Joshua Beacon's Adventures in the Parallel Universe Read online

  “What is it boy?” Joshua asked as he tried to see what Warrior was so excited about. At first, Joshua didn’t see anything. Then, as he looked closer, he saw a magnificent white dove perched on one of the highest limbs of a Lodgepole pine tree. The dove had snow white, downy feathers, a golden beak, and sharp claws. It was looking intently at them with fierce, piercing, black eyes.

  The dove ignored Warrior’s frantic barking. Instead, it stared straight at Joshua. Joshua was so taken aback that he almost ran away. His heart raced and his palms became sweaty. But for once, Joshua decided not to let his fear take control. He was going to face his fears! He gulped down the saliva that had filled his mouth and took a step closer so that he could get a better look.

  “Joshua, you’ve literally taken the first step. You’re ready to stop being afraid. Yes, the time has come. You are ready.” The dove said softly. As soon as the bird began to speak, Warrior stopped barking. As a matter of fact, the whole area grew quiet and still. The gentle breeze that had been blowing stopped, as if in response to the sound of the white dove’s voice!

  The dove’s words had the opposite effect upon Joshua. He was even more afraid and restlessly shifted from foot to foot. Did that bird really speak to me? That’s impossible, he thought to himself.

  “All things are possible, if you believe.” Replied the dove.

  Joshua pinched his arm to make sure that he wasn’t having a dream. “Ouch!” He cried. No, he was awake, and a bird was talking to him like he was his new best friend. Even more fantastic, the bird was able to read his mind!

  “In the very near future, you’re going to experience much greater things than this.” Replied the dove. “Just remember, that FEAR is the major obstacle to realizing your dreams and maximizing your potential. Don’t give in to him and you will win great battles. Fear can’t defeat you if you don’t let him.”

  As soon as the dove finished speaking, he disappeared into thin air! He didn’t fly away! He vanished!

  Immediately, the breeze began to blow again, and the wildlife resumed making muted sounds. Warrior looked questioningly at Joshua, as if to say, did we just see and hear what I think we just saw and heard? What did it mean? Why did the bird say that fear was a “him?”

  Joshua was so rattled that his legs felt weak. He sat down under the tree and stared off into the distance without seeing anything as he considered what had just happened. Warrior sensed that his master was troubled and began to lick his face.

  “Get a grip. You must have imagined it.” Joshua said, as he jumped to his feet and brushed the dirt off the seat of his pants. Although he spoke out loud, the words did little to make him feel better. He knew that he had seen a talking bird that read his mind, talked to him and then watched as it disappeared. The alarm on his watch beeped. Uh-oh. He thought. I’ve got to get a move on if I don’t want to be late for dinner.

  “Come on boy! Let’s go home!”

  CHAPTER 2

  The mystery of the talking bird disturbed Joshua all during dinner and for the rest of the evening. He noticed his mom and dad exchanging worried glances because he was so quiet, but he was too embarrassed and confused to mention his experience to them. He was careful to be polite…answering questions if he was asked something…but other than the answers he had to give, he had little to say.

  Soon it was time for bed. Normally, Joshua hated bedtime because he had a secret that only he and his parents knew about. He was deathly afraid of the dark. It was a good thing that he didn’t have any really good friends that might expect to spend the night. Would they still want to be his friend if they knew that he was afraid to sleep without a night light? He wondered. There were times that not having any friends made Joshua feel sad, but when he thought about someone knowing his secret, he figured that it m2ight be a good thing that he was a loner.

  For once, Joshua was relieved when he had finished getting ready for bed and said his prayers with his mom and dad. They turned out the light and left. When they closed the door, the shadows on the walls that were created by the night light didn’t make him nervous like they usually did. Instead, Joshua was completely lost in thought as he recalled the strange incident with the talking bird. Before he knew it, he had fallen soundly asleep.

  “Joshua! Joshua! Come here!”

  The deep voice woke Joshua up. He sat straight up in bed and rubbed his eyes. He was a little confused because the night light wasn’t on. His room was pitch black. As soon as he came to himself, he began to become very afraid. It was a particularly dark night. The moon seemed to have disappeared and not one star could be seen through the gap in Joshua’s curtains.

  You are almost eleven years old. He scolded himself sternly. You should not be afraid of the dark. Remember what that bird said to you. Fear can’t defeat me if I don’t let him.

  “Oh, my goodness. What am I saying? I’m thinking about something an imaginary bird said to me. I must be losing my mind!” Joshua said out loud.

  As he hesitated, he heard his name being called again. “Joshua! Joshua! Come here!”

  Okay. This is a good thing, he thought. Since dad is calling me, I can go to his room to find out what he wants, and I can ask him to replace the bulb in the night light at the same time. All I have to do is get up the courage to get out of bed and walk down the hall to my parent’s room. If his parents weren’t so old fashioned, he could yell and tell them about the night light. But his parents were old! He knew that his dad was fifty-seven. He wasn’t sure about his mom, because she told him it was impolite for a male to ask a female how old she was.

  So, Joshua knew from experience that if he yelled from his room instead of going to his parent’s door and knocking that he would be on punishment for a week. His mom and dad demanded that he act like a gentleman…and gentlemen didn’t yell in the house unless there was an emergency.

  A blown-out night light was not an emergency. And since his dad was calling him, yelling back to ask his him to come to him was really disrespectful. No… there was nothing to do except get up and go and see what his dad wanted.

  Joshua took a deep breath and leapt out of bed. His knees were knocking together, and his hands were sweating, but he grabbed the doorknob and twisted it quickly. The night light in the hall next to the bathroom cast an eerie shadow as he hurried to his parent’s room. He knocked lightly and said, “Yeah, Dad. Did you want me?”

  “Harrumph!” Mr. Beacon cleared his voice and answered in a stage whisper. He obviously was trying not to wake up Mrs. Beacon. “What’s going on? Why are you knocking on my door, Joshua?”

  “I thought I heard you call me.” Joshua replied.

  “I did not call you! You woke me out of a sound sleep. I had to take some pain medicine because my back was really hurting. And now you wake me up? Go back to bed this instant!” Mr. Beacon whisper grew a little louder and he sounded angry.

  Obediently, Joshua scurried back down the hallway and had opened his bedroom door before he remembered that he needed a bulb for his night light. He peeked into the dark room but was afraid to go inside. Now what do I do? He asked himself quietly. Dad is already mad because I woke him up. If I go back and ask him to get up and get me a bulb out of his closet, he’ll really be angry. And if I turn on the overhead light and leave it on, I’ll get in trouble for wasting electricity. What can I do?

  He took a deep breath and decided to try to be brave. After all, I am almost eleven years old, he said to himself. His bed was located across the room from the door, but Joshua moved so quickly, it seemed as if he only took two giant steps and was safely under his covers. As he looked around the room, Joshua was tempted to give into his fears and cover his head. But instead, he decided to try to go back to sleep without burying his head under the blankets.

  Breathe slowly. Calm down. This is the same room in the dark as it is when the light is on. Joshua said to himself. He repeated these and other w
ords of reason to himself and within a few minutes, his heart had stopped racing and he was no longer terrified. Instead, he became drowsy and fell asleep.

  “Joshua! Joshua! Come here!” The deep voice woke the boy out of his sleep once more. The dark room and the booming voice, once again, confused Joshua. He sat up and tried to figure out what was going on. As he looked around the room, he noticed that a light was emanating from under his closet door. What in the world is that?!!!

  Now he was really afraid! But strangely, as soon as he began to feel afraid, he heard a voice that sounded like the white dove say, “Don’t be afraid. Just obey.”

  Deciding to listen to the voice was one of the hardest things that Joshua ever had to do. First one step… then two… then three… and finally he was standing right in front of his closet door. He reached out a shaking, sweaty hand towards the doorknob turned it slowly. For a heartbeat, he hesitated. Then, he mustered all his courage and pulled the door open. The sight that he beheld took his breath away!

  His closet was no longer a closet. Instead, a set of golden stairs were in front of him. They were emitting a soft glow. The handrail of the stairs looked like it was made from diamonds, rubies and emeralds braided smoothly together. The stairs went up and up and up until they disappeared into a cloud filled, yet bright blue sky.

  On the very highest step, there stood a man dressed in a blindingly white robe. He had a crown on his head that was filled with sparkling diamonds. His hair was as white as his robe and rested on his shoulders. His eyes were as golden as the stairs and seemed to burn like twin beams of fire. Around his waist, he wore a gold belt sparkling with jewels that looked like a rainbow.

  Joshua couldn’t believe his eyes! As he stared, the man spoke. Joshua recognized the voice. It was the voice that had been calling him earlier.

  He looked Joshua in the eye and said, “Joshua! Are you ready to meet your destiny?”

  CHAPTER 3

  The magnificent man in the white robe extended his hand towards Joshua. Without hesitation, Joshua lifted his arm and reached for the man’s hand. Immediately, Joshua was propelled forward and landed on the step directly below the man.

  “Come!” The command required no answer, but Joshua nodded his head in agreement. His heart was bursting with excitement. The fear that had been his constant companion for so many years had been left behind as soon as he entered this realm.

  In the blink of an eye, they were transported to a gigantic room. The walls of the room looked as if they were covered with shimmering, gossamer, white silk. In each corner of the room stood a sentry that held a tall bronze scepter. Two of the sentries were men and two were women.

  The sentries wore long white robes which were like the one worn by the magnificent man, but their belts were made from burnished pearls. They didn’t have crowns on their heads, but they did have words tattooed on their foreheads that periodically ebbed and flowed like a fast-moving river. Joshua couldn’t figure out what the words said, but somehow, he knew that they were very important.

  The sentries’ eyes were fastened upon the man with the white robe. But Joshua’s eyes were unexplainably drawn to their blissful expressions. The radiantly, serene smiles that wreathed their faces reminded Joshua of all the happy memories in his life.

  Next to each sentry was a smooth, round, golden vial. They were about three feet tall. Since there were no lids on the vials, Joshua could see that there was a thick, white vap8or slowly spiraling upward. The vapor’s sweet smell filled the room.

  As Joshua’s eyes followed the path of the vapor, he was shocked to see that there was no ceiling! Instead, there was a pure white light that shone into the room. The light felt both warm and comforting. It also seemed to fill Joshua with hope, courage, and confidence.

  Joshua didn’t know how long he stared at the light… it could have been a few seconds…or it could have been thousands of years…but eventually, he reluctantly tore his eyes from the light and scanned the rest of the room.

  Joshua didn’t know when it happened, but the man with the white robe was now sitting on an extraordinary throne that was at the top of twelve steps. Each step was fashioned from a different type of shimmering, precious jewel. To his astonishment, Joshua knew the names of each jewel: emerald jade, sardonyx, green jade, lapis, sapphire, white jade, citrine quartz, amazonite, olivine, chrysoprase, lavender jade, and amethyst quartz.

  The throne itself was made from gold, but the gold was so pure that it looked transparent. The back of the throne was covered in a purple tapestry that was edged in diamonds. At the end of each armrest was a lion that looked as if he was roaring. Under the throne and at the man’s feet was an image of the universe.

  As Joshua stared at the image, he could almost feel himself traveling quickly through space, past stars, suns, moons, and galaxies.

  “Joshua!” The magnificent man’s voice drew Joshua’s attention back to the white room. “I am Emmanuel, the son of Elohim. You are a very special boy because you have been chosen to win territory for us in our war against Natas. At the appropriate time, you will be given instructions and all the weapons plus the power that you need to be successful.

  I make a promise, or a covenant, with you. I will always be watching over you and will protect and provide for you. As a token of our covenant, I offer you this ring. Will you accept it?”

  Joshua walked towards Emmanuel and lightly grasped the ring. The ring was a simple gold band. Since everything else in this parallel world was so spectacular, he was surprised to see that the ring was so modest.

  Emmanuel smiled. “The ring is simple because it is a symbol of the promise… a simple promise that will be between us. If you promise to trust me, I will never leave you.” Joshua blushed because he was embarrassed that Emmanuel could read the critical thoughts he had contemplated about the ring. But his embarrassment left as quickly as it came because somehow, he knew that Emmanuel wasn’t offended. “I accept the ring and I promise to trust you.” He replied.

  “You have made a very wise decision.” Emmanuel nodded approvingly. He gently took the ring from Joshua and slipped it on the boy’s finger. It fit perfectly!

  “You will have many questions, but you must be patient. The answers to your questions will come at the exact moment that they are needed.” Emmanuel turned his head to the right and nodded at a girl that appeared out of nowhere.

  She was about Joshua’s age. Her kinky, naturally styled hair attractively framed her face. Her smooth skin was the deep mahogany color of coffee with just a hint of cream. She was dressed in a simple white dress. A medallion in the shape of a shield hung from a simple gold chain around her neck. She was holding an ivory box.

  “This is Faith. She is one of nine friends that has been assigned to you. Each one of these friends will help you to win territory for Elohim.”

  Faith wordlessly handed the ivory box to Joshua. The box was carved with images of angels and demons in battle. The perimeter of the box was outlined in rubies that looked like drops of blood. Joshua took the box from Faith’s hands, and he shivered.

  As he stared at the images inscribed on the ivory box, he could feel himself being drawn into the battle that was depicted on its lid. The clash of the swords and the war cries became animated and teeming with life. The sounds were so loud that they hurt his ears.

  In response to the horrendous scene, Joshua must have cried out in distress because one of the demons looked at him and sneered. He stopped battling the angel and purposefully strode towards Joshua! He raised his razor, sharp sword high over his head and aimed a blow straight towards Joshua’s head! As it sliced through the air, it made a loud, terrifying sound. Swoosh!

  “R-i-n-g!” The alarm clock blared. Joshua fumbled for the switch and turned it off. As he wiped sleep from his eyes, he said, “Thank God that was just a dream!” He pushed the comforter away and stood up and immediately, the entire encoun
ter he had just experienced rushed through his mind. I have never had such a realistic, fantastic, yet scary dream, he thought.

  As he headed towards his closet to gather his school clothes, Joshua began to feel a little nervous. What would he find there? Would the man with the white robe and the parallel universe be waiting for him once again? Of course not, he chided himself. It was just a dream.

  He swallowed down his fear and yanked the door open. Sure enough…his closet was just a closet filled with his clothes, shoes and toys haphazardly arranged on shelves. Get a grip, he said to himself as he quickly dressed. He could smell the delicious scents of bacon and toast coming from the kitchen. Boy, was he hungry!

  Joshua reached for the doorknob to leave his room. But just before he opened his door, he glanced around the room to make sure it was relatively neat. Immediately, his attention was drawn towards something peeking out from under the corner of his bed. He walked over and pulled it out. It was the ivory box! And right next to it was the gold ring!

  CHAPTER 4

  It’s real! The whole thing has to be real! Joshua thought. He was stumped. Precious minutes flew by as he sat on the edge of his bed holding the items in his hand. He was at a loss for words. Nothing made sense!

  He snapped out of his musings when his mom impatiently called his name. The mystery would have to wait. He just didn’t have time to deal it until later. He jumped up, put the box and ring under his pillow and hastily straightened the comforter before running down the stairs to eat breakfast.

  As he approached the dining room table and looked at the heaps of food piled there, he realized that he had lost his appetite. He was too uneasy to be hungry. But to keep from worrying his mom, Joshua ate all his breakfast before gathering his things and rushing out of the door to school.