Fiction

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The phone in Angie's apartment rang, and she answered it. "Hello?"

"Baby," Charles said in a frighteningly broken voice, "we need to talk--now. Please hurry."

His voice sounded so urgent that Angie quickly said she'd be there, hung up the phone, got in her car, and drove quickly to the lake. She found Charles sitting on a rock, staring at the water. She parked her car, got out, and ran to him. "Charles?"

Charles got up, turned to her, and hugged her tightly, crying all over again. Angie could feel his body trembling. She looked into his eyes. "Charles, what's wrong?"

Charles wiped his face with his sleeve. "Today some Klansmen drove by and aimed a gun at me, intending to kill me for being with you, but Ty, my best friend, pushed me out of the way, and the bullet hit him." More tears splashed on his face. "Angie, it's only a matter of time before they kill you, and I couldn't take it if they killed you. I'd kill myself. Angie, I can't be your man anymore. I'm so sorry. I'd never hurt you for any other reason, but if I don't hurt you, they will."

Angie was crying now, too. "No!" she wailed, clutching his shirt and leaning into his chest. "Charles, if I can't be with you, I'll die, anyway! I'll go home and kill myself!"

Charles would kill himself if Angie would die either way! He just didn't know what to do. If they stayed together, their enemies would kill them. If they broke up, Angie would commit suicide, and then Charles would kill himself. There seemed to be no true option but death for either of them.

Angie looked into his eyes again. "Charles, I've prayed and prayed and know God wants us to be together. It's not easy, but God, out of love for us, made the most difficult sacrifice to be with us by dying for us. His love for us conquered Satan's hate for us, so I believe our love for each other can stand against the hatred my people feel for yours."

Charles gazed into Angie's eyes and realized she was right. When had God ever given people an easy road when it came to doing His will? Moses and his people had to wander in the desert for forty years to escape slavery in Egypt and find the Promised Land. Many of those people didn't even make it to the Promised Land, because they fell out of God's will. Daniel's loyalty to God got him thrown in a lions' den. Mary's consenting to bear Jesus led to scandal when people saw her pregnant before marriage, and they probably didn't believe she was still a virgin when she conceived. They probably didn't believe it for a long time, anyway. Many apostles were killed for preaching the Gospel. However, God greatly blessed His people for their faithfulness, even when it was hard to obey. Charles decided that it was God's will for him and Angie to be together, and even if their togetherness meant they could face more persecution and even death, Charles knew in his heart of hearts that he'd rather die than live for even a minute without the beautiful woman he was holding in his arms at that very moment. He believed God would bless their relationship, too.

"Angie, I absolutely agree. I'm not going to let you go. I believe God will make it possible for us to be together forever, just like we should be."

"Oh, Charles," Angie whispered as he lifted her off of her feet. They kissed.

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