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walked slowly to the study door and stood before it.

"Go on, Steven! Open it!"

Steven stepped closer and put his small hand on the knob, but still hesitated.

"Steven, I'm a different father than the one you're accustomed to. I'll be a real father from now on. You'll see. Open the door."

Steven began to turn the knob.

"Steven," Clarise called. "Are you coming?"

Steven ran to his mother and joined her in the library.

Robert despaired then.
He returned to the study and kneeled beside his body.

"Wake up! I can't leave yet! Please, I don't want to die. There are things I need to do and changes I need to make."

"Robert."

He couldn't tell if the name had been spoken inside or outside of him.

He turned. There was a vague and undefined shape beside him.
He pulled away.

"Don't be afraid, Robert."

"What do you want?"
he asked.

"It is time to go.
The body has ceased to function.
You have to let it go."

"No!" protested Robert.
"I'm not finished! I've learned things and-"

What you have learned won't change, Robert. It will still be useful to you. There is much more for you to learn. Let go of the body, Robert."

"It was a mistake!" Robert cried. "I didn't want to die, really!"

"Then you would not have died. It is only a body, Robert. It isn't you.
You are not dead."

"But my family."

"Your family will do well.
You have freed them and are helping them to grow. Release yourself, Robert."

Robert felt himself loosening. He was beginning to feel lighter and freer. All the worldly weight he had imposed upon himself for all his years began to lift from him. In its place came knowledge and he knew that he had reached his household. A part of each of them had received his messages. They would know without being aware of how they knew that he loved them.

"Well," he thought lightly, "that is all that matters, isn't it?"

Learn more about this author, A. Jill Gaebel.
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