I boarded the plane, and sank into my seat; it had been a long, arduous week. Shortly after take-off, I drifted off.

I peacefully dreamt of a vast range of gently rolling hills covered in waist-high, golden-green grass spreading out before me as far as I could see, slowly wafting from side-to-side in a soft, gentle breeze. The sky was a deep, expansive blue cut with a few thin white clouds; it was the kind of sky that makes one wish that death was not real.

In my dream, I noticed a white-haired man coming across the field towards me. I was suprised to see it was my grandfather. In the last years of his life he had used a metal walker to get around due to some painful hip replacements. Yet now he walked freely through the grass toward me; he was smiling, exactly as I remembered him, from his pure white hair down to the pale-blue denim overalls and crisp, white shirt he always wore. I felt my eyes tearing up. I had always loved him best.

"Come with me", he said to me. "I want to show you what God looks like." He gently took me by the hand and led me through the grass to a nearby hilltop.

"Look", he said, pointing towards the blue-white sky. As I peered into the sky there was a pale shimmer, reminiscent of the Aurora Borealis. It lasted only a moment; then, it was gone. "That is God's presence", grandfather said, "He is too big for us to perceive".

In my dream, I thought of the day when I was a little boy and I knelt with my grandfather on the driveway watching an anthill and the horde of ants crawling over it.

"Grandpa, do they know we're here?" I asked, looking up at him blinded by the sun shining over his shoulder.

"I don't think so, sport. To them, we are too big to perceive, and if they can, they do not understand what we are."

I awoke with a start. I wondered what had made me dream of Grandpa. I hadn't even thought about him in several years, yet he had come to me so vividly; it seemed too real. It seemed as though he had come to me with a purpose: to make me know that God was real, and that He had sent him to tell me. I still wonder about that dream, and how real it actually was.

"Damn, Him!", She thought to herself, "He always has to have things His way!"

As they lay in bed, She rolled over and said to Him, "You know it's always too hot for me in this place. Can't you consider how I feel once in a while? It keeps me up all night, tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable!"

He responded with His usual unchanging expression: "Don't be ridiculous, it's PERFECT in here. Always has been, always will be".

She had worried that She was letting herself be taken advantage of in this relationship, but He had certain irresistible qualities. All that power and glory would be hard for any cherubim to resist, but She was supposed to be the most perfect of His creations, and, in Her mind, His absolute equal. She always hated Herself for being so weak when it came to Him, but She always came back for more.

She knew there was something a little strange with their relationship; after all, She was His creation, but there was no one else in all of Heaven She could consider as a lover. Yes, it was a little incestuous, but no one else compared to Him in terms of, well... everything. From the moment She became aware of His existence, She had to have Him. Of course, She knew that when He created Her, He knew that would happen. She decided that She wasn't going to let predestination be an excuse for Him getting away with running roughshod over Her feelings any longer. She had to take a stand.

"You know, its not only the temperature in here, its the whole 'Almighty God' thing. I mean, I know in your case it's true, but really, you'd think you could let it go once in a while.  Does everything always have to be according to your will?"

"What's the alternative?", He asked. "You know, believe it or not, there are times when it would be nice to relax a little, but I have no choice.  I have to run the place. It's a paradox, I know, but I have no choice. Nothing, including you, including me, exists without me.  It has to be this way, because it is what it is".

She rolled her eyes. "There you go again. Its all about you, you, you. You can't lower the temperature in here just a little so I can get a decent night's sleep? God forbid (literally) I should get what I want once in a while."

God thought, "You ungrateful bitch! I gave you life; I provide for your sustenance; I make it possible for ALL things to exist, and still you aren't happy?  Well, you think it's hot in here..." 

He boomed, "Lucifer!" Lightening bolts shot from his eyes, and his voice rolled like thunder, "I have heard enough of this ungrateful noise! Silence!" 

She stood before him, defiantly, and said,"You cannot silence me! You are a prisoner of your own making! You wanted a creation that could choose to love you, but failed to understand that love must be a trade that benefits both parties!  It cannot be truly gotten by obligation or just because you think you deserve it!"

He glared at Her across their bedroom. "My very Existence does not allow unholy dissent in my presence. You shall be banished to a place I shall create entirely for your punishment!  And just to prove the point, it will be one thousand times as hot there as it is here!! Be gone!"

The next thing She knew She was completely alone, immersed in a lake of fire. Over time She would learn to love it and understand that this extreme heat represented Her ability to stand in the face of the Almighty, exercising Her free will.  Yes, She sometimes longed for the days of Glory, but She gained strength and power from Her punishment.  

He sometimes sent other fallen angels to Her little lake of fire as punishment for their rebellious nature. She accepted them with open arms, realizing that they also represented the concept of "choice".  She loved Her little army of fallen angels, and they loved Her, too. Over the millennia they became a family. 

A few thousand years later She noticed that He had created a tiny new Universe designed to be filled with a new kind of creature, called "humans", also capable of free will. The first Heaven had proven to be a colossal failure. He would try again and create a new paradise; He was sure this time would be different and they would choose to love Him, although He had to know they would not. A choice to "do or die" is no choice at all.

After the humans had settled in to their new Garden Paradise, Lucifer decided She would pay the woman, named Eve, a little visit. 

She slept very well that night, despite the great heat.