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Looking In

By Alan Baylis

'Now that was a good day.' Sue thought to herself as she was driving home in her large four wheel drive. It had been a long time since she had closed the deals on four properties in a single day. The commission alone would pay the deposit on the new swimming pool they had ordered for summer. She was already planning how she and her husband could celebrate by going out for a meal at the new restaurant in town. They would then most likely end up going to their friends place, Roy and Karen's, as they usually did on a Friday night. But this brought back the bad memories of what had happened there the last time. They had known Roy and Karen since childhood and she could still remember the innocent game of strip poker that had started a long history of group sex between them and eventually with other couples. But things were different now, the number of people who were there had grown to over twelve and things had been especially chaotic. A few of the men had broken into a jealous rage and were fighting in the kitchen while women were arguing and screaming in the background. If the police hadn't intervened she was sure it would have ended in somebody's murder. It was all very upsetting and she hoped that there wouldn't be a repeat of that night again. She was seriously considering not going at all, but wasn't sure if she could persuade her husband to do the same.

Before going home Sue decided to pull in to the supermarket. She needed to get some groceries for the weekend but it would also be a welcome distraction from the negative feelings the memories had stirred up. As she walked around the store she was surprised by a voice that seemed so close to her left ear that it made her lurch sideways in shock. More shocking was the fact that there was nobody standing next to her at all. Apart from catching her off guard, the voice hadn't been menacing in any way. It had said in a gentle female voice 'Sorry to disturb you but I want you  to watch out for the shelf in the third aisle.' and then nothing else. 'Could it have been a message from the PA system?' Sue thought, 'A warning about some hidden danger in aisle three?' She reasoned the voice away as simply that, just a loud speaker or new surround sound system perhaps. She continued on with her shopping and when entering aisle three she looked at the shelves to see what the message could have been about. There was nothing unusual about the aisle, nothing was out of place and the shelves didn't seem to be in danger of falling at all so she continued on with her shopping. Without paying too much attention she put out her hand out to grab a jar of coffee from the end of the row but missed and accidentally knocked it flying. In a reflex action she desperately bent over to grab the jar before it hit the ground but the corner of the shelf caught her on the side of her face, cutting her cheek open two inches . In a panic, she pressed her hand to her cheek to stop the blood and ran to the cash registers.
'I need to use your medical room!' she yelled at the closest cashier, 'I'm bleeding!'
The cashier turned and gave a look of shock, 'Oh my dear, we don't have a medical room, just a small cabinet with some band-aids.'
'I need a doctor' Sue cried 'A small plaster isn't going to help this!' and she removed her hand for a second so the cashier could see.
'I'm sorry, I don't know where the nearest...' the cashier began, but there was no point in finishing because Sue had already turned and was running from the shop.
Sue was heading for the car park when the same gentle voice entered her ear 'There is a pharmacy around the corner to the left, they will heal you.' so without questioning the voice, she decided to try there for help. To her surprise there was a visiting doctor in the pharmacy who was able to stop the bleeding with a temporary bandage and then kindly drove her to the emergency department of the local hospital.

Isabella adjusted the resolution of her wall monitor until the scene of the emergency room filled the screen. In the top right of the screen she had a close up shot of Sue's face which showed that she had at last calmed down after the accident. The doctors had given her a mild sedative and a local anesthetic but she was still anxiously grinding her teeth together while the doctors applied the last stitches to her cheek. 'I hope I did the right thing.' Isabella thought, but she was already having doubts. Down the corridor she could hear the excited voices of the other guardians and knew that her Lord was approaching. A shiver ran down her spine and the hairs on her arms stood on end as her Lord walked into her cubical but she didn't dare look up. His countenance would be too much to bear considering she had just violated the natural flow of time without consulting a higher authority.
'Why have you done this thing?' her Lord said in a strong but sympathetic voice.
'I just felt a need to help Sue Kensington on this occasion. If she was permanently disfigured by this accident then she would be discriminated against and possibly lose her job or her husband' Isabella pleaded.
'You are missing the bigger picture my child. The end does indeed justify the means.' and with that he paused as if finished, but Isabella knew that there would be more. 'You must understand that this timeline yields the largest number of perfected souls. Each soul arrives here after eons in a state of disembodiment, each one suffering from acute sensory deprivation. But as physical beings they tend to want to overdose on their senses to the point that they lose touch with their higher reasoning, their higher spiritual self. It is therefore our job and wish to see them through this period of incarnation, to help them avoid the pitfalls that come from over indulgence and to find the rewards of self sacrifice. Some of the motivating factors used to steer a person in the right direction may seem harsh from one persons point of view and not harsh enough from another's point of view. The truth is that not all of the motivating factors are pleasant but this timeline gives each person ample opportunity to mend their ways; and there are far worse timelines, I can assure you'
Isabella nodded and looked at the screen where Sue was sleeping off the effects of the sedative before being discharged from the hospital.
'Perhaps this will help you make sense of it,' he continued 'if a soul is akin to a vibration then being mortal can either increase or slow a souls vibration, if a person is obsessed by stimulating their senses they forfeit all that made their soul more than just a common, predictable and reactionary element in the universe, destined to fall victim to the gravitational effects of a star or large planet. A conscious soul is able to reason and direct its actions, its main purpose and joy is to help other souls to do the same. Choosing to become physical is necessary to maintain the sanity of immortal beings but should never be taken lightly by they themselves or by us. We must be strong because they cannot.'
To this Isabella nodded more assuredly this time. 'I will always keep that in mind my Lord, I'm sorry for my actions and will never interfere again.' She could see that the immortal soul was far more precious than a lifetime of fleeting pleasure and some suffering is necessary if it is to survive in the spiritual sense.
'No harm done child, the lasting effects of the incident are still a factor in Sue's future and I know it will all work out for the best.' His voice trailing off as he went to look in on the other guardians.

From that day on Sue would often plead for the voice to return, to give her guidance when times got tough. But for the rest of her life she never heard from the mystery voice again.