Short Stories

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“The Sand Sculpture”

I was walking along a beach one day; on a sunny afternoon in July; on one of the beaches in Florida. There sitting in the sand I noticed a young blonde haired man building something with his hands .I walked up to him and asked him his name. He replied, “James; but my friends call me Jimmy”; and then he asked my name and I said, “Zack”, and he replied, “nice to meet you Zack”, with a smile on his face. I asked him what was he creating? And he replied, “a sand sculpture; a symbol of my Faith.” I asked Jimmy, “Why?”

He replied,“well I will tell you a story why I stopped asking the word why”. I sat down beside him and he shared with me that when he was a young boy at the age of 11 his parents were killed in a house fire and he had to go and live with his Aunt and Uncle. “They were very loving and kind ,”he said .He shared with me that he had always good food and clothes and a good home ,and that his Uncle and Aunt read the Good Book;”The Holy Bible that is what they called it.” Then He told me that they brought him to church every Sunday. But Jimmy shared,that for years he asked God why did his parents die? Then one day at the Age of 16 he said, “ I realized not matter how much my Aunt and Uncle loved me there was something missing. I went to a revival meeting at our Church one day and I realized I was a sinner before a Holy God ;and man did I cry and then I felt this great peace come over me; it was awesome; and since that day I have never been the same. I made a promise to God that I would live the rest of my Life asking Him how to bring honor to his name and stop asking why. Since then I have graduated from College and I hope to be a artist one day. A lot of my friends and family tell me it is a Gift from God to be able to create. I’m here with some friends of mine ,we were handing out Gospel Tracts this morning .” Oh, I replied. “Would you like one,” asked Jimmy ? “Sure,” I replied. So then he gave me one and I put it in my jean pocket .

Jimmy smiled at me and then started to take some sand and mold it into a cross shape and then he placed more sand on the cross shape. I could see the form of feet and then hands and then a body and then a head, face and eyes,nose and ears and some hair on the head , and what looked like a crown of thorns. Wow, could I see that Jimmy was talented ,his friends sure were right, I thought he will probably be famous one day.
As Jimmy created the sand sculpture , I saw tears streaming down his face. I asked Jimmy why are you creating something that makes you sad and why create it if you know that the tide will wash it away in a couple of hours? And he replied; because God died for me and my sins. “If you ever want to know about God’s Love for you Zack ,read the Bible tract you put in your jean pocket. I just felt God moving me to make a sand sculpture about my Faith, as I was sitting here this morning in prayer taking in the beauty of the sunrise. “ Oh,” I said.

I noticed as Jimmy spent hours creating the man on the cross many people came by to take a look and made comments on Jimmy’s sand sculpture. One young man with his wife and three children made a comment, “you fool why do you believe in that old fashion religion”. Jimmy just smiled and said, “God Bless you” and continued to work on the sand sculpture. Then came a young couple and they just stared at the sand sculpture and they seemed to be in awe and then walked away; and then there was an elderly man and women who said , “God Bless you young man.” There must have been at least three hundred people that came by that sand sculpture on the beach that day.

It was now around 8:00p.m. five hours since I first met Jimmy.All the life guards were now gone,and the only people on the beach were a young father and his wife and their three children. The same father that made the comment to Jimmy about being a fool for believing in that old fashion religion. I think Jimmy’s feelings must have been hurt but he showed no sign of it; he just smiled at him and said God bless you.

I looked at Jimmy as he was writing something in the sand ,under neath the Cross. It said “A SYMBOL OF MY FAITH” Jimmy shouted, “it is done; it is Finished!”
As soon as Jimmy lifted his finger from the sand;I could hear the Mother, of that young family cry, “ Emily, Emily where are you?”

Jimmy looked towards the ocean and could see in the distance a golden blonde glimmer upon the waterline.He quickly got up and dashed into the water. I could see from a distance a shark fin or two.Jimmy swam rapidly to reach the little girl as he got closer to her;the shark invaded the area and went for his left leg and bit it and Jimmy began to bleed .Jimmy reached out and embraced the little girl in his right arm and then a shark came up from behind him and tore at his left arm. I could hear an echo as Jimmy shouted out to heaven, “ Father help me to get this little girl to safety even if it means my life!” Jimmy some how miraculously out swam the sharks .God answered Jimmy’s prayer that day.Amazingly, he out swam the sharks and he lay there on the beach covered with blood with the little girl, Emily, in his arms.

Jimmy was barely conscious and the little girl was crying. The Father grabbed his daughter out of Jimmy’s arms and said , “Thank You for saving my child’s life,” with tears running down his face. Jimmy just seemed to barely have a smile on his face. The father fumbled around in his pocket frantically attempting to pull out his phone, and dialed 911.

The ambulance attendants arrived in about 10 min but it was to late. Jimmy had bled to death. There was blood everywhere from the shark wounds. I looked at Jimmy’s face before the ambulance arrived and I saw a peace on Jimmy’s face. The ambulance attendants wrapped up Jimmy’s body as best as they could; and placed him on the stretcher. As I looked around, I could see Jimmy’s blood on the stretcher and it looked like it was everywhere. Then the ambulance attendants started to carry him towards the ambulance. As they headed towards the emergency vehicle they came across Jimmy’s sand sculpture and paused for a moment and one of the men asked, “who made that sculpture?” With tears in my eyes I could barely see but, I managed to point over to the young man on the stretcher. They looked at the sand sculpture and then each other and I saw them fighting back the tears in their eyes, as they walked away. Jimmy was gone.

Early next morning,as my parents were packing up things from our vacation, since we were preparing to go home, I turned on the radio and there were news stories about a hero ;a young man who saved a little girl's life . I said just above a whisper, “ wow they are taking about Jimmy”. I went to the beach that morning along with my parents and shared with them the story about Jimmy and his sand sculpture. I went to look for it, but the tide had washed it away. I looked closer and at the bottom where the feet were on the Cross, to my amazement there were the words faintly written in the sand, “ THIS IS A SYMBOL OF MY FAITH”; and beside the words were a few drops of blood. They must have fallen there when the ambulance attendants carried Jimmy’s body away.

All of a sudden I noticed people coming towards me and my Mom and Dad. They all had tears in their eyes and many said, “God Bless you Jimmy.” They looked at what remained of Jimmy’s sand sculpture and then looking up towards Heaven they said , “Thank You God for people like Jimmy”. Many of the people placed flowers and cards where the sand sculpture was; there must have been at least three hundred people gathered there; and then I saw that young father with his little golden blonde hair girl held in his arms, he placed the little girl down next to her mother and two brothers and walked towards where Jimmy’s words were written. “THIS IS A SYMBOL OF MY FAITH.”
He then picked up a stick that was lying on the sand near by and knelt down and wrote,“I believe in Your God”. And looking up to Heaven he cried, “Oh God have Mercy on me and please forgive me!”The young Father then stood up , weeping unashamedly, and joined his family.

And then I heard some beautiful voices amongst the crowd singing, “ Amazing Grace how sweet the sound ;that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost; but now I’m found; was blind
but now I see...”


As they were singing, I remembered the Bible tract that Jimmy gave me just yesterday ; and pulled it out of my jean pocket. As I read it, the message of God’s Love brought tears to my eyes.I realized I too was a sinner before a Holy God and repented.
I felt that Peace that awesome peace that same peace that Jimmy shared with me on the beach that day. I saw for the first time in my
life the meaning of God’s Love for me. I saw God’s Love through Jimmy and
The Sand Sculpture.

Inspired by God

Copyright © 2005 Mrs.David Jobes(Dee)

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