Short Stories

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Now, Bethany
was near
Jerusalem,
about two miles
away.
[John 11:18]
***********************
(The morning sky is
just barely coming to light.)
(Martha, closing
their front door,
slips off her
head covering,
and yawns widely.)
"GOODNESS!
That was a long
NIGHT,
last night!"

"What did she
give birth to,
Mar'tah?"

"A BOY!
And, VERY
healthy!
They're both VERY WELL,
right now, and SLEEPING."

"Praise GOD!
How WONDERFUL
for them!
Praise God!"
(Mary beams at her
tired sister.)
"I'm GLAD."

(Martha nods.)
(She stretches,
and sits down for a moment,
to pull her hair back up.)

"Sit!
SIT!
Let me get you something
to EAT! You've been
gone, for HOURS!"

(Martha frowns,
and waves her hand,
irritably, at her sister.)
"No! NO!
I've got to get
BAKING!
YOU get over to
the BARN!
We've got ENOUGH,
to do!"

"Well....at least have a piece
of FRUIT. You know what
Mama always SAID."

(Martha laughs!)
"YES!
Don't ever start the
MORNING.....!"

(Both sisters nod,
smiling, at the
shared memory.)

(A Gentle Knock
sounds at their door.)

(Both sisters chime loudly,
in unison.)
"Come IN!"

(Their door opens,
Quietly.)

"LORD!"

(Both sisters reach out,
like two little children,
pulling their Visitor,
happily, inside.)

[LAUGHING.]
[SMILE.]
"Good MORNING!"

"Did You HEAR?"
(Martha clasps her
hands together.)

[QUIET PAUSE.]
[GENTLE SMILE.]
[NOD.]
"Yes......yes;
your new neighbors.....
just down the road,
had a little BOY?"

"YES!
YES!
Their FIRST!"

(Mary turns to her
sister, for a moment.)
"Did they NAME him?"

(Martha shrugs, and laughs.)
"The whole FAMILY'S
over there,
right now....
ARGUING,
joyfully!"

[NOD.]
[CHUCKLE.]

"Ah!
Well!"
(Martha pauses,
for a moment,
to cover another yawn.)
"Will You SIT?
I'll get You,
some FRUIT!"

[SMILE.]
[NOD.]
"Yes;
and,
I have something
to show you,
children!"

(Voices chime in, again.)
"What IS IT?"

[TEASING GLANCE.]
"This;
look!"

(Mary and Martha
both stretch forward
to squint down,
at the small round,
little things,
in His Palm.)

"What ARE THOSE,
LORD?"

"Here, take a sniff.
SMELL THEM!"

(Collective sniff.)
(Mary, delighted like
a little child, squeals.)
"Hmm!
GOOD!
What sort of FOOD is that,
LORD?"

[CHUCKLE.]
"It is a sort of food;
but, it's for DRINKING,
children."

(Voices chime, again.)
"DRINKING?
HOW?"

[SMILE.]
"Here; take them,
Martha."
[REACHES OUT TO
HOLD HER HAND UP,
TO RECEIVE THE SMALL,
LITTLE DARK BEADS.]
"You make a little drink,
out of it."

"THIS?
A DRINK?"
(Both laugh!)

[CHUCKLE!]
[GENTLE NOD.]
"Yes; yes.
It makes a very good drink;
for MORNING!
It is... very STRONG!"

(Mary leans forward,
to smell the little things,
in her sister's hand.)
"It IS strong."
(Sniff.)
"What is it, LORD?
TELL me!
Something.....from,
the EAST?"

"No, My child."
[BEAUTIFUL SMILE.]
[A TWINKLE IN HIS EYE.]
"It is something......
from
the West."
**********************
I am...
the Bright
and Morning
Star.
[Revelation 22:16]

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