Blessed

My mom and grandma helped Ricky into his bed while speaking words of comfort over him, reassuring him that he was going to be fine; he just needed some rest. Elisabeth mused herself by playing with the myriad of toys in his room. From his window, I could see flashes of lightening and hear the rumbling of thunder outside. His room was very small, and I, not wanting to be in the way, stood leaning with my right shoulder against the door frame that was directly across from the window. I was holding my Raggedy Ann in my left hand while watching them tuck him into bed. Raggedy Ann was the doll that I chose more often than not to sleep with at night. She smelled of perfume and her cheeks were a bit too rosy: a condition of my playing with my mom’s makeup. Just then lightning came in through the window above Ricky’s bed and struck me in the abdomen. My mom recalls that it all happened so quickly. She said that that lightning came in through the window, hit me, and I hit the floor. I remember it differently. I don’t recollect any pain, but I knew that I had been hit. In my five- year old mind, the bolt looked like an electric finger. The electric finger was meant just for me like it was pointing me out. It felt like I had been jabbed in the stomach. I was in a state of shock as I looked down at my stomach. When I looked back up toward my family, everyone sounded muffled and time seemed to pass in slow motion. It was as though I was in a vacuum or cocoon. My body started to fall backwards. The last thing that I remember was the expression of horror on my mom’s face. I was dead before I even hit the floor. The next series of events, are without a doubt, the most horrific occurrences that have ever happened to me. I was still wearing the same clothes that I had on earlier that day and my long blonde hair was still in braids, but I was now flat on my back with my arms and legs stretched out, and I was falling at an incredible speed. I was in a pit and when I looked over my shoulder, it looked bottomless. Not only was I falling, I was also spinning around and around. It was like being on a terrible carnival ride that you can’t get off of. There was an eerie, green light coming from below and there appeared to be a substance resembling smoke billowing upwards. I was overwrought - totally panic-stricken! I was extremely aware of my stomach churning. The pit was of a muddy color and in its crevices, sat little demons. Some of the demons were crawling along the face of the pit. They were very short, reddish-brown creatures with rat like tails, and large, pointed ears. Some of them held their hands close to their faces laughing at me as I continued to fall and spin. They terrified me and I was filled with a feeling of hopelessness. I had absolutely no control over my body; the only thing that I could move was my head. I would have done just about anything to remove myself from the perilous situation that I found myself in. I wondered, “Who can help me?” I knew that my mother couldn’t, and my only chance would be a higher power: God. I called out to Him in a weak, little voice. I thought that if the little demons heard me calling out to God that they would laugh at me even more. After I called out, “Dear God, please help me,” nothing changed. I continued my unrelenting decent. I began to think, “I don’t care who hears me or what they think about me. I want out!!” It was very difficult to catch my breath, but with everything that I had left, I screamed as loud as I could, “Dear God, please help me!!” He did. I was transported from that horrible pit where there was no hope, only despair, to the edge of heaven. I have no idea how I was transferred. It has been blocked from my memory-something that is meant to remain mysterious to me. My clothes that I had on earlier were gone and in their place, was a long, white robe. My hair was loose and flowing behind me. There was nothing nor anyone around me except for amazing blue skies and great, pure white, puffy clouds in a vast expanse that went on and on as far as the eye could see. Even though I was the only soul around, I was not afraid. I was completely content. I felt as though my entire being was beaming with joy. Most of all, I was thankful for being rescued!! I tried to walk, and that process was very difficult and comedic. The large, cotton candy shaped clouds came all the way up to my knees. I thought the only way to walk would be to pick my leg up and try to step over them. I remember laughing at myself while bending over glancing at the clouds beneath my feet, realizing I could walk right through them. A second later when I looked up, where there had been nothing except for blue skies and clouds, there was now a tunnel with a great light coming from inside it. The outside wall of the tunnel had light shining through it, and I could see every color of the rainbow prismed in it. The colors were so rich and vibrant. In front of the tunnel stood a man. His dark brown hair fell just above His shoulders and His skin tone was of a lovely olive color. His eyes were crystal blue and His bright smile made me feel like I was home. I had been brought up in church and bible school and He didn’t look exactly like the pictures that I had seen of Him. He was still easily recognizable. There wasn’t a shadow of doubt in my mind. It was Jesus. I was so excited to see him!