "And of the Holy Spirit" the voice said a third time as more water cooled him. The words were the words of his old pastor so many years before. He knew the voice and knew when it was. It had been his baptism.

Manny remembered the fire and the memories so intensely. He was tired and sore and felt like he would never be happy again. He still heard the screams of the people around him filling his soul. He knew what they were going through now, but even more than before, knew that they had earned their suffering, that it was bought and paid for.

He looked over and saw the man he met in the hall slumped over in a ball, soaking wet. The man was moaning and in pain. Manny reached and touched him. The man rolled onto his back and looked up at Manny with a thousand yard stare. Manny grabbed the man's hand and hauled him up. Manny pulled the man's arm over his shoulder and they walked out together with Manny half carrying him.

When they reached the end of the hall the eyeless man turned to Manny and said. "Thank you. He never would have made it without help."

Manny was repulsed. "I should be thanked for this?"

"He needed it to move on."

Manny harumphed and stabbed the elevator button. Inside he hit the home and the up. It was difficult but Manny resisted the urge to ride to the top. He got out trusting that the man would know what to do when the elevator stopped at the roof.

## Chapter 7

Manny walked down the hallway feeling like he could sleep for a thousand years. He thought about it and realized that, yes, he literally could sleep for a thousand years here but decided not to test it. He could still remember the fire and still heard the screams. He walked passed Susan's door. He thought about knocking but at he really didn't want to see anyone right now. All he wanted was to sleep, to eat and to forget. He figured he could do two of three and perhaps the third would come on it's own.

"Manny!" a voice called from behind him.

He turned and saw Susan holding his pack.

"You forgot it. I saw it sitting by the door and thought I would go looking for you. I thought that I could wander down the hall checking name plates."

Manny walked back and took the pack. "Thanks." he mumbled.

"What's wrong? You look horrible."

"I went... I went to arrivals. It was..." He stopped. There weren't any words that seemed to describe what it was like. Nothing came to mind that could hold a candle to horror that it had been. "It was bad." He hung his head and started walking off.

"Wait! Wait Manny!" Susan called as she followed him. Manny continued walking until he reached his door. He rested a hand on it for a brief moment then shook his head and walked in.

Susan followed him in. "What was it like?" she started to say and then saw the view out of his window. She walked to the window with her eyes wide and mouth open.

"I've never been this high up before. It's like standing on top of a cliff." She put her hand against the window "I've never seen a sheet of glass this large and perfect before. Is this normal for you?"

Manny set down his pack. "Not quite this big, but I've been to the top of 100 story building before"

"One hundred? How do they make a building that tall?"

Manny shrugged. "I don't know. Glass and steel is how they describe it. I never really thought of it."

Manny sat down on a chair and stared out the window. He could see the warm light through the window and he started feeling better.

Susan wandered into the kitchen area and found a teapot and a kettle and a couple of heavy mugs. Manny wondered if he had ever had an actual teapot. He knew he had had a kettle at some point; it had been a battered looking black thing with a broken whistle. He had it for the instant coffee he would pound down before he met his wife. He had actually inherited in an apartment move. He chuckled when he realized that the kettle Susan had found was his old one.

Susan had moved on to pulling various canisters out of the cupboards and was sniffing them. She had gone through about twenty and had picked four. She dug some more and with a bit of satisfaction picked out a fifth. She then started sifting out bits of various plant materials into the pot. When the last canister was put back in the cupboard the kettle started making an anemic "ffft ffft" sound. Manny smiled at the memories of the kettle and Susan look confused.

"Why would this kettle be here?"

"It was mine back in life."

"I thought you didn't drink tea."

"I used it for instant coffee. Hot water for oatmeal or ramen."

"Ramen?"

"A noodle dish. Something almost like food."

Susan shook her head as she poured hot water into the teapot. She set the teapot, and two mugs on a tray and set it on a small table then she sat in a chair on the other side of the table from Manny. They were both looking out the window. Manny was glad she wasn't facing him. He didn't want to look at anyone now.

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Susan poured tea into Manny's mug and then into her own. Manny let it set for a while then lifted it and took a sip. It was hot and soothing. It smelled like wildflowers and had a lightly sweet taste. He drank some more and felt calmer. Susan drank a bit and Manny spoke.

"Do you remember touching your door?"

Susan paused and thought a bit. "Vaguely. It's like trying to grab an eel. The memories keep sliding away."

"You remember how it started with the good memories and then it slowly changed to the bad ones?"

Susan nodded.

"You know how when you let go of the door the memories faded."

"Yes, what would heaven be if you couldn't leave your pain and fear behind."

Manny nodded. "You can't forget what you see and feel down there. There is no leaving it behind because you carry it with you, at least the memories of it." Manny took a long sip from his tea and put his mug down.

"It starts with the bad memories. The terrible things you've done and you are forced to realize just how bad they were. Then things start to get better or at least it seems to. You relive moments of joy, but they are tarnished with the understanding of the cost of them. An afternoon lying in the sun is dozens of insects carelessly killed, flowers destroyed, a missed opportunity to help someone out and to ease their suffering. My memory of a sunny afternoon in the park is now inextricably linked to a young boys broken arm." Susan looked at Manny.

"I was laying on a hillside idly plucking bits of grass, enjoying the warm sun. I plucked the wrong of grass and exposed the top of a jagged piece of rock. The rain came down and exposed the rock even more. The next summer the rock was fully exposed. The soil had worn away around it and it stuck out about an inch. A boy was running along the hill, hit the rock and fell an broke his arm."

"You can't blame yourself for that. It's so far removed. So many other things had to happen in order for your one change to lead to his broken arm. What if he hadn't been running? What if he had been more careful? What if someone else's blade of grass was the one that made the rock surface?"

"That is the rub of it though. You can't not blame yourself. You are forced to see yourself as the cause of all the troubles in the world and every good and happy moment in your life gets dragged through pain and misery."

Susan took another sip an asked, "What about the fire? I thought there was fire."

"The fire is a kindness. It hurts like nothing you've felt before, but it's an actual pain."

Manny filled Susan's cup and then his.

They sat there in silence.

"There is nothing to keep you from walking into it?" Susan asked

"No, and nothing to keep the punished from walking out."

"Why are there people still there then? Why don't they just get up and leave? Flee the fire?"

"I think they don't want to. There was a sense of anger and defiance. Everyone was in their own little column of fire but I don't think they could see beyond it. There were angry people shaking their fists. No one even tried to move."

Manny took a sip of tea and grew silent again.

"What's next?"

"I've done up and down. I guess in then out. There are a lot of places to look."

Susan looked out the window and said, "I have to go. You need to get some rest."

## Chapter 8

Manny woke up the next morning feeling refreshed. He still had the memories and could still hear the screams but they were a bit further away. He got up and got dressed and headed out to see Susan. He was surprised when he got to her door and saw a note clipped there.

Manny,

When you read this, know that I am gone. I am headed to the roof, to "Departures" as you call it. I have spent too much time hiding from people. While we were looking through your window I felt the light calling me home. It will connect me with people that I have been apart from for too long. Good-bye, good luck and God speed.

-Susan

Manny put the note into a pouch of his pack and walked towards the elevator and pressed the up button. He rode a bit and the car stopped and a nervous teenager stepped on. "First time up?" Manny asked.

"Yeah, what's it like?" he asked.

"Home."

"Home?"

"It's like coming home. Warm and happy. You belong and connect. It's hot cocoa and a blanket fresh out of the dryer on a cold day. It's mom's lemonade in the summer, and grandma's thanksgiving dinner. It's the bed you don't want to get out of in the morning."

The kid smiled a bit and nodded. "How many times have you been up?"

"This is my second. First time was to look, now I am saying goodbye."

"Goodbye?"

"Someone I met here has made the leap and I want to say goodbye."

"People can hear us when they've left?"

"I don't know. Sometimes things have to be said even if they can't be heard."

The door opened and Manny stepped out. He turned back to the kid who was still in elevator, "Come on." The kid stepped into the light and smiled. He started walking towards the edge of the building and faded from view.

Manny walked toward the edge and felt the pull of the light. He smiled and whispered toward the light, "Thank you Susan, you were a big help to me too."

It took him a moment on the ground floor to orient himself. The elevator let out into a large open area, that what paved with a bright white stone. The side of the building facing in had been cut away so that he had a clear view of the glowing light above. Straight ahead of him was the side of another building. It was a steel and glass "wedding cake." It looked like it went up 40 floors, cut in, went up another 40 or so and then cut in again and finally up another 40. Manny realized that the building was taller than any he had ever seen, and it was dwarfed by what he had come out of.

There was a concrete street, white and clean, separating the two buildings. It had broad sidewalks. The road itself was full of a motley assortment of vehicles. Manny realized that "vehicles" wasn't entirely accurate. There were people on horseback, and one person was even riding a dinosaur. Manny walked out towards the sidewalk and started to see people walking along. Some looked like they were sight seeing. Other plainly had places to be.

Manny stepped into the crowd and started walking with an easy pace. He walked next to street and started observing the people. A full half of them were the not quite people he had seen before. He saw it so much more distinctly now though. They seemed to be interacting with the actual people but they didn't seem to interact with each other. When they passed each other on the street, they walked around each other but there was no sense of recognition. When they walked by real people there were smiles and nods, sometimes they even waved. Then Manny noticed how they were treating him. Manny was being treated like one of them. They didn't walk into him, but they didn't greet him.

Manny stepped in front of one of them. It was a woman in an early 1900's yellow dress with a parasol fringed with lace.

"Excuse me, but what are you?"

"I'm what you would call an angel. We fill the empty spaces. We do the jobs that people want to see done, but don't want to do. Sometimes we fill in for people who have moved on or are... elsewhere."

"Elsewhere? Can you say it?"

"Yes."

"But you don't want to?"

"We try to avoid causing distress." She said.

Manny nodded, "Am I one of you? You all are treating me differently, like I am one of you and not a person." All of the sudden the angels around Manny turned toward him. Some smiled. Some waved. A couple shouted out, "Hey Manny!" One gave him a solid chuck on the shoulder. It was all very creepy and disconcerting. He was the center of attention to the point where even the normal people were starting to greet him like he was a celebrity.

"Enough attention." Manny hissed at the woman angel. The group around him slowly thinned out but not after a half dozen people asked to have their picture taken with him.

"We could not ask if we were one of us. We serve and we obey. That is our purpose. That is what we do." She said as they moved on.

"Why did you treat me differently then?"

"We treat you differently because you see us for who we are. We have no reason to lie for you. Which would you prefer?"

Manny scratched his head. "I don't know. What ever is easiest I guess."

She nodded. "Do you have any more questions?"

"If I need to find you?"

"Then you will. Though any of us will answer any questions the same and provide the same help."

Manny nodded, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She smiled and walked on.

When Manny reached the corner he turned to cross the street and saw that the traffic was going to make it difficult. In front of him was what looked like twelve lanes each way with no traffic control. He was next to a major radial street, but the traffic seemed stopped. Next to him was a yellow taxi and beyond that was a red double decker bus. Behind the taxi was an excavator, a large piece of construction equipment. There was a sound coming through from behind him. It was a herd of reddish brown cows, walking through the traffic, between the cars. The cows walked between the cars without a care. As the cows stepped out into road traffic stopped for them. One lane at a time, the herd closed the road running around the city. As the cross traffic stopped the cars started following the cows across the street.

Manny walked into the middle of the herd of cows and patted one on the side "Good cow."

"What are you doing with my cow?" A voice called out.

Manny turned and saw a tall black man wearing a hide tunic carrying a long, deadly look spear.

"I was just admiring it. A lovely creature."

"Are you interested in buying it?"

Manny shook his head, "I don't know what I would do with a cow."

"They are very tasty."

Manny laughed. "I don't know what I would do with a whole cow."

"Walk with us then. The cows seem to like you. I am called Dini."

"My name is Manny." Manny extended his hand and Dini grabbed his elbow. Manny grabbed Dini's elbow and they shook.

"How far have you brought the herd?" Manny asked.

"Many days travel. I have travelled a day into the city and spent 10 traveling to it."

"That is a long way to go."

"I travel further to get a better price for the cows. I once marched them an entire month to get the best price. When I returned home there were more cows to take to the market."

Manny laughed, "Isn't that always the way?"

Dini laughed and tapped the rump of one of the cows with the butt of his spear. "Do you know where the market is? I heard that it was where the tall buildings had stopped."

"I don't know, I am a new arrival here myself. Maybe someone else would know." Manny turned over to the sidewalk and suddenly saw the woman in the yellow dress with the parasol.

"Ma'am, do you know the way to a market where my friend can sell these cows?"

"Down 10 blocks and on the right there is a market where they deal in livestock. Your friend should get a very good price." She replied.

After they moved on Dini asked, "Do you know that woman?"

"Yes."

"She would know about the prices?"

Manny smiled, "Yes."

They came to the next block and Mann saw that it was shorter than the previous one and the building that defined it was shorter. It was another wedding cake but with two sets of thirty floors. The cows led the way through traffic again and Manny and Dini followed.

"So where are you going?" Dini asked.

"I am looking for a woman?"

"Is there something wrong with the one in yellow?"

"It is the cousin of a friend. She is lost and he thought I might be able to find her."

"A noble cause."

They walked on and Manny was watching the people. He noticed a lot of them where dressed like Orthodox Jews. The men had yarmulkes and the women had headscarves. As they moved further in things changed rapidly. The people started looking more and more alike, taking on a Middle Eastern appearance. The clothing was changing as well. The modern suits were becoming less common and people were dressing more like extras from Ben Hur. Dini's tunic was looking entirely in place.

The buildings rapidly shrank as they moved in as well. Each block the buildings were half the height of the ones before. They varied in style as well. The first two blocks had glass and steel. The next 3 were brick. Then came clusters of 4 story buildings were made of stone. Finally structures of wood and mud brick started to dominate. By the time they got to the market they were seeing tents mixed in with the more permanent structures. The road had changed as well. The concrete had given way to brick. Brick had been replaced by stones and finally the road was dirt.

The marketplace was unlike anything that Manny had seen in real life. He has seen similar things in documentaries, but this was something beyond his ken. Dini seemed unfazed. With gentle taps of the flat of his spear he drove the front cow through the crowd and the rest of the cows lined up single file behind it. Dini craned his head around looking for something. With another tap he steered the cows left.

Manny was scanning the crowd. Most of the customers were angels he realized. There were also a good number of merchant angels. Manny guessed it was so that everyone was happy with their deals. Dini walked towards one of the human merchants and Manny decided to hang back. He wanted to see how this played out. He knew that if it looked like it was going poorly, Manny could pull Dini to one of the angels with a better deal.

It wasn't necessary though. It looked as though Dini and the merchant were getting on like old friends. The merchant handed a leather pouch to Dini. Dini opened it and smiled. The merchant called over someone, Manny noticed it was an angel, who took possession of the cows. The merchant then picked up a walking stick and walked over to Manny.

"If you don't mind, I would like to come with you, my name is Simon."

Manny nodded. "Off to see the Wizard, I guess."

Dini and Simon shrugged.

## Chapter 9

Manny, Dini and Simon set off headed further inwards with Simon acting as a guide.

"The middle areas for the most part Jewish. A lot of people want to live near the prophets who have large homes in the center. There are actually large crowds who stand outside the houses of some of the prophets hoping to see them or speak to them."

"Are the prophets inside?" Dini asked.

"Some are. Others, who knows? No one has ever seen them."

"Which ones are around?"

"Nehemiah, has been running around on some monstrous metal thing he calls 'excavator'"

Manny laughed.

"Ezra said he was going to get one as well. Abraham and Jacob have ascended. No one has seen Elijah or Moses. People wait outside their homes, in the hopes of seeing them, but they don't think they are there. They haven't ascended but they aren't here."

"Like Mira." Manny said.

"Yes, like your friend. She isn't here, but she hasn't left." Simon agreed.

"So it seems that they must not want to be found." Dini said.

As they walked along the buildings gave way to clusters of brightly colored tents surround by short palm trees and some scrubby vegetation. People sat around under the shade of the tents talking. Some people were working on various crafts; fabric weaving seemed to be a popular past time. Men and women were working primitive, portable looms. Some were spinning thread using something that looked like a top.

The three of them continued to walk down what had been a road but was now more a trail when they came to a large berm with a dry moat in front of it. They could hear a low rumbling sound on the far side. They looked at the berm. It went on as far as they could see in either direction and the sides of the moat seemed a bit too treacherous to climb.

"Hey!" Manny called out towards the wall. "You over there!" The rumbling intensified and a bright yellow excavator appeared over the top of the berm. It reached the top, turned sideways and then slid. As it slid towards them it pulled a lot of the berm with it down into the moat. Manny ran over to the excavator and opened the cab. Inside he found a man in a purple robe with a hard hat. Manny grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the machine. With the help of Dini's spear and Simon's walking stick they managed to pull themselves out of the moat.

"Nehemiah, I presume?" Manny asked.

The man nodded.

"That is a wonderful wall. With a wall like this a thousand could hold off a million."

Nehemiah beamed with pride.

"That being said, you can't block the road. Do you mind if I fix it?"

Manny climbed into the excavator and then deftly righted it. He turned the arm to the side and anchored it firmly on the bottom of the moat. Once it was secure he turned the base to point out of the moat. The arm was then secured against the berm. Working the treads forward and the arm backwards the monstrous machine chimney climbed out. Once clear of the trench Manny set the outriggers and attacked the far wall. Undercutting the wall he moved the loose dirt towards him. When he cleared all he could reach he rolled forward and repeated the process until he crossed over. There was now a small breach in the berm and a small bridge across the moat. Working back to the other side Manny leveled things off with a skillful hand. Finally he packed down the sides of the bridge and berm and hopped out.

Nehemiah looked on with awe. "How did you do that so effortlessly?"

"Practice. Lots and lots of practice. This used to be my job. Fifty to sixty hours a week for forty years you get good at things."

"So you think the wall is finished?" Nehemiah asked.

Manny walked to the side of the wall. It was twenty feet high and thirty feet wide. The inside was packed hard with even ridges running along the length. Ridges that were natural stairs. The outside of the wall was covered in soft soil and was bordering on collapsing, but that is what you wanted. No one would be able to climb up out of the moat. It was a masterwork of design.

"This would stop any army I've ever heard of. Armies have been held off for years by less." Nehemiah smiled. He then looked up at the light that almost directly above them and started to lift and fade."

Dini started to reach out for him, but Manny stopped him. "It's his time to go. He was tired. He did a lot of work."

"Pass on? Are we not already dead?"

"This is just the beginning. Look up and relax. I had only seen it done from the roof before but I don't see why not here."

Simon and Dini looked up. They started smiling peacefully and started lifting up. When Dini got a foot off the ground, he suddenly stopped and then fell. Simon continued floating up and as he floated up he took a pouch of coins from his waist and let them fall.

"I am not going to desert you!" Dini said vehemently.

"You don't have to stay. I am sure I can survive and find Mira."

"I will follow you."

"I think I have to find her alone, but I appreciate your company."

Manny picked up the fallen pouch of coins and tucked it into his bag.

Manny and Dini continued walking down the road until the came to a large stone house that was surrounded by a narrow water filled moat. Around the moat were a large number of men and women arguing in separate groups. The discussions were loud and heated and they seemed to be moving in a circle around the building.

Someone would argue a point of the law, someone else would cite something contradictory, and a third person gave a statement supporting the first. The thing is that the first person had turned to someone on the other side to complain about something they had said. Occasionally, a near riot would break out over a difference in pronunciation.

Dini looked at Manny and asked, "This is heaven for them?"

"I don't know. I'm a Mets fan."

Dini looked confused.

"Different people enjoy different things."

Manny walked up to one of the people arguing. "Whose house is this?"

"Moses." The person snapped and then went back to arguing the precise definition of coveting.

"Is he in?"

"How should I know? I haven't seen him."

Manny looked at Dini and the two of them walked over to the moat that seemed to be keeping everyone out. A short hop and they were across. They walked up to the door and saw a note, "Gone Fishing."

Manny reached out and touched the door. As he felt the door he relived the life of Moses, it was much like he remembered from watching "The Ten Commandments" as a child. There were a lot of extra things added in. Family life was a large part of it. Moses had loved his family. It was a huge sacrifice for him to go back and save his people. Manny saw the day the manna first appeared, the excitement in people's eyes, when they realized that they weren't gong to starve. He also tasted the manna. The flavor was sweet, salty and rich. It didn't taste like anything in particular, but it tasted like everything. Manny let his hand off the door and came back to reality.

"What were you doing?"

"Touch the door."

Dini touched the door and his eyes took on a far away glance. When he took his hand off he said, "That is incredible. You can see anyone's life like this? Touch the door that belongs to them?"

"Yes, though there are some lives you might not want to see."

"Where is your door?"

Manny took off his ball cap. He oriented the logo so that it was laid matching the lay of the land. Manny pointed to the highlighted rectangle. "In this large building, about three fourths of the way up. It is on this side of the building. The door is blue and has my name written on it."

Dini nodded. "I have a small brown tent on a hill overlooking the sea. It is a days walk along the coast past the great swamp."

Manny pushed the door open and they walked in. They walked through the house looking for any sign of habitation. They didn't find anyone inside and hopped back over the moat and headed through the crowd. The crowd backed away from them as they passed through.

They found Elijah's house with much the same situation, except there was no moat to keep people back. Once again on the door was the same note, "Gone fishing."

## Chapter 10

Manny and Dini continued down the road towards the center of the circle of buildings. Trees were rising up around them and they seemed to be getting taller as they went in. Neither Manny nor Dini recognized the trees. The trees had rough bark and smooth three lobed leaves that radiated out equally from the stem. The leaves looked like giant clover leaves, but with smooth edges. The trees had a mix of fruit and blossoms, like they never stopped blooming; he looked harder and found some unripe fruit mixed in with the ripe. There seemed to be a progression with blossoms at the top followed by unripe fruit and finally ripe fruit at the bottom, weighing down the branches.

Each tree had a slightly different fruit on it, but fruit differences aside the looked the same. Manny saw apples, pears, oranges and starfruit. So many different fruits were on trees that were all but identical.

Manny reached up and took an apple and had a bite. It was crisp and tasty. As Manny bit deeper into it, he realized there were no seeds. The branch that he pulled it from had sprung back up to the top of the tree and had a small white flower forming on it.

Manny and Dini walked on to the very center and they saw a tree that must have been 100 feet around stretching higher than they could see. The branches of this tree held all sorts of fruit imaginable. As they would pick the fruit the branches would snap back up skyward. There was a warm spicy scent in the air. It smelled like snickerdoodles. Manny walked up to the tree and hugged it. It was so big around it was like hugging a wall but once he was against it he realized the smell was coming from the tree. It was a rich smell, like cinnamon, vanilla and cloves mixed together.

They circled the tree and started heading outwards opposite of the way that they had come in. As the woods started to thin they heard the sound of an electric guitar. The guitar was playing a wailing solo with intricate arpeggios. The road came out of the woods into a clearing, where they saw the back side of a stage set up with a large crowd of people around it. A young man, barely out of his teens was playing the guitar while the fans were cheering loudly.

The music was heavy on percussion; there were three drummers with each with a slightly different kit. There was the lead guitar and then 3 people playing panpipes. A half dozen women danced on the side of the stage with tambourines. The sign above the stage read "King David and his Mighty Men."

The music was a mix of folk and rock and King David was playing the ultimate front man. The crowd was entranced. Dini began swaying to the music.

"This is very good." Dini said.

"Probably the best show I've seen." Manny agreed.

The first song ended and when the next one started, David only started singing the line then held the mike out to the crowd who picked up the tune.

Manny recognized the psalm and started singing along with the crowd.

"You know this?"

"We always sang this in church. I grew up with it."

David started throwing guitar picks into the crowd. Manny caught one and then carefully stowed it.

Dini and Manny made their way around the crowd, and saw that it was mostly full of screaming kids. Someone of them were wearing T-shirts for the band. Dini asked one of the kids where he got the shirt.

"In the back, there is a guy selling them."

They pushed through the crowd until they came to the back and saw several stands set up selling various wares. Most of the vendors were paying scant attention to Manny and Dini. They were transfixed on the concert. Dini picked up a pink t-shirt that said "King David and His Mighty Men, Afterlife Tour." He paid for it and proudly put it on. "My wife will be so proud of me when she sees me in it."

Manny bought a couple of smoked turkey legs off of a vendor and gave one to Dini.

"What is this?"

"A turkey. It's a ground bird about so big, that is very good for eating." Manny said holding his hands a foot and a half apart.

"Moses and Elijah have gone fishing. King David is playing the rock star. Who is next? Noah?" Manny asked

"They said something about him being on a boat."

"Turn seaward then?"

## Chapter 11

They turned toward the water and continued walking. After a while they could smell the salt air. Houses started to get taller and closer together but as they approached the three towers in the sea they had a surprise. The road that they were on changed from a brick paved street into a wooden dock. They followed the dock out to its end and looked out across the water. They were about 50 feet up and they could clearly see three of the towers standing alone in the water. Each had a spider web of docks coming off of them. They could see the base of the middle one and it had room for a ship to sail through it. The water between them and towers was full of boats of every description.

"It looks a bit far to swim, maybe we can catch a ride."

Manny looked left and right and a couple of docks over there was a water taxi. "Come on." Manny said as he hurried over toward the dock.

The water taxi was a shuttle between land and the 3 towers, which stood in the water.

"We're looking for Noah."

"I hear he just left building 12, headed out to sea. He should be back in a month or two."

"We'll see what we can do." Manny told the boat's captain.

Manny and Dini hopped onto the water taxi and waited for the rest of the passengers to get on the boat. The first stop was building 11, the one on their left. They got off on the docks of building 12, before the taxi headed off to building 1.

"If this is 12, I must have been in 7. "Manny said.

They walked along the docks looking at the various boats. There were some cabin cruisers, a few proper houseboats, and long strings of junks tied together. They saw some speedboats getting ready to go out and some fishing boats coming in. The fishing boats were all riding perilously close to the water. Manny took off his cap and waved at one of the incoming boats and the captain tooted his horn.

Dini shouted and shook his spear at another and the captain tooted and waved.

"None of these boats are what I am looking for."

"I am sure any of them would take us."

Manny walked on until he saw a small two masted ship. The ship was flying the jolly roger. The ship was named "The Knotty Pirate". Manny knew it was the right ship when he saw it sailed out of San Jose, California.

"Ahoy!" He called.

"Avast! It seems we have a couple of land lubbers." One of the men on the boat said.

"Ay, it be Queequeg and Ishmael me thinks." A woman on the boat said.

"No, no, no! It can't be Queequeg unless his tattoos have all grown together."

"And it can't Ismael unless he took up cross dressing. That man's wearin' a skirt."

"Arrrr!" Manny shouted climbing into character. "It be a kilt! And ye know why it's called a kilt?"

"'Cause that's what you did to the last man, what called it skirt! Come aboard lubbers, ye be all right."

"We are looking for Noah's ark." Manny said.

"It not be an ark you're seeking then. It's the Love Boat." The woman said.

"Exciting and new it be." the man quipped. The two pirates and Manny laughed.

"We can help ye find it." The first pirate said. "Run below and fetch the crew. We're off!"

Manny went to the hatch to below decks and threw it open and was hit by a blast of cold air. He looked around and saw a half dozen computers set up. There were four people playing a video game head to head. "The captain says we are headed out."

The crew chorused "Arr!!" and hurried out the hatch and took positions above.

Everyone moved with remarkable efficiency. The captain barked orders to Manny and Dini. They fell in handling ropes with the rest of the crew. Manny was surprised at how difficult was to run up the sails, but he threw his back into it and got it done.

The ship pulled away from the dock and into the sea bound traffic. The captain ordered some sail taken in to match the speed of the boat in front of them.

Manny walked to the railing and inhaled the sea air. The smell was just what he remembered as a teenager from summers working on the boardwalk. Some people didn't like it but Manny new that that was the smell of life.

They were in a stream of ships headed out bound in an orderly manner. On the left side of the boat, port Manny corrected himself, there was a rowing team pulling a water skier. Looking at the crew, Manny saw that all of them but one was an angel, and that the water skier was one too. Manny laughed.

"What is funny?" Dini asked.

"Remember how we saw those people arguing and you asked if that was heaven for them?"

"Yes"

"Look over at the rowboat, and the man being pulled by it. Only one of those people is real. The others are stand-ins, angels perhaps."

"They all look the same to me."

"Hmm." Manny shook his head. "Which one do you think is real? Whose fantasy is this?"

"The person being pulled?"

"Actually it is the third rower back."

"Perhaps I am a Mets fan too."

Manny laughed.

The ship cleared the traffic and the captain called for the ship to come to port. Seagulls flew ahead and the air seemed to pick up as the ship turned across the wind. The captain was running the wheel in the stern deck, and the rest of the crew was lining the railings.

"Ishmael, you mangy land rat! Up to the crow's nest. This be your fool adventure, you be the lookout."

Manny shouted, "Aye, sir!" And started climbing the rope to the crows nest on the top of the main mast. As he climbed a couple of the women in the crew gave wolf whistles.

"What am I looking for Cap'n?"

"The Love Boat, ya barnacle scraper! How many times do we have to tell ya! A big white boat."

Manny was scanning the horizon in the direction the ship was heading as Dini climbed up to join him.

"I know the name Ishmael, but who is this Queequeg and how are they joined."

"Ishmael and Queequeg were characters in a book called Moby Dick. They sailed aboard a whaling ship together. Queequeg was from the south seas and was covered in tattoos. He was a master harpooner and always carried his harpoon with him. The book is told from the perspective of Ishmael. If he weren't the narrator he probably wouldn't even be worth mentioning. Queequeg was the closest thing to a hero in the book."

Dini nodded, "Why is it called Moby Dick?"

"That is the name of the whale. The whale ship they were on was tracking a sperm whale that had taken off the captain's leg. The captain of the ship was obsessed with killing the whale. In the end of the book, the whale kills everyone except for Ishmael."

"How does the whale kill people?"

"He rams the ship and sinks it."

"It must be a small ship then."

"About this size actually. Probably a little bigger."

"Whales can't wreck a ship this big. This book must be false."

"The book was fiction, but it was based on real whales sinking real ships."

"I would love to see these whales."

"If you stay here I am sure the captain will take you to see whales if you like."

"I should stay with you and help you find your friend."

"You need to find your own path. You have helped me tremendously."

Dini nodded and they scanned the horizon.

When Noah's ship came into sight, Manny realized why the captain called it the Love Boat. It was a large cruise ship and it reminded Manny very much of the ship from the old TV show. They came alongside the mighty ship and a port opened low down on the hull and a gangplank was extended over to the little pirate ship.

"Captain, I am much obliged for the transport, and if there is ever anything I can do, let me know."

"Arrr! Any time."

Manny started across the plank and Dini said. "I think I will stay. The captain says he will take me to find a white whale, but not to hunt." He handed his spear to Manny. "Safe travels. I know you will find what you are looking for."

Manny took spear. "Safe travels, friend."

## Chapter 12

Manny walked onto the ship and the first thing he noticed was a sign on the wall saying "No Pets!"

Manny laughed, as an angel steward greeted him. "There are no more births on the ship, as it is quite full, but you can stay in the staff area. You will take one of the spots that we fill."

"That should work out well."

The angel nodded and led Manny to a storage locker. Inside of the locker was a steward's uniform. Manny put on the uniform and stowed his stuff in the locker. The locker seemed to stretch to accommodate the spear. He was then led to the staff quarters. Most of the staff were angels but there were a few people. He introduced himself to the person in the next bunk.

"Hi, I'm Manny, a new steward."

"Hi, I'm Bob, one of the chefs."

"I've heard good things about the food here."

"We get by."

Manny and Bob chatted for a bit when a soft bell sounded.

"Time for our shifts to begin."

Manny and Bob headed out of the barracks towards the kitchen. Bob put on an apron and started to work doing prep for meal to come. He was shouting out orders to lesser kitchen staff that were dashing about getting things ready. Bob showed a meticulous attention to counts and proper procedure. Manny could truly see a man in his element. Manny stood with the other stewards. He was handed a silver tray with a covered cup of what looked and smelled like mint tea.

"Take this to Noah. He is on the lower promenade deck. Short, balding, long white beard, white uniform."

Manny took the tray and headed toward the staff elevator. He made it to the right deck and quickly found Noah.

Noah was much as described. He looked very much like a cruise ship captain and he was making his way through the crowd relishing every handshake and back pat.

Manny walked up to him and held out the tray with tea. "Your tea sir."

Noah looked at him, took the tea and then said, "Walk with me."

Manny tucked the tray under his arm and followed Noah.

"You're different. You see things as they are don't you? You see through all of this." He said waving his hand.

Manny nodded.

"You notice how all of these people are real. They all want to be there. They want to meet me and they want to see each other. This is what I was missing from life. I had so many friends before. You can't know what it's like to have everyone you know or have met die. The stories never talk about what a horror the flood really was. There were people in makeshift rafts and fishing boats. People clinging to furniture. There were even people outside the ark banging to get in."

Noah took a sip of his tea. "I would have let them in if it were up to me. I am not sure what's worse, knowing that I lost those friends to flood, or knowing that I lost them to the fire. You've seen the fire haven't you?"

"Felt it actually." Manny said as the thoughts of it came raging back, along with the screams.

"And you can hear the screams? It gets better as you go further out. The desire to lift off does as well. It's funny what I carried with me from the flood. I lost it all to the water. Friends and family of course. I had a house though that I had built from stone. It was washed away. After that I just lived in tents and that is a long time to live in tents, without a bed or walls. It was odd living my life knowing that everyone around me was my children, or my children's children. I love being around people, and I love being on the water. Before the flood I couldn't care. By the time the rain stopped, I was thinking to move to the desert when it was all over. Then later when I sent out the dove and it came back with the branch, I knew I was hooked on the sea. I had learned its moods and the way that it moved. It was home. I was on dry land for over a year before it felt normal and stopped shifting on me." He paused.

Noah smiled and continued, "The animals are another thing. Everyone expects me to be running a floating petting zoo."

"I saw the no pets sign."

"It was a never ending task. Muck out the stalls, comb the fur, and feed the animals. Start at the front of the ship, make your way to the back, take a nap and start all over again. When we got to dry land the animals went about their business making more animals and were pretty much on their own, but I didn't miss them. I really don't miss the camels." Noah laughed.

"You recognize the ship and the uniform, I had seen the show and the parade of people coming in and out and I knew that was the life or afterlife for me. See, I missed all of these people, having them around. Eight people can be very lonely until the grandkids start coming."

"You are looking for someone right?"

"Yes, he name is Mira. Her family is worried."

"You know she has arrived, and you know she hasn't left, but you can't seem to find her."

"Yes, have you tried looking for someone like that?"

"No. Everyone comes looking for me. The only ones who haven't come for me, I found down with the fire." He shook his head. "You would know if she were there. You would have been told as well. Likewise, you would know if she left. Even I would. Speak about someone who has lifted off and you'll see."

"Well, I met the prophet Nehemiah." Manny said and felt a warm glow.

"He rebuilt the walls around Jerusalem right?"

"He was still building walls."

Noah laughed, "Yeah, I guess he would."

"He got his hands on some construction equipment from my time and was able to do it very quickly."

They laughed.

"When you speak or think of someone you get a sense of where they are, what they are doing." Noah said.

"Everyone in the center is looking for Elijah, Moses and some of the other prophets."

"Did you see Moses's moat? He was always a bit of a show off." Noah laughed.

"That was how I knew it was his place. No one there could find him."

"He doesn't want to be found and they don't want to go through the work of finding him. They would rather wait and argue then actually go and look."

Manny nodded.

"You've seen it. You are motivated. I think that you can find them. Stay on the ship for a while."

## Chapter 13

Manny spent the next few days on the ship. He served as a steward, though most of his job seemed to be room service, taking food to people who were enjoying their cabins. Most of the people on the ship seemed to be young couples in love. Manny figured it was what Noah was looking for in the afterlife.

As an experiment he tried touching one of the cabin doors. He was rather surprised that he didn't see the lives of the people who were inside. He went and asked Noah about it.

"When you see peoples lives touching their doors, it's their doors that you are touching. Just about all of the passengers on this have homes and doors elsewhere. This is a vacation for them. Some of them met and then decided to come on a cruise. Some of them had been together in life and wanted one last fling. Some of them were prevented from meeting by various reasons. There is a lot of tragedy in their stories."

"Do any of them depart right after leaving the ship."

"We usually come back with half the people we left with. There are some though that have taken several cruises with me."

"So is your door here on the ship?"

"No, I had a place near Elijah. I set fire to it, found this boat and never looked back."

Manny spent most of his down time with Bob. He knew that he didn't need to actually do work and that he could get passage to shore any number of ways. There were always launches and helicopters headed to various shore destinations, random fishing boats that passed with hailing distance, and once he could have sworn he saw someone riding on the back of a pair of sea turtles. Bob was a good guy. He had wanted to be a great chef in life but seemed to be thwarted at every turn. He had worked at a number of restaurants but was frustrated by incompetence above him: head chefs who couldn't cook, managers going through the motions, and lack of quality ingredients. As Manny listened to Bob's stories he realized that to many people it would be excuses for their failed lives but for Bob it was a list of challenges he had overcome to get here.

"So Manny, what previous experience did you have before you got here?"

"I spent a couple of summers as a teenager serving ice cream. After that I did construction. I was wandering around looking for something to do and then I found this job."

"I am glad you are here. You are such a hard worker, and we never get anything but compliments about you."

"Everyone here works hard, but you really seem to care about it. I want to do a good job and make people happy but to you it seems like a calling."

Bob sat up a bit straighter. "I guess it is. Food is important. It's part of life and it allows us to live. It's amazing how it can be such a simple thing and yet so complex. They say the 99 folds of a chef's toque represent the 99 ways to prepare eggs. Eggs, 99 different ways, can you imagine it? Growing up food was always a part of my life. Getting together with family and sitting around the table at grandma's house. It was always a way to bring people together."

Manny started to tell Bob about Hector and Rose, and _Abuela_. As he mentioned Hector and Rose, he could tell that they were close, on the ship, he realized with surprise. He told Bob about the food that _Abuela_ had prepared, the enchiladas and fried plantains. As he talked with Bob about it, he could see Bob's eyes light up. Bob started asking all sorts of questions that Manny couldn't answer. What the ingredients were, how long things were cooked.

"Hector might know. At the very least he could set you up to meet _Abuela_. I am sure she would love to trade recipes with you."

"But how will I find him and get a chance to talk to him about it?"

"Have you ever done a chef's table?"

"I hadn't thought of that. I can set up a chef's table, get them in and start talking with them."

The dinner was set for the next night. It would be Hector and Rose and then two other couples. A table was setup in the kitchen so everyone could watch Bob prepare the food.

The first course was a mango chutney served over a plantain crisp. Bob sliced 6 even slices of plantain and then deep-fried them. He ran slices of mango through a food processor with some herbs on a fine chop and spooned it over the plantain crisp. The crisp had curled up slightly on the edges as it fried making it into a little scoop.

"This is a mango chutney served on a plantain. The plantain is a relative of the banana, but it has a starchier, less sweet taste."

" _Mi Abeula_ , makes plantains all the time, but she never topped them like this." Hector said.

"How does she normally prepare them?"

"Pan fried, sometimes with chilies, sometimes with some cinnamon and sugar. Occasionally she would bake them like a potato."

Bob nodded and got started on the second course. "It's appropriate that you mentioned chilies. We happened to have a shipment of fresh chilies on board." Bob pulled out a dish with fresh green chilies and quickly roasted them over the burner of the stove. The outer skin of the chilies started to bubble and burn off and Bob quickly rinsed off the charred papery skin in running water.

"These chilies are a variant of the poblano pepper. It has a medium heat and a very rich flavor." He set the chilies aside and started cutting corn off of the cob. He then ran the back of the knife down the cut edges of the corn to extract the remaining pulp. He diced some green onions and the chilies, and added the most of vegetables to a pot of milk and brought it to a boil. He added salt, pepper and a hint of sugar. In a skillet he started cooking some reddish sausage he removed from the casing.

Rose sniffed, and asked, "Is that chorizo?"

"Yes, I am going to use it to top the corn chowder." Bob ladled out six bowls of the chowder and then put down a ring of green chilies and then filled the ring the browned chorizo. The effect was similar to a bull's-eye.

Everyone loved the soup and complimented him on the heat from the chilies and chorizo was modulated by the milk and cream in the soup. One woman commented that even though she saw him add sugar to the recipe that she couldn't taste the sweetness.

"The next course is going to be swordfish, caught fresh off of the back of the boat this morning. If no one has any objections I will prepare the fish in front of you."

Bob deftly started skinning and preparing the fish. He cut it into several small portions and then arranged them in a hot pan with some butter and garlic. He then poured some white wine into the pan and threw on a large bouquet of spices and covered the pan with a lid and removed it from the heat. Bob then plated and garnished the fish.

One of the women commented, "This is the best fish I've had in my life."

"Part of it is way that it is cooked, but it is always important to start with quality fresh ingredients."

Bob the started to cut up some fruit. He cubed kiwi fruit and sliced grapes in half. He sectioned and orange and then chopped the segments into tiny pieces. He peeled and cubed a couple of apples and then added them into a bowl with the rest of the fruit. He then sprinkled it with powdered sugar and then tossed the fruit together, by shaking the bowl. He pushed the bowl away from him and gave it twist with his wrists and launched a cascade of fruit into the air and towards himself. The fruit landed neatly in the bowl. He did this two more times and set the fruit aside.

"The sugar will pull the natural juices out of the fruit."

Bob poured some cream and a few drops of hot sauce into a mixing bowl and set it under the mixer.

"The hot sauce isn't enough to taste, but it is enough to stimulate your senses. You can't actually taste the heat but it brings out the flavors in the fruit and makes it pop." Hector and Maria looked skeptical but one of the other people at the table nodded.

The cream quickly frothed up. Bob stopped the mixer and then folded in the fruit and sugar mixture. Then he carefully diced some strawberries leaving a piece of red skin on each piece. He also cut a 6 slices of kiwi. The fruit salad was spooned into bowls and then studded with bits of strawberry. A slice of kiwi was added to the side of each bowl.

Rose and Hector were surprised that they didn't taste the hot sauce.

"As I said, it is very subtle. It brings out the other flavors. Our next course involves some steak, which I have had marinating overnight. This both tenderizes the meat and it infuses flavors into it."

Bob pulled a large flank steak out of a sealed container with brown liquid in it. "The marinate is actually based on a soft drink. The acid in the soda tenderizes the meat and the sugar added some flavor. I have added orange peel, ginger, garlic, and crushed red pepper." He placed the flank steak on the grill and started charring and skinning more of the chilies. He finely diced the chilies and some onions and cooked those together in a pot with some butter. He flipped the steak and then added milk, cream and chicken broth to the onions and chilies. The mixture started to boil and Bob removed the steak from the grill and set it aside. He then started pouring corn meal into the mixture while stirring it.

"I've taken the steak off the grill to let it rest before I carve it. Letting it rest will allow it to finish cooking and allow some of the juices to return to the meat. It makes for a more tender and tasty piece of meat. In the pot I am making a polenta, essentially corn meal cooking in liquid, cousin to grits. Some times it's chilled, cut then fried but I am going to be serving it loose."

Bob stirred the polenta for a bit and then set it aside and began carving the steak. He cut the large steak was into thin strips. He then stirred a large chunk of butter into the polenta and spooned it onto six plates. He fanned portions of steak out on top of the polenta.

Hector and Rose ate the steak and polenta with relish.

"This is much like the hominy _Abuela_ makes."

"You've mentioned her cooking a few times. I would be curious to try it some time."

"She loves cooking for people. I am sure that she would love to trade recipes with you." Bob smiled and they made plans for when the ship returned to port the next day.

"For the final course I have prepared a trifle. Since trifles are best after they have sat and chilled for a day or two, I will serve some and then prepare another one while you eat."

Bob served up the trifle and then started preparing one. First he put down a layer of sponge cake followed by orange marmalade and then he poured on some orange liquor. Bob then layer on some chocolate pudding and another layer of cake. This was followed by more marmalade, and liquor. Finally it was topped with whipped cream and wedges of mandarins.

Everyone enjoyed the dinner. Afterwards Manny and Bob were talking about the dinner.

"I wish I could have been there, but seeing Hector might have been awkward."

"I understand. Everything went incredibly well. Everyone loved the food. Hector even offered to introduce me to his _abuela_."

"Excellent."

"Noah even heard about it from the other guests and he wants to make it a regular part of the cruise. He wants me to do it every night."

"It could be quite the draw."

"I am not sure I want to do it. That was the best meal I've ever cooked. Everything just worked so well. I think I may hang up my hat for a while."

"Talk to _Abuela_. Learn her secrets, and then decide.

The ship returned to tower 12 and everyone started to get off. Manny and Bob walked down the gangplank. When he was halfway down, Manny looked back and saw Noah. He raised Dini's spear as a salute and Noah waved back.

Manny and Bob met up with Hector and Rose.

"Manny, where did you get that thing?" Hector asked pointing at the spear.

"I got it from a guy herding cows." Manny got a warm feeling remember Dini and realized that he had passed on after seeing his whale. "I haven't found Mira yet, Hector, but I am still looking. I spoke with Noah and he gave me some suggestions. He says that she doesn't want to be found but that I can find her because I am willing to look."

"Thank you for doing this for me, because you are doing this I can be with Rose and we can have our lives."

Manny smiled. "Take Bob here to meet your grandmother. I am sure they can each show each other a thing or two."

They all hugged. Hector, Rose and Bob all went to a water taxi. Manny decided to walk down the pier a way.

## Chapter 14

Manny walked down the pier towards the tower. When he got there he looked around and found his friend in the yellow parasol.

"Are the towers are connected?"

"Subway, take the escalator behind you"

Manny turned and saw an escalator he wasn't sure if it had been there before. He rode it down and looked at the white tile walls. As he went further down the large white tiles were replaced with smaller white tiles and then by a pattern of tiles. As the escalator went down the pattern became more complex. At first it was alternating white and blue tiles and then there were skips two whites or two blues. The grid pattern started to fall apart and then the tiles shrank once again. Manny must have been three hundred feet down when the escalator came to an end. The tiles were in a seemingly random pattern as they continued down the hall. Manny heard the distant sound of a train and he heard something else as well.

Music was wafting down the hall at him. He walked towards it and admired the acoustics of the tunnel. As he got closer he realized that it wasn't just one source of music. There was what sounded like someone banging on five gallon buckets. More music came from an electric guitar. Finally, there was a string quartet, two men and two women in formal dress, black tie, playing an intricate classical piece. The guy playing the electric guitar looked like the classic hippy. He had long greasy hair held back with a beaded headband, a tie dyed shirt and faded blue jeans. The girl, who looked about twelve, was dressed in a hip-hop fashion. She had baggy pants in bright colors, a white tank top, and her hair back in cornrows.

He stopped and listened to the guitarist. He was playing a mournful tune. The guitar almost sounded like it was screaming as he plucked away. The melody went up and down and for a moment it sounded like its own language. The guitarist was speaking to him. Telling Manny the story of his life through the music. As he listened he heard the notes tell him about the guitarist's life in college, joining a pickup band and cutting classes. Manny heard about life on a commune with an acoustic guitar and dozens of women with tambourines and enthusiasm but not much in the way of skill. All of this was coming through in notes.

The quartet was more of a conversion. Two violins were chattering back and forth. It was the discussion of how the day went, trading stories. The viola came in with suggestions. It was the older sister to the twins. It brought age and wisdom. It spoke with the wisdom of extra years but still young enough to join in when things got heated. Then there was old father cello. He was speaking under it all. He was the proper guidance, the voice of reason, the constant. The cello spoke with low slow tones and the violins followed. He steered the conversation while the violins chattered around and the viola rode herd.

The drummer was more complex. She had 2 buckets that she struck and a third that she sat on. One of the buckets was shorter than the other and had been cut down. It produced a higher pitch than the other. The drummer also modulated the pitch by where she struck the drum. She had one sound from the rim, another from the center and something totally different from the side of the drum. To emphasize a note she would lift the rim of the bucket and get a hollow sound.

Her story was different then the others. Her life had been lived shorter and faster. She played drums like this on the streets to get change. She would bundle them and ride the subway to better areas of town and play there. She would pack some food and sometimes spend a week underground playing. She stayed in the subway to avoid paying fares. It was safe at night, patrolled by the police, cool in the summer and warm in the winter. She had a friend and he would dance while she played. It earned them more tips. It was not quite double, but she didn't mind splitting it with him. She was glad for the company. One thing that carried through the story was a sadness and a longing. Manny was trying to figure out what it was that she wanted and then it came, as the story of life underground ended. She missed the sun. She played about coming out of the subway one bright spring morning and seeing the rays of the sun coming down the escalator as she was riding up out.

Manny stood in the middle of the music and then closed his eyes and listened to it all. The stories ran together and Manny smiled. He looked down to the train platform below and saw rows of lights next to one of the tracks blinking. He turned to the drummer girl and said "Come on, I want to show you something."

She quickly gathered her buckets and followed Manny to the train. They got onto one of the cars and took seats facing each other.

"That was some beautiful music"

"Thanks, you don't look like the type of person who would usually appreciate it."

Manny smiled, "I could really hear your story in it."

An announcer came on and said "Next stop tower 11"

There were three other people in the car: a businessman in a suit reading a newspaper, a kid who had headphones on who resting his head against a window and what looked like a cleaning woman. The train rattled along and the kid in headphones closed his eyes and looked ready to sleep. The businessman read his newspaper and the cleaning lady watched the businessman. As the train pulled into tower 11 a dozen people got on dressed like they came from a production of a Christmas Carol. They wore red velvet coats with fur trim; they were dripping with fake snow and singing "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen."

The businessman started laughing. He turned to Manny, "The things you see on the subway. I never get tired of it. I once missed my stop because of a performance of Romeo and Juliet going on between trains."

The carolers got off at tower 10 and were replaced by a pigeon being chased by a squirrel. The pigeon had a large slice of bread. The slice of bread was so big that the bird had problems flying. It would hop along then flap its wings a few times and make it up onto a seat. The squirrel was scurrying madly trying to catch the bird but was always one hop short.

The chase went on for a couple of minutes up and down the car until the bread broke, leaving the pigeon with a small piece and the squirrel escaping with the lions share.

The businessman was holding his sides laughing while the kid and the cleaning woman smiled at him.

The carnival of oddities continued unabated. After the pigeon and squirrel came a group of cavemen. Bicyclists rode in one of the doors and then out the other. Ablonde, a brunette and a redhead walked in together. The kid with the headphones said, "What is this? A joke?" and everyone laughed except for the blonde who said, "I don't get it." Manny noticed that all three were angels. He thought that he go could around a dozen times and never get bored. Tower 7 came far too soon and he and the drummer girl got off.

"The things you see down here." the drummer girl said as they got off the train.

"Do you spend a lot of time down here?"

"I can't remember the last time I saw the sun."

Manny walked toward the elevator and she followed.

"Wait 'til you see this."

Manny jammed the up button and the elevator rose and rose. When the door opened to the roof, the girls eyes lit up and she broke into a run and jumped off the edge of the building. She dropped a drumstick along the way. Manny picked it up and looked at it. It was old and well used. He carefully added it to his pack.

Manny walked towards the edge, enjoying the warmth and joy. He knew he needed to turn around, but it was difficult. He felt the weight of his pack and remembered his promise. He turned and saw Hector and Rose.

"Just seeing someone off. She was a jumper." Manny said

"Manny, I know you promised _Abuela_ that you would find Mira, but I understand. I know I can't wait and look much longer myself. It's hard."

"No, I am looking. I think I am beginning to feel where she is."

Hector nodded. He and Rose were walking hand and hand toward the edge and disappeared into a flash of light. Manny rode the elevator down to the ground.

## Chapter 15

Manny walked out of the building and turned outwards. He knew that he was headed in roughly the right direction. As he worked his way outwards he noticed the buildings dropping off in height, though not nearly as extremely as they did going in. As he walked he used Dini's spear as a walking stick. It was strange he realized walking down this street. Most of the people were angels, working as set dressing, making the other people think that things were real though to Manny they were looking more and more like shadows flickering into and out of existence.

The street was normal looking macadam with broad sidewalks. After a dozen blocks the buildings were down to twenty stories tall and seemed to be getting shorter at a slower rate. The street split at a Y and Manny took the right street, which he thought roughly paralleled the coast.

Pounding techno music came out of a loading dock door in the building next to him. Manny thought back to touching Mira's door and remembered that some of her better memories were on the floor at clubs. He walked into the space, which looked like a converted warehouse. There were rough wooden floors with hundreds of people packed in and dancing rhythmically. Manny started swaying to the beat as he moved through the crowd. The crowd was the same oddball mélange that he had gotten used to. There were men and women. Some dressed in modern clothes, some dressed in medieval attire and a surprising number of them naked.

Off in the corner he heard an ululating cry followed by some chant. The chant picked up in pace and the DJ changed the tune. He was spinning up a new record to match it and was digging through his stacks for more vinyl.

The chant picked up and grew louder. Manny looked over to the corner and he saw a group of a dozen men chanting and jumping in time with the music. They were all dressed like Dini and carried the same spears. They shouted and then jumped into the air, stabbing their spears in the sky. Manny worked his way over to them as they were chanting and jumping. The crowd had backed ten feet from them because of the spears. The spears were now being carried point down and as they jumped, they drove the spear points into the wooden floor and then jumped using the spears for extra height. One even landed on the butt of the spear and the crowd applauded.

Manny made his way over to the spearmen and joined in their dance as best he could. Bang the spear, shout, shout, raise the point, shout, jump and then shout. The pattern repeated itself as Manny danced with the group. He felt like one of them. As that dance came to an end the dancers banged their spears against his.

Manny was exhausted and out of breath when he got out of the warehouse. It had been incredible inside and he could tell that it was a place that Mira would have loved to have seen. He walked on down the street. The road had changed to cobblestones. It happened much slower that it had when he was going in. It gave him a sense of how much further he needed to go. The sidewalks disappeared eventually and were replaced by a section of cobblestone on either side of the street blocked off by chains. The buildings here were looking older, or looking like they were made to look older, 17th century retro, Manny thought. The road widened further but there were no real signs of vehicles just people milling walking around. In the middle of the street was a large fountain; on top of the fountain were four statues of men standing back to back with a column of water shooting over their heads. The first man had a guitar; the second a base, the third a pair of drumsticks and the fourth was holding a microphone. In the shadow of the fountain was a young woman playing a violin. She had her eyes closed and was playing intensely. Manny wanted to applaud her but didn't want to break her concentration.

Manny sat down on the fountain and splashed a bit of water on his face. He took the water skin out of his pack and filled it from the streams of coming from the top of the fountain. He smiled and felt the warmth from the sky. As Noah had said, it was much softer out here. He didn't feel quite the same urge to lift off. He thought of the other place and realize that the screams weren't as bad here. Maybe that is what Mira was running from.

Walking further and further away the ground started getting hillier as buildings and then eventually houses became further and further apart. Eventually he was into an area that alternated trees and scattered farms. As he walked along he saw a young barefoot boy sitting on a creek bank fishing.

"Have you caught much?"

The boy, who looked about eight, held up a string of fish.

"Good catch."

"Yep, my mom is going to cook them up for me. Would you like to come?"

Manny smiled and said, "Sure." The boy ran off towards one of the nearby farmhouses and then dashed inside, leaving the door open. Manny laughed at the boy's exuberance and followed him inside. Inside the house he was shocked by what he saw. Manny expected to see the boy's parents, but instead there were two angels with somewhat indistinct faces.

The boy held up the string of fish. "Look what I did mom! Look what I caught."

The angel smiled with pride, "You are such a good boy, Tom. We are both so proud of you. Who is your new friend?"

Tom turned to Manny and asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Manny."

"His name is Manny. Can he stay for dinner? I already told him it would be alright."

"Certainly. Of course he can stay."

Manny set his pack and spear by the door. He started rummaging through the pack, surprised at how much stuff he had picked up, until he found the plantains at the bottom. He pulled them out and they smelled delicious.

"What are those?" the boy asked

"They are called plantains. My mom used to cook them all the time when I was a child. They are sort of like potatoes but they grow on trees."

Tom looked at the plantains warily.

"They're good."

The angel took the plantains and peeled and sliced them into long thin strips. She fired them in oil and the end result was something that looked like french fries. She breaded and fried the fish and served up plates of what were essentially fish and chips to everyone. As they sat down at the table she said, "You are such a good provider. You'll make a great father some day."

Tom beamed with pride. He took a bite of the plantain. "This does taste like a potato, but sweeter."

"I'm glad you like it." Manny said.

"Are there lots of plantains where you come from?"

"Some, but they mostly get brought in from warmer places."

"Are there lots of plantains where you are going?"

"I don't know."

"What are you going Manny?"

"I am traveling around. I am looking for someone."

"Who?"

"A lost girl, her name is Mira."

"Does her mommy and daddy miss her?"

"She doesn't have a mommy and daddy."

Tom frowned and looked like he might cry. The angels shimmered a bit.

"She does have a grandmother who loves her very, very much."

"She does?"

"Yes and this grandmother keeps a kitchen full food waiting for her to come back home."

"Why doesn't she come home then?"

"Because she is lost."

Tom scrunched up his face and thought hard. "You need to find her."

"I do."

"I should come with you. Keep you from getting lost, so you can get home to your mommy and daddy."

"Maybe you should make sure it's okay with your parents to come with me."

"Is it okay?"

"Sure. You can leave first thing tomorrow morning. You need a bath now." The female angel said as she led Tom away into another room, leaving Manny and the male angel to talk.

"Orphan?"

"His parents didn't make it."

"He's a sweet kid. Should I take him with me?"

"He would like that. He's been here so long, even as an 8 year old he is beginning to suspect we aren't real."

Manny nodded. "Take him with me, then both he and Mira go to _Abuela_?"

"Probably for the best."

"Do you know where Mira is?"

"No one actually knows. You do seem to be headed in the right direction, but people who don't want to be found aren't usually along roads."

Manny smiled wryly.

He slept that night in front of the fireplace in a large rocking chair. He had a soft cotton quilt on top of him with an intricate geometric pattern that seemed to change as he moved his eyes.

## Chapter 16

The next morning Tom and Manny set off. Tom was carrying his fishing pole and wearing a ragged straw hat. Manny took the lead. As they walked Manny thought about what the angel had said, that people who don't want to be found aren't going to be on the road. They followed the road a bit until it came to a bridge crossing a stream.

"So should we go upstream or down?" Manny asked.

"Why not follow the road?"

"Your... father... suggested that people who don't want to be found don't stay on the road. When you play hide and go seek, do you hide in the middle of the living room?"

"No! I hide in the hayloft of the barn. In the front corner, so I can sneak out when they go looking in the back."

Manny smiled.

"So Mira doesn't want to be found so she will be off the road, right?"

"Right."

"But, she doesn't want to get caught up in sticker bushes...."

"So she follows the creek!"

"Right. So upstream or downstream?"

"Down. It's easier."

Manny nodded and the two of them walked along in shallow water on the side of the creek.

"Manny, how do we know she went down this stream?"

"We don't, but we have to start somewhere."

They walked along a bit more.

"Manny, do you have a son?"

"Two of them. All grown up with kids of their own."

"Wow, you must be old."

Manny laughed.

"They are really lucky." Tom reached out and took Manny's hand.

The two of them walked along the creek. Occasionally, the water would deepen or there would be overhangs and they would have to go cross-country to make progress. Manny took the lead using the spear to push aside vegetation and to make a clear path. He would push aside branches and then Tom would run ahead ducking under them. Manny would follow and let the branches fall. Slowly the land became flatter and the ground became softer. There wasn't as much underbrush so instead of walking in the creek they walked along side it.

The creek spread and grew wider and the bottom became softer. Soon they weren't following the creek as much as they were looking for dry spots in the swamp. Off in the distance Manny heard a buzzing noise. It sounded like bees but louder and lower.

"What's that noise?"

"It is transportation." Manny followed the sound until the dry patches of ground became a low road raised a foot or two out of the swamp. They followed it for a mile or two and then came to the sound of the noise. There was a small building up on stilts in the swamp with three swamp boats next to it. The sign on the building said "Leroy's Boats and Gator Supplies."

Inside they Leroy, a good old boy wearing bib overalls and a trucker cap. He was sitting on a chair with his feet up on the desk watching a grainy picture on a small black and white TV. The sound was full of static but the country themed variety show was clearly understandable.

"We would like a boat please."

"Actually could you do me a favor? I need to make a delivery but since you are going out could you take it for me?"

"Why not." Manny said, thinking that there really wasn't such a thing as coincidence here.

Tom loved riding in the swamp boat. He sat down on the lower part of the boat, with his arms wrapped around the large boxes of supplies. Manny was on an elevated chair even with the boat's giant fan. The boat zipped lightly through the swamp passing through the flat water and skimming over flat mud with ease. The wind was blowing in their faces and Tom was smiling.

Tom had traded his straw hat to Leroy for a truckers cap that read Leroy's Boats and Gator Supplies.

The directions were scribbled on a piece of paper. The directions were sketchy, with landmarks such as the dead giant tree, my old swamp boat, and General Jackson. General Jackson was a large, grizzled gator who was missing one of his front legs. They found the old dead tree, the flipped over rusting swamp boat and finally General Jackson. General Jackson hissed at them and made a halfhearted attempt at a chase. Tom was a bit frightened but they were gone so quickly that he didn't have to worry much. Eventually they got to their destination, a shack on stilts, in the middle of a lake.

Manny pulled the boat underneath and knocked on a trapdoor.

"Leroy? Is that you?"

"No, but I have your delivery."

Another voice came from above. "How many times do I have to tell that Leroy? Only he gets to bring the snacks. Letting strangers find us, find this place. Next thing you know we'll be up to our necks in people asking just what 'is is'."

The door opened and a pair of grizzled hands came down. "Hand up the boxes."

Tom handed Manny a box and he handed it up. Tom kept passing boxes until the boat was empty. Then Manny passed up Tom.

"What? What's this?" Came a voice from above.

Manny then climbed into the small shack. There were thee old men, two with long grey hair and the third one bald.

"Elijah, Moses and... Elisha?"

"Now he knows who we are." Moses complained.

Tom looked wide-eyed. "The Moses? Who crossed the red sea?"

The old man nodded.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone where you are. Besides even if I did, they wouldn't come here. They won't even cross the moat at your house."

Moses smiled and turned to Elijah, "And you thought it was silly. You thought it was an affectation. Hah!"

"So why are you hiding here?"

"Why not. We were tired of the desert. Leroy brings us sodas and barbecue potato chips. We play cards and relax. What more could we want?"

Manny didn't have an answer for that. "Why not pass on?"

They looked shocked. "That's for old people. Besides there are people who really want to meet us. How can we leave our public?" Elijah said with a grin.

"Then why aren't you out there with the public?"

"If they really wanted to meet us they would be here."

Manny started to realize the futility of arguing. These men had been practicing for a long time.

"I'm looking for a girl."

"You're a little confused then. What you have there appears to be boy."

Tom screwed up his face and shouted at Elijah, "You're mean!"

"And you're short. Fortunately, I'll grow."

Tom looked confused. Elisha and Moses glared at Elijah.

"I'm sure you'll find her the way you found us." Elisha said.

Tom and Manny climbed back down to the swamp boat and sped back to Leroy's. Leroy was sitting in the same place.

"So are you their gatekeeper?"

"Mean cusses, aren't they?"

"Yeah."

"You going to tell?"

"Maybe."

Leroy laughed. "Serves them right."

## Chapter 17

Manny and Tom walked down the path through the swamp. Eventually the swamp thinned out and became woodlands. As they walked Manny told Tom stories of his sons growing up. He told about the vacations that took as a family. He told Tom going to baseball games in the summer. Tom was very interested in it all. Tom didn't recall any childhood or life really. Manny figured that either Tom's life had been very short or very sad. He knew baseball and said that he played with friends, but not much else.

The walk was pleasant. The sun seemed to be always shining. Occasionally they would come upon a small grove of fruit trees, or some nuts and would eat as they walked. Tom asked about Manny's clothes and his pack, and about the odd collection of things in there. The thing that intrigued him the most was the package wrapped in brown paper.

"It's Mira's. I am not sure what is in it though. It is soft, and not lumpy."

"It's a dress." Tom said. "My mom used to get packages like that..." He trailed off turning sad.

"Maybe. I got the spear from a guy who herded cattle." Manny said changing the subject.

"He herded cattle with a spear?"

"Mostly he would just tap them with the flat. He said he used the spear to kill lions."

"Really?" Tom asked with surprise. "Was he African? I've never seen a real African before."

Manny nodded, "His name was Dini. I only knew him a little while but he was a good friend. I miss him."

The woods started to thin out and become scrubbier. Eventually the land transformed to grassland. Off in the distance, a herd of buffalo was running. They continued walking with out much of a goal in mind. Manny knew that he would find the right way and the just had to look.

Eventually they came to a small wooden town. It looked like something out of a western movie.

"Tom, want to ride?"

In the town Manny used the coins to purchase two horses and a pack mule, then food supplies to load onto the mule.

"Why do we need all this food?"

"We don't. It's for other people."

Riding the horses made the travel faster. It took Manny a little while to get used to it but Tom seemed to be a natural.

"I ride the plow horse sometimes." Tom explained.

Mountains loomed off in the distance, and over one section of mountain there was a driving thunderstorm.

Riding for hours, the mountains slowly got closer but the storm seemed to stay where it was.

"That's where we're going." Manny said.

"You think she's there?"

"Do you want to go there?"

"No." Tom thought a bit and then nodded.

"She is probably there."

As they approached the stormy area they saw a number of small shacks with people huddled inside. The rode up to the largest building, which was labeled "Assay Office"

"We have supplies." Manny announced.

"We're out of gold. There's a monster in the mine. She has all the gold. Foul beast, looks like a woman but she screams like the devil himself was grabbing her."

Manny and Tom walked toward the mine.

"You don't have to go in if you don't want to." Manny said.

"I should." Tom said and then Manny smiled. He knew what ever was in that mine wasn't half as terrible as some of the things that he'd seen, but even he was scared a bit. When they got to the mine there was a scream. It was something primal and pained. When Manny heard it he remembered the other screams. They were so far away now but he could still hear them. It sent a chill down his spine. He and Tom were soaked to the bone and standing at the entrance to the mine. There was a cold breeze blowing out of the mine.

"I want to sit by the fire Manny."

"Me too, and I want a nice glass of cocoa. I bet Mira wants to sit by the fire with some cocoa as well."

Tom nodded and then he and Manny went in. Once they were clear of the entrance Manny set his pack and spear down. He opened the pack and started to rummage through. He pulled out the package for Mira and two flashlights. He turned one on and handed it to Tom.

Tom took it with amazement. "No heat? No fire?"

"Just a little bit and it's all sealed away." Manny said, as he turned on the other light. The two of them walked down the mine tunnel. Whenever they came to a side tunnel they shined their lights down it. Some seemed to go on a long way, others were blocked by cave-ins, still others were flooded.

One side tunnel though, when Manny shined his light down it, the screaming grew louder.

"Mira!" He called.

"Go Away!"

Manny walked in the corridor and said "Mira! Come out!"

"No!"

Manny shined his flash into various nooks and alcoves looking for the scared young woman. Finally down one he saw a naked girl with long matted black hair hunched over and keening.

"Mira." He said gently touching her shoulder. She looked up at him.

"You're the ice cream man!" Mira shouted in recognition.

"What?"

"I guess you don't remember. One day, when I was 4 or 5, I dropped my ice cream cone and you gave me another. It's funny. I hung on to that memory all through school. It took me a long time to realize that you were just doing something nice for a stranger."

Manny smiled. "I remember now. You had on a pink dress right?"

"Yeah." She smiled.

" _Abuela_ is worried about you. She wants you to come home. She has dinner waiting for you."

"Mira." Tom said. "Please come with us?"

Mira looked up and Manny handed her the package. Manny handed it to her. She opened it up to reveal a beautiful green dress with delicate embroidery and beautiful beadwork.

"My _quinceanera_ dress. I thought it was lost." She quickly put it on and followed Manny and Tom out of the mine. As she stepped out of the cave the storm broke. The dirt seemed to float away off her skin. A gentle breeze blew her hair clean and dry and it fell into soft curls around her shoulders. There was a rainbow across the sky.

Manny gave the supplies to the miners and the miners insisted that he take a third horse and a sack of nuggets. The ride back seemed to take no time at all.

Back at tower 7 _Abuela_ welcomed Mira with open arms. She insisted that Tom and Manny stay and eat. Dish after dish came out of the oven. They all sat and laughed and talked. Mira's eyes were a brilliant green and everything about her seemed to glow. She was a young woman on her 15th birthday with a life full of hope and potential.

Manny excused himself from the table and started to head out. Mira caught him at the door and gave him a hug. "Thank you ice cream man. You saved me."

"My name is Manny." He didn't really have the words.

"I know what you went through to find me."

She leaned in the door, " _Abuela_ , I am going to go off with Manny. Don't worry I'll be all right. Tom, you take care of _Abuela._ "

Tom had a huge smile on a face smeared with a red sauce. He hugged _Abuela_ tightly as she wiped his cheeks with her apron

Manny and Mira started walking towards the elevator.

"Where to now?" she asked.

Manny felt tired, "I am going to the roof." he said.

## Afterword

The preceding was a fictionalization of a dream I had about heaven. It was a story that has been trying to get out of me for some time. Everyone in this is fictionalization and not intended to represent real people.

The setting of this story was Heaven and a bit of Hell, as I interpreted them. The dream that inspired this showed me that there are a large number of people who we would commonly expect to see in paradise who were in hell and vice versa. I don't believe that in our journey to Heaven we pass through Hell and that Hector's description of it, as "Arrivals" was inherently incorrect.

The "Departures" area is to be interpreted as people making a final leap of faith into the arms of Jesus. They are joining with the Father and the Holy Spirit into one perfect will. The leap off of the building or the rising up is a loss of self. It is people giving up their joys and happiness for something better. The book of Revelations talks about a new heaven and a new earth. What I explored I took to be the new Earth, and the new heaven was when people ascended. This is the location of Manny's journey

It is my hope that this book has brought you closer to Jesus, or at the very least entertained you.
