Day Thirty: Courage – Part VIII

Did you miss Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, or Part VII?

Kathy reached over and took Carol’s hand. “I can’t tell you that I understand, but I do know someone who does. If you want me to, I’d love to introduce you to him.”

Carol looked at Kathy and her eyes gave her away. The window to her soul was open, and Kathy saw a woman whose life had been devastated, almost ruined by the death of her soul mate and all the emotions that follow a tragedy like that. Kathy shivered. She could almost hear Guilt, Fear, Depression, and their calvary of companions laughing at her. Somewhere beneath all that internal opposition was Carol, and Kathy thought she could hear her cries, pleading for help and freedom. Despite the taunting of the demonic foes, Kathy knew that she must stand in the gap for her friend who could not stand on her own. She would have to cross the battle line and fight a war that, until now, had not been her war to fight. In her spirit, Kathy whispered a prayer to her Captain, and she felt His power running through her. She saw herself standing tall, and knew that she could fight the battle, because Jesus would be fighting through her.

Carol’s voice brought Kathy back to her den. “I’d like that. I would love to hear about someone who can understand how I feel.” She leaned in as if to add even more importance to her next words. “Please, tell me.”

Kathy shared with Carol the passion she had found in the love of Christ, and with every word Carol’s eyes opened wider and wider, until finally, when Kathy took her hands to pray, Carol had already begun a conversation with her Savior. Kathy prayed for her, too, and as she did, she rejoiced in the fact that Carol was finding a victory that had been hers for over two thousand years.

I hope you’ve found Thirty Days of Fiction interesting, encouraging, and thought-provoking. I could share more, and perhaps I will somewhere down the road. God bless.

Day Twenty-Nine: Courage – Part VII

Did you miss Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, or Part VI?

“That was delicious, thank you.”

Carol Ryder put down the plate that had held a piece of the best chocolate cake she’d ever put in her mouth. She had been surprised when she’d bumped into Kathy outside the textile plant, and even more so at the invitation to come over and chat. Since she’d called Billy earlier and told him she would be late coming home, she saw no reason to decline. Besides, she’d been lonelier than usual the past few days and could use the company.

“You’re welcome, Carol. Can I get you anything else? Some tea, perhaps?” asked Kathy. Carol nodded affirmatively and headed to the den. “You really have a lovely place, Kathy. It must be nice to have the time to keep it up.”

“Well, I do a little here and there and eventually it gets done. Of course, Jack and Jacob help out quite a bit, too.” As soon as she had said it, she wanted to take it back. She had meant to not mention her husband since she wasn’t sure how painful the thought of a man around the house might be for Carol. “Please forgive me, “she whispered to Carol, her voice painfully hushed. “I didn’t mean…” Her voice trailed off as she realized that nothing she said could fix the awkwardness. She sat in the silence, kicking herself for being so insensitive.

After what seemed like forever, Carol spoke. “I miss him. I miss suppers together, the walks in the woods, even the fights. I miss so many things about him, but what I miss the most is his warm breath on the back of my neck when he’d hold me at night. It always made me feel so secure. At night, when I can’t sleep, I go crazy remembering that feeling. Kathy, I don’t know if I can do this alone anymore.”

The Chief walked into his kitchen, reached on top of the fridge, and turned on the scanner. Then he got busy pulling out all the necessary ingredients for his “Still Sub” – ham, turkey, bologna, swiss, ketchup, mustard, mayo and banana peppers. He had just enough time to fix two subs before the game started. Tonight was the Rams and the Cowboys, and Chief Stiller was anticipating a Cowboys’ rout. He turned on the TV from the kitchen and listened to the pre-game while he finished up the food. A few minutes later he was sitting in his favorite chair, sinking his teeth into the first sub and cheering the Cowboys to a win. It was 9:05 pm.

Tomorrow: Courage – Part VIII

Day Twenty-Eight: Courage – Part VI

Did you miss Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV or Part V?

Edgemont nights were quiet and predictable. Mr. Turner always closed the barber shop at 4:30 in the afternoon so that he’d have time to stop by Lynn’s Deli to get meat for supper before she shut her place down at five. The one grocery store in town locked its doors promptly at 8:00 pm and the only place remotely in operation after nine was the police station which also doubled as the fire station. Bart Stiller had the dubious honor of being the Edgemont Fire and Police Chief, and he usually headed home around ten-thirty. He’d stay just long enough to finish up the paperwork or to make sure the police car and fire engine were ready for the next day. It was not an arduous task, especially since neither had seen emergency use in a number of years. That, however, is what made Edgemont so nice. It was quiet and predictable, and the residents liked it that way. Maybe that’s why they didn’t take too kindly to Billy. He was anything but quiet and predictable.

Billy put down the TV dinner and sat back in the easy chair. It was going on nine and his mother still wasn’t home. The plant had been closed well over an hour and he was starting to worry. He went through all the places that she could have been, calling them and asking if she had been there. Nobody in Edgemont had seen her since she’d left the textile plant at 5:40 pm. She had called Billy at five, worked an extra 40 minutes of overtime, and then what? Where had she been the last three hours? More importantly, where was she now?

Tomorrow: Courage – Part VII

Day Twenty-Seven: Courage – Part V

Did you miss Part I, Part II, Part III or Part IV?

Billy had met Kathy Richardson one morning downtown. She had approached him and asked why he wasn’t in school. Caught red-handed, Billy had fumbled through some lame excuses, and Kathy had told him that she’d be calling his mother that evening, followed by an invitation to go with her to the boy’s home. She was going to set up for a surprise birthday party they were throwing for on of the boys. At first Billy hesitated, but once ice cream was mentioned, he immediately agreed.

That was a day Billy had never forgotten. Not only did he go set up for the party, but Kathy took him everywhere – the library, the courthouse, even to school to pick up Jacob. The two boys hit it off immediately and talked non-stop until they dropped Jacob off at home and headed over to Billy’s to wait for his mom to get home. Kathy explained what had happened earlier that day and then left, and even though Billy got in trouble for playing hooky, he always remembered good things about that day. He had been shown love and attention, and it felt great.

Since then, he had been over to the Richardson place many times. He and Jacob spent afternoons together, either down at the Boy’s Home or at the house. Jack had grown to love Billy as well, and he took the boys fishing whenever he could. Sometimes, if Jacob couldn’t go, Jack would take Billy anyway. Those were the time that Billy loved. He’d almost forgotten what it was like to have a father, but being with Jack made him remember.

Tomorrow: Courage – Part VI

Day Twenty-Six: Courage – Part IV

Did you miss Part I, Part II or Part III?

Billy plopped down in the chair and breathed a big sigh of relief. He had just checked off the last chore on his list and he was exhausted. Grabbing the remote, he turned on the TV and clicked through the channels with no success. Finding an old black and white movie, he left it there and closed his eyes.

Billy Ryder was a misunderstood kid. He had been branded the “bad boy” of Edgemont, but in all fairness he was just an eleven year-old biy hurting from the loss of his dad. He hadn’t caused any real trouble anyway. A flat tire from a well-placed nail, or some candy taken out of Johnson’s Hardware. Of course, he had singlehandedly taken out the entire sixth-grade class in a surprise water balloon attack. Normal pranks that go unnoticed in large cities, but in Edgemont, it seemed that every one of the 753 citizens looked down their nose at little Billy Ryder. Well, all except three.

Tomorrow: Courage – Part V