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About The Author Linda Curry is the eldest of six children and was born and raised in Perth W.A. She has six children of her own and one grandchild. She now resides in Hervey Bay QLD with her husband and four younger children. Linda is currently involved in a Christian drama group, the Messianic Messengers, and also enjoys working with a children’s school drama group. She enjoys morning walks, netball and working in her garden and loves their little Jack Russel, Waggs, but most of all, she loves God and thanks him for all that he has blessed her with. Chapter One
In heaven, the day had begun just like any other. The trumpets were blowing and the angels were rejoicing. The mighty and powerful warriors Amere, Orlando and Shilo had returned home from battle. Once again they had overcome the enemies of God. They were strong and brave warriors; demons would flee at the very mention of their names. All that is, all but one, Demous, undefeated and rotten. As a result of this he had become too big for his boots. For now though, the focus was not on him. All Heaven applauded the warriors’ return and celebrated their latest triumph.
One young angel, Tuley, didn’t feel much like celebrating, even though
he was happy that Shilo, Amere and Orlando had won this battle and fulfilled
their calling. He couldn’t help but wonder when it would be his turn. Much to
his disappointment, he had not been on the battlefield himself. He was still
grounded, owing to just one small technicality. He had no diploma.
He was restless, longing for the day when he would come together with his
friends in battle.
In heaven the streets were paved in gold. The splendour and brilliance that shone forth was only a tiny portion of the magnificence of heaven. It was a wonderful place to be. There was no more pain and sickness or sorrow and the trumpets always sounded when someone new arrived. All heaven would rejoice and welcome home the victors. Whenever you wanted to find Tuley, you only had to go to the outskirts of heaven. He would be looking out over the universe, watching the vast expansion of stars and planets God had created. But earth was where he desired to be, for that was where the battles were fought. They took place high above the skies out of sight of mankind. For now, though, it was the forbidden realm for Tuley. He dreamt of the day when he would be a mighty warrior and fight with the others, yearning for the chance to prove he was as good as the rest of them, but one thing stood between him and that happening, the small detail of graduation. The other angels had all graduated but he had not. The closest he would ever get to the real thing was to peer though a large fissure he had found on the outskirts of heaven. “Tuley! Get back from the edge! You’re too close,” shouted Allri. Allri was Tuley’s best friend and was like a mother hen, always on the look out for Tuley, and always trying to tell him what to do. She missed him at the celebration but knew just where to find him. “Don’t do that Allri! How many times must I remind you? Why must you raise your voice? All of heaven must have heard you. Now they will know where I am … besides you interrupted me.” Tuley had been waiting and watching most of the morning in the hope he might see some action. But thanks to Allri’s interruption he’d missed it. “Anyway,” he said, “I would not have fallen straight through that crack because I have my common sense about me.” “Well, of course, you could have fallen in, silly. Why do you think I called out?” she explained. It was out of concern for him that she did so. Allri didn’t know what Tuley would do without her.
There the two of them sat, looking through the crack trying to catch a glimpse of warriors in battle. Allri knew they should not be there but she was a faithful friend to Tuley, plus she felt badly that she had caused him to miss out before. She wanted to make it up to him, so she stayed on and watched too.
After some time Allri said to Tuley, “Why don’t you come away from the edge? Why continue to torment yourself like this?”
She knew that he couldn’t go to earth, the forbidden realm, for he didn’t have the authority or clearance to go.
Besides, Allri reminded Tuley, she couldn’t fly properly yet. Her wings hadn't matured fully and that would make it impossible for her to rescue him. Allri found it hard to fly and so she put it down to the slow development of her wings. Tuley always thought that Allri could fly, but he felt her hair got in the way. If she would only cut some of it off, he thought to himself.
Allri had the most beautiful hair in heaven. She had long red curls flowing all the way to her waist, and he was right. They did get in the way. Her hair made it awkward to fly, but she was not about to listen to him. What would he know! He was only a boy! Allri was slender in silhouette, but her heart was as big as the ocean and she was truly fond of Tuley. There they sat in silence, Allri knowing what the silence from Tuley meant. She comforted herself in the knowledge that he was just annoyed because he knew she was right. Tuley did know Allri was right, but he genuinely wanted to go to Earth. He wanted to be a guardian and warrior. He was ready. He knew he was! Tuley was impatient just like every other warrior before him at this age, and couldn’t wait till he was in combat against Satan’s demons. Imagining he was ten feet tall, and having his own flaming sword in one hand, Tuley could see that when he drew his blade it would blind the enemy with its brilliance and he would strike them down. With his shield in the other hand he would send those demons fleeing with their tails between their legs before they knew it. It would take just one mighty blow of his sword. Without realising, Tuley had spoken his thoughts aloud. “Yes, mighty Tuley,” Allri said teasingly. She then reminded him: first things first, he had to graduate. Tuley knew all too well he had to graduate but when would that be?
The trumpets sounded and all heaven began to rejoice. Someone had arrived home and Allri was always curious to see who it was. “I wonder who it is this time?” Looking at Tuley, she waited for a response, but none was forthcoming. Allri could see her friend Tuley was restless. Tuley felt that everyone else but him was graduating in some way or another. “I'm never going to graduate at this rate,” he complained. “It's already been five hundred years.” In his heart he knew he could be one of the best warriors ever. Well, besides Orlando and the others, of course. Orlando was the greatest warrior in heaven, followed closely by Shilo and Amere. Tuley really felt he had been overlooked. Allri tried to encourage Tuley by telling him that five hundred years was not a long time, he was still young. In actual fact he was only about the age of thirteen Earth years. “That’s not the point,” Tuley bitterly complained. “I am a mighty warrior and should be treated as such!” “Tuley,” Allri said to him. “You know what your problem is? You don't live in reality. You’re always looking …” Before Allri even had the chance to finish her sentence, an unusual call came from the Forbidden Realm. At the same time, on the outskirts of heaven it began to thunder. Tuley and Allri sensed something unknown was about to happen. Before they realised what was occurring, they were no longer in heaven. Neither one knew which it was, pushed or pulled, but they were definitely on the move. No matter how hard they tried they could not stop what was happening to them. They were being taken into the Forbidden Realm, tumbling through some kind of dark chasm in the universe. They could barely see. As they were spinning and spiralling, Allri and Tuley tried to grasp each other so they could stay together, but it was useless. Each time they thought they were close to grasping hands, something pulled at them even more. Allri was being taken further and further away from Tuley, until she could no longer see him. Tuley cried out frantically for his friend. Watching her fade away in the distance, feeling helpless and unable to help his friend Allri, Tuley thought to himself, ‘This is not a great start to being a mighty warrior.’ Tuley was whirling and spiralling downwards for what felt like an eternity, when without warning Tuley landed right beside Allri. Allri was not very happy with what had just taken place, even though she wasn't quite sure what that was yet. But she was determined to find out. Tuley, on the other hand, was pleased to see Allri and glad that she had landed safely, even though he himself had fallen flat on his back looking up at a very, very annoyed Allri. To avoid what he knew was coming next, he drew her attention to his wings and how they were bent out of shape from landing on them. Allri was paying no attention for she was quite upset about the whole affair. She knew they weren’t supposed to be wherever they were. “Now look what you've done! This is entirely your fault, Tuley. You've really done it this time!” she announced as she dusted herself off. “ I hope you realise that we are in major trouble now.” By now, Tuley had really become upset about his wings, as he realised how far they were bent out of shape. He was more concerned about his wings than any concern he had for the predicament they were in. “Look at my wings! They are all bent out of shape! How am I expected to fly when they look like this, all crooked?” Tuley was not happy. Allri was in a state of shock. “Is that all you are worried about? Don't you care where we are? Or what just happened?”
Unbeknown to Tuley and Allri, they had landed on a cloud high above a young girl floating in the sea. She was on a piece of wreckage from a boat that was serving as her raft. This young girl would turn out to be very special indeed. The trumpets Tuley and Allri had heard just before being removed from heaven were to celebrate the arrival of the young girl’s mother and father. They had been killed in a yachting accident and this family belonged to God.
“Tuley, are you listening to me?”
Tuley was still trying to straighten out his wings after the fall, all
the while trying to think of a way out of this mess.
“Will you stop flapping your lips for one moment?” complained Tuley.
“I’m thinking.”
“Oh, you are so impossible,” sputtered Allri.
“What do we do now, genius?”
“I’m still thinking.”
“You don’t have a clue, do you?”
“No, not really,” said Tuley. “But I will think of something. Just
give me time.”
“Well, that’s something we have plenty of, don’t we?” Allri
replied sarcastically.
While the conversation between Tuley and Allri was continuing and they
were busy accusing each other, the young girl Charlotte was still floating
beneath them, drifting in and out of consciousness.
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