The Solitary Tree Part 5

Tales of Whispering Oaks

The Solitary Tree

Part 5

By: Chase L. Currie

Charity sat back feeling the fever catching her mind in a spinning flame making her wish to drink some more cool water hoping the water would put out the fire out for a bit, but there was no such luck. “I can’t believe this is real. I must be going mad. The poison is causing crazy effects on me.”

                Ansel laughed again. “I thought I was going mad to the first time an angel showed up at my doorstep.”

                “I don’t know what to do with this,” She told him. “How do I go about my life with this knowledge?”

                “Did you not have faith before this night?” He asked.

                “I did,” she said. “Maybe a little less than I would like but I had some.”

                “Then live your life the same,” Ansel said. “Just let your faith grow because faith is not about rather the AllFather is real or not, that is the easy part, but rather if you trust Him or not.”

                Charity stared at him for a moment letting his words sink into her mind.

                “Do you trust Him?” Ansel asked.

                Charity looked at the door almost hoping to see Iahhel there, but he wasn’t there. She didn’t look away from the door as she said, “No, not really.”

                “Why?” Ansel asked not helping himself.

                “He took my younger brother from this world,” Charity solemnly said.

                “Did He?” Ansel counter. “The AllFather came down from the Heavens and took your brother away with Him?”

                Charity turns to gaze at the Sword Saint. “No.”

                “Ah,” Ansel said with a tight nod, “Then someone else, did it?”

                “Yes,” She said flatly. “A low-ranking Deathcrafter convince my brother and his friend to partake in a spell. The spell killed them both. “

                “So, it wasn’t the AllFather who did it then.”

                “He could have stopped it,” She growled at him. “He could have come down and saved them both.”

                “He could have,” Ansel agreed. “I’m sure He could have, and then He could have stopped all the sin in the world. Then stop your ability to choose between good and evil. He could punish you for all your sins too. Like the fact, you told your father you would watch over your brother but lie about it.” Charity was a shock at the truth. A truth she didn’t want to admit to anyone most of all herself. “So yes, the AllFather could have stopped it all, but He allowed you and your brother the freedom of free will, and with that freedom one day you can ask Him to forgive you, one day, maybe.”

                “How?” She barely asked.

                “You said far more than you thought you did in your fever,” Ansel said. “You told me a lot.”

                Charity sat up a little and said, “But my brother is still dead.”

                “Sadly, yes,” Ansel said, “but he walks the halls of Heaven now, right?”

                Charity thought back to what Iahhel said to her the other night. He told her, her brother was in Heaven with all the angels. She didn’t say a word.

                “He is,” Ansel answer for her. “So maybe your grief is more about your selfishness then not trusting our God. You want your brother pulled from the joys of Heav---”

                “How dare you,” She interrupted. “What do you know about loss or grief?”

                Ansel grinned a little and glanced away. “Oh child,” He said almost not talking to her, “only if you knew.”

                She started to hiss to word but was stopped when Ansel calmly said, “My family died in the Great Sickness of 1427.” He turned to face her again. “All of them.”

                Charity sharply looked away from him and then down at her cup where she said, “I’m sorry.”

                “There is no need to be,” Ansel said. “You didn’t know, and your anger is just. It does not bother me at all.”