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| Our son and Tom looking sheep at the Big E (a fair) |
PRAYERS ANSWERED
We are back in Massachusetts! We are in a new house! Other people who work overseas have let us sublet their home for a much reduced rate-- we have only been in the house a few days and it has already been a huge blessing. Our friends on the island are in the middle of a seminar about oral storytelling that will hopefully help their ability to share with people.
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| Cowgirl goes on a pony ride |
PRAYERS REQUESTED
The islands are in the middle of a fuel crisis. Pray that fuel comes to the islands soon. Continue to pray for Abby in her island homestay. Our son had a bad fall that forced some of his teeth into his gums. Thankfully there doesn't appear to be any damage to the root or nerves. Pray that the teeth move back into position some (his pacifier is supposed to help!).
This is a fictional short story written on the islands and inspired by the islands. As a team we were all challenged to look into something new and do some kind of project-- this short story was the result of that assignment.
THE GARDENER
by Megan
PART THREE
My mind was spinning. I was confused and hurting, but didn’t know what to do or who to turn to. I started to run. When I was finally away from everyone I flopped under a tree. “What happens now?” I thought to myself.
I realized that I had to see him again, even if it was just a body. I was near the edge of the Garden. It was still night but the faint glow of morning light was beginning. I crept behind some trees as I saw the small group of men carrying his body. They were jeering and laughing.
“Let’s dump his body here and watch it burn in the sun,” said the first.
“Maybe the Gardener will personally come and crush him to dust,” laughed another.
“Wait a second, I think he might still be alive,” said a third.
“If he is, it’s just barely. The Gardener will finish him one way or another.”
They dumped the body where the first morning light would shine the brightest. As soon as his body settled on the ground a beam of light pierced through the trees and rested upon him.
The sudden light startled the men. “Maybe we should go,” they said quickly to each other.
They hurried away, stumbling in their efforts. For all their jeering, the idea of actually seeing the Gardener was terrifying. I was scared too, but I had to stay. I had to see.
Slowly the stream of light grew in size and intensity. I tried to watch but suddenly the source of the light seemed to burst in among the trees like a man making a sudden entrance. I had to close my eyes. When I opened them again my eyes had trouble adjusting and understanding what I saw. The Stranger’s body was no longer on the ground and it was almost as if someone was carrying him away, the body scooped in the figure’s arms. But before I could focus, the figure disappeared into the Garden. The light left with him.
The following evening there was some talk about what had happened. Some had seen a flash of bright light. The men who had carried him said they saw him burned into nothingness.
Different stories went around but soon the talk quieted. The elders felt validated. The Gardener had finished the Stranger off just as they said he would. Now they wanted the Stranger’s existence and his questions to be forgotten.
I didn’t know what to think. No matter what I heard I couldn’t believe that the figure of light had destroyed the Stranger. Still the Stranger was gone. Life was to return to the way it was.
I tried to go about like normal, but I didn’t want to be in the Community. I avoided people. Everyone knew I had liked the Stranger and I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t want their questions or wise cracks.
Something exciting and hopeful had disappeared with the Stranger and I blamed the Community. Still we were the Community. I couldn’t change the Community and I couldn’t leave the Community. So as a result, the visit of the Stranger began to feel more and more like a dream.
**********
I wasn’t sleeping well. The Stranger had only been gone a couple weeks but it felt like months. The rest of the family had just settled down to bed. Slowly the air filled with the heavy breathing and faint snoring of sleep.
My spirit was restless. I sat up and heard the birds singing outside. I quietly slid out of bed, slipped on my shoes and squeezed through the door as soundlessly as possible. It was midday. The world outside was streaked with light. The ground was muddled with alternating shadows and light that shifted slightly with the wind.
As the Community we hated this time of day. It was near impossible to be outside and stay in the shadows. I considered going back into the dark comfort of my home, but somehow being outside invigorated me and I needed to walk and explore.
I began with some careful steps from shadow to shadow, but then I started to run. I ran around, skipping through the shadows and into the momentary splashes of light. I found myself smiling, on the edge of laughing as I raced around the deserted daytime world. I skirted close to the Garden, rounded a corner and stopped in my tracks. Standing right before me was the Stranger.
He stood without fear in the middle of the light. He gestured me over to him like we had been walking together for hours.
As I followed him, I began to wonder whether I was dreaming.
He led me into the garden. Everything was so much clearer in the day. He started to show me secrets about the fruit that you couldn’t see in the dark. The sound of his voice, the feel of the soil and the smell of the vegetables convinced me that this was no dream. The burden of the previous days’ confusion and self-doubt lifted off of me and I began to laugh.
I spent most of the day with the Stranger. He drew me further into the Garden and the light than I had ever gone. I was scared at times but I saw his complete lack of fear and kept going. A little further in he showed me some of the best fruit I had ever seen. He explained that the more light and attention from the Gardener, the more fruitful things became. He handed some of the fruit to me. I was uncomfortable taking fruit without the cover of darkness, but I accepted it thankfully.
The light started to fade and I hurried home.
I sat down on my bed with a smile. My mother and father got up and began the daily chores. They were surprised to see me up and looked at me curiously. I showed my father the fruit we had picked. His eyes got large but then he furrowed his brow.
“You shouldn’t go out so early. There’s too much light. The Gardener might see you,” he scolded, but there was no anger in his voice. And as he turned carrying the fruit to the kitchen, he looked pleased.
I went to see the Stranger every day. He constantly talked about the Gardener and the light. Every day he drew me further from the shadows. Every day the light was brighter and the fruit better.
My parents were pleased at first that I was helping to provide for the family. No one could criticize the fruit, but sometimes they would look at me questioningly. No one asked how or where I gathered.
At the beginning I went in the daytime by myself but still went out with the men at dark. Later I would slip away and find a place to nap at night so I could spend more of the day with the Stranger. At a certain point I shared with some boys my age about what I was doing. Most of them appreciated the rebelliousness but some were scared and others were too ingrained in the Community. A few went with me to see the Stranger.
My life was changing and I was happy. My family started to notice the change. I started to go out in the day more and more. I began to crave the light. My confidence grew. I no longer sat with the men to listen to the tirades about the Gardener. Instead I stayed outside the circle and posed the same questions that the Stranger had asked.
My parents started with just giving me nervous glances and shaking their heads in disapproval, but as the days went on and my boldness grew, they became more hostile.
“Do you want to end up like him? Beaten and despised by the Community and crushed by the Gardener?” my father yelled.
They started to reject the food I brought home—my mother out of fear, my father out of anger.
One day I laid a particularly magnificent squash on the table.
“You got this in the light, didn’t you!?” my father shouted. The pressure that had been building in him finally burst. “Are you trying to bring the Gardener’s wrath on us all? Get out of here! We don’t want your kind here.”
I headed for the door and as I walked out of the house I saw a small child look with wonder and hunger at the fruit in my hand. With a smile I handed it to her, but before she could bring it to her lips, my father came out and smacked it from her hands. The girl ran away but I just stood there as my father walked back into the house and slammed the door.
**********
After my parents cast me out, life was hard. I lived on the outskirts of the Community. I spoke freely to all who would listen. Some came out of interest, some out of scorn, others out of a longing for something different.
The rest of the Community ignored me, as if I didn’t exist. Sometimes it felt like they were just waiting for me to cross another line or break one more rule so they could try me, beat me and leave me to die.
I was weary and lonely from all the opposition. I sat down in a shadow at the edge of the light and leaned forward to let my face soak in the light’s warmth—slowly the weariness melted away and I relaxed. I took out a piece of fruit and began to eat.
A woman walked nearby and looked at me with disgust. No one else would dare eat so close to the light. I ignored her look and she continued past me.
I was looking thoughtfully at the ground when I noticed that a little boy had sat down beside me.
“I miss the Stranger,” he said to me suddenly. “Why doesn’t he visit us anymore?”
“The Community didn’t want him here,” I answered, “so they made him leave.”
The boy paused briefly. “Did he die?” he asked in a hush.
“No. He went to the Gardener,” I reassured him, “and you can still find him in the Garden, in the light.”
The boy looked pleased by this answer. I handed him some fruit and we smiled at each other and began to eat in amiable silence. The silence didn’t last long.
“There he is!”
I looked up to see the same sneering women pointing at me. Several large men came past her toward me. The sight of me sitting and eating with the boy infuriated them. I told the boy to run and waited for my adversaries to approach. One grabbed me by the throat and slammed me against a tree so my feet hung off the ground.
“What were you telling that boy?” he demanded.
“That the Stranger is still in the Garden, living in the light,” I answered truthfully.
“How dare you fill that boy’s head with lies!” he yelled as he slammed my head several times against the tree.
“They are not lies,” I said with a gasp.
At that he dropped me to the ground. I fell to my knees and quickly curled into a ball as they started to kick me over and over. They picked me up and punched me in the stomach and threw me down in order to kick me again. They were yelling at me but I couldn’t really hear their words.
I lay on the ground and braced myself for the next blow but it didn’t come. I kept my eyes closed, expecting the attack to take some new form, but nothing happened. Slowly I started to feel a familiar warmth—it was the light.
I opened my eyes and saw the Stranger.
His eyes were happy. “Come,” he said.
I didn’t hesitate. I got up and found myself full of energy and excitement. He led me into the Garden. Somehow I knew that I would never go back, but I didn’t care. My anxiety was gone. I was with him.
He didn’t tell me where we were going and I didn’t ask. As we walked the light felt warmer and brighter. Suddenly I began to realize how cold I had been. We must have been walking for hours, miles further than I had ever gone.
Suddenly the plants stopped at a clearing. In the middle there was a house. It seemed to shine-- the light was so bright.
Then my heart stopped, gripped by an old and new fear.
There He was—the Gardener.
He turned and looked toward us. I started at his gaze, but his attention was on the Stranger. The Gardener looked at him with a look of expectation and joy. The Stranger quickened his steps into a carefree run and soon the two of them had enveloped each other in a warm embrace. I remained still. I didn’t know whether I should bow to the ground or run back and hide myself. I felt like an intruder on this intimate reunion. But then the Stranger turned and they both looked at me.
The Stranger beckoned and for the first time I looked into the Gardener’s eyes. I was immediately humbled and wanted to look away but I held the gaze and my reticence soon melted. His eyes were gentle and welcoming. He would accept me. We both seemed to smile at my realization and I took my first step into the bright light of the clearing. I kept my eyes fixed on him and suddenly my excitement caused me to start running.
I had nothing left to fear. At last I was home.
THE END (Part 3 of 3)
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
which shines brighter and brighter until full day.
The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know over what they stumble.
Proverbs 4:18-19
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
Psalm 36:9
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
Isaiah 9:2
