THE CELESTRIAL GIFT

THE CELESTIAL GIFT

A young couple, who had been walking their Golden Retriever in their favorite city park, headed back to their car as the Sun was sitting. They lingered in the park longer than usual because it might be their last time visiting the tree-filled park. It might be, because their house was being foreclosed on in three weeks. Both the young and man had lost their jobs and were looking daily for new ones and had difficulty finding them in a depressed market.

As they reached their car, they noticed all the other visitors to the park had left and they were worried the gates had been locked. So, they opened the back seat door to let Beau hop in first. As they started to climb into the front seat, they noticed a bluish, almost opaque, light beaming down directly above them. They stared at it as the light got closer. As the object in the sky came still closer, a thick mist, almost like a heavy fog, quickly covered the area and surrounded them. Not knowing what the object was, or what to expect next, they both jumped in the front seat and locked the doors. Doing this was the last thing they remembered doing.

 

Moments, or hours, later they became alert again and stared out the car windows with puzzled expressions. 

“Did we really see what I think we saw?” the woman finally asked.

“We saw something, but I’m not sure what it was.” he replied.

“Are Park Rangers using helicopters now to make sure all visitors have left before the gates are locked?” she wondered hopefully.

“That’s very possible, and the incoming fog could have muffled the sound of the engine,” he assured her.

“I hope all that didn’t freak out poor Beau,” she responded as they both looked in the back seat to find him asleep.

“That worthless mutt! Beau couldn’t scare anyone off even if he tried.”

“People don’t usually get Golden Retrievers to be guard dogs,” she reminded him, then asked, “What time is it, Honey.”

“Just after eleven and we have to get home to get some sleep because we’ll be looking for jobs tomorrow, too. And I guess, from the hunting jobs stress, we were worn out and dozed off.”

“Yes, as if I needed reminded,” she answered with a deep sigh, then added, “I just hope they haven’t locked the gates on us and locked us in the park.”

“We’ll find out soon enough,” he replied as he drove their car to the gate, finding the road he took leave, had its gate still unlocked.

After they pulled into their driveway, they first let Beau relieve himself on a light post, then they entered their house. When the lights were turned on, Beau headed to his large dog bed in the kitchen. 

“We love you, Beau, you worthless mutt,” he told him, then the couple headed to their bedroom to get some sleep.

While they were sleeping, and Beau was asleep on his dog bed, without any of them knowing it, the dog collar had been replaced with a collar studded with Rubies, worth enough to cover the past-due mortgage payments, and hopefully delay the foreclosure, and enough left over to cover living expansive. 

In the morning, after the couple turned on the kitchen lights to start getting their breakfast ready, they noticed a large envelope on the breakfast table. After she carefully opened it, inside the envelope they found a six-figure Cashier’s Check, and a signed, notarized, letter explaining the check. A publisher wanted to buy first rights to the novel they co-wrote called ‘The Family We Chose To Be,’ with the check also covering the first rights to a possible film and /or series for cable or network television. The letter also stated the check, if they accepted it, is a down payment and they would receive all royalties from any venture that brought in income.

The last paragraph mentioned that the Rubies on Beau’s dog collar were their own to sell as staying afloat money. The next sentence mentioned the celestial identity has chosen others to help it considered kindred spirits. And the last sentence said any contract between them would become void it the couple attempted to, or actually did, go public, including writing about or giving interviews about, how they were chosen or what could have possibly happened in the park the night before.

And they, with the possible exception of Beau, never knew the gift came from some form of a celestial identity that deemed this loving, honest, caring and giving couple, this couple that has weathered many setbacks with grace, and still maintained an optimistic outlook, worthy of such a gift. And the novel they co-wrote reflected their views on honesty, caring and accepting diversity, learning this from the novel that also reflected the views of the celestial identity, learning about the yet unpublished novel because of a tip from another kindred spirit.