Chapter #4In His service by: Unknown Cressida sighed. She was done.
Ever since God had made his broadcast, His image had been stuck in her head. Then He had made His second broadcast, and the images of His wife and His daughters had been stuck there, too.
So she did the only thing she knew to do when she had an image stuck in her head. She painted it.
She hadn't stopped for days, except for quick naps and small bites to eat. She knew how important it was to get this right.
And now it was done.
It was the biggest painting she'd ever made, of God sitting on His throne, His wife at His side, His daughters below them. She had drawn Him glowing with power, and His wife and His daughters were bathed in the light of their holy purity. She carried it across her studio apartment, took down her other paintings, and hung her new one.
Taking a step back, she nodded in approval. It fit better than any other painting had before.
Turning, she went to pack up her easel and paints, when the walls fell away. Her apartment became seemingly endless, and where her accoutrements had been pews sat. In front of her an altar rose up, God's face on the cloth covering it.
She turned. That wall was still there, but it was instead a massive stained-glass window of God and His family, exactly as she'd drawn them. Looking to one side, she saw her old studio apartment, exactly as it had been, through a short passageway; on the other was a changing area, where she saw robes that, in her estimation, were worth more than every other material thing in the world put together, save only the window that had been her painting.
Looking through the window, which somehow was completely transparent and in no way distorted the image at the same time as being a beautiful stained-glass version of her painting--a seeming paradox which she accepted, for God could make all things happen through His infinite power--she saw nothing but points of light. Wondering where she was, she idly thought about home and suddenly the image shifted, rapidly zooming in on one of the points of light, until a second later she saw Earth.
After a little more experimentation she found she could see into anything, save only God's palace. That was proper in her mind, for she realized that she was merely His High Priestess, and it was not hers to know all that He did.
Thinking again, Earth's sun filled the image through the window, bathing the entire temple in its light. Turning, she looked out.
The pews stretched almost beyond sight, but Cressida knew that being God's High Priestess endowed her with certain gifts, among them incredible vision and hearing. The temple could fit every single person on Earth with room to spare. She wondered if God intended to convert alien species to His worship, and whether she would minister in His name to them also.
Somehow too she knew that wherever one sat in the temple, she--and more importantly the image of God and His family--would seem to be as close as if one was sitting in the actual front row. She would not have to raise her voice to lead the people in worship; all would see and hear her as if she were talking with them personally.
Going into her vestment room, she found a mirror.
She had changed. Where before she had been plain, she now knew she was the epitome of beauty--of attainable beauty, at least, as no woman would ever compare to His holy wife or His holy daughters. Her black long-sleeved shirt was seamless and high-necked, and she wondered how she would get it off, especially with her hair dropping to her lower back. Shrugging her shoulders, she began to slide her arms out of the sleeves, and suddenly it vanished, reappearing on a hanger next to other shirts just like it, except in different colours. Walking over, she touched a green one, and immediately it appeared on her, fitting as well as the black one had.
Looking around, she saw a rack of skirts as well, and noted that the black skirt she had been wearing was there; she was wearing a green skirt, which also matched her unsoled leather shoes--which fit perfectly without laces or other fasteners--her eyes, her hair, and the gems in her earrings and in the gold rings on her fingers.
Padding toward the robes, she noted that they too came in as many colours as her clothes. Touching one--the white one, as she knew she must wear it that day--she found herself wearing it.
Despite hanging loosely about her, pooling around her feet and having at least twice as much fabric as it needed, it was quite light. A scapular hung down her, front and back, each side emblazoned with His image. She also wore a headdress from which the image she had painted of God and His family faced the viewer regardless of the angle of viewing, and she held a plain wooden staff, reaching well above the headdress.
Walking out of the room, she moved quickly behind the altar toward her old apartment. A mirror stood opposite the doorway, and as she crossed the threshold her vestments vanished, leaving her in some of her old clothes. She nodded. It was His way of reminding her of her origins, of what she was before He chose her, and that this small room would be the only place she would ever be able to call home.
Leaving, her robes reappeared. Taking the staff, she stood it point downward at a certain spot on the floor, at the same time making the image behind her revert to mere empty space.
A light illuminated the room, light coming from nowhere but ordained by God to exist. Stepping away, the staff stayed still, and Cressida took her place behind the altar.
People began appearing out of thin air and, without turning, sat in one of the pews. Only Cressida was allowed to have her back to the image of God and His family. Soon enough every human in the world was seated in the temple.
There was no chatter. Nobody dared speak in the holy chamber. Cressida raised her arms, and began the daily service.
 | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
