Seven Candlesticks to Kingdom Come: The Father in the Child, the Brother in the Son

By Gene Brown and Danny Brown

This is a story unlike any you've ever read. The ancient House of Kandle communicates across the Great Divide. Two messengers who speak as one have been sent from a bye gone world to inform us of things past and and warn us of things to come. Their story begins innocently enough with the tale of Nathan Kandle, a curious lad who encounters a mysterious creature named the fear weevil, and painfully learns that he must stand and fight fear in order to escape it. One world unfolds into another then another, as Nathan is tested over and over again until the reader himself if confronted with the challenge of his own greatest testing yet to come. Where did this story really come from, and could it be true after all?

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Mar 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781489727893

Gene Brown

Gene is a former announcer, engineer and scriptwriter with the Moody Broadcasting Network in Chicago. He is also a published poet and for the past two decades has been working as an independent sales rep for several different book and gift sales companies. He has a B.S. in Marketing from Penn State University. His 23 year old son, Danny, is a student of the Bible and the banjo, and writes poems and songs. Danny contributed many imaginative ideas, replete with biblical imagery, to give the story its multidimensional frame. We call it "fictional prophecy."

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All Scripture quotations are taken from the Revised Standard Version of

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ISBN: 978-1-4897-2771-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-2772-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-2789-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020904566

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 03/25/2020

CONTENTS

Prologue

Nathan And The Fear Weevil

Creation By Kandle Light

In The Land Of Kingdom Come

In The Land Beyond The Sky

The Iron Tree

The Forest Of Forgetfulness

The Black Rider

The Return Of The Rainbow

Epilogue

Postscript

One Comes Who…

PROLOGUE

Moons wax and wane. Stars rise and fall. The House of Kandle stands firm until the end. Long live the House of Kandle! We are just two dim wicks, but we will not be snuffed out before our time. That time is coming soon. We’re not long for this world. I hear footsteps outside the door. A reassuring voice whispers. There remains just enough Light and Breath to tell our story. Who are we? I am two, but we are one, descendants of the ancient House of Kandle. A good candle can burn a long time, but not forever. Our first father lived many sons ago, in Timberland. Following the Great Fire, he fled to the Badlands, where, through hard work and suffering, he founded the Land of Kingdom Come. After that, he lived in Nathan, as Nathan lived in others after him. But some failed their life and were cut off for unknown times. That’s where we come from, and we’re desperate to make up for lost time!

"In the beginning was the Word (that is to say, The Story), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

(John 1:1)

And God said:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I prepared you.

(Jeremiah 1:5)

And the Man answered:

"My body was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance while yet incomplete, and in your book my Story was written, every page of it, my days determined, when as yet there was none of them."

(Psalm 139:13-16)

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NATHAN AND THE

FEAR WEEVIL

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L ong ages ago, but not far away, Nathan Kandle and his good dog, Link, lived in a cozy, little cottage near the Wild Woods in the Land of Wuz. Don’t ask me where the Land of Wuz was, or even when it was. No one knows that for sure, on this side of The Silent Years. Wuz is no more––gone but not forgotten. In the age of Wuz, memories weren’t very important, anyway. The future hadn’t even been thought of yet. Nathan and Link, the boy’s ever-present friend, were having far too much fun living to be concerned with time. Get this—if you were to ask Nathan how old he was, he would have simply said seven––seven times young! In the Land of Wuz, the shortest life was just as much alive as the longest. The length of time meant nothing there. Time only mattered within the Wild Woods, where the unknown lurked, waiting to be uncovered. Granted, it is a strange dog that does not know the woods as well as the inside of his nose, but Link never went anywhere Nathan did not go. The two were inseparable. If you were to ask Nathan why he and Link had never yet, not even once, set foot inside the Wild Woods, we’re sure he could not tell you. It was not a lack of courage that kept him. Fear had not yet entered the Land of Wuz.

One fine autumn day, however, while Nathan lay in the grass, intently watching a caterpillar crawling on a blade, a very strange thing happened. The caterpillar quit. Nathan continued to watch it for at least an hour, but it never moved again. The boy touched the worm with his finger and it tumbled to the ground, where it lay motionless. Suddenly, a new thought crept into Nathan’s mind. He decided to take Link and go for a walk in the Wild Woods. Whether it was some strange discontentment, the desire for new adventure, or simple curiosity, we don’t know, but Nathan Kandle and his dog, Link, decided to explore the Wild Woods. It was late in the day. Approaching sunset colored the grass outside the lengthening shadows a golden yellow green. Now you may think the evening was a rather foolish time to go walking in the Wild Woods for the very first time. You’re right, of course. But, remember, you’ve been there before. Nathan had not.

Inside the forest, the remaining sunlight was quickly withering like the grass. An army of shadows was advancing. An odd, uneasy feeling crept over Nathan. He had never before known the darkness of fear. He suddenly realized the Wild Woods was no place to be in the dark and called to Link, Let’s go! That is exactly when the thing appeared out of nowhere, as if it materialized from the shadows. Nathan felt there was something sinister about that creature from the start. It stared at him through dim glowing, bloody-red eyes. The hair stood up on Link’s back and he took off howling for home at the sight and scent of it. Nathan was not far behind. It was quick—in through the door, jump into bed, cover your head! Link cowered under the bed, whining. Evening wore on, like a heavy weight. That night, Nathan dreamed of those awful, red eyes. When he awoke the following morning, he knew he would have to return to them. He did not yet know why. After a hearty breakfast, he set out for the Wild Woods. Link followed, closer than ever, whimpering a protest.

They walked about the woods all morning, seeing no living creature at all. Nathan did not know what to expect in the Wild Woods, so nothing looked unusual. About noon, he began to get hungry. Thinking he should return home for lunch and continue the search later, he stopped suddenly in his tracks. He realized he was not exactly sure which way home was. Just then, he heard a raspy voice say, Looking for me? He turned quickly, while Link once again ran howling for home. At least Nathan knew which way to run now. He resisted the urge. He had no doubt this was the creature for which he was searching. Its eyes were red, though its appearance was somewhat less menacing in the full light of day, even in the Wild Woods. The creature was about three feet tall, standing upright on its hind legs. It was sort of scrawny and looked like a cross between a weasel and a Chihuahua. In front it had a pocket, like a kangaroo.

I am the fear weevil, said the creature, That is what I am.

Do you live here in the Wild Woods? asked Nathan.

Come and see, replied the fear weevil, and Nathan dutifully followed. The fear weevil led him to a rugged mountain, hidden in the heart of the Wild Woods. They approached a cave opening at the base of the mountain. This is the House of Fear, and here you are in my power! shrieked the fear weevil. Terror took hold of Nathan as the fear weevil seized him in its icy, cold grip and hurled him into the cave. Nathan hit hard, and before he could collect his senses, the fear weevil had rolled a great rock in front of the opening. Nathan sat trembling in the dark, wondering how he would ever get out.

After a while, his common sense conquered his fear, and he decided to explore the dark cave by touch. Crawling about on hands and knees, feeling his way in front of him, he eventually found a small tunnel leading out the back of the cave. It grew smaller and smaller as he went. He could barely squeeze through. Just when he thought he might be trapped, wondering if maybe he ought to back up before he got stuck, he found himself coming out the other side. He sensed that he was now in another, larger room. It was still completely dark. This room was not wide, but very high. He stood up, took two steps, and stumbled forward. He had fallen onto some steps, a rough-hewn stone stairway which wound upward. As soon as Nathan began to climb, he became aware of a faint light somewhere very high above.

Up and up he carefully climbed for what seemed like an hour or more. He was very tired, and all that kept him going was the light above him. At first, it was small as a pinhead. Now it was as big as a button, and he was sure it was sunlight. Finally, his face felt the warmth of the sun. He was standing on the very last step and his head was sticking out through a hole in the rock. He found it was large enough to extend his arms through, so he pulled himself up and out to see where he was. He was standing on the top of the topmost peak of the rugged mountain. It was a perfect natural