Last Night at the Last Chance Diner
Copyright© 2014 by Number 7
Chapter 23
Safely Home
Carl trudged, lonely, up the long, winding road. Each step took him somewhere, but where ... he had no idea.
His steps were predetermined. He'd figured out that much immediately. The alien man had put this all together ... somehow ... for some unknown reason and now Carl was part of the play.
As he reached the summit, he could see a valley before him. It was a safe place. That was his initial thought.
Safe.
All his life Carl had craved and searched for a safe place, and the Alien Man brought him here.
Why?
Looking inside himself, Carl became aware that the usual terrors were not in attendance.
Fear, uncontrollable shaking, and hysterical babbling seemed to have taken a holiday, leaving him surprisingly calm.
He descended into the peaceful appearing valley. There were no people in any direction that he could see, and he continued to feel safe.
Safe. The one thing he had spent his life desiring had suddenly appeared, and he wasn't sure what to think of it.
He stopped.
Before him stood the Alien Man: tall, white as the hottest fire, immense, awesomely tall. His presence was formidable but felt somehow safe.
Carl waited with the patience accrued through a lifetime of psychiatric treatment. There was nothing to hurry for and nowhere to hurry to, so he stood, feeling calm and safe, waiting for what came next.
"You are changed, yes," the Alien Man reassured him. "You know you are newly changed?"
A flush of realization surged through Carl. He got it, finally, what this was all about. He got it.
"YES!!! I get it," Carl shouted. "I'm free!
You fixed me, didn't you?" His laughter rang across the valley as Carl exulted in the knowledge that he was finally free of the demons that had tormented him.
Flinging himself against the Alien Man, Carl hugged him as he had never hugged anyone before. The Angel returned the hug with compassion and joy that matched Carl's own excitement and relief.
Their embrace was carefully watched by other angels, and when Carl had had enough, he drew back, laughing and crying, and then hugged the angel again.
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