Elena was going strong until this point as her mind races back to how her childishness took the life of her precious Darla. This sorrow reaches deep into the heart of Faye Worley. “Elena,” says Faye, “I know that everything is fixed and that Darla is alive now, but I can understand how it must still hurt you. May I tell you something? As a daughter, I want you to know that I am completely confident that not a day goes by that your daughters, both of them, don’t praise God that they were found by you. Hurting people can make you hate yourself, even after you’re forgiven. But that’s just it. You’re forgiven. I know your daughters don’t want you to be sad. Since they’re not here at the moment, can I substitute and give you a big hug so you know it’s okay?” The offer is gladly accepted and Faye moves over to hug her temporary teacher. Elena never realized how much she really needed this hug, even with her Darla perfectly fine and married nowadays.
“I feel bad starting already,” Charis sheepishly confesses, “but the show goes on. Now, there is a thing that happens right before Elena takes a break from traveling, but we’ll save that for later. My story starts in SBX, a very long time ago. I met AB and the System Guards in the modern XI era, but none of them knew I was from ancient X days. I mean, it’s not important, I guess, but I like people to know, since no one bothered to ask back then, ha ha! So, I had lived and died and was brought back centuries later and ended up in XI. There, I served as a System Guard for a very brief time before, as my luck would apparently have it, I was killed and sent back to the Drawing Board for the second time. You can imagine why I chose to stay dead after the Ultimax incident, but my new home in the DB was disrupted some time ago when I was revived and given a special task.
“My history is not the greatest. Before becoming a System Guard, I was very shy and serious, and my friends convinced me to ‘open up’ by doing very disgusting things with them. This was so bad that even when I was revived centuries later, I felt I was dirty and worthless. It was the grace of Christ that helped me to get away from that, and thus why I changed my name to Charis. Well, the System Director appreciated my heart and such to the point he started a school on Planet HQ called Grace School of Recovery. It served as a place of healing for those with unfortunate pasts who wanted to have God’s Word show them how to leave the dark chapters behind.
“Well, I got to be the first student, per say, and eventually became a counsellor. I still hold an administrative position that is compatible with my travel schedule. Anyhoo, guess which devious blonde time-traveler spent a bit at the school while I took her place traveling with Mr. Locket? That’s right; Elena went to the school for about a month. The only things that stand out about the time before Elena returned are the clown I and Locket met and visiting Annie Evermore’s home storyboard with a number much too big for Roman Numerals. Annie is from SB7,654,321 and this is why the System Director decided to condense everything into one universe. Does he do it to match the biblical setup of the real universe? No, he only does it for numerical inventory. That’s our beloved, goofy System Director for you, he he!”
Kammy nods. “That is quite a lot of numbers there, although I think the real-worlders would benefit from a broader knowledge of the Roman numbering system.”
“Don’t criticize the real-worlders, hon,” says Duplica. “They already have enough reason to complain about us without being antagonized.”
Elena steals the mic back now that Faye has lifted her spirits. The story includes her again anyway, so why wait, right? “The rest of the time with Locket grew shorter and shorter. He was very old and at the end of his days. He eventually passed away and was buried, having been visited by family and friends from across time and space, even from other storyboards, during his last day alive and on the day of his funeral. It is in his honor that Charis and I go on traveling.”
Pressing into Travis’s warm hug, Charis adds, “We’ve made so many friends across the realms of reality. I’m very grateful for the gift I was given. I could’ve been left in the Drawing Board, completely missing out on this random opportunity, but here I am, surrounded by miracles.”
Inner Man Theatre 