The
Great Golden Bubble
The cat’s good-bye
to the angel made the living waterdrops start to giggle and their giggling
was contagious. Even the two saints who wanted to be a bit annoyed at the
cat couldn’t help but be caught up in the uncontrolled hilarity of the
great waterfall.
A group of living waterdrops who came down the falls got so
caught up in the laughter that they became one great golden bubble. When
St. Francis saw it, he said, “Ha, ha, I’ve got a great idea.” He nudged
Dominic to follow him and then grabbed the cat, who wasn’t sure what was
so funny. Then Francis took a leap and landed on the bubble with the cat.
Dominic had to scurry and pull up his habit quick, but the two made a leap
and blub! --landed on the bubble.
St. Francis and
the cat and Dominic all peered over the curving edges of the great golden
bubble and looked down upon the magnificent garden that St. Joseph was
building on the backslope of Heaven.
“Look,” said St.
Francis, “the garden is shaped like a great bouquet of flowers with a
perfect rose in the center. I didn’t know St. Joseph had made that garden
to look beautiful even from above.”
“There is my
house in the apple orchard, “ said Dominic, as he pointed to his
right.
“Look over
here,” said Dominic. The cat and Francis peered over the edge of the
bubble and saw below them the Maze of Great Surprises. They could see many
saints and angels moving through the vast shrubbery corridors as they
encountered the surprising creatures and tricks that St. Joseph had put in
the maze for their amusement.
Suddenly the
bubble began to shake and the three who were riding on its outer shell knew that the
final burst of laughter was coming.
“Here we go,”
said Francis and the bubble burst into a hundred little giggling
waterdrops who fell down with the saints and the cat toward the backslope
of Heaven.
The cat landed
first and on his feet in front of a large door of a big building. The
waterdrops landed around him and somersaulted down the hill back toward
the waterfall. The saints’ landing was not as graceful. In fact, Dominic
landed on Francis, who had landed on the cat, who let out a great,
“Mehowl.” This sound made the large door open its eyes and exclaim, “Who
is making such a racket outside St. Joseph’s
workshop?”
