“Non impedir lo suo fatale andare:
Vuolsi cosí colá dove si puote
Ció che si vuole, e piú non dimandare”
(Hinder thou not his fate-ordained advance;
thus is it yonder willed, where there is power
to do whate’er is willed; so ask no more!
Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto V, vers. 22-24,
transl. by Courtney Langdon.)
Amaliel drifted among splendors he was unfamiliar with.
He waved aside the surrounding air, which was heavy like a veil, and felt that the iridescent Doorway of Encounters was some distance away. He was afraid and anxious…
It had all started some eons ago, when he fulfilled his assignments in the Globe next to other colleagues of the Evening Star. He knew he his task well, namely, to figure out the weaknesses and tendencies of the poor souls that wandered through that lone and dreary world so that he could motivate them to break the promises they had made before leaving their Home. Of course, the Great Forgetfulness, which the Father had decreed upon everyone entering the Globe, was a lot of help in carrying out this task. In this way, everyone in the Globe would recognize that the Plan was a failure and would once again consider the Star’s proposal, which had caused the Big Battle and Banishment.
Every time he descended to the Globe, he would run into the Elder Brother’s colleagues, who, at the other side of the Boundary, carried out commands that were at odds with his own. He knew all of them by now: Domiel, Adiriel, Mehiel, and others. He had clashed fiercely several times with Sabrael over some lost soul. Sometimes the Archangel Ophaniel would join them. Both sides saw successes and failures, but ultimately Brother Lucifer’s Master Design would win out.
Some planetary orbits ago, he had been assigned to watch/control a young couple that carried out their wandering of the World. Their earthly names were Pablo and Eliza. They had recently married, and their first pregnancy had now ended in a miscarriage. Pain and frustration were tangible in their lives. Amaliel was adept at working with pain, at pulling on the strings of the soul to the breaking point. Many couples tore themselves apart when facing challenges. This couple in particular were followers of the Elder Brother and read regularly from the pages of the Book. Therefore, they were high value targets.
Something unexplainable happened then… While Amaliel attempted to exert influence on their ideas/wills, their own feelings began suddenly entering his mind/heart with unprecedented force. This he was not prepared for. Intense waves of what Pablo and Eliza felt for each other, for their unbirthed child, and for the Elder Brother spread through him with stunning power.
He did not easily recover… Something had shattered inside of him. He followed his bleak itinerary back to the infernal regions harboring doubt as to the Master Design’s eventual success.
Amaliel was sitting in Superior Inspector Rashiel’s office. Rashiel’s blazing and inquisitive gazes indicated bad things to come.
“What’s the matter, Amaliel? Are you no longer enjoying your visits to the Globe? You used to be one of the best punishing brethren, but your performance has diminished significantly,” he said with almost tangible anger from his desk upon its raised platform.
“Nothing’s wrong… I just wonder about man…”
“Man? That tiny bubble in the mud? That meaningless stirring in the sludge? That thing? That Adam? That Edomite, as he has been rightly called?”
“Yes, but…”
“Your task is not to worry about man. He’s an old brother who has chosen evil. You are to continue doing as you have done all along—disturbing, afflicting, and bending him as far as permitted. When it was necessary to ruin his hopes, mock his sacrifices, darken his life, or torture his soul, I would preferably turn to you. Now you’ve become soft…”
“It so happens that I find something honorable in him, in his hard life…” Even though Amaliel would never admit it, he could not stop thinking about Pablo and Eliza.
“Look at this thing we call the Globe,” said Rashiel as he came down from his platform and placed a condescending hand on Amaliel’s shoulder. “Look at that cold planet trapped in the emptiness of space. It is a pile of mud turning and dissolving in a watery droplet. What a great plan! Man! Whatever achievement he might have only serves to better highlight his limitations. Had it not been for our brother Lucifer, man would still be a needless gardener attempting to care for a weedless garden where plants grew right because they did not know how to grow wrong…”
Amaliel did not say anything.
“Go perform your duty, as you have always done, or I will have to reassign you to a post in the depths of hell. I don’t think you would enjoy it. The ultimate winner and loser in this match will be decided at the end of time, but until then, we must continue to play the game. Man! You do make me laugh…,” remarked the Superior as he returned to his place hoping to bury himself again in ever-increasing paperwork. “Personally, I much prefer the octopus, which is just as intelligent but more tactful…”
The hellish laughter that followed that final comment rung in Amaliel’s ears as he walked away. He was in trouble.
Despite it all, his performance did not improve, and he was fully aware that soon Superior Rashiel would call him back in to report.
He read from the Book about the Elder Brother at every opportunity. In due time, he learned that Pablo and Eliza were expecting a new baby, and, even thought he was not supposed to, he was happy for them. He no longer was who he used to be. He had become something else…
One day at sunrise in the area of the Globe where he worked, Amaliel saw Archangel Ophaniel among the opposing Brethren of Light. He crept closer to the Boundary until a voice/thought entered his mind.
“Why do you come to me, Child of Disobedience? You know there can be no dealings between us.”
“I wish to be taught about the Eldest Brother’s missions and to receive the benefits of His shed blood.”
“That is beyond your ability or even mine. It would be a mockery of the Father’s everlasting decrees.”
“Then, what happens to repentance and the possibility of changing? Is it only a deceitful story for those who wander in the Globe?”
“You and your banished colleagues are beyond the reach of those benefits, for ever and ever…”
“But I read in the Book that His sacrifice is universal!”
“Let us discuss this no more. Go back to your tasks, and I will go back to mine. I will take your case to my fellow servants, but don’t hold out much hope. If there is an answer, you will receive it as personal inspiration, and a Doorway of Encounters will open for your safety.”
And so the mind-to-mind conversation came to an end.
Amaliel now headed definitively toward that Doorway in fear and reverence. A silhouette waited for him there. It was Gabriel of the High Spheres! He could scarcely believe that his case had made it all the way up to the top rungs in what was known in the Globe as Jacob’s Ladder.
Exquisitely disturbing colors filled the inside of the Doorway, in a marvelous ambiance where exceedingly high columns disappeared upward into the unfathomable, transparent ether. Elementary particles, spheres, and stars in orbit paraded under a heavenly blue light. Everything was sublime, fully peaceful and serenely warm.
Overwhelmed, he tried to kneel in shame.
“Amaliel, Amaliel,” the Archangel’s warm hand touched his shoulder.
“Arise. I am but your brother and fellow servant, even though we serve different masters. What is it you desire?”
“You know well what I want. I wish to go beyond the Boundary in support of the Father’s Plan.”
“That would be a violation of the Law.”
“What is the role of mercy, then?”
“I see you have been reading the Book. You therefore ought to know that mercy cannot rob justice.”
“Die Geisterwelt ist nicht verschlossen,” said Amaliel straight away, quoting an earthly wise man in his own language.
“Yes,” admitted Gabriel amusedly. “The spirit world is not shut. You have not wasted your visits to the Globe.”
“I need the possibility of redemption. Even if it takes eons upon eons. I will serve the servants. I will assist the suborder of the song-uttering Degalim. I will polish Israfel’s apocalyptic trumpets. I will work at the ladder’s lowest rungs until I prove I can be trusted. I will do whatever it takes!”
“Enough, Amaliel! Close your eyes and extend your right hand.”
The banished being felt his mind/heart being pierced by an intelligent, superior power. There was not a part of his spirit that was not searched.
A gentle tug at his arm. A blinding light… And he was on the other side of the Boundary.
“It is somewhat unusual, but it has been done before,” said Gabriel as he smiled. “Whatever the case may be, you could no longer return to Banishment among your brethren. Come, follow me. There is but little time. You must change clothes.”
Two angels helped him put on clothes of light. Together they headed toward a white, glowing building that stood out in the distance. On the way there, he could see streets of gold, a sea of glass, and countless messengers carrying out diverse tasks. All were busy and seemed happy.
As Amaliel wondered what his punishment/fate(?) would be, they arrived at the massive gates. Beyond the threshold there was a tunnel of light that grew dimmer as it reached closer to its final destination: the Globe. His strength nearly failed him.
“There is no other way, Amaliel.” He felt Gabriel’s voice in his mind.
He was led to the conduit’s entrance, where he was swiftly absorbed. As he descended to the Globe with extraordinary speed, he discovered the universe was filled with ineffable harmonies to which he belonged seamlessly as another note.
His vision was blurry, but he thought he recognized familiar voices and faces. All at once, the Great Forgetfulness came upon him…
“Our first child,” said Pablo.
“He’s beautiful,” replied Eliza.
“Let’s name him Pablo Amaliel.”
“Amaliel? Is there someone in your family history with that name?”
“No, but it’s an angel’s name. And, to us, that’s what he’ll be for sure…”
They held hands and watched the new arrival tenderly.
translated by Gabriel González
Mario R. Montani (montaniflessia@yahoo.com.ar) lives in Bahía Blanca, Argentina. He studied Humanities at Argentina’s National University of the South. His short story collection El Castillo Gris y otros cuentos (The Gray Castle and Other Stories) was published by Editorial Dunken in 2009. He has been a member of Cofradía de Letras Mormonas, a group that promotes literature among Spanish-speaking Latter-day Saints, since 2015. He keeps a personal blog titled Mormosofia, where he discusses religious art, theology, and philosophy within Mormon culture. He currently serves as the Multi-Stake Director of Public Affairs and Communications in the Bahía Blanca area.
