"He is like, so hot! A total babe! He's gonna get a job at my Father's law office. He'll have cash. I gotta do what it takes to like, make him mine, ya know! Maybe he'll get me the Land Rover 'cause I like hate this stupid blue Lexus I got for my birthday!" Ali Valenti was speaking into her hand-held cell phone as she rounded the curve on route 92 near the Gendron home at 57 MPH, 27 MPH over the posted speed limit. Miss Valenti was a "talented" young lady: She was able to steer with her knees while holding the cell phone against her cheek with her left shoulder as she inspected her freshly manicured fingernails...

Chloe felt like she was flying and it was because she did; 22 feet in a westerly direction on Route 92, having been launched by the grill of a Metallic Blue Lexus. She thought she heard Jack yelp but she couldn't see him. She thought she heard Timmy screaming "somebody help my baby sister" -- she thought she heard him crying "no, no, no" but she didn't know why that would be? She thought she heard people yelling "oh my God" and "call 911" but she was confused, if but for a few seconds. And, golly, she really felt achy, but it seemed like for just a few seconds. Why was she so cold? It was a warm September day wasn't it? Ultimately, the cold only lasted for a second or two.

The birds were chirping what sounded like a song that Chloe thought she knew, but what was it? Somewhere, a chorus was singing a beautiful song as well, and it was almost like the birds were singing that very same, very sweet song. This rich cacophony of indescribable melodiousness replaced the frenzied, panicked noises she had heard a moment before. Likewise, the sense of flying was no longer with Chloe.

Chloe loved to wade in Limestone Creek as it flowed through Mill Run Park in Manlius. She loved the sound of the cool water rushing over her feet, and it was this sound that she now heard. The sensation of water flowing over her feet came upon her, and the realization that she was standing in it. This water wasn't her beloved Limestone, and yet it was familiar to her...

Manlius Police Officer Randy Higgins had his hands full as he kept Susan Gendron away from the E.M.S team that was huddled around little Chloe. While Susan screamed that she needed to see her daughter, officer Higgins told her firmly yet with a calm, compassionate tone that Chloe was in the best of hands and that she (Susan) could see her soon. A mere fifteen feet away, Manlius officers Kristen Barnes and Brad DiRenzo had had enough of the F-Bombs being hurled at them by Miss Ali Valenti, who was accusing these cops of "like, holding her up." "My father will get your badges, you losers" warned Miss Valenti as she was handcuffed and deposited into the back seat of a police cruiser. Officer Barnes recalled Valenti from Fayetteville-Manlius High School, and it was all she could do to keep her personal bias out of this arrest as she unceremoniously pushed the her snotty, over-privileged former classmate into the back seat of the cruiser.

Chloe thought that she was looking at an enlargement of her most recent paint by numbers effort -- but this was far to vivid to be that. As she looked down at the clear water flowing past her ankles, she saw a Royal Blue hued maple leaf go drifting past. "Oh, there must be something special about this water" Chloe thought and it was then that she realized that this was the same stream that she had recently painted! She was always a happy child, but the joy that was filling her was something that she had never experienced before. She could still hear the birds chirping and that chorus singing in the background, and what a sweet sound it was! Chloe felt so warm and so content inside, even though she was still confused about what was taking place.

It was then that Chloe looked up and saw the trees -- her eyes being drawn to the leaves. "Oh my" she uttered as she saw the royal and navy and red leaves, the pink ones, the orange, the shades and combinations of color that she had never seen before! There were orangish blue leaves. There were reddish green ones as well. There were leaves that shined like prisms! There were big trees and small ones. Randomly placed white Willow trees emenated a soft, soothing glow. Red Daisys grew along the banks of the stream. The Daisy stems were blue, just like she had painted. There was joy and there was warmth flowing through Chloe, and she now saw and knew things that had formerly been unutterable.

The mountains were there, just as depicted in Chloe's paint by numbers depiction. Tall and Majestic, Burnt Orange and Navy, with a pure, white snow garnish at the tops! The sky glowed with every color imaginable and some that were previously inconceivable by Chloe's finite human mind. There were multi-colored birds and butterflies. There were flowers shaped like circles and triangles and they changed color as they gently swayed in a soft, constant breeze. There were places where grass grew unimpeded, and it was green as Chloe would expect. This grass was lush and inviting and she thought that she could lie down and nap in it.

Chloe could feel a tickling sensation on her right hand and she looked down to see Jack licking it. "Jack!" Chloe yelled and she felt her escalating level of joy rise another notch.

This place was beautiful. It was comfortable and felt like home, even though it wasn't the house that Chloe had shared with Timmy, her parents, and her dog. Chloe always loved watching "The Wizard of Oz" and would often pretend that she was Dorothy. It was that memory that inspired her to look down at her dog and say "Jack, I don't think we're in Manlius anymore."

"No, my little one, you are not" a kindly voice grabbed Chloe's attention and drew it front and center. She looked up and saw his white hair gently flowing with the breeze. Golly, it was like he himself caused the breeze! His beard was white as well, and His eyes were brown and yet they were as piercing as her daddy's blue ones. Those eyes, like her daddy's, were filled with a love that had no bottom or top. "Such beautiful eyes" Chloe thought and she wanted to paint a picture of them. Oh, but these were no ordinary eyes. These eyes saw everything and knew everything!

His smile spoke a million words in languages Chloe had never known. "He knows all the words to all the songs--EVER!" Chloe thought to herself, and it was then that she could hear --each individually-- every song that she had ever loved. Yes, that smile was brilliant and yet comforting and really made Chloe feel at home in this place.

The robe he wore was pure white. There was what looked to Chloe like a purple strap that ran diagonally from his right shoulder to his left hip, and on that strap in gold letters gleamed the words KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. It was then that Chloe's joy was complete. It was then that she possessed so much more wisdom than any earthbound 8 year old could ever manage.

"Jesus" Chloe uttered softly. His smile broadened and the incomprehendible sound of angels singing became comprehendible to the little girl who was struck down in the center of Route 92 while chasing after the puppy that she loved so dearly. Her death was not instant but took only a few seconds. She arrived home just before landing on the pavement some 22 feet away from impact with Ali Valenti's vehicle. Chloe experienced very little pain before saying goodbye to all that she knew in the current earthly realm.

He opened his hands to her and she saw the holes that were created by the nails that pinned him to the cross. He could have come down from that cross if He had so chosen to, but He loved Chloe so much --long before her birth-- that He suffered there to purchase her salvation. And oh, how He looked forward to this day! The day when the pretty little girl who loved Him, who loved Rob and Susan Gendron, they who currently sat stunned on the tailboard of Manlius Engine 3 trying to come to grips with what had happened --who were currently asking Jesus why this happened-- the little girl who loved Timmy Gendron, who was at this earthly moment sobbing and moaning in the arms of his mother. "I'm so sorry I ever called her a dufus. I'm so sorry I ever picked on her about her paintings. I-I-I love my baby sister. N-N-N-Noooooooo Mom, please tell me that she's not dead. It's my fault! I let the dog out! I murdered my baby sister...."

The shell-shocked and still disbelieving Susan told Timmy that it wasn't his fault. She told him that he wasn't a murderer. This 10 year old boy was beyond consolation right now, and all she could do was rock him and stroke his hair. She told Timmy that Chloe was in Heaven with Jesus now, and that she didn't have any pain. If Timmy could be aware of the total joy and fulfillment that his sister was experiencing in this moment and forever more, he would have found the solace that he was seeking. He buried his head into his mother's bosom in an effort to drown out the noise of the activity by fire, police, and E.M.S at the accident scene. As a little boy, this is where he would often take comfort and he felt like a little boy again. Susan pulled Timmy's head tightly into her bosom, and quickly to Timmy's ears the racket of the horrific scene were replaced by the sounds of the activity taking place inside of his mother's ribcage: her lungs taking in quick shallow breaths and the heart that normally lub-dubbed happily along at 68 beats a minute was pounding out a steady, ferocious beat at two and one half times its normal rate as it dutifully responded to the increased need for oxygenated blood to be pumped around her shocked, anxiety-ridden and stress-filled brain and body...

"Welcome to my Father's Kingdom, Chloe. I have prepared a place for you. Come with me and see!" Jesus spoke to Chloe with obvious joy. Such humility and such gladness was exhibited by He who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords -- He who was the Lamb who made propitiation for all of our sins past, present, and future.

Instantly Chloe and Jack were standing with Jesus before a small stairway that led up to a house. Immediately, Chloe realized that this was no ordinary house. The house was the size of small cottage and whoa, wait a minute, it was a gingerbread house! But, this was not your average, garden-variety gingerbread house. This piece of Heavenly real estate was made of gold, as so much of what Heaven has to offer is. And, it was modeled after the very masterpiece that Jack ate, which broke Chloe's heart at the time. There were two arched windows on either side of the front door. Candy canes bordered the front door as well as the roof line. They were gold, and yet a delicious peppermint aroma arose from them and teased Chloe's nose. Before she could ask, Jesus replied with "yes, they are peppermint, and you can lick them whenever you choose." Chloe was pleasantly dumfounded as Jesus led her and her dog through the front door.

While the exterior of the house was small, the interior was that of a mansion. Chloe loved color, and color abounded on the walls and on the ceilings, which could have been a mile high for all she knew. There was only one room in this house, but the room could have been two miles deep. There were hummingbirds of all colors that flew about inside the structure. They flitted and bounced from flower to flower; these flowers were gathered in groups of ten to fifteen and seemed to grow directly out of the floor and stood about three feet high. Each flower had three oval-shaped petals that grew from a center that glowed a soft neon green. The smell of these flowers was an olfactory delight. She had always hated that her mother Susan was a smoker, and this wonderful smell was similar to the scent of the Febreeze that Susan would spray her clothes with so Rob and the kids wouldn't have to smell the cigarettes on them. Chloe liked the smell of the Febreeze, but this was so much better, and didn't make her sneeze!

Images changed within the confines of this structure. Chloe quickly realized that if she desired a red flower to be blue, it would become so merely by her thinking it. It was then that Chloe becane aware that she was hungry. Instantly, there was a long table set before her with bowls of apples, oranges, and grapes. She grabbed an apple and bit into it and the slightly tart flavor was like no apple ever tasted on earth. The juice ran down her face and it too was delectable. After two bites, she felt full, and the table of fruit was gone!

"Chloe, look here" Jesus spoke. Standing in front of the little girl were her paternal grandparents, Carl and Tilda Gendron. "Poppa!" "Grammy!" She shrieked with joy and both grandparents took turns hugging little Chloe. "We didn't expect to see you so soon, honey, but what a joy this is" Poppa said with delight. It was then that Grammy spoke up and said "Honey, there is someone else who would like to meet you." Before Chloe stood the soul of a rugged, handsome man who's facial features bore a resemblance to her mother Susan -- including her mom's beaming, ear to ear grin. Before Chloe could utter a word, Jack ran to this man and began licking his face as he crouched down to pet the dog. "You are a handsome one" the man spoke. "There is a grown woman on earth who lost a dog just like this one when she was a little girl. Her house was on fire and I was warned not to try to go in, but I did anyway because I love dogs so much. Chloe, because I was so careless, your mommy never really had the chance to know me."

"Grampa Grell?" Chloe asked. "Yes, Chloe, I am your Mother's dad." was Art's reply. "I was a volunteer firefighter and my time on earth ended because I tried to rescue a little black puppy named Midnight from a house fire. The house was fully involved and I was told not to try to go in, but I tried to anyway. I didn't know that the puppy was already dead. Chloe, it is such a great joy to meet you. Whenever you want to see me or your Daddy's parents, all you have to do is think of us and we'll be with you."

Chloe's joy was complete, and yet she now felt a bit of sadness and tears were running down her cheeks. She was at total peace and knew she was in Heaven. The entire place glowed with the light that streamed from God the Father's throne. All five senses were treated to experiences that no one on earth could handle, as their flesh-covered mortal bodies and their finite minds would simply overload. And yet, despite this glorious and uninhibited peace and joy, Chloe missed her parents and her brother and wanted to share all of this wonderment with them.

Jesus knelt down in front of the sad little girl. His eyes were filled with compassion to a degree that cannot be measured by insufficient human standards. She stared into those eyes and a wan smile began creeping from the corners of her mouth. The Lord gently placed his hands on Chloe's cheeks and he began to softly speak: "such love in you, my precious little one. You have no need to be broken hearted. There is no more sadness now that you are here in the Kingdom. I have saved all of the tears that you ever cried on earth in a little bottle. I was there to collect every single one. These tears that are on your face now are just imagined. There is no more pain and no more crying here. All those things are gone. But, there is sadness now for your mommy and daddy and for Timmy. Your mommy is holding Timmy right now. Timmy loves you so much, even though he picked on you."

"You never saw all of the times Timmy stood up for you when his friends would say bad things about you. You could never have known all the times that Timmy prayed for you. I am well pleased with Timmy. He has accepted me as His Lord and Savior and knows that I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

"Look over here, Chloe." What was before Chloe would have been an awful load to handle in her former earthly body. It was an exact replica of the planet Earth! It hovered a few inches above the golden floor of her gingerbread mansion and was about five feet high. There were clouds that floated over the replica and they were real! She touched the Atlantic Ocean to the east of Cape Cod and it was actually wet! "WOW!" Chloe proclaimed. "This is like the real earth, only smaller!"

"Well, Chloe" Jesus chuckled, "you always did like globes." Chloe was amazed, and she guessed that her amazement with the Holy God's creation would last for all eternity.

Chloe turned to face Jesus and she noticed that a tall, handsome, muscular male angel was standing to Christ's right. He, too, was dressed in a white robe and on his right hip was a sheath that carried a long sword. The sword's handle was an iridescent gold and looked hot to the touch. The angel's hands were clasped around the end of what looked like a trumpet, only this instrument was longer and gray in color, with no buttons or valves. Even though the angel's face was sturdy and lacked a smile, Chloe sensed kindness and also immeasurable courage. She knew that this angel possessed colossal strength and had done battle before. She sensed that this angel had served the Holy God for all eternity.

Jesus spoke "My Father has shown me that the time has now come and I will go take my bride. For this day and time I have long waited. What joy abounds!"

"Chloe, watch your globe and enjoy what you see. I am so pleased!" Jesus spoke with the enthusiasm of a child opening his Christmas gifts.

She turned toward her globe and then turned back to see that Jesus and the Angel were gone. She could feel the level of joyousness rising throughout Heaven. She herself felt a level of anticipation for something she could not describe. Angels were singing, and there was an invigorating buzz of electricity that flowed from all of the souls that called Heaven home. She was with them and they were with her, as one large, blessed family.

There was the sound of a trumpet blast. It was far off, and yet that sound seemed to carry across infinite miles and through all space and time. Chloe looked at her globe and saw tiny glowing white sparks slowing rising from it from every land...

Ali Valenti was insisting that Officer Brad DiRenzo take the handcuffs off of her and return her phone. She called the Manlius cop a scumbag for what seemed to be the umpteenth time. Officer DiRenzo was glad to be pulling onto Arkie Albanese Drive that led to the Manlius Police Station. He was even gladder that there was a metal grill that seperated the front and rear seats of the police cruiser. Yes, the cop was grateful for the metal grill, but what was that sound? "Was that a trumpet?" he had just enough time to think as he saw his police uniform and gun belt fall behind the steering wheel of the cruiser. "Bradley DiRenzo" a commanding voice called. "Yesssss....the Rapture!" DiRenzo's soul yelled with glee. What the young Christian cop didn't see as he rose into the September air was the horrified look on Miss Valenti's face as his out of control cruiser crashed into the Sno-Top ice cream parlor.

The stretcher slipped from Paramedic Don Cain's hands as he and fellow medic Josh Wright were loading it into the back of Manlius Ambulance 1. "Hey, what the..." was all Cain could utter before realizing that Wright was no longer holding the other side of the stretcher. As the stretcher flipped sideways and clanked onto the roadway, Don Cain was perplexed that Josh Wright's navy blue MANLIUS E.M.S t-shirt, blue slacks, black shoes, socks, underwear, wallet, cell phone, and pager were clumped in a pile on the road behind the ambulance. What was even more disturbing to Cain was that the blood-soaked clothes of the deceased Chloe -- who a moment before laid on top of the stretcher, covered with a sheet -- were gathered in a pile on top of his partner's. Before the confused paramedic could utter another word, a now driverless tractor trailer slammed into a parked Manlius Police cruiser, knocking it backward into Cain -- the cop car crushing the terrified paramedic against the back of the ambulance.

At that same moment, Gordon Nass walked downhill on the Seneca Street sidewalk that bordered the St. Ann's cemetery. He was aware that there was a contingent of emergency vehicles staged a block away, near his home on Route 92. "Hope it ain't my house" he thought to himself. When Nass glanced over his left shoulder into the cemetary, he came to the disconcerting realization that some of the graves had been unearthed, with caskets lying topside and spilled open. "I've got to quit drinkin' cause I'm imaginin' crap" old Gordy spoke out loud to no one. Yes, Gordy's lips may have too frequently caressed the business end of a bottle, but he wasn't imagining the open graves or the plummeting, unpiloted Gulfstream 3 that was about to slam into the muffler repair shop at the bottom of the hill...

Jesus was welcoming the millions of now glorified bodies into the Heavenly Kingdom -- each one personally in whatever language they spoke on earth. The sound of his mom's final heartbeats were the last thing that Timmy Gendron heard before they both heard the trumpet blast that summoned them home to Heaven -- where glorified bodies would not need the service of a cardio-vascular system. The distress on Susan Gendron's face was replaced by that familiar ear to ear smile as she realized that this event was the blessed hope that she had looked forward to for years. Her husband Rob was rising with her and Timmy above the heartbreaking scene on Route 92, only now all of their sadness was gone. Susan knew that she would so very soon see her precious daughter Chloe, but not before meeting the Alpha and Omega -- the Beginning and the End. And, before her now He stood amongst the clouds. The sunshine of the bright September afternoon was no match for His eminence. Susan wanted to fall to her knees in worship, but instead she was embraced by Jesus. He spoke softly into her ear "Susan my beloved child, I have so looked forward to this day. Now, there is a little one here who so looks forward to seeing her parents and her brother"

As she watched the souls rise from the spectacular globe that was located in her mansion, Chloe could recognize three of them as they were entering the Kingdom. Now, all she had to do was think of Rob, Susan, and Timmy and she was standing and embracing them! How glorious! "I love you Mom, Dad, and Timmy! I love everyone here, and you will know everyone single one by name!"

Thirty-three earthly minutes had passed from the time that Chloe had died until the Rapture took place. There were unions and reunions taking place as the table was being prepared for the Wedding Feast. Jubilation abounded throughout Heaven, as things on earth would become gruesome after the Anti-Christi emerged on the scene and forged the false peace treaty between Israel and her neighbors. Yes, the Fullness of the Gentiles was in and Jesus had taken his Bride -- that being the church of true Christian believers. The New Jerusalem would bustle with activity as praise for the one, true, living, triune God would ring from corner to corner.

Timmy Gendron was embracing his Grampa Grell who he had never met when Chloe appeared and chided her brother "Hey, did you notice the leaves?"