The Old Wayfarer - Chapter 5

After Orion's eyes adjusted to the previous brightness around him, he looked around and noticed he was standing on top of the ocean in the middle of the night.  There were no clouds in the sky, all the stars shone brightly, and a dancing aurora glittered over the water like a playful child in the moonlight.

"Grandpa, how are we floating above the water?" Orion asked with great bewilderment.

"Look ahead, boy.  What do you see?" Grandpa replied, seemingly oblivious of his grandson's earnest inquiry.

Orion turned back to view the shoreline and saw a small wooden schooner slowly approaching him.  It appeared to contain two people.

"Who are they?" the young man wondered aloud.

Grandpa smiled and ushered Orion forward.

"Take a look.  But go slowly.  Don't scare them."

Orion nodded and tiptoed toward the humble vessel when he heard the two people - a man and a woman - singing.    Somehow the man's voice sounded familiar.

"Father used to sing that song when I was little.  He said it always reminded him of..."

When the boat was less than ten feet from him, Orion suddenly realized that he was looking at his parents.  He had never met his mother, but he recognized his father, who looked a little older than Orion remembered, but no worse for the wear.

"F...Father?" the boy muttered.

The crooners stopped singing and for the first time realized they were sailing toward their son standing on top of the water.

"It's lovely to see you again, my son," Mother said with a smile.  She looked no older than twenty-five. Father looked to be at least ten years older than her.

"Mother?  H...h...hi." Orion was stunned by the flood of emotions that inundated his central nervous system.

"Let's go somewhere a little nicer to talk," Mother insisted.

In less than a femtosecond, Mother, Father, and Orion were sitting in a cozy summer bungalow in Mar del Sur.  The place looked like one of the many bungalows strewn about his home island.

Orion had so many questions for his parents, but he was so confused and overjoyed that he could barely organize his thoughts.  Instead, he hugged both of his parents at the same time and wouldn't let go.

"It's okay, Ori," Father whispered.  "Let's talk."

Orion took a seat across from his parents and admired them.  Two people who had a greater impact on him than anyone else in the world, but he felt like he hardly knew them.

"Grandpa said this is Heaven.  Is it true?" Orion asked.

"Yes," Mother responded.  "This is where you go after you die.  It's a wonderful place."

Orion then felt his heart skip a beat.  He knew that his mother died in childbirth, but what happened to his father during the last ten years?  Did he...

"Father, where did you disappear to when I was little?" Orion inquired.  He felt his heart grow heavy with fear over the answer.

"Well, son, Grandpa came to me one day out of nowhere and showed me a sealed off meteorite site.  He said he found your mother and that she wanted to see tell me something.  Once I saw her, I never wanted to leave, but I couldn't stay because Heaven isn't like Earth.  It's not part of the same Universe.  The only way I could stay was if, well..."

Orion didn't need to hear Father finish the sentence.  He always knew that Father wanted to be back with Mother ever since she died.  It looked like he found a way.

"But didn't you worry about me and Grandma?" Orion asked.  "I mean, we waited so long for you."

"Son, Grandma knew about me.  That's why I asked her to give you that letter when you became a man.  When you were old enough to understand, I wanted you to find out about me on your own.  Besides, if Grandma told you about all of this, would you have believed her?" Father replied.

Orion looked down at the floor.

"No.  I guess not."

"Ori, we hoped to see you here because we want you to know something.  We want you to know that we love you very much, and no matter what happens to you in life, we will always be with you." Mother said with her ineffable smile.

Orion felt tears pool in his eyes.  He waited his whole life to see his parents again, but he couldn't stay with them.

"I want to stay with you and Dad.  I don't want to go home.  There's nothing for me there anyway."

"Don't say that, son," Father said.  "You mean a great deal to Grandma, to your friends, and to the island.  No one delivers groceries faster than you.  When you finish school, you can go to the academy and become anything.  You will achieve great things in life!"

"How can I care about great things when I don't have my parents like all the other kids do?  I don't even have a grandpa," Orion sulked.

Mother pulled Orion over to her and wiped away his tears.

"Ori, you will always have us, even though we can't be with you in person.  You are stronger than all the other kids because you can rely on yourself, not on others.  That is what will keep you strong and happy in life."

Orion looked up at Mother and then Father before realizing that Grandpa was nowhere to be found.

"It's time to go home, son," Father gently commanded.

"When will I see you both again?" the boy asked.

Grandpa then appeared behind Orion and put his hand on his shoulder.  The boy jumped out of fear, but calm quickly returned.

"Let's take you home, son," the old man said.

With that, Orion found himself back in the blue room that he first appeared in after falling into the excavation site.  A guard's voice shouted down into the room from above and Orion responded.  The guard lowered a rope down into the room which Orion grabbed and felt himself glide out of the hole back out into the island sun.  Grandma was standing in front of a small crowd of people.

"Come on, Ori.  Let's go home."