Dawn arrived earlier than usual, or at least that's how Efraín felt when he opened
his eyes. He had slept little, and yet he awoke with the sensation that something
had called to him from outside. A faint murmur, like the rustling of leaves or the
distant echo of a familiar voice. He didn't know if it was a dream or a sign, but he
rose with a strange, light determination, as if someone had taken his hand while he
slept and left him standing before his own destiny.
The house was silent. His parents were still asleep. The cool morning air drifted in
through the half-open window, carrying with it the damp scent of earth and a faint
whisper, so soft that Efraín wondered if he had imagined it.
She took a few steps and opened the window completely. The hill, barely visible in
the distance, was still shrouded in mist. A mist so thick it seemed to have a life of
its own. Just as she was about to close the window, she saw him.
It wasn't a physical figure this time. It wasn't someone standing watching him from
afar.It was a light.
A faint, almost tiny light, located on the hillside. It flickered slowly, likeIf it were
breathing. It would turn off. It would turn back on.
With a rhythm… a familiar rhythm.
"It can't be..." she whispered.
The rhythm was exactly the one she'd heard in her dream the night before. A soft
pulse, three long flashes and one short one. Like a call. Like someoneHe was
sending a message in a language only he could understand.
Efraín placed his hands on the window frame, trying to decipher if that wasReal or
just a coincidence. But something inside him knew: it wasn't a coincidence. "He's
already waiting for you." That's what the previous message said. That's what he had
seen written. That's what had been repeated in his mind over and over again.
Now I felt that reality was responding to that phrase.He spent a long minute watching the light until it finally went out, as ifwould have
fulfilled its function.
It left him with one certainty: he had to return to the hill.
Later, while the sun was still hidden behind the clouds, Efraín set out for his
dayNormal. Or what should have been his normal day. Because nothing he did felt
the same as before. As he walked toward the village, he noticed people were
looking at him differently. It wasn't judgment. It wasn't rejection. It was curiosity.
Admiration. A silent question in their faces that said: What's happening to you?
And he didn't know the answer. Not yet.
In the workshop where he worked some mornings, his colleague Matías observed him
several timessometimes with a sense of strangeness.
"Brother, you look... different today," he commented, while wiping the grease off
his hands with an old rag.
—Different how?
Matías shrugged.
—More awake. More… I don't know. Like you'd seen something.
Efraín wanted to deny it, but he felt it would be
useless.Something had changed.
Something was calling him.
And even though he didn't fully understand, he couldn't hide it.
As evening fell, he decided to meet with the small group of people who had
gathered the day before. This meeting wasn't planned, but many people from
the village had sought him out throughout the day with the same phrase:
Will there be another meeting tonight?
Ephraim didn't know what to say. He wasn't a leader; he wasn't qualified to lead
anyone. But remembering the peace he felt when they prayed together for the first
time gave him strength.
—Yes —he finally replied—. Tonight, at the same time.The news spread quickly.
As dusk fell, more people were waiting beneath the same tree on the hill, the one
that had become an almost sacred gathering place. This time there were nearly
twice as many. Older people. Younger people. Parents with their children. People
who had never been to a spiritual gathering like this before. They were all there.
Not for him. For something bigger.
Because of the call that the people were beginning to
feel.Efraín took a deep breath before speaking.
"I'm not here to preach to you," he began. "I just want to share what God is
putting on my heart. I feel that… we are being called to something. I don't know
exactly what it is, but it's not just for me. It's for everyone who is searching for
light."
Some people bowed their heads. Others closed their eyes, as if waiting for an
answer.The invisible was already brushing against his spirit.
"Yesterday, when we were praying together," Efraín continued, "I felt a guidance.
And this
Early morning… —he paused, hesitating whether to share it— …I saw a light. On the
hill. It wasn't a flashlight. It wasn't a campfire. It was something… different.
Upon mentioning it, a murmur ran through the group.
"I saw something too," said a woman in the back. "Like a flash when I was..."passing
near the hill.
"And I heard something," another man added. "Like a distant voice. I thought it was
my imagination."
Their eyes met. The
atmosphere changed.
It wasn't just him.
Something was happening in that place… something that was beyond them all.
Efraín felt a shiver run down his spine. It wasn't fear. It was confirmation.A force that
assured him that he was not alone in what he saw, what he heard, what he
dreamed.
And just as he was about to continue, he felt it.A sudden gust of wind swept through the group, rustling the tree branches above
them. It wasn't a normal wind. It came from above, from the hill, as if someone
hadopened an invisible door in the air.
A wind with such a strong presence that everyone fell silent.
Efraín closed his eyes. And he saw the light again. Not outside. Inside. As if a spark
ignited behind his eyelids. He tried to open them, but he couldn't. The wind
continued.blowing, dense, enveloping, almost as if it were speaking.
Until finally he listened…
One sentence.
A soft phrase. Intimate. As if it were being whispered directly into her heart.
—Get in.
Efraín opened his eyes
suddenly.The wind stopped.
The silence was
absolute.And everyone
was looking at him.
"What happened?" a woman asked him.
But Efraín could not speak.
The word echoed in his mind, throbbing with the same force as the message of light.
Go up.
He looked towards the hill.
Still shrouded in
shadows.Still waiting.
I felt that this was the moment. Not another. Not
tomorrow. Today.He stepped forward.
And then another one.
Until standing in front of the group.
"I'm going up," she said firmly. "I don't know what I'll find, but... He's calling me."Nobody laughed. Nobody doubted. Nobody
questioned.Because everyone had felt it.
Some wanted to accompany him, but Efraín gently declined.
"Not yet," he whispered. "This is something I must do
alone." And then he began to walk.
Towards the
hill. Towards
the mist.
Towards the place where the light had flickered at dawn.
Towards whatever it was that had been waiting for him all
along.
📖 Author's NoteThank you for reading The Call of Ephraim.This chapter is a preview of a work of spiritual fiction that explores faith, doubt, and purpose in the face of an extraordinary calling.
The complete version is available on Amazon Kindle for those who wish to continue the journey.Thank you for reading and for answering the call.