“And last, but not least, we had our amazing children Sera and John Mark. Sera is flying around on Planet HQ, or Juniper by now, also doing errands. JM, however, just had to come with us so I could point out two things. One, you’ll notice his wings are smaller. While Medalia has similar wings, as Dove wings come in various shapes and sizes, I believe my children’s wings are a significant sign that this recessive trait will die out in a few generations. Personally, I believe all Doves will be wingless in a few generations, but we’ll have to wait and see. Secondly, I wanted to point out why I named my son John Mark. You know the guys Peter and Friend, right? Lullaby and all that jazz. Well, my Simon told me that the System Director was floored by the ABSOLUTELY RANDOM order in which he came across our stories in his universes. First, he met Peter and Friend, then he met Simon and the Siderians. So, when Simon helped me out and then the System Director looked back at what he had written down without even thinking about it, he realized, ‘Oh, snot!’ and informed us about the amazing trick that was done. I didn’t get it, so Simon explained it to me. I cried.
“So, why John Mark? Well, most people see a boy with wings and either think of February or they think of a certain Greek who is famous for failing and dying because of disobeying his father. John Mark, however, is a young man in the Bible who also failed and ran from God’s calling. But unlike the Greek guy, this dude got up and God used him mightily, one of the most impacting ways being to write down what was spoken to him in penning the book of Mark in the Bible. And who was speaking to him? Simon Peter! The man who knows all about what it’s like to have God see you at your darkest and reach out for you in love and compassion!” Now, Angel is crying. “That was me. I was a bad thought, but I was loved and given a chance to transform into a good thought. And even though I’m a regular human now, with wings, I still struggle with things like attitude and temper, because I’m human, ha ha. So, I want my son to know that even if he messes up, he can get up and keep going. Though, I’m going to teach him the importance of getting it right the first time. I’m teaching all this to Sera, too. JM is just the person I’m talking about because of his name. So, there you go. That’s my crazy story. Any questions? Autographs? He he! Okay, I’m kind of joking there.” She says this, yet gets out a pen.
While Owan gets his autograph, Gigi asks, “What’s it like on a practical, functional level to have wings to worry about in crowds and everyday life?”
Giggling at both teens, Angel answers, “That’s smart of you, Gigi. It might surprise you to know that Dove wings are retractable, making life super easy. If I want to fit in, whether in terms of space measurements or of a crowd, I can suck my wings into my back as quick as you can say, ‘Jack.’ If you say that super slow, forget what I said. In fact, if you met Angie, you might think her wings are pretty pitiful skinny. That’s because she has multiple sets, but usually keeps most tucked in so some real-worlder won’t misinterpret her design as a theology thing. I tell you, it’s not easy being a Dove with people judging you over stuff that’s not actually of biblical relevance to the situation. But I digress. Next question!”
That was the only question for a few moments, but as one more pops up, two soon follow, then four more questions. Many of these are directed to Simon and John, but we don’t have time for everything said as we need to hurry to the next planet to rendezvous with our friends there. It doesn’t matter anyway, since the adoring fans convince Doug and Angel that the delightful Dove should tag along. She has that kind of captivating, fun personalities that makes it hard to say goodbye.
“Well, we were planning on doing some things today,” Angel says, “but since you are going to our house anyway, I don’t see why we can’t tag along until we get there. It’s up to Simon.” Having said this, she asks his opinion, receiving the okay to venture with the students. Everyone is very happy at this decision, especially Owan.
And so, we quickly rush over to the Guardian System and land on a planet we visited two books ago, the amazing New Ruyngard, watched over by such friends as Andrew and Sakura Griffin. Is that who we’re meeting today? Well, you’re partially right if you guessed that.
Inner Man Theatre 