Margaret's Ark Read Online Free PDF Page B

closer watch on Margaret Carboneau. He didn't understand what was going on, but it was starting to feel very big.
     
     
     
    55
     
     
    “Margaret, it's time to get to work.”
    The angel spoke in a quiet voice, sitting on the picnic table in the back yard. Margaret stood at the corner of the house, not daring to come any closer.
    She said, “Am I dreaming, or have you dragged me outside half-naked again for real? Someone saw us!”
    She wasn't exactly half-naked his time, having gone to bed fully dressed. Tonight she'd been certain the angel would pay a visit. Her certainty had most likely been spawned by the guilt she felt for lying to Marty.
    David rose from the table but did not approach her. “No, Margaret, you are dreaming, I assure you. The other night was a dream, yet not a dream. I don't suppose that makes any sense.”
    She stormed forward and slammed both fists into his chest. It felt like punching a feather pillow. He made no move to defend himself. “Marty Santos saw us! We were really there!”
    David kept his hands in his pockets. He nodded. “Yes... in a way. You needed to be there physically, to feel the area, to sense completely what I wanted to show you. But you were also safely in bed.”
    Margaret punched him again, shouted, “How can that be? I was either in bed or I - “
    The angel's face darkened. “Stop asking so many damned, insignificant questions!”
    She stepped back. David glared, took a step forward and continued, “Now shut your mouth and open your ears!”  Margaret backed up again. David followed. “In fifty-five days, millions of people on this planet are going to be dead. Do you understand dead ? I think you do! Dead !”
    She covered her ears. “Shut up! You're not an angel!”
    She turned away and knelt hard on the ground, feeling nothing but a vague sense of solidity beneath her.
    David was dark above her, his skin fading to the same shadowy resonance as his clothes. “We have too much to do,” he breathed. “I don’t need to screw around any further with you and your pathetic denial. I'm no demon. I am an angel to the Lord Most High, sent to pass His message to those He deems suitable to lead you people to salvation.”
    “But why -”
    “Don't you ever ask why again, do you understand me? What will happen will happen out of the natural order of the world, the end of a countdown set in motion at the very beginning of time. God will not stop it, must not. It is the natural order of things. But He will use this moment to test your faith, and to save as many from death as possible since, for many of them, their death will be eternal. Praise the Lord for His mercy and compassion!”
    He leaned over her and shouted, “Now get off your ass and build His ark! “
    Margaret awoke with the bedside lamp shining in her face, the ceiling moving in swirls above her. She was crying. Small, gentle hands were on her arm and shoulder.
    “Mommy, it's OK. You were having a bad dream.” Katie rubbed her arm, back and forth with both of her hands.
    Peeking from behind her big sister, a sleepy, wide-eyed Robin looked hopefully at her.
    Margaret whispered, “Oh, my God,” then sat up in bed and gathered her daughters to her.
     
    *     *     *
     
    Talk radio programs had already become constant companions at home and in the car, both mocking and acknowledging her sanity. This wasn’t a local phenomenon. There weren't thousands of them, not yet, but enough to set Margaret to realize she wasn't alone. If these few brave souls were already acknowledging what was happening, how many others were not?
    The reaction so far had been to suppress the callers completely, but not before playing with them like cats to mice. Everyone assumed this had become the latest trend in crank calls. Only the religious stations took the calls with some semblance of acceptance.
    After last night’s dream, Margaret assured the girls that it was only a nightmare. When Katie asked if it had been