Fiction

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Then
Jesus,
moved wih
compassion,
stretched out
His Hand
and
touched him,
and said to him,
'I am willing;
be cleansed.'
[Mark 1:41]
**********************
"Why didn't Ya,
Lord?"

[SMILE.]
"Did who
what,
child."

(Irritable squint.)
"Uh, UH!
I didn't say "WHO'!
I said 'WHY'!

[PATIENT SQUINT.]
"Why what,
child?"

(Frustrated sqirm.)
(Impatient shake of the
scruffy, head-cold-head.)
"No!
NO!
You REALLY gotta start
takin' some AMERICAN
ENGLISH COURSES.....
LORD!"

[CHUCKLE.]

"Ya know: You can now
take 'em....ONLINE!"

[PATIENT NOD.]
[SMILE.]

"Why DIDN'T Ya,
LORD: put in a PUPPY-PART?"

[PATIENT SILENCE
OF A TOTALLY
BESMITTEN
FATHER.]

"Ya KNOW: a PART
ABOUT JESUS HEALING
A LITTLE PUPPY FOR ONE
'A THE KIDS THAT CAME
UP TO HIM!"

[PATIENT GAZE UPON
SCRUFFY CHILD WEARING
TWO BATHROBES, WHOSE
ONE TIE IS DRAGGING ON
THE FLOOR BEING BATTED ABOUT,
QUITE LAZILY BY A SENIOR CAT*,
AND CARRYING A BOX OF KLEENEX,
A PLASTIC BEAR-SHAPED JAR OF HONEY,
AN OLD SPOON THAT HAS SEEN A COUPLE
ROUNDS IN THE GARBAGE DISPOSAL HOLE,
AN ODDLY-SHAPED BLUE PLASTIC
THERMAL MUG FILLED WITH CINNAMON
HERBAL TEA AND A BOX
OF DAYQUIL.]
"Ah.
When did this happen,
Mein kin'der?"

(Shrug.)
(Drip some more honey
into plastic thermal-thing.)
(Drip some honey onto
the Bible page, opened onto.)
(Lick finger and dab the
honey-spot on the page of 'Mark 1'.)
(The spotted part tears a little.)
"I DUNNO!
But.....I'm sure it HAPPENED,
at ONE POINT: some little
kid came up to Jesus in the
town square, where He is
teaching, and holds up his
little puppy: one with a big white
spot over one of his huge,
limpid, big brown eyes...
and a sore and
broken PAW!"

[CHUCKLE.]
"It is not in the Scriptures,
little one."

(Sipping some now-tepid-
cinnamon-with-lemon-tea-
laced-with-an-inordinant-
amount-of-clover-honey-
from-Walmart.)
"Yeah?"
(Slurp.)
"Well......it SHOULD BE!
WHY NOT?"

"Because,
child."

"You would'a made a big
HIT, with all the twenty-first
CENTURY people! All of us
LIKE that sort'a STUFF!
We LOVE ANIMALS!
WE LOVE PET-STORIES,
LORD!"

[NODDING.]
[SMILING.]
[CHUCKLING COMING
OVER FROM THE RIGHT
SIDE OF THE THRONE.]

"It would'a been a big HIT!
EVERYBODY would've
LOVED IT: the JEWS,
THE GENTILES, THE
MOSLEMS, THE BUDDHISTS,
THE HINDUS....the BAPTISTS.
THE MORMANS....EVERYBODY!"

[WIPING TEARS OF MIRTH
AWAY FROM HIS EYES.]
"I understand,
Mein Kin'der."

"THESE DAYS...
PEOPLE SEE ANIMALS
LIKE....like..
LITTLE BABIES!
NOT BEASTS OF BURDEN,
like back in Y'UR DAYS!"

[NODDING PATIENTLY.]
[SMILING.]
"I understand,
Mein kin'der."

"It would'a been such a
HIT, that You'd be gettin'
MORE PEOPLE conVERTED....
and get the SHOW on the
ROAD!"

[STOP CHUCKLING FOR
A MOMENT.]
[PATIENT SQUINT.]
"What show.....
on what road,
My child?"

(Impatient squirm.)
"I keep FORGETTIN',
LORD! Y'ur AMERICAN
ENGLISH isn't UP TO SNUFF!"
(Impatient pause.)
"It MEANS THAT......
Ya know: hurrying up
that Big Day.....that is COMING!"

[SMILING.]
[NOD.]
"Ah.
I see,
child."

"SEE WHAT I MEAN?
With a PUPPY-STORY,
like THAT......You could'a
gotten the NEWS SPREAD
a whole lot FASTER! YOU
don't know PEOPLE, the
way I DO, LORD!"

[CURIOUS SQUINT.]
"No,
child?"

"NO!
At least not...21st CENTURY
PEOPLE! For ONE thing,
they don't like to READ....
as MUCH! But that PUPPY-
STORY in the NEW TESTAMENT
would have been known...ANYWAY!
EVERYBODY would be able
to TELL IT: EVERYBODY:
young and OLD, rich and
POOR, regular-I.Q.'s and....
the BRILLIANTS! EVERYBODY!
EVEN THE JEWS! AND THEY
NEVER READ THE NEW TESTAMENT!"

[NODDING.]
"Ah.
I see."

"I quess...it's too late
to CHANGE it.....
huh, LORD."

[PATIENT NOD.]

(Sigh.)
(Shake scruffy, sinus-
clogged head.)
"Ya should'a really asked
for my OPINION, about
it, LORD......before it was WRITTEN."

[SMILE.]
[TEASING GLEAM IN
HIS EYE.]
"I would have,
little one......
but,
you were still a
wee thing......
lying in the
Palm
of
My
Hand."
************************
I say
to you,
arise,
take up
your bed,
and
go
to your
house.
[Mark 2:11]


__________________
*Going on age
17: with more
personality than
any man,
its owner
has
ever met.

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