Excerpted Inspirations #160Linda Odhner, with photos by Liz KufsJan 7, 20250 min readUpdated: Feb 10, 2025
![[Continued from last week]
[Brandun’s cousin Kempe also dreams of their Uncle Eadric.]
A choking sob startled Brandun. Kempe rolled over on his side and cried, his arm covering his head. Still filled with emotion from his dream, Brandun sat up and pulled himself over to his cousin. He laid his head on Kempe’s shoulder and put his arms around him, letting him cry. Kempe’s body shook with sorrow, and when finally he calmed himself, Brandon asked, “Were you with Eadric?”
Kempe turned his head sharply to look at Brandun, amazement in his eyes. “How did you know?” he questioned hoarsely.
“I was with him, too,” Brandun answered.
“It was so clear – the dream,” Kempe began. “It felt real.”
“It was real,” Brandun insisted.
Kempe nodded. “He – loves me,” he continued, pausing to swallow. “He said he understands why I’ve been distant, and that it doesn’t matter. We can start over, he and I.”
Brandun smiled broadly, swelling with happiness for his cousin.
“There was more,” Kempe added. He gazed to the east where a faint golden glow signalled the onset of dawn. “There was my father.” He smiled, and his eyes glistened.
“Your father!” Brandun repeated happily.
Kempe turned slowly back toward Brandun. “My father is proud of me,” he told him. “He says to follow my own path, wherever my heart tells me to go. Nothing I choose, as long as I choose for good purposes, will disappoint him.” He turned his head back toward the east, where the edge of a glowing, orange sphere crept over the horizon, pushing back the night.
“I’m sad for the time I could have been close to Eadric, and wasn’t,” Kempe continued. “But I feel hope, because the time to be with him is not over – it will never be over.” He looked back at Brandun. “I see now why it was important for you to know if people still live after death.”
Karin Alfelt Childs, The Temple of Wisdom (1997), pp. 128-129](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6feacf_a27c2f0a05ac41bda3533b10f081f77d~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_1701,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/6feacf_a27c2f0a05ac41bda3533b10f081f77d~mv2.jpg)
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