Escape: Heaven’s Temple

KATE: THE FRIEND

Emery was thrilled when someone introduced to her as a friend. She quickly ran towards them. She held out her hand and offered it to Kate.

“Hi, Kate! I am Emery Quinn. It is nice to meet you,” she greeted Kate happily.

Kate smiled at her and shook Emery’s hand. “It is nice to meet you too, Emery. You’re pretty,” she greeted back.

Emery got excited to talk to her. She smiled at Sister Anasha. “Sister, thank you for fulfilling my wish to have a friend here. I promise that I will be kind to her always,” she said.

"Kate will be kind to you too. She will also help you with the things you have to do here at church. So you don't just play games here but also learn new things about Heaven’s Temple,” Sister Anasha told them. Emery nodded.

“All right, Sister. Will I be able to be with her when I study again? Sister Chloe will teach us?” Emery asked. Sister Chloe is the nun who used to be a teacher. Sometimes, she would teach Emery to read the prayers.

"She is a year older than you. So you are not the same year and you won’t study the same lessons. That is why she will teach you. Kate also knows people here at church,” Sister Anasha replied. Emery felt a little sad because she still didn't have a student with her.

But that’s okay! The important thing is that, I can play here in Heaven’s Temple now because I have a friend. I can also talk to someone with the same age as mine somehow.

In Emery's mind, she was still glad she had a friend. That’s more important because sometimes, she already feels sad as she takes in that place. Especially and she has no one to talk to except the elders who are with her there.

“All right, play for now. I will just call you when it's time to go inside and eat,” Sister Anasha told them again.

“Come and I will take you around here. I have a place to visit when I always go with my Mom when she takes me here,” Kate invited Emery. Emery smiled again and followed Kate on the walk.

"Where is your mom? It's good that she brought you here today,” Emery asked her. They are now walking towards a garden that she has never been to before. Emery was often just inside the church because she was taught to read and memorize prayers.

“Sister Anasha told her that she needed a child. That's why my Mom brought me here. That's why she needed a child because you live here. I'm glad to meet you and be friends with you,” Kate replied with a smile.

“I thought that Sister Anasha would not agree to give me a friend. I almost choked on sadness while I was here,” Emery said. Kate looked at her.

“Why do you live here? Where are your parents now?”

Emery was even more upset when she was asked about her parents. That’s what she doesn’t want to happen because she will only remember the tragedy her parents went through. Every night when she sleeps, she thinks about the accident that happened to her parents. To this day, she can’t forget that and she thinks of the face of the man who ran into her parents.

“They are now gone. They are already in heaven,” she replied and looked up at the sky.

“Is that so. I’m sorry if I asked you about them,” Kate apologized to her. Emery tried to smile at her. “That's okay. You also don't know that they are no longer in this world.”

“Here we are. It's fun to play in this place. I also have brought some toys that we can play with today.”

The place where they are now is clear. There are also many trees so the breeze is nice. It is also not too hot so it is nice to lie down on the grass especially when it's also clean. Kate took the toys out of her small bag. She had a small chess board brought in and laid ‘em on the lawn.

“Can you play a chess? This is my favorite game.”

“Yes, I can play that too! Dad used to teach me how to play chess when he was alive,” Emery replied excitedly when she saw the chess board. The two of them faced each other and the small chess board was in the middle of them.

“It's good and you know how to play this, so I don't have to teach you anymore. None of the kids I played before with in our area have ever beaten me. That's why I hope you can beat me now,” Kate said again.

“All right, I accept your challenge. Especially that I also have a knack for playing it. I once lost to my mom in this game,” Emery bragged to her friend.

"Let's start."

The two set up the chess board and then started playing. Emery is growing and they are both now focused on the game. They were quiet and just seriously watched each other’s every move. They were monitoring the moves of each other to be made on the chess pieces. A few more minutes passed and Emery defeated Kate. Which means that she was the first to beat Kate in that game.

“Yey! I won! I beat you!” Emery shouted happily. Kate was applauded and laughed at her friend's reaction.

“It's good that you beat me. I can say that you are really good in this field,” Kate praised her.

"Maybe you really just lost to say I won?"

Kate immediately shook her head, “I don't do that. Especially since I also don't want to lose. You won because of how good you play.”

“You are really good and kind friend. I'm glad that I met you.”

“But until when do you plan to live here? Why don't you just get adopt to another family?” Kate suddenly asked her again. In Kate’s mind, she had a lot to ask and tell Emery today about Heaven’s Temple.

“I don't want to get adopted by another family. It was also good that Sister Anasha got me. I am in a proper care now. I also don't want my parents to change into my mind and heart,” Emery replied. Kate first looked at her surroundings then looked at Emery again.

“But what do you think of the people here? I mean, there is something weird in this place. It's not that I'm denigrating this place. But because of my mom, I notice weird things about her when she's at home. Then I also noticed that she always came here to Heaven’s Temple and she never went to her work. I don't even know what she is doing here in this church,” Kate told her.

“Honestly, I also at first noticed that things were different here. Especially within the church. But I just followed Sister Anasha. I don't want them to get mad at me. I have to be kind because they are also kind to me. They take good care of me here,” Emery replied.

"Do they make you memorize strange prayers?"

"Yes, do you know that too?" Kate shook her head at Emery's question. "I do not know that. To my surprise, my mother told me that our religion was different. At first, she taught me how to pray properly and who God is. But now she says all of that was not true. She pointed out to me the Lord who was inside the church. But I could not understand their prayers,” she said again.

“I also don't understand the meaning of the prayers that are memorized for me. I can't do anything but follow through. Especially since we are the same, my parents then taught me differently about prayer and God. But when I got here, Sister Anasha said it was all a lie and not true,” Emery added to what Kate was talking about.

“The appearance of the Lord they are referring to is frightening. Aren't you afraid of him?”

"To be honest, I'm also scared—"

“Kate! What are you telling at her? Don’t you know that it’s a sin that what you are committing? Don't say that to our Lord!” hostile exclamation of a woman. The two children looked at her in surprise. She pulled Kate upright.

“I'm sorry, Mom. I'm not saying bad things about him,” Kate replied. Her mother looked at Emery and they were so shocked when she suddenly knelt in front of her.

"What are you doing, Ma’am?" Emery asked curiously. Kate's mother suddenly worshiped her.

"You will be the one who will give us hope. I am honored to meet you.”