To Stand on One’s Two Feet

Rowen found himself standing naked in a cave. He looked down at his two feet and he felt very disoriented. He thought, “This has got to be a dream, these don’t look like my feet or legs.” He experimentally lifted his left foot off the floor of the cave, turned it from side to side and stomped it on the cold hard rock. He felt the sensation of pain as well as he felt the impact run up his bones in his leg.

He looked at the muscles which formed his leg and the pale skin and he said, “These are definitely new.” He enjoyed the sensation of standing because he hadn’t stood on his own legs for more than ten years since that fateful day during basic training when the accident happened which left him a paraplegic.

Before the accident, he had big dreams of being a soldier and maybe even a hero. His life before was exceedingly normal and mundane. He was never much more than a geek in school and he never stood out in any meaningful way.

He was thinking about the past, while he examined his new body. His examination moved up his legs past his private parts to his well-muscled abdomen. He examined his pectoral muscles and thought, “This is a body a gym rat would dream of.”

He looked at his arms and was pleased with how well-muscled they were. He was never in this good of shape. So, that being said, he was convinced this was indeed a dream.

He suddenly realized he wasn’t alone. Standing in front of him were four women who were all breathtakingly beautiful.

He jumped when he saw them and quickly covered up his private parts with his hands. He had to ask, “Are you the harem which usually comes with these dreams?”

One of the women, a stunning blond, got a very cross look in her eyes and said, “We will give you some grace since you obviously do not know who you are talking to. If you did know, you would be on your knees trembling!”

Another woman, one with rich, dark chocolate colored skin said, “Now sister, we must be patient with him, since he knows not where he is and who he is talking to. Remember, we are inviting him to help us. He never asked to come here.”

The blond said abruptly, “That is why I said we are giving him grace.”

The conversation devolved into an argument between the blond and the dark-skinned woman. While this argument seemed to grow more and more heated, the other two women looked on shaking their heads with a “They’re at it again” look on their faces.

The woman furthest to Rowen’s left shrugged, looking back at Rowen and said, “My apologies Rowen, but my sisters are always prone to such arguments with each other. Please allow me to explain why we brought you here.”

Rowen wasn’t sure what the hell was going on.

“Yes, that would be nice.”

“We are the four Guardians of this world called Twalling Cade. The Creator set us to oversee this world to ensure humanity’s and other sentient beings’ free will is not impeded. We oversee the Church of the Creator as well.

“My name is Dawn, to my left here is Zenith. The magnificent looking redhead over to her left is Eve and the lady Zenith is arguing with is Midnight. We have been given other names through the years but those will suffice for now. They are the most common used.”

Rowen suddenly realized the women were all talking in a different language than the one he was used to and yet he understood them perfectly.

Dawn continued, “You are just now realizing we are speaking in a language alien to you, are you not?”

“Yes I am.” He said distractedly.

“That is because we gifted you with the understanding of all the languages here on Twalling Cade.”

He then looked back at the other two guardians who were still arguing, and he thought, ‘I was never very good at learning languages. I am proficient in English but that’s about it.’

He turned back to Dawn and said, “So, why have you brought me here?”

“We will explain all presently. First, we would like to know how you are feeling with your new body? Is it to your liking? Are there any changes you would like made to it?”

“Well for a body in a dream, it’s about what I would expect. It’s pretty neat this dream is so intense. I can feel the cold, dampness in the room and the cold of the stone. I don’t think any changes are necessary right now and besides. It’s my dream so I can dream up any changes necessary.”

Zenith and Midnight stopped their arguing and turned to Rowen and Zenith said, “He actually believes he is dreaming?!’ with an incredulous look on her face.

Eve, who had been quiet up until now said, “You have to forgive him sister. The human mind is prone to rationalize new and strange experiences. Since he has never seen angelic beings before he needs to rationalize what he is experiencing as a dream. Otherwise, his emotions would likely be all over the place. He would likely be freaking out right now so to say.”

Zenith then said to Rowen, “No you are not dreaming. This is quite real.”

Rowen closed his eyes tightly and then opened them back up again. He then reached over with his right hand and pinched himself on his left arm. As he felt the pinch he said, “Alright. I guess I am not dreaming. I just tried to wake myself up and couldn’t.

“So, will you tell me what the hell is going on?”

Midnight smiled gently and lovingly and said, “Why dear Rowen. You died last night.”