Short Stories

---

Does
your Teacher
not pay
the temple
tax?
[Matthew 17:24]
*********************
(Thriph'tah, the
Temple-tax collector,
has a grimace on his
long, bearded face.
He is standing
in the doorway, of the
front office of
the Temple, and looking
at something, in his
long, bony hand.)
"UCH!
I'm going to VOMIT!"
What is THIS?"

(Pun`num* the Pharisee,
comes over, to
investigate. He has
been watching,
quite suspiciously,
from behind a long
curtain to the doorway,
of the Temple office. He
has seen one of those
scruffy Disciples leaving
the Temple courtyard,
just moments, before;
naturally, he is immensely
curious.)
"What is it,
Thriph'tah?"
(Squint.)
"What is the MATTER,
with YOU?"
(Purse lips, in
disdain.)
"What did that
LAWLESS VAGABOND...
SAY,
to you?"

(Thriph'tah shakes
his head, impatiently.)
"NOTHING!"
(Takes another sniff.)
"Only.....
SMELL THIS!"
(Makes a face,
as if to gag.)
"...THIS smells HORRIBLE!"

(Pun`num purses
his thin lips, as
if in anticipation
of a terrible taste
in his mouth.)
"WHAT?
What is that,
that you have in
your HAND?"

(Thriph'tah holds
out the object. It
is round, and shiny.)
"HERE!
SNIFF it!"

(Pun`num, quickly,
backs away. His
little, beady eyes
squint to the point
of tiny, dark slits.)
"NO!
TELL ME:
what IS IT?"

(Thriph'tah,
with a nauseous
scowl on his long
bearded face, holds the
object even closer
to his friend.)
"HERE!
SNIFF!"

(Pun`num waves
away the object,
distastefully.)
"GET it AWAY
from me, THRIPH'TAH!
What IS IT?"

"MONEY!"
(Thriph'tah points,
with one long,
bony finger
towards Peter, who
is still walking away.)
"HE gave it,
to me!"

(Pun`num turns,
and stares,
with repugnance,
in Peter's
direction.)
"Oh."
(Beady-eyed squint.)
(Mumur.)
"What is that:
a small MITE,
for he and his...
(Smirk!)
"......MASTER?"

(Thriph'tah nods.)
"Only.....it's NOT a
small AMOUNT!"
(Hefts the object,
in his right hand.)
"LOOK! It's just
what they OWE:
for the TEMPLE
TAX!"

(Pun`num stretches
his scrawny neck out,
as if to examine the
shiny object, though
not to touch it.)
"Then....
why does it make
you wish to
VOMIT?"

(Thriph'tah is
still holding out
the shiny coin,
as if to keep
it away from
his perfectly
spotless clothes.
He looks extremely
nauseous.)
"Because.....
it STINKS!
HERE!
SMELL!"

(Pun`num, still
reaching over,
sticks his pointy
nose toward the
hefty coin.)
(Sniff.)
(Grimmace.)
"How AWFUL!"
(Pun`num's face,
with a more insipid
look on it than usual,
turns once more,
to gaze at the departing
Disciple.)
"Where did he
GET THIS:
from the inside..
of a FISH?"

(Thriph'tah,
taking a small
square of
clean cloth from the
inside of his
long, fastidious robe,
covers his mouth:
as if to keep himself
becoming quite ill.)

________________
Peter walks back,
over to Jesus.

[PATIENT,
GENTLE VOICE.]
"Did you give
it to him,
Peter?"

"Yes, LORD!"
(Peter nods.
Then he turns,
to gaze back
at the Temple.)
"Only......"
(Thoughtful moment.)
(Shrug.)
"He didn't seem very
PLEASED,
ABOUT it!"

[CHUCKLE!]
**********************
....Go
to the sea,
cast in a hook,
and take
the fish
that comes up
first.
And,
when you
have opened
its
mouth,
you will find a piece
of money;
take that
and give it
to them
for Me
and you.
[Matthew 17:27]



________________
*Yiddish: 'a face
like a pill'; 'an
unfriendly person'

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE