Heaven's Not Enough

Part I

Chapter 4 – Apex

December 28, 2013.

Concrete, WA.

“Archery is not traditionally an earth pony skill,” Princess Luna said. “Mages of standard skill could not cast spells with nearly as much range as an arrow. Then, the weapon came to the earth tribe by trade. The rest is history, as they say.”

It was early morning. Eliza snuggled up to George in his bed, playing Equestria Online on his ponypad. George was still asleep, and Luna was keen to keep her voice low, even though Eliza had earbuds in.

Onscreen, Apex followed the night princess through a dark, incredibly vibrant forest. Eliza found herself continually mystified by the animal-shaped blue shimmers that could be seen far in the distance as they haunted among the trees. Luna had promised to explain what they were, at long last.

Of course, Princess Luna herself was equally as captivating. She walked with an elegance well beyond description, and Eliza wondered whether Luna could do anything without grace. The Princess of the Night carried a large wooden bow with her magic, and Apex carried a quiver of arrows slung to her back.

They had spent the previous day of play together, and Luna had readily taken Apex as her apprentice in all matters of the Everfree.

“Beyond sporting alone, there are certainly practical applications for this martial art. Ponies are natural herbivores, and so we do not hunt the living creatures of the forest. However, the ecosystem of the Everfree Forest is still highly dependent upon those who do choose to hunt.”

“And ponies hunt what, exactly?" Eliza mouthed, by now grasping that the ponypad could read her lips. Her intended words came to her ears as a whisper. "Those ghosts?”

Luna did not speak at first. She scanned the trees in the distance as she aimed the bow toward a blue light, perhaps fifty yards beyond in the forest. It was a difficult shot, especially with tree branches overhead that might deflect the arrow. Eliza noted the thick limbs of Luna’s elegant wood bow, and surmised that it must be immensely powerful. This would give it a flatter shooting arc. Eliza watched as Luna slipped a crystalline arrow from the quiver and dipped it into the grass. A green magical swirl appeared around the arrowhead, and the princess nocked the arrow to the bowstring. The bow drew back slowly in the dim blue shimmer of Luna's magic, and it stored tension steadily.

“Will-o'-the-wisps.”

Luna loosed the arrow. It sailed into the distance toward the blue glow, and Eliza heard a sound not unlike a boar's wail. With a bound, Luna leapt forward, thundering toward her prey and leaving crushed and snapped twigs in her wake. Eliza followed, and found it difficult to keep pace with the greater mare. It was thrilling to see such sudden motion from the normally languorous and elegant princess. Eliza came to the clearing, and Luna stood over the felled creature.

“Or, colloquially, and in the tongue of the Deer... wisps.”

The wisp was certainly boarlike, and this was the first time Eliza had seen one up close. It had the form of a boar, certainly, and looked quite dead. It looked opaque, yet simultaneously translucent. It gave off an almost gaseous blue light as it laid motionless.

“Is it dead?” Eliza asked.

“No,” Luna said. “Wisps cannot die. At their manifestation, a wisp is a formless residue, a fragment of the very spirit of the forest itself. When mature, a wisp takes the form of a beast. Their size and their chosen form are highly dependent upon how much energy they’ve accrued during formation. Wisps do not naturally disperse; left unchecked, they may grow to immense size. Wisps are, however, natural prey for some of the more magical beasts of Equestria. Take, for instance, a timber wolf.”

“A timber wolf?” Eliza asked, confused. “How are timber wolves magical here?”

“Because,” Luna said, “they are literally made of timber.” She paused and smiled patiently, allowing Eliza time to giggle at the supposed absurdity. “A timber wolf is born when its mother feeds upon the energy of a wisp under a full moon, and roughs out a wooden body for their pup. A wolf pup becomes an adult by consuming that energy and accumulating more wooden components for their body. Timber wolves are far and away from being the only natural predator of a wisp, however. All the same, wisps can become dangerous to ponies and forest creatures if they grow too large or numerous.”

“And that's where ponies come in,” Eliza said. “Like animal conservation here on Earth. If a population isn't managed, it can disturb the ecosystem.”

“Correct,” Luna replied. Her hoof reached forward to touch the point where the arrow had pierced the wisp, and she pulled. The boar-wisp's light began to scatter like powder, causing a rippling effect which spread to the entire animal. All of the energy began to spread visibly to the forest.

“Watch,” Luna whispered. “Watch the trees.”

Eliza did. The trees that took the most energy began to flourish. The bark became full, and the saplings that took the energy quickly began to grow. Leaves sprouted spontaneously from bare branches, and fruit sprang from the creeps and berry bushes nearby.

“Wow...”

“The larger the wisp,” Luna explained, “the more bountiful its dispersion will be. From here, you may harvest the bounty of the forest. That which you do not collect will be claimed by the living animals all around you.”

Eliza nodded. “So instead of harvesting the hunted animal, I harvest the food that grows from the nearby trees? That's so cool.”

“And different wisps,” Luna said with a smile, “will produce different bounties. A boar-wisp may produce pork bark stalks, or a fowl-wisp may produce birdpear. To the ponies of Equestria, I am told that these foods taste as their Earth-analogue name implies. Some foods may also only be created by a hunter, making these wisp-born meals a certain commodity.”

“I see. So this is how unicorns fed themselves, before they unified with the earth tribe?”

Luna flashed a heartwarming smile. “Correct! You learn so quickly! You've retained much of your learning from days past, Apex. But now I must offer you a warning. Should too many wisps be dispersed, the food may not be collected before it rots. The wisps take much time to regenerate, as they are born only under a new moon.

"If wisps are overhunted, then the forest will be stripped bare until they can regenerate. The same will occur if there are too many wisps, as they could drink the trees dry of energy in great numbers. And then, the creatures of the forest will starve.”

“Wait. Animals can starve to death here?”

Luna shook her head. “No. Starvation here is not deadly, but it is incredibly uncomfortable and painful. A forest in balance will satisfy many ponies and creatures alike. An empty forest will cause much suffering for all. Remember this, Apex. Within you, I sense a deep desire to maintain structure and balance, and I have no doubt you will do your part well.”

Eliza couldn’t help but smile at the compliment. “So, how does an earth pony use a bow? I don't have magic, so do I just... use both of my hooves?”

“You can,” Luna nodded. “Perhaps it is an awkward stance to stand upright, but it would afford the most use of potential energy. If you wish, you may also use your teeth to draw. You will not gain the true full potential this way, but it is approximately the same effect. You understand much of the science, I take it? I hear tell from Blue Sky that you are a consummate bowyer?”

“Gosh. Yeah, It's how I make most of my income right now.”

“I see! Perhaps we should commission weapons from you for our royal armory,” Luna said, as she offered the bow to Apex. “It is a rare skill indeed, on Earth and Equestria alike.”

“It couldn't be all that rare in Equestria,” Eliza replied, and tapped the bow. Apex took it in her hoof. “The technology seems... older, here. Wouldn't archery be a more useful skill here? Defensively I mean, since you don't have guns.”

“Excuse me,” Luna said, with mock indignance. “But I happen to be an excellent cannoneer.”

“I mean, uh. Small arms,” Eliza clarified.

Luna smiled. “Jest aside, bowyers are still quite rare. Your talents would be greatly appreciated. Magical knowledge has expanded much since the days of old, and many spells outstrip arrows in raw power, accuracy, and utility. This deficit may be counteracted with enchantments. The dispersal of a wisp is best performed with special crystal arrowheads made only in the Dierkahl, the homeland of the deer tribe; an earth pony can further enchant an arrow with their growth magic to ensure that no dispersal energy goes to waste."

"I can make magic arrows as an earth pony?"

Luna nodded. "Indeed, there are different types of arrows. Equestrian scouts make use of enchantments that cause various elemental effects. Most require a mage's touch, but some – like natural magic arrows – can be crafted by an earth pony. Like so.”

Luna removed a basic field point arrow from her quiver. She dipped it into the grass, and held it there. A vine bind appeared over its fletching, and another vine replaced the string which tied the arrow’s point in place. Luna placed the arrow on the ground before Apex, and began began to stalk away. She turned at twenty yards. “This arrow, for example, is favored by the Royal Guards that patrol more densely populated cities. Shoot the arrow at the ground by my side.”

“Uh.” Eliza hesitated. “Shooting at you isn't very safe, and I've never shot here before.”

Luna giggled girlishly, and Eliza imagined it wasn't a laugh a princess would ever make in public company. “I am an immortal being, Apex. I’ve once walked from battle with over a dozen broadheads perched in my hide... and those were trained soldiers shooting at me. An arrow is but the bite of a flea to me even under those circumstances. Fear not, for the shot of a greenhorn is the least of my concerns.”

Eliza smirked as she felt her pride be challenged. “I'm no greenhorn,” Eliza grinned. “You should see me hunt with my hands.”

Luna looked smug, but said nothing, only nodding in encouragement.

Apex raised the bow with a hoof. Rather than reach for the arrow with a hoof, Apex lowered her head and picked it up in her teeth behind its fletching. With a timing minigame, Eliza placed the arrow expertly against the nock point, and began to draw with the string held in her teeth. The camera cut to a first person perspective, and Eliza held one finger against the screen to indicate her target, while the other finger slid down along the side. Her hoof trembled as it pushed forward against the bow, and Eliza let go.

The ponypad rumbled strongly on release, which was a nice touch. The arrow sailed into the dirt and landed close to Luna. Almost too close, Eliza noticed with a wince.

As soon as it landed, the arrow exploded into a quickly growing creeping vine. It coiled itself around Princess Luna's legs and bound her to the spot. She remained standing, but whenever she attempted to move, the creeps trapped and clung. No matter how far her hooves stretched from the ground, the vines whipped her right back into place.

“Woah,” Eliza said. “I like it. It's practical. I can see why a town guard might use it.”

“Indeed!” Luna sliced the creeps with magical sweep of energy, and they disintegrated into glowing, fading fragments. Luna stepped toward Apex. “I shall teach you how to make them soon, should you be interested.”

“I think I might,” Eliza agreed. “It'd be a nice prank to play on Hopscotch, at any rate. It’d keep him out of your cider cellar.”

“Goodness, now that was quite the evening. The drunks in the dungeon were certainly happy. That colt of yours is a troublemaker." Luna shared a giggle with Eliza. "So, shall we find another wisp to test your newfound knowledge of archery?”

“Heh. New? I told you, your highness. I'm no greenhorn.”

“Oh?” Luna teased. “We shall see, young Apex.”

Apex hunted for half an hour. Every shot got easier over time. Eliza savored the sensation of loosing an arrow or drawing a string; the ponypad rumbled justright each time. The haptic feedback was exhiliarating.

As she walked, Luna trailed behind, now content to simply observe her student. Apex held her bow in her mouth as she walked.

Eliza wondered about Luna. Eliza guessed that the NPCs were probably at the whim of Celestia, but it was startlingly difficult to remember that it was an illusion. Eliza had to forcibly remind herself sometimes, because Celestia and Luna seemed completely different. She had already met several other ponies, and each of them seemed as real and vibrant as the last.

Luna had seen more attention from Eliza than anypony else. The princess was playful, and Eliza could relate to her so easily. The day before, they spent much time talking about their hobbies, and Luna even allowed Eliza to browse her private library for knowledge of ancient Equestrian bowmaking.

Luna held the martial arts in high regard, and cared deeply for all things natural, especially her constellations. Eliza admitted that the only constellations she knew of was Orion the Hunter and those relating to the Northern Star, for obvious reasons; personal interest, and survival skills. This conversation started them both down the path they walked on this morning, hunting for wisps.

“Getting close to wanting a ponypad of your own?” Luna asked.

"I think so," Eliza said, but that's not what Apex said. Apex spluttered “mrh-mrh-mrph,” and the longbow dropped out of her mouth.

Luna laughed outright. Eliza felt a small measure of embarrassment, but couldn't help but laugh too. George stirred, and Eliza drew her hand to her mouth quickly to muffle the sound.

“You’re so articulated, Apex,” Luna teased, as she failed to stifle another giggle.

Eliza grinned, as she directed Apex to pick up the bow again. This time, she slipped the bow onto her back. “Alright, I'll give you that one. That was pretty funny.”

They continued on for a few more steps in relative silence. Luna started to giggle again.

“Quiet,” Eliza admonished Luna, but Eliza’s bemused expression betrayed her.

“One does not tell a princess to be quiet,” Luna replied whimsically. “Nor to shut up, nor be silent, nor anything of the sort. But, your answer was lost to me in that gaffe, my dear. A ponypad?"

“Oh, uh. You know, yeah. I just don’t know how I’ll have the time for it, that's the thing. I looked up the courses I want to take at the college, and it’s basically full time schooling.”

They crested a small hill, and came across a field. Across the field sat a small cottage. Luna opened a wing and gave Apex a little hug with it. “I know we’ve only just met, but I would miss you terribly, Apex. Nevertheless, I am happy that you've enjoyed yourself thus far. Magical, is it not?”

“Yeah, it's something special,” Eliza said softly, in awe of the gleaming dawn. “It's no wonder everyone loves this place.”

“You are in good company too, I hope?” Luna asked expectantly.

Eliza nodded. “Yeah, thank you. I've had a wonderful time, Luna. I'll work Equestria into my schedule, count on it.”

“Alas, the morning is not over yet,” Luna said, as she turned sidelong. Luna held out a hoof across the field. “Over there at that cottage is a pony who cares even more deeply for conservation than even I, if that can be believed. If you’d like a career working with animals, I can think of no greater teacher than Fluttershy.”

“No offense, Luna, but I need a degree. Unless she's accredited...”

This drew another quiet chuckle from Luna. “Well, no, she is most certainly not accredited. But she will be more than happy to help you study. When does your semester start?”

“End of next month,” Eliza replied. “I'm not really sure what I want to do yet though. There's a few options. Maybe a park ranger, but I could become a warden too. That'd be cool. I certainly hunt enough, I've got connections. I know the hunting laws better than most. I still need to apply to the academy yet though, that's the only thing.”

“I see. Such a career would suit you, both on Earth and in Equestria. But it's never too early to start training for your dreams! All the same, I'd like to introduce you to Fluttershy.”

“Maybe some other time, Luna. I've been playing for a while... I might go make some breakfast for George."

"Oh." Luna smiled. "That's very sweet of you. Well, do not let me keep you. We shall pick up your studies another time. Please tell everypony hello for me, would you?"

"Will do. Bye Luna," said Eliza.

"Have a pleasant day, my new friend."

George stirred again as Eliza powered off the ponypad and pulled her earbuds free. She looked over to him, and hooked her arm around his shoulders. “Hey, you. Good morning!”

“Mmm,” was his sleepy reply. “Playin'? Whatcha doin'?”

Eliza pressed her cheek into her boyfriend's sandy red hair and hugged him close. “Luna brought me wisp hunting. The ghosts, I mean.” George's face pressed against Eliza's neck, and she melted against him in kind. He was so warm.

“Ghost hunting? Cool. Saved me a birdpear I hope,” he said sleepily. George let out a deep yawn, and shuffled closer to Eliza.

"Any good dreams?" she asked.

“Yeah. I got a good dream right here,” he said sappily, as he looked up at Eliza and pecked her on the cheek.

Eliza bumped his arm gently with hers and returned the kiss to his lips. "You sap. You want breakfast?"

"Mmh... sure." He rolled back over and fell right back asleep. Eliza shook her head with a smile.

It was a snowy day.

After breakfast, Eliza excused herself home to return to her work. She returned to her garage. Wearing a turtleneck sweater and jeans, she thumbed on her space heater and braced herself for customer service.

She had neglected a backlog of texts and emails since before Christmas, mostly from customers up and down the Valley. She didn’t want to risk missing any negative feedback any longer though. A cursory inspection of the emails showed lots of positive feedback with her bows in the recent hunting season.

She was good enough at her job that she didn’t need to fear putting out bad product, but a poorly tied dacron string or an improperly stress tested bow was her nightmare scenario. As careful as she was, she remained determined for perfection. If she needed any motivation, she tortured herself with thoughts that a poor longbow could turn into a dangerous shower of splinters, were it to shatter.

Exploding bows were no laughing matter, especially with bows as powerful as hers. She'd heard the miserable stories from other bowyers. The prevailing rumor was a horror story. A bowyer in the area made a mistake with his power tools and chipped one bow through an error in judgment – he had been drinking, of course. At seventy pounds of draw weight, he drew back to test it, and drew an inch too far. When the upper limb tensed, it suddenly exploded with enough force to send a fragment flying into his eye. He'd worn an eyepatch ever since.

It was a rare risk to be sure, but worrying about it turned Eliza into a perfectionist the likes of which the Valley had never seen. Whether her worries were founded or not, she felt the ends justified the means in this case. Her products were always stellar and well appreciated.

The first text she read made her chuckle. It was from a number she didn’t know:

ELIZA can u make me stock like this 4 my dads shot gun pls???

No photo included. She sent a text back asking for more info on who they were, what gun they wanted the stock for, then politely reminded them that they forgot to add a photo of what they wanted.

In her emails, she found a comment from a neighbor, with an attached photo of him with a felled deer:

got a good one here on the 14th eliza thanks!!

A text from a parent in Rockport. This one had a photo of a paper bullseye target, and a series of scattershot holes:

Trevors first target! GJ he says ty for the recurve!

She finally checked the 1 Missed Call notification. It was from her mother; it came in the dead of night. No voicemail. No text. She had left the volume off by mistake, so it hadn't woken her at George's house. Eliza sighed, and remembered that her mother was working, and wouldn't be back until the afternoon.

She also kicked herself for putting off talking to her mother about Gale, but there was nothing she could do about that at the moment.

Eliza shook the thought out of her head, and continued her vigil through her messages. She found only one negative review. One of her bowstrings had frayed rather quickly with one of her most regular customers, and she knew he was the type to be careful with them. She likely nicked the string with a knife and missed the damage. She got to work putting another string together for his bow and finished it in no time.

Once done, she decided to kill some time. She sharpened all of her blades, and started cutting a red oak plank into two workable, rough bowstaves. That would give her way more than enough work until the afternoon when her mother came home. Then she'd have that talk. She turned her radio on.

A knock at the inside door roused Eliza from her working trance a few hours later. She placed her wood rasp on her workbench, and leaned the oak bowstave against it. “Come in.”

The door opened. It was her mother, home early. This she did not expect. Eliza then noticed that June looked extremely tired. This made her mother look much older than she was, and accentuated the creases in her face. June looked around the garage, and smiled sheepishly at Eliza. “Hey, honey.”

“Mom? I thought you were at work today.”

June nodded. “I was. I… I wanted to talk.”

Eliza dusted off her gloves and put aside the bowstave she was working on. “About Gale?”

“Yes.”

Eliza nodded, and mentally prepared herself. It was sooner than she expected, but that was fine. She switched off her radio. “Alright Mom, sure.” She invited June to sit at a stool across her work table. June sat on the stool gingerly, and looked down at her hands. Eliza gave her mother her full attention.

"Look, Liz... I really don't know what you think of this game she's playing."

When her mother did not continue, Eliza felt nervous at the silence and sought to fill it. "What I think about it?"

June nodded once. Her eyes looked... worried. Expectant.

"Mom, look. I..." Eliza exhaled, and turned her head. "I think you're too hard on her about this."

"That's what your father says," June said defeatedly.

Eliza looked at her mother again. "Well, Christmas was hard for Gale. Look, I don't know if I should tell you this, but she went over to Andy's place when he was away. Locked herself inside. That's how she spent Christmas Eve."

"To play?"

"No, Mom. She wasn't playing at all, from what I can tell. She had the game on, but she was avoiding the other players."

June frowned. "Why?"

Eliza raised a brow. "Because she didn’t want her friends to see her crying? Everyone here in town is shaming her. It's just an innocent game. Seriously, there's nothing wrong with it."

"How do you know?"

"I..." Eliza paused. She knew that telling her mother she was playing would deter her immediately. She decided instead to say something that wasn't entirely a lie, but wasn't exactly the whole truth either. "I cheered her up. So she went back to playing. Her friends had a little Christmas party, sang songs, traded gifts. It looked really cute and mundane, actually."

"But she should've spent Christmas with us," June argued.

Eliza grimaced. "Have you never been to a Christmas party? She's an adult now, Mom. If she wants to go spend Christmas somewhere else, isn't that her business? Look, these friends of hers... they're real people. It's just like talking to someone on the phone."

"What about us? Aren't we important too?"

"I wanted her home for Christmas too," Eliza said, placing a hand on her table. "But she came back in the morning, right? Because I asked her to."

June leaned forward on the table with both elbows and buried her face in her palms. "This is the first Christmas Eve dinner she's missed in her life, Elizabeth..."

"I don't think that was because of the game, she’s just scared to come home. You need to make it right with her. I still need to have a talk with Andy, too, because he's doing the same thing to her."

Her mother sternly raised her voice and raised her head. "As well he should, Eliza. Do you remember what your uncle said? A year from now, everyone can go do... do that." Her mother couldn't even bring herself to say the word upload.

"It'll still cost a mountain of cash," Eliza countered gently. "But even if it didn't, do you really have so little faith in her? Do you really think she'd just up and leave us?"

"I don't want to leave anything to chance," June said, her mind apparently made up. "Can you talk to her? Maybe you can get her to see reason."

Eliza didn't know what to say then. In her eyes, her mother was being the unreasonable one. Eliza looked at June’s hand. "Mom... you know the kind of people who upload are... desperate, or lonely. Gale's got good, loving family, like you. She lives in a good home." She reached across the table and put her hand on her mother's. "Our home. She loves us. She's not going to leave us. We're better than whatever a video game can give her."

June lowered her gaze to Eliza's hand. She placed hers over Eliza's, and cupped it with another. She took a deep breath, and looked back into Eliza's eyes. She looked like she was about to cry. "Have you played it too, Elizabeth?"

Eliza opened her mouth to speak. She wasn't ready for that. Nothing came out but a stuttering exhale. She worked her jaw, her mouth grew dry in an instant. She swallowed. Her mother's gaze was constant and unblinking. Her silence was damning, and she knew it.

June trembled. "Please don't... not you too. Not you."

"Mom. It's okay."

June winced, withdrew her hands, and stood. She walked a few steps, then stopped, facing away. She cupped a hand over her mouth and shuddered visibly.

Eliza's heart broke. "Please don't cry..."

"There's no escaping this, is there?" June half-turned her head, not quite looking at Eliza.

"Uploading is a sin, Mom. I'm not going to do it," said Eliza. "Besides, you know I wouldn't do that to you, and neither would Gale."

"But it is happening. It might not be happening here, but—" June cut herself off, and shuddered again. "Thousands of people. Gone! Think of their families, Eliza. Think of them. People like me and your dad!" She turned and met Eliza's eyes again. "You need to stop playing. You, Gale, Tom. All of you. Or you'll end up..."

It was just like the argument from a few days ago, Eliza realized.

But June couldn't finish the sentence. Perhaps she also feared a repeat of the argument with Gale.

"I'm going back to work," June said swiftly, making for the door. Before Eliza could even think to call after her mother, she was gone.

Eliza stood and hurried into the house from the garage, to catch up. "Mom, wait. Mom, please come back!" She ran down the hall to the living room.

June slammed the front door on her way back to her car.

Eliza stood before the door, feeling weak and remorseful. The last thing she wanted to do was see her mother scared or hurt, less still to cause it. She crossed her arms low across her stomach, suddenly feeling sick.

After a moment, Rob spoke, approaching from the kitchen. "What happened, Liz?"

She felt his gaze on her.

Eliza closed her eyes tight. She bit her lip and held her breath, regretting every word of her confession. Still, she repeated it, only because she knew her father would not mind. "She figured out I was playing the game, Dad."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Eliza was afraid. She turned her gaze on the door, and her eyes unfocused. "She wanted me to tell Gale to stop. But honestly, the reason I started playing was because I wanted to understand what the others were going through." She looked up into her father's eyes. He looked scared too. "Is Mom going to do this every time we talk about this? Run away? I... I don't want to keep hurting her."

Rob put his hand on Eliza's shoulder. "She won't talk to me about it either. Look, you want some coffee? Sit with me for a bit?"

"Okay."

Later, she would try and find some way to comfort her mother. But for now, she could do nothing. She felt so powerless. She did not know how to make peace between all the people she cared for. She had not the time nor the strength. There was only one Eliza. She needed help.

"Dad," Eliza said, as he sat down with her at the kitchen table.

"Yes, Liz?"

She looked him in the eyes. "Can we pray together? For Mom and Gale? And Tom?"

He nodded, and extended his hands slowly across the table, palms up. "For all of us."

She took his hands in hers, and they bowed their heads at once.

"Dear Lord," Rob began. "All around us the waters are rising. We feel so helpless, for we cannot stop the rain from falling. We feel so powerless, for the current is strong and our bodies are tired. Give our family your eyes to see how precious your gifts are: family and friends, faith and mercy. Dear Lord, please give us all the strength to come together. And Lord, when our faith and hope are swept downstream, please help us to remember how you got us through this flood.

"In Your Son's name... Amen." He smiled wistfully at her. He understood.

"Amen," Eliza said softly, trying her best to smile too. She didn’t feel too much better, but maybe that’d come later.

Author's Note

[Gustavo Santaolalla - Iguazu]

🌒 ~ The delineation between faith, spirituality, and religion is seldom understood by those who have felt none in their time. I believe, in Apex, these were all quite strong, and interconnected. Tested, found true, and unbroken. But these things require a center to function clearly. A locus. And for Apex... her locus was family, and the proof of her love for God was in her deeds unto them.