Short Story #1

I

 sat there, typing...the slow, melodious tunes of the 1980's hit 'Even the Nights are Better', softly ring in my ears as I lip-sync the lyrics to myself there’s a slight panging in my chest as I come to the realization that I have no one to sing that song to. I quickly shake it off. I remind myself that no good thing shall He withhold from them who walk uprightly...

I sighed deeply to myself...

Just then...the temperature in my room rose, and rose, and rose. The ground beneath me turned to sand, and as I covered my eyes from the bright light forming before me, a mighty rushing wind came through what I thought was my bedroom, and my surroundings started to change. The things in my room faded and, within moments, I wasn't in my room anymore. In fact, I don't even think that I'm in the same country anymore. Judging from the heat, and the fact that the sun was directly above me, I'd say that I was in Africa or Philippines or somewhere far from home.

“How did I get here?”

“Where am I?”

"GOD!??"

"Mumbai", a voice from behind me said. "What de -..." I stopped myself from speaking. I turned around and saw before me something that I never dreamed of seeing...at least, in my lifetime.

"Do not be afraid", the figure before me said. I knew it had to be an angel. His face was so...wow. It was shining! He was wearing a brown coat which blew in the wind. "You’re in Mumbai, India"

"India!" I said, believing that I had drifted off into some strange dream "What is God's plan for bringing me here?" I asked feeling a bit excited. "I was so excited; I had hardly even noticed that my clothes had changed into a coat and some sheik-looking garb for pants, with some manner of cloth-like scarf wrapping my neck.

"There's a family here that hasn't yet heard the gospel of Christ", the angel said. "I know that God is the doer of the impossible, but I do not even know what language they speak in India, far less, Mumbee" "Mumbai!" the angel corrected "right...Mumbai"

The angel took his two fingers and touched the sand on the ground. He took it, and rubbed it on my lips. I stood there, staring at him as he did this. "This is too real to be a dream", I thought to myself. "You're not dreaming", the angel said. I could not believe that God told Him my thoughts as I was thinking them...WOW.

When he had finished, he stepped back and said to me "you're ready now, Stefan" I opened my mouth to speak, "میرے بھائی، آپ کا شکریہ!" I said...I slapped my mouth in astonishment. Was I...actually speaking, Urdu?

I didn't even know that was the language there...

Whatever that angel did to me, it worked. I all of a sudden knew more of this language than I did of my own. I gently brushed my fingers across my lips and looked at them. My fingers glittered like if I had wiped them in diamond sands. I looked up at the angel, but he was not there.

"As expected", I muttered to myself. "Why do they always do that? UGH!"

I pulled the scarf over my forehead and mouth, and braved the winds to this village that seemed rather deserted. I took shelter in an abandoned shed, and closed my eyes...

*poke* *poke*

I woke to the irritating, jabbing sensation of something sticking me in my side. For a split second, I thought that I would wake up in my room, but I was still in Mumbai. "Definitely not a dream", I thought. I looked to my left, and saw a little Indian child with a stick. I couldn't tell for sure, but after I had rubbed my eyes, I realized that it was a little boy.

"Mister, Mister!" he yelled. I was able to understand every word he said. I groaned and pushed myself up. "I'm up, I'm up! What time is it" "It's night time, Sir!" he said, tugging at my sleeve. He was a darling little fellow. Looked a little malnourished, and he had bruises and scars across his skin.

"Mister, you must help me!" it seemed he realized that time was getting away, but for what? I didn't hesitate to ask, as it seemed urgent. So, I got up and followed him. We went through some ebbs and turns in this village as I tried to keep up with the little fellow. I prayed in my heart that God would prepare me for whatever lies ahead. As I approached the only hut in the village with a light on, I began to smell a stench. My mind flashed back to when I found my cat, Sparkles dead in the basement. I knew right then that something or someone had died.

He came to the entrance of the hut and opened it for me to enter. As I pulled back the curtain, my entire countenance fell. I felt my heart sink to my feet as I stared at what was before me.

A woman lay before me. I knew that it would be some sick or dying person. It always is. No one ever rushes a stranger to a swimming pool with a pot of gold at the bottom.

I wiped the tear from my eye and knelt down next to the woman. She was cut and bruised from head to toe. She was slightly gasping for air, and holding at gash in her stomach. I started to pray. "God, you brought me here, and I don't know what to do. I don't know if I can heal this woman. I don't even know what happened to her. What am I supposed to do?"

Then...something hit me like a ton of bricks on a Mack truck.

I touched her head, and whispered in her ear "woman, be healed". To my astonishment, a wind began to blow into the room. Her hair blew violently, as the place where my hand was started to glow an orange glow. I removed my hand to see what was happening. One by one, the lacerations on her head started to close up. The skin on her stomach started to weave itself back together and the blood seemed to seep back into her body.

Right before my eyes, this woman became whole and stood to her feet. "There are no words to thank you enough, stranger" she said. "I thought I was going to die there, after those dogs attacked me, I thought I was gone."

"It's a good thing that little boy came to me when he did," I said, smiling at her. "Was that your son?" "What little boy?" she asked, with a peculiar look on her face. "The one right the--" I looked around, and didn't see a soul. "Right, of course it was..."

I muttered under my breath

"Who were you talking to back there?" she asked. "Oh, I was talking to God" now seeing my opportunity to share the Gospel "Which one?" she asked. I chuckled to myself "There is only one. Elohim" "Oh" she said, her head hung low. "I was brought up to believe in many" "How many?" I asked, noticing that the sun was rising behind me. "Doesn’t matter now, does it?" she chuckled, "none of them are able to do what your God just did for me"

I began to feel warmth at the back of my neck. "Mumbai gets really hot really fast", I thought to myself. As the sun began to shine on this young woman's face, I began to see how she really looked. Her hair was long and shiny. Her face was like polished bronze as half of it hid behind her hair. Before I knew it, I was staring at her beauty. Before the awkward silence between us could get any worse, she seemed to snap back out of a trance herself. "I almost forgot, what is your name?" "Where I am from, they call me Stefan" I said. "Wow, I'd love for you to tell me more about where you're from, but I have to get back to my children"

"What?!” I exclaimed. I took another quick glance at her body for any signs of childbirth. "You have children!?" "Yes, not my offspring, though. I run an orphanage", she playfully bit her index finger and side looked me. Then, before, I could refuse, she grabbed my hand and dragged me off. She brought me to a building that looked like a temple. She opened the door and began to call "Children, mama is here and she has brought a friend"

A head popped from behind a wall. "It's alright, Fharid. You can come out. Sanjah, you too!" she called.

They began to pop out from under benches and around walls until I was surrounded with little Indian children. They were all touching me and probing me, maybe to see if I was real. I'm not sure. "They’ve never seen a man looking like you before", she said, smiling at me. For a second there, I forgot I was black.

"Children, settle down. Our friend has a story to tell us about the God who can heal people." They all gasped and sat on the floor. They gazed in amazement as I told them everything from the creation, to the flood. From Abraham, to Jesus.

"So you mean that all the other gods aren't real?" a little girl asked, shyly. "Is that why our parents died? They worshipped the wrong gods?"

"No no no", I tried to stop them all from crying. "My God is all Love", I stood to my feet. Everyone stood behind me.

"I'll prove it to you!" I turned to the woman. "Bring me a jar of water". She went and brought me a small jar of water about as tall as a Sprite bottle. "Who's thirsty?" I yelled. Some of the children jumped! Others raised their hands. I called out to the first child. "Drink this!" the other children began to look sad that they weren't getting any water. I took the empty jar from the first kid and passed it to the second. As the jar touched her fingers, it refilled with water.

"See?" now all of you can have a drink.

When the last child took the jar, the others started cheering and chanting "Drink, drink drink!!!" I folded my arms and laughed. The last child shook the jar and held it above his head, and a single drop fell on him. "Okay, now it's empty", he said. "Not just yet, I didn't drink", I interrupted him. I took the jar from him and began to sip. Hmmm, I wonder if... I took the jar and turned it upside down over the woman's head, and water gushed out from the jar, completely soaking her. The children laughed and all yelled "Praise God!"

Then we both laughed, as she sent the children to their beds. She turned to me, dripping. "I hope you're happy!" she said, jovially. "Actually, I could do with a drink. I kinda gave you all my water." She laughed and I stepped closer to her. "This has been unforgettable, and I didn't even get your name" "It's Jasmine", she said. "and it has been unforgettable". Her voice softened as she lowered he head. She seemed to know that my time with her was coming to an end. "What's wrong?" I asked, lifting her chin with my fingertips. "You've done so much for me, for the children. I have no way to repay you." "You need not repay me, Jasmine. My reward is in Heaven." "with Jesus?" "Yes, with Jesus."

She tip-toed and leaned forward to kiss me, but quickly realized that she was in the room alone.

I found myself in my room, dressed in a vest and shorts, like how I was 24-hours ago. The voices of The Fray grew louder as I began to gather my bearings

"Was it all a dream?" I asked myself. "I know God is real, but did this all just happen to me?"

I got up and went outside to the living room. I took up the remote and turned on the television. Sitting on the arm of the couch, I flicked through the channels until a familiar voice came through the TV.

I backed up a few channels and dropped the remote. "I know that woman!" I exclaimed. Jasmine was on BBC news, relaying a story of how she took care of some 30 children in an old temple.

I knew there and then that it was really God that used me to touch those children.

A tear rolled down my cheek as I lifted my head to heaven. "Thank you Lord"

[End]