Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: ODD (02/20/20)
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TITLE: What? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jack Taylor
02/22/20 -
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The clouds shrouded the shoulders of the hillocks like a silky wrap on a beggar. The moon hid its face. The thick weave of mists shaded out the first probing tendrils of morning light. Towering sentinels huddled together in a melded forest, drooping feathery wisps over the shadowy trail.
“Do you think they’ll come?” A whisper from the world beyond.
“Listen!” A hidden one hissed.
The chill penetrated the bones of the figures creeping through the graveyard. One, two, three, four, five, six. Sandals scuffled gravel, nudging aside wilted flower and mud clods alike. Probing for one safe step. “Why didn’t you bring more oil - for the lamp?” The tone was tense – the phrases clipped. A woman.
“How was I supposed to know it would take so long to gather everyone and find the spices?” Another woman. “You can’t have enough spices at a time like this?”
Whispers at the edge of the garden vibrated between chattering teeth – unaware of the hidden ones. “Did we have to come so early?” A third. “I should have brought another cloak.”
Bats swished through the ghostly ruins of a crude shelter, soaring over smoldering embers, still hissing under the impact of a midnight sprinkle. “What’s glowing?” the first woman asked.
Two of the shadows glided toward the embers. “It’s a torch! And there’s still oil here.”
“Light it up.”
The area flared alight and a fox on the fringes slipped away.
“Strange, look what else is here. A soldier’s boot, a sword, a cape and a pair of knucklebone die.”
“Do you think we should manifest again?” The echo inside the small cavern reverberated with power. A mouse abandoned a sunflower seed and scurried away from the entrance.
“Just enough to be seen but not enough to paralyze.” A wind funnel twirled across the clearing and then back again to the cavern entrance. “You saw what happened when we moved the stone.”
“Did you see the looks on their faces? Reminded me of when we took the wheels off the Egyptian chariots in the middle of that sea. It doesn’t seem to matter how we show up – they still shake to the core.”
“Hush!”
The trembling trios tip-toed their way toward the tomb. “It’s open!”
“Are you sure we’re in the right place?”
“The guards are gone!” A woman retrieved the sword, pointed it menacingly into the darkness and then abandoned it. “Now, who’s going to help us?”
“Didn’t you think the six of us could handle a rolling stone?”
“If the Sabbath hadn’t come so soon after he died the men could have finished their work. We should have waited for them to come with us. I’m not sure I can look on his body again.”
“Wait out here!” the first instructed. “Go walk around the garden and take a few breaths. I’ll get things ready.”
“Okay, easy now!” The hidden ones trembled in anticipation.
The first woman eased into the darkness with the torch then slowly rotated in place. “He’s gone!”
“What?” The second woman stepped into the space and pressed against the shroud. “Nothing! Do you think someone took him?”
A third and fourth crowded in after them.
“Now!”
The gleam out of nowhere blinded the searchers and the torch thudded to the ground. The women prostrated themselves, gasping for breath.
“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” the first voice boomed.
“Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee,” the second added. ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’”
On their knees, the women glanced at each other and smiled. “Yes, we remember.” The brilliant light dimmed as the hidden ones returned to the world of timelessness.
Scrambling to their feet the four pushed past the last two, stepping into the darkness. “We’ve got to tell the world. He has risen! He has risen!”
The sun shredded the cloudy mists as the women pounded on the door of the upper room. Groggy men opened and the news trumpeted like the glory of heaven now glowing outside. “He’s alive! He’s alive!”
The bedraggled grievers gathered their cloaks and gazed at the gaggle of good news givers. “What? We saw him die,” they mocked. “This isn’t the time for nonsense. If Jesus arose, surely he’d tell us.”
Odd, isn’t it?
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