The night was dark, and not a thing moved in the oppressive blackness. Shari prepared for bed that night with a sense of apprehension, and an unexplainable sense of expectancy. She didn't know what, but something was going to happen, she thought as she slipped into her favorite purple nightgown. Tonight wouldn't soon be forgotten. She said her prayers and quickly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, not even remembering to take off the multiple pairs of contact lenses she needed to see.

She awakened to the sound of a trumpet playing outside her window, a melody so sweet it defied human comprehension. The melody drew her to her window and she looked out to see where the beautiful music was coming from. There, illuminated in a halo of brilliant white light, was what looked like a van filled with people. It hovered outside her window, the side of the van touching her windowsill, and there it stayed, waiting for something to happen as the music played on and on.

Shari looked at the van in amazement. The night behind it was darker than she had ever seen it, and the only source of light she could see was the glowing van, which filled her room with the light of day. She felt the glow cover her, surround her, fill her until she became the glow, and the Shari she once knew was no more; until Shari was just an empty shell of being, and the real Shari survived only in the glow.

Suddenly, she felt the glow leave her, disappear back into the van where it had come from. The van still hovered, waiting, and cautiously, Shari walked towards it. The light was blinding, yet still she walked until she was standing at her window.

She didn't remember leaving her window open, but it was, and she could feel a breeze coming from around the van; an oppressive summer breeze, stifling and hot, constricting her breathing and filling her lungs with choking heat. She gasped and backed away, and as she did so, the van began to move.

Shari was suddenly filled with a feeling of overwhelming loss. She knew in her soul she could not let the van leave her. She would be losing out on the most joyous experience in her life, she just could not let it go. Helplessly, she reached out and touched side of the van as it slowly moved away.

The van was cool, almost as cold as ice, and yet at the same time, it was as hot as a furnace. As she touched it, her hand began to glow, and suddenly was pulled into the interior of the van. She could see it through the window of van, her fingers wiggling right over an empty seat. Frightened, she pulled her hand back into the window, and placed it beside her.

She looked down at her hand in fear, still aglow with the light of the van. She had to get into the van. At this point it was all that mattered. She looked out the window, and in horror, realized that the van was about 3 feet from her window. It was slowly turning around, positioning itself so that the back faced her. It was going to leave her.

In a panic she jumped, grasping the edge of the bumper with her hands, and held on, suspended at least 2 stories above the ground. Here she held on for dear life, as the steamy breeze stole the air from her lungs, blinded by the light of the van which had become the only light in the world. All around her was darkness, she looked down and saw nothing but the deepest black of the darkest night. The landscape wasn't even visible in the darkness; trees, grass, houses that would have been formless shadows had been absorbed totally by the darkness.

The van stopped its motion, and Shari pulled herself up until she was sitting on the bumper. Placing her hands again on the side of the van, she felt them once more pass through the heated cold of the exterior and enter the van's interior. Gathering her courage, she pulled her body through the metal walls.

For a split second, she was suspended with half her body in and half her body out. She could not move. She could not breathe. For the first time in her life she could not think, all she could do was wait. She was motionless, helpless, and totally dependent on an outside force. Something, the glow that surrounded the van, was holding her back from entry, was testing her to see if she was worthy. She felt light, feathery hands touching her soul, exploring the very depths of her being, testing her. She had never wanted anything more than to be in that van, and scared, confused, and helpless, she waited.

She almost fell over as she was pushed the rest of the way into the van. Gathering her balance, she looked around her. She saw a van full of teenagers, the youngest looked like about 13, the oldest about 19, all dressed in white robes that touched the floor. They didn't look quite human, all were bathed in the glow that surrounded the van. None looked as if they had ever been sick in their lives, their eyes and skin glowed with vitality, and all had a ready smile for the newcomer in their midst.

"Hello," said the young man sitting next to her. "How old are you?"

"I'm 17," said Shari. "How old are you?"

"I'm 17 too. That's amazing. This is one of 2 empty seats that were left when you got on. We're arranged by age, I can see that now. If you had been any other age but 17, I would have been skeptical , but you're 17, so now I have no doubt. He definitely knows what he is doing. My name is Brian, or it used to be my name. I don't know what my new name will be, no one knows what their new name will be. What's your old name?"

"Shari, I think. I don't understand. New name, old name, this age arrangement, all these white robes, this glowing van. Where are we? What is this? Are you an alien? Did I get hijacked by some little green men from Mars disguised as humans or something?"

"Whoa, hold on! Don't panic!" Brian smiled. "I should have known you wouldn't know where you were. You're one of the floaters, they seem not to know what's going on. I'm a walker, so they told me at the door where I was. For some reason, they don't tell floaters where they are. They just put them beside walkers. I guess that way they don't need to be told," Brian laughed. "I should have known you would be a floater. That's another way this van is organized. God is good, isn't he?"

"And worthy to be praised," said Shari automatically, happy to have found another Christian . "It's so nice to have found a saved believer on this van," she commented.

To her surprise, Brian laughed. "Shari, we're all Christians, all of us are born again believers." Shari looked at Brian in amazement.

"Maybe you should start explaining from the beginning," she said. "Like where are we, where are we going, and who are all these people?"

"We are on one of the R-Vans," said Brian. "That stands for Rapture Van." Shari gasped as she realized the implications of that. "This van is only for teenagers, I guess the Lord wants us to stay together. We're arranged by age, as I told you, although I had to guess that by the conversation around me. There are 12 of us when the van is full, and there are of two of each age, a walker and a floater. The youngest is 13, the oldest 19. We have to pick up one more person, and from what is left, he or she is 16."

"How come all of you are wearing those robes? And how come you all look so� so��

"Healthy, vibrant, good?" supplied Brian. "We were just born that way. Seriously, Shari, haven't you read the Bible? Don't you remember that passage in Revelations? You know, the scripture that talks about the multitude in white robes at the foot of the Lord's throne? Since we have been saved, we have washed the robes we were to wear in heaven white with the blood of Jesus, and we are to serve him for the rest of eternity." Brian was grinning at Shari with a radiant smile. He laughed. "I just can't think of that without smiling. It's so wonderful to be one of God's children."

"Isn't it," said Shari, also smiling. The thought was wonderful. "But how come I'm not wearing one of those white robes?"

"Shari, I know this is going to come as a shock, but it came as a shock to everyone on this van. Look at yourself, Shari. There's a mirror at the back of the van. Don't get up," he said as Shari was about to move. "Just turn around towards the back and look."

Shari looked at the mirror. She wasn't dressed in the purple nightgown she had worn to bed, but she was clothed in a white robe, and she didn't look at all like she had looked on before she had boarded the van. She would have screamed in terror if Brian hadn't taken her hand.

"It's ok, Shari, it's ok."

"I don't even look like myself. I don't know who I am anymore."

"No one does, Shari."

"It's ok, though," said Shari. "It just kind of shocked me. How-long have we been on this van?"

"We haven't been on this van for a nanosecond. The instant after we heard the trumpet, time disappeared. The next instant of time as we know it, we will be rising to meet Jesus."

"You mean we are just suspended in time? As far as the world knows, this is happening in no time at all? Like, we will be rising the next time someone sees us? What if my mother comes in my room? Will she see that I am gone?"

"No. She will see you rise up unless she also will rise tonight. Will she?"

"No," said Shari sadly. Brian moved on.

"We're going to the meeting place. All the R-vans will meet there and unload. We will wait there for the Lord to come down. After that, we will be in heaven with Jesus." They felt the van stop, and Shari looked behind them.�

"You missed something," Shari said.

"What did I miss?" asked Brian.

"Who sits in that seat back there?"

Brian looked behind him and saw one last seat in the back. No other seat joined with it. "I don't know. I really don't know."

The van was stopped outside a boy's window. The driver said anyone who wished to go outside could go. He had to explain some things to the next passenger, the driver said. The van would be leaving shortly, so don't go far.

"Come on, Brian, let's go. I want to explore," said Shari excitedly.

"OK," said Brian. He started walking towards the door.

"Meet you outside," said Shari.

"How are you going to get off?"

"I'm a floater, remember?" teased Shari. She pushed herself through the van. Brian met her outside.

"I wish I could do that," Brian said wistfully.

They were standing outside an apartment building in a part of the world neither of them had ever seen. The brick building towered over them ominously, the glow from the R-van bathing it in an eerie, supernatural light. No grass, trees, or living things of any kind seemed to be present, the whole place smelled of death. Not a thing moved. Brian shuddered in fear.

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil for thou art with me," he whispered.

"What are you scared of? This place is cool!" said Shari. "Come on, let's go in. I'll even pull you through the wall if I can go through it."

"Really? You'll let me see what it's like?"

"I'll tell you right now, it's really weird. Like that movie Ghost or something."

She tried out her newborn powers on the brick wall of the building. Walking up to it, she pushed hands through first. Pulling them back out, she walked back to Brian.

"I can go through. I don't know if I can take you with me, but I'll try," reported Shari after she came back to him. "Don't fight me. If you feel like you can't go in, let go of my hand, and I'll come out. Then we can walk in together."

They walked up to the building. "You ready?" Shari asked Brian.

"Yeah," said Brian nervously.

"Then here goes," said Shari, plowing through the building, pulling Brian behind her.

She felt the difference almost immediately. The brick walls of the building felt nothing like the smooth, metal exterior of the R-van. The whole passage through was rough, and she could feel the brick grating against every inch of her tender skin. Crumbling powder settled in her lungs, harsh rock scratched her intestines. She moaned in pain as she fought for every inch of progress, for unlike the walls of the R-van, this wall did not welcome her, but fought to keep her out. The smell of death she had noticed outside was overpowering and covered her, tried to consume her.

Shari felt for the first time that Brian was somewhere in the wall with her, and both of them could die? perish? (what did you do in the limbo before you were caught up in the Rapture?) before she could get them through. Silently, desperately she prayed to God to get them through.

"Lord," she screamed in her mind, for she was unable to speak. �Just help us through this wall, Lord. I can't bring us through here alone." At that moment, she felt a strength flow into her, and with a mighty shove, she pushed both herself and Brian through the wall, who was still clinging to her hand.

"Thank you, Jesus!" Shari screamed as soon as they were both through.

"Did it feel like that when you got on the R-van?" asked Brian, still shaking from their ordeal. "That was horrible!"

"That was evil," corrected Shari. "No, it wasn't like that when I got on the R-van. Only the grace of God let us through that wall. I don't like the feel of that. When we leave, we're gonna take the door."

"I want to leave now," said Brian. They were standing in the middle of a hallway covered with filth. The place smelled of stale urine and alcohol. Shards of glass, razor blades, and piles of paper trash were scattered all over the floor, and were piled in every corner. "What good could come from here?"

"That what they said when they found out Jesus came from Nazareth," joked Shari. "But I agree with you. Let's go."

The two of them walked out of the building and Shari pulled them into the van seconds before it lifted off.

"That was close," sighed Shari. "I'm tired now."

"I don't blame you," Brian said and then pointed out of the window. "Look, it's our next passenger! Why isn't he getting on the van?"

The two friends looked at each other in confusion. From the front of the van, they could hear the driver urging the young man to get on.

"I don't have the time! I have things to do tomorrow. I have to go to band practice, and then I have to get a haircut before I go to my girlfriend's party. I just don't have the time now. Come back tomorrow night and I'll go then."

"Don't you understand?" the driver said in amazement. "This is the Rapture van! This is your last chance to get on. We came here because we are obligated to try to get one unsaved person who is trying to live a righteous life. If you get on, you will go to heaven. If you don't you will go to hell. But you have to get on now. There is no second chance. Tomorrow will be too late."

"I'm telling you," the boy said, sounding irritated, "I can't go tonight. Come back tomorrow," he said, slamming his window shut.

Brian and Shari felt the acceleration of the R-van as they left.

"But why wouldn't he come?" said Brian, looking at the empty seat which had been reserved just for the reluctant boy. "Didn't he know that he wouldn't get another chance?"

"Sometimes we put off what we know we should do, thinking we will still have time. It takes courage to give your life to Jesus, and he had never done it. He was given one last chance. We're all given one last chance, and if we don't take it, it's our loss. I feel a little sorry for him. He didn't even realize what he gave up, and he probably didn't even know what was given up for his last chance," said Shari regretfully.

The van sped towards it's destination, and soon the last passenger was picked up, a girl 16 years of age and a floater. Shari smiled at the baffled child as she boarded, remembering her own ordeal with boarding the van. Unlike Shari, however, she boarded from her window, and didn't have to make a wild leap for the van. As she heard the boy beside her explain to her where she was, she smiled at Brian.

"Was I sounding like that?" she asked him.

"Yeah, you were. I think it's funny, if you ask me."

"Are all the girls floaters? It's a girl, boy pairing up, but I don't know if all the boys are walkers," asked Shari curiously.

"No, the boy behind you is a floater. I think it has to do with how trusting you are."

"What do you mean, how trusting you are? What makes you think I'm more trusting than you?" questioned Shari.

"Brian, it was like that for me, too. One day, I just went in the woods, looked up into the sky and told him that I was going to trust Him, and I put all my faith in Him. No ministers, no saved loved ones, no friends, no one but me put me up to it. There was no pressure, either. I just knew I couldn't go on without trusting him, and that decided it. "

Suddenly, Shari had an idea. "Brian, if you do what I did now, do you think you could become a floater?"

"I don't think so, I was made a walker because you're a floater. My purpose was to teach you what was going on."

"But you've already served that purpose. Maybe now my purpose it to get you to trust more."

"Maybe you're right," said Brain uncertainly. "I've been thinking about praying on my lack of trust. I thought that the fact that I had to pray on it was a sign of my lack of trust. I avoided it."

"Satan is a liar, so give your glory to God," sang Shari in answer.

"I need to be alone for a while. Do you mind?"

"No, I don't mind," said Shari. She got up and walked around until she saw Brian looking at her. When he beckoned for her to come back, she returned and sat down in her seat beside him.

"I think you did it," she said as soon as she saw him.

"What makes you think so?"

"Look at the cuffs of your robe. All the walkers, their cuffs are gold. Yours are the same color as mine, white. Completely white!"

Brian hadn't noticed the color of the cuffs were different until Shari pointed it out. In every pair there was a pair of gold cuffs and a pair of white cuffs. Shari's cuffs were white and so were his. He had to be a floater now. Ecstatic, he hugged Shari, and they both started praising God.

Before they knew it, they were at the meeting place. They felt the van slow and then land in a "Parking Lot" of R-vans, covering all the area in all directions as far as the eye could see, packed thick like sardines, with only a body width between them. Brian and Shari stared in astonishment.

"There's so many of them," Brian gasped.

"I know, but we always knew there were a lot of Christians. Let's go now. I see where everyone is going, to the center of the parking lot. There seems to be a space there." She moved towards the wall. "Come on," she said as Brian hesitated.

"I don't know if I can," said Brian.

"You'll never know if you don't try. I know you can, so let's go." The two of them floated through the wall of the van. They started walking towards the open space, both of them smiling radiant smiles.

"I did it, and it was the most wonderful feeling I've ever felt in my life," said Brian.

"Isn't it, and the best is yet to come," said Shari. They both laughed in sheer happiness as they walked.

They walked into an open field, filled with teenagers. Brian and Shari stared as they realized that this meeting place was just like their van was, only for saved Christians 13-19.

The field was filled with fragrant flowers and green grass, the whole area covered with the same brilliant white light as the R-vans were, except the light was dimmer than normal. Millions upon millions of white-robed figures were shouting for joy, and waiting in expectation for the Lord himself to come down.

Shari and Brian joined the jubilee, and started shouting, too. But Shari couldn't stay in the spirit. She didn't know why, and when Brian took a rest, she told him about it. He had an instant answer for her.

"You still have something from the world on you, don't you?" asked Brian.

"Yes, my contact lenses, but if I take them off, I won't be able to see," said Shari uncertainly.

"Oh, ye of little faith," joked Brian. "Do you think the Lord will let you go without seeing? Take them off, Shari. You can't shout without it."

Shari took off all 6 pairs of contact lenses she had in her eyes. "My goodness, I didn't know I had on so many," she said as Brian looked on in a horror of disgust and a fascinated amazement.

"How in the world can you wear 6 pair of contacts?" he asked in awe.

"Just layer them," joked Shari.

"Can you see?" asked Brian. Shari had her eyes closed, and was squeezing them tightly shut.

"I don't know."

"Try opening your eyes," joked Brian.

Shari opened her eyes and gasped in amazement. Her vision was sharper and clearer than it had ever been in her life, and she had on not one contact lens.

"I can see!" she shouted. "I can see!"

The whole field of teenagers started shouting at once, and Shari was right in the center of the shouting mob, praising God with all the energy she had left in her body.

Suddenly, everyone stopped. No one spoke, no one moved. The very air crackled with silence. Then, everyone looked up as if their eyes were magnetically attracted to the sky. Before their eyes, they saw the night sky crack open, and shaft of blinding light struck the unsuspecting viewers. All of them fell to their knees.

They saw the form of a man, a man more perfect in shape, size, and form than any human being ever born. They all stood up, their hearts racing in anticipation. Then, they all heard the voice.

The deep, rumbling voice touched a chord in their very souls, and was sweet and gentle in their ears. It was the voice of a mother soothing her child, the voice of a father proud of his son. It filled all their souls with joy, and everyone present shouted in their hearts when they heard the voice say, "Come up hither."

Their bodies were filled with a tingling feeling, every part of them from the tips of their toes to the tops of their heads. A rushing wind covered them, and suddenly they were rising to meet their Lord.

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