Pieces of Heaven

“Ivan it’s your turn”

The child looked up into the Angel’s eyes, “I’m not sure I want to go”.

“Common, it’ll be an adventure”.

Ivan thought a little more about it, then looked at the Angel Madrisk

“I don’t have a choice do I”

Madrisk smiled, “you always have a choice- but this is part of the journey you must take, for the sake of your soul, Ivan. Many Earth tribes have rights of passage into manhood, this is similar.”

“How does a soul evolve over such a short period of time?”

Madrisk laid a hand on his shoulder, “Earth is a place meant to do just that, Ivan. You could say it’s the training ground for your soul.”

“Why don’t you go.”

“Who’s to say I haven’t”

“You have? It must have been a long time ago”

“In earth times, yes, a VERY long time ago. But here, not long at all.”

“Will I remember this place?”

“I’m afraid no, but a part of this place will be with you always.”

“How do I find it if-”

“If you’re missing home?”

Ivan nodded.

Madrisk went on a knee and gestured to Ivan to bring his head closer.

“There’s a part in every person on Earth that holds a piece of Heaven, it is so preciously small! It’s that “Just enough” that you’ll need to know your not that far away from home. The more you see it, the greater the feeling of home will come to you.”

Ivan smiled.

“Does it take a long time to travel to Earth?”

Madrisk laughed, “You sure ask a lot of questions, Ivan. No, not at all. Heaven is simply another dimension of space.”

Ivan understood this and nodded again, gesturing to the Angel that he was ready.

“What happens if I fail this test, Madrisk?”

Madrisk looked at the young child with a serious gaze.

Just as quickly as Ivan blinked a wind came down from the higher halls of Heaven, blowing Ivan’s soul across dimensions of space and time- into his chosen body on Earth.

Ivan Gast, like many souls, began their journey to the new world. Their bodies not yet formed, but molded within the bellies of the mothers that He had chosen. A new life full of adventure, happiness, and horrors. All lives were written out before they were molded, but something was unusual with Ivan’s soul, no one knew what Ivan’s true purpose in life was, not even his Guardian Angel, Madrisk. It brought chills to the very Angles in Heaven because the most terrible people on Earth had similar circumstances. Madrisk knew there was something different about Ivan, but he didn’t believe he was destined for evil things. Then again, Madrisk has been wrong before.

13 Years Later

“Hit her again, Ivan!” his father yelled, smacking his wife with a bloody bat.

Ivan lifted his belt and hit his crying mother. Ivan’s Father grabbed the boy and shook him, “Hit her like you mean it! You do that again and I’ll whip you unconscious! Do you hear me, boy!”

Ivan held the tears in his eyes and nodded. Again, he whipped her. Harder and harder until she didn’t move... or cry... or do anything. Ivan couldn’t hold back the tears, he knelt down and tried to shake her awake, but she wouldn’t move. His father stood with a bottle of vodka, looking at the boy.

“She’s dead, you idiot. This is what happens when you steal money from me.”

He had left the room and came back with a knife, “Don’t worry, Ivan. This is where the real fun begins”.

Ivan looked at his father with wild and frightened eyes. The boy immediately grabbed the knife, wrestling it with his father. The big, fat man tried to shake him loos, but stumbled backwards. As his father tripped on the bottle of vodka on the floor, Ivan guided the knife right into the big man’s chest as he fell on the floor.

Ivan stood, hardly believing what he had done. He looked at the two dead bodies in the living room. His mother and father. Suddenly, he heard a gunshot. Turning around, Ivan saw his father gasping for his last breaths as he aimed the gun. Ivan looked down and noticed blood beginning to pool around his chest. Un-believable, he thought. As he laid on the floor, wheezing his last breaths, he sees his father with one last smile on his face.

“I’ll see you in Hell, my boy” his father spoke before all things went dark.

Ivan starred at the blackness, waiting for something to happen.

A wind then blew around him, filling him with a small feeling of hope. Suddenly he woke up, and found himself on a bed with an older man looking down at him.

“It’s a miracle you’re alive, Ivan” the stranger said.

Ivan then recognized the man, Mr. Joseph who lived a few blocks down. The older man rubbed his white beard as if wondering what to do next.

Ivan had tried to move, but was refrained from doing so. Mr. Joseph brought a small bowl of chicken broth, feeding the boy by the spoonful. It was then all the memories flooded back to him, his mother and father. Tears began to fill his eyes as he spoke of what he did in a panic. The old man listened and nodded.

“What’s done is done, Ivan.”

“You should have left me to die, Mr. Joseph” replied Ivan.

The old man looked at him with a puzzled alarm.

“Life is just beginning, and you’re giving up?”

“My life is worth giving up on, Mr. Joseph” the boy spoke, sniffling.

“I agree you have had a rough start, Ivan. Rougher than most”

“I’ve killed my parents, Mr. Joseph, and you say it’s a rough start?” replied the boy.

“Your father killed your mother, and your father shouldn’t have been stumbling around drunk with a knife in his hand. In the grand scheme of things, Ivan, it’s only a small part of why we each have a life”.

“Why did I get this life?”

The old man sat back in his chair, It wasn’t a question he could answer, “the purpose of your life only one knows”.

Ivan knew the man was talking about God. He didn’t say anything, but Mr. Joseph knew the boy didn’t believe in a God. The elderly man explained that he was to leave this place, because the police will be looking for him soon. St. Joseph had his brother, Justin Tiger, who would smuggle him out in one of his village trucks. Before Ivan left with Mr. Tiger, he asked Mr. Joseph what his full name was so he could write a letter once in a while.

“Madrisk, Joseph Madrisk” the old man smiled.

The name was unknown to him, but the broken soul within Ivan, it felt a ember pathetically burst into life. The name would later be forgotten by Ivan, but his soul would never completely let that moment’s feeling go…