And then he was running, laughing. Caught up in his excitement, I took off after him. It was like running on air because there still was no definition to anything.

I glanced ahead, trying to see what was coming, but all I saw was more white. It hardly looked like an “ahead” at all, but I was moving, my feet smacking the hard surface under me.

I heard it before I saw it. Out of nowhere it appeared. I nearly stumbled, but I managed to stay upright as I pulled up and stared at the scene.

There, against the perfectly white backdrop, thundered a massive waterfall, fed by the sky and spreading out into a large crystal pool. The wall of beautiful green and blue water, roaring in its majesty, was the width of Haven Valley at least. I jerked my head up but couldn’t see its source. It appeared to extend forever.

A waterfall out of nowhere in a place that seemed fictional . . . Amazement filled me. Eli had rushed all the way to the pool’s edge and was on his knees, bending toward the glassy surface, watching it swirl. He looked back over his shoulder and waved me closer.

Drawn to the water, I hurried forward, dropped to my knees beside Eli, and stared at the crystal pool. Waves of light wove their way through the water just beneath the surface like thousands of glowing ribbons.

The water’s alive, I thought. It’s not just water.

“Think of it as love.” Eli looked up at me with round eyes. “God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. God is love, and whoever aligns to true love aligns to that light.”

Knowledge returned to me in a flash, and I spoke what I knew. “The light of the world.”

“All-powerful, all-consuming, infinite, having no beginning and no end. The same light that made you in its likeness. It is you and in you. It always has been.”

But I’d been blind to it.

My fingers were trembling. It was as if a long-lost melody was coming back to me after a lifetime of deafness. As if my eyes were being opened for the first time since I’d been delivered from my mother’s womb.

“Watch.” Eli cupped his palm and dipped it into the water. He drew his hand back up, held it inches below his chin, and spoke, keeping his eyes fixed on the small pool of water in his hand. “Love, dear one. The love that knows no wrong like the light knows no darkness.” Then he lifted his hand to his lips and tipped the water into his mouth. He spread his arms and beamed at the sky as his little body trembled with joy. “Love, daughter of heaven! Drink the light that is love!”