continued from Sunday, August 25, 2013
~ Act 10 ~
Gabriel, Michael, and I took Jesse to a nearby house that was abandoned, out of sight. I said, "The two of you keep Jesse here for a while. I want to go back and check on the soldiers we knocked out and see what they do."
I went back to the building where the two soldiers were just coming to. Again, I was unobserved.
"Hey, the prisoner is gone. What happened?" one said.
"Look. If we show up without Jesse, Governor Ott will have us nailed on crosses," the other figured.
"You know that crazy panhandler down on that corner we passed the other day, the one that babbles on? He looks a lot like that Jesse guy. Lets go grab him and take him to be crucified. No will will know!
"Great idea!"
I followed the soldiers as they went to the corner they were talking about. They grab this guy, ranting about the end of the world or something, who did look a lot like Jesse! I followed them as they took this poor fellow (whose name I never found out) to a room where beams of wood were being made into crosses to hang men on for execution. (Whoever thought of such a thing?) I didn't need to see what happened next, so I returned to where we had Jesse hidden.
"I can't believe it all worked out like this," Jesse said after I told them all that happened. I was assuming that the other guy was being crucified as I was speaking. "Tomorrow, we we'll find out where they buried that unfortunate guy, steal the body and secretly bury him somewhere else. We don't want the Council to find out later they got the the wrong man executed. People will probably even begin to think you rose from the dead somehow. But I will need to take you back with us to Heaven. Otherwise you will be killed for sure."
"What do I do now?"
"We'll just lay low."
"Can I tell my disciples I'm going away? They should know."
I thought for a bit. "OK, but just say you are going to another country. They won't do anything."
~ Act 11 ~
The next day, Gabriel and Michael did as I told them: They found the tomb where Jesse was buried — it turned out to be owned by a rich man who liked what Jesse had to say. They stole the body from tomb and disposed of it somewhere else. After they returned from that mission, I told them to transfer back to Heaven and wait for me and Jesse. The two of us had one more thing to do.
On the day following that, I noticed a commotion outside. People were talking about a tombstone that had once closed a tomb being rolled away and a missing body. I assumed they were talking about Jesse. Good thing the other guy's body was not discovered or the Council might be on search for the real Jesse. Jesse and I waited until that evening to leave (with Jesse disguised) and we made our way to a room where Jesse's disciples were meeting. I waited outside unobserved.
"Holy shit!" Peter shrieked.
"Jesse! What the fuck?" John beamed.
"It's me," Jesse said.
"I doubted you were really dead." Thomas was consistent.
"Where's Judah?" Jesse asked.
Philip filled him in. "He's the one who led the Council guards to arrest you. I haven't seen him since. What happened to you?"
"I don't have much time, and I don't understand much of anything, but here's what I can say. I was being led off to be executed on the Sabbath and I was rescued. I won't get into the details of by whom. Anyway, from what I was told, the soldiers who lost custody of me were afraid of getting into trouble, so they went out and found this crazy guy who looks like me — well, looked like me — and took him to be crucified. The poor guy. So then, two of my rescuers late the next day took his body from the tomb and buried him God knows where. When people went back to the tomb today they saw it was empty."
"What are you going to do?" Matthew asked.
"I'm going to leave Judea and never be seen or heard of again. I can't tell you where I'm going."
"Please take me with you, Jesse," Maggie pleaded. John, the disciple in love with Jesse, looked down, saddened. He knew Jesse would never be for him.
Jesse and Maggie left the room and they joined with me. The three of us transferred back to Heaven after a brief introduction between me and Maggie. Needless to say, Jessie and Maggie didn't have a clue what had happened to them.
~ Act 12 ~
All of us were back on Heaven: Harold and I, with Michael and Gabriel, and now with Jesse and Maggie. "This is your father, Harold," I said.
"Just as I imagined." Jesse responded.
"There's a lot to explain to you."
"Uh, OK."
"This is Heaven, a planet very much like the one you have come from, but it's in a different universe. You and Maggie are the last material beings we can transfer between Earth and Heaven, due to the Interuniverse Commerce Conservation Principle. Our time dimensions are different though: one year on your planet is equivalent to a week on ours, or one day on Earth is about thirty minutes here in Heaven. We can watch what's going on on Judea on e-tablets, or on our big screen TV."
Harold showed Jesse the big screen. Jesse fainted. Maggie, along with the rest of us, revived him.
Latter that day (about two weeks had passed on Earth), Jesse, Maggie, Harold, and I were watching Earth events.
"I'm glad my disciples are staying out it and are keeping their mouths shut," Jesse opined. "The Council will seek them out too, I'm sure." But others are starting to make up all kinds of stories about me!"
"People have gone nuts," Maggie chimed in.
I put my hand on Jesse's shoulder." I'm glad you are with us now. I thought maybe you could help them out there, but looks like there is no hope. Maybe in a couple of thousand years they will wise up."
So that's basically how all this happened, and all I have to tell for now. Jesse and Maggie are here with us on Heaven and Earth is going to Hell.
Update 2013/09/01: parts one through four combined
© Copyright 2012, 2013 Philip Thrift