The Loose Brick

THE LOOSE BRICK

Zachary’s sister, Emma-Rose was excited about the move to their new house the

next day but Zachary wasn’t. In fact he was angry and fed up with moving yet another

time. It seemed that every few years would mean another move to another house and,

invariably, to another school. He was angry about a lot of things. He was angry about

losing the friends he has. He was angry about having to go to a different school in a

different city or town. He was angry that he had to get used to new teachers and

classmates. He was simply fed up with it all and couldn’t understand why they had to

move so often.

“I wish we could stay here forever”, he said under his breath.

He knew, of course, that his dad was in the military and that moving around was just part

of the career he had chosen. It didn’t matter to Zachary. Nobody seemed to care about

his feelings. Nonetheless, Zachary and his younger sister bombarded their mother and

father with questions about the new house. Questions like:

“How big is it?”

“Where will I be keeping all of my toys and other things?”

“How big is my bedroom?”

“Is it near my new school and are there lots of kids in the neighbourhood for me to play

with?”

The list went on and on.

Once they were in their new house, most of their questions were answered. They were

allowed to keep their toys in the large basement, where Zackary and Emma-Rose had

each ‘claimed’ their own areas. Emma-Rose had chosen an area along the wall opposite

the large furnace.

Zachary had chosen the opposite wall which included a small area behind the furnace. It

was dark in that spot, but Zachary liked it. In his imagination it would become a hiding

place for his ‘weapons,’ or a place for him to suddenly jump out of in order to ‘take his

enemy’ by surprise.

He would often spend hours in the basement while his family was upstairs. He could

hear their laughter whenever they were watching something funny on television. He

could also hear the sound of his sister’s stomping feet as she made her way up to her

bedroom in protest if she didn’t get her way about something.

It happened on one of those nights when Zachary had argued with his parents about

having to move into this new town where there were few kids around his age to play

with. Chris and Kelly tried to explain it to him again but he didn’t understand or he

didn’t want to understand. He went downstairs to the basement and was alone playing

with his remote-controlled helicopter when it came crashing down somewhere behind

the furnace. He got onto his knees to search for it and noticed something unusual. There

seemed to be a light coming from behind one of the bricks in the wall situated behind

the furnace. There appeared to be cracks along the brick’s mortar and some pieces had

fallen out. This allowed the light to shine through. A brick moved a little when he

pressed it and the amount of light increased because of this. He pressed a little harder

and the brick began to slide into the hole behind the wall. He was frightened.

“A brick’s not supposed to move, is it?” he wondered out loud.

“Maybe I should tell dad?”

Then he heard a voice coming through the hole from the other side of the wall.

“Don’t tell anyone!”

“Who was that? Who’s there?” asked Zachary, looking through the gap made by the

dislodged brick.

“We’re kids just like you,” came the reply from a voice which sounded like a young girl.

“There’s more than one of you?” Zachary asked.

“Yes, there are lots of us. Boys and girls and babies too.”

“What are you doing in there? How did you fit into the wall?” asked Zachary, intrigued

by the situation.

“We all live here but we don’t know how we got here.”

“How many of you are there?” Zachary asked as he squinted to see what she looked like.

“Oh, I don’t really know, thousands, I guess,” came her reply.

“Wow!” said Zachary. “How is that possible? How can you all fit in there?”

“There’s really plenty of room for all of us,” she replied.

Then Zachary heard footsteps coming down the basement stairway. He peered out

from behind the furnace to see who it was. His father was coming down to search for a

screwdriver in his toolbox. Zachary came out from behind the furnace and walked over to

his father.

“Dad, can I show something to you?” he asked.

“Sure son, what is it?” his father replied.

“You won’t believe it until you see it. Bring along a flashlight so you’ll be able to see it

better,” Zachary said.

Zachary’s father grabbed the flashlight and followed his son. They both squatted down

and made their way over to the loosened brick. Zachary noticed that the light was gone

from the other side of the wall.

He explained to his father about the light and the girl he spoke to. His father aimed the

flashlight into the hole but saw nothing. There was only a small space between the

opening and another wall.

“Now Zachary, are you certain that you saw a light and spoke to someone in there?” his

father asked.

“Yes Dad. I did. You’ve got to believe me. They were just here!”

His father shone the flashlight into the hole again.

“I don’t know what you think you saw son, but I’ll have to fill in this hole in the morning.

“We can’t have loose bricks now, can we?” he asked with a smile.

Zachary shook his head.

“No Dad. We can’t.”

Zachary knew that his father didn’t believe him. Who would believe such a fantastic

story? As soon as his father had left the basement, Zachary crawled back behind the

furnace. He didn’t need a flashlight because the light from the hole was shining brightly

once again.

“Hey, is anyone there?” he whispered into the hole.

“Yes, we’re here,” came the reply from the other side of the opening. It was still much

too bright for Zachary to be able to see the person who was speaking to him.

“My Dad’s gonna block you in tomorrow. You’ll never be able to get out,” said Zachary,

obviously quite concerned.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be all right. We’re quite happy here. There’s always plenty to do.

There’s lots of friends and everything is taken care of for us,” the same girl replied.

Zachary was really confused now.

“What did she mean when she said that ‘everything is taken care of for us’? Where is it

all coming from and who is helping them? How is all of this possible?” he thought.

He tried to move other bricks out of the way but it wasn’t going to be easy. A couple of

others were loose and he was able to remove them. He needed just one more out of the

way in order for him to fit through the hole. He was determined to get to the other side to

find out what was going on. He began to rock the other brick back and forth until it

became loose enough to remove. Now there was just enough room for him to crawl into

the hole, feet first. He pushed himself through the hole using his hands and landed on his

feet. But when he stood up he looked down to see that he was no longer standing on a

concrete floor. He was standing on a field of green grass!

“This can’t be happening to me!” he said loudly.

After getting used to the bright light he looked around and shouted, “The wall’s gone!

The basement, the house. They’re all gone!”

Looking all around, he saw people everywhere. They were all dressed in flowing gowns

and robes. Men, women and children. There was music playing softly in the background.

The people all had smiles on their faces which seemed to be glowing. Zachary noticed

that a couple of young kids were coming down from a hill. They noticed him and headed

his way.

“You’re new here, aren’t you?” asked the girl.

“Yes. I just came in,” replied Zachary.

“Came in?” she said. “You don’t ‘come in’ to here. You ‘pass over’ in order to get here,

silly.”

“What does ‘pass over’ mean?” Zachary asked.

“It means you’re dead,” the boy beside her abruptly added.

“Dead? I’m not dead!” Zachary shot back. “I came in here through the hole in my

basement wall.”

“Hole in your wall? Show it to me,” the boy insisted.

“I can’t,” said Zachary. “When I came through the hole, the entire wall disappeared and

so did my house! I don’t know if I’ll ever get back home again.

“Don’t worry,” said the girl. “Follow us. We know someone who will probably help

you.”

Zachary nodded and began to follow them. He found out that the girl’s name was

Melanie and the boy’s name was Owen. The three walked over beautiful flower-covered

hills and valleys until they came to a tiny cottage overlooking the peaceful waters of a

crystal clear lake. Melanie told Zachary to knock on the door and walk in. When he did,

he found himself in a small room with a round table and two chairs. A little old man was

sitting in one of them and looked up at Zachary with a smile.

“What’s your name young man?” he asked as he held onto a rather large ledger.

“Zachary Bennett, Sir,” he answered.

“Well, Zachary Bennett, have a seat in that chair please,” the old man said as he pointed

to the chair across from him.

The old man looked down at the ledger and flipped the pages.

“Hmm. Are you sure that your name is Zachary Bennett?” he asked. “I have no such

person listed here.”

“Of course my name is Zachary Bennett. I’m sure that I would know my own name,”

Zachary replied rather strongly.

“Oh my. This is most unusual. My, my. This has never happened before,” said the old

man while fidgeting with his pencil. “This changes everything. This will throw

everything out of whack. How did you get here? Where did you come from?”

“Just like I told Melanie, I came through a hole in the brick wall,” Zachary answered.

“I have never heard that one before. Did someone force you through the hole?” he

asked as he made notes along the side of the ledger.

“It was nothing like that,” insisted Zachary. “I saw a light shining around a loose brick

in my basement and I removed a few of them in order to come through.”

“Then there’s been a breech! Show me where you came through,” the old man said.

“I can’t. The wall disappeared as soon as I came through to this side,” said Zachary,

becoming increasingly worried.

The old man grunted as he got down from his chair. He began pacing back and forth,

obviously deep in thought.

“Ah! I’ve got it!” he shouted. He grabbed Zachary by the hand and led him out of the

cottage. They walked for a short time through a thick pink mist towards a beautiful city in

the distance. It was all in white and sparkled like diamonds. The mist began to clear up

as they walked closer. But it was certainly not an ordinary city. It was situated in a

cloud!

“How are we going to get up there?” Zachary asked.

The answer came very quickly, for the two of them began floating up towards it!

Zachary’s mouth opened in amazement as they soon approached the city.

“Where are we? Is this heaven?” he asked the old man as they gently landed.

“Heaven?” the old man asked. “No, this is not heaven, Zachary. Look closely.

What do you see?”

“It looks like a city with white buildings all in a row.”

Zachary took an even closer look around.

“They aren’t buildings. They’re tombstones! Everywhere I look, thousands upon

thousands of tombstones!” he cried out.

Suddenly he found himself alone. The old man had disappeared. It was quiet. Strangely

quite and so very peaceful. He walked over to take a closer look at the small plaques

mounted on each tombstone. He read and discovered that these were not actual burial

stones for there were no actual bodies buried there. Each inscription stated how the

person had died but more importantly how he or she lived. Some had died over seas

fighting for their country and its freedom. Others had died in the line of duty as police

officers and firefighters. There were plaques commemorating the sacrifices of doctors,

paramedics and rescue workers. Zachary noticed a Bible quote:

‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends’ John 15:13’.

“Zachary Bennett,” came the words from the old man who reappeared. “Well, it’s been

all cleared up. There was a glitch that occurred and it shouldn’t happen again. Because

you are the son of a military man, that probably contributed to it. We are sending you

back home. It is not your time.”

“Before you send me back, please tell me where we are.”

The old man placed a hand on Zachary’s shoulder and said, “This is a place of honour to

remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.”

Suddenly Zachary found himself lying behind the furnace. He heard footsteps coming

down to the basement and the voice of his father calling out for him.

“I’m here Dad, behind the furnace,” he answered.

His father popped his head in and told Zachary that it was time for bed.

“OK Dad,” Zachary said. “I’m coming but I need to tell you something.”

“What is it son?”

“I won’t be complaining about having to move ever again.”

“What changed your mind, Zachary?”

“I just realized that my Dad is a real-life hero!”