A treat… a chapter from AO!!!

“This is Sort of a Half-Way House”

Shana and AO walked in silence for a while, Shana lost in her own thoughts and AO, ever on the lookout for the slightest hint of enemy presence. They walked briskly and as quickly as Shana’s strength would allow.

It was obvious, at least to AO, that Shana was having a hard time getting her mind around the fact of who the tattoo on her forehead said she was. “How could I possibly be the daughter of a great king? If what AO is telling me is true, why was I never told? Why was I always treated like… like crap, if I am a princess? Why was I treated like I am worthless if I am so…I guess important is the right word…I wish I knew.”

AO laughed and reached for her hand. “Why don’t you ask me?”

“Ask you? Ask you what?”

“Why you were treated as if you are worthless.”

“How did you…”

“It is written all over your face, like an open book, Shana. Don’t look so shocked,” he said with a laugh.

“But how… how did you know what I was thinking, AO?”

“Because it is part of who I am.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I happen to know a thing or two about you, Shana. But we are almost to where we are going. Up there.” He pointed up the path in the direction of the biggest and strongest and yet most welcoming and at the same time most intimidating building or house or castle Shana had ever seen.

“It… it is huge. It is beautiful. It is…it is almost scary, but welcoming at the same time,” Shana clung to AO’s arm as she said this.

“Have you ever been anywhere like this?” AO asked gently.

“N…no. Even the prison was not THIS huge.”

“Ah, yes, the prison. You were incarcerated there for quite a while.”

“Yes, I was.”

“Longer than you realize, Shana.”

“What does that mean, AO?”

“Well, to begin with you were in bondage for longer than you were in an actual prison.” AO studied Shana’s face, looking for any sign that she comprehended what he said.

“I was in bondage before I was captured?!”

“You were captured, more or less, because you were in bondage. I know it is confusing if you think about it for too long, so don’t.”

They walked along, coming closer and closer to the huge beautiful house that drew Shana and scared her at the same time.

“But tell me this…” Shana paused.

“Yes? What do you want to know?” AO smiled down at her, noting her large, fear filled eyes.

“How was I in bondage before I was in the prison?”

AO allowed the question to go unanswered for a few moments as they walked. They were almost to the gated entrance of the huge house.

“Shana.”

“What, AO?”

“You have been in what might be called a mental prison almost all of your life.”

“I have?”

“What did you think made you believe you are worthless and stupid and that this tattoo on your forehead,” he touched it and ran his finger along the full length of the lettering, “was ugly and terrible?”

“Everyone says so.” Shana blurted lamely.

“Everyone?”

“Oh, AO… everyone who knows me even a little bit knows I am stupid and awkward and clumsy.”

“Because…?”

“Because I am, that’s why.”

“Really? You think that is really true, that you are stupid and awkward and clumsy?”

“It is all I know about myself.”

“What if I told you what I think about you?”

Shana pulled back. “You mean, like, um, you are hitting on me?”

AO laughed. “Not at all. Why would I ‘hit on’ someone like you?”

She glanced up and blushed when she saw his twinkling eyes. “What do you think about me, AO?” Shana asked this in an almost shy, scared voice that was barely above a whisper.

They were standing in front of the gated entrance now, AO, with his one hand on the gate, ready to open it and go in; the other hand and held Shana close to him, and they looked deep into each other’s eyes.”

“You are…” AO paused, as if seeing something that took his breath away.

“I am what, AO?”

“You are headstrong, and beautiful and a fighter. You have…” as if he could not resist the urge to do so, AO planted a kiss on Shana’s forehead. “The very sight of you makes my heart skip a beat. You seriously take my breath away, Shana.”

“AO! How dare you! How can you…” before she knew what she was doing, they were both smothering each other in embraces and kisses.

“Come, let’s go inside.”

“Where are we… we can’t just go in and make ourselves at home can we?” Shana stepped back and stared as AO opened the gate and motioned her to follow him.

“Of course we can.”

“Is this your home?”

“I have many homes, and yes, this is one of them.”

The gate closed behind them, and AO took Shana by the hand and they made their way to the entrance of the huge house. Shana could hardly believe her eyes, or ears. The entry way or courtyard was like a garden, a huge flower garden, and trees…lots of them, and birds, and something else she did not have a name for.

“What is that…smell, or aroma? What am I hearing? And what am I smelling and tasting? What am I experiencing? It is almost too much to take in all at once.”

“This is sort of a halfway house.”

“A halfway house? You mean, between prison and freedom?”

“No, not like that at all; except that maybe in a way, yes it could be that.”

“Then what is it?”

“It is a half-way house between what you would call heaven and what you would call earth.”

AO gave Shana plenty of time for this to begin to soak in.

“And…and what is that supposed to mean? What am I supposed to do here?” spluttered Shana at last.

“Meet me here whenever you like. Live here. This is your home.”

“Is this…is this even real?”

“Oh, yes, it is really real.”

“But…it is all so confusing. I was in a prison that you said was some sort of mental thing, then suddenly I am free and in a place like almost nowhere on earth and you say this is a half way house…”

“If it helps you grasp it, better, this is ‘halfway’, so to speak, between heaven and earth.”

“So I am not really here?”

“Oh, you most certainly are here. Look at you. Touch things.”

“This isn’t just a dream or some sort of fairy tale vision?”

“It is better than both, because dreams and fairy tales can be based on nothing more than imagination. This. Is real.”

“Am I here, like, forever?”

“I said this is your home for as long as you like. In a way you will stay here “forever” and in a way, this will be kind of like your headquarters. You might come and go. But for right now, there is another, really important reason why you are at this halfway house.”

“What is that?”

“When you were in the prison, you were treated brutally. In fact, what you thought was a terrible dream… remember it?”

Shana nodded with a shiver of terror as the memory of the dream flashed through her mind.

“That actually happened, or almost happened, I should say. You were rescued from more than you are able to comprehend and more than I am able to explain to you. Believe me, it was horrific.”

“And I am here at this ‘halfway house’ for what, AO?”

“To get healed. To gain your strength. You are not even aware of the depth of some of your wounds, and without rest and without access to what is here, you would never have a chance to fully recover.”

Shana stared at AO, with tears in her eyes and flowing down her cheeks. “AO, will I ever get well? Am I ever going to recover? Or is my condition hopeless?”

“Hopeless? No, I never said hopeless and I am not going to start calling it hopeless now. That is rather beside the point of this place, anyhow.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Shana, you are going to recover. There is more in store for you than what you have known and what you have experienced up till now. You are needed, but first, you need to be here and recover and gain your strength.

“But AO, tell me…”

“Listen, my sister, my beloved, you must rest. You will know enough in time.”

AO helped Shana into the bed and then he bent over and kissed her on the forehead again.

“You must rest, sleep the sleep of the beloved.”

Within moments, Shana, the freed prisoner, daughter of the great King, the warrior princess who did not know who she actually was had fallen into a deep sleep.

AO left the room and closed the door behind him.