The Quest part 3

Chapter 3

The entire workday went by like a splitting headache, though Emily felt no such pain. He just felt every heartbeat with a seeming immeasurable length in between. He bided his time waiting to go home and be transported again. He nearly ran over two skateboarders on his hurried drive home. At least they were skateboarders, no great loss.

He turned on his computer to see these words in big black type:

BE MORE CAREFUL WITH MY CREATIONS, ASSHOLE!

He didn't even type anything or look at the screen. He just hit enter and closed his eyes.

Once again he was on the clearing by the pond. This time, he wasn't afraid of the water anymore. He went to the edge, and after gazing into it for a few minutes, he finally waded in. Towards the middle of the pond he could again see the mass of body parts. He kept walking. The pond was not deep. The water was not cold. Emily reached his hand out and grabbed what looked like a child's hand. He pulled the child away from the mass. As he did so many many faces turned to look at him. They seemed to assess him for a minute, then they all closed in on the child and pulled her back to the center. At first he was going to go with her, then he chickened out. The child looked after him as she was once again engulfed. It was not a reproachful look. It was a matter of fact, "I belong here", look.

Emily buried his face in his hands and began to cry. Before this, he never concerned himself with any interest in the mass of souls. Now he was smitten by her. He had a reason to follow God's orders and save the souls. God would be happy with him. He looked at his monitor expecting to see some words of encouragement. All he saw was:

Smooth, real smooth.