Rosie is water-skiing in a cove near her mother’s house in the afterlife realm. She is being pulled by an energy ball that’s skimming along the surface of the water at breakneck speed. Rosie is having a blast, screaming and laughing as she is dragged along surface of the water. Rosie’s mom steps out of the house situated on a hill overlooking the cove and calls out to Rosie. Without having to shout, her voice carries easily to Rosie.

Rosie’s Mom: Rosie! Lunch is ready!

Rosie: Ok, give me five more….(she laughs at herself)…I keep forgetting there is no time here…I’ll be there in a jiffy!

The energy ball seems to understand that Rosie needs to go and it maneuvers to give Rosie one last run around the cove. It picks up speed and then suddenly submerges under the surface of the water, dragging a very surprised Rosie under water. The ball then shoots out of the water taking Rosie up into the air. She lands perfectly on the water surface and screams with exhilaration.

Rosie: WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! FANTASTIC!!!

The energy ball curves around the cove and flicks Rosie towards the shore.

Rosie: WAAAAAAAaaaaa……thanks you…ball thing…whatever you are. See you soon!

The energy ball flashes her a light in acknowledgment and flies off. Rosie balances herself on the ski as she skims across the surface of the cove towards the shore.

Rosie: This is fantastic!! Look Ma, no hands!!

Suddenly, Rosie is hit a wave of sadness and in her mind’s eye, she sees, hears, and feels her children on Earth mourning her passing. Their thoughts of grief hit her as if she’s struck by a bat. Because of this distraction, Rosie loses her balance and falls into the water, tumbling for some distance. She walks out of the water, onto the shore, and lays down upon the sand - she hears her partner Kelli crying with grief as she comforts her heartbroken children back on Earth. Rosie shakes off the image in her mind, gets up, runs up the hill and into her mom’s house. She enters a room with a grand view of the cove and plops down at the table as her mom serves her spinach lasagna.

Rosie’s Mom: Did you have a good time, Roseanne?

Rosie: I guess so…

A plate of hot piping spinach lasagna is set down on the table before her.

Rosie’s Mom: Well, dig in. I hope it tastes ok. Just remember, I haven’t cooked since I was back on Earth.

Rosie: You’re not having any?

Rosie’s Mom: No, of course not! We don’t have to eat anymore. We make food only for those who have crossed over recently so they can transition better.

Rosie: You don’t eat? Then how come you’re still so…

Rosie stops herself and shoves a big bite of lasagna into her mouth.

Rosie’s Mom: …still so what?

Rosie’s mom puts her hand on her hips.

Rosie: …still such a good cook.

Rosie’s Mom: You meant to say fat, didn’t you Roseanne?

Rosie: …uh…no?

Rosie’s Mom: Oh please Roseanne, you forget that I can read your thoughts here…not that I couldn’t before on Earth.

Rosie: Damn this telepathy thing. It makes mothers twice as annoying.

Rosie’s mom stands before Rosie, closes her eyes, and concentrates. Her body suddenly changes from an older woman to a young, slim woman in her early 30s. Rosie drops her fork onto the plate.

Rosie: How the….?!

Rosie’s Mom: That was just a costume for your benefit. Well, I’m off.

Rosie: Off? To where?

Rosie’s Mom: Roseanne, I have a full life here. I have my work, my recreation, and friends. And now that you seem to have adjusted, I am going back to my life. You didn’t think I would always be with you, now did you?

Rosie (with an attitude): What do you do exactly?

Rosie Mom: I work with children who recently transitioned Roseanne, and I don’t like your tone.

Rosie: Mom, can you please stay? I…I am not feeling very well.

Rosie’s mom walks up to her and brushes her damp hair back.

Rosie: I know honey. I can see it too…my grandchildren and Kelli…grieving. But that’s something you will have to deal with spiritually. You made the decision to stay. I can’t do the work for you.

Rosie gets up and walks to the window.

Rosie: But mom, I wasn’t thinking it through when I decided to stay. I wasn’t thinking about what would happen exactly. All I wanted to do was find you…and I thought that if I did, everything would be ok, all the hurt would be gone…

Rosie turns around and her mother has disappeared.

Rosie: Mom??

Rosie is left standing in the room alone. She is hit with another wave of grief from her kids on Earth. She leans against the chair and holds her heart.

Rosie: Oh dear God, this is worse than call-waiting interruptions from my mother-in-law.

Rosie leaps out the window and flies around. The turn around the sky seems to give her some comfort. She is hit again with another wave of grief, causing her to tumble out of the sky. She lands on the ground with a thud.

Rosie: God damn it, how do I turn this feature off?! Is this supposed to be heaven or hell??!!

The scene of one of her kids in school pops into her mind. Suddenly, she is drawn into the scene and she is back on Earth, watching her kid in class. No one can see her; Rosie touches a wall and her hand goes right through it. She goes up to her son, seated, doodling on the desk, and not paying attention in class. She calls out his name but he doesn’t respond. The teacher catches him graffitiing and orders him to go to the principal’s office. He lashes out at her.

Rosie: No, no, don’t say that! Tell her you’re sorry! Go to the principal’s office quietly!

He stands up and kicks the teacher in the shin, and throws his chair as he storms out of the room. School security is called and he is escorted to detention. Rosie follows him and tries to calm him down but to no avail.

Rosie: You can’t say and do stuff like that! What the hell has gotten into you?! You’re not like this! (to herself) Oh God, I know what it is…

Rosie slaps herself on the forehead

Rosie (to herself): Stupid, stupid, stupid!

She kneels next to her kid, handcuffed to a chair in detention.

Rosie: Listen, you have to get beyond the grief…the anger…otherwise you won’t have a future…

Suddenly, a timeline appears before her showing her son’s future. In it, he is seen running away from home and getting involved with petty crime and drugs.

Rosie: No, no, oh my god, what I have done….that cannot be! DANNY!!!!

Rosie is pulled back to the afterlife realm and she calls out to her guide.

Rosie: Danny!! DANNY!!!

She looks around for him.

Rosie: I’ve made a mistake - you have to get me back! Danny??!!

There is no response.

(…to be continued)

The white light in the middle of the stage intensifies and begins to take the shape of a humanoid form. The light is incredibly bright but it does not hurt one’s eyes to look directly at it. The mass of energy condenses into a woman in a simple flowy white cloak. Her long, wavy light brown hair hangs over one shoulder; the most beautiful and peaceful face comes into view. A large pair of out-stretched wings appear behind her and closes, framing her body, which has now completely solidified. The angel is from an upper phylum of the angelic dimensions; her name is Gabrielle; she brings the gift of inspiration and creativity to those she visits. Gabrielle dampers down the intensity of her light, knowing full well that spirits in this dimension cannot receive the full intensity of her energy for long. The wings change into an aura of golden energy which surrounds her and acts like shielding, filtering and dimming her light. For those, like the Old Ones, who can stand her full intensity can still see the wings on her back. The audience stands and claps in awe and excitement.

Unlike the others, Rosie is still seated and shaking uncontrollably in her seat.

Rosie: VVvvvvVVVVvvvvVVVVVvvvvVVV…

The adjacent woman turns to Rosie.

Woman: Are you all right, Rosie? Awww, her energy zapped you, didn’t it?

Rosie nods, still shaking.

Rosie: Sssssshe ddddid….ttthhhat bbbbitch….VVVvvVVvVVvvvvvVVVVvvv…

The woman laughs and places one hand on Rosie’s forehead and the other on her heart, and breathes deeply, taking the excess energy from her and grounds her. Rosie stops shaking.

Woman: There now, that’s better. She didn’t mean any harm, honey. You’re just not adjusted to our level of energy yet.

Rosie: I haven’t felt that kind of shock since that ass-wipe Bush got re-elected.

Woman: Rosie…please, your language.

The woman laughs nervously. Rosie raises an eyebrow at her.

Rosie (under her breath): …Pffft. I guess even Republicans are allowed in heaven.

Although the woman didn’t hear her, she understood what Rosie said telepathically and reacts with annoyance but she quickly forgives her. Music in the arena begins. Gabrielle starts her song and she sings with a purity and beauty unparalleled to anything Rosie has ever heard on Earth. The exquisite effect is indescribable for human understanding. The emotional texture of the song is similar to ‘La Califfa’, as sung by Sarah Brightman.

[CLICK HERE to hear Sarah Brightman’s ‘La Califfa’ on Rhapsody Online for free!]

Almost immediately, Rosie falls under the spell of the extraordinary beauty of the voice and music, and quickly forgives the angel for that initial shock. Throughout the arena, the auras of the attendees begin to shine even brighter, changing to a myriad of different colors. Rosie’s aura begins to glow brighter as well and various colored orbs of energy form and dance around her. The orbs surround her, taking her to another location in another dimension. In Rosie’s vision, the arena and the people around her fades out as another setting fades into view. Despite the transition, she can still hear the angel’s singing with the same clarity. Rosie finds herself on a cliff by the sea; the surrounding green hills appear even more beautiful than the ones seen in the previous dimension, if at all possible. The angel’s lyrical voice permeates the entire locale. Strangely enough, Rosie isn’t reacting at all to this unexpected dimensional shift. She is lost in musical ecstasy and is completely mesmerized by the singing, and for the moment, she has relinquished all her notions of self-determination and control. Her aura continues to dance around her, shimmering and casting different colors.

In the distance, the figure of a woman appears and walks towards her. Rosie’s focus shifts immediately to this distant figure, and in a split second, she starts to run, with all the energy she could muster, towards the woman. It seems to her that her legs could not carry her fast enough and she had forgotten that she was able to fly. After what felt like an eternity to her, Rosie reaches a distance a few feet of her and stands face to face with this woman. It is her mother. Rosie knew this the second the woman appeared in the distance. The woman beams at her with a beatific smile. She is holding a couple of large plates, one in each hand, but Rosie doesn’t notice them at all.

Rosie (barely audible): Mom…

The woman sets the plates down on the grass. She stands and opens her arms to Rosie. Blinded by her own tears, Rosie staggers forward and falls into her mother’s embrace. And in that moment, time seems to stand still for Rosie, as she feels the warmth of her mother’s back on her hands, the softness of her mother’s neck against her cheek, and she smells the familiar scent of a woman she had to waited so long to embrace again. Rosie begins to cry in a way she had when she was a child; the depth of her emotions is bottomless. The upwelling pain feels even more acute to Rosie with every stroke her mother makes on her hair.

Rosie moves her head back to look at her mother’s face. Her mother wipes away her tears in a manner she had missed so much.

Mom: Roseann…oh my Roseann.

Rosie looks into her eyes and instantaneously, by some mysterious process, she understands why her mother had to leave her life when she was so young. She understands the tragedy within the context of her mother’s spiritual planning. And faint memories of her agreeing to her mother’s early departure came to mind. And so, Rosie begins to heal.

Her mother picked up the two large colored plates on the grass and offers one of them to Rosie.

Mom: I thought you might want to help me carry one of the plates, just like in the old days.

Rosie looks at the plates.

Rosie: Limoges.

Mom: Yes. But never say ‘limoges’ at a flea market.

Rosie: I remember.

Her mother takes her hand and they walk towards her house, a villa with a red Spanish-tiled roof. Off to one side of house, steps lead down to the beach in a cove. Rosie takes it all in: every step, the warmth of her mother’s hand, the movement of the grass in the light breeze, her mother’s hair stirring in the wind, the weight and cool feel of the limoges in her hand, the rustling of her mother’s cloak against the grass, the salty smell of the air, the faint sound of waves crashing, the color of the distant ocean, a sudden squall of a passing seagull, the coolness of her face as her tears dry in the soft sea breeze, and most of all, her mother’s smile. Mother and daughter, reunited.

Way in the distance, a couple of figures are standing and observing. Danny turns his head and looks up at the Old One, standing next to him. They exchange a smile. The Old One hands him a handkerchief, which Danny makes full use of - dabbing his eyes and blowing his nose. Danny holds out his hands and a couple of Lemon Cielos in small glasses appear. He hands one to the Old One. They clink glasses and drink. The Old One pats Danny on the back and they walk away in silence.

The angel’s singing fades out.

(to be continued)…