3 Chapters 5, 6, and 7

A school bell rang from the mess hall and heads poked up across the camp. Along the clear surface of the lake, children's eyes popped out of the water like hippopotamuses. Others stalked out of the forest and tossed away branches doubling as swords or walking sticks. Several clusters of kids were whispering and giggling in various cabins across the campground, sending lookouts to scan through windows to ensure the wrong person didn't overhear. They adjourned their clandestine meetings and emerged with veiled smiles.

Their secrets were silly and simple, but private. It was the harmless gossiping of bored children and it didn't bother God. Even if it did, there really would be no way of stopping it anyway.

As the children shuffled across the campground, I scaled the stairs of the gazebo, then waved them towards me. God and Jay strode out from the mess hall wearing swim trunks and towels draped over their shoulders. They chatted to themselves as their flip-flops popped and smacked with each step. God glanced up at the approaching crowd.

"Are you going to be okay?" God asked me.

"Go ahead, Sir, I'll keep the rabble under control."

God nodded and returned His attention to continue whatever it was those two talked about while they were alone during their mountain retreats. Or rather volcano retreats, to be more precise. Either way, I did my best to not pry.

"Where are they going?" Simon asked. "Lake's the other way."

"Jay isn't a fan of lake swimming," I said. "They have their own place somewhere near the peak."

"Oh, really," Simon whispered, the gears grinding in his head as he looked back to the trail leading to the volcano.

I regretted divulging Jay and God's oasis, but they'd never invited me up, so I wasn't terribly overwrought with guilt. I motioned all the other campers to sit in a half circle around me on the outside of the gazebo.

The crowd shuffled around as cliques settled into their own smaller circles. The girls and boys were largely segregated, aside from a pale-faced boy named Barry and a mousy brunette named Mary, who'd already become inseparable. It made the other girls giggle and the boys roll their eyes. With the way their names rhymed so perfect in that nauseating, precious, and singsongy way, their union was perhaps inevitable.

As Edward approached, nose still buried in the Bible, I called to him. He glanced up and I motioned for the Bible. He reluctantly closed it, handed it over to me, and found a place to sit amidst the crowd.

"So, what do you think of this place?" I asked over the murmur of children's voices. They grew quiet, a few shrugging, a few grumbling, and the rest murmuring "it's fun" or some other bits of unenthusiastic praise.

"Well, if you have any problems, you can come to me. I'll see if there's anything we can do to help you adjust."

I sat on the handrail of the gazebo, my feet dangling off the ledge. The children were semi-attentive. I scanned the faces and realized there was one missing.

"Edward, where's Tommy?"

Edward stood, a little too formally, and looked around the camp.

"In the bathroom, I think."

"You think?" I asked, and a few children giggled. I shushed them and looked back at Edward.

"He was swimming and I was reading when we heard the bell," Edward said. "He told me to go on and said he had to go to the bathroom. I'm sorry, I should have gone with him."

"That's okay, Edward; I'm certain he can figure out how to flush a toilet on his own."

More children giggled. I waved them quiet and flipped open the Bible. While thumbing through the pages, a faint shimmering light distracted me. I glanced up into the sky to watch it descend and grunt. "Yes?"

The children peered into the translucent form which was as indistinct as a desert mirage. The angel spoke in a series of clucks, screeches, and huffs that was impenetrable to all but the few chosen by God to understand, which included me—God's concierge.

I sighed, closed my eyes, and concentrated until I could see Tommy in my mind.

"He's swimming; he's far out—he's trying to cross the lake."

The light rose into the sky, whipping up dust with every flap of its invisible wings. It soared out over the lake. The children were quiet and nervous. A few whispered to each other and Edward stepped out of the pack of children and ran to the lake to watch.

Before long, there was a splash followed by yelling. The light appeared above the mess hall holding Tommy. The boy yelled, squirmed, and tried to flail free of the light.

I waved to the angel. "Take him to his cabin so he can change. Tommy, come straight here after you're done. No distractions."

"Go to hell, Bali!"

"I'd rather not."

I motioned for the angel to take him away. Tommy was whipped across the campground and he disappeared into Cabin Five. I sat back down on the gazebo and looked at the children. Edward hesitated, watching the door to the cabin slam shut and hearing yelling come from inside.

"Edward, it will be fine. Come back to the group."

He hesitated, but finally returned to his spot on the ground. Some giggled and whispered. Edward tucked his head down, guilt tugging his eyes to a tuft of grass in front of him. He picked at the blades.

"Okay, here it is," I said, holding up the Bible. "The only book in our possession, and apparently the only book you will ever need. We will be dividing you into groups for daily readings here in the gazebo. It will be taught by Jay or myself at first, then perhaps we'll let you guide your own Bible studies in the future."

"What about God?" Edward asked. His face, still directed at the blades he was plucking from the ground, was weighed down by frustration. His spirit was brittle and the insomnia seemed to be catching up with him. "Will He ever guide any?"

"Doubtful," I answered. "Believe it or not, being Creator of a universe comes with quite a large number of pressing concerns. He spares what little time He can, but not enough for Bible study."

"Where did they go?" Martha asked. "Our Creator and Jay?"

"To take a bath," Simon said, delighted by the rumors sure to come. "Together!"

"Eww," kids groaned.

"Children, please." I threw Simon a severe glare. "They've chosen an alternate place to bathe, a place where they can discuss matters that are none of our concern. Also, you may be in children's bodies, but every single one of you was once an adult. So, please, act your age."

Ossie rose his hand. I shouldn't have called on him, but I did anyway.

"Tell me, Bali, is the bath in an enclosure, perhaps some sort of gathering place with walls and a roof? If so, what would you call that?"

"Your Divine Creator didn't go to a bath house," I said, doing my best to stifle a smile.

"What do they talk about?" Edward asked, still solemn.

"As I said, it's none of our concern."

Whispers followed, then more snickering. I rose my hands to wave off the chatter.

"Okay, okay! Let's get this over with so we can get on with our lives. Or afterlives, I suppose."

"After afterlives?" Ossie asked.

"Sure."

The kids quieted down and watched me with only a few occasional whispers sifting through the crowd.

"Does anyone have any questions about the Bible?" I asked. "Any perplexing issues that have dug at you? Like, if you could ask God a question, what would it be?"

All their eyes darted up, wide and curious. They glanced around at each other, watching for the first hand to raise. As I expected, it was Edward.

"Where in the Bible does it talk about this place? I've been searching for something that might refer to it, but …"

"It doesn't. The universe is quite expansive, and this book—though there are many, many, many words—isn't nearly vast enough to go into it all … thank the Lord."

"Amen to that," Ossie chimed in.

"That, and God's universe is constantly shifting, tweaking and evolving. And yes, humans did evolve, dinosaurs existed, and the Earth didn't just poof into being at the dawn of mankind—just to get those out of the way early."

"Are we the only ones?" a toothy, bean sprout of a boy named Timothy asked. "Are there are other souls out there?"

"Humans are unique, to be certain, but the only living things with souls? No. Earth wasn't the only source of intelligent life in the universe. How many of you took a good look at Heaven while you were being flown into this place?"

They all raised their hands.

"Looks a lot different from above, doesn't it?"

Children chuckled and nodded.

"Well, less than 5 percent of those souls originated on Earth," I said, and all their faces twisted in disbelief, shock, and fascination. "You must realize, God has always been and will always be around. Infinity is a dreadfully long time, and a human life, a civilization, a planet, or even a universe only exists for a moment, in comparison."

The kids whispered to each other. Edward's hand raised again.

"So how many universes have there been so far?"

"No one knows but God," I said, but wasn't certain if that was true. Maybe He didn't even remember. God refused to make lists, which drove me to wit's end on a daily basis. I chose not to imply, in front of the kids, that God was capable of forgetting anything, let alone the number of universes He'd created. It's a troubling thought that gives even me a great deal of pause.

Billy was the next to brave a question.

"How much of the Bible is literally true?" Billy asked. "Not like some parable, but an actual hard fact?"

I chuckled and looked at the Bible. I opened it and flipped through it.

"Well," I said, glancing through the pages, "Anytime you have so much information that was either passed along by oral tradition or written down many years after the fact, there are going to be divides between what really happened and what was said to have happened. The spirit is there though. But if I had to put a number on it, I'd say about 75 percent is more or less true. Exodus should be viewed as an extended morality tale rather than a history lesson. As I said, this book looks big, but it's not nearly big enough. It wasn't really ever meant to be viewed as strict historical text."

"What about Revelation?" Edward asked. "How much of that is true?"

"Ah, yes, the fever dream of the apocalypse," I said. "We happen to have someone here who lived through at least part of the End Times."

"Who?" Billy asked as he and the rest of the children scanned each other.

Petrov kept hunched over, perhaps wishing that the others would fail to notice. I considered letting it go, but the children were already beginning to look in his direction.

"Would you like to enlighten us, Petrov?"

Petrov glanced around and then back at the ground. "It wasn't what I expected."

The crowd was silent. Most of them probably hadn't even considered the possibility that their world no longer existed, but thought that it continued to spin somewhere out in the ether.

"And?" Edward asked.

Petrov only shook his head. He began to cry with a quiet submission. Ossie looked from the poor boy to me, considered, then rose his hand.

"Yes, Ossie?"

The children still stared at Petrov.

"What's God's true stance on sexuality?" Ossie asked loud enough to pry the eyes away from Petrov to himself. Yet, there was an uncertain vulnerability to his voice.

I took a deep breath.

"You mean back on Earth or here?"

Ossie just shrugged his reply.

"Well, your bodies aren't mature enough for sex to be an issue, so it is not a big concern. On Earth—it was more handled on a case-to-case basis, like most sins."

"I didn't really expect to be here," Ossie said, trying to ignore the other kids' stares.

"Would you like to discuss this later?"

"No," Ossie said. "No, I really want to know now, and I don't really care if they know."

I looked over the group's curious faces. Even Petrov was engaged in the moment, tears and all.

"Fair enough. Ossie is a prime example of how complicated sexuality is when it came time for judging souls. Upon puberty, Ossie realized that he was gay."

The group went rigid, as if stricken with a spell. After the first moments of shock, some wielded looks of judgmental disgust, others pure wonder. Ossie maintained a sort of princely dignity throughout it all.

"He went to church but never halted his homosexual lifestyle," I said. "In fact, he had a monogamous relationship for—what, forty years or so?"

"Forty-four."

"There are many of you who have had indiscretions, sexually and otherwise," I said. "The majority of you have been divorced at least once. All I can say is, if you made it to Heaven, then clearly you did more right than you did wrong. You were all judged on your faith using the same measuring stick, so I don't want any of you to treat Ossie any differently because of this, okay?"

Ossie was now a marked man.

"I am serious," I said. "I know your secrets. I've seen the Book of Life, or at least your entries. I don't mind divulging the details."

Eyes now diverted. A few blushes.

"But I thought you got into Heaven because you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart," Martha said.

I chuckled and nodded.

"Correct. So, Ossie is here because he is meant to be here. He deserved it just as much as the rest of you."

Unsatisfied, Martha stood and continued.

"That doesn't make sense. The apostle Paul said in First Corinthians 'Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body'."

I took a deep breath to gather strength. "Paul said a lot of things."

"He also said 'you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat'."

"Paul also said that it was best not to have sex at all," I said, knowing that I needed to shut this down before it got out of hand. "But he also said that not all men could live as he did. If it could not be helped, then it was better to marry, and Ossie, was, if not legally, then at least spiritually, married."

"But…" Martha began.

"Are you God, Martha?" I asked. "Answer me, are you God?"

She ducked her head. "No," she whispered.

"Do you have faith in God, Martha?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you questioning His judgment now?"

Martha sat down and hid her face with her hands. She was not crying, she was furious. The other children were still stiff and skeptical.

Ossie would be a pariah to some, but that is why he was placed in Cabin Five. There he would be protected.

"Any other questions? Anyone else what to inform me on why they are smarter than God, your Creator?"

No hands rose. There were more questions, there had to be, but it is hard to follow that kind of bombshell. Instead, their questions would wait for another day. I knew, for sure, Martha would be back for another round.

"Okay, go enjoy the rest of your afternoon. Return at the dinner bell."

When Ossie stood, many of the kids walked away, as if he was the host of some vile, mortal, airborne virus. Billy stared directly at Ossie.

"Really?"

"I don't like hiding."

"Well good for you," Billy said, his voice thick with bitter sarcasm.

Billy walked toward the lake, part of him hoping Sophia would follow. Instead, it was Simon at his side. Tommy was jogging back from the cabin and met them.

"What did I miss?"

"Ossie's a fudge-packer," Billy said as he walked by.

Tommy smirked and glanced over at Ossie curiously.

"Really?" Tommy asked.

Ossie nodded. Tommy walked to Ossie and patted him on the shoulder.

"Thanks for telling us."

Edward watched them retreat to the cabin, and then glanced at me. I held up the Bible for him as he approached. He didn't take it.

"Would it be possible for us to talk more about the Bible?" Edward asked me, the worry cutting lines around his cheeks and at the corner of his eyes. He seemed old again.

"Of course," I replied, still holding the Bible up. He grabbed it. "Not today, but maybe after you've settled in."

Edward nodded, then retreated from the gazebo. He stopped and turned toward me again.

"Is God tempting us?" Edward asked.

"Tempting you?"

"Yes, is He—is this a test?"

The question sent my mind spinning with possible responses. I stifled what I wanted to say and instead settled on "no."

"It feels like we are."

"You are not being tested, just don't do anything spectacularly stupid and you should be fine."

Edward nodded with a troubled smile. He found Petrov walking alone back to the cabin. He jogged to catch up and they talked quietly as other kids watched and whispered.

Edward's cabinmates were certainly living up to expectations.

******

"Petrov, would you like to talk about it?" Edward whispered as he kneeled beside the pale boy's bed. Petrov was curled up in a fetal position, pressed up against the wall. He didn't appear to be crying anymore.

"No. Thank you."

Edward glanced back at Tommy, who stood beside the window. Tommy shrugged with a thin smile. Ossie leaned against his bunk and nodded to encourage Edward to try again. Edward placed his hand on Petrov's shoulder.

"If you ever feel like you need to talk," Edward said, "you can tell me anything. It won't change the way I look at you, I promise. I was a pastor and I talked to a lot of military personnel who'd gone through wars. There's not much you could tell me that I haven't heard before."

"Thank you, Edward. But right now, no."

"Okay, can I at least get you something? Are you hungry?"

Petrov shook his head, so Edward squeezed his shoulder and stood up. Tommy smiled his approval. The door opened and Billy and Simon walked in. Billy took in the sight, then saw Petrov curled up on his bed. Billy met Ossie's eyes and gave a brief nod, having settled the matter in his mind. Billy crossed the room towards Edward.

"Is he going to be okay?" Billy whispered.

Edward nodded. Billy patted him on the shoulder.

"What happened to you?" Billy asked Tommy.

"Went for a swim."

"Right on," Simon said with a grin. "You guys want to go into the forest with us? I know where God and Jay went. There's another place to swim, I think it's in the mountain. Maybe like a hot spring or something."

Edward glanced back at Tommy.

Tommy smirked. "Sounds interesting."

"You've already been in trouble twice today," Edward said to Simon. "You sure you want to incur His wrath again?"

"What's the worst that could happen?" Simon asked.

"I guess we'll find out," Billy said, opening his footlocker and digging through the clothes. He lifted out a pair of socks and took off his shoes. He put the socks over the ones he was already wearing and then put his shoes back on. The others stared at him.

"I get bad blisters," Billy answered without waiting for anyone to ask. He glanced up at Ossie who was standing against the far wall.

"Really gay, huh?"

Ossie nodded.

"I'll be damned. Why'd you just decide to tell everyone in one grand gesture like that?"

"I was gay all my life," Ossie said. "I didn't come out until I was in my early 20s and decided I wasn't going to hide anymore."

"Huh—well, I guess I can accept that," Billy said, grabbing his shoe to slip it on.

"I don't need your acceptance," Ossie said.

Billy threw his shoe to the ground and swiveled to face Ossie, his eyes wide and his nostrils flaring. Simon took a timid step in-between them. "I ain't never been around gay people."

Edward and Tommy stood and prepared to separate them.

"I certainly never slept just above a faggot," Billy said. "I'm trying to be cordial about this, so you're gonna have to cut me some goddamn slack, alright?"

Ossie straightened his back while looking Billy in the eyes. He was making his stand. "Billy, I understand that this is hard for you and probably a lot of other people here. I didn't ask to be on the Island, though. As long as you don't ask me to apologize for being gay, I'll do what I can to make you comfortable with who I am."

Billy grunted, looking away from Ossie.

"So, I changed in front of you after we swam …" Billy began.

"Jesus Christ, Billy. I'm gay; I'm not a pedophile!"

Billy gave him a long, hard look, and finally bent down and grabbed his shoe.

"I guess I can deal with that then."

"Guys," Simon said. "Ossie kinda makes us the coolest cabin on the Island, right?"

Billy huffed, then allowed a tight smile.

"Really," Simon said, this time looking at Ossie. "You're pretty damn punk rock."

"I hate punk music," Ossie said.

"But you are punk music."

Chuckles rose as the mood lifted.

���Ossie?"

"Yes, Simon."

"You. Are. Punk. Rock."

"Whatever you say, Simon."

Billy slugged Simon on the shoulder, then walked over to Petrov. Billy sat on his bunk and pulled his other shoe on. He craned his head to look at the timid boy.

"You comin'?"

Petrov didn't answer so Billy shrugged, finished tying his shoe, and headed toward the door. He nodded for Ossie to come along. Ossie smiled and followed.

"Can we talk to Bali first?" Edward asked as he jogged behind them.

"You're not going to tell him where we're going are you?" Billy asked as a subtle threat.

"No."

"We can't tell him anything," Simon said. "I don't trust anyone who writes everything down. He says he doesn't show it to God, but I don't buy it."

"Well, theoretically God should already know, right?" Edward asked. "God knows everything."

"Yeah, I don't know about that, son," Billy said. "From what I've seen, I'm not buying into that omnipotence thing. The man looks like he's having a hard enough time just dressing himself every day."

Edward chuckled. "True. I'm still going to go see Bali. I just want to see if he could get something for me."

"Is it a nudie magazine?" Billy winked, making Edward blush.

Chapter 6

A splinter dug and twisted against the tendon in Simon's knee. His cramping hands clutched onto branches that crackled and bowed under his weight. A breeze passed through the forest on its way to his perch, so he tightened his grip. The wind brushed through the limbs and rustled the pine needles. The tree swayed gently and then settled.

"What the hell am I doing up here?" Simon asked.

"Can you see anything?" Edward called from fifteen feet below.

"Keep your panties on! If you're bored just make out with Ossie a while."

"Oh, ha ha!" Ossie said. "I'm going to laugh when you come tumbling down out of the tree!"

"Thanks for the encouragement, brotherman!"

"It's not clever to be racist, Simon," Tommy said. "Or homophobic."

"No one has a sense of humor anymore," Simon said to himself. He took a deep breath, then reached for the next highest branch that appeared strong enough to hold him. It was about as thick as his arm and the highest limb that he could safely achieve.

The small group of children had jumped off the trail about fifteen minutes prior so they wouldn't run into God and Jay. Now, predictably, they were lost.

Simon stood up on his toes, clung to a thin branch, then leaned his right knee onto the upper limb. He hugged the tree and carefully stood up. It creaked and wobbled, but held. He straightened and could see a small opening between trees. He leaned away from the trunk, shifted his weight and then:

CRACK!

The limb gave way; Simon lunged for a lower branch. The splintered limb cut against his ribs as he fell. He twisted and reached for another limb. It held for a few moments, but it started to bow. His fingers slipped and he fell, grasping at smaller limbs that were too thin to cling on to. He crashed into a branch, grasped needles and twigs momentarily until his feet found a larger limb. The needles ripped off in his hand, leaving him wobbling on the thin limb. He waved his arms around, desperately trying to keep his balance. He couldn't and fell through a web of smaller branches. They held his body for a moment, but began crackling.

"Shit!" Simon grasped desperately for anything that could support his weight. His body started slipping through the bed of thin limbs. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"

He slipped through and plummeted the final five feet until his body hit the ground with a thud.

Ossie smirked, looking down on him. "Language, Simon."

The other children stared warily and grimaced as Simon groaned.

"You okay?" Tommy asked.

"I just fell out of a fucking tree!" Simon rolled and clung to his ribs.

"Boy, don't make me take a bar of soap to that mouth," Billy said, kneeling down beside him and lifting Simon's shirt. There were long red scratches along Simon's hip where the bark had cut into him and a welt where he'd hit the ground. "That was about the slowest fall I've ever seen."

"I aim to please."

"Settle down," Billy said. "I'm going to check your ribs."

Billy ran his hand along Simon's side, pressing against his rib cage which made Simon grimace.

"Where else does it hurt?" Billy asked. "Can you breathe okay?"

"I guess."

"Do you know where you are?" Billy asked.

"On the bottom of a fucking tree!"

"Laaan-guage," Tommy sang. Billy held Simon's face steady so he stared at Simon's pupils.

"You're fine, wuss," Billy said, patting Simon's cheek and then pulling him up to his feet.

"Did you see it?" Edward asked.

Simon took a deep breath, then glared up at Edward. "Your concern is touching."

"Yes, we're all sorry that you fell and thank you for going up there in the first place," Tommy rattled off with a roll of the eyes. "Did you see anything?"

Simon straightened, twisted his waist and grimaced.

"We're going the right direction," Simon said. "It's not far."

"Well, let's get going," Billy said as he turned uphill. "We don't have much time until dinner."

"Can I get a second?" Simon snarled. "I just fell out of a tree. I know you have to get back to your girlfriend …"

"She's not my girlfriend," Billy corrected, not looking back. "I just don't want to miss dinner."

"Yeah, whatever," Simon said.

"I can piggyback you if you can't walk," Ossie said.

"No, that's all right, stud." Simon chuckled as he stretched his back, his spine popping like a distant machine gun rattle. "Okay, let's go."

Billy led the group deeper into the forest. The farther they traveled from the camp, the more tangled the brush grew.

After thirty minutes of trailblazing and the occasional grumble and moan from Simon, the group's visibility was cut off in all directions. Edward regretted not asking Bali for a compass. He then wondered if a compass would work here, if there was an actual magnetic north pole.

"Where's your Bible?" Tommy asked Edward.

"I left it back at the cabin. I was tired of carrying it."

Tommy smiled, pleased and knowing. Edward couldn't hide a grin and quickly turned away.

"So," Tommy called to the rest of the group. "Why do you think we were all alive at the same time?"

"What do you mean?" Ossie asked.

"Well, humanity was around for several millennia. I've talked to a few other people in the camp and everyone, I guess except Petrov, was all alive at about the same time."

"I'd thought about that," Edward said as Billy helped him up onto a boulder. "I think it's because we can all relate to each other better."

"Maybe it was a golden era," Ossie ventured, then taking Edward's hand to climb up the boulder. "Maybe everything got worse after us and God's trying to go back to that era to figure out what went wrong."

"Could be," Tommy said. "What do you think happened to all the others?"

"What others?" Billy asked.

"The kids that came before us," Tommy said.

"Whoa," Simon gasped, waving his hands. "Let's take a second, okay?"

Simon sat down on the ground and lifted his shirt to look at his ribs. Billy cocked his head to examine the scratches, which had already faded to the point they were almost completely gone.

"Damn, they healed up quick," Billy said.

"Tah-dah," Simon said.

Edward looked over at Tommy, studying him for a moment. "What makes you think that there were kids before us?"

"I think Tommy's right," Billy said. "I'd thought it was weird that there were paths already beaten into the forest."

"Right," Tommy said. "Plus, our cabins aren't exactly new; they look like they've been here for a while."

"Maybe God made it that way," Simon said.

"God doesn't really work that way," Edward said. "Outside of creation stories in Genesis, which I believe are clearly just metaphors, and then the odd miracle here and there, God is much more likely to work within the normal flow of reality. If there is dust in the cabins and trails in the forest, that is because the cabins hadn't been cleaned in a while and people walked the same route over and over again."

"But if we're not the first ones here, where are the ones who came before us?" Tommy asked.

The group fell silent. Edward looked around them, then motioned everyone in close. They huddled around him.

"I've been thinking about that cardinal a lot," Edward whispered. "I think there might be something else across the lake, something we're not supposed to see."

"Like what?" Ossie asked.

"I don't know," Edward answered. "But, I was hoping that if we got to the top of the mountain, we might be able to see."

"Okay, but why are we whispering?" Tommy asked.

"Because I don't know where God is," Edward said.

"Isn't God all-knowing and all-seeing?" Billy asked.

Edward frowned. "Have you ever been in charge of a Sunday school class full of small children? I have and I can tell you that the ones that always get away with the most are the ones who never draw attention to themselves."

The kids looked back up the hill, which was still veiled by branches, bushes and tall grass.

Tommy shook his head and glanced back at Edward.

"I don't think we'll find any answers on this mountain. Why would God put something we're not supposed to see in a place where we could find it? Of course we're going to climb the mountain; of course we're going to try to get to the other side of the lake. Why would he hide a secret in such obvious places?"

"To see if we'd look for it," Ossie answered.

The children looked up and around the trees again.

"Should we still go up there?" Simon asked. "I mean, what happens if we see something bad? What can they do to us?"

"Bali said nothing can happen to us," Ossie said.

"I trust that guy about as far as I can throw him," Billy said. "I'm not opposed to heading up there, but I think we might also keep on our toes. Ossie might be right—this might be some kind of trap and from what went down between God and Simon, we know the Big Man has a dark side."

"I agree, but this is going to drive us crazy," Edward said. "If we don't go up there now, all we're going to do is think about it the rest of the time we're here. That might be a long time. So let's just get this over with."

Ossie smirked. "Look at Edward. Guess your balls finally dropped."

"Gross, Ossie," Edward said, straightening up out of the huddle. "Let's go."

"No, wait," Simon said, pulling them back down. "I've got something I think we should consider."

"What?" Billy asked.

Simon looked up and down the hill, then looked in the sky.

"Okay, this is really important, okay?"

"Are you gay, too?" Billy asked.

"No, no," Simon said, standing and turning.

"Because we'd all be fine with that, wouldn't we?" Tommy said, looking at Billy.

"Clearly," Billy said.

"I'm not gay," Simon said as he reached into his back pocket. "Hold on. Stay hunched over, I don't want the angels to see."

He bent over and unleashed a loud, rumbling fart into the huddle. The huddle broke and Billy slugged Simon in the shoulder, who then let loose a squealing laugh as he danced up the hill.

"Jesus, they don't smell any better in Heaven," Billy said.

Simon laughed harder and continued to skip towards the mountain.

As they ascended, the hill progressively grew steeper and the trees began to thin out until the boys reached a clearing. From their vantage point, the mountain seemed several times taller than they'd remembered. The face was rocky and there was a winding path that zigzagged up and disappeared into the clouds.

"How long do you think that'll take?" Tommy asked.

"A while," Billy answered. "We might not make it back for dinner. Is anyone tired?"

"I'm fine," Edward said, with the rest grunting in agreement.

Edward began walking towards the path, with the others trailing.

"Hey!" a voice shouted from behind them.

Edward turned down the hill. Jay and God stood just inside a grouping of trees. They wore towels and flip-flops, Jay seemed to be completely dry, but his hair was messy like he'd recently taken a bath.

God's hair was still wet and He wasn't wearing His glasses.

His eyes were a milky white, as if he had cataracts. Edward was transfixed momentarily, then self-consciously looked away.

"What are you doing here?" Jay growled, stepping out from the trees and walking toward them.

"Just exploring," Billy said with an innocent shrug. "What are you doing out here?"

"None of your business! Get back to the camp!"

God stayed within the grouping of trees. He didn't seem angry, rather intrigued. He stared at Edward.

Jay pointed towards a trail leading down the hill. "Go! You have no business here!"

"Okay, we're going!" Billy growled back.

The group began walking towards the path. Edward stole one more look back at God, who had stepped out from the trees to watch them retreat.

Edward jogged to catch up with Billy.

"We're coming back again, right?" Edward asked.

Billy glanced over at him, amused.

"Damn right, we are."

Chapter 7

Slivers of moonlight pranced along the waves and the breeze cooled as it wafted across the lake. A silvery glow was cast on Sophia's face. She stood just at the shoreline, stealing glances back at the campground. When she saw Billy approaching, her lips lifted into a demure smile.

Billy shoved his hands in his pockets and kept a casual pace though he wanted to run.

"Play it cool, Romeo," Ossie had told him as Billy fumbled to put on his shoes on the way out the door. "This is a woman, not a war."

"Is there a difference?" Billy had asked, half-joking.

He'd worried throughout the day that she wouldn't show tonight. He never felt comfortable counting on someone else, but in Sophia, he saw safety. Maybe not passion, but safety. He'd known plenty of women with fire, like his ex-wife. They were fun when they were fun. Not so fun the rest of the time and Billy had his fill of waking up to a new person every morning.

As he neared Sophia, he was taken by how casually perfect she smiled. There was passion, he decided. Not the same as his ex-wife, but maybe better. It didn't burn as hot, but maybe it would burn longer.

"It's a beautiful night," Billy called.

Sophia nodded without looking directly at him. He eased down on the sand and began mentally rifling through stories, jokes, and other small talk, searching for a way to break the silence that seemed to encase her.

But instead of speaking, they both sat on the shore without a word and looked out across the waves. Billy shifted his weight just enough that the thin peach fuzz on his arm brushed across her forearm. They both pretended they hadn't touched.

Giggling voices drew Billy's attention away. Further down the shore near the pier, two figures emerged, holding hands and walking out towards the water. They kicked off their shoes and waded into the water, stopping once the water reached their knees.

"Who's that?" Billy asked.

"The girl's named Mary," Sophia said, watching the figures walk through the water. "I think the boy's name is Barry."

"Barry and Mary?" Billy said. "Jesus."

"Don't use the Lord's name in vain," Sophia whispered.

"Sorry."

Sophia looked back out across the lake. Billy watched the couple and briefly entertained the idea of sliding his hand around Sophia's. He decided against it, but did glance over at her face. Her eyes shifted over towards him. She smiled, and a goofy grin stumbled off his face.

"How was your day?" Sophia asked.

"Good. Well, we got yelled at by Jay."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What did you do this time?"

Billy jutting out his chest and flashed a cocky grin. "Welp. We went up to the mountain just to see what was there. We ran into Jay and God. Apparently, it's off limits."

"Did you get into a lot of trouble?"

"Not really. Jay told us to go back to the camp. I think we just surprised them."

"Really?" Sophia asked. Their eyes tripped across each other and Sophia quickly looked back to the water. "How do you surprise God?"

"I do not know, ma'am."

What do you think they were doing?" Sophia asked.

"Swimming," Billy said. "I think there might be springs or something in the mountain."

"How odd."

Down the shore, Tommy appeared. He walked barefoot out to the water and trudged into the waves until they reached his waist.

"He seems to spend a lot of time in the water," Sophia said.

"Yeah, I guess he does."

Edward arrived next and sat down on the shore. He nodded at Billy, then opened the Bible. He struggled to concentrate on the pages, but kept looking up at Tommy. After a few minutes, he began to untie his shoes. He met Billy's eyes. He looked away and subtly tied his shoes and started reading again.

Time passed uneasily until a bell rang in the distance, calling them to bed.

******

Edward poked at a rubbery hard-boiled egg with his fork. The campers were still groggy after their first full night's sleep, but conversations were starting to brighten. Edward, on the other hand, was simply distracted.

Martha walked by, making it a point to glare at Ossie and the others cavorting with a sinner. Edward stabbed at the egg extra hard. It squirted off his tray, bounced across the table, and fell onto the floor. The egg continued to skip across the ground, beneath kids' legs, bounce against a shoe, then spin to a stop a few tables down.

Edward glanced around to make sure no one had seen. A camper noticed the egg by his foot, then scanned the mess hall to see where it came from. Edward ducked his head.

"Hey Tommy," a chorus of girls called as they carried their trays to a nearby table.

Tommy narrowed an eye and gave a slight, suave nod of the head. Edward stewed.

"Hey girls!" Simon said, leaning over the table in front of Tommy, beaming a big smile with wide, eager eyes. The girls were suddenly all huffs, rolled eyes, and superior postures. In response, Simon carved a heart into a biscuit, bit on it like he was pulling a pin from a grenade, then tossed it into the middle of the girls.

"Damnit, Simon!���

They grabbed their trays and moved to a farther table.

"Good work," Billy said, patting Simon's shoulder, then continued the whispered discussion of the mountain. They had not mentioned Ossie's coming-out. It was considered a settled matter by all but Ossie, who had envisioned a spectacular coming to terms with his bunk mates followed by a profound moment of acceptance and understanding.

Instead he just graduated from being the camp's lone black kid to being the camp's lone black gay kid.

Ossie grabbed his toast and took a large, resentful bite.

"What do you think, Ossie?" Simon asked, just as Ossie started munching.

Ossie, annoyed, motioned for them to wait while he chewed. He swallowed hard.

"About what?" Ossie asked.

"Going up again today?"

"I don't know," Ossie said, glancing back to the corner of the cafeteria where Jay and I sat at a small table. "We might want to wait a day or two, see if we can figure out their schedule. When do they go up, when do they come down, when is our best window of opportunity."

"That's not a bad idea," Billy said. "Though, I think if we see our chance, we go."

Tommy lifted a piece of bacon to his mouth, but stopped. He wiggled the bacon as he said "You know," as if to emphasize the point. He took a small bite then continued, "I wouldn't mind going to that cliff where we flew in, take another look at the infinite beyond."

Billy nodded, shoving the last of his toast in his mouth, then washing it down with the last of his milk.

"Sounds good. We'll see what ridiculousness they have us doing today, and, when we have time, we'll go. You traveling with us this time, Petrov?"

Petrov hadn't been listening and was surprised to hear his name. He glanced up, but didn't say anything.

"We're going to the place where they flew us in," Edward said patiently. "You want to go with us?"

"No, thank you." Petrov lowered his focus back to his food.

Billy shrugged, stood up, and grabbed his tray. He always ate quick and used two hands when carrying his food. A holdover from Boot Camp. He strode to the counter where dishwashers were working. A rotation of names determined who would clean each day and who would serve. The girls always served; the boys always cleaned. Ossie had spent twenty-seven years as a chef in his earlier life but would be demoted to dishwasher. He wasn't surprised that Heaven was just as misogynistic as the churches on Earth.

The others finished and caught up with Billy as he waited outside. Petrov trailed behind them.

"Petrov!" Jay called.

Petrov froze and several seconds passed before Petrov turned to look at the small table where Jay sat across from me.

"Can you come over here?" I asked.

Petrov looked to the door, then back to us. He shuffled over, head lowered like a shameful dog.

"How are you, Petrov?" I asked. He only shrugged and kept his eyes averted.

"We've got a job for you today," Jay said as he forked hash browns into his mouth. "Dooh nyow moo …"

"Jay!" I snapped. "Swallow, then talk."

Jay rolled his eyes and chewed laboriously while holding up his finger to prevent Petrov from escaping. Jay swallowed and continued. "Do you know how to use a screen press?"

Petrov shook his head.

"Really?" Jay asked as he forked up another mess of hash browns and studied Petrov. "Well, you're the artist, so you need to find someone who does. Then, go to the equipment building. Know where that is?"

Petrov shook his head again.

"It's the big metal building between the cabins and God's house," Jay said, then shooed the poor, quite boy away.

Petrov shuffled out of the mess hall with his eyes on the ground. He caught up with his cabinmates at the tetherball pole. Billy was hanging onto the ball and swaying back and forth on the heels of his feet as they talked about the cliff.

"Does anyone know how to work a screen press?" Petrov asked.

"I do," Edward answered. "Why?"

"I need someone to show me how."

"Are they making you do shirt designs or something?" Simon asked.

Petrov shrugged.

"Christ," Simon said, then laughed. "This place is so lame."

"Hhrmmph!" a voice grunted behind Simon.

Light shimmered and Simon was lifted off the ground.

"All right, catch you guys later!" Simon yelled while saluting as he was whisked off towards Cabin Five.

The others chuckled as Simon disappeared inside.

"Okay, Petrov," Edward said. "Where is the screen press?"

******

The long, fabricated building stashed stockpiles of equipment, supplies, and miscellaneous clutter that we used at the camp rarely or not at all. God was a bit of a pack rat, and there were two storage areas in the building even I wasn't allowed to look in.

Of course I knew what He was hiding. God's not as sly as one might think.

The storage building reminded Edward of World War II-era barracks, the kind he had spent time in as a young chaplain. The doors were all rusted, so Edward had to throw his shoulder against one repeatedly until it squealed open. Dust swirled up into the light and hovered in the room. The large screen press was tucked in the middle of boxes and shelves. It was the same kind Edward had used at the camps his church had run. It wasn't terribly effective, but worked well enough to make free shirts for campers who didn't want them.

The next room was separated by fencing and a wooden door. Small windows cast beams of light where dust glittered and danced. There was just enough room around the screen press for two people to work at once.

"This is pretty easy," Edward said as he dropped the Bible on a table and dug out a box full of paints from underneath. "Basically, you have these screens with designs on them; you put the screen on the T-shirt, pour paint over it, smooth it out, and when you lift it up, there should be the design all crisp and sharp."

"Oh," Petrov said.

A knock at the door startled the pair. They turned to see God standing in the doorway. He wore a Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned down to the middle of His chest. Patchy, salt and pepper chest hair sprouted out in tight curls. His glasses were shifting from a brown tint to the color of watered-down soda. He was holding cardboard designs in his hands.

"I've brought these," God said, holding up the designs. "These are just ideas. Somewhere in the back room there are some X-Actor knives and supplies. If you have a better idea, then you can try it out."

Edward nodded and walked over to take the designs from God. Edward realized as he looked up at God's glasses, seeing the colorless eyes behind them, that he'd lost all sense of awe of His Creator.

"So, uh," God said, but a yawn broke through, rising into a bear's growl. He let the yawn overtake Him, then shivered. Forgetting what He was about to say, He turned and walked out the door. He swiveled back and pointed at the press. "Get about seventy shirts done, then you can have the rest of the morning to yourselves."

"I'm not sure if we can do seventy in one morning," Edward said. "Petrov's never done this before, and I'm going to have to relearn it."

"Oh, well if you need to work through lunch, that's fine. Just make sure if you do something different than the designs, you show Me first."

"Okay."

God glanced down at the Bible on the table.

"Getting a lot of reading done?" God asked.

"Yeah, I'd love to talk to you about …"

"Hmm, good," God interrupted. He knocked His knuckles against the door frame, then was gone.

Edward shot a squinting frown back at Petrov, who allowed a quick, soft laugh.

"Oh, and," God said, reappearing in the doorway. "Um, I know I said to come up with ideas, but maybe you should just stick to the designs for now. I'm going to be a little busy today and we really need those shirts done."

"Why?" Petrov asked. God glanced at Petrov, cocking His head slightly. He was surprised to hear Petrov question Him.

"Because they need to be done," God said, knocking on the door frame before leaving.

Edward tossed the designs onto the screen press and patted Petrov on the shoulder.

"Well. I guess there are shirts around here somewhere. You look over on that side; I'll look over here."

The pair dug through the boxes, finding poorly crafted pinch pots, ash trays, and beaded necklaces.

"Who made these?" Petrov asked.

"Whoever came through the campground first," Edward said.

"Where are they know? Do you think God sent them back to Heaven?"

"Hopefully," Edward said, but doubted it.

Edward tossed a box of necklaces behind him, then stared down at the next box.

"Petrov," Edward whispered. "Come over here."

Petrov shuffled around the screen press and looked over Edward's shoulder. A mop of thin strands glowed in the sunlight as they hung between a box and the wall.

"A cobweb?" Petrov asked.

"It's the first one I've seen in the campground. They're not supposed to be here, remember?"

They both squatted to look around the box to find the spider.

"Gentlemen!" a voice called from behind them.

They both spun and faced the door, trying to stand in front of the cobweb. I studied them with a suspicious smile, though I knew exactly what they were up to.

"Hey, Bali," Edward said with a half-wave. "Just looking for shirts."

"Oh," I said, walking to the wooden door leading to the back room. I tried to turn the knob, but it just spun loosely. "Figures."

I leaned against the door, then jerked back to force it open. It cracked and wobbled, then swung wide.

"There you go," I said, holding the door to ensure it didn't fall over on me. "There should be in boxes in there. There are different colors so, unless God said differently, the choice is up to you."

"Thanks," Edward smiled, walking past me into the next room.

"Oh, Edward." I walked to the outside door. I reached around the frame to pick up a wooden case that I'd left outside. "I got what you asked for."

I sat it inside and Edward jogged over to it. He took it to the screen press table and sat it down. He opened the latch and found a large sketch pad and sets of pencils, pastels, brushes, pens, and erasers.

"Thanks, Bali!"

"My pleasure."

Edward pushed the case to Petrov.

"Here you go," Edward said. "See if you can do something with this. I know it's not macaroni and T-shirts, but …"

Petrov watched Edward for a few moments, and then looked down at the case. He timidly moved his hand towards it and ran his fingers over the brushes.

"Thank you." Petrov gazed at the case as a holy man would to an idol. "Thank you."

"So, unless you have any other questions, I'll leave you to it," I said with a wave, which they didn't return. I began to move toward the door, but paused.

"Oh, Edward, how are you doing with the good book?" I asked. "I know you said you wanted to talk about it."

"Um, no, not right now anyway," he said, reaching for the book and then tossing it to me.

I caught it, then studied him as his attention was diverted over Petrov's shoulder.

"Are you done with it?" I asked.

"I'm just tired of carrying it around."

I nodded my head and left them alone.

"Hey," Edward said, nudging Petrov in the shoulder. "I'll take care of the press, why don't you sketch up some ideas."

"Okay." Petrov took the case up carefully and walked it over to a box below a window. He sat down, took out a pencil and began sketching furiously, as if trying to catch up in a race that had started without him.

******

Edward rubbed at the blue paint on his fingers, rolling the rubbery acrylic into little balls that he would then flick off his fingertips. It flew across the room and bounced into a small pile near the door, like throwing little blue lawn darts and trying to form the tightest cluster possible.

He sighed and glanced down at the white shirt. It was supposed to be a blue image of a cabin with a grassy path out front and "Island of the Blessed" written on the bottom. There were seven of the shirts hanging up around the room drying. Some were splotchy, some looked faded. The one on the press had the image painted on twice in slightly different places. The result was similar to what would happen if Edward stared at the shirt and crossed his eyes.

"I think I'm losing my stride, Petrov," Edward mumbled.

Petrov glanced up from his sketch pad, rubbed his eyes, then stood up. He blew on the paper, swiped off shards of eraser, then set it down beside the box he'd been sitting on.

"I think it looks interesting," Petrov said as he walked over to the shirt. "Kind of a pop art … thing."

"Thanks. Means a lot coming from a professional."

A knock drew their attention to the door.

"Excuse us!" a voice called from outside. "But we have some reading material about the Church of the Latter Day Saints that we would like to share with you!"

"Come in, Simon," Edward said.

Simon threw the door open and jumped inside. "Buy God at discount prices!"

"Just gotta always press buttons, huh?" Billy said as he and the rest of Cabin Five filed in behind Simon. Tommy and Billy carried trays of food.

"Soup's on, boys," Tommy said as he handed a tray to Edward. Centered on the tray was a mushy ball of white paste with brown chunks underneath.

Edward cringed. "What is that?"

"Not sure, but some girl refused to eat it because she was a vegetarian," Billy chuckled. "Jay said it wasn't meat because they don't have animals on the Island, so she asked what it was and Jay just said 'it's better if you don't know.'"

"Yummy."

"How far from finishing are you?" Billy asked.

Edward sighed. "A long way. Couple hours at least."

"So, are we supposed to be wearing these?" Ossie asked as he surveyed the shirts.

Edward shrugged. He sat down on a crate to eat. Petrov sat on the floor in front of the chair with his sketch pad behind him.

Ossie walked over to the press.

"Can you make one with the image upside down or reversed?" Ossie asked. "Might be worth more, kind of like a rare stamp."

"I'wll seh wha eye cahn dew," Edward replied through the mush of white and brown.

"Is that a sketch pad?" Ossie asked.

Edward swallowed before answering. "It's Petrov's. He's been working all morning."

Ossie reached for the pad while asking "Can I see?"

Petrov stood and blocked Ossie's way.

"No, please, there's nothing ready," Petrov answered apologetically.

"Come on," Ossie pleaded, clasping his hands tightly together.

"Not yet. Sorry. But soon."

"We're planning on heading to the cliff this afternoon," Billy said. "Do you want us to wait on you?"

"Yeah," Simon said. "Did you hear the plane take off? We think the Big Man is taking it for a spin so we figured we'd investigate all Scooby Doo-style."

Edward took a bite of the muck and glanced over the shirts as he swallowed.

"Sounds like fun, but we might not be out of here until dinner," Edward said.

"You go," Petrov said. "You've done all the work so far, I'll finish up."

"No. I can't do that to you."

"I insist."

Edward smiled, then took a bite of the white concoction and winced. It didn't taste good or bad, but a repellent, fast food-esque neutral. He swallowed hard and put the tray on the ground.

"Do we have a lesson or something we're supposed to do this afternoon?" Edward asked.

"God was supposed to do some lecture or something but never showed," Simon said. "Guess he had better places to be."

"Really?" Petrov asked. "Where would God go?"