Inside a shoebox
The scene is set. Wind is blowing, snow is falling, and trees are left leafless. It's winter time and its cold outside. The sky is gray and the ground is covered in freshly fallen snow. At least that's the look the scene decorators were going for when they created the set for the new school play, "Christmas in Chicago". It was written by none other than Eloise Mei Candeleria, a young, spunky girl with a mind full of imagination and a heart full of spirit. Born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago and brought up in a home where God was the answer to everything. Her mom, Annie Mei Candeleria/Donaldson, who was born in Hawaii and raised in California, owned a small bakery called "Can&Dawn Bakery." She made the store's title when she met Eloise's Dad, Daniel Luke Candeleria or Duke for short, owns a record label called "Persecute Records."
Eloise is 15 years old and for the most part believes that Jesus died so she can be forgiven for her sins, but decides not to be as righteous about her faith as her mom or her 20 year old brother, Charles.
The play she wrote is basically a make-fun of her family Christmas's. One scene is of the family standing in the living room singing Christmas songs and worship songs. Later in the scene they hold hands and pray together. The play was a sentimental comedy.
Eloise walked around her Dad's study. She had to find an answer. She would not leave unless she found something explaining her Dad's odd behavior. The feelings that struck next had not been well rehearsed nor had they been expected. The stress was getting to her. Eloise turned to the brick fireplace in the corner of the office and sighed. Again, she tried to insert the key into the desk drawer. As surely as ever, the drawer slid open slowly and inside laid a brown-paper covered shoebox. Beads of sweat ran down her neck as the sound of a key turned in the door to the study. Dad was coming and would not be very forgiving of her intrusion going by how he reacted to everything else lately.
He walked in the room slowly and locked the door behind him. The silence in the room spoke more to Eloise than any noise her Dad could have made. She peeked through the crack in the closet doors and saw her Dad sitting at his desk twirling his fingers around one another anxiously.
Ring!
Startled, Eloise jumped at the loud ring but to her benefit, her Dad paid no attention. She paused and drew her breath carefully, mentally noting every word her father said in the conversation.
"Hi Joe."
This is Dan Candeleria. I'm guessing your calling about the updates on my son, Charles?"
Silence.
"I see. Yes... Mhm... Oh...Alright, thank you Joe. Yes, yes. "
A look of concern fell on Dan's face. He put down the phone, sighed as if exhausted, and stood. As he walked toward the door of the study he held his head low and slouched, his feet dragging. But when he reached the door he held his head high and put on a strong face. He left the study and locked the door.
Eloise slowly slid out of the closet. Who was he talking to? Why was he so upset? And why did he pretend to be so strong when inside he was torn apart? And why in the world would a conversation about Charles make him so upset? How many hours do I have until I have to be at school for the premiere of the play?
She looked at her pink Disney watch. It was 5:46 p.m. The play was at 8:00 p.m. so she had about an hour before she had to leave. She heard someone heading for the study again. Because she did not want to be stuck in the closet again, she started to panic... The key jingled in the door. Her heart pumped rapidly. The window was her only way out. She quickly unlocked it from the top and climbed out.
Right as she shut the window from the outside, the study door opened. A sigh of relief escaped her mouth as she jogged away from the window.
She didn’t have a coat on. All she wore was an orange sweater with a white stripe around the cuff of the sleeve, tan pants, and a cashmere tan scarf draped around her neck.
She set the shoebox down by some bushes in front of the house, slid inside the front door and in a quick movement grabbed her black winter coat before sliding back out. The weather was decent. It had to be somewhere around 45 degrees. The breeze was light and the snow was soft enough to walk out but not wet enough to make slush. Perfect.
Eloise made her way down the street to the school, shoebox in hand. She arrived at a nearby playground and sat on a dry bench under a willow tree with a trunk of 30 inches in diameter. The wind whistled at her loudly, almost as if warning her not to open the box. But at this point nothing could stop her. She had the curiosity of a cat and the sneakiness of a snake.
She ran her cold, red fingers over the top of the box until they reached the sides of the lid. The wind whistled a bit louder this time, and the sky grew grayer. She pulled the top off of the box and what she saw inside was as shocking as if she’d seen a bird in the sky on a night like this.
Amelia woke up to pouring rain smacking her in the face and sirens blazing around her. Without thinking, she rolled over and fell off the bench, leaving a deep gash in her forehead. She slowly stood up and looked around. Just a few feet away she saw ambulances speeding down the streets. The noise of the sirens, mixed with the growing storm, and crying families made her head pound even worse than the wound.
Walking slowly toward the chaos, she noticed clothing lying under a set of swings, but no body around to claim them. As she walked closer, confused, she noticed they belonged to a neighbor of hers. A little girl of 4 years old named Kelsie. Was Kelsie running around in the rain with no clothes on?
She picked up the clothes, intending to bring them to Kelsie’s parents, and walked toward the chaos infested area. The screams of people grew louder as she got closer. She finally reached the street as what she saw horrified her. Car crashes filled every street in sight and fires blazes for miles. Hundreds of people were on their knees crying and screaming. It took her an hour to gather up the nerve to ask someone what was happening and another hour after than for someone to tell her.
A guy named Chuck Robins, 17, sat down with her, his eyes as red as the fire surrounding them from crying, and began to tell his story.
“I was raised in a Christian home, my parents were completely on fire for God and totally ready to live out their lives to serve Him. I went on mission trips and I did the whole church thing but when it came to trusting Him and giving Him the things in my life that I held close, like dating and going to parties, I just couldn’t let it go. I remember at one youth retreat, the pastor talked about the last book in the bible, Revelation. He was telling us how one day, Jesus would lift up all who truly believed in Him and leave all of those who denied on earth for seven years. In those seven years, there would be four judgments; something like a major earthquake, and locusts, and a heat wave. In those seven years, the antichrist will rise into power, seeming to be this huge savior in the time of greatest need. It will be the time all choose if they want to accept Christ or deny Him.”
Amelia looked at him, stunned. She too had heard a bit about the book of Revelation from her brother Charles. In fact, only a few days ago he was trying to convince her to read it. Still, the puzzle wasn’t fitting together.
“So? Why is there chaos? Why the fires, the car accidents? Did God do this too,” she asked, getting impatient.
He looked at her, shaking his head furiously. “No, no, no,” before continuing, he paused and looked around, then stood. “Follow me.” He started walking quickly.
She was not sure whether or not she should follow but she didn’t feel like she had much choice. She could stay and be confused and surrounded by screaming people, or follow and possibly get some answers. She stood and followed as fast as she could to stay close behind him. Finally, he stopped at a church and grabbed her hand to drag her inside. The doors swung open hard and hit the walls. The sound echoed throughout the room.
Amelia found herself short of breath when she looked around. Everywhere, there were sets of clothing lying empty on the floor. She could have asked where the people were, and why they were running around nude, but she knew the answer.
“God came and lifted them up already,” she said quietly, putting it all together. Before thanking him or even looking around to see if it was a hoax, she ran as fast as her legs would carry her. She ran past the screaming people on the side of the streets, and past the ambulances treating people from car crashes. She ran through the park and toward home, trying not to think about what kind of trouble she would be in when she got home.
Her house stood as it always had in the past, tall and clean. Even as the rain mixed with dirt beside her porch, and the un-homely sound of screaming surrounded the area, she still felt things were safer. For almost 10 minutes she stood still in front of her house, thinking of what Chuck had told her. Slowly, taking small steps, she began inching toward her porch. Every breath she took she made sure to fill her lungs completely, in fear she’d lose her breath in sudden shock as she moved forward.
When she opened the door to her house she heard a faint crying. She followed the sound and found her Dad, crying near his bed. She rushed to his side and wrapped her arms around him. He looked up, so relieved to see her, then wrapped his arms around her tightly and sobbed in her shoulder for a moment.
“Dad, where is Mom and Charles,” she asked earnestly.
He just shook his head and started sobbing again. Amelia pulled away, looking at him in shock. She stood quickly and looked on top of the bed where she saw her mom’s clothing. A white cashmere sweater, some pearls near the neck, denim jeans, brown wool socks, her wedding ring, and a charm bracelet Amelia had made for her when she was ten. She rushed to Charles room where she found his clothing lying in his bed; but no Charles in sight.
Instead of panicking, she took the bible on Charles nightstand and lay on his bed beside his clothes. She opened to the last book in the bible, Revelation, and began reading. Moments later, her Dad joined her with Annie’s bible.
A few hours later, Chuck came inside and told her he had followed her but had waited outside. He sat with them and answered some questions.
“What do we have to expect for the next seven years,” asked Luke.
“Well, if you turn to Revelation 16 God tells us the seven bowl judgments.”
1Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God's wrath on the earth.” 2The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
3The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
4The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. 5Then I heard the angel in charge of the waters say: “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were, the Holy One, because you have so judged; 6for they have shed the blood of your saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” 7And I heard the altar respond: “Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.”
8The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. 9They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
10The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony 11and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
12The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. 13Then I saw three evil[a] spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
15“Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
16Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
17The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. 19The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. 20Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. 21From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.