Hearts at Home Read Online Free PDF

thrust her head through the opening in the doorway, then felt her heart do a double beat. Olympia lay on the floor, one hand outstretched, the other clutching a tortoiseshell hairbrush. Worst of all, the smell of death filled the room.
    Through some ability she did not yet understand, Olympia looked down and saw Tallulah and Annie kneeling by the side of a woman on the floor. For an instant she wondered who the woman could be, then the truth crashed into her consciousness like surf hurling against a rocky cliff.
    â€œThis is death?” She looked at Caleb, who had not left her side.
    â€œIt is transition,” he answered, his hand firmly wrapped around hers. “From the physical plane to the spiritual. From earth to the highest heaven.”
    â€œI don’t understand.”
    His smile softened. “You don’t have to.”
    Soaring, her spirit lifted like an imprisoned bird that had finally been set free. She looked down again, but the bedroom scene had been replaced by the dim outline of the island of Heavenly Daze, recognizable by the streetlights that formed the shape of a cross. Then that image, too, receded into darkness, and she found the courage to look up into a sea of blackness populated by white stars that moved past her at a dizzying rate.
    A tingling sensation sparked in her head and flowed along her arms and legs until she looked down and realized she didn’t have arms or legs—not like she had previously known, anyway. She could see her limbs—and never had they looked stronger or healthier—but they were as ethereal as air.
    Caleb must have noticed her glance and her look of puzzlement, for he was smiling when she met his gaze. “You are spirit now,” he said simply, his strong arm holding her as they whizzed through the atmosphere. “Your mortal body has worn out, so it is best you leave it behind. You will receive a new one at the Resurrection.”
    Speechless, Olympia brought her hand up before her eyes and saw the translucent outline of fingers. “If I don’t have a body, Caleb, what am I seeing?”
    â€œMemories. Because living on a spirit plane will be new to you, you will relate to others much as you did on earth. I know it seems confusing now, but soon everything will be clear. Your physical body has died, your soul has flown, and your spirit lives in Christ Jesus our Lord. Until the Resurrection you will live in heaven as a spirit being, seeing and hearing with spiritual eyes and ears. You will recognize others you knew on earth, but they will be spirit, too. Only One possesses a physical body here—the Son of Man, who lives in glorified flesh. You will know him by the scars he bears in his hands and feet.”
    Olympia fell silent as the significance of those words registered. She would see her Savior . . . the thought left her quivering.
    She fell silent as they flew through a space devoid of landmarks, but the air around them vibrated with sound. Words zipped past her spirit ears with the ferocity of bullets, and after a moment of listening she realized she was hearing petitions and praises from people on earth.
    Now, too, she noticed they were not alone. Other forms traveled with her and Caleb—bewildered, delighted souls safe in the embrace of angelic escorts, many of whom picked up other angel guardians along the way. The heavens here pulsated with celestial singing, anthems of wonder and praise.
    As the sky around them went from violet to black, Caleb tightened his grip upon her. His eyes narrowed in concentration as four other angels appeared at his side, all of them intently focused upon something Olympia could not see. She wondered at their concern and caution. Only when she saw another approaching light, sparkling and bright, did she begin to understand.
    â€œWe want her!” A voice, high and reedy, came from the center of the whirling ball of brilliance. “She doubts, she fears, she is not