The Crystal: Chapter II

When I opened my eyes clouds were all around me. It was like I was in a cloud itself. And it was warm. Not the warm that comes in the summer when you feel like you’re going to suffocate and drop dead, but the warm that comes on a winter’s night when you snuggle under a big warm blanket. It was comforting warmth.

I looked around to find that I was floating. I still don’t know how I did it, but I would do it many more times in the future. I also took notice that I was translucent which if nothing else would freak you out, that would.

“Zoey. . . ”

Huh? What was that? Did someone say my name?

“Zoey. . .”

There it is again!

“Zoey, chosen one, answer to your call!”

An angel appeared in front of me. He was dressed entirely in the purest white I had ever seen with a brilliant golden sash draped around his shoulder. His face was child like with golden blond hair and sea blue eyes. He stepped towards me, and I seemed to float backwards.

“Don’t be afraid, chosen one.”

But I was afraid. I was floating in a strange place, translucent, and there was what appeared to be an angel moving towards me.

I have to be going out of my mind! I must have fainted because of the heat. I thought and shut my eyes tightly. When I open my eyes, I’ll be back in the group. Maybe with a bunch of people standing over me because I had fainted. Okay, One. . . two. . . three. . . Open.

I was still in the could like realm, floating. And an angel was still in front of me. He now had a vaguely puzzled look on his face, as if this wasn’t in his job description. I suppose I looked pretty silly, freaking out like I was.

The angel made another attempt to get my attention, “Chosen one, keeper of the crystal, I have a message for you on behalf of God.”

The word God snapped me out of my frenzy. God? Now I know that I’m dreaming! But I didn’t say that. You would never say that to an angel, even if he was just a figment of your imagination. Instead I humored him.

“Okay, what message does God have for me?”

“You are the chosen one, the keeper of the crystal.”

“Okay, I think we established that already, but what does that mean?”

“Did you not read the tablets on the altar where the crystal was held?”

“Well. . . no. I couldn’t read them.”

“Were they not there?”

“Yes, they were there.”

“Then what was amiss?”

“I didn’t understand the language.” I could feel my face redden.

The angel looked even more puzzled than last time.

Great, I don’t even make sense to an angel. . .

“Would you mind telling me what it said?” I asked.

“All right, I suppose it would not do any harm.”

The angel pulled a table out of thin air and read:

“Oh, keeper of the crystal, chosen by God, take your rightful position! Place your palm on the altar and proceed to the crystal chamber. You will become neither human nor angel, but forever be both. You shall be called to serve humanity and serve God. For no one else can do your job.”

Now it was my turn to look puzzled. Human nor angel? What is that supposed to mean? I was just about to ask the angel this when he said, “I think it would be best to take you to Metatron and let him explain it. Follow me, please.”

The angel raised his hand and the clouds parted to reveal a grand foyer. The foyer shined like nothing I had ever seen before it was even more beautiful than the cavern that I had found the crystal in. It was a large room, bigger than my entire house. There were many doors on the right and left sides of the room. The walls and floors were a white and gold marble that just glittered. And in the middle of the foyer was a huge staircase carved out of the same marble that the floors and walls were made of, which I assumed went to the second floor. There were also a few angels here and there, some talking with each other, and some going about their work in a hurried fashion.

“This is God’s house and where all the angels live and do their work.” The angel who took me to this place said. I had to bite my tongue hard to avoid blurting out ‘Holy shit!’ Somehow, I didn’t think that would go over very well.

The angel started walking towards the massive stair case from where we were on the clouds. I tried to follow, but when I tried to float I fell flat on my face. Almost every angel stopped and started at me. Lovely. What a way to make an impression. The angel that was leading me gave a little sigh and started to walk over to where I had fallen. “I suppose I should have told you that you are not able to float or fly when we are in this building.” He said. “Yea, I think that would have been pretty helpful.” I replied. The angel helped me up and made a motion to the other angels that there was nothing to see here.

Once I was up and standing, the angel led me up the stair case. The staircase was beautiful. It had ornate carvings all the way up the banister and a golden cloth runner going all the way up, too. We passed angels going about their daily business. Some were carrying scrolls, some were holding baskets full of various items, and one or two were reading books and not watching where they were going.

The angel I was with saw that I was staring and started telling me what the others were doing.

“The ones carrying the scrolls are messengers going to different departments and giving news. The ones that have the baskets are either making different clothes for everyone or bringing food to the kitchen. And the few angels that have books are reading the books of life. They are young angels trying to help Saint Peter at the gates of heaven. They have to get familiar with all of the books of life before they are able to be of any help.”

By the time that he had finished we were at the top of the staircase. Now we were in a long hallway with doors on either side of the hallway. The hallway was not really like the foyer at all. It seemed more like a hotel hallway with its carpets and paintings on the walls. It wasn’t as visually stunning as the foyer, but it had a charm to it and it seemed very friendly. There weren’t many angels up here, and I noticed that the ones that were had golden sashes like the angel that was guiding me.

As we were going down the hallway I saw that one of the doors was open and I looked in as we walked by. The rooms, I noticed, were offices. The walls were a pastel yellow color and the floor was a Berber rug. There was also a desk, chairs, bookcase, and cabinet in the room all made of the same warm wood. The desk held a vase of flowers and papers were stacked neatly. All in all, it was a very bright cheerful place.

By this time the angel was ahead of me, so I stopped looking and jogged to catch up with him. He looked over and smiled at me.

“It’s a beautiful place, isn’t it?” he asked.

I nodded my head, “It’s beautiful.” I replied. We walked in silence for a while.

The angel looked up. “Here we are, Metatron’s office.”