Chapter Two

"John Candy?" Cyrus Sinclair was stunned.

"That's right, John Candy," the big blonde teddy bear of a man was smiling and still holding out his hand for Cyrus to shake.

"The John Candy?" was Cyrus' next question.

"If by the John Candy, you mean the John Candy who used to star in movies and starred in the SCTV television show, that's me," the giant teddy bear of a man still held out his hand.

"But you've been dead for the past 10 years," was Cyrus' stunned reply.

"Has it been 10 years now?" John Candy scratched his head. "Gee, it seems like only yesterday. I guess time flies when you're having fun. Paradise is great you know. It's everything you could wish for. Of course it's hard not seeing your wife and children all the time. But I know they're in good hands. God is looking out for them and someday they'll join me and hey, someday I'll get to see maybe some grandkids as well. It'll be quite a happy time."

Cyrus saw that the man's hand was still outstretched and thought maybe it would be impolite not to shake it. He reached forward to shake it and saw his hand pass right through it.

John Candy looked down, "Oops! Sorry about that!" The late actor pointed a finger at his forehead again, "D-oh! I forgot I'm a ghost. It's not Judgement Day for the universe just yet. Most of us won't be united to our glorified bodies until then. Of course there are some ghosts that are capable of giving a feeling of substance to them. They can even move material objects if they try. Like in that 1990 movie "Ghost" with Demi Moore, did you see that?"

Cyrus Sinclair nodded his head that he had in fact seen the film.

"Those are what you call earth-bound ghosts, ghosts of people who don't know they have died or ghosts of people who if they've died an unusual or violent death weren't ready to die. They're not ready for Paradise or that... other place just yet," John Candy seemed to swallow hard like a living mortal person might, "so they wander this earth, poor souls. And if they're down here a long time, they can give a feeling of substance to their spectral bodies and even move material objects. But I haven't been down here that long."

"This is the first time you've left Paradise?" Cyrus asked.

"No, I've been down here for some of what you would call earth minutes, like if my wife or children or a few of my close friends were in trouble or needed a feeling of help or comfort, I'd come and stand by them a few moments letting them know that I'm with them in spirit and I'm thinking of them," John replied.

"Do you show yourself to them?" Cyrus asked.

"No, we're not allowed to show ourselves to our loved ones," John replied.

"Why not?" Cyrus asked.

"Well, none of us up there has ever been given the full reason why we can't appear to be seen by our loved ones (there are I've been told some exceptional circumstances). When all of us, those in Paradise and on earth enter the Final Heaven after Judgement Day, we'll probably be told. In conversations with more learned souls than myself up there, I've been told that when we're down here, we must realize that it's God who's the ultimate source we should rely on not our friends or parents or spouses or even ourselves and it's for that reason we shouldn't really appear in person to our loved ones after we've left this earthly life."

"So why are you appearing to me?" Cyrus asked.

"We are occasionally sent to appear to strangers for purposes known to God alone," Candy replied.

"So God sent you here?" Cyrus asked.

"Not directly," Candy replied, "It was the Archangel Raphael."

"Raphael?" Cyrus looked puzzled.

"Raphael the Archangel not Raphael the Renaissance painter even though Raphael the Renaissance painter is probably better known than Raphael the Archangel. Not too many people had heard of the Archangel Raphael when I was alive so probably even fewer people have heard of him now. He's not as well known in most people's minds as the Archangel Michael or the Archangel Gabriel," said Candy.

"Or the Archangel Lucifer," Cyrus threw out the name without thinking.

"Fallen Archangel if you please, fallen archangel," Candy corrected him, "No, he who really shouldn't be named is a lot more well known than Raphael just like Adolf Hitler is a lot more well known than Frederick Banting who helped invent insulin for diabetics. Some of the bad guys always seem to get the glory more than the good guys."

"Anyways you mentioned Raphael sent you to me?" Cyrus asked.

"Yes, that's right," Candy nodded, "I don't know if you know much about Raphael, do you?"

Cyrus shook his head.

"Well, I remember my Catholic Church Catechism for Children which I had as a child mentioned that Raphael was an Archangel of Healing and it would be a fairly well deserved title I'd say...Say, have you read the Book of Tobit?" Candy asked.

"Book of Tobit?" Cyrus tried to think, "I don't think so..."

"It's one of the lesser-known books of the Old Testament," Candy explained, "In fact, it's part of a series of books called the Apocrypha. It's not found in all Bibles. It was found in my Roman Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible that I had but not in my Authorized King James Version that I owned. Anyways... say, do you like to go fishing?"

"Fishing?" Cyrus was surprised at the sudden change of subject.

"Yeah, fishing," Candy positively beamed, "I really loved to go fishing when I was alive down here."

"I really haven't done too much fishing in my life, no," Cyrus shook his head.

"Gee, no wonder you looked so depressed when I first saw you," Candy patted him on the shoulder and Cyrus to his surprise could feel the touch but didn't say anything, "Nothing drives away the blues like fishing. Unless of course you're really obsessed with catching the big one," the actor rolled his eyes, "then fishing ceases to be a joy and becomes a drag. Quite literally at times. Like if you're dragging your line and you think you've caught the big one but it turns out to be a huge reed instead. I remember once Jack Nicholson the actor... he thought he had caught..." the cherubically smiling blonde started to laugh, "no... no... I shouldn' t tell that story... a lot of swearing involved... particularly in Nicholson's language... no... no... all of us should just remember that we're not all going to catch the big one and if we all remember that, then we'll enjoy fishing. We'll fish for the pure joy of it rather than worry about catching the big one."

"This is what the Archangel Raphael sent you to do?'" Cyrus stared at John Candy uncomprehendingly, "to give me advice about fishing, a sport I rarely engage in?"

"Sorry," John Candy shook his head and laughed, "Why I mentioned fishing is that the Book of Tobit is a great fisherman's tale and also the Archangel Raphael appears in the story you see. You see the story of Tobit goes like this... Tobit Sr. the father in the story is sitting under a tree sleeping in the noonday sun when a bunch of swallows... birds... swallows...how shall I put this delicately?... drop their droppings on his eyelids shall I say... and Tobit Sr. doesn't wake up and the droppings sort of cook and bake in the noonday sun and when he wakes up, he's blind. Tobit Jr. meanwhile has been sent on a family matter to Babylon and while he's walking along the River Euphrates, the Archangel Raphael appears to him and between the two of them, they catch this huge fish that's swimming in the River Euphrates and then Raphael cuts out the fish's liver or gall and tells Tobit Jr. to hang on to it. Later at the end of the story, Tobit Jr. uses the fish's liver or gall to put on top of his father's eyelids and cure him of his blindness."

"So," Cyrus sat back in his chair, "what you're trying to tell me is that if a bunch of swallows crap on my eyelids while I'm sleeping in the noonday sun and I go blind, some fish's liver or gall is what you'd recommend for it?"

"Well, actually, sir," the waiter coughed an embarassed cough as he stood next to Cyrus and across from John Candy's ghost seen only by Cyrus, "I was actually wondering if you'd like to order something else and no..." the waiter coughed an embarassed cough again, "I don't believe we have fish's liver on the menu. Would you like me to check with the chef just to be sure?"


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