"My brothers and sisters in Christ...." Jeffrey stood at the pulpit, a plain wooden lectern salvaged from a local school, and leaned forward to speak into the microphone. His hands were sweaty and he cleared his throat a few times before continuing. "I have received a message from the Lord himself."

A murmur rose from the assembled congregation. A few people shifted on their metal folding chairs, sending squeaks up from different parts of the room. From the side of the stage where the pulpit was, Reverend Justin nodded and smiled, encouraging Jeffrey to continue.

The First Church of the Sea of Galilee met in a former nightclub. The long bar, the sound system and lighting had all been jerked out of the reach of Satan and repurposed for the Lord. The black walls had been painted over with seven coats of blinding white and the pink and purple stage lights over Jeffrey's head made the entire basement glow with a heavenly light. Jeffrey sweated even more under their unnatural heat.

Public speaking had never been his strong suit.

"God told me that. . ." Jeffrey stumbled, not knowing how to phrase the message into the right words. It had seemed so pure, so right, when he'd received it two days previously. He'd been out in his back yard chopping wood and thinking about Reverend Charlie when the Lord had given him the order, just like that.

He leaned in closer to the microphone. ". . . well, uh. As we all know, our beloved Reverend Charlie has been sick for a long time. God told me that the moment for him to leave us and take up his mansion in heaven is coming. Within the next week, that is."

A louder murmur rose from the crowd. And more squeaks.

"But fear not!" Jeffrey continued. "For God has told me that Reverend Charlie is not going to die! He will be taken up and ascend into heaven in a great whirlwind like the prophet Elijah. This is his godly reward for leading us so wisely for so many years. And for prophesying our way to the light of Christ on the banks of the Galilee."

A hand in the first row of chairs arranged on the former dance floor shot up.

"Yes, Norm?"

"Weren't there horses or something in that whirlwind? Is God gonna send horses to take Reverend Charlie home?" Norm shouted.

Reverend Justin came up to the pulpit and Jeffery gladly stepped back a few paces to let him have it, taking the handkerchief out of the back pocket of his jeans and wiping his forehead with it.

"That's right, Norm." Reverend Justin said, his voice radiating the confidence Jeffrey lacked. "Elijah was swooped up in a big ol' whirlwind where the fiery chariot of God, complete with horses, was spinning."

"Are we gonna get to see it?" shouted a voice from further back.

"Is the whirlwind gonna come here?" called another.

Reverend Justin turned to Jeffrey, who shook his head. "I'm supposed to take him to the whirlwind," he said.

"What? We can't hear you! Talk into the mic, Jeffrey!"

Reverend Justin stepped away from the pulpit and Jeffrey reluctantly stepped forward. He swallowed a few times before speaking.

"The Lord told me I'm supposed to take Reverend Charlie to the whirlwind. I don't know where that is, exactly, but I'm guessing Reverend Charlie might. I . . .I looked it up, but in the Good Book, it says that Elijah had to go to three different places before the whirlwind and the fiery chariot and all showed up. It didn't come to him."

More murmuring rose as the members of the congregation opened the Bibles on their laps and began searching for the story index.

"It's, uh, in the second book of Kings. 2:11," said Jeffrey.

And fled the stage.

Jeffrey padded out the bed of his pick up with a new mattress he found on sale at Walmart and a ton of pillows and blankets so Reverend Charlie would have it as comfortable as possible while they were searching for the whirlwind. There was space left for a small suitcase, a portable radio, and the cooler with drinks and some sandwiches, just in case Reverend Charlie needed some light refreshment. There was no telling how long they'd be on the road, but Jeffrey figured they could always refill the cooler at a convenience mart when they stopped for gas.

Aunt Nellie, Reverend Charlie's wife, peered sceptically at the vehicle that was to carry her husband to God. They were standing out in Aunt Nellie's and Reverend Charlie's front yard, waving mosquitoes away from their faces.

"Charlie really ain't doin' so hot," Aunt Nellie said."He's got to take his pills every couple of hours and the doctors say he shouldn't get too excited. Could steal his hours away from him, and truth be told, he don't have too many hours left."

"It don't matter what the doctors say anymore, Aunt Nellie. God's calling him home. But I'll make sure he takes his pills on time before he gets there."

Aunt Nellie sucked on her dentures and said, "I was hoping to see him on myself."

"I understand, but the message was very clear. Reverend Charlie has to be brought to the whirlwind, and, as far as I know, you don't have a driver's license."

"That is true." Aunt Nellie said. "And there's no room for me in the pick up?"

"God didn't mention anybody else. And as you know, in the Bible, there were only two people, too."

"Hm. Well, if it's God's will. . ."

"Some of the people at the church have set up a blog so everybody can follow along and track our progress. I'm supposed to send pictures and whatnot from the road. So, it's not like you won't know how he is."

"Better than nothin', I suppose," Aunt Nellie said. "I'm sure gonna miss him."

"We all are."

In the dim front room that smelled of old water pipes and canned tomato soup, Jeffery stood by Reverend Charlie's bedside and waited for an answer. The old reverend looked even weaker and more fragile than last time Jeffrey'd seen him. Like a leaf ready to be blown away in the first breeze to come along. He honestly didn't look as if he had many hours left. God's message had come just in time.

"How did He tell you?"

"He spoke to me while I was out chopping wood in my backyard."

"A voice?"

Jeffrey shifted his weight and thought. "Yes, but no. More like, a really strong feeling and some pictures. But maybe there were words, too. I don't know."

Reverend Charlie wanted to know more about the pictures. Jeffery filled him in as well as he could. Once again, his inability with words got in his way and he found himself unsure of what exactly he had seen the moment he went to clothe it in language. So, he shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and kneaded the baseball cap in his hands.

"I'm not a prophet. I don't know why God would want this," Reverend Charlie said, the words a bit mumbled and indistinct. The wrinkled, liver spotted hand that lay on his chest shook slightly.

"His ways are mysterious. And you've always had visions, Reverend. You know, like that Revered Justin should follow you as our shepherd, and how we shouldn't trust that man who wanted to sell us land out by Johnson Lake to build a new church on. You've been our prophet. That's obviously enough for God."

Reverend Charlie didn't say anything.

"You, uh, don't have any ideas about where the whirlwind might be, do you? That part God was kinda vague on," Jeffery added.

"Might try Kansas. It worked for Dorothy," Reverend Charlie said, then began to wheeze a kind of laugh which turned almost immediately into a violent cough.

"Reverend! This isn't something to joke about." Jeffery knew what he'd seen and he was sure as the Bible of the rightness of the message. He hadn't scraped it together from television or some old movies and the like. "God is calling you home in the best way possible. You aren't going to have to die, Reverend. You're gonna be taken up."

"Everybody dies, Jeffrey. Even Jesus. But if you say that God actually spoke to you, well . . . who am I to say He didn't."

"Then you'll let me take you to the whirlwind?"

Reverend Charlie looked out of the window at Jeffrey's pick up parked in the driveway. "Did you say you put a radio and sandwiches in there?" he asked.

Jeffrey took some pictures with his phone of Reverend Charlie bedded down in the back of the pick up and sent them to the blog. They waved good-bye to Aunt Nellie who stood by the listing mailbox wiping tears from her eyes, and drove to the highway. Reverend Charlie had asked for Jeffrey to leave off the nylon tarp that would protect him from the elements. He wanted to smell the wind and see the sky, he said. He also wanted a peanut butter sandwich.

The National Weather Service gave a severe weather warning for Missouri, so that's where they headed first.

Every few hours, Jeffrey dutifully pulled over at a rest stop or into the half-full parking lot of a fast food joint for Reverend Charlie to take some of his many, many pills. Sometimes people stood and stared, or watched blank-eyed through the plate glass windows as Jeffrey climbed into the back of his pick up and helped the man who had led his congregation so well for so many years sit up and take a look around.

"They don't bother me. The truckers are worse," Reverend Charlie said, sipping his energy drink through a straw.

"Why's that?" Jeffery had noticed how close the semis kept pace with them at times, but hadn't thought much about it.

"Because at first, they think I'm dead. I have to open my eyes and stare at them so they don't ride up too close to gawk at the corpse and cause an accident."

At the next gas station stop, Jeffrey bought a pair of cheap, black sunglasses off a twirly rack. "I ain't never seen a corpse with sunglasses on," he said, placing them on the Reverend's face.

"How do I look?" Reverend Charlie asked, turning his head this way and that for Jeffrey to admire, the price tag flapping against the side of his nose.

"Like somebody on vacation."

Reverend Charlie gave Jeffrey a hearty pat on the arm. "You're a good man, son."

Jeffrey shook his head. "I'm not any better than anybody else. I'm only doing what God told me to."

At a motor lodge just inside the Missouri state border, Jeffrey helped the Reverend out of the pick-up, half-carrying him into the room. Then he went back outside to take some pictures and send them to the blog before it got dark.

Reverend Charlie had found the TV and was watching a game show when Jeffery came back in.

"This place gets much better reception than I do at home."

"They got cable."

"Really?" Reverend Charlie's bushy eyebrows shot up in surprise, taking half of his wrinkles with them and smoothing out the top of his face.

For a moment, Jeffrey thought he'd snuck a peek at the young man who had founded the First Church of the Sea of Galilee all those years ago. He felt his chest painfully contract, and didn't know where to look for a few moments.

Reverend Charlie reached out a shaking hand and took up the remote attached by a steel wire to the night stand between the two single beds. "If that's the case, then let's see what else is on," he said, and channel surfed for the next three hours.

Missouri's severe weather warning had all but disappeared overnight. The sky was still overcast and so wet it looked like it would rust if left out for another day, but the chance of high winds was next to zero.

They headed east through the state, stopping for food and the occasional site of historical interest which could be seen from the road, reaching Kansas the following day.

"Kansas is prime Tornado Alley. That should be the place," said Reverend Charlie when they stopped for a hamburger and the Reverend's pills. Jeffrey had let him look at the map on his phone. "Topeka. Let's head up that way."

Jeffrey dutifully steered the pick up northward, following the signs for Topeka, after taking some photos of the highway and Reverend Charlie half battened down under the tarp, only his head sticking out, and sending them to the blog.

Topeka disappointed them. Sunny, with not the slightest chance of a twister. They travelled on around the state, listening to weather predictions and taking in the sights. The members of The First Church of the Sea of Galilee had left messages of encouragement and support on the blog, and Jeffrey read them all out at the motel one night after they been on the road for almost a week.

"Tammy and Wilbur Crenshaw say they are praying for us every day that we are led to our goal. Billy Roberts -- you may not know him, Reverend, he's new to Galilee -- says he can't wait to see an honest-to-God miracle happen like we read so much about in the Bible. And Norm Sheely says to say hi to them horses of God for him. He's read the relevant passage many times now and can't believe your luck."

Reverend Charlie's eyes were closed. It had been a monotonous, but exhausting, day on the road and far too hot for him. Although his cheeks weren't nearly as pale as they had been, he looked as if he might be even sicker. "Norm always was horse crazy. Tell him I'll do my best."

Jeffrey kept reading out the messages, but stopped when he heard the soft burr of snoring coming from Reverend Charlie's pillow. He messaged the blog back, sending a fake greeting from the Reverend that they were doing well and still strong in the Lord. He felt a little guilty about that, Reverend Charlie had said no such thing, but he knew that's what the good people of the Sea of Galilee wanted to hear, and it was true. They were still strong in the Lord. Even if Reverend Charlie might be fading fast.

According to the National Weather Service, Arkansas was having some bad weather, tornados were possible. Jeffrey steered south and angled through Oklahoma.

At a gas station along the highway, his arms piled high with refills for the cooler, Jeffery heard some men talking about a twister that had come down near Muskogee. Once outside, he checked the map. Muskogee wasn't all that far away.

Reverend Charlie was asleep on his bed of pillows and blankets, so Jeffrey decided to skip the pills this once and use the remaining hours to get a jump on that whirlwind. He took a few photos and sent them to the blog, then headed south.

The further they went, the more the sky clouded up and strong wind buffeted the truck. Jeffrey pulled over and strapped the tarp over a motionless Reverend Charlie, who looked eerily pale in the dim, soggy daylight.

For a moment, Jeffrey's heart stopped beating, thinking the Lord had already taken Reverend Charlie, but then he saw the old man's chest rise and fall, and he relaxed.

Jeffrey strapped down the tarp and got back on the road, turning on the radio and listening for local weather reports. Crossing over into Arkansas, the skies turned a blackish green and traffic seemed to be far thicker in the oncoming lane. Jeffrey turned on the windshield wipers and hunched forward over the wheel.

Reports of tornados came more and more frequently. The radio DJs were warning people to stay inside and not go anywhere if they didn't have to. Gusts became so hard at times that Jeffrey had to fight to stay on the road.

An announcer's voice broke into the song playing on the radio to say that a tornado had touched down in a town Jeffrey had just seen on the highway sign. It wasn't more than ten miles away.

"If you are on the road, take the next exit and find shelter immediately," said the announcer. "Do not stay in your vehicle. Find a low-lying place with plenty of cover and wait until the sky has cleared. I repeat, do not stay in your vehicle. Find a low-lying place where you will be protected from flying debris."

"I'm coming, Lord! I'm coming!" Jeffrey shouted and hit the gas pedal.

Soon, they were the only vehicle on the road. Jeffrey constantly scanned the horizon for signs of a funnel, but saw none.

"Where is it? Where's the whirlwind?" he shouted, his voice rising an octave and his heart pumping adrenaline into his bloodstream. "Oh Lord, lead me to it! I got Reverend Charlie right here! I'm bringing him to the whirlwind like you told me to!"

Out of habit, Jeffrey threw a quick glance in the rearview — and hit the brakes. The truck screeched over the asphalt, fishtailing slightly to a halt. Barrelling down from behind was a gigantic swirling mass of cloud. Jeffrey turned the pick up around to face the whirlwind that seemed to be following the path of the highway.

Struggling out of the door, he ripped at the tarp ropes along the bed of the pick up with shaky, panicked fingers. "Reverend Charlie, we found it! The whirlwind's coming to take you up to Heaven!"

The loosened tarp flapped wildly in the wind and Jeffrey was forced to untie all of it so that it wouldn't lash and hit the Reverend. It ripped out of his hands and flew off over the trees like a huge black bird taking flight.

Reverend Charlie clasped his old hands together and began praying.

"Praise the Lord, Reverend! You gonna sit at the right hand of Jesus in no time!" Jeffery leaped up and planted a final kiss on the good Reverend's forehead. "Thank you for all you done for us! Don't forget the Sea of Galilee when you up there!"

Reverend Charlie wanted to say something, but Jeffery was already struggling back into the cab and hitting the gas. He had no idea how close he needed to get for the huge whirlwind to take Reverend Charlie up, he figured he'd just keep going until he saw the Reverend lift up out of the bed and float away into the arms of God.

With one hand, he reached for his phone and took photos through the windshield. His eyes darted from the rearview, to the phone, to the road and back to the phone. He pressed the send button and the photos left for the blog, then he threw the phone onto the passenger seat.

The whirlwind was almost upon them.

Before he had time to register it, the tires of the truck lost touch with the road and they were airborne. Jeffrey clung to the useless steering wheel for dear life.

Spinning violently to the left, Jeffrey saw the cooler, pillows and radio go swirling out into the air. They didn't fall like they should have done, they flew, joining other pieces of debris now battering the doors and sides of the truck. Jeffrey saw a large tree branch coming at him, but couldn't get out of the way. It hit the fender and scratched its way over the hood and windshield before disappearing. Dirt and bits of unidentifiable junk slammed into the pick up, shaking and jolting it.

But then, over his head, over the cab, floated Reverend Charlie, his arms spread out like Jesus, his eyes closed, the sleeves of his flannel shirt flapping like the wings of an angel on his thin arms.

For what felt like hours Reverend Charlie and the pick up swirled, rose and fell in the same rhythm, in the same beautiful dance.

Jeffrey had never felt so close to God in his entire life as he gazed on the sight, sore amazed.

And then, thick black ropes of a power line came rushing towards them, and everything exploded in a shower of white, radiant sparks.

Jeffrey watched in awe as the fiery chariot of God lifted Reverend Charlie higher, the horses with their manes of licking flame straining heavenward.

And Jeffrey himself fell, fell, fell into a blackness like none he'd ever seen.

Not in all his days.