Short Stories

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But,
do not
forget
to
do good
and
to share,
for
with
such sacrifices
God is
well
pleased.
[Hebrews 13:16]
***********************
(Lee Ann is sitting
at her cubicle; it's
Monday morning,
and she's reading
the company news,
on her computer screen.
She sets down her coffee
mug, and stares at
her friend, who has
just walked into the
office.)
"SANDRA......!
What's the matter,
with YOU? Where's
the hell's...
your COAT?"

(Sandra tosses her
red, faux-leather
purse down, onto her
desk. Her hair is
windswept, and her
face is bright pink,
from the cold. She
looks frustrated,
and a little angry
with herself.)
"WELL......"
(Shrug.)
(Sigh.)
"I was turning around,
at the stop light...
on Vance Jackson,
from I10.....when,
I saw this poor LADY,
standin' there,
under the
BRIDGE....."

"WHAT?
DON'T tell
me..you GAVE your
COAT....away,
SANDRA!"

(Slow nod.)
(Sorrowful smile.)
"I couldn't HELP it,
Lee Ann! She was
just so PITIFUL,
under there! God,
it's so damn
COLD out,
there...this
MORNING!"
(Ruffling her
hair, with one
careless hand.)
"...and, she
didn't have
ANYTHING,
on!"

"Oh, my GOD!
Are you KIDDING?
But....that was your COAT!
It was so....CUTE!
Didn't you just
BUY THAT,
after CHRISTMAS?
What are you:
CRAZY?"

(Sandra plumps
down, on her
swivel chair.
She sighs,
again.)
"Yeah!
I KNOW!"
(Sandra frowns, and
begins rummaging around
for the old coffee mug,
that she keeps in her
plastic set of drawers.)
"But.....it was FREEZIN',
out there, this MORINING!
And....she didn't have
ANYTHING ON! NOTHIN'!
But...just a pair of JEANS,
and some old SHIRT!
I really felt BAD!"

(Lee Ann stares,
open-mouthed.)
"I can't BELIEVE you,
SANDRA!"
(Laughs, loudly.)
"WHAT are you:
NUTS?"

(Sandra pulls her
kitty-photo-mug out of
the plastic drawer.
She jumps up;
her skinny high-heels
are making her bare toes
look cold, too.)
"Yeah.......I KNOW.
It WAS kind'a STUPID,
WASN'T it?
DAMNIT!
I better get some COFFEE..
before I gotta..
clock-IN!"

(Lee Ann, her eyes
straying back to her
computer screen, just
shakes her head. She
continues chewing on
her coffee stir-stick.)
"WELL......you're SURE
NEVER...gonna see THAT,
again!"
(Rueful smile!)
__________________
(A middle-aged woman,
wearing a bright red
bulky, nylon coat over an
old pair of blue jeans,
and dirty, torn blouse,
stops for a moment,
to remove her sneakers
and thin cotton sox.
Then, she stands,
waiting patiently,
in the Doorway.)

[NOD.]

(The angel steps
through the Doorway.
As she does so, her
worn-looking clothes
disappear; she is now
wearing a beige-linen
robe, tied with
an entwined belt,
made of thin strands
of the purest gold. Her
wrinkled skin is now
smooth, and dewy: it
is lightly dusted, with
a sprinkling of soft
sparkling lights. Her
rough, dirty hair is now
long, and beautiful, and
clean; it shimmers with
the soft warm light of
a small, round halo.
The thin, bent shoulders
of her back are now
powerful-looking,
and straight: enshadowed
magnificently by huge,
graceful wings. She walks,
barefoot, and stops in
front of the Throne:
kneeling deeply,
and presenting
the bulky red coat,
in her graceful, bare arms.)

[NOD.]
"Thank you,
Mi'chiela."
[GENTLE SMILE.]
[TENDER VOICE.]
"One day, I will show
this again.....
to her."
***********************
Do not
forget
to
entertain
strangers,
for
by
so doing
some have
unwittingly
entertained
angels.
[Hebrews 13:2]


__________________
To my friend,
Debbie,
who gave her coat
to a woman standing
under the bridge,
at Vance Jackson
and IH10.

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