Carol Clark - He Sees You When You're Sleeping

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

It is with gratitude we acknowledge:

Our editors, Michael Korda, Chuck Adams, and Roz Lippel.

Our publicist, Lisl Cade.

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And, of course you, our readers.

Blessings one and all.

We dedicate this book to the victims of the September 11, 2001, tragedy, to the families and friends who loved them, and to the rescuers who risked their own lives to help them.

Theres nothing worse than listening to the sounds of preparations for a great party, knowing that youre not invited. Its even worse when the party is located in heaven, Sterling Brooks thought to himself. He had been detained in the celestial waiting room, located right outside the heavenly gates, for forty-six years by earthly count. Now he could hear the heavenly choir doing a run-through of the songs that would commence the upcoming Christmas Eve celebration.

Hark, the herald angels sing

Sterling sighed. Hed always loved that song. He shifted in his seat and looked around. Rows of pews were filled with people who were waiting to be called before the Heavenly Council. People who had to answer for certain things theyd done-or not done-in life, before they received admission to heaven.

Sterling had been there longer than anyone. He felt like the kid whose mother forget to pick him up from school. He usually was able to keep up a cheerful front, but lately hed been feeling more and more forlorn. From his seat by the window, he had watched over the years as so many people he had known on earth whizzed past, on a nonstop trip to heaven. Occasionally he was shocked and a little irritated when some of them were not made to do time in the celestial waiting room. Even the guy who had cheated on his income tax and lied about his golf score soared blissfully over the bridge that separated the celestial waiting room from the heavenly gates.

But it had been the sight of Annie that tore his heart. A couple of weeks ago, the woman hed loved but hadnt married, the woman hed kept dangling had wafted past, looking as pretty and young as the first day theyd met. He ran to the information desk and inquired about Annie Mansfield, the soul who had just flown by the observation window. The angel checked his computer, then raised his eyebrows. She died a few minutes ago, on her eighty-seventh birthday. While blowing out the candles, she had a dizzy spell. What an exemplary life she led. Generous. Giving. Caring. Loving.

Did she ever marry? Sterling asked.

The angel pressed some keys and moved the cursor, much like a ticket agent at the airport, trying to find confirmation of a reservation. He frowned. She was engaged for a long time to some jerk who strung her along, then was heartbroken when he died unexpectedly. He was beaned in the head by a golfball. The angel pressed the cursor again and looked up at Sterling. Oh, sorry. Thats you.

Sterling slunk back to his seat. Since then hed done a lot of thinking. He admitted to himself that he had sailed through his fifty-one years on earth, never taking on any responsibility and always managing to stay away from the unpleasant and the worrisome. I adopted Scarlett OHaras motto, Ill think about it tomorrow, he acknowledged to himself.

The only time Sterling remembered experiencing prolonged anxiety was when he was on the waiting list for Brown University. All his friends from prep school had received thick envelopes from the colleges of their choice, welcoming them into the fold and strongly encouraging them to send in their checks immediately. It was only a few days before school started that he got the call from an official in the admissions office at Brown confirming that there was room for him in the freshman class. It put an end to the longest four and a half months of his life.

He knew that the reason he had only squeaked into Brown was that, although he was blessed with a keen intelligence and excellent all-around athletic skills, he had simply coasted through high school.

A chill that was pure fear engulfed him. Hed finally gotten into the college he wanted, but maybe up here he wouldnt be so fortunate. Until right now he had been absolutely sure that hed make it to heaven. Sterling had reminded the angel at the door to the Heavenly Council that some of the people who came in behind him had been called and suggested that perhaps he had been inadvertently overlooked. He had been told politely but firmly to return to his seat.

He so much wanted to be in heaven this Christmas Eve. The expression on the faces of the people who soared past the window, seeing the open gates ahead of them, had filled him with wonder. And now Annie was there.

The angel at the door signaled for everyones attention. I have glad tidings. Christmas amnesty has been granted to the following. You will not have to appear before the Heavenly Council. You will go straight through the exit door on the right that leads directly to the heavenly bridge. Stand and file through in an orderly fashion as your name is called Walter Cummings

A few pews over, Walter, a sprightly ninety-year-old, jumped up and clicked his heels together. Hallelujah! he shouted as he ran to the front of the room.

I said in an orderly fashion, the angel chided in a somewhat resigned voice. Though I cant much blame you, he murmured as he called the next name. Tito Ortiz

Tito whooped with joy and raced down the aisle, hot on Walters heels.

Jackie Mills, Dennis Pines, Veronica Murphy, Charlotte Green, Pasquale DAmato, Winthrop Lloyd III, Charlie Potters, Jacob Weiss, Ten Eyck Elmendorf

Name after name after name was called as the pews emptied out.

The angel finished reading from the list and folded the paper. Sterling was the only one left. A tear formed in his eye. The celestial waiting room felt cavernous and lonely. I must have been a terrible person, he thought. Im not going to make it to heaven after all.

The angel laid down the list and began to walk toward him. Oh no, Sterling thought frantically, dont tell me hes sending me to the other place. For the first time, he realized what it was like to feel completely helpless and hopeless.

Sterling Brooks, the angel said. You have been summoned to an extraordinary meeting of the Heavenly Council. Follow me, please.

A tiny whisper of hope flickered in Sterling s being. Maybe, just maybe, he still had a chance. Bracing himself, he stood up and followed the angel to the door of the chamber. The angel, his face and voice full of sympathy, whispered, Good luck, as he opened the door and pushed Sterling inside.

The room was not large. It was bathed in a soft, exquisite light, the likes of which Sterling had never experienced. The floor-to-ceiling window gave an awesome view of the heavenly gates and he realized the light was reflecting off them.

Four men and four women were seated at a long table, facing him. From the halos shining around their heads, he realized immediately that they were all saints, even though he didnt recognize them from the stained-glass windows in cathedrals he had visited while on vacation. The outfits they were wearing varied from biblical robes to twentieth-century dress. With the instinctive knowledge that was now part of him, Sterling understood that they were wearing the typical garb of the periods in which they had lived. The man at the far end, a grave-faced monk, opened the proceedings.