Tales of Light

THE VEIL

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗩𝗘𝗜𝗟

You turn and pose, giving the camera your signature modelling stance. The photographer sings his approval as he takes multiple shots of you from different angles. The wedding gown indeed flatters your figure. At the rate the camera light is flashing, you figure the photographer must have taken over a hundred pictures.

This was one of the duties of being a celebrity-every move you make on a pivotal day like this is captured for your social media manager to post it on your Instagram page for the world to fawn over. It's not everyday that a fashion model who propagates modesty and sexual purity weds one of the most popular Christian artists in the country. How you met Nova is a story for another day.

Everyone wants to be in your shoes, but you'd give anything to switch places with a common girl right now.
For the past three weeks, you've been battling incessant nightmares that fade away like a wisp when you wake up.
Everyone you tried to speak to about it waved it off, claiming you were experiencing normal wedding jitters. Well, everyone except your dad. But you never had the time to embark on the fast he advised you to do.

These days, your personal devotion has suffered. Exhaustion has become your constant companion, a trademark of the hours upon hours of wedding planning you are subjected to juggle alongside your busy modelling and brand ambassadorship schedule.

You know the dreams are like a warning signal, but you're not sure who they're from. Is God warning you or is the devil trying to scare you from God's will for your life?

When the picture-taking session is over, your friend, Erica, rushes to your side and squeals in her usual bubbly nature. Her contagious enthusiasm makes you roll your eyes. The lady can be quite dramatic at times.

Erica whispers something into your ears that makes you squirm and blush at its brashness-something about Nova, your groom, wanting to snatch you away immediately he sights you to somewhere secluded to do you dirty. Your virgin mind still shivers at the thoughts of what will most likely transpire tonight.

Erica's phone rings and excuses herself out of the room. You nod, happy to have a rare moment of solitude.
You silently sit and look into the mirror at your gorgeous face. Something feels off.

"Lord, what's going on?" you ask, your brows furrowed. "Am I missing something?"

In that moment, something happens that you haven't experienced for months now. Your spiritual gift is activated-the gift of visions. It is something that has given you an edge in your career and every facet of life.

You see the familiar face of your dear Nova, smiling. But within a blink, his handsome face contours into a malevolent visage. His smile turns into a toothy smirk, his irises turn completely coal black and his smooth skin wrinkles grotesquely.
Immediately, a big sense of déjà vu hits you and you know without an iota of doubt that this is the content of the dreams that have haunted you for weeks.

With a jump, you rise from your seat and hasten out of the room. You need to see your dad immediately.

But as you walk past the hotel room where Nova is lodged, you hear a sound that causes you to halt in your track. Slowly, you backpedal and lean your ears to the door. That alluring voice belongs unmistakably to your husband-to-be. Your heart thumps faster when you hear Erica's weak protest.

"No, no, this cannot be happening," you think, hyperventilating. Your pious Nova can't be cheating on you with your friend just a few minutes to your matrimony now, can he? But the moans of pleasure you soon hear, plus the flash vision you saw previously, say otherwise.

You walk down the hallway, your face stained with silent tears as you force yourself to move.

Your mind comes up with several viable explanations. Perhaps you have suddenly developed a hearing disorder. Maybe the persons behind those doors were clones of the two most trusted people in your life. Or it could all be a misunderstanding. But this only confirms your suspicions. You only stifled your paranoia because you didn't want to seem overbearing. How could they have the effrontery to do this to you? And aren't they supposed to be Christians too?

Your dad. You need to find him fast before you have a mental breakdown. He will know what to do.

Thankfully, you find him leisurely walking towards your room, probably coming to fetch you to start going to the auditorium where the service is already ongoing.

"Dad!" you rasp and cling to his arm. He takes one look into your eyes and his face clouds with worry.

"What is it, Chloe?"

"I can't marry him! I can't..." And you burst into tears. Your dad patiently allows you to calm down and you quickly narrate all that transpired. Your dad doesn't look surprised-he'd told you his reservations about Nova but he still supported your choice, telling you to the last day that he was always praying for you.

Your dad asks you what you want to do. You say you'll cut off the wedding. Your dad looks as though he is grieving for you as he grasps your right hands in his large calloused ones and hooks it in the croon of his left arm in the customary escort pair posture. You give him a wobbly smile and chin up.

Surprisingly, you soon grow numb. The walk down the aisle builds up a resolution in your heart. Never again will you run ahead of God and try to carve out a future for yourself. Never again will you make an idol and force God to approve the counterfeit desire of your heart.

You reach the altar and the priest begins to say the vows but you cut him short and grab the microphone.

Heart thudding, you blurt out, "I'm sorry everyone but no wedding will be happening here today." The murmurs rise from the crowd and though your mother looks aghast, your father holds her back and whispers something into her ears.

Nova draws near to you, perplexity all over his face. "Chloe, what's gotten into you?"

"I was blind but now I see..." you shot back, gazing defiantly into his eyes and turning to do the same to your gaze Erica in the crowd. Her shocked and confused expressions shapeshift into realisation and then guilt.

Nova has never raised his fists at you but you've noticed once in a while that he would get so mad at you that he would yell. With the way his face is reddening with embarrassment, you can tell he is barely holding back his rage from unleashing in front of everyone. There are cameras transmitting it now live.

The veil has been taken off your eyes and you see the truth. Everything else from how you leave the auditorium to the miserable hours you spend in bed crying happens in a blur.
For the first time that night, you sleep peacefully, knowing that through it all, God is in control of your life.

~~~

This story is sort of a modification/expansion of a short story I wrote for my microfiction anthology, Fragments. The book is on my profile. You can head over to enjoy it.

When we received the picture prompt and we were asked to write a suspenseful story based on this picture, you needed to see how happy I was. At this point, it seems like I've developed a knack for writing wedding scenes. Never mind that I've only witnessed one wedding in real life.

Anyway, this was my chance to delve into writing the murky waters of deciphering and following God's will. Two Bible stories come to my mind when I consider this matter-the case of Prophet Balaam and then the young prophet and the old prophet. I hope you got the lessons God intended to pass across.

Oh and by the way, happy new month, guys! Leave those juicy comments and votes before you leave. Love y'all. God bless you.