Chapter 13 - Page 177 - Tunnel Vision

    Suddenly Jim’s body began to transform. He became transparent, as if he were clear glass. The village people watched in terror. Jim looked monstrous. Anger suffused his face.

   Everyone, including the boy’s parents, fled to shore. Only Rhasha remained in the water next to the rock.

   Once the people were on the shore, Jim’s monstrous appearance subsided, but he remained transparent. He knelt beside the boy. His transparent body gleamed in the sunlight. Jim raised his face toward heaven and placed his hands together. He began to pray. His voice didn’t sound like his own, but like his spirit’s voice, coming from deep within his body and sounding as though it was being amplified through speakers.

   “Father in heaven,” his voice boomed, “please forgive me for my sins and have mercy on my soul.”

   A pale blue glow appeared as a dome over the boy and Jim. It covered the rock and Rhasha and extended twenty feet over the water.

   “Father,” Jim said, “since you sent me to Africa, you have not let one of these people die, until today. It’s my fault, Father, that the boy is dead. I should have stopped him from swinging on the vine. Father, if there is even an ounce of life left in the boy’s body, could I beg you to heal him?

   Clouds began to form in the sky, gathering in the east. Suddenly, the clouds let loose with the force of an explosion. They rushed toward the west like a tsunami across the ocean. Lightning streaked across the sky and thunder rumbled through the clouds. The clouds seemed to simmer for a few seconds, then rolled back to the east. The humming sound rose, then faded. The breeze stilled; everything fell silent.