'This looks delicious,' the man said as he passed the table with Simon's dinner on it. 'Mind if I have some?'
Simon shrugged.
The man took a slice of bread and dipped it in some gravy that Simon prepared for the beef. 'This is lovely,' he said after swallowing the last piece of the slice.
Get to the point. 'How did you do that the other night?' Simon asked.
The man sat down on a couch. 'This is comfortable,' he said.
Simon clenched his teeth, and nodded. 'So answer my question and stop stalling. Who are you, and how did you do it?' he asked again.
'Do what?'
'Heal my hand,' Simon said. 'Before you vanished into thin air.'
The man smiled. 'The same way you brought that boy back from the dead, Simon.'
Simon's heart skipped a beat. 'How do you know about that...?'
'The same way I know about everything you've done to date.'
'This is insane,' Simon said. How can he possibly know everything? Does he also have a gift from God?
'You can call it a gift if you like,' the man said. 'But it's actually the power of the Holy Spirit. The gift, as you like to call it, is being used as a vessel for the Holy Spirit to work through.'
'You know my thoughts?'
'When I'm allowed to,' the man said. 'There is very little that I don't know about you, Simon.'
Simon probed his memory. He couldn't shake the feeling that he knew the stranger from somewhere, but couldn't for the life of him remember from where.
'Have you ever wondered why you are so different from everyone else?'
Simon pondered the question. 'Only recently.'
'Did you grow up with religious parents?'
'Not really, no. But I don't see...'
'And yet you've had a close relationship with the Lord from a very young age, right?'
Simon nodded.
'There has never been a single doubt in your mind that God exists, even though no one formally told you about Him.'
'Who...Who are you?' Simon asked.
'You're focusing on the wrong questions, Simon. The question is not who I am, but who you are.'
'Me...?'
The man nodded.
'I'm...Simon...'
'Perhaps in this realm you are known as Simon.'
'This realm?' Simon would have asked him to leave by now; but this man had intimate knowledge about him and seemed to have the answers to the questions that have plagued him for years; so he took a deep breath and tried to keep calm while the stranger steered the conversation.'
'You wanted to know.'
Simon's mind raced. This realm? Who is this man? He closed his eyes and visualized the stranger's face. Nothing came up. 'I don't...' Images flashed through his mind and suddenly he remembered. 'You! You're that angel I saw in the parking lot; the one that stood next to the truck.'
'His heart is open,' the man said. 'Now we just need the eyes.'
'You're an angel...'
'Once again, the focus should not be on who I am, old friend.'
'Old friend?' Simon asked. He closed his eyes again. More images flashed; images from his dreams. This man was the angel that fought next to him in his dreams. Simon shook his head to try and clear his thoughts. 'Are you telling me...?'
The stranger said nothing. He merely smiled.
'Are you telling me that I'm...an angel?'
Satisfied, the stranger nodded. 'That's right.'
Simon's head spun. It felt like all strength had left his arms and legs. 'It can't be,' he said. Memories of his childhood flashed through his mind. 'I was born. I had parents. I have a job; a home. I bleed when I accidentally cut myself.'
'You're right about everything except being born. You weren't. Your parents adopted you as a baby from an orphanage that found you "abandoned" at its front door. That was all part of the ruse,' the man said. 'For the mission to be a success, the enemy could not know about you.'
'Ruse?' Simon asked. 'What mission? What enemy?'
The man stood up and entered Simon's kitchen. A moment later he appeared with two glasses of water. He handed one to Simon and then sat down on the couch again. 'A baby will soon be born into this world. When he is older, he will lead millions of people to Christ.'
Simon drank some of the water. His throat was parched and his mind still raced.
'A conspiracy was conceived in hell to kill the child and a very powerful demon was sent to complete the task. But there was a plan to misguide the demon into thinking that it had succeeded.'
'And did the plan work?'
The man shook his head. 'Somehow the evil one found out and the plan changed. Instead of trying to kill the baby, the demon now seeks to divide and conquer the parents, driving them apart so that it can take possession of the child. The evil one believes that he can use the child to serve his purposes and if he succeeds, instead of leading millions to Christ, this child will grow up to lead millions to their slaughter.'
'Would it be possible?' Simon asked.
The man nodded. 'Because of free will, it would; yes.'
'Assuming that what you're telling me is true, why didn't God just blind the forces of darkness until the child fulfilled his destiny? How did they find out about the plan to misguide the demon in the first place? Wouldn't God have known that the original plan wouldn't work?'
The man smiled. 'You have a lot on your mind,' he said. 'You of all people know that we don't always understand why the Father does what He does. We don't see the entire picture like He does. I'm sure that everything eventually turns out the way it's meant to. Remember that the Lord's plan to misguide the demon did not just affect the demon itself, but the parents of the child as well. Who knows how many people's lives were influenced in ways we can't possibly know or see? Who knows what happened to the hardened heart of a doctor in the Radiology department in that split second in time that her eyes locked onto those of a terrified mother?'
'None of this makes sense,' Simon said. 'What do I have to do with all of this?'
'To catch the enemy unaware and save the child, an angel was required to give up his life in the Kingdom and spend life on earth as a human being. Only one volunteered for the responsibility.'
'Me...?'
The man nodded. 'It was the perfect cover. The demons suspected nothing. They still don't. Simon, you are to use your gifts discreetly to avoid attention, for the time of your encounter is near.'
'This isn't real,' Simon said. 'None of this is real. You are not real.'
The man didn't say anything.
'This is ludicrous! You're lying!'
'I am incapable of doing so, Simon.'
Simon stood up. 'Get out of my house!'
'You wanted to know the truth...'
'Get out!'
The man stood up. 'Nine weeks and two days. We'll show you the pictures once we're finished with dinner.'
'What?'
'I'm sure that he will make you both very proud,' the stranger said, and with that, disappeared.
Simon fell back into the couch, wondering if anything that just happened was real. The two glasses of water that they were drinking from were still there, both very real.
'Why God?' He asked. 'Why me?'
No answer.
His mind reeled. No! This can't be happening! Simon kicked off his shoes and lay down on the couch. This is insane...
Minutes later, he was fast asleep.
Chapter 10, Scene 13 - Coming Soon...
Jumped on board a bit late, and want to start at the beginning?
Head on over to Chapter 1, Scene 1 today!
Read Chapter 10, Scene 13