Epilogue: A Happy New Year

 

“What game should we play?” Eloise asked.

“Hmmm. . .” Cloudy squinted one eye and looked up to the ceiling. “We should play a relatively short game because I want to get outside and see the fireworks pop when midnight comes around.”

It was the last day of December, and it was thirty minutes to midnight. Cloudy and her friends were in the sunroom of Vastre Hall, discussing what game to play to pass the time. Dana was by this time almost completely healed from her wounds and she and her baby were able to come home.

“Hey, I know!” Nika said. “We can play Leapfrog!”

“No way! Cloudy’s too little,” Eloise objected. “We’d break her back.”

Meta Knight walked into the sunroom at that moment, smiling at the children. “Hello. What are you all doing?”

“Trying to figure out what game to play so we’re not totally bored until midnight,” Lea responded.

Meta Knight laughed. “Then play Hide and Seek.”

“Booooring!” Valerie sighed. “Seriously, that’s the lamest game in the entire galaxy. All you do is count to whatever number you wish while everyone hides and then you come out and try to find all the hidden people. Not my game! No thanks!”

“Well, you don’t have to play,” Meta Knight said. “But the rest can. Do you all want to?”

“Yeah!” everyone except Valerie shouted.

“I will count,” Meta Knight said, a hint of humor in his voice.

“Hey, when you come to find us, just say, ‘¿Dónde estás tú?‘” Cloudy said. “Okay?”

“All right,” Meta Knight agreed, but he sounded confused. “But why do I need to ask where you are? The point is for me to find you without you giving away your hiding place.”

“I just think it adds more fun to the game,” Cloudy replied. “Plus, you need to teach these kids more Spanish. It’ll come in handy for them one day.” She grinned. “¡El español es realmente bueno para aprender!”

Meta Knight stared at Cloudy, wondering where she came up with these strange ideas. But for the sake of the kids he would do as she asked. “Okay, then. Get ready to hide! I’m going to count to twenty.” He closed his eyes and counted, “One, two, three. . .”

“No, no, tiempo fuera, tiempo fuera,” Cloudy broke in, shaking her head. “Count in Spanish.”

Meta Knight shook his head, trying not to laugh. “All right. Go hide!” And he began to count again, “Uno, dos, tres, cuatro. . .”

The children sprinted away and darted inside the house, running through every room, trying to find a good hiding place. As Star ran with Cloudy into the living room, she glanced about for a place for her little sister to hide. Upon seeing the fireplace, she got a brilliant idea. She skidded to a stop and exclaimed, “Cloudy!”

“Huh?” Cloudy asked breathlessly. “What?”

“Get in the fireplace!”

“What?!” Cloudy yelled. “No way, José! Never would I do that! I’d get all black and sooty!”

“But it’s a good hiding place!” Star said. “Besides, if Meta Knight can’t find you in there, no one can!”

“Why don’t you just go in?” Cloudy wanted to know.

“No, I’ll find somewhere else to hide. I want Meta Knight to think you’re the best Hide and Seek player around.” And with those words, she pushed her little sister into the fireplace, burying her in ashes and soot. “There. You’ll blend in and no one will find you. Later.” Then she was gone.

Cloudy sat up, coughing and shaking the soot out of her thick fur. “If there was one place I would never have chosen for hiding, it would have been in here,” she grumbled. “This place is disgusting.”

Cloudy looked around the fireplace. The bricks were worn and stained with soot and grime. The ashes of logs and other materials were stuck in the cracks between the bricks.

Just then, Cloudy heard Meta Knight calling to the kids, and she crouched down as much as she could without sticking her face in the soot. As she did, she looked up the chimney and saw metal pegs sticking out of the brick. She frowned, wondering why on earth there would be pegs stuck in the chimney wall. She decided to investigate further.

She began to climb the pegs slowly, carefully. It wasn’t easy, since she was a dog and dogs don’t have fingers. After she climbed up about twenty pegs, she saw that they ended at a brick that was loose and lighter in color than the others. She grabbed the brick in her teeth and tugged at it until it popped out, and she let it fall quietly into the soot below. Then she turned back to the wall and saw that there was an opening behind the brick, and inside the opening sat a small box with delicate carving.

Cloudy’s eyes widened as she read the words carved on the lid,” To Dana from Mother.” Her mind went back to Nathaniel Osen and his claims about there having been a treasure in Vastre Hall. Could this be what he had been talking about?

Cloudy knew she had to show her discovery to her friends and family. Carefully drawing out the box from its hiding place and gripping it firmly between her teeth, she carefully climbed down the pegs and let herself drop to the floor. She crawled out of the fireplace, shaking the soot off her fur. Then she darted out of the living room and into the kitchen, where Meta Knight was. He was still calling, “¿Dónde estás tú?”

Cloudy set the box on the floor in front of her. “Hey!” she called.

Meta Knight turned around and saw Cloudy. Sighing, he said, “Cloudy, I’m pretty sure the whole point of this game is for me to find you, not the other way around.”

“I know,” Cloudy said. “But I made a really surprising discovery! I think there really is a treasure at Vastre Hall!”

Meta Knight was intrigued. “What do you mean?”

Cloudy nosed the box on the floor. “This is from Miss Dana’s mother.”

Meta Knight started, then walked over and picked up the box. “Let’s give it to her,” he said. “She’s on the front porch with Mother. Follow me.”

Cloudy followed Meta Knight out of the kitchen and through several rooms until they reached the front porch. Meta Knight swung open the door and stepped outside into the frigid air. Cloudy followed suit, feeling the icy-cold cement numb her paws.

Dana, a red scarf wrapped around her shoulders, was sitting in a rocking chair and feeding her baby. She looked up at Meta Knight with a warm smile on her face. “Hello, Meta Knight,” she said politely. Then her gaze fell upon the box in his hands and her brow furrowed in puzzlement. “What’s that?”

Meta Knight put the box in her hands. “It’s yours,” he said gently. “It was from your mother.”

Shocked, Dana glanced at Frank, who merely shrugged.

“Where’d you get that, Magnus?” Scazzarda asked.

Meta Knight pointed to Cloudy. “She found it, not me,” he explained.

“Where did you find it, Cloudy?” Dana asked.

“I found it in the fireplace,” Cloudy replied. “There were these pegs I climbed up and there was this loose brick, so I pulled it out and there was a secret hiding place and the box was inside.”

Handing the baby to her husband, Dana put her hand on the lid of the box and lifted it carefully. She peered inside and gave a low gasp.

“What is it?” Cloudy wondered.

Dana took out several gold and silver coins and pretty necklaces inlaid with precious stones. Cloudy gaped at the precious belongings, amazed.

“Do you suppose,” Frank said slowly, “that this was the treasure Nathaniel was talking about?”

“Oh, yes! I believe it is!” Dana said happily. “I remember seeing my mother wear many of these necklaces when I was a young toddler!”

Scazzarda put an arm around her son. “That’s truly an amazing discovery, Cloudy.”

“Thank you,” Cloudy said softly.

“Hey, Meta Knight!” Nika complained, coming out on the porch with the other children. “I thought you were going to find us, but instead you’re out here with Miss Dana!”

“Sorry, Nika,” said Meta Knight in a calm manner. “We got sidetracked by a treasure Cloudy found.”

“Treasure?” Star repeated.

Dana showed each of the children in turn what was in the box. Eloise was awestruck by the fact that Dana’s mother had owned so many beautiful possessions. “Where did she ever get them?” she asked.

Dana smiled at the sincere question. “My dad bought them for her. He was a successful businessman and he collected valuable coins from all over the world.”

“Maybe that’s how your mother came to live in Vastre Hall,” Cloudy broke in.

Dana blinked. “By Father collecting coins?”

“No,” Cloudy answered, shaking her head. “By being a successful businessman.”

Dana’s eyes widened. “You know what, Cloudy? You might be right.” There was a whistling sound and Dana looked up to the sky just in time to see a firework explode in a shower of black dust, gray smoke, and a magnificent display of scarlet.

Cloudy settled herself on the cement, ignoring the coldness of the tiles. “I find it amazing that God equipped us all with amazing abilities to help others, such as being able to write, draw, paint, be a nurse. . .and make fireworks,” she declared. “He really loves us, doesn’t He?”

“That He does,” Frank said with a nod, smiling widely. “He loves us all.”

Meta Knight sighed deeply. Dana turned to him, concern etched on her face. “Meta Knight, are you okay?”

Meta Knight turned his eyes to the black sky exploding with color. “I still don’t understand.”

“Understand what?” Dana asked.

“Why God loves us,” Meta Knight muttered. “If He’s even real, that is.”

Dana felt her patience slip a notch. Hadn’t she and the others already explained everything there was to know about God’s love for us? Had Meta Knight not seen the proof that God was real? So why did he keep doubting? What was there to doubt? She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Cloudy. “Miss Dana, I’ll handle this,” she said. “I’m going to sing the answer to him.”

“Sing?” said Sniper.

“Mm.” Cloudy bobbed her head and turned to Meta Knight. “You wanted to know why God loves us. Well, here’s why.” And she began to sing:

 

“Mere love can’t fill this space,
Mere love can’t overwhelm this place,
Mere love can’t in sinful man take root
But only Your love, God, bears good fruit.

Why you love me, I couldn’t understand,
Why You love me, I couldn’t contemplate,
But when I saw Your nail-scarred hands
And your pierced side,
I realized why You love me:
In my heart you wish to reside.”

 

Springtime and Showerstorm, who had bee standing in thefront yard and watching the fireworks, came up the porch steps and smiled at their youngest daughter. The other kids seemed mesmerized  by Cloudy’s singing and Dana was tapping her foot in time to the imaginary music.

 

“Now I’m free forevermore!
God, I want to know You more.
You are my Hope, my Savior, my Lord,
My Alpha, my Omega, my Precious Word.

Why you love me, I couldn’t understand,
Why You love me, I couldn’t contemplate,
But when I saw Your nail-scarred hands
And your pierced side,
I realized why You love me:
In my heart you wish to reside.”

 

Star smiled at the last two verses in the chorus. Yes, it was true. God does love us because he wants to come into our hearts and have a relationship with us. He loves us because He is God and because God loves everyone. No matter how much we’ve rebelled against God, no matter how far we’ve wandered, no matter how wicked we are, God still loves us. Nobody else in the world could do that.

 

“Jesus loves me, oh, this I know
Because the Bible tells me so
I belong to Him and Him alone
And one day I’ll worship before His throne.

Why you love me, I couldn’t understand,
Why You love me, I couldn’t contemplate,
But when I saw Your nail-scarred hands
And your pierced side,
I realized why You love me:
In my heart you wish to reside.

Oh, yes, Jesus loves me so
That for me He came to die
He wants me to be His Child
And in His pastures lie.”

 

Cloudy finished and smiled solemnly at her family and friends. “There’s your answer, Meta Knight,” she said, her eyes shining as brightly as the fireworks when they exploded.

Meta Knight drew his cape around himself and knelt down to pat Cloudy’s fur gently. “Thank you, my friend,” he said softly, though his voice was quivering. “I won’t forget your song.”

Cloudy beamed at her best friend. “Okay, Meta Knight.”

“That’s a really good song, Cloudy,” Scazzarda said. “What’s it called?”

“‘Why You Love Me,'” Cloudy replied.

Scazzarda bobbed her head. “I see. That’s really sweet. You have a beautiful voice.”

“Thanks,” Cloudy shyly answered.

Frank then looked at his watch and exclaimed. “Hey it’s thirty seconds to midnight!”

Cloudy stood to her feet, temporarily forgetting the cold. She watched the sky for the giant display of fireworks Dana had told her about that signaled the end of the old year and the start of the new.

“Countdown!” Frank shouted. “Ten, nine. . .”

“. . .Eight, seven. . .” the other adults said.

“. . .Five, four, three. . .” the children called.

They all intently gazed at the dark sky as all shouted out the final numbers. “. . .Three, two, one!”

Suddenly, a glorious display of red, orange, purple, and gold fireworks shot up into the air, making a high-pitched whistle. Then it erupted into a bright palette of mixed colors that merged together to form into one opulent panorama.

“Happy New Year!” they all shouted out in one voice. A firework from far away exploded as if in answer.

Dana yawned, the stretched and smiled sadly at Cloudy. “I’m sorry you have to go away tomorrow, Cloudy. I’ll really miss you around here. You were such a help.”

Cloudy too felt depressed that she had to leave. However, she worked up a smile and said, “Don’t worry, Miss Dana. Maybe we can come back for Christmas this year.”

“Yeah!” Star chimed. “Can we, Mommy?”

Springtime smiled. “Honey, I’d love to. But I’m not certain yet. Perhaps we will, perhaps we won’t. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“All right,” agreed Star.

Dana dug in the box and drew out a sublime aquamarine choker, then got up out of her chair and walked over to Cloudy. She knelt down and clipped the necklace around the Malamute puppy’s neck. “That’s for you to remember us by, Cloudburst, and it’s to thank you for all your help.”

Cloudy shook her head. “Miss Dana, no way could I ever accept such a priceless beauty from you. There’s just no way.”

But Dana put up her hand. “Say no more. It’s yours and that’s final.” She then proceeded to give a necklace to every girl and a coin to every boy. “Keep those, everyone, and don’t forget us,” said Dana.

Eloise threw her arms around Dana’s neck and embraced her. “I’ll never forget you, Miss Dana. Never.”

Nika hugged Dana too. “I like you, Miss Dana. I wish I could stay with you.”

Cloudy turned to look at her reflection in the living room window. She saw a small Malamute puppy with fluffy black and white fur, a purple bow on her head, a black choker embedded with sparkling aquamarine stones around her neck. And as she looked at her reflection, she asked herself, “Am I really who others say I am?”

“Indeed,” Springtime said, coming up beside Cloudy. “You’re special, beautiful, unique, smart, and compassionate and sincere in every way, my daughter. You should be proud of those traits.”

“I am,” Cloudy said. “But do you really think I can be a great Star Warrior someday?”

“Yes, I believe it with all my heart,” Meta Knight said, coming to the other side of Cloudy. “You are truly special, my friend.”

“Meta Knight, you’re special too,” Cloudy said, turning to face him and looking full into his face. “No matter what others say about you or how bad your past is, you’ll always be more than a war-scant warrior to me.” She laughed. “And don’t forget to choose joy no matter what, because it will completely change your perspective on life!”

Meta Knight looked away beyond the stars, then back at his friend. “I love you, Cloudy,” he said, his voice shaking as if he were trying not to cry.

Cloudy wagged her tail. “I love you too,” she said sincerely.

Dana had been watching the scene with tears in her eyes. “What a wonderful friendship between those two,” she whispered to her husband.

“They have a close emotional bond,” Frank noted.

Scazzarda loudly cleared her throat. “Dana, did you forget to tell the others what you located?” she asked loudly.

Star tilted her head, her eyes clouded with confusion. “Huh?”

“Oh, right!” Dana chuckled sheepishly. “I forgot to tell you guys that all your luggage has been located and was dropped off here last night. Some stuff was ruined and had to be discarded, but the majority is relatively okay. You can go home with it.”

“All right!” Nika crowed, pumping a fist into the air.

“Well, that took long enough,” Sniper snapped. “But I’m glad it was finally dropped off.”

“Are we going to travel by plane again?” Star asked with a groan.

“No,” Springtime said. “We’re not taking that chance again. We’re going by ship this time.”

The children cheered. “Anyway, a ship’s probably a lot safer than being on a plane,” Sniper said, and no one argued with that.

“I’m beat,” Eloise said, trying to stifle a yawn. “Let’s get to bed.”

“All right,” Miriam said. “Let’s go.”

“Good night, kids!” Springtime called as they filed into the house one by one.

Cloudy was the last one of the line. As she was about to go inside, she turned and snuggled up to Meta Knight. “Happy New Year, Sir Meta Knight,” she said quietly.

Meta Knight’s eyes flashed light blue. “Happy New Year, little Star Warrior.”

Another firework exploded in the night sky, and both friends turned to face it. In the light of the display, Cloudy noticed how bright Meta Knight’s eyes were. He seemed to have found hope—a kind that was infinitely better than any fleeting earthly hope.

And that kind of hope comes only from Jesus Christ.

Cloudy grinned, her eyes as bright as Meta Knight’s. “Thank You, Jesus, Your wonderful blessings,” she prayed out loud. “You are the One we serve and the only One worthy to be praised. I pray all will see Your name and Your power.”

 

* * * * *

 

Thus marks the end of another story, dear readers. But never forget to choose joy no matter what, though you go through troubling times. And especially never forget the One Who was born to save us all—Jesus Christ. He is the reason we are alive and breathing and are able to live every day for His glory. To God be all the praise and doxology!