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.

“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

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

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

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

Jack pulled into the driveway of his one-story ranch style home and turned off the engine. There was no better feeling that coming home after a hard day’s word. Kathy, his wife of nearly thirteen years, would surely be fixing dinner. “As if she doesn’t do enough,” Jack said to himself. Besides keeping up with their 10 year old son, Jacob, and the house work, she still found time to volunteer down at the local boys home. What had started as a once-a-week commitment had quickly turned into a daily routine. She loved the boys like her own, and they loved her back just as much. Jack smiled. He’d found a treasure in Kathy and he whispered praise to God for the blessing He’d given him.

He slammed the car door and went in the house. “I’m home,” he called.

“I’m in the kitchen!” Jack was there before she finished yelling. He knew where she’d be and he grabbed her and spun her around. “I missed you today, ” he whispered in her ear. She smiled and gave him a hug followed by a playful spank. “Put the potatoes on the table and go get cleaned up. And hurry,” she added with a giggle, “we’re hungry!”

Tomorrow: Courage – Part IV

It hadn’t been a good day for Billy. His mother was at work and she had left an unusually long list of things for him to do. Not it was 4:30, a half-hour before she’d be home, and he wasn’t even halfway through. He tried to hurry, even cutting a few corners here and there, but by 5:00 he wasn’t sure he was any further than he had been an hour earlier.

He knew his mother would yell. She had been so on edge since his dad had dies six months earlier. Instead of dealing with her grief, she had chosen to throw herself into her job at the local textile mill. A normal week for her now included at least 20 hours of overtime. Every day was the same – work until night, come home, fall asleep exhausted. Billy had gotten lost in the shuffle.

He tried to do everything his mother asked. He knew how shattered her life was and so he just wanted to do as much as he could to keep things as normal as possible for her. All he wanted was her help, too, which, until now, wasn’t very much.

The phone rang and Billy was relieved to hear his mother’s voice on the other end. It meant she would be working late, and he’d have more time to finish the list. He hung up the phone and hurried to do the dishes.

Tomorrow: Courage – Part III

Even as a teen walking down Main Street in Edgemont, he knew he wanted to have a sign above his business someday, and now he did. RICHARDSON AUTO REPAIR. He smiled as he read it again. Head held high, he filled his lungs with air the way only a proud man can. He had started from scratch, and now the shop had grown into one of Edgemont’s biggest and most respected businesses. He started his car and pulled out onto Highway Nine. As he watched the shop shrink in the rear view mirror, he exhaled slowly and deeply, then rounded the corner and headed for home.

Tomorrow: Courage – Part II

My rest complete, I crawled up the last few feet and peered over the edge to see the man. To my horror and disappointment, he wasn’t there! I scrambled to the top and began searching frantically for the man who had so inspired my climb. Realizing that my search was in vain, I closed my eyes. I pictured the man and for the first time I saw how small he had been in comparison to the rock. I felt the power of the rock and I realized where his power had come from. He had merely been an extension of the rock. My mind raced with unanswered questions. What had been his purpose? How had he found the rock? Why me now?

Without warning, something stirred below where I had once been. As I looked closely, I noticed that someone had fallen and, finally, it all made sense. Just as the man had led me to this place of oneness with the rock and stability in the wind, so he had been led by a man, and that man by another man, and another man before him, and so on. They had all climber the rock and in turn stood as an example to unstable men of the stability that comes in being totally dependant upon the rock. Realizing this, I humbly accepted my role in this cycle of men.

At once, the power of the rock surged through my being and, shoving my hands deep into my pockets and drawing my face tight, I leaned into the wind. And as the men before me had, and the men after me would, I became the man on the rock.

The man was much clearer now and I could see the rigidness in his stance. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets and his face was drawn tight. His hair was blown by a fierce, swirling wind which made the gusts I had felt below seem more like a breeze. And yet this man stood firm. What power he had! I longed even more to be near him.

As I rose to continue the climb, the wind increased. Its velocity seemed to grow with every step. Occasionally I would brace myself against a tree until, finally, there were no more. I sank to the rock, trembling, shaken by the realization that it was all I had left to cling to. In the wild wind, I had become totally dependant upon it for my survival.

I rose once more, this time with renewed determination and commitment. Clinging to the rock, I crawled up the rest of the incline until I reached a small ledge just below the top. Here I was able to rest for a moment and, for the first time since I had begun my climb, I lost sight of the man.

Tomorrow: The Man on the Rock – Part IV