"Can you stay a little longer?" I begged him.
"Oh yes," he answered. "For my good brother Joseph?" His smile shone in the softly lit room.
My father smiled a little and reopened his eyes. "Thank you," he whispered. "I won't be long. I'll be seeing him soon."
"Do you mean Betty?" asked our priest.
"No," he whispered, and his eyes begged me to explain for him.
"Great-Aunt Chemille couldn't tell us if it was a gift or a curse, but we Dylans can see the Angel of Death coming in the last moments. Sometimes he even answers."
"The Angel of Death?" The priest looked skeptical.
"That's what my great-great grandfather told us he said."
He leaned over. "You needn't fear death now," he said to my father.
Father smiled, and then his eyes went wide and the smile faded as he stared past my shoulder. I saw nothing behind me except the disconnected blood pressure monitor.
"Do you like doing this?" he whispered.
I didn't hear a reply, but Father looked astonished.
"Death will die," the priest urged him.
"Did you hear that?" Father whispered as triumphantly as his strength allowed. "Resurrection for me, death for you. What do you say to that?"
The quiet room seemed to grow darker. We leaned forward to hear Father.
"You too? New name?" He had no breath to say more, no breath at all.
Father Ofadiran crossed himself and prayed quietly. I tucked Father's hand by his side and pressed the button to summon the nurse.
2 comments:
Very CS Lewis, who thought that Nature would also be resurrected.
I am not a visualiser, but you captured the scene well.
Thank you. What if Death were simply the Angel of Death, an obedient servant of God? What would his new name/nature be?
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