“Maybe their departure was a gift to mankind. The human race is clever enough to make its own choices. The ultimate power that created the realms will always exist, but perhaps our good angels are telling us: ‘You’re not children anymore. Stop making excuses and accept responsibility for the fate of your own world.’”

Gabriel stayed silent for awhile and finished drinking the tea. He thought about Maya and all the problems waiting for him back in the Fourth Realm.

“I’ve come up with a plan to stop the Tabula,” he said. “But I don’t know if it’s going to work. Only a few hundred people are committed to the Resistance. According to Michael, we’ve already lost.”

“And do you believe that?”

“I have one opportunity to get past the barriers and speak directly to a great many people. I wanted to find you because I didn’t know what to say. I think you should come back and make the speech yourself.”

“You said that the Tabula have my body locked up in a room.”

“I’ll talk to Maya and we’ll find a way to get you out.”

Matthew turned away from his son and gazed at the mountains. “I know that I’m sitting here with you and we’re talking and drinking this tea, but I don’t feel completely human anymore. I’ve been away too long and I’m not attached to our world. If I spoke to people, they would sense that my heart has lost its connection to their hopes and desires.”

“But what about your physical body?”

Matthew shook his head. “I’m not really connected with that either.”

“What are you telling me, Father? Are you going to die?”

“That may happen fairly soon. But this is just one stopping point of our eternal journey. Every human being has the power to send their Light forward to another world, but they only discover that when they pass on.”

Gabriel reached out and touched his father’s arm. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“Don’t worry. I’m still here for awhile. The gods have vanished, but this place is a suitable residence for a questioning mind.”

“I’m the one who has to leave,” Gabriel said. “I’ve got to return to our world.”

“I understand. You love someone in the Fourth Realm, and you’re worried about all those people who are losing their freedom.”

“So what do I tell them?” Gabriel asked. “How can I convince them to step away from the Vast Machine?”

“Unlike me, you’re still connected to their lives. Instead of ‘telling’ them what to believe, try to answer the questions that are in your own heart.”

“I’m not one of the gods. I don’t have all the answers.”

“That’s a good start.” Matthew smiled broadly. At that moment, he resembled the father who had made kites for his two sons, then watched these fragile creations rise up above the trees. “Look outward, Gabriel. This city is beautiful at sunset. The golden towers don’t have their own energy, but they do reflect the light…”

33

If a physicist living in Los Angeles had dropped by Mar Vista Park that afternoon, he might have seen a classic example of something called “Brownian motion.” The children moved in erratic patterns like tiny bits of pollen suspended in fluid, bouncing off each other and floating away in opposite directions. Someone gazing down from the heavens might have decided that these particles of life behaved like the electrons in a quantum game of chance.

***

Sitting on the benches near the child’s play area, the adults saw cause and effect instead of chaos. Shawn was thirsty and kept running back to his mother for a sip of apple juice. May Ling was playing with two mean girls-Jessica and Chloe-and sometimes they accepted her and sometimes they ran away. The positions of the adults also followed a certain order. A group of elderly Chinese men and women sat on the east side of the play area, proudly watching their grandchildren; Mexican nannies with expensive strollers stood on the opposite side, chatting on cell phones or gossiping in Spanish.

Ana Cabral was separate from both groups. She was Brazilian, not Mexican, and she was watching her own children-eight-year-old Roberto and his four-year-old brother, Cesar. Ana was a small woman with a large handbag who worked mornings at a plumbing parts store. Although she didn’t own a closet full of clothes, her tennis shoes were new, and her blue headband matched the color of her blouse.

At this moment, little Cesar was playing with his dump truck in the sand, and Ana’s only worry was that an older child might pull the toy from his hands. Roberto was more of a problem. He was an active boy who had come out of her womb with his hands clenched into fists. Because of the dirty air, he suffered from asthma, and Ana had to carry an inhaler in her handbag in case of emergencies.