Part 3
The Sisters
Life’s storms had buffeted Natalie and Sophia hither and thither and it had cost them a lot of effort just to keep their heads above water. Their trials began as soon as they got married. For them, marriage and happy endings were strictly the stuff of fairy tales. In life, it seemed, everything had turned out to be the opposite. But the worst thing was that something very precious and valuable was destroyed in their relations with their family. However, superficially, everything seemed fine. And this is how things were at that moment. The two beautiful tanned sisters were sitting in the living room at Sophia’s Sofia apartment surfing the TV channels and fondly remembering the holiday by the seaside that they had just returned from. The conversation then turned to their children and also about the shopping bargains they had just made.
In short, the two sisters, who since early childhood had been not just close sisters but close friends, were having a bit of a gossip. But that wasn’t all of it… Both Natalie and Sophia felt that somehow, somewhere they had lost that close spiritual link that had so strongly united them previously. They were both intelligent and experienced in the ways of the world and understood perfectly well that “clearing the air” would only muddy the waters further. And they were both very much afraid of this.
Separately, each of the sisters had begun to analyse their past down to the finest detail. Admittedly, they did this in silence but consciously or not, they began to reminisce about the past. They recalled their serene childhood and youth when they were still living with their parents. As very small girls they used to go for walks around the town with their mother and father and at the end of the outing Dad would always take them for a ride on the big Ferris wheel. He wanted to show them how beautiful the Dnepr was and how high the Volodymyr's Hill were, and when they got to the very top the girls let out such a squeal that their cries could probably be heard well beyond the river. And then there were the figure skating lessons! How many times had they fallen before they were even able to stand up on their skates. Natalie’s love affair with figure skating stayed with her into her adulthood and she would go with her son to the rink at the slightest opportunity. And the summers! The summers were simply unforgettable. They didn’t like to go to the communal summer camps but going to the seaside with their mum and dad was a completely different matter. They both quickly learned to swim and soon they were diving off the pier and swimming so far under the water that their mother would soon be shouting to them:
“You two, out of the water immediately!”
It was as if the two of them were joined at the hip. Now they were both staring at the screen together. It was then that a miracle happened. Suddenly on the screen, they could see themselves in the foam of the sea and an instant later they could see Michael and Ben’s smiling faces looking straight at them from the mist caused by the spray. How could this be possible? Was it a CD playing? But there was none in the player. However, the real explanation turned out to be much simpler, for standing right next to them was an Angel. He was smiling at them.
“I didn’t know how else to get your attention. You were both so distracted with your memories that I decided to transfer them on to the television screen.”
There was a long silence. Natalie and Sophia were so taken aback that it was as if the cat had got their tongue.
The Angel was the first to speak:
“Your children need your help. Don’t worry, they are fine, but in order to return your family’s Divine Star to its rightful place, you need to carry out a task, or to be more precise put something right.”
The sisters felt as if they were in a trance and understood very little of what was being said to them.
“I will now show you the adventures that your sons have been on. I won’t bother repeating what the boys have already shown you on their disk earlier but let us have a look at their adventures since then.”
And with that the Angel switched the film on. But everything that appeared on the screen seemed so real to them that their amazement knew no bounds.
After the film Natalie asked the Angel:
“Are our children really so brave, clever and extraordinary?”
The Angel smiled:
“So even you, their own mothers, have failed to recognise these qualities all this time? But, seriously, they have always had these qualities, but many of them had remained deeply concealed, because your children have had many problems in their childhood: Michael’s started very early on in his infancy, while Ben’s started later when he started school. But if children are given a push in the right direction and support at the right time they can achieve miracles.”
"That means that there’s been something very important missing from their upbringing,” Sophia noted sadly.
“Human beings cannot foresee everything but you, Sophia, fought so hard for your son that your efforts were nothing short of miraculous. But, as they say, all your problems really started when the Divine Star disappeared. You had the rug pulled from under your feet. Just look.”
And the Angel indicated towards the screen. What did they see? There was a light green space and hanging from above was a white thin root, and Mama, their mother was holding on to it, lightly touching it with her hand and not falling. It was such a thin little root and that was all that was keeping her from the abyss!
“That is her faith", said Natalie thoughtfully.
“And what’s more it takes a huge amount of work and spiritual labour on her part to keep herself aloft and not let her fall," the Angel added.
“Did the Star shine when the war was on?” said Natalie. “You see, back then your grandmother and her children had to live through so much.” Natalie looked at the Angel very boldly.
“Back then during the war, it was a miracle that your family escaped through one of the most dangerous frontiers and it was a miracle that the train carrying them made it through all the enemy shells and bombs. Then they made it to a safe place and everywhere they went they were helped by kind people. And the most important thing is that your grandmother and her children were united, they loved and supported each other. Bad thoughts were just not allowed to take root, although your grandmother and aunt were complex personalities.” The Angel looked at the sisters with understanding.
“Oh, yes,” laughed Sophia, “when we were children grandmother would make it hot for us if we didn’t drink our milk before bedtime.”
“And if grandmother didn’t like a particular boy. In fact all my friends knew about grandmother and would literally tiptoe around her – like mice around a cat. Each of them making out that they were very serious and behaving like top notch students.” Natalie recalled those happy days with a laugh.
“But at that time the family was friendly and blessed with a bright aura. And in order to restore your family’s energy you will need to work very hard. It will not be easy. You will have to dive to the deepest depths in order to find the priceless pearl that was once so carelessly lost. So are you up for it? If so, let’s go!"
The sisters nodded their heads, but Natalie cautiously asked:
“Are we going to have to go back to the past?”
“Oh, Natalie, as ever you want to know everything in advance.” The Angel had seen that she was still worried about how confidential it would all be.
“It will all be confidential.” The Angel looked at Natalie. “You will each of you see everything separately right up to this very moment in time. And each of you will decide what needs to be resolved and how. Of course, the moments of your lives that are entwined together cannot be changed, but at those especially difficult times it would be desirable to at least recognise your mistakes and allow your souls to get closer to the truth.”
Natalie and Sophia went out of the house with the Angel. Next to the entrance on the open square stood the starship shining like a huge, elegant silver bird with its wings folded.
“This is the starship that I flew on my adventures with your sons.”
The Angel waved his hand and the doors quietly opened.
“Please take a seat. Our road now takes us to the House of Lives, but in order that you see everything as it really is we will visit an island, which is home to the most wonderful doctor. He will help you restore your strength. After all, now on the Earth nearly everyone is trying to categorise and encode each other, for their own benefit of course.”
“Because they then have to pay for everything later,” the two sisters thought simultaneously.
To which the Angel answered them out loud:
“So it will have to be unfortunately, but many only live for today and are totally incapable of thinking about their actions."
The sisters’ amazement knew no bounds, as they were walking up to the space ship no-one even turned to look at them, which could only mean one thing - both the Angel and the starship were invisible. The starship took off at such speed that within a matter of seconds the Earth seemed far, far away below them. The craft continued to fly upwards for a while, and then took a more horizontal course from the Earth, although our blue planet had long since dropped out of sight. Soon there appeared various signs on both sides of the ship – they were obviously on some sort of highway.
“Yes, this is the