Short Stories

---

Then
I saw
heaven opened,
and behold,
a
white horse!
[Revelation 19:11]
***************************
All the saints are gathered
together; it's Day of the Lord -Day.
Everyone is sitting atop a golden maned,
beautifully clean and pure-white, majestic horse;
they're wearing pure-white, gauzy angelic robes
and are in bare feet:
keeping their eyes upon the Lord,
Who is at the Head of the Line with
Archangel Michael,
and several of the other top-
angels like Gabriel, and Rapheal.
And.....they're all waiting.

At the end of the line.....the VERY END.....
stands a rather plump, mostly white horse,
wearing a big yellow-colored,
straw sombrero-like hat with two holes
punched out to fit over her big ears.
The hat has several daisies sticking out of it,
and little white tufted balls hanging down
from its big brim. The mostly-white horse
(who has a little heart-shaped, brown spot
over his big white nose).....
has a fitted bag over its nose, and seems
to be perfectly happy chomping on something:
making really noisy chomps and munches. Sitting
atop the mostly-white horse, on a white saddle
and big soft yellow horse blanket, are two figures:
one is obviously human, also a tad on the plump
side, and the other very obviously angelic: short,
plump and looking slightly anxious. Behind the
trio is a small white, wicker-basket-like little
horse cart, neatly attached to the riders' saddle
by two yellow and white ropes, which are also
sporting daisies and other small flowers. Inside
the small white cart are plastic bottles of water
labeled "DAISY", baskets carrying small bags
of pretzels, peanut-butter-chocolate-cups,
buttered popcorn, rippled potato chips,
a 12-pack of Strawberry Crush soda,
another 12-pack of Orange Crush soda
(all in a medium-sized cooler),
a loaf of potato-bread, small packets
of mayonaise and mustard, several small cans
of oil-packed tuna fish, individually-packed cups
of sweet pickles, four boxes of Little Debbie
Walnut Brownies, three extra-large bags of
M&M's, 2 small bags of Skittles, and a rather
large potato sack filled with peaches, cherry
apples, fresh oats, baby-plums, and freshly
scraped carrots. A small blanket and pillow
are squshed in, beside the big tin of buttered
popcorn, and a plastic bottle of Johnson & Johnson's
baby-suntan lotion. Stuck down under
the small yellow blanket are several DVD's:
"Titanic", "The Sound of Music", and "Casa Blanca",
the TV Classic Series, "Mr. Ed*,
anda 45** of the 1970's record,
"A Horse With No Name". A small New Testament
was set on top....right beside a tattered copy of
"Rapture - Left Behind", and a small collapsable
umbrella: yellow, with little daisies.

Standing beside the plump, mostly-white
Daisy is a short, rather bossy-looking angel,
named Equestra, whose hands are on her hips, and whose
small puffy wings are even more puffed out,
than usual.
_________________________________
(Bossy angelic voice: neither melodious,
nor musical.)
"Absolutely NOT!
Now, TAKE THAT HAT OFF OF HER!
And......REMOVE that silly CART!
Right NOW!"

(Surprised and woeful human shriek.)
"NO!
I will...... NOT!
This is MY HORSE!
I WANT HER NOSE TO BE
SHADED! I KNOW WHAT IT'S
LIKE DOWN ON EARTH! THE
SUN'S HOT DOWN THERE!
That's why I'm takin' extra WATER!
IT'S FOR DAISY! I DON'T WANT HER
TO GET DEHYDRATED!"

(Equestra peers down into Daisy's cart.
She frowns: shaking her angelic mop
of mousy-brown hair, and turning over
various objects inside the cart: this
way and that.)
"What IS.......all this STUFF:
SUNTAN LOTION?
UMBRELLA?"

"DAISY'S WHITE! I DON'T
HER NOSE TO GET SUNBURNED!
AND, I CAN ALWAYS HOLD THE UMBRELLA
OVER HER HEAD!"

"SHE'S NOT GOING TO GET SUNBURNED!"
(Equestra, who has been put in charge of all
the saints' horses for The Big Day, waves her
small plump hand over the other riders and
white horses who standing nearby. All are
friends of Julie: there's Lynn, whose horse
is named 'Big-Joe'; Al, whose horse is
named 'Fred' and has a big brown spot
on his off-white rump; Joan (Lynn's mother),
whose horse is named 'Robbie';
Denise, whose horse is named 'Dominion',
Manuel, whose horse is named 'Fireproof',
Valerie, whose horse is named 'Mercy',
Jeri, whose horse is named 'Sable',
Lois, whose horse is 'Spurs',
Henrietta, whose horse is 'Violet',
Greg, whose horse is named 'Silver',
Denise T., whose horse is 'Snowflake';
Shawn, whose horse is 'Wisdom';
and............(the rest). All of them are
turned around in their saddles: watching,
smiling at one another, and laughing.)
"Just LOOK AT ALL THESE OTHER SAINTS!
THEY'RE NOT CARTING ALL THESE ......
RIDICULOUS OBJECTS....WITH THEM!"

(Julie, whose plump face is getting red with
embarrassment, shouts down from her place
up on the white-and-daisy-faux-leather saddle.)
"YEAH! THAT'S BECAUSE THEY ALL KNOW
I'M THEIR FRIEND! I CAN LEND 'EM, STUFF!
THEIR HORSES ALL GOT WHITE NOSES!
What's gonna HAPPEN, when we go through
Earth's ATMOSTPHERE?
WE'RE GONNA HAVE A WHOLE ARMY OF SUNBURNT NOSES!"

"OH, THIS IS RIDICULOUS! YOU'RE HOLDING
UP THE BIGGEST DAY IN EARTH'S HISTORY,
WITH ALL THIS NONSENSE!"
(Equestra starts untying Daisy's cart from her
bridle; her little plump fingers making rapid
progress. Daisy, who's still got the little white
feed-bag around her nose, continues eating and
munching. Big-Joe, the big, off-white horse of saint-Lynn,
clumps over to Daisy and begins nudging at Daisy's nose-bag. Daisy gives an irritated whinny. Lynn tries to veer Big-Joe in the opposite direction with her reins, but unfortunately, she's not a very good equestrian. Big-Joe ignores his mistress's calm murmurings and gentle pulls, and continues to nudge Daisy, who's growing more irritated by the minute.)

"DON'T YOU TAKE OFF MY CART......!"
(Julie, without thinking as usual, goes to
slide out of her saddle to tackle the bossy
head-equestrian angel; only she forgets how
off the ground she is.)
"HELP, RAPHEALO!
HELP!"

(Raphealo, who until now has stayed really
quiet and shrinking down in the saddle behind
her guardian-charge, cries out.)
"That's OKAY, JULIE!
I GOT YA!"
(Raphealo flies up out of the tamden-saddle,
and reaches down: grabbing her charge by
the nape of her angelic-gauzy-caftan. Julie
clumsily lands on the Golden Horse Path: scooting
up on the slippery Gold Path, and rubbing her
big behind.)

(Woeful human whimper.)
"R..A..P..H..E..A..L..O?
TELL EQUESTRA, SHE CAN'T TAKE ANY OF
MY STUFF! I'M FROM EARTH, AND I KNOW
WHAT IT'S LIKE DOWN THERE! A PERSON
NEEDS THEIR STUFF!"

(Raphealo, who's subordinant to head-in-charge-
equestian-angel Equestra, is flying little circles
in the air above Daisy: afraid to come down, and
not saying a word. Raphealo's wings are turning
a faint blush of pink at the edges: a sign of
embarrassment for angels.)

(Equestra, still with hands on hips, glares up
at the little angel whose making circles overhead
like a plump, clumsy hummingbird.)
"COME DOWN THIS INSTANT, RAPHEALO!
TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR CHARGE! AND,
THAT'S AN ORDER!"

(Julie, while her nemesis has her puffy-winged-back
turned fussing at the other angel, sticks
out her tongue and blows a raspberry at Equestra.)

(Raphealo, his wings growing redder and redder
by the minute: stops flying in mid-air like a
short plump fly in the middle of an August summer
afternoon in south Texas, and plops down to the
Golden ground. His little angelic voice, neither
melodious nor musical, squeaks.)
"Now.....JULIE........"
(Squeak.)
"Do we R...E....A....L....L....Y NEED
all this STUFF? The LORD's going
to PROVIDE......."

(Julie, who has already grabbed a small
zip-loc of mini-pretzels from Daisy's wicker-cart,
is munching and wailing at the same time. In mid-
wail, she stops to toss another zip-loc to her
friend saint-Lynn.)
"RAPHELO! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO
BE MY GUARDIAN-ANGEL, ON THIS
MISSION! How CAN you.......?"

(Lynn, still trying to rein in Big-Joe, calls out.)
"Hey......JUL? These just make me THIRSTY!
CAN YOU TOSS ME A PIECE 'A that ENTENMANNS***?"

(Julie, still munching, squints up at her friend.)
"WHERE'D YA PUT IT? DID YA PACK IT,
BEFORE WE LEFT?"

(Lynn shouts back.)
"YEAH! MY MOM PUT IT IN, UNDERNEATH
MY LIBRARY BOOK! IT'S DOWN IN THERE,
UNDER THE "SOUND OF MUSIC"!"

(Julie, popping open a can of Strawberry-Crush
soda, continues squinting up at her friend.)
"I DIDN'T KNOW THEY HAVE A LIBRARY,
UP HERE? WHERE IS IT?"

(Lynn, forgetting about Big-Joe for a moment,
lifts her hand to point over her winged-shoulder****,
toward East Heaven.)
"YEAH! IT'S OUT BY THE BIBLE-STUDY
LECTURE HALL! OVER AT EAST EDEN-COLLEGE!
I BIKE OVER THERE, ALL THE TIME!
WHEN I GO OVER TO FEED THE DUCKS!"

(Julie gently pulls off Daisy's feed-bag,
and goes over to slip it over Big-Joe's nose.)
"I didn't know...... THAT! Do ya have to
have a ...... LIBRARY CARD?"

(Lynn tries to steady Big-Joe. She fails,
and Big-Joe clumps backward: stepping on
Equestra's bare toe.)
"YEAH! SURE! It's EASY to GET ONE!
But, ya have to RETURN the BOOK within a
certain number a' DAYS......or else, ya get a FINE!"

(Julie, still munching on a mini-pretzel,
leans over to grab another feed-bag
out of Daisy's cart. She peers up at Lynn.)
"A FINE? A FINE? WHAT FINE?
I thought they didn't have any MONEY,
up HERE?"

(Lynn just stares at the air, for a minute:
now squinting, as well.)
"Eh............I'm not SURE.....
HEY, JULIE! Ya JUST SPILLED
Y'UR SODA! IT'S ALL OVER THE FRONT
'A Y'UR CAFTAN! DO YA HAVE A SPARE
ONE TO SLIP ON?"

(Equestra, who has been speaking rather
pointedly, in Angel-Language***** to Raphealo, in
short, brusk whispers......suddenly looks up.)
"ALRIGHT! THAT'S IT! THAT'S IT!
LET'S GET ALL THIS STUFF OUT OF HERE!
NOW! WE'RE ABOUT TO GO INTO BATTLE!
NOT A PICNIC!"

(Julie, pulling on the front of her
strawberry-soda-stained gauzy gown and
muttering a mini-curse: looks up.)
"HEY! MY HORSE IS AN AMERICAN-HORSE!
SHE CAN DO WHATEVER SHE WANTS!
IF SHE WANTS TO PULL A LITTLE CART,
THAT'S HER BUSINESS! THIS WASN'T
MY IDEA, ANYWAY! EARTH'S A BIG MESS
AS IT IS! JUST LET IT GO! WHY DON'T
WE ALL JUST TAKE A TRIP TO PLUTO, OR SOMETHIN'?"

[SUDDEN RUMBLE.]

(Julie stops glaring at Equestra, and squints
up at the Big-Sky.)
"Uh, oh."

(Everybody else looks up, too: Equestra, who's
still rubbing her bare toe; Raphealo, whose wings
are now beet-red and glistening with sweat;
Lynn, who's trying to get Big-Joe's feed-bag
on tighter.....only, it slips off and falls under-
hoof. Now, Denise's horse, Dominion, clomps
over and begins nudging at Big-Joe who is
whinnying rather irritably, at Daisy.....who
is now wearing another feed-bag; all the
saints look up; all the angels-on-guard look up;
all of the horses' big ears PERK up.)

[SILENCE.]

[SECOND RUMBLE.]

(Julie mumbles; a mini-pretzel still
in her hand.)
"Uh, oh."

(Equestra, looking as if Someone is
speaking to her, stands at attenion:
nodding and whispering.)
"Yes, Lord.
Alright; I understand.
Yes, My Lord.
Yes. Yes."

[PARTING FAR-OFF RUMBLE.]

(Silence.)

(Julie, popping open another can of soda:
this time, Orange-Crush: speaks up, in
her nasally-Philadelphia-twang.)
"What'd He SAY?"

(Equestra purses her lips again; this
time, in a deep inward sigh.)
"ALRIGHT."
(Pursed lips.)
(Deep sigh.)
"NOW......."
(Equestra waves her plump hand over Daisy,
her big-sombrero-type-yellow-and-white-horse-
hat, and Daisy's cart.)
"NOW......you can KEEP all this......
PARAPHENALIA........."
(Equestra shakes her head; her halo, a
bright little circle of light in the shape of
a horse-shoe, doesn't budge an inch.)
"......ONLY IF......you stay BACK IN LINE!
AT THE VERY BACK! YOU'LL BE THE LAST
ONE IN LINE! WITH ME AT THE
REAR! IS THAT CLEAR?"

(Julie, letting Denise's horse, Dominion {a big
all-white-pure-stallion, with an attitude}, slurp
a little of her Orange-Crush......lowers her head,
shrugs a little, and mumbles.)
"Yeah.........OKAY........
I GUESS............!
CAN LYNN BE RIGHT IN FRONT 'A ME?"

(Everybody looks up.)

[SOFT RUMBLE.]

(Equestra nods. She shakes her head
and frowns. Her horseshoe-shaped halo
of light doesn't budge.)
"YES. BUT, THE LORD SAYS TO STOP
DRINKIN' ALL THAT SODA! HE'S REPLACED
ALL YOUR SODAS WITH A COOLER FULL OF
EDEN-MINERAL-WATER!"

(Julie opens her mouth, wide. A mini-pretzel
falls out. She stamps her big, sneakered foot.
The sneaker is pink, with little horses all
over it.)
"WHAT? WHAT?
AW! COME ON!
AW!
NAW!"

(Lynn, chewing on a piece of Entenmanns,
speaks up: her mouth full.)
"Hey.......JUL?
Ya better quit while the gettin's GOOD."

(Julie mumbles.)
"OH........."
(Woeful mumble.)
"ALRIGHT..................!"
(Mumble.)

(Equestra claps her small plump hands, together.
All the horses look up: except Daisy, who
continues munching from her feed-bag.)
"ALRIGHT? LET'S GO!"

(Raphealo, happy to be busy and away from
Equestra's Angel-Tongue again, flies over
to help his guardian-charge back up over her
white, daisy-printed, faux-leather saddle.
Everybody turns back ahead, toward their
Leader, and their Lord....
and their King:
waiting for His Instructions.)

[UP AHEAD, AT THE HEAD OF
THE LINE OF SAINTS....THE
LORD JESUS, SEATED ON HIS WHITE
HORSE (WHOSE NAME REMAINS UNKNOWN),
CHUCKLES TO HIMSELF. THEN,
HE SMILES: IN VERY NTENSE,
AND JOYFUL THOUGHT. FOR
A MOMENT, HIS EYES ARE MISTY
WITH UNSHED TEARS: OF JOY, OF
SORROW, AND OF GREAT EXPECTATION.
FINALLY, LORD JESUS TURNS TO HIS
ARCHANGEL MICHAEL, AND NODS FIRMLY,
WITH ROYAL COMMAND.)
"Follow Me."


(The END?)
************************************
And,
the armies
of heaven,
arrayed
in fine linen,
white and pure,
followed Him
on
white horses.
[Revelation 19:14]

_____________________________
*For those of you under the age of 50,
"Mr. Ed" was a 1960's show about a talking
horse.
**For those under-50 readers: a '45' was
a smaller version of the vinyl records of the
mid-1900's.
***For those of you who grew up outside
the Philadelphia area, 'Entenmanns' is a bakery
goods-brand of dessert: very fattening and
very sweet and tasty.
****Yes, humans are allowed to have wings
in Heaven....if they want to. But, they're just
show-wings: they can't be used for anything,
like flying, or waving around in battle.
*****It's Angels' native tongue: they usually
only revert to it, when they're being highly
emotional, or upset about something.

COPYRIGHT 2011.

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE