A Meaningful Conversation Between Charlotte and River

 

When Charlotte’s soul left her body and entered the River of Life after only five mortal years she felt like she failed her mom. None of us transition without regrets but Charlotte’s baggage threatened to keep her from crawling out of the River and become immortal.

“I didn’t want to go,” Charlotte, still bobbing in the water said to me. “I failed my mom. I need to go back and make things right.”  

I told her that her mom had the same sense of failure.

“On no.” Charlotte said. “She didn’t fail, she saved me.”

“And you saved her, countless times,” I said. “On the mortal side it is easy to recognize when you are saved but hard to see when you are the one doing the saving. Everything is cleaner here. If you climb on to the bank I will show you.“

“It’s a trick,” Charlotte said accusingly. “If I get out of the water I will never get back.”

I had to give Charlotte the blunt truth: There was no going back. If she didn’t cross over she would be left on the mortal side wandering as a ghost with no ability to help her mom. And, when the day came her mom passed they would not be reunited. It was a painful choice but not as painful as the one her mom made to send her here. Charlotte nodded then climbed out of the water.

She looked at the beautiful inviting Bridge then across the water to the immortal side. “I do see more clearly here,” she said.

“Seeing on the mortal side is like watching TV with an antenna as opposed to the Bridge which is high definition,” I explained.  “You have less distractions here, you notice more things.”

Charlotte looked at the Bridge. It was made of stone with ivy growing on the side and bright flowers covering the rails.  It was wide, but not long.  There was an arch, perhaps for ghost ships that quietly slipped undernearth. Water lapped on the base, propelled by an unseen tide. Below it fish darted just below the surface. 

“It looks peaceful,”Charlotte said. “My

Mommy wanted me to restin peace. It looks right I am in the right spot for rest.”

“Yes, you can rest, but also play, have adventures, and do whatever your imagination can propose, but first you need to join Hannah and me in fighting the evil

Angels who have cast a dark shadow on your mom.”

For the first time since her arrival Charlotte’s eats perked and her tail rose. She asked if I thought we could and I told her angels always win, it just takes time.

Of which we have an over abundance.

Charlotte smiled, took my paw, and together we crossed the Bridge into the land of endless possibilities.