The Guardian

I labored to keep my heavy eyelids opened. My head was heavy and it felt like a burden to my tired shoulders. My breathing was slow and exhausting. I could barely support myself. I remained pinned to the ground, hoping at some point I would summon enough strength to stand. I was lying on what felt like dust. It was grain-like but very soft, very fine in texture. I dragged my hands to cushion my head. The dust particles brushed on my face as a mild wind blew over me. It sounded like someone blowing into an empty bottle. My clothes swelled and danced from the air that blew into them. I buried my head into my arms to escape the stings of the dust. Then it stopped. A grave silence prevailed. I cautiously peeped from the loosened grip of my arms. Suddenly I was able to open my eyes with ease. I could feel the dust powdering my face, some of it fell off as I shook my head. It was translucent dark. I could see some pockets of white not-so-bright light. The dark clouds seemed to be blocking its path. The light was coming from various points in the sky. Maybe from the moon or the stars, but I couldn’t see them.

Looking around. I was on flat terrain. The ground was covered in white dust. From one end to the next, everything appeared leveled. No trees or anything was popping up above the ground level. From a distance, I saw the whirling wind carrying the white dust into its path. It was neither hot nor cold. I couldn’t tell where I was. My body was no longer exhausted. It was as if the wind took the exhaustion away with it. I rose to my feet. I stood at that one spot for a while, confused. I didn’t know which direction to take. My shadow was cast in front of me, on it, I could see the ripples and creases of my unkempt hair and clothes. At another end of the terrain, I noticed what appeared to be white smoke. I thought to myself: It must be coming from somewhere; or if there is a fire, someone might have started it. I slowly walked to it to investigate.

When I got closer, I was taken aback by the mystery that was before me. There was neither smoke nor fire. It was an unusual phenomenon. It looked like a mirage, at an arm’s length reach. Dancing light rays floating above the ground. They seemed to be stuck in one position. My curiosity pushed me to investigate some more. I moved closer, but cautiously. I halted when a bright blinding light shone out of it. I slightly covered my eyes in a way that I could still observe what was happening. The rays separated and created a hollow channel that had a tiny white spot of light. The white spot grew bigger as it moved outwards. It was as if the channel was giving birth to the white light. At this point I was scared. My fear had grown to a level that my limps were paralyzed. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t move. I stood there shaking as the light grew bigger and bigger. Bids of sweat dripping on my skin. My body was drowning in sweat. My legs shaking and my eyes then tightly closed. The light was so bright that my eyelids glowed red as it protected my timid eyeballs.

The swooshing sound of the wind replaced the silence. It sounded very close. I felt it blow over my skin. Leaving my sweaty body dry and cold. I was still scared. Scared to open my eyes. My legs were still rooted to the ground. There was a voice. A very soft and comforting voice. “Fear not!” it whispered. No sooner were those words uttered than I felt no fear. The heavy thumping of my heart turned normal, my trembling legs became steady and my hands were no longer sweaty. I slowly opened my eyes to a stunning wonder. A human-like creature stood before me in glory. Its body frame was covered in light. Its skin glowed from the same light that came from its frame. The eyes glittered in a silver-like glow. It was neither female nor male. Its body was covered in glowing yellowish light, such as the sun’s rays. I stared into its face. A warm inviting face. I couldn’t tell its emotion or the expression it wore, but It was good to look at.

Was this God? An angel maybe? Should I bow before it? Was it here to take me away? Was I even worthy of meeting God? Or, was this the devil, disguised as God’s angel? Should I repent all my a billion wrong deeds? Should I run, now that I had my paralyzed legs steady? Should I confess all my sins? I had used a curse word the previous night, I had coveted on my neighbors’ property and a week ago, I overcharged a client. Was this the day that what I did in the dark would be brought to light? A cloud of fear descended on me. I started confessing underneath my breath. I sinned at Hurlingham streets a month ago. In another week, I bribed a policeman and a county official. But my greatest and frequent sin was lying. Was I confessing the right way? Was there a right way of talking to God?

The wind came back in our direction again. This time very strong. It carried a lot of dust. Its whistling sound was loud and deafening. I had no place to take cover. The only option I had was to run. Just when I was about to take to my heels, one side of the human-like godly creature was raised and at its end, a human-like-hand appeared. The hand pointed to the wind. The whistling sound went dead silent. The whirling stopped and the sand that was carried in it fell at once. On observing what had transpired I was filled with more fear. This time the fear had overpowered and paralyzed my whole body. I couldn’t coordinate my breathing. I felt blood rushing in my veins and my heart racing and pumping lightning fast. At this moment I knew I was either standing before God and my earlier confessions didn’t work, or I was in the presence of death. An angel of death to be precise. I thought to myself, maybe this is what happens before people die. The angel of death appears to them and takes them away. That day was my turn.

A very soft and comforting voice repeated, “fear not!”. This time I saw its mouth move as the words came out. My fear disappeared immediately. I was fascinated with the power it possessed. Everything obeyed it, including my body. “You are not going to die and am not taking you away!” it stated. My thoughts were not hidden to it. “I am your guardian!” it continued, “my purpose is to serve humans by helping them reach their destined purpose.” It spoke in its soft and comforting voice. I felt like I was in the company of a friend. Someone I had known all my life. “Are you the same as the holy spirit?” I hesitantly inquired. “No, I am not. I am your guardian!” It softly responded. “Where is this place?” I asked softly, as by then I was slowly becoming accustomed to its demeanor. “I had to create a meeting place” it responded. “Create a meeting place?” I followed with a question. “Yes. I had to create a place that your human mind could comprehend.” It said while staring down at me with a smile on its face.

“I am a heavenly being tasked to help humans exercise their free will. I don’t force them into a decision. I provide options that will steer them into their given purposes. I do this through dreams, intuitions, trances, prophesies, and through other humans. When one loses track of their life purpose, my role is to keep reaching out to them through these avenues until one day they get on track.” it stated.

“Which option are you using now?” I asked.

“This is a trance” it responded.

“Does it mean that I am off track?” I asked.

“No. I reached out for another reason” it replied.

“Many of your kind are stuck. They are stuck in a maze. They have lost direction and are unreachable. They have too many voices competing for their attention. My voice is lost in that noise. My direction cannot get them out of the maze if they keep getting contradicting information. I need you to help in this task!” it stated.

“You are asking help from a human that has neither connection, mass influence, or power. You are asking for help from a mere human being. A human being that almost died with fear in your presence. A human that was almost running from a sand whirl-wind. You have the power to read my thoughts and command nature to order. You have the power to create a world of trance, Influence human decisions and you are closer to God than I am. You don’t need help from me, a mere mortal that can disappoint you in many ways. A human full of limitations and short-comings. If you have to choose a human being, there is a better pool to choose from.” I complained.

“Why did you even choose me out of the astronomical numbers of the human population?” I demanded.

“You write. I need a writer?” it calmly responded.

“What? You chose me because I write!?” I had forgotten I was talking to a creature that could crush me into pieces by just uttering words. I couldn’t believe this, with all its might and power, it hovered the ends of the earth by-passing great authors, popular bloggers, and established influencers, just to settle on me, a guy who writes for leisure has no followers and might get bored and stop writing. Confused!

“Yes. I chose you! Right now you are a nobody in your world. To me, you are important for this course. Who says you will remain a nobody forever?” it responded.

“What course is this?” I asked.

“For a long time, the human race would make decisions from intuition. They would listen to their inner voice more often. They were patient with the process it took to get revelations. They were motivated by challenges and patience was a virtue they held in high regard. This changed when their desires for more outdid their virtues. They became greedy, impatient, lazy, competitive, ignorant, envious, misguided, and evil. They no longer listen to their intuitions. They don’t listen to my revelations. They want everything ready-made. They pay more attention to society than I. They live most of their lives trying to impress other people. Their minds are occupied by distractions, things that drive them away from their purpose and me.” it explained.

“If they can’t listen to you, how will they listen to me?” I asked.

“Because you are one of them. Because you are a writer!” it stated.

“First of all, I won’t call what I do influential, or if it qualifies me as a writer yet. Secondly, I am everything that you have stated. I am greedy, impatient, competitive, envious, misguided, and maybe even more or worse!” I replied.

“I know you are. That’s what makes you human. The difference is that you still listen to your intuition. You are influenced by society but you question it. You are willing to challenge what you don’t agree with. You had the gut to follow your beliefs and finally, you are writing!” it responded with a smile.

“Besides, you are not the only one I chose for this course. I have several other humans doing the same. They are the coarse crusaders. They are travelers. A light to the world that trail blaze unchartered paths and waters. They inspire generations, they challenge systems and societies. They keep the world together. The traveler never stops even when faced with the worst calamity. The traveler keeps its head up even when shame is cast on him. He is not afraid of being an outcast. He finds new ways of improving himself and society at large. He calls society for its lies. He is not comfortable in the company of fools. He doesn’t hide in the shadow of mediocrity, he faces his weaknesses and limitations head-on. He is a warrior. A soldier for truth. He has principles that guide him and the people around him. You are a traveler!” it stated.

“Ok. I am a traveler!” I repeated.

Beep!! Beep!!

My alarm clock rudely sent me tussling in my bed. I rolled over, grabbed, and turned it off. It was at 4 am. My waking time. I pushed my body to a seating position still distracted by a dream that felt so real.