The Answered Prayer

By Al Horn

"Padre Howard. We are here to grant your wish."

The padre nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the voice behind him. He turned quickly to see two young men, dressed in robes similar to his, standing a few feet away. "I didn't hear you come in. In fact, I would have sworn I had bolted the front door."

"Well now," said Keroose. "If you had properly secured the door, we wouldn't be standing before you, now would we?"

"I guess not. That still doesn't explain what you are doing here or who you are."

Keroose allowed the hood of his robe to fall back exposing a face that looked ordinary enough. People passing him in the street rarely gave him a second look. That kind of commonality was a plus in his line of work. "My name is Keroose and my associate goes by Chewbar. We are here because you wished for an intervention of otherworldly origin."

Sounding annoyed and confused. "I'm afraid I don't understand"

Chewbar stepped forward and placed a hand on Howard's shoulder. "You prayed the wicked world around you would burn in Hell's eternal flame. You also said, you and this church could fill this planet with all the love and hope it needed. The boss thought that would be a pretty neat trick. So here we are."

The look on Howard's face went from annoyance to one of resignation. He sighed heavily. "It's late boys and I have many things to do before I can retire for the evening. Could you run along back to where ever you came from? Perhaps if you return in the morning we could sort all this out." He began to turn and walk away.

Keroose reached out and grabbed a fold in Howard's robe. "Sorry, Padre. No can do. Like the boss always says, 'there is no rest for the wicked'. Besides that, we have a schedule to keep."

"I suppose that next you boys will be telling me you are the angel of mercy and his alter ego, the angel of death."

They both let out a quick snort. Keroose shook his head. "No, we wouldn't dare to presume such roles. On the other hand, we do have individual purposes. Think of me as the deliverer of a summons and my partner as the provider of the appropriate action. Without further ado, I will perform my bit part in this play."

"You, Padre, have stated this world is full of evil. It is being consumed in it's own greed. You stated that it needed to be purified by the flames of the underworld. You declared that out of the ashes, you and this church could rebuild the world. Well, your prayers were heard. As are all prayers. Of course, there are so many prayers by so many people that it would be nearly impossible to answer them all. A selection process is involved. I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that yours was picked from all the other souls on this planet. When you consider all the souls and all the planets in the universe that have just as many, if not more souls than this one... well, you should feel rather honored."

The padre had walked a few feet to a chair and had sat down in it during Keroose's short monologue. "Are you telling me that you can loose Hell upon the land?"

Keroose lit up at what he perceived as understanding. "That's right!"

The padre raised a finger to stop any further remarks, "Well, I also prayed for Heavenly peace. Or did that not fit the selection criteria?"

It was Keroose's turn to be baffled. "Well... I'm going to have to get back with you on that one. Uh... I guess I'm done with my spiel and now its time for Chewbar to do his thing."

"Which thing?" asked Chewbar. "The one we were originally sent for or the other thing he asked for?"

"Whoa. You mean you can provide the other thing?"

Chewbar smiled. "There are different perceptions of Heaven"

Keroose reflected on his partner's statement for a moment, then replied, "In this case I think we should stick to the original plan."

At this point the padre stood up and announced, "Boys, if you are here to rob me, you are wasting your time. There's not a cent left in the coffers."

"We're not common thieves padre," said Chewbar. "We are here on a mission. Now, if you will sit down, I can do my thing."

Chewbar raised his hands into the air and rolled his eyes into the back of his head. All the shutters that were open suddenly shut with loud bangs. A great, whistling wind could be heard outside. Chewbar quickly drew his arms down to his sides. All became silent. The silence was only a temporary respite. Within a few seconds a low roar could be heard. Though diminutive in volume, it wore at the senses of all in the room. Under the front door and through the cracks in the shutters, a dull red light began to seep into the church.

Suddenly, both Keroose and the padre dropped to one knee. It was not uncommon for Keroose to suddenly become empathic with the subject of their visits. He would feel what they were feeling, inside and out. He could see what they saw, hear what they heard, and for the most part, be aware of how these things affected that person's psyche. It didn't happen all the time. Keroose had learned early on that it did no good trying to figure out why this would happen; he just accepted it.

Despite the fact that it was only entering through small slits here and there, it quickly grew so bright that both of them had to shut and cover their eyes. This same light bathed their bodies in heat. Through the padre, Keroose felt as if he were kneeling naked on a hot summer's day and could feel the sun striking his body from all sides. No sooner had this happened, they were suddenly hit by a torrent of sound.

Screaming voices filled the air. It only took a few seconds to go from a solitary outburst to a full chorus. The pitch of the voices pulsated back and forth from high to low. As it gained intensity it also gained direction. A point to their right grew loudest and began to circle them, faster and faster. This created a throbbing beat that started at the tops of their heads then began to work deeper into their bodies. The screams were filled with so much anguish that both men could feel it deep into their hearts. Just as they thought said organs would explode, all became quiet.

They slowly uncovered their eyes and were met with a momentary rush of vertigo. The padre reached out to grab his chair; Keroose clutched at empty air. Neither man was sure if he was alive or dead; awake or asleep. The bright light had been replaced with a faint light emanating from everywhere. All color was gone. Everything appeared to them in shades of gray. The furnishings had taken on a subdued appearance.

Keroose's vision had blurred for a few moments. The hand that had been stretched out to his side fell suddenly. Even though his body no longer mimicked the padre's motions, he was still very much connected. This experience had been the most exhausting he had ever encountered. He turned to look at the padre.

"What has happened," the padre asked. His voice coming out of his mouth in a dry, hoarse, whisper. "What have you done?"  He ran to the front doors as if to suddenly throw them open. He paused for a second then placed both hands on the doors to feel their temperature.

Keroose felt the same coolness in his fingers as the padre. In this way they were still connected. They discovered that it felt no differently than when he had closed up for the night. With a great feeling of dread, the padre raised the large brass latch. He paused for only a second before pulling the doors open.

A cloud was drawn into the building. As it swept past them, they involuntarily sucked in a breath. They both expected to be overcome by smoke. They were wrong. Though the cloud of air was warm, it did not choke. It reeked of ashes but did not burn. Knowing it was too late to close the doors, the padre stood there, waiting for the air to clear.

Within seconds they could feel air from within being drawn outside. Keroose could feel the padre's puzzlement at the draft coming past him. It was as if pure clean air was being sucked from the floors and then blown out into the world. With each passing second their range of visibility grew.

It was almost a full minute before they were able to see what had happened. Everything had disappeared. Gone were the multi-colored houses that lined the streets near the church. There was nothing left of the newly surfaced streets. No sign of the trees that grew so tall in this part of the county. Not even a stump remained. That was when the padre noticed that all the normal sounds of the evening had disappeared. He heard no birds chirping. None of the neighborhood dogs were barking. The incessant sound of the cicadas... gone. There was nothing but dead silence.

Keroose's own senses fully returned to him at that moment. He could still feel the emptiness that lay so heavily inside the padre. He fought down the panic he knew to be rising in the other man. He took in a quick, deep breath. Then, allowed it to poor out of him, taking with it all of the misery and pain.

The padre turned to the two behind him, searching their faces as they walked up to him. "This can't be real. This is an illusion or a dream. What kind of angels are you?"

"We never said we were angels, padre." replied Keroose, as he tapped Chewbar on the shoulder. They gave each other a nod then started toward the door. As they were passing through the doorway, Keroose reached into a pocket and pulled something out. He stopped and raised the object in front of him. They paused just outside the doorway long enough to get their sense of direction aligned. Just before the two shapes disappeared into the haze, Keroose shouted back to the padre, "Another thing the boss is big on saying. Be careful what you wish for."

A continuation of this story will be posted at some point in the future.