Love: A Story of Divine Interference

Disclaimer: This story contains no sex. It also contains a large number of religious references and several to advanced physics, although neither is the purpose of the story. The backdrop of the story could just as easily have been written with any religion as the setting and I simply had to choose one. If you hold a different path to faith than is referenced here, I meant no disrespect to your views. I simply wanted to respond to a prompt offered by my local writing club...

"What would you do for love?"

LOVE: A story of divine interference.

By R.C.PeterGabriel, all rights reserved.

My name is Dox, short of Doxanti. And yes, I do realize the name is unusual. Although, unusual is fitting for me, as I knew from birth that I was different than other children. No, I didn't look abnormal, nor did I have extra parts that would have made me stand out from others. What I did do was listen to my mother and the stories of the fantastic things she'd recount to me in private. That and the fact that we haven't seen her parents since I turned one, helped my theory along. To put it bluntly, they were too freaked out by my uncanny ability to hold a conversation. I had never met my father, and although I was told that I would meet him someday, he wasn't a part of my life. My mother, being a single parent of a homeschooler, did her best to keep me in check. Not an easy task, even though I never wandered away from what I could tell was sacred ground. She worked long hours as a bookkeeper, keeping track of the 180 parishes in the diocese.

As luck or mixed blessings would have it, the only housing we could afford was a single-bedroom efficiency unit owned by the Church that was nestled conveniently along the rear border of the grounds. It would seem my mother had vowed a life of poverty and sacrifice in exchange for my life. Not wanting to burden me, she never told me the story of why or that she even had. I of course had no idea of such things at the time.

We lived a simple life, and even though, from the time I had outgrown my toddler bed I slept in the attic, I never once felt underprivileged. After all, whenever I wasn't doing my home studies, I got to spend time surrounded by flower gardens, art, and grandeur. I would often wander into the extensive library the diocese maintained for its seminarians and parishioners, and was taken under the wing of several nuns. They would read to me often and would seem amazed at my poignant questions regarding whatever the subject matter happened to be. Yes, I knew they whispered about me often. And because I didn't want to scare them off like I had my Grandparents, I failed to point out that I could read as well or better than most of them. Although looking back the real reason I liked hanging out there was that it simply felt like my home. Well almost. More like an echo of home. Somehow I always knew that home was a place I hadn't been to yet. Regardless, I enjoyed living there.

I felt joy when the crowds arrived daily and especially on Saturday evenings and several times on Sundays. My favorite thing to do was learn and I always learned something by watching people. My mother taught me of course as did the nuns and priests, but it was more fun to learn something when it was unintended.

As the years passed and the homilies began to sound like I'd heard it all before, I noticed the priests and nuns would be less jovial at my approach. Even my mother seemed torn and more likely to pause in her answers as if life was no longer made up of simple facts. I started to understand that emotion, colored truth. And although I had always been a calm child, I never understood why the other children that visited would be so ... unsettled, and prone to bouts of impatience, restlessness, and even hysteria. Or why their parents would become angry.

I decided quite definitively to make the study of humans my next concentrated effort and set aside books altogether. Yes, I had already read all there was available on the humanities, and trust me the Church has extensive material on the subject. What I meant is that 'People watching' would become my classroom. After all, there didn't seem to be a single book that could teach me anything new regarding ... well, anything. People seemed the logical pursuit at that point. That being the case I began to explore the nooks and alcoves that would allow me to observe. I was mostly successful.

The only time I managed to earn a real scolding was when I was caught observing a mass from the false mezzanine at the upper reaches of the sanctuary. Weeks later the whispers of my having miraculously reached my position past a securely pad-locked access door still seemed to have thwarted everyone's understanding. To me, I had simply wanted to observe from that vantage and so there I was. What could possibly have been such a big deal that I needed to spend an hour being lectured by the Bishop himself for risking my life? Of course, that in itself had stunned me more than anything so far. I hadn't given so much as a single thought to the possibility that I could somehow end. After a week of pondering the subject, I came to the conclusion that if my existence were to come to an end, I really wouldn't be bothered by it much, and limiting my studies while awaiting such an event was simply defeatist in scope. Therefore, I watched and learned, especially from the many celebrations. One, in particular, will remain etched into my being with perfect recall until I succumb to that theoretical end of my existence.

As usual, there was pipe organ music involved, and the alcove I was hiding in reverberated with the musical announcement that a bride would take as her cue to enter the sanctuary. The momentary pause before the wedding march started, was my cue to act on my curiosity. I knew I wasn't supposed to, having been scolded, more than once, by several priests and nuns for doing it. But in my defense, I was too short not to be tempted and too young to not act. I climbed up onto the massive pillar's base and clung to the white marble as I leaned around to catch a glimpse over the pews at the grinning young woman. She was there to rehearse her wedding. I was there to learn what exactly? I had no idea. However, from the moment my young eyes beheld the beauty before me, my world changed. I knew my past, my youth, as short as it had been, was over. The preceding eight years were meaningless. My life would now be spent in pursuit of the perfection walking towards the altar. She was beauty personified. My soul sang out with the joy of discovering my true partner. My soulmate if you will. She was going to be my girlfriend, and then my wife. I didn't know the names of what I was seeing, nor did I understand the emotions playing within my heart. Determination simply blossomed within me with overwhelming force. Whatever I needed to do, I would do.

After a momentary stunned pause, I climbed back down and embarked on the trek that would complete me. I rushed forward, earning me a scowl from parishioners meditating at the fifth Station of the Cross, and again at the second, as my sandals slapped noisily on the tiles. Rounding the front pew, I was about to break into a run when my progress was arrested by the arm of a man that had been anticipating that very moment. Without taking my eyes off of my future, I heard him whisper, "Patients youngling. She will notice you," as he drew me onto the pew beside him.

I wanted nothing more than to rush on but was held fast as if in steel shackles. Not by any physical restraint provided by the mysterious prophet, but by a sudden faith that he had spoken truth. I glanced up at him feeling that I should somehow recognize the gentle face looking back at me. He simply nodded and rose to his feet before walking away without further direction or explanation.

The following eight minutes seemed longer than the entirety of all eight of my prior years but I held my post. As the bridal party finished receiving their instructions for the following day's nuptials, they all seemed to turn as one and head in my direction. Rising from my torture, I stood at the side of their path and awaited their approach. I had no reason to move as the future of my existence had already noticed me and our eyes locked. Her continence froze momentarily before some unknown recognition returned her smile, only now her eyes held wonder.

I took one step into their path, drawing the attention of the remaining members of the party. Father Connelly, misinterpreting my presence, tried to usher me away with a dismissive, "Not now, Doxanti." He rarely used my full name and I assumed it was meant to hold more authority over me, but I was not to be dissuaded.

Never breaking eye contact with the love of my life, I asked her for her name. Leaning forward slightly she failed to respond to my query, instead saying, "What a beautiful, young man you are," as she tucked an errant curl behind my ear. A moment later she seemed to remember my question and simply added, "I'm, Kiara."

I nodded sagely and thought out loud, "I should have guessed as such. You truly are 'God's precious gift'."

Her smile broadened and her eyes sparked, saying, "Aren't you a surprising little rouge?" as her fiancé put a possessive hand on her back and Father Connelly gasped out his disapproval at my brazenness.

'Ah,' I thought in the interim. She had chosen the language of our courtship, which is one I spoke well seeing as a great many of the texts available to me had been penned in medieval times. "I assure you, My Lady, I am no rouge. I am your Knight Protector, sent to rescue you from a life mundane."

I felt everyone else's eyebrows raise and heard several gasps as well as chuckles. The best man chided the groom with a good-natured, "You better watch out, buddy. You've got competition."

I of course knew this wasn't the case. Kiara and I are connected in a way that he couldn't understand. There wouldn't be a competition.

Pulling back only slightly in surprise, Kiara said with a grin and a wink to the group. "Thank you, Sir Doxanti. I am grateful for your assistance. Alas, I am as yet betrothed and cannot break the contract without you proving your worth to these witnesses. Should you return tomorrow, at the appointed time to break my contract, and can demonstrate your prowess with not only blade, but with mind and heart, I will turn from this man and merry you on the spot."

I smiled, knowing that I would exceed her standards whatever they might be. "Name your terms, Dear Lady. I shall not fail you."

She cupped my cheek before glancing around and then meeting my eyes again. "You must become a master of all martial skills, which should be easy for one as strong as yourself. You must also become fluent in at least ten languages. And the most difficult of all you must somehow prove to myself and these people that your heart is worthy to protect mine forevermore!"

"Not so fast!" interjected the maid of honor somewhat mockingly. "If you're questing this ... uh, knight, to prove his worth. I should state that I for one will not be convinced unless he can provide a tuft of hair from Big Foot. I'd rather the whole pelt as proof but seeing as I'm a vegetarian, I can't ask you to kill for it."

I turned my eyes to the group. "It shall be done as you have stated. The covenant is struck. I will return on the morrow to claim my bride." With that, I returned my eyes to Kiara's and kissed the palm she held to my cheek, before turning and walking from the sanctuary.

Taking a deep breath of the still crisp air, I glanced around at the budding bushes and trees. Tomorrow would mark the first day of spring and be a fitting symbol of our new life. Turning my thoughts inward I checked off the second of my quests as I had already mastered far more than twice the required ten languages. They came easily to me. It was as if I already knew them and only had to hear a few words or see a portion written down to remember the whole of their complexity. My first quest, however, would take some concentration. I remembered seeing drawings of the forms taught in most martial arts, but to be declared a master, would require a qualified teacher. As for blades, I knew of the different kinds but had never seen any of them used. My third quest was touted to be the most difficult, but I wasn't sure as I had no idea what a Big Foot was.

I was about to go in search of an instructor when the mystery man seemed to step out of a shadow in front of me. He smiled but had a sadness in his eyes that seemed out of place for the situation. I was again struck with the thought that I should recognize him, but I could not. "What is your name?"

"You haven't reached the point in our relationship where knowing my name will help you. In the meantime, you can call me 'Para'." He paused at my skeptical expression. "It means to stand alongside or to prepare."

I gave him a disappointed look. "I'm not as ignorant as you seem to think, Para. I know what it means. I was just wondering how you were to live up to your name."

He smiled as if remembering something. "In that case, if you are still determined to take Kiara as your bride, we should get started. "Do you remember how you got to the mezzanine?"

I knew without a doubt which mezzanine he was referring to, so I briefly pondered the question before responding in the negative. The truth of that was surprising to me as I couldn't recall ever forgetting anything before. He pointed to the highest steeple, hundreds of feet above the Cathedral's main structure. "Don't you wonder what the view from there would be? I'm sure you'd find it informative."

The thought did have some appeal, so I started to walk back to the building. "No, Dox. Remember the mezzanine, you simply wanted to be there. It was like changing a scene in a dream."

"You want me to teleport?"

"No, teleporting is impossible. I want you to use the other dimensions that you have access to and step through them to the location you want to be. You've already done it several times. You just didn't do it consciously."

I stared at Para for several minutes, while I ran the possibilities through my head. Quantum mechanics, string theory, brane world dimensional particles, and how the visible universe is theoretically stuck in a single 3-brane pocket. If the string theory portion is correct I could have access to up to 26 dimensions, and an infinite number if brane theory is. Of course, both could be correct and probably are. That would mean I wouldn't have to bother learning how to fold space because it was already folded trillions of times in the area of a square Planck length. I glanced at the tower and arrived at my destination without having moved. Para was standing beside me grinning. "Nice view," I agreed while admiring it, although I wasn't sure if the view itself was as 'informative' as how I had gotten there. Even so, I acknowledged the lesson nonetheless.

"That was the easy part. One of the reasons I'm here is to help you get to when you need without getting lost."

"Don't you mean where?" I asked.

"No, when. Do you think even you can become a master of every martial skill and weapon in less than a day, along with convincing Big Foot to let you cut some of his hair? That's kind of his whole image after all. Not to mention deciding how you're going to go about expressing Kiara's last quest. We need to get started. We have a lot of work to do with only this eternity to get it done. I'm here to help you travel what people of this Earth call the fourth dimension.

"Time," we both stated at the same ... time. "Ok, that would be helpful," I added. "By the way, why am I able to do any of this? I seem to be the only one that can."

"You're not human, Dox. You're only half human. You know of your mother who is of course human, while your father is of a different lineage."

"That actually answers quite a lot," I realized. "And my father is ..." I asked, hoping the hanging sentence would be enough of a prompt.

"I'm not going to tell you yet. Your race is notorious for choosing sides and revealing the truth seems to lead to a disproportionately large number of poor choices. I'm here to help you prove your love to Kiara, not help you discover your ancestry."

"If we're going to be gone for a while, shouldn't I say goodbye to my mother?"

"No, why. You'll be back in a few moments."

The moments Para spoke of were more than one, as I returned no less than 31 times. Each one was strategically designed to enhance the continuity of my youthful existence in the eyes of humans that believed they were in charge. I didn't realize the significance of not making arrangements to continue the facade after the wedding until we were standing in the alcove about to witness Kiara's walk and the successful completion of my quests. Only then did I realize that at some point along our thousand-year-long side trip, I had grown to the same height as Para. He smiled gently. "Do you finally recognize me?"

"I am embarrassed. But, yes, Doxanti. I recognize my future self. And yes, your choice of monikers was ironically relevant, having created a paradox by altering your own past."

"That will only be true if your next choice is illogical" he, or rather, I replied with a smirk.

"Regardless, the real question is; is your presence intervention or interference? You've taught me things that would have taken millennia to master while using trial and error to study. Things that no human teacher could comprehend let alone teach. You've stood at my side while I've studied martial skills under many hundreds of masters. You've helped me convince a cripplingly shy man suffering from both gigantism and hypertrichosis to let me cut his hair. You've helped me navigate past my self-centeredness to a self-love that recognizes that one cannot truly understand love without loving one's self. You have insured my determination to be with Kiara has grown past simple obsession. My love for her has blossomed into an enduring, passionate, and truly deep love that has expanded to her family and a desire to share mine ... no matter what that may include. I am grateful to you ... uh, me ... for the efforts I've put into this. But I'm suddenly feeling that those efforts have been staggeringly self-serving. So tell me the whole of it. Why are you really here?"

It was that moment the organs blared to life and announced the presence of my soul's other half to the audience. I was unable to not look away from myself to the most important thing in existence. That didn't keep my future self from leaning close to my ear and whispering one final question, one final lesson to be learned.

"To what lengths would I go for love? What of John 15:13?"

With those words echoing in my head, I knew Para had left me to my choice. I would not see him again until I had become him. But with his words, I suddenly knew that all love is self-centered unless it is truly agape. The only way to prove that I was worthy of her heart, was to love everyone. Universal love is not possible while causing pain. If I presented myself and proved I had succeeded in her quests, I would be hurting not only Kiara, but her fiancé, and most likely both of their families. They were already in love. It was a paradox.

Unable to endure the next few minutes, I skipped forward in time. Father Connelly, was speaking. "Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace."

I watched as Kiara turned. She wasn't worried. Her continence was anticipatory, full of hope as she scanned quickly over the gathering until our eyes met. She recognized me instantly, even though I had grown into my adult self. I felt our connection click tighter into place and knew without a doubt that she would honor our covenant. She would allow me to replace her fiancé if I presented myself. But I was already her future. Hurting those in her present, would only cause her and others discomfort regardless of our joy. Their pain would taint our lives. I smiled and nodded to her. She smiled and nodded back. As we stared into each other's eyes I was given my wings. The rather dramatic event didn't seem startling to Kiara. She only grinned brighter as her left eyebrow lifted, and a few moments later, turned back to the ceremony.