Dear Jesus,

I had a bad dream about my dad.
The strange sign I saw yesterday over the cafeteria door appeared over our house's front door.
As my dad stepped out into the lawn, the image of the lion came alive, grew huge, emerged, and started chasing my dad.
I was shouting and running after them.
The thorns also became living, raced past me towards my now-wearied dad, trapping his legs so he couldn't run anymore.
The lion caught up with him. It let out a triumphant roar.

I woke up with sweat all over me and with a silent scream—Jesus!—just as it was about to devour him.
My digital clock showed 4:34am on its screen.

I knew I had to pray, and I did. I prayed so fervently. Who wouldn't after what I saw? It looked so real.

By the time I was done it was already 6:00am. Dad was rushing to the airport, which was in another state, so he wouldn't miss his flight. I didn't have the chance to tell him about my dream.
After kissing Mom goodbye, he dropped me off at school (I was super early today). I hugged him and asked him to be safe for us.

I guess he noticed my pensive mood cos I was quiet all through the drive to school. He took some minutes to watch me walk in before he drove off. Even though I didn't turn back, I felt his stare.

Throughout school today, I was uneasy. The burden to pray for my dad was heavy on me. Classes slipped by slowly. So did the excruciating uneasiness I felt. I had to find a secluded place in the school hall to pray again for him.

Kathlyn, being the ever-faithful friend she is, asked me what's up with me while we were on our way home. I summarized my plight to her and asked her to join me in prayer. She obliged.

I found myself home. Mom was pacing the length of our living room like she does whenever she's really worried about something.

Alarmed, I flung my school bag off my shoulder to the couch and went to her.

"Mom, what's wrong? You look worried!"

"Your dad hasn't called me ever since he left, and that was about ten hours ago. I've tried calling his line several times, but it's not going through."

Her voice was laced with panic even as she tried to put up a bold front. I understood my mom's panic-mode.
Dad and Mom were like cake and icing.
Most of the time, she follows him on his trips. But at times like this, when she has to stay back with me as per school going, they ensure to keep in contact 25/8.
No more than an hour must pass by without them talking to one another on the phone-that's if he isn't driving or sleeping or busy with his mission.

This situation was bad. So bad I feared Mom would start to hyperventilate with the way she was pacing about.

"That's odd," I said as I checked my phone to see if I had maybe missed a call or SMS from him. There was nothing.

"What's wrong with him, Radiance? I'm more than worried about him as it is now," Mom said.

"Mom, you've got nothing to worry about. Maybe his phone battery is dead or something. Besides, Jesus is with him to protect him," I tried to comfort Mom.
"Still, I want us to pray for him right now. Something was revealed to me via a dream last night. I wasn't able to tell you before we went out because we were all in a hurry."

I went ahead to tell my mom every detail about the dream I had as far as I could remember, and also about the prayer burden upon me while I was at school.

She also told me what you ministered to her while she had her personal devotion. Psalm 2: 'Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing against the Lord and his anointed?'

We joined our faiths as we fervently interceded for Dad, praying for protection upon him. We continued for about half an hour.

I went to get lunch as I was half-starved by then. Mom put on the TV and tuned to every parent's cliche station—News Channel.

I was getting my juice from the refrigerator when I heard mom screaming 'Jesus!' from the sitting room.

I ran to her and saw what caused her alarm. My stomach dropped to my feet as I stared at the news flash on the screen of the TV. The reporter was rambling on about the details of a recent plane crash during touchdown after one of the plane's engines malfunctioned.
It was the plane my dad had boarded to South Africa!
According to the reporter, the crash happened only an hour ago, and so far, only two survivors had been found with severe injuries.

I went over to my Mom's side to steady her (she had gone sheet white, was trembling and looked as if she would faint), even though I was in shock myself.

Long story short, Mom contacted some ministers from our church and some trusted family friends (Kathlyn's family too). They rushed over as fast as they could upon hearing my mom's tone of distress and the terrible news.

While they were consoling my mom, in the midst of the whole sitch, I had this strange peace in my heart, which was quite ironic considering the burden of prayer I had been feeling in my heart throughout the day. I just knew that Dad was not dead. At least not on your watch.
My mom clung on to hope that her husband was among the survivors. The solace and encouragement our Christian family gave us was like a soothing balm upon our wound, like a cup of cool water to our parched throats. I was grateful for that.

Kathlyn and Faith were the ones who eventually convinced me to eat my cold lunch to prove my faith in you.

Some delegates were sent to the airport to make inquiry about the plane crash and who the survivors were. Around 5:00pm, they returned, confirming the plane crash was valid, but with the report that the survivors had not yet been identified by name as one of them was in a coma while the second was in the ICU. They gave us the address of the South African hospital where they were admitted. My mom and the other began to make immediate arrangements to board a plane to South Africa and find out the facts.

As they were at that, an unknown number called my mom.

"Julia, I'm so sorry I kept you worri..."

"Kennedy!" my mom squealed out loud in shock and joy.

That got the attention of everyone in the room as we hovered around her in confusion and hope.

"He's alive!" My mom's decibel level at this announcement could have shattered glass. Thankfully it didn't.
Everyone in the room was jubilant and began to praise the Lord for His mercy. Out of sheer joy, my mom cut off the line. Her phone began to ring again as the wild celebration died down.
Mom shushed us, picked the call, putting it on loudspeaker this time so everyone could hear his voice, and began to ask a million questions in one single breath.

Dad told us that his car broke down mysteriously in a remote area in the next state, and due to the delay, he missed his flight.

Mom asked why he was unreachable and he went ahead to explain his ordeal. As he was trying to check if he could fix something in the bonnet, the phone in his hand, which he had planned to use to contact help, fell to the ground and shattered.
He was stranded for a while until God sent a good Samaritan to help him.
He said he was currently staying over at the man's house and the phone he was using to call us was the man's.

He apologized for having kept us in suspense. We told him not to worry, that we were so grateful he was alive.

He said he was just seeing the news on TV about the plane crash and marveled about how God protects his children from harm in wonderful ways. He told us he'd be grabbing the next flight tomorrow, and that we should keep praying for him. Mom was still worried, but he calmed her down, saying God would keep protecting him as always.

Mr Andrew, the good Samaritan God sent, and his wife, spoke to Mom. They were good Christians and assured Mom that God is with us all. Mom thanked them profusely for their hospitality.
After I had spoken to Dad also, Mom finally told him to take care and tk always keep in touch with us. Their telephone conversation lasted for about an hour.

Mom was grateful to those who stood by us during our short period of grief and apologized for any inconvenience she might have caused them by her sudden call. They didn't mind. They were rather glad to be of help to us.

We all prayed the prayer of thanksgiving and protection over dad. Everyone dispersed to their various homes when it was already getting late.

Whew! Today had an horrific start but had a happy ending. Thank you Jesus for the revelation, answering my prayers and working things out for good. How in the world would I have slept today knowing my dad was either dead or severely injured? Now I can sleep in confidence. Zzzzzzz.

**********
This chapter is dedicated to queenFaithofficial, a dear sister in Christ who helped me to connect with a wonderful platform that builds Christian writers on Wattpad.
God bless you, sis.🥰
I'd love to see your comments on this chapter, my faithful readers 🤗.
PS: Something very similar to what happened to Radiance's dad happened to mine. It was such a trying time. And my mom was more than hysteric. I thank God for protecting my dad.