The Journey Across The Night Sea

from A Barge Mysterious byEmmanuel George Cefai A barge mysterious in the thick of night Sailed slowly to the sober shore Beneath the ramparts of the dreaming fort... Whence is the barge coming in the night? Whence did its journey start? No reply came - and none in that still barge Appeared to reply or move or breathe: So horrid the stillness of the thin barge. **** Why did that mysterious barge choose this port for its apparitions? Why did its ghostly captain leave behind charts with exact coordinates? Most of all, what daring possessed twenty-three young men to hazard such a dangerous journey? I was the first to feel compelled and convinced the others to follow my lead. My head was on fire with thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls. We launched our ship from a secret natural harbor, set sail in the middle of the night on steady nocturnal currents, followed the path of a huge cloud of sea fog, only partially concealing the Mysterious Barge from our fixed gaze. But suddenly men grew tired, completely worn out, some collapsed where they stood onto the hard deck and curled their bodies into rigid sleep. Others dozed at their stations, shook themselves awake only to fall into a deeper sleep. Within an hour only four were awake, and fear crept into our souls when our ship came to a halt just a few yards from the stationary barge, no longer covered in fog but lighted in a garish black light that slowly, inexorably covered our ship too. I cannot speak for the other three, but my fear was dispelled and I felt strangely lifted in my mind. What dispelled my fear? It was the presence of the ghostly captain on our ship. One of my comrades began to shake, the barge's captain touched his head with his long- fingered hand and the sailor was immediately calm, he began smiling. Then I heard the captain's voice from some deep recess of my mind, or should I say, my soul? "Fear nothing, mortal men. The great war between Heaven Hell has - ended. My comrades and I, once slaves of the Evil Lord, have overthrown him. We have bowed in worship to the Lord God before His angel ambassadors. They have pacified Hell and we have surrendered our power to do evil... You mortals do not understand Eternity and we immortals do not understand Time, But the Time of Division is over, How and when this cosmic peace will be announced and promulgated, we do not know. Wait, patiently. "And now you will witness the first of many Ascensions, for the denizens of Hell, your sisters and brothers, whom we seduced into damnation,are being taken to their Purgatorial Ordeal. We are fulfilling our first mission."