Page 13 of The Sign for Home

SignSAVED:Your two fists are crossed as if bound together at the wrists, then you twist your wrists outward and apart as if you’ve broken your chains.

“But do not wait to know if you are a member of the Great Crowd!” Brother Birch would always say. “When the Great Tribulation comes, there will be no time to make your peace with God. That time is now! For those who wait, the sinners, the unbelievers, the blasphemers, it is the Lake of Fire!”

While you could not comprehend everything Brother Birch said when you were young, you knew that whenever he spoke of the Lake of Fire you felt a sickness in your stomach, and not because you didn’t know how to swim or because of how hot it might be. The Lake of Fire meant one thing:

“Oblivion!” Brother Birch would warn. “That’s right. The righteous shall have the kingdom of heaven for eternity. For the wicked, upon death, they shall instantly become nothing.”

Yes, you knew what “saved” meant.

As you walked back to your dorm with Molly, the dozens of new signsand words swirled around your mind, but still you felt unsettled by the memory of Brother Birch’s lessons on salvation and the Lake of Fire. You stopped Molly and tapped her shoulder.

“Question. Jehovah God, friendly, strict… which?”

Molly, who had been so exhausted a minute before, became energized again.

“Jehovah God is wonderful! He cherishes you! He is your Heavenly Father.”

“Father?” you asked, perplexed. “Long long time ago, Mama say my father ran away. Mama stuck all alone. Broken heart. Crying because father.”

“That was your earthly father. He was wicked. Brother Birch told me. Jehovah God is your real, most important father. Jesus is His son. If you obey Jehovah God’s word, He will take you to live with Him in heaven.”

You repeated the sign forheaven, which you’d known all your life.

SignHEAVEN: Both hands, palms down in front of the face, twirl around each other and rise like ascending souls. When they arrive above the head, they separate, creating the floor of heaven.

“Heaven? Looks like what?”

Molly took a deep breath. “Wow! Heaven is the most beautiful place anywhere. In heaven, no one is ever sad or sick or lonely. Never. I’ll tell you a secret.”

Molly leaned in, hiding her signs from snoops.

“In heaven you will be able to hear and see again perfectly.”

Molly’s words thrilled you. You didn’t care about the hearing part, but you longed for your vision to get back to where it had been.

“I want vision strong again! I go heaven… when?”

“When Judgment Day comes.Ifyou’re good. Right now you need to learn to read and write and improve your ASL so you can preach the word of God. Then you’ll be able to bring the goats to the Lord.”

“Judgment Day… when?”

“That’s enough,” Molly begged. “Lunch is over now. Go up the stairs like I taught you. I’ll see you at your afternoon class.”

“One more question…”

“Go!” Molly demanded.

As you headed up the stairs your hand touched the strange wooden object that sat at the very end of the banister. It was shaped like a pineapple without its top. Surely you needed to know its name. You ran back and found Molly, pulling her back, pointing to the mysterious item.

“Last question! Promise! This? What name?”

“This is why you dragged me back?” Molly asked, all her niceness seeping out some hole at the bottom of her exhausted being. “I don’t know what it’s called. It’s just the end of the banister. Now go to your room. Not everything has a word, Arlo.”

Not everything has a word? That can’t be.Molly just didn’tknowthe word, and was too lazy to ask anyone, and now you would be embarrassed in front of the other students.

“Liar!” your hands yelled. “You lie because I Deaf and low-vision!”

“Bad boy! You should not call people that here! That’s a sin!”

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