In The End (a short fiction story)

Jared Rhinde, an unimposing man, gifted in speech and intellect, was laid bare before a swath of doctors, except for a small blue dress covering his modesty. The lights shone bright as the morning sun illuminated the operation table. The doctor’s instruments glinted in the light as the scalpel slid through the skin exposing Jared’s chest cavity. Blood flowed freely as they peeled back the skin, sweat glistened on the brows of nurses and surgeons alike. Heart monitors beeped, and hearts thumped as the scalpel pierced through the left side of the heart revealing the tumor within….

Monitors screaming as Jared convulses, the room in a practiced panic as surgeons try to revive the man on the operating table. Jared’s eyes open, darkness surrounds him as he floats through the seeming abyss, a faint skirling pierces the silence as light envelopes him seemingly out of the void. “Jared Rhinde, my son, why do you hate Me? What have I done to you?” whispered the light.

“Who are you? What do you want with me?” Jared croaked with fear emanating from his very soul as the light enveloped him.

“I am the one You abandoned because you couldn’t allow yourself to feel love when you hated yourself. I am The God who was, who is, and who will be; I am The Creator; I am the Father of sinners and saints alike.” The light swelled as the voice reverberated through all that Jared could see and hear. It seemed as though the voice was the light and the light was this voice claiming to be God.

“How can you be GOD?” Jared bellowed hoarsely. “You abandoned me when I was a boy; You took Her away from me; You let Her die!”

“Would free will exist if I stepped in every time one of my children was hurting? Would I be loving if I took away the choices that each of my children can make? What would my Only Son’s Death mean if I returned every Soul who came to be with me?”, the light flared with a blinding radiance as God’s voice washed over Jared.

“Why Her? Why couldn’t it have been me?” Jared called out, his voice breaking as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him, tears glistening in the light.

“If I had taken you as you ask, would she not be hurting just as you do now? My plans are beyond your comprehension; you have the freedom to choose what to do with your life. ALL THAT I ASK IS THAT YOU LET ME LOVE YOU!” the light flared brighter than any sun as Jared wept under the onslaught of God’s honesty and love. “Tell them about me Jared, let my children know what you have seen. Learn to love them as I love you.” God whispered as He enveloped Jared once again in light, letting him feel the warmth and love He held for all His children.

Beep beep beep, Jared’s body stilled as his heart beat once again. The surgeons continued their work of removing the tumor. Six weeks later the world would find Jared addressing a crowd from a stage: “Despite the fact that all my life I hated God; He still loves me in the end.”