"King Of The Universe"

 was unable to speak.  I felt paralyzed, but oddly enough—calm.  My heart wasn’t racing, as I might have expected from such an astonishing sight. Suddenly, she turned away and seemed to float ever so gracefully down the hallway, and into my daughter’s room.

Somehow, her smile put me at ease as it had always done when she was alive. It disarmed me, as if there was no reason to panic. I felt a release, the ability to move, and I stood up and determinedly walked and entered Alana’s room. She appeared sound asleep, but there was no sign of my Aunt. It was as if she vanished into thin air. At least that is what I first thought.

Alana’s eyes abruptly opened wide. She stared directly at me. Then she smiled, and said, “Hi dad,” as if she was completely alert. It undeniably mirrored the inviting, compassionate look that was my Aunt Rose’s. My immediate thoughts were clear and did not vacillate. It seemed as if my Aunt had somehow merged her soul with that of my daughter’s. My Aunt Rose was her fairy Godmother of sorts? I asked myself. I was in a quandary.
My eyes had begun to peer around the room looking for more evidence, until they came to rest on that mezuzah.

I had been raised within the Hebrew faith, but I had never truly been convinced that God really existed. Besides, more wars had started and cost the lives of millions, over so many centuries—over religious beliefs. Within the darkness of the night, with her nightlight casting a strange shadow of me on the wall, my Aunt’s appearance made me rethink my views. Heather had been brought up Catholic, but converted to Judaism, to the delight of my parents. I always had trouble identifying with what allegiance I should have with regard to my beliefs, not knowing whether I was Agnostic or even an Atheist, to the chagrin of my folks. It made me wonder all the more about the visitation from my Aunt. Did she want something from me? She hadn’t made a sound nor did her lips move to speak.

Unexpectedly, I could feel my eyes strangely glued to a cross