ol remus and the woodpile report

The Battle of the Gods

Chapter 5

Goodbye Poppa

There was a celebration when Natas returned. His father and all of his children welcomed Natas back into the family. The father asked if Enos would like to become an adopted brother to him and his brothers seeing he now had the same powers as they did. Enos said he would like to remain under his son Cadagus, as he will always look up to him as his immediate God. Cadagus smiled and said, “You have a wonderful opportunity here, Enos. Natas has asked me if he could become an apprentice under me to learn how to help me design Beyonds. I have said ‘yes'. He will be my assistant now. I will have him be the God to the First Beyond also. He understands compassion and pain better than most now and will be overqualified for that position, but he feels he must start at the bottom to learn everything.”

At the end of the celebration all of the brothers and sisters of Ol' God lined up to give Enos a hug and to say, “Thank you.” Ol' God's father also gave him a hug. Just before everyone started to leave there was an exceedingly bright flash of light in the room and everyone dropped to their knees. The Very First God who created everything, who was the first God ever, appeared. None of his great, great, infinite great grandsons and granddaughters ever saw him before, but were not able to see him now either due to his brilliant light. Enos could not see him, but imagined he looked tall and strong. Everyone heard him say, “Enos will be coming with me. I wish to make him my own apprentice. Will you accept, Enos?”

Ol' God nudged Enos and shook his head ‘yes' as fast as he could to let Enos know it was an unbelievable opportunity never before offered. Enos said, “I would be honored, Sir. But I must say some goodbyes first.”

The Very First God said, “I understand. Here are your powers to come to me when you are ready. I am proud of you Cadagus for the fine mind you presented me. ”, and Enos becomes surrounded in a radiant light also, with all the Gods in the room now bowing to him as well.

With the great powers just given to him Enos was able to look upon the Very First God and he learned something his father had learned from Josh when they were just twelve years old … that size and strength was not important.

The Very First God was even much shorter than Josh

Enos goes back to his old office in the first Set of Beyonds of Ol' God and sees Natas standing there. “I have agreed to help Cadagus as the God of First Beyond, Enos. I will use the knowledge of compassion and the evil of inflicting pain as you have taught me. Thank you, my dear friend, for helping me. You deserve the good things that happen to you.” Natas bows and disappears.

Cadagus and Ghost appear. They just stand there smiling. Ghost said, “We did a pretty good job with this one didn't we Cadagus?” Ol' God says, “Yes we did. I think we are owed a thank you hug before he goes to the top and forgets us.” Enos smiles and says, “I will never forget you both. It is I who owe you both a thank you. The Very First God has allowed me to give you this gift to show our gratitude”, as Enos touches their heads and gives them the power to have children. Ghost and Ol' God hug Enos. Ol' God says, “Thank you Enos. If we were back on Earth in human bodies I would be crying now.” They both bow and disappear.

Enos calls Gabriella to his office and asks her if she would accompany him to the First Heaven. He explains how a male mind and a female mind meld with their thoughts becoming one and their combined blissful desire to have a child-god grows one into existence. He said he would like to have daughters just like her. Gabriella smiled and said she did not deserve that honor, but would love to be with him. Enos then said he had to say one more important goodbye and would call for her before they left.

After Gabriella left, Enos put up a shield around his office so no one in the Fifth Beyond or even any God other than the Very First God himself would have the power to enter. He then said, “Poppa? I'm okay now. Thank you for watching over me. I will be fine from here on. I will be starting my family now. You probably never thought you would have little Gods for grandchildren, but I hope I make you proud of me. Thank you for having Josh help me. I am giving him back to you now. Wake up, Poppa. Always remember I love you and will watch over you and the family forever. Goodbye for now Poppa. I will see you in a few more years. Wake up now.”

“ Code Red in Room 545. Code Red in Room 545 ” comes over the loudspeaker.

Doctors come running into Room 545 and see the patient heaving as though trying to take a last breath. “Paddles, Nurse”, hollers the doctor as he puts on his gloves and administers an electrical shock when he hollers “Now.” A few seconds later he repeats the process. “Now”, he hollers. The patient lies still in the bed now breathing on his own and smiling. A nurse says, “That is a miracle. I don't believe he revived. He's been in a coma for two months.” The doctor says, “Let's hope his mind survived. He took an awful whack to his head.”

“ Code Red in Room 546. Code Red in Room 546 ” comes over the loud speaker.

Doctors come running into Room 546 and see the patient heaving as though trying to take a last breath. “Paddles, Nurse”, hollers the doctor as he puts on his gloves and administers an electrical shock when he hollers, “Now.” A few seconds later he repeats the process. “Now”, he hollers. The patient lies still in the bed now breathing on his own and smiling. The same nurse says, “That is another miracle. I don't believe he revived. He's been in a coma for two months and I thought he was already dead.” The doctor says, “Let's hope his mind survived. He took an awful whack to his head.”

Aby walks slowly into Room 545 looking at the patient in the bed not knowing what to expect. “Zeke?” she says softly.

Zeke looks up from the bed and says, “Aby! How's Josh? How's the chillun? How'r you?”

“The children are fine, Zeke. I'm fine. The doctors think Josh will be fine. How are you feeling? We were all so worried about you”, and Aby starts crying.

“I'm fine, Aby. Enos is gonna be fine too.”

“Enos died, Zeke. You took that hard. Remember? That's why you weren't paying attention when you and Josh went over the hill trying to make that curve coming down into the Run. You both were in a coma for two months. We were afraid you both were going to die.”

“Josh did die, Aby. He became a God with Enos to help em git started in heaven. Enos sent em back to us cuz he did'n need em no more an' knew Anna Mae an' me did.”

“You took a big bump on the head, Zeke. After a few days you will remember everything correctly. At least you are alive”, and Aby gives him a hug while she is still crying.

That night Zeke slips into Room 546 and leaves the light out. “Josh?” he whispers.

“Over here, Zeke. How ya feelin'?” comes the whispered reply.

“Gotta sore head, but everythin' else seems to be workin'. How bout you?”

“Same thin', Zeke. Guess we both took a big crack on the melon. Was Aby happy to see ya agin? Anna Mae was jest a bawlin' an' huggin' like I was, um, … well, like I come back from bein' dead.”

“Ya did, Josh. Enos sent ya back.”

“Ya know, Zeke. I remember thinkin' a lot bout Enos when I was in that there acoma they says I was in.”

“We was in a coma, Josh. Not a acoma.”

“Oh. They always said I was in acoma so's I jest thought it was called a acoma. Anyway, I thought I was helpin' Enos in heaven. You know, like I always helped em here. I dreamt we was so close we was made into one where we both knew what each was thinkin'. Pretty funny ain't that?”

“I dreamt the same thin', Josh. You'n Enos got to be some pretty big Gods in heaven from you helping em. You did a good job, Josh. Thanks.”

“What do we do now, Zeke?”

“Dunno. Maybe we jest play with our gran'chillun from now on, an' don' mention these dreams to no one.”

“Gonna be pretty hard fer us to do that, Zeke, seein' we ain't got no gran'chillun yet. Yer oldest boy Ebill is only twenty one an' ain't even got no girlfriend yet, although he is lookin' at Sylvia with a smile.”

“Think it's possible to live yer whole life in a coma, Josh?”

“Whadda ya mean, Zeke?”

“I dreamt I had granchillun whats grew up already an' give me great granchillun. I dreamt me an' Aby was so old I looked like a pruned prune an' she looked like last year's turnip an' we died of old age.”

Josh laughed. “Last year's turnip. That's a good one, Zeke. Jest don' tell Aby or she'll skin ya a'fore ya git a chance to even start that prunin'.”

“I dreamt it were you whats said that to her, Josh. She got mad at ya fer sayin' it too.”

“Now why is ya gittin me in trouble in yer dreams, Zeke? Why would I even say that less'n I was the God what was gonna call her an' jest said that to let her know it wouldn't be fer a long time an' when I did call her she would be so old she would look like that?

“That's jest why ya said it, Josh. You was the God whats was gonna hafta call her.”

“I did'n wanna tell ya this, Zeke, but I had the same dream. I told Anna Mae I had a funny dream bout goin' to heaven. She did'n wanna hear nuttin bout it. Jest said not to tell the doctors or they'll take me right from here to the nut house. Don' wanna go there, Zeke. Don' want you to neither. Best we save talk bout this fer when we is alone in the shop.”

“I told Aby bout the dream too. I heard her talkin' to the doctor bout it outside my door. That doctor said folks even in a coma thinks bout their loved ones an' said I prob'ly was jest tryin' to take care of Enos wherever he was. Well shoot, Josh. How smart can that doctor be to think of that? Ever' father gotta take care of his chillun till they is a adult an' then sometimes even longer. Enos was only nineteen. I still hadda take cake of em fer nuther two years wherever he was. That's my job. I always said I would go to the ends of the earth to help my chillun.”

“Ya did better'n that, Zeke. Ya went almost to the top of the heaven heap helpin' em. You is the best poppa ever.

“I always thought Satan was here to lead us astray. Looks like he ain't, huh.”

Remember Ol' God sayin' we don' need any Satan, cuz he already give us desires which is nuff to lead us astray. Satan don' exist, Zeke, ‘cept maybe in ever' one of us as desires. Seems there was jest a god whats called hi'self Satan when he got led astray hi'self fer a bit but is now a good guy what's back with his family now.

“Enos made a miracle fer us, did'n he Josh?”

“Gods can't make miracles, Zeke, cuz it means they made a mistake when they made them laws an' now gotta change em a bit fer a short time. They can't mess with free will neither or it won' be free will . You know that from the dream. But you did'n make them laws, Zeke. You don' even know all them laws yet, so Enos could let you make that miracle from yer love fer him. There weren't no law that said you could'n break them laws, cuz you did'n make em. That Enos is really smart now, Zeke. He knows all them answers and how to use em.

“Think I can ever tell anyone what happened?”

“Not fer a lotta years, Zeke. Maybe not till the year 2000 can ya tell folks. Maybe wait ten year after that jest to be sure, but even then best ya make it into a story whats they can believe or not. By then no one will prob'ly believe ya anyway, seein' you'll be so old they'll think yer memory is bad or yer jest a senile old fart.”

“By then I'll look like a pruned prune an' Aby'll look like last years turnip.”

Josh laughs. “Then all she gotta do is look at the mirror to see ya ain't lyin', Zeke. Then at least she's gotta believe the story. As far as them other folks, well, … they always believes what they wanna anyway. Maybe by then the world'll be in so bad'a shape they will like to know a lil more bout heaven whats waitin'.”

“Hope they notice the part where they only gotta be nice fer the short time we's here in order to git a ferever full of happiness.”

“Ferever is a long time, Zeke. It's even longer'n a centillion of infinities. It's like ….”

“It's like ferever , Josh, which means no end. How many zeroes does a centillion got?”

“It's got three hundred three in the American system, but six hundred in the British system.”

“Them English folks is forever tryin' to be bigger'n us, ain't they, Josh?”

“Yup, but it don't matter, Zeke. Once we is in all them heavens they will go on forever too. Enos is up there buildin' more right now.”

“Prob'ly buildin' the best heavens too. Ya gotta have a lotta things to do in heaven to keep it interesting forever, right Josh? Prob'ly like a zillion Centillion of em.”

“More'n that, Zeke. More'n that. But Enos'll have em ready. You did a good job raisin' that boy, Zeke.”

“Thanks, Josh. Do you think that Very First God has brothers too? Think maybe they gots poppas who gots poppas … like that ferever?”

“Prob'ly does Zeke. After all, they go back forever too. Must'a had lotta thin's happen when you already existed forever. Will ya tell a story bout that too?”

“Maybe, Josh. Maybe I will iff'n Enos tells me what to write. He's growed up now an' don' need his Poppa no more, but I think he still wants to talk to em. He's gonna give me granchillun. Ever' son wants to show his Poppa what he's done when it's special like that …. you know, it bein' a god'n all.” Zeke smiles at Josh and then suddenly, with a sincere look, adds, “but I won' treat it no different than my other gran'chillun.”

“Ya did a good job raisin' Enos, Zeke. You'll do a right fine job with yer gran'chillun too.

“Thanks, Josh. I gotta git back now a'fore they miss me. Yup, gotta git back now. Like I hear Momma callin' me.”

Josh is suddenly back in Zeke's shop again, running the cylindrical grinder while Zeke is calibrating his micrometers to make a precise measurement of the punch press crankshaft bearing journal Josh is grinding. Zeke looks around and says, “It's nice to be back here workin' ain't it Josh?”

“One nice thin' bout a coma, Zeke, is that the time passes quick in one. Now it seems like jest yesterday whats we had that accident.”

“Yet it seems like years ago some ways, Josh … almost like a lifetime ago. I'm glad it happened.”

“What!? Yer glad ya cracked up yer nice new Model ‘T' an' got in a coma?”

“Seems like it was a good thin' some ways, don' it? We gotta lotta memories from it. We had the same dream together. That was good”, and Zeke looks around the shop and asks, “Did you hear Momma calling me?”

“We always want to do the same thin', don' we Zeke?”

“Course we does, Josh. We is best friends, an' I love ya.”

Josh looks at Zeke, smiles and fades away. Zeke looks back, smiles and hears: “Zeke? Zeke? Are you okay, Zeke?”

Zeke opens his eyes and sees he is in his cabin with Aby leaning over him. “Zeke! It was like you were unconscious. I said ‘yes'. I said ‘yes, I would marry you.' I said I loved you and wanted a big family, and then you just leaned back, smiled and went into some kind of trance. Are you okay?”

“I'm fine, Aby. I love you.”

Aby smiles and fades away as Zeke looks at her, smiles, and hears: “… and someday you'll understand whats it like to be a poppa yerself, Zeke. Ya know ya gotta do stuff to earn food fer yer fam'ly whats ya love, but ya gotta do stuff you was born to do too. Always remember yer fam'ly comes first even when ya can't be with em. Ya understand, Zeke?

Zeke looks at his father and says, “Yes, Pappy.”

Pappy smiles at Zeke, says, “Ya knows I love ya even though I can't always be with ya, don'cha Zeke?”

Zeke says, “I love you too, Pappy.” Pappy looks at Zeke, smiles, and says, “Yer momma is talkin' to ya”, and fades away. Zeke looks at him, smiles, closes his eyes and finds them fluttering rapidly as he hears, “ Ezekiel? Ya understand now, Ezekiel? So whatever Tommy an' Billy Rumple does jest won' matter years from now, Ezekiel. Yer only five years old. They can knock ya down or push ya over a million times an' it won' matter. You will grow up to be a fine man an' have a fine fam'ly all yer own jest like I been tellin' ya. Yer wife will be beautiful and yer chillun will be smart jest like you is gonna be iff'n ya studies like I told ya to do an' learns much as ya can from that smart Miss Alde. You'll be so happy then ya won' even remember them Rumple boys much less care what they did, cuz you'll have a good life no matter whats they does. Ya understand, Ezekiel?”

“Yes Momma.”

“Jest remember to find a wife whats has love in her heart like I said. You can see that love when she smiles. That's how ya can tell, Ezekiel … jest by lookin' at ‘er. Iff'n she has love in her heart she will give ya them nice chillun jest like I said.”

“An yer cousin Josh is a fine young man already. Don' matter how big he is. He will make a good friend fer ya Ezekiel, an' good friends is the best thin' ya can ever have. You always be nice to Josh an' help em whenever ya can, Ezekiel, and you'll never regret it.

I like havin' these little talks, Ezekiel, even though you seem to be thinkin' of ever'thin but what I'm sayin'. This was a special long talk for a Saturday, seein' it rained all day. We got a four hour talk today all bout what life'll be like when ya grows up. Someday, when yer all growed up, ya know what? You'll remember all I said an' know I taught ya right. I hope you remember all that fantasy stuff I told ya bout too, cuz it makes a mind more active to dream of what could be. Dreams is like a playground fer when yer sleepin'. Iff'n ya goes to bed angry at someone ya might not be allowed on that playground an' that's when ya git nightmares.

Always remember, Ezekiel, iff'n yer a good boy you'll grow into a good man who will find a good wife who'll give ya good chillun, and that's the best life anyone can have”, as she takes her arm from around her little son and continues, “Now time fer ya to git to bed. Yer Poppa's gonna be here tomorrow with lotsa stories to tell ya, an' I got some cookin' to do.” Zeke's mother gives him a kiss on the forehead and says, “Ya knows I love ya, Ezekiel, don'cha?”

Five year old Zeke looks at his mother with tears in his eyes. He didn't want her to fade away, so he didn't tell her he loved her too. He hugged his mother with all his might to prevent her from fading away, but she just laughed, saying, “You is a good boy, Ezekiel. Yer huggin' me like I was gonna run away. I only gotta send ya to bed an' make some more of them nice oatmeal cookies fer ya while ya sleep. You might not want to come home after school iff'n there ain't no oatmeal cookies waitin'. I'm gonna put raisins in em this time to make em extra special. Now scoot to bed”, and Zeke gets a kiss on his cheek and a smile that he can see the love just like she described.

Zeke walks to his room and hears his mother say, “You gots the best imagination ever, Ezekiel. The Lord only knows what went through yer mind while I was talkin'. Someday you is gonna be a story teller jest like yer Poppa.”

“Where does Pappy git all his stories from, Momma?”

“Yer Poppa spends all his time workin' with the kinfolk an' tellin' stories, Ezekiel. He's got no time fer makin' em up. So I help em. With my cookin' an' cleanin', with you bein' here an' the stories I give em, I know he will be home ever weekend jest like he's sposta be”, and she gives Zeke a wink and another smile, adding, “The secret of makin' a good story is to describe stuff so's the listener thinks he's really livin' the story hi'self, an' ya add a lil fantasy to keep his mind workin'. Fantasy is like spice, Ezekiel. Jest like food, some stories jest need a lil an' some stories can use all ya got. It depends on the story an' who yer feedin' the story to. Now me doin' the story-makin' is a secret jest between you an' me, Ezekiel. No ones gotta know yer Poppa gits help.”

Zeke lay in bed feeling sad. He knew why, but was afraid to do what he wanted to do. He felt it may have a bad outcome. Suddenly, remembering if she faded away without him telling her he loved her, he would regret it forever, he jumped out of bed, ran to the kitchen with tears in his eyes and hollered, “I love you, Momma”, hoping she would not fade away.

His mother turned around with a smile and said, “I know ya does, Ezekiel. You know I love you too.”

Zeke watched carefully as his mother continued to make her delicious cookies. She didn't fade away. He asked, “How come ya never call me Zeke to make it shorter to say, Momma?”

“Cuz yer name is Ezekiel, an' I got all the time in the world it takes to say my son's name. Now scoot to bed or I'm gonna give ya a hug with these floury hands.”

Little Zeke smiled at his mother and turned back to bed. He was now sure she wouldn't fade away for a long long time. He was happy like he never was before, and he knew he always had nice dreams when he went to bed happy. He thought, “Tonight I am going to dream I am flying. … No, wait. Tonight I am going to dream I am flying with my friend Josh … No, wait. Tonight I am going to dream me and Josh are all grown up with a nice machine shop where we make the best spaceship ever.”

As he closed his eyes he thought, “Tomorrow I am going to ask Josh if he wants to be best friends. Josh knows best friends meant they were best friends forever no matter what.” As he drifted off into sleep he thought, “I hope Josh says yes.”

The Last End