Dominick the Runaway Soul

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When the time came for a woman to bear a child, God would send a little soul to become that woman’s child. God had a favorite small soul, whom he lovingly called Dominick, which means “belongs to God.” This is the story of Dominick.

Dominick would eat his meals at God’s table, and partake of the best foods in heaven. He would spend time with God each day near the throne, entertaining God with his antics, and soothing God with his beautiful clear voice. God favored Dominick as much as Dominick favored God, and they were rarely seen apart.

One day, God decided that it was time for Dominick to fulfill his purpose to go to earth and be born as a baby. Dominick dearly loved God, and did not want to go.

“Please God,” he said, “you are my parent, I want to dwell with you here, for I have seen through the clouds the ways of the world, and I am afraid.”

God dearly loved Dominick as well, but He felt that it was time for Dominick to go for it was selfish that God should keep the best from his people on earth, whom he also loved greatly. God told Dominick this:

“It is time Dominick. You must go to earth now. You will grow into a boy, and then a man. You will learn much about life on earth, and then, one day, when your years on earth have been many, I will welcome you back to live with me forever, but first you must fulfill your purpose.”

Dominick was saddened. Part of him was excited to go to earth. He saw many things when he peeked through the clouds, things that looked exciting and fun. But he loved God so much, that he was sad too, and afraid to leave. God took the little soul to a place at the edge of the sky, a place where God liked to look down and watch the goings on down on earth. He pointed a great finger to a place in the city. Dominick saw a young woman sitting beside a tree. She was a beautiful woman, as God had created all of the women on earth with a beauty all their own. The woman was crying, and Dominick heard her wishes for a child of her own.

“She is who you must go to, Dominick. See her tears, and feel the heaviness of her heart? You can make her happy, and that right now, is your place.”

Dominick stared at the woman little while longer, and then turned to God. “I love you God,” He said bravely “and if that is where you want me to go, then I will go, but I will long to come back to you every minute that I am away.”

God smiled at Dominick, and was proud of him. “You are a good soul Dominick. I love you greatly, and I will welcome you back when you have finished.”

With that, Dominick gave God one final embrace, and leapt off of the edge of the sky and went to join the woman.

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When Dominick had been inside the woman for a few weeks he became sad. He missed God so much, and he longed to be near him again. It was cramped and dark in the small space of the woman’s womb, and he longed for something better than the nourishment that entered him through the cord in his belly. Dominick kept reminding himself that he would be able to return back to heaven one day, and tried to entertain himself with the thoughts of dancing and singing before God again. He passed his time in the womb by counting off his favorite heavenly dishes that he would eat at God’s table again one day. He tried to dance inside the tiny space, but there was no room for that. He began to thrash about in anger, kicking hard at the sides of the uterus. The woman felt the quickening inside of her, and was overcome with happiness. Dominick could feel the pressure of the woman’s hands on her belly, feeling the places that his feet had kicked. He could sense her love for him, and was calmed by her touch and quickly fell fast asleep.

While Dominick was sleeping, an idea came to him. He dreamt that he could leave the woman, and get another soul to take his place! He could be back in heaven and eating from God’s table much quicker than he would if he stayed on for a human lifetime. Dominick woke with a start. He could nearly taste God’s dinner on his tongue and he wasted no time escaping through the umbilical cord, and out of the woman’s belly.

Dominick hurried back up to the sky. He was thinking of things to tell God about his return. He was worried, but he knew that God was always forgiving in the past, and hoped for that same forgiveness again. On his journey back to heaven, Dominick came upon Sara, another young soul. Sara greeted Dominick with surprise.

“I thought you had been sent on your earth-journey.” Said Sara. “You have been missed, God longs for your completion every day so that He can welcome you back. He has even been planning for your return feast since the day you left.”

Dominick was happy to hear this. He was certain that God would take him back early, but he still needed to fill his place on earth.

“Sara, it is good to see you as well. I have missed being in heaven, but I have done something wrong. My time on earth hasn’t finished, but I couldn’t stand it any more Sara! I want to be here with God.”

Sara looked pensive. She too knew of God’s favor of Dominick, but she also knew how much God hated to be disobeyed. “I don’t know Dominick,” she said. “He may be angry, what are you going to do?”

Dominick had been looking down when he replied to Sara. “Well… I could… I mean, if I were to find someone who would go in my place, to earth I mean, maybe God wouldn’t be so angry.” When he finished speaking, Dominick looked imploringly at Sara, he was pleading her with his gaze. Sara knew what he was asking her, and she shook her head, but without conviction.

“Please Sara. Go to earth for me. It really isn’t that bad. Just a little lonely in the darkness of the womb, but it is warm, and it only lasts a few earth months, then you would be free, and could live on earth for many years.”

Sara looked doubtful, but she had wanted God to send her soon, and she was growing excited that she could go now. Finally she nodded.

“I’ll go,” she said “show me the woman.”

With that, Dominick pointed out the woman who was walking in the same park where Dominick had first seen her. Sara jumped down to her, and entered her through the belly, crawling through the cord the way that Dominick had escaped.

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God was angry at first when He saw Dominick, but could not stay angry long, for He had missed his favorite small soul. God agreed that Dominick could stay for a while, but that Dominick would have to go back to earth and fulfill his calling. It was well in heaven. Dominick again ate from God’s table, and danced and sang at God’s throne.

When God felt that the time had been long enough, He decided that it was time for Dominick to return to earth. Again God showed Dominick a woman who was ready for a child, and again Dominick left with sadness. It was only a few weeks before Dominick was overcome again with the loneliness and boredom that had plagued him before, and he escaped the womb for a second time. He found a replacement, and went back to heaven.

Again and again this happened. Sometimes though, he could not find a soul to go in his place, and the baby would be not be born as a live child. Often, Dominick would escape after only a few weeks, but sometimes Dominick would make it for as many months as it took to grow a baby on earth, but escaped through the cord at the last minute. Often, his hasty escape would cause the cord to become entangled around the baby’s neck. If Dominick was able to find a replacement, the baby would live, but that was not always the case.

To this day, the struggle has not been resolved between the will of God, and Dominick’s own will, much like the struggle between a parent and a child here on earth.

Many times, when a woman loses her child, she thinks that she has done something wrong. But as likely as not Dominick, the runaway soul, has probably been there, and then… gone.

My personal struggle with multiple miscarriage over the past 12 years has been a difficult one. There is nothing like hearing a baby's heartbeat, your baby's heartbeat, for the first time, and weeks or months later being faced with a horrible, yet deafening, silence. "Dominick the Runaway Soul" is my way of dealing with a the loss of my son at 4 month gestation in 1999.

If you or someone you know has dealt with the pain and grief of miscarriage, you can find out more here: American Pregnancy Association. ~Rebecca Reece