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THE SENSATION OF awakening was peculiar; as though I were e from a thick, heavy chrysalis I openedIt was pale blue, softly tinted I heard nothing but theto turn my head, I found, to my surprise, that I was too weak to move it For several moments, I felt with a sense of dread that I was paralyzed

Then I realized it was exhaustion and closedI slept, I cannot say The next thing I recall was opening , pale, irradiant I looked down ata white robe

Was I back in Suht elbow, I raised myself slowly and looked around

I was in an ied but not walled, tall Ionic colu as side supports There were hundreds of couches in the room, almost all with people on the,over now and then to speak to reclining figures, stroking their heads I was back in Suht?"

I looked around at the sound of the wo behind me

"Am I in Summerland?" I asked

"Yes" She leaned over and strokedflowed fro I lay down again "Don’t worry about anything now," she said "Just rest"

I felt sleep drifting over ain; warm, soft, silken sleep I closed ht Close your eyes and sleep You’re perfectly safe"

I thought about Ann

Then was asleep onceI slept I only knooke again to see the blue, effulgent ceiling overhead

This ti his name in my mind

When he failed to appear, I felt alarmed and pushed up on my elbow

The hall was still the same--peacefully still The floor was thickly carpeted, I saw, and, here and there, handso down from above All the floor space, as I’ve said, was spaced with couches I looked toon it To my left, another couch, an old man on it, also asleep

I forced ain, I thought of Albert but to no avail What rong? He’d always come to me before Hadn’t he returned to Suled to h, despite the shedding of that chrysalis, my flesh was still encased in stone I could hardlypeople,

I stopped in the entrance to an adjoining hall

Here, there was no scene of rest People thrashed in frantic sleep or, partially conscious, tried to sit up, had no strength to do so and fell back heavily or struggled to rise, restrained by men and women in blue

Nor was it silent like the hall I’d left This one was discordant with sobs and cries, embittered and dissentient voices

Nearby, I saw ato a wo to sit up but couldn’t The ly I looked across the hall in startlean to shout "I’m a Christian and a follower of ht to keep esture to several of his associates and they gathered around the furious man to touch hi," said a voice

I looked around and saw a youngat hted All I could do was stare at him

"Come," he said I felt his hand on my arain Everything began to blur aroundme but couldn’t see What was this subtle narcotic in their touch? I wondered "as I felt the soft couch under me once more and sank into a deep sleep

When I woke up, Albert was sitting on the edge of the couch, s at me

"You’re better now," he said

"What is this place?" I asked

"The Hall of Rest"

"How long have I been here?"

"Quite a while," he told me

"Those people in the next--" I pointed

"Those who’ve died suddenly and violently, waking for the first tione but they still exist"

"That ht hand of God and believe that those who fail to share their ideas are doomed to eternal torment In many ways, these are the most backward souls of all" "You didn’t come before," I said

"I couldn’t until you were adequately rested," he replied "I received your calls but wasn’t perht you were still--" I broke off, reaching out to grip his arm "Albert, where is she?" I asked

He didn’t answer

"She’s not still in that awful place"

He shook his head "No," he told me "You spared her that"

"Thank God!" I felt a burst of joy

"By going there and staying with her of your own free will, you gave her just enough awareness to escape"

"Then she’s here," I said

"You ith her for some tiaining your strength" He put a hand on my arm and squeezed it "I really didn’t think it could be done, Chris," he said "I never foresahat you were able to do for her I thought in teric I should have realized that only love could reach her"

"She is safe," I said

"Safe from where she was"

I felt a tremor of uneasiness "She’s here?" I asked "In Summerland?’’

He seemed reluctant to answer

"Albert" I looked at hihed "I’m afraid not, Chris"

I stared at hih the love of someone close can, on occasion, elevate a soul to Suh I’ve never seen it done with a suicide--that soul is, rarely, if ever, able to remain here"

"Why?" I asked That I was back in Summerland seemed, suddenly, a hollow victory

"There are a hundred different answers to that question," he said "A thousand The simplest of which is that Ann just isn’t ready for it yet"

"Where is she then?" I was sitting up now, gazing at him apprehensively

He seemed to brace himself Was that a ss up a subject so iin You haven’t been in Suh to have been exposed to it"

"What subject?" I asked

"Rebirth," he said

I felt dazed and lost Theit became

"Rebirth?"

"You’ve actually survived death many times," he said "You remember the identity of the life you just departed but you’ve had--we’ve all had--a multitude of past lives"

A e and an oldon a bed, two people nearby, a white-haired won, the woone"

That oldain?" I asked

He nodded and I couldn’t restrain a groan of despair