Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: GAMBLE (04/14/16)
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TITLE: You Bet Your Life | Previous Challenge Entry
By Bea Edwards
04/20/16 -
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Those words echo in the forefront of my mind crowding out the Spirit’s unobtrusive voice in the recesses.
Did I really think I could make a difference? Here in the western world’s seat of debauchery and hedonism.
Earlier that week in her classic in-your-face style, Sadie subtly tried to deter my local mission plan.
“Tanya they’re gonna eat you alive! Have you even considered how you will get their attention amidst the glitter and glam?"
I hadn’t thought that far ahead and mumbled something about God’s leading.
“And what makes you think they’re not going to mistake you for a hooker,” she suggests eyeing my petite albeit well- endowed frame. “You don’t exactly look like a missionary.”
I didn’t have an answer for her then AND I don’t have one now. All I know is that I’m terrified and now I’m here.
Glancing around the bus station without a clue what to do next I whispered another prayer of guidance to my Father, I suppose checking into the little motel a few blocks off the infamous Strip would be a good place to begin.
As the elderly desk clerk craned his neck over the counter giving me an inappropriate once over before taking my debit card, I felt a shiver of regret at not having heeded Sadie’s warning.
What if this isn’t God’s will? What if it wasn’t His Spirit but my own attempt at distraction? Am I simply running away from the destruction which had extinguished my family’s life? After dad quickly hooked up with his young assistant just weeks after mom died, and my big brother Jonathon disappeared, was this an answer to my own faltering faith in God’s good plan?
Leaving my tattered backpack in the small but clean room I struck out in the afternoon heat hoping to light on a clue. I hadn’t made it very far when a dark skinned teenager pushed a colorful flyer into my hand. My smile turned in to a grimace after taking a look at the suggestive photos. But then I was almost immediately inspired.
Checking MapQuest on my phone I headed up the street to a nearby print shop.
***********
The vibrant flyer shook in his hand. What the hell! That slightly imperfect innocent smile, emerald green eyes showcased by long auburn hair, under seven damning words, “Call Me for a Slice of Heaven.” The cities filthy allure had captured his baby sister too.
Jonathon had been doing everything in his power to eradicate reality. Leaving their hometown *Goodsprings, Nevada- pop 229, late last year he was determined to remove all signs of God from his compass. Drugs, alcohol and sex effectively accomplished his new goal in life –forgetfulness.
Mom hadn’t been good at hiding the defeat her eyes once she realized dad had been cheating before, during and after the breast cancer removed his perception of her worth as his wife. His kid sister Tanya’s Pollyanna reliance that ‘all things work together for good,’ **was the straw that broke his camel’s back. He knew he couldn’t keep the promise to mom not to tell Sadie the sordid details so he left, never realizing the slippery slope he was going to slither down.
‘Not her!’ He screamed. Oh sweet Jesus not her… she’s just a kid.
Hoping it was just an uncanny resemblance, he paid his cocaine connection Pauli to give the number on the card a call. Instructed him to set up a meeting, get some more information, and possibly verify a large heart shaped birthmark on the girl’s left buttock.
Mindlessly spinning reels on the Wheel of Fortune game, Jonathon felt a hand not so gently gripping his shoulder as Pauli furiously spun him around.
“Is this some kinda bizarre game? Jokes on Pauli haha well I’m not laughing,” Spittle sprayed my face. “That crazy hot chick from the picture met me in the lobby, led me to a secluded cabana by the pool, shut the drapes, then she asked me if I could be sure I knew where I was going when I died.”
My jaw dropped as I realized the truth…
Remembering those words from the youth group Evangelism Explosion retreat I attended so many years ago, I asked, “Well do you Pauli? Do you know what’s going to happen when you die?”
**********
“Jonathon,” was all Tanya could get out before being wrapped in a bear hug that settled her fears; all bets were off.
*A real town 38 miles southwest of Las Vegas.
** My paraphrase Romans 8:28.
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