“Sacrifice,” he answered, lifting a baby deer that appeared onto his lap. “You and Eve were punished after being removed from this garden. You lived that one life, in hardship and sorrow, you died and your sins were paid. I welcomed you back then as I did now, and you both asked to do more for those who would not see this garden. You asked to show them love, what it looked like, what it called for, and you showed it to them over and over again. You sacrificed for those who came after you to know love. You asked for this. I did not punish you, the pain you felt, was from the arrogance, envy, stinginess, jealousy, greed, pride, anger, hatred, and lust of the world. A thousand times it came and a thousand times, you both stood as soldiers for love. Which is why the bodies passed away and you both became immortal among them. Do you not remember what Esther said?”
I did then. I heard her voice clearly again. Your love, your life, has inspired millions—no billions—of people to love foolishly…selfishly…unreasonably, with no regard for anyone or anything else. And because of that, when we see fireworks, when we see true love, we must stop what we’re doing and respect it enough to just let it be, to watch it dominate the sky, we stare in awe of fireworks.
“What was different about this life and all the others?” I didn’t have the answer that I needed. “No one was there to stop you two, Malachi. You weren’t on opposite sides. No one was keeping you apart. Your obstacle was your own fear. And when you overcame it, you were together. The world has changed because you both had the courage to answer love when it called. And now it’s done. This is it. Your last life. Enjoy it. Remember what you did to earn it. Esther is waiting.”
“What? I thought—” I reached out to catch the object he tossed to me and I when I did, I knew then without a doubt that God has a twisted sense of both irony and humor. Shaking my head, I stared at the apple in my hand, knowing he’d already left. “Thank you,” I said, before taking a bite.
ESTHER
November 19th - Lieber Falls, Montana
I saw myself—my selves—Pompeii, Camelot, Luxor, Seoul, Verona, Paris, Tenochtitlan, Lahore, Beijing, Obokwu, St. James Parish, London. On and on, I found myself spinning, falling, laughing, sobbing, begging, pleading, and dying. I felt it all over and over again, until I found myself standing in a garden. A gentle breeze blew over me.
“Well done,” A voice that sounded like my grandfather said to me before I heard Malachi.
“Esther…” His voice was faint.
Malachi? His name was both adrenaline and novocai
ne to my heart, easing the pain and making it race, all at the same time.
“I need you to wake up.” He felt so close. “Come back to me.”
I didn’t leave. I’m here.
“ESTHER!” He was in pain. He was in pain.
I’m here!
I’ll find you.
I’m HERE!
I’ll love you, I’ll swear it.
MALACHI!
When I opened my eyes, the light was blinding, so I closed them only for a second. I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat burned, yet even then I called out.
“M…Malachi!” As I gasped for air, an older woman flashed a light into my eyes and I tried to sit up but everything hurt. My body felt like stone.
“Esther? Esther, can you hear me?”
“Malachi!” I called again as I reached for my chest, trying to figure out why it hurt so badly. But there were wires everywhere on my hands and on my chest. I didn’t understand. Everything just hurt. I didn’t know where I was and I couldn’t see him. Panicking, I tried to pull them off.
“Esther, calm down! Esther, I’m your doctor. Sidney Neecey. You fell through the ice at the Lieber Pond. I promise everything will make sense. I just need you to calm down, alright?”
She held my hands to stop me from pulling at the wires. I looked at her for a long time before I swallowed the saliva that had pooled in my mouth. “W…Where…is…M…Mal…achi…?”
She looked over at the other people around me who were all dressed in green scrubs but none of them were him. They nodded to her, but I wasn’t sure what that meant. Or why there were so many people around us.
“Esther?”
I glanced over to the doorway where my mother was standing and just the sight of her face made my heart race and caused the monitors to go off. Reaching up to my chest, my heart hurt so badly I found myself hunching over.
“Doctor…”
“Yes?” She leaned in close.