Authors: Gregory Shultz
Bethel's Meadow (36 page)
“Stop, baby,” I say as I draw her again into my arms. “Don’t say another word. You just made a dream come true for me. I want you to know that.”
We hear a car pulling up in the parking lot.
I look at Glory and smile.
“You want to know something?” I say to Glory. “I lost my home the day my mother died. I always thought of home as a place, because when I lost my parents they took me from the place I called home. But home isn’t where you hang your hat. Home is a feeling, a feeling that one person gives another.”
I hear a car door swinging open . . . and now I hear it shut.
“Last night it came to me,” I say to Glory. “It came to me in a dream.”
“What came to you?” Glory asks.
“The meadow,” I answer, “in all its glorious and peaceful splendor. It beckoned me to leave this realm and to enter the realm of the meadow itself. The pull it was exerting on my soul was profoundly strong. It was as if it were trying to suck me in. I’ve been to that meadow before, Glory. Its appeal is beyond my ability to express. And I wanted to go there. I’ve wanted to return to my meadow since I first discovered it. But now . . .”
The front door slowly creaks open. It’s Dr. Salters.
“Bethel,” he says. “First, don’t worry. I had a friend drive us here. I’m almost blind as a crazy damn bat. Anyway, I have Miranda in the car. I think she’s ready for this now. Before I bring her inside, I have to ask: Are
you
ready?”
I look at Glory.
“What about the meadow?” she’s asking.
“Doc,” I say, “please bring her in.”
He smiles and nods. “Okay, son. I want you to know that I’m proud of you for doing this. Most men wouldn’t.” The door closes behind him.
I place my hands on Glory’s delicate cheeks.
“But now,” I say, “now I know that I have the power to find a meadow here in Tennessee. Together, you and I can build one of our own. Will you help me do that?”
Glory smiles and says, “Yes, I will help you do anything you want.”
“Before that little girl walks in here,” I say, “I want you to know something.”
“What’s that, Bethel?”
“The day I met you . . .” I look back at the door. It’s now creaking open again . . .
“Well,” I finally say as I hug Glory tighter than she would probably like, “no matter what happens with this little girl, I am going to love and care for you until the day I die.”
In one tiny space in the universe I have found my calling, my reason for living, and my true purpose.
The door is now open, but I can’t see anyone in the doorway. But what I
can
see in my mind’s eye is that peaceful meadow again. And now it is enveloping everything around me, surrounding everything in my field of vision. It’s like I have eyes in the back of my head—I can see the full panoramic view of the beautiful mountains, as well as the multi-colored array of dogwoods, maples, cherry blossoms, oaks, and willows that blanket the sloping and sprawling hills . . . the blue jays and the mockingbirds . . . the puffy white pillows of clouds hanging low above the water. Oh! See how peaceful the still blue water of the pond is . . .
“Bethel? Bethel? Are you okay?”
I snap back into reality.
I realize now that there is nothing at all mystical or heavenly about the meadow. It is actually something quite evil. Through that doorway in my mind, the meadow only disguises a dark void that is hidden within it. Somewhere amidst all the colorful flora and fauna of it, there lies a path to insanity, a seductive avenue of surrender that tempts the weak and the weary to enter.
I am now closing that door, locking it, and throwing away the key.
Why?
Because I am a fighter, and my soul is no longer weak and weary.
I am a father now. I will soon be a husband. I am close to having everything that a good man longs for.
I say to Glory, “I’m just fine, my beautiful wife-to-be.”
I turn, and just a few feet away from me is the most beautiful child I have ever seen.
Miranda is smiling at me. She’s a tiny thing, even for ten years old.
I drop into a crouch so that our eyes are level with one another.
“Hello, little angel,” I say. “Did anyone ever tell you that you have the prettiest blue eyes?”
In this child’s eyes, as well as in the eyes of the woman I love, I have found Heaven on Earth, a place where I don’t have to close my eyes to enjoy its majesty, a place where I am at peace with myself and everything and everyone around me.
I have finally found my way back home.
And it’s better than any place I could have possibly imagined.
****
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