Fiction

He Wants the Whole World to Know

by Evelyn Alexander 
04/15/20
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A fictional short story based on an actual time in the world like no other.

“What is that gawdawful noise…?” More asleep than awake, Esther’s body began stirring while in her dream her eyes darted around, scanning the peaceful setting she had just been enjoying, trying to spot where the obnoxious sound was coming from. 

She was exhausted. Her brain and body were desperate to stay asleep so she could more fully recoup from the two-day shift she had just endured at the hospital.  Her caring heart had never felt so emotionally strained either. She desperately needed rest! …and lots of it. “Please make it stop, Lord!!” She groaned in her sleep as the harsh noise continued.

But more sleep was not to be. Reality began pushing the peaceful scene away until it faded into oblivion. She reached for her still ringing smart-phone. Noting its time, she groaned some more. “Only 5 hours sleep!” She was tempted not to answer. But something seemed to tell her it must be important. 

Still groggy, Esther managed to touch the right button. She no sooner croaked out a raspy, “Hello…” when an excited voice broke in. “Esther! Thank God I finally got you! …you’re not going to believe… get back here right… it’s unbelievable! …everybody … I’ve gotta’ go.”  And then the line went dead.  

The excited voice had brought her fully awake.  But now she felt stunned and confused. “What’s going on? Was that Carol?” It sounded like her best friend. But yet the excited voice talked so high and excited it was hard to understand most of her words. “Totally unlike Carol,” she thought. “But it must have been her!”  

Now worried, she threw back her covers and quickly jumped out of bed. Her heart beating hard, she rushed like never before to get dressed and out the door. 

It wasn’t until she found herself safely on the road that she started wondering again what the strange call might mean. “She distinctly said, ‘everybody’. Is it possible everybody has died?! But, no. That can’t be it,” she reasoned to herself. “Her voice didn’t sound panicky… more like ‘awed.’ Excited?” She questioningly asked herself.  

It was only then Esther realized while deep in thought, she had been seeing groups of people gathering along the way. Now that she thought of it, that was odd. She never saw groups gather like that, especially since the mandatory “distancing” went into effect. They seemed animated too while talking with each other. “Yes. Even excited… like Carol,” she thought to herself. 

“How odd. The ban hasn’t been lifted, has it? Wait a minute…!” she thought, interrupting herself.  “I had forgotten. This is Easter Sunday! Perhaps some families and friends have decided to get together today in spite of the Governor’s mandate not to have gatherings of any sort,” she wondered, while checking out another animated group as she drove past. “No. Something’s still off.” 

Esther then realized none of those she had been seeing along the way had any of the now-familiar masks covering their faces. “Is the COVID-19 scare over?!” She hopefully, yet skeptically, wondered. It almost felt like her heart skipped a beat at the thought, “Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”    

“I’ve seen too many deaths these last few weeks… and too many grieving families!” Her eyes teared up as images of their faces and grief took over her thoughts. “Oh God. When will this nightmare be over?!!!” 

Esther’s heavy thoughts were interrupted only when she realized that for a while now, she had been hearing a voice in the background, unknowingly catching a few words here and there that had interrupted her brooding. She had heard, “Unbelievable… everybody (there was that word again!) …doctors and nurses still in shock.”

She suddenly realized it was her car radio. The man’s voice was coming from her radio. It was on!  “That’s so odd,” she whispered out loud, while reaching for the knob to turn up the sound so she could catch more. “I don’t remember turning it on. What’s going on here?” 

Her thoughts raced.  “I’m beginning to feel like I’ve entered the Twilight Zone!

But her attention quickly refocused on what the man was saying. “This can’t be?!” slipped out in response to what she was hearing. “Now I definitely feel I’m in the Twilight Zone!” 

Her thoughts began racing even faster. “Did I really hear him right? …doctors and nurses everywhere were reporting that literally every person under their care with COVID-19, woke up this morning totally well?! …with absolutely no sign of the virus?!” Yes. The commentator’s voice was shaky, and so were the voices of those talking with him. In fact, one of them sounded so emotional they seemed close to tears! 

Esther found her thoughts and emotions being bounced all over the place. One part of her was saying, “This can’t be true. It defies every bit of my training and law of science!” While another part was insisting, “…but it must be true since so many trustworthy people are reporting the same thing! Thousands of them,” she recalled in amazement. 

Her turbulent thoughts were interrupted with what she was now hearing from the radio.  “…some of those being questioned who had been sick, even at death’s door, are telling of dreams they had during the night, but now they’re believing they weren’t dreams. They were actual visitations—that Jesus appeared and talked to them. And he seemed to carry a similar message to them all. He would first caringly assure them that they were going to be all-right, and will soon feel better than ever.  And then he would instruct them to reassure all who would hear that He DOES exist, and is going to do something new among us… to be watching for it.” 

Her mind wandered at the amazing thought. Then the voice grabbed her attention again. “…since we’re getting similar reports from counties around the world, it seems He wants the whole world to know He never went away as so many told us. That it’s us who had pushed Him aside and forgotten Him. But that we’re now ready to change that.” 

The voice still sounding amazed then added his own thoughts. “This is truly an amazing day. One that is sure to go down in history as the day the world saw its greatest miracle since the day Jesus miraculously rose from the grave.”   

Esther’s heart felt like it was swelling with so much anticipation it could burst! Her eyes glued to the road in front of her, she was now tremendously eager to get to the hospital so she could see what was happening for herself. 

Still struggling with confusing thoughts that it was all too good to be true, Esther groaned the words, “Oh, God!” Her heart then cried, “Let it be true—oh, let it be true!”

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A personal note:  This story might be a work of fiction, but it echoes the heart of so many Believers who have a deep desire for the world to wake up to the reality of God and what Christ did for us when he rose from the dead, walking among the people… being seen by over 500 people (1 Corinthians 15:1-11) who witnessed that it was indeed this same Jesus who had been crucified by the Romans during the last Passover week. 

Something within us also wishes He would work a miracle so great, that all the world will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He truly is the same loving God He’s always been, “Yesterday, today, and forever.” Will he do something like what this fictional work describes?  He could; He has the power to do so. But only He knows if that’s part of His eternal plan.

However, we can know that someday He WILL make himself known to us all at the end of this world as we know it. We just don’t know when or how it will happen. But we know it WILL happen. 

What an unbelievable day that will be too!

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Words: 1342