Miracles Can Happen
By ABs and Donna
Shannon and Andrew were both staying with Gideon at his cottage, mostly to see that Glenn, as they called
Shannon and Gideon’s son, was raised well. He did not have long to go, maturing three years to every month,
and Gideon wanted them both to stay, so everyone was happy. As for being two mature and adult creatures –
though neither of them human – of the opposite sex, they instinctively took on the mother and father
roles, but had not actually made any commitment to one another. And sex was not even discussed!
In fact, Andrew shared Gideon's bedroom with him! As long as his daily routine remained fairly constant,
Gideon did rather well on his own. Katherine fed him breakfast before he went to the stables in town to
help out. Lupe always had lunch ready for him at one every day at the hotel. When he returned back to his
cottage, Gideon would play happily with Glenn, giving Shannon some free time to wander the woods, or to swim
in her river.
Glenn was nearly 8 now, and not that much of a bother. He was a very mature boy! This day, Shannon seemed a
little anxious, and Andrew wondered why. He had forgotten it was the Winter Solstice! If the summer
was so important to her kind, what was the winter? He thought she might want to be alone, as she usually did
when Gideon was watching Glenn, but to his surprise, she asked him to walk with her.
"Of course," he said with a smile. "Where are we going?"
“Just for a walk. Something is strange in the air . . . I can feel it. I am being called to the River, but
not as I usually am.”
"I shall go with you then," he told her, taking her hand in his. The two of them walked toward the river
in companionable silence. Suddenly Andrew stopped. "Someone is dying," he said. "I have to go!"
But the someone who was dying was not actually IN Edan at the time. By the time he crossed over into the
other world, he was already dead! Andrew started toward the river with Shannon behind. As they
arrived, they saw a boat carrying a man fall over a
waterfall in the distance. Amazingly, the man was still in the boat, lying on his back with his sword
placed in his hands, as if arrayed for burial.
Andrew stretched out his hand and the boat drifted toward him and Shannon. Pulling it ashore, he placed
his hand gently on the dead man’s head. "His spirit is still here," Andrew said with an odd look on his face
as he glanced at Shannon. "But it's not me he needs. It's you!"
“Me?” she said, eyeing his face. It was a familiar face, yet strange, as well. He looked like the men
who resembled Richard Sharpe, except that he wore a goatee-type beard. “But he is dead!”
Andrew shrugged. "I only know that he was brought here to live, not for me to escort to the next world," he
told her, taking her hand and placing it on top of the body. "Do you feel it?"
Shannon nodded. “Yes. And tonight is the only night, not including the one in the summer, when it might be
possible. But I am afraid, Andrew. I should be able to bring him back, but I have never done it before.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, communing with the
Old One, who told her that Andrew would be able to give her all the help she needed. Nodding, she put
her hand back on the body. Andrew had not heard what the Old One had told her telepathically, of course,
and had started to move off. So she grabbed him with her free hand and brought him back so he could place
his hand on top of hers.
He looked at her with that same odd look. "Do you need my help?"
“The Old One says we can do it together. Your power and mine will release him.”
He closed his eyes, and as Shannon watched in fascination, Andrew began to glow. A feeling of
immense power seemed to flow from him and then into her. ~Now~ his voice echoed inside of her mind. And
together, they embraced the still living spirit that was imprisoned in the man's dead body.
It took a few minutes, but the body began to warm, and then to glow. When the glow subsided, the two
otherworldly beings took their hands away. At first Shannon thought it had failed, for he did not stir at
once, but then she noticed that his chest was rising and falling with breath!
"He will live," Andrew assured her, reaching out to gently caress her cheek. "You were wonderful."
“I could not have done it without you,” she said honestly, looking into his eyes. She had never seen
him in quite this way before. But the moment was broken when the man they had just brought back from
death coughed and tried to sit up!
"Easy there," Andrew said, holding him down. "Go slow. My name is Andrew, and this is Shannon. We will be
your guides here in this new world."
“New World?” asked the man. “Has the war gone badly, then?” He suddenly seemed agitated. “What has become
of Gondor and my people?”
"They are not here," Andrew said softly. "You are now in a place called Edan. There is no war here. It is a
place for new life, new beginnings. Your life was ended on the world you came from, and it begins anew
here."
He looked at them both for a moment, and then placed his head in his hands, as if he were about to weep.
“Then it is gone,” he said emotionally. “All gone! But wait, I remember now . . . Isildur’s heir was with
me . . . and I did not survive! This is what happens when you die?”
"Not usually," Andrew chuckled. "You might say you have been given a great gift. A second chance."
“It is a great gift, indeed,” said the man. Trying to stand, so he could offer his hand in greeting, he
said, “I am Boromir, son of Denethor, Steward of Gondor. When I left life in Middle Earth, it was
after a great wrong, which, hopefully, my death has expunged from my tally. Is this a sign that I have
been forgiven?”
"Yes," Andrew assured him. The mention of the Middle Earth caught both his and Shannon's attention. "Do you
feel well enough to stand?"
“I feel surprisingly well,” said Boromir, “though somewhat weak. I would not refuse an extra hand from a
man as stalwart as yourself, though the maiden might think less of me.” He nodded in her direction,
causing a blush to rise on her fair cheeks.
Looking at the two of them, Andrew easily pulled Boromir to his feet. His own emotions were churned up
at the moment, after what he’d shared with Shannon while bringing Boromir back to life. Now the man he’d
helped to save was flirting with the woman that had
recently sent him such encouraging signals!
"Come home with us," he told the newcomer. "We will make sure you are well fed. That should make you feel
a lot better." He laughed, motioning to the bushes nearby. Shannon's sisters were all hiding there, all
consumed with overpowering curiosity. Perhaps he could be coaxed to turn his attentions elsewhere.
Boromir heard the feminine laughter and he smiled. Now that there was no reason to worry about the fate of
his people in Gondor – something he would ponder and grieve for privately at another time – he could turn
his attention to something he’d never had time for in
Middle Earth. It was time for Boromir, son of Denethor, to think about taking a wife. |