Moode pressed Raymond's hand with great love, so that his fingers spread and straightened. He grasped Raymond's index finger and his middle finger. He spread them widely, and he pressed the two fingers through the narrow space between the open door and its hinges. He held Raymond's fingers in the door, and Pascoe held his arm aloft, so that it would be easy for Raymond.

The choir applauded loudly now. Raymond fixed his eyes through the narrow space between the open door and the hinges. He felt a cramp in his arm and shoulders. He looked everywhere for Quandra through the narrow space, but he could not see anything, except the dark.

Then Evelyn's voice was heard in a triumphant shout behind the door. His great voice spired in the room, above the mighty applauses. He shouted, "Praise him! Praise him! He is here!"

The choir raised a shout of hysterical and joyous cheers. Shouts of "Raymond!" "Darling!" "Praise his visibility!" They pressed to be near him in the perfect moment of his appearance.

Raymond turned his head to them. But as he turned, he felt the cold surface of a large egg slip between his fingers, behind the door, spreading them widely in its hard oval. He quickly turned to see. He tried to pull his hand through the narrow space between the open door and its hinges. But the egg and all its weight was wider than the space itself. He could not do it. He was trapped. He knew he was trapped.

The choir was roaring and cheering, bowing and kissing Raymond's face, his feet, his garments, and the portion of his palm that still extended from the narrow space. Moode and Pascoe kissed him, and let go of his hand and his arm, so that Raymond had to stand and bear the weight of his arm that held his trapped hand aloft in the narrow space.

Evelyn came out from behind the door, and he praised Raymond with his whole heart.

Raymond was staring into the narrow space, unable to understand this purpose, unable to see the one he loved. Only the perfect white egg was visible in the narrow space. Only the oval of the egg that cramped his hand stood heavily in the dark.

Evelyn consoled him. "The egg is perfection, Raymond. It says everything with the simplicity of your own beauty. Listen to how everyone loves you!"

Raymond turned his head to Evelyn. His face was in a shadow, as if a hand were standing near his face. He spoke to Evelyn with anger and great power in his voice. "Where is she. Evelyn?"

Evelyn looked at Raymond with great love. "Look, Raymond. Look into the egg!"

Raymond quickly turned his head, and his eyes searched his hand and the form of the egg that trapped him. He new a tiny hole in the narrow end of the egg that stretched his fingers in a cramp. He pressed his forehead against the door, and squinted his eyes, so that he could look into the hole in the egg that held him in the narrow space.

There was a small light within the egg, a glow that fused within the shell and seemed to make a small heat where his fingers grasped the egg. His eyes adjusted to the narrow light, and within the light, within the oval form that trapped him, he could see the lake at God's End rested in his grasp.

He looked deeper and over the lake. There was Quandra. She was standing in the water, with her arms full of flowers. And she looked to him, across the water, with great love. She waded in and pressed her small boat into the water. She shooed the fishes with clapping hands, and pressed her arms into the water to move across the lake.

Raymond stood silently, gazing on the water. The men of the choir filed through the sanctuary and kissed his other hand, that lay open by his side. One by one. They worshipped him with solemn Joy and recognition, while he stood in the sanctuary, facing the narrow space, and the egg, and the lake where his loved one was. They each worshipped him. And Evelyn kissed his hand, and he worshipped him.

Evelyn stood by him while they worshipped him. He spoke aloud and filled the tabernacle with his voice. "This lover and his dear one is the adorable image, the turning of our hearts! Worship it! Remember this place!"

Raymond was unaware of all that was happening in the tabernacle. He did not see his worshippers adore him with full hearts of joy. He did not see them filing out of the tabernacle through the doors at the ends of their pews. He was watching Quandra now. He watched her moving toward him on the lake. He strained his eyes upon the water and saw her waving to him with her gentle curl of fingers and the forceful silk of her dark hair.

Evelyn stood by him with reverence and great love. "Do not take us lightly, my adorable. Do not forget us. Do not drop the perfect form into the dark. If it falls, the world itself will crack, and all our hearts will fall with you to silence, and your loved one falling away forever in the exploded forms."

Evelyn praised and worshipped him. Then he left him. And Raymond stood alone within the sanctuary, in the empty tabernacle, pale with silence, while his dear one rode the water.

Raymond stayed there through the night. In the lighted moon he saw her moving, and the water churned below his feet. By morning she was still approaching on the water, and the water was wide. He stood with the water through the day. And then the night and another day. He waited for her while she rode the water with her arms. And days passed. His arm slept within the door. His hand grew in a cramp, so that the egg made a bow in his hand and pressed it open like a vowel. He grew weak within the door. But his starvation passed him unnoticed while he stood by the water.

No one returned to the tabernacle. It had become perfect and complete. Raymond was only silent, without thought, without sleep or daily life. He was only by his dear one on the water, and the water was wide, and it did not end. The water widened in his mind. The water did not end. He faced his dear one on the water. She moved within the water, but it did not end. The water itself. And, after so long a time, when there had become no time at all, when the water itself was not ended, and she was moving on the water, he faced her on the water and dropped the egg.

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