Kya stood at the bow of her canoe as it slowly moved along the Ruach River. The stillness reflected the clouds and trees enveloping Kya’s circular world. Her heart beat wildly in anticipation. Glancing at a cardinal perched on a flaky birch, she wondered if he knew what was about to happen. Directly across from his gaze the boat tipped forward sinking gently into a silver cloud. Only the red bird could attest to what happened after that.
Several weeks prior, Kya had been on the same canoe fishing for her family’s dinner. Kya’s father had died earlier that year in a boating accident. His boat had been found in shards with no trace of his body. His death planted a bomb in the life of her family and they did not think they could recover from its effects.
In her village the women were not allowed to work for pay, they were not allowed to own their own home, and they were not allowed to speak freely among the men. Kya had three little sisters under the age of ten. No brothers meant no income, no home, and isolation. Upon news of her father’s death, her mother and sisters were thrown from their homes and informed that they too were dead. This led them to Ariat.
Ariat was the village of the dead. It was the home of widows and orphans. Kya and her family were warmly embraced by the women of Ariat. Upon their arrival, her family was housed, fed, and celebrated. A service was held for her father as the women openly mourned with her mother and sisters. It was at the place of the dead that Kya believed she would find life.
All of the women had jobs based on their skills. The women shared each other’s gifts to support their community. Some were builders always making sure there were a few extra huts for the unexpected widows and orphans that would eventually come. Others tended the milk cows shared by everyone in the village. There were teachers who educated the children while others sewed clothes, cooked meals, and fished. When Kya’s family arrived, there were about seventy-five women and children in the village.
Despite apparent devastation, the women thrived. The men of Bashion knew about Ariat. Sometimes extended family members would send young messengers with news and gifts. The separation was painful but old traditions were hard to break.
Kya wondered what her father would think of it all? She knew he would be proud that at just sixteen years of age, she had been named one of the villages fisherwomen. He had been the best fisherman in Bashion. She was proud to follow his path. Her heart felt like it was being stomped on as her vessel approached the place where they found his shattered boat. Pools of tears fell around her feet as she wondered what force could have shattered his boat. Many wondered if it was God, while others supposed it to be the Evil One.
Kya only wanted to know to whom she should direct her anger. Wiping the tears from her face, she looked at her reflection in the water. This only made her sadness increase as she thought she saw her father’s face in place of her own. “Oh Papa, please come back, we need you! We are dead without you.” The encore of tears drew her deeper within. Suddenly flashes of light began to swirl in the depths of the water, reflecting many colors like a rainbow. Kya leaned over the side of her canoe to get a closer look. Instantly the whole boat tipped forward. She gripped the sides as they were both sucked into the colorful vortex.
While she wanted to jump ship, Kya found that she could not let go. Warmth spread throughout her body as she was immersed in the radiant colors. Panic and wonder competed for her attention as she sank deeper. The fear of suffocation was quickly overwhelmed by an unrelenting sense of love and pleasure. It was as if the light was holding her to its bosom while caressing her hair. It was magnificent.
As her lungs persuaded her to take a breath, she could not have guessed at what would happen next. Instead of a suffocating rush of water, a steady stream of warm air filled her lungs. To her delight, the boat broke through the colored waters and was floating calmly through a deep blue sky. Kya’s mouth was agape. She was flying! She looked below her and saw emerald green hills dotted with turquoise lakes. She had never seen anything like it. Curious she grabbed her oar to see if she could navigate the canoe through the air. One sweep of the paddle propelled her forward at an alarming rate. Kya laughed with glee and shouted, “This is amazing!”
As she raced across the sky she was immersed in the joy of the moment. She was not really thinking about anything other than the rushing sensations in her body. Each wonder she encountered convinced her she was in heaven. For the first time since her father’s death, she laughed. She could not recall the last time she was filled with so much wonder and joy. She wanted to cling to every sensation without any intention of ever letting go.
The boat descended toward a turquoise blue lake surrounded by rolling hills shaded by the crowns of many trees. As it landed Kya spotted the back of a man fishing in his canoe. Fear trickled down her face and pulled at her heart. The man turned and she saw his face. “Papa! Oh, Papa is that you?” She yelled as the anguish of loss competed with her voice.
He smiled at her, “My dear Kya, I am here, I’m ok.”
Kya paddled with all her might to get close to him. Once beside him, she lunged out of her boat and into his outstretched arms. “Papa, I’ve missed you. I love you so much.” Resting on his shoulder she whispered, “Hold me forever.”
“My dearest Kya I am here. Oh, how I love you!” He caressed her hair as she leaned her wet face against his.
After a moment of comfort Kya sat up straight, “Papa, why are you here? What happened? We need you!”
Kyonas grasped his daughters’ hands. “The evil one sent a monster to devour my boat, I could not escape back to our world. Our gracious God had mercy on me and brought me home with him.”
“This is where you live now?” Kya looked around and wondered. It was a beautiful place but they were the only ones. She looked at her papa, “You are alone?”
“Not exactly you are in between God’s home and your home. This is a place of rest. God is answering your prayers today.”
Puzzled she looked around her and back at her father’s loving eyes, “How is God answering my prayers?”
Delighted by the very presence of his daughter Kyonas smiled, “Today I will come back with you to help you.”
Kya’s eyes widened, “Papa, are you telling the truth? How can you come home with me if you live with God now? Is it really true?”
“It will not be as you think my child but for a time, I will come with you to provide the help you need. “
Kya could not believe what she was hearing. She was afraid to ask more questions. She did not want to know what ‘for a time’ meant. She was unsure of how he could help. Would they get to move back to Bashion? Would her father grow old with her mother? Years of being told not to speak unless spoken to prevented Kya from relinquishing her thoughts to her father’s ears.
Wiping his weathered hand across Kya’s wets cheeks he met her eyes, “Are you ready sweet one? It is time to visit Bashion.”
In a blink of an eye, Kaya and her father were sitting in her canoe near the docks of Bashion. Fear filled her body. What would the men do if they saw her? She had heard stories of women who had tried to return after being banished. Some came back beaten, blinded, and branded with a hot iron reminding them of their death. Other women were said to have been stoned to death. She looked at her father. His face was calm and his whole body was encircled by a blue light. It was him and yet he was more radiant than any living human she had ever encountered. What would the villagers think? “Papa?”
He looked at her face as they approached the docks, “Tie the boat up Kya and do not speak when we approach the council men. Allow me to handle what happens next. God has given me a word to share with our kin and he will make a way for us.” As Kya tied the boat to the dock they got out and walked the worn dirt path to Bashion.
Ashkan stood at the center of the village near an ancient well. Several men that were a part of the head council stood talking with him about the business of the day. Like any other day, life was happening all around them. Less distinguished men were engaging in manual tasks while the women were cooking and hanging the laundry to dry. Children were chasing chickens across the courtyard and they laughed as one dove toward the screeching hen only to miss. A scream pierced the sky and the people of Bashion froze.
“It’s him! It’s Kyonas’ ghost!” The shrill cry of an older woman brought a chill to the hearts of everyone that could hear. In the distance, a man encased in blue light walked toward the well. Next to him was an older child they all knew to be Kya, but in the eyes of the elders, Kya was just as dead as Kyonas.
Ashkan walked toward the pair full of fury. “You do not belong here! We do not entertain the dead in Bashion!” He leaned over and picked up a large rock and threw it towards Kya. As the rock touched the blue light it was pulverized to ash.
“Ashkan! You will listen to me.” Kyonas’ voice deepened and reverberated across the village. By this point, men, women, and children had gathered around the center. It looked like a standoff between Kyonas and Ashkan with the others circling around them.
“I do not talk to the dead. Be gone and take your daughter with you.”
“Ah, so you do see. Kya and I will not leave until I share a message from God.”
The crowd whispered to each other in wonder. Some could not believe that Kyonas was back from the dead and others wondered if he ever died at all. They all would later agree that the blue light emanating from his body could only come from God. Some even confessed that they could feel God’s presence like a warm breeze and a gentle kiss upon their cheek.
Kya stood and looked around. She stayed as close to her father’s side as she could but she was obedient to his request of silence.
Ashkan looked at the wonder in his people’s eyes. He wanted to maintain control of the situation but was unsure of what to do. “Speak if you must!” and he turned his back to Kyonas.
Kyonas smiled knowingly and stood behind his daughter grasping her shoulders. “This is my daughter Kya. You have known Kya from the time Ellia delivered her from the womb. She holds the life of God within her. There is no flaw in her. She is perfect in all that she is. She is a creature of God. The breath in her lungs was given by him and the life she lives will either be for him or for the evil one. This is true of every man, woman, and child in this village. You are all creatures of the God that gave you life. Who are you to declare death and life over a person? My daughter and her three sisters live! You have sisters, aunts, and cousins that are alive, but you declare they are dead. What power of heaven was given to you to make such a declaration? I say, that power comes from a source of fear that can lead to the evil one. Turn your hearts to the widows and orphans of Ariat.”
The villagers looked around at each other. The silence deafened the ears of many, while others looked on in wonder. Kya surveyed the scene and pondered what would happen next. Her father spoke with an authority that was unlike any other. She felt honored to be with him.
Ashkan turned around with his eyes glazed over. “Be gone ghost of Kyonos and take the ghost of Kya with you. Bashion does not entertain the dead.”
Kya looked up at her father and saw a slight curve in his lips. His eyes shone with love as he looked every man and woman in the eye. Walking within the circle created by the villagers Kyonas took Kya’s hand and looked up to the sky. Kya saw a white light fill her father’s face with peace. She felt the warmth of his goodness flowing into her hand that he held.
“People of Bashion. Remember the orphans and the widows. Resurrect the village of the dead, your life depends on it.” With that final statement, Kya and her father walked back the way they had come.
When they reached the boat, a red cardinal was sitting on the tip of the bow. Her father released her and began to remove the ropes from the docks.
“Papa, what happens next?”
Full of compassion he looked into Kya’s eyes. It was a gaze she would never forget. It melted her heart and drew her into the depth of a love she could not describe with the use of words. Kya ran and collided into his chest as he embraced her.
“My child, I must go to my home and you must return to yours.”
After a momentary embrace Kya and her father set off in the canoe, back to the place, where she had found him. The red bird followed them as they paddled in silence.
When they approached the place of the colorful waters Kya stood on the bow of the boat. She wondered if she would be allowed to join her father in heaven. As the boat tipped into the waters, Kya felt the same rush of warmth and love she had felt the first time she was sucked into God’s world. In complete silence, they reached the turquoise lake where their paths had first met. Her father’s boat remained in the place where she had found him.
Kya turned toward her father, “Papa, I want to come with you.”
“Come here child.” She moved across the canoe into his arms and savored his embrace. “Dear Kya, you must go back to your home and I will return to mine. Our homes are barely a second apart and yet it will take you a lifetime to realize the truth of this matter. Live knowing that you are alive and always will be. Some of the people of Bashion will move to Ariat. Your new home will become a treasure of the region and many will come to see it. All the people; men, women, and children will have a voice. All will be honored for who they are and what they have to offer. Do not worry about the men of Bashion. Their voices will be like a voice covered by the thunder of a great storm. Only they will hear the nonsense they cry out.”
Kya’s eyes brimmed with tears. Joy swelled up in her heart, simultaneously swirling around the grief of being separated from her father again. “I love you Papa!”
Smiling down at her, he kissed her forehead, “With all my heart I love you!”
Once again Kya was transported back to her world. Her canoe floated lazily toward the dirt landing that would take her to Ariat. Off in the distance, she could see a mass of people walking towards Ariat from Bashion. Men, women, and children were carrying bundles, pushing carts, and herding animals toward her new home. The same cardinal flew past her and landed on a nearby branch. She nodded at the bird in recognition. Her father was right. Everything was about to be different.