The original prologue

They taught me to think of them as my parents and I still do think of myself as their little girl, though the relationship wasn’t either biological or legal. And even though they hung the name Gaia on me. I mean, how hippie is that?

They taught me to think of him as my Grandfather, though their relationships with him were similar to mine with them. Not as deliberate, though. Like, I was definitely on my parent’s to-do list, but he kinda got them all dumped on him.

I haven’t been able to be with any of them for some considerable time. Way things work out sometimes, huh? What the hey, come the Resurrection, we’ll all be together again.

It’s kinda hard to say who took up the Faith first, him or them. Like, they brought him the Word, as we call it. But it wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know, y’know. Just like, information about the World and the Flesh that he didn’t already have clear, having only guessed at it by looking at folks. But it’s because of them all that I do the Great Work.

Some of the story I’m going to give you comes straight from his memoirs. I got them left to me after he’d passed on. Some parts come from what my parents saved for me while they could. Some other parts I’ve had to sort of work out. Mostly, I think it’s right, but, to be honest, I’m a lot like Grandfather, and he lived to tell stories. His were mostly fiction, with some deeper Truth buried in them, of course. Mine are mostly the truth, with what you might call a Higher Fiction tucked in here and there.

I know, I know. Me and all those capital letters just don’t seem to go together well do they? And most of the time I don’t talk about it. I just get on with the Work, doing a bit here, a bit there, y’know?  Usually, I try to be just a regular girl.

I know I’m not, but I try.

Like anyone else, though, I kinda want people to understand me. And, like I already said, I just like telling stories. When you hear this one through, I think you’ll agree; it’s a doozy. And why am I telling it now? Well, the Resurrection is close, so I figure it’s about time to get it on record. This is my story too, though I’m not in this part of it, it sort of leads up to me.