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    Heaven's Gate
    Heaven's Gate
    Heaven's Gate
    Ebook136 pages2 hours

    Heaven's Gate

    By Martin Shaw

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    About this ebook

    Ethan Sterling has been through many trials in his life including losing his father when he was just six years old. After he joins the marines at age seventeen, Ethan quickly excels, wins medals for bravery, marries, and is commanding ten soldiers in Afghanistan by the time he is twenty-three. But when a road accident instigated by guilt sends him to heaven’s gate, everything changes for Ethan.

    After he is offered a choice to either fight an army that is being sent by hell to invade heaven and humankind or enter heaven and be at peace with his family, Ethan faces a monumental dilemma. If he accepts the difficult task and wins, he will return to Earth to reunite with his wife, son, and the life he left behind. With help from a small army from heaven that includes Noah, disciples James and John, his deceased father, and others, Ethan takes a risk and embarks down an uncertain path that he hopes will not only changes his own fate, but also that of his family and mankind.

    In this fantasy novel, an American soldier killed in a road accident arrives at heaven’s gate where he must face an agonizing choice with the power to transform the future.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse UK
    Release dateSep 28, 2021
    ISBN9781665591898
    Heaven's Gate
    Author

    Martin Shaw

    Martin Shaw is Emeritus Professor of International Relations and Politics at the University of Sussex and Research Professor at the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals. He has written widely on global politics, war and genocide.

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      Book preview

      Heaven's Gate - Martin Shaw

      THE MOVE

      37429.png

      T he day came when we were ready to move. I had said goodbye to all my school friends. The lorry had been filled with all our possessions. It left for the 470-mile journey. My mother had decided we would drive to Kentucky, just the two of us, calling off at different places to eat drink and sleep. She called it our little road trip.

      The last memory I had of the old house was my mother locking the door and walking to the car with a small bag of fresh clothes for us and the folded flag from my father’s funeral. She tried to make the journey fun under the circumstances, but it could not have been fun for her. After four days, we arrived at our new house. It had beautiful gardens and a front porch and was slightly smaller than the last one. My mother’s family, who lived only a small drive away, were already there to greet us. Grandpa Joe sat on the porch, pipe in hand. Food and drink followed. It was four days till my first day at school, which would change my life forever.

      The day came for school. We arrived a short time before school started. Children were playing outside stood, and they looked at the new kid. We were met by the school principal, Miss Brody. Miss Brody showed us around my new school till it was time for my mother to leave me. I was shown to my class by Miss Brody and was told it was a mixed class of similar ages. We walked in, and the class went silent. All the pupils’ eyes were on me.

      This is Ethan Sterling. He will be joining us. Make him welcome, said Miss Brody. Then she turned and walked out.

      Find a seat, said the teacher.

      When I looked around, I realised the only seat available was next to a blonde girl with pigtails and a big smile. Hi, my name’s Melissa, she said as I sat down. I would find out later how much this girl would change my life. She was the only child of Lilly and Josh Travers—a loving family, just like my mother’s. They doted on their only child.

      There were sniggers and laughter from the boys because I was the only boy sat with a girl.

      The bell sounded in no time, which spelled the start of lunch. All the kids jumped up, grabbed their lunch boxes, and headed outside into the sunshine. I picked up mine and slowly followed suit. When I got outside, I looked around for a seat. Melissa waved at me because she had saved me a seat. I slowly walked over to the sounds of Mommy’s boy from the boys.

      As I was opening my lunch box, I saw a gang of five boys walking over. The one in front, a stocky boy around my age, took my lunch box and passed around my lunch. After turning around and tossing the box to the ground, he said, Same again tomorrow, Mummy’s boy. Keep it coming.

      A lunch box was shoved towards me. It was Melissa’s. Don’t worry—you can share mine. That’s Max. He’s just a bully.

      I could not wait for the day to finish. As I walked out, there was my mum with a big smile, waiting for me. This made it worse. She was the only one there, which made me stand out even more. The journey home was uncomfortable as I tried to cover up my pain.

      The next few weeks were the same, with added slaps and punches. I concealed my bruises from my mother and spent my days away from school playing in our backyard. My mother spent hours in the yard planting flowers, cultivating a new lawn, and installing a new fence with a locked gate which led to a road. It was always locked to keep me safe. I spent hours there playing on my own, not wanting to leave in case I saw any of my tormentors. It became my sanctuary.

      This started to change one Friday as school was finishing. As I walked out, I saw Melissa talking to my mother. When I walked over, Melissa turned, smiled, and walked away. Mum said, My poor boy. I’m so sorry—I would have never guessed. That sweet girl has told me everything. My life would change from this day. We did not go straight home from school. Instead, my mother drove to Aunt Rachael’s house. I waited in the car for what seemed like hours. My mother drove us home in near silence, and all she said was I would be going back there to spend the day on Saturday.

      I could hear my mother crying that night, so I decided she must need the time alone. When Saturday morning came, I went to Aunt Rachael’s. She met me with a big hug. As my mother left, I could see her crying. Come on, my aunt said to me. Let’s find Uncle Matt. Matt always frightened me. He hardly spoke, had a beer in his hand every time I saw him, and had a menacing look on his face. We found him in the barn with a bottle in his hand. Uncle Matt is going to make sure no one ever hurts you anymore, said Aunt Rachael.

      As she left, my uncle said, Come over here. That was the most he had ever said to me. There was a punching bag bigger than me. Hit it, he said. Then he punched it. Like that. I started to punch the bag, and he looked in the air and said, I suppose it’s a start. Keep doing it. Then he walked over to a car he was fixing.

      Every time I stopped, a head would come from under the hood. Keep going now—the other arm. My arms felt so heavy that when I heard the word stop, I was relieved. My relief was short-lived because he had me sweeping my feet at a board. He went back to the car, and the same thing would happen when I stopped: Switch legs.

      Eventually my mother picked me up. She never wanted to know what I had learned because she was not a violent person. This was a good thing because I would have been too tired to tell her.

      This went on for weeks and weeks. Punch, sweep, punch, sweep. I hated my uncle but still went to give my mother a break. The bullying carried on as well—till one Friday at lunch.

      I sat with the only friend I had, and I called Mel over. Max and his so-called friends came over and shouted, What do we have for lunch today? The took my lunch box and laughed. Just then, Mel stood up and shouted, No, this stops right now! Max pushed Mel over the chair, and I saw her crying. The anger came over me, so I stood up and punched Max in the face. He fell to floor. As Max started to get back up, I got in another punch, and he went back down. All the other boys stood back because they knew they had pushed me too far this time. Max stayed down, holding his nose. I turned to help Mel up.

      Just then I heard a shout. Sterling, my office—now! Miss Brody was raging. I had to sit outside her office till my mother arrived.

      It’s ok sweetheart, Mum said as she walked in the office. The door shut, and then I heard Miss Brody say, In all my years of being a teacher, I have never seen violence like it.

      My mum raised her voice. Stop right there. It shocked me that it was my mother—I had never heard her raise her voice in anger till this day. My mother was straight to the point and told her everything. She walked out and said, Come on, son. We have a barbecue to go to.

      We got home, and all the family were there. Mother had organized a family barbecue. As I was getting my bags from the car, I could hear my mother telling our family what had happened. As I walked up the steps to the porch, Uncle Matt sat there with a bottle in his hand. Get me a beer from the fridge, he said. No manners at all.

      I still felt mad from earlier. Get your own, I said as I walked into the house.

      As I was pouring some milk from the fridge, a hand grasped my shoulder. I stood frozen in fear and saw something I had never seen before. It was another side to Uncle Matt. He was actually smiling. He tried reassuring me by saying, You are going to be okay, kid. My life would change again from that day. We spent the night laughing and talking, and I could not wait for the morning to arrive. As everyone was leaving, Aunt Rachael grabbed me so hard and whispered a thank-you in my ear. I would find out later in life why.

      Saturday morning, we were up bright and early. We set off to my aunt’s house to be met with something we had not seen before. My uncle stood with his arm around my aunt and no bottle in his hand. Matt and I went straight to the barn while my mother stayed with Aunt Rachael. At the barn, I started my real training with Matt at my side. His job as a mechanic would wait until we had finished our training. Matt would even let me tinker with cars, which I began to love as I got older.

      On Monday morning, I got to school, and everyone seemed to want to be my friend. It was the first time at this school I had ever eaten my own lunch. Max kept his distance over the next few weeks, but not from his three older brothers, Ruben, John, and Jordan. They would never fight alone and were always together. After the beatings they gave me, I would get up and go on my way.

      After a couple of years, this changed. I had learned how to fight, and it ended up with all three of the brothers on the ground. After that, they crossed the road when they saw me. I took this as a sign of respect—or was it fear? Max became a friend but not a close one. The only close friend I had was Mel, and even though she was a girl, we did everything together, including studying at each other’s homes. My mother adored her.

      My mother bought me my first mountain bike. Mel would call round for me, and we would ride to and from school. No more mother rides to school, which I was proud about. The bike was also part of my training. By now, I was stopping at my aunt and uncle’s house straight from school Friday till Sunday. They loved having me there, and I loved being there. Matt took me camping and taught me how to fish, shoot, and live off the land. A cheeky beer was thrown in as well. The only thing I had to keep quiet about was the

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