CHAPTER 15

Along the twenty-minute drive to Woodlane United Methodist, Mike began to wonder more about Melody's powers. He asked, "So, I get that most wishes you are able to grant have to be erotic in some way shape or form. You did mention, though, that your powers of protection and privacy have very few limits. What sorts of things are you able to protect us from?"

"Virtually anything," she responded. "It doesn't matter if it's a freak accident, a wild animal, or another person attacking us. I have full authorization to use any and all means necessary to protect my master and myself. For example, if the wire holding that traffic signal ahead of us decided to suddenly snap, falling on our car in such a way that would normally kill us, we would certainly survive."

"How?"

"There are several options available. First, I would likely slow down time as much as I am able to upon detecting danger. The most desirable outcome would likely be me grabbing the wheel of the car to swerve into another lane, avoiding the signal altogether. However, if this was not an option, perhaps if there were cars all around us who would be hurt by this action, there might not be an option available to avoid the lights completely. In that scenario, they would hit and damage the car in exactly the way you would expect, except that we would walk away completely unharmed. I would likely add some temporary cuts and bruises to lower suspicion, making it easily plausible that we escaped by good fortune alone."

Mike was awestruck. "Wow. Can you affect time?"

Grinning, she responded, "To an extent, yes. I can't stop time; no creature that I am aware of is powerful enough to do that. However, I can slow it down drastically, as long as it is for the purposes of love, protection, or privacy."

Thinking for a moment, he then said, "Ok, how about a more extreme scenario? Let's say we were walking down a sidewalk, when a murder walks up behind us, no warning whatsoever, and stabs me in the back, directly hitting my heart. What would happen then?"

Thinking for a moment, she responded, "First of all, there would certainly be warning in that scenario. I am able to read people's thoughts to some extent, particularly on something they may be acting on at that moment. In addition, my protection powers would allow me to sense that a threat was approaching, resulting in us being able to prepare to fend off the attack, or disappear to a safer location.

"If, however, the attacker somehow managed to completely surprise us and stab you in the manner you described, I would again slow time. Even if he stabbed you in the heart, the human body does not lose all life for several seconds. All I would need is an instant to completely heal your wound. After that, it would merely be a matter of constructing a believable story for the aftermath of the situation. I would likely subdue the attacker so that he could do you no further harm, and I would alter his memories to make him believe that he couldn't stab you squarely, with his knife getting caught on your jacket, or something similar to that. This would fall under the powers of anonymity and privacy, preventing suspicion from being raised by you surviving a fatal stabbing."

Slowing time? Altering memories? Holy shit…

Mike now knew he had made the right decision to keep Melody around. It terrified him to think of what might happen if the wrong person had gained control of such abilities.

Melody's face turned more serious. "Mike, there is one other ability my powers afford me. Do you remember, when we first met yesterday, your concern for what would happen to you 'once your number was up' and you had to answer for your decisions in life?"

Nodding, he responded, "How could I forget?"

"Well," she continued, "There is nothing that says your number has to come up. My powers can keep you safe and healthy from anything, even a death of natural causes." She rubbed his knee softly. "We can, for all practical purposes, live forever."

Mike pondered this revelation for several moments. "I honestly don't know if that's something I want. As great as it sounds, it stands in direct contrast to everything my faith has taught me."

"What do you mean?" Melody had a confused look on her face.

"I believe, along with almost every other Christian in the world, that death is merely the beginning of eternal life," he responded simply.

Extremely surprised by his answer, she gazed at him, marveling at his confidence, yet more afraid for him than ever before. "Are you saying… you don't fear death?"

Mike smiled. "Not in the least. I fear the uncertainty of it, not knowing when and how it will come, but fearing death itself is pointless in my mind. Death comes for us all, eventually. No discrimination, no favoritism. It's the ultimate equalizer; the one thing that connects every living thing in this world, whether we like it or not."

Melody paused, realizing that he was quite resolute in this topic. "Master… will you be angry with me if I bring up this subject again in the future? I know you hold firm to your faith, but I will be required to constantly ensure that this is what you truly want, for me not to prolong your life beyond a death of natural causes."

As he pulled into a parking space, Mike immediately took notice of her calling him Master. He turned to her, brushing her cheek with his finger, and said, "I will never be angry with you for looking out for me. I can tell it'll take time before we can fully understand each other's perspective on this subject. There's nothing wrong with that. It's part of a healthy relationship. Just promise me you won't ever hold something in if you're concerned about it. You can talk to me about anything. Literally anything in the world."

Melody smiled and kissed his hand sweetly. "I promise."

Opening the car door, he beckoned her to follow him.

"Where are we going now? This isn't your church, is it?"

Mike laughed. "Nope, my church is a block north of here. But I thought I would teach you one of the universal truths I've learned over the years. We all know that death comes for us all and time marches on, right?" She nodded. "The third universal truth: where there's churches, there're doughnuts." His trademark smartass grin spread across his face as he pointed up to the Dunkin' Doughnuts sign, Melody giggling all the while.

Walking up to the counter inside, Melody began to inspect the menu. "Oh wow, so many choices!"

Oh, yeah. She's never been to an actual restaurant before.

"Yep, they've got almost anything you could want. My advice is to start with the traditional favorites. Glazed or chocolate frosted are probably the most popular," Mike explained.

"Ok, I'll have one of each!" Melody's eyes lit up excitedly.

Mike handed his credit card to the cashier. "And two glasses for me, plus a Coke to share."

The pair took their food to go, eating in the car before heading inside to church. Melody was absolutely adorable, as per usual, even with her lips smeared with chocolate frosting.

"You, uh, got a little something… everywhere," Mike said, pulling open the car mirror for her.

"HAHA! I'm messy!" After she cleaned herself up with a napkin, they headed across the church parking lot.

Melody was pleasantly surprised by how warm the atmosphere was. In her mind, she was prepared for Mike's church to be a rather stiff experience for newcomers, but the friendly greeters and soothing organ sounds of Bach's Air on the G String soon quieted her mind. As they sat listening to the prelude, Mike pointed up to the chairs surrounding the altar.

"See the girl with the dark straight hair? That's Ashley Perkins, the associate pastor. She's my friend I was telling you about. We grew up in Sunday school and youth activities together. You'll love her."

For most of the service, Melody was very self-conscious. Mike had expected that she would be reserved and nervous, and made a point of gently rubbing her knee every so often to reassure her. She stood and sat whenever he did, though was unsure about joining in whenever they hymns were sung.

Ashley's sermon, on the other hand, was easily Melody's favorite part of her first church experience. Ashley spoke on the parable of the Prodigal Son, opening the sermon by asking the congregation if they had ever felt they were unworthy of love in some way. Tentatively, Melody raised her hand along with much of the congregation, Mike included. Ashley's message went on to explain that mistakes do happen in our lives, because we are human. This doesn't mean we shouldn't try to avoid them, but she also emphasized that mistakes don't make us unworthy of love. Processing Ashley's words in her mind, Melody was beginning to make sense of the events of the last twenty-four hours.

The boy in the parable was such a foolish, flawed individual, yet he was welcomed home by his father, which allowed him to turn himself into a better person in the long term. If even he was deserving of such love, maybe this servant genie is in fact deserving of her kind and generous master. I didn't DO anything to deserve his love, but… maybe that's the point?

As the service came to a close, Melody's mood had brightened considerably. She joined in singing the final hymn, and was very excited to meet Ashley. Once the congregation was dismissed, she was about to start walking out with Mike, when he gently held her by the arm. "Not yet, wait 'til you hear the organist's last piece," he said with a wink.

Almost instantly, the organ started playing another Bach piece, The Little Fugue in G Minor. Much faster than the prelude, Melody was immediately impressed as the organist effortlessly danced her hands up and down the keyboard. As the piece came to an end, she joined the small lingering portion of the congregation in applauding the organist. She turned to Mike, excitedly asking, "Can we go meet Ashley now?"

Mike laughed. "Sure thing. You really enjoyed that sermon, didn't you?"

As they walked out into the gathering room, the pair saw Ashley finishing her goodbyes to an elderly couple. Spotting Mike from across the room, she made her way over to him, announcing her presence with her traditional greeting.

"Hello friend!"

Ashley had been greeting everyone she met that way since high school.

"Hey Ashley," Mike responded, stepping into her side hug. "Wanted to meet my new girlfriend."

"Hi, I'm Melody Roberts."

"Delighted. Ashley Perkins." She shook Melody's hand.

Melody seemed a bit more shy than usual. "I, um, really enjoyed your sermon. It really spoke to me."

Ashley beamed. "Well thank you. It's one of my favorite topics to preach on."

Biting her lip slightly, Melody said, "It was exactly what I needed to hear."

Mike chuckled. "I think you've got yourself a fan, Ashley."

"Well, tell you what," Ashley said, "I've got one more service I'm preaching at, but afterwards, how about you two join Trey and me for lunch?"

Nodding, Mike replied, "Sounds good to me. I've got a quick errand I need to run, so we'll meet you at Lenny's Subs at, say, noonish?

"That'll work. We'll see you there. Bye Melody, great meeting you!"

"You too!" Melody waved as they strolled to the parking lot.