The Widow Guardian | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: The Widow Guardian | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jack Taylor
09/03/24
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The room was dark but his nose and ears were keen as the widow stirred in her bed. Fingers of light pried aside the curtains and crept across the floor toward his mat. There was nothing else in the room except for one small clay lamp, a limp bag, and a gnarly cane leaning in the corner.

He inched closer to the hand that dropped over the edge of the bed, nudging it. A twitch. A moan. A gasp for air. Anytime now.

The crowing from the bird next door signaled him to spring up. A lick and a nosing of the palm to gain a pat, a scratch, another moan. Another gasp. Then the roll that brought them face to face. “Oh, Joshua, your breath is as bad as it was yesterday. Are you still surviving off those alley rats? I should have left you with those shepherds instead of bringing you into a place like this.”

His ears perked up like twin pyramids rising out of the desert sands. This is the only life he’d known since the woman had rescued the whimpering bag of bones abandoned in a gulley. And now she’d become the bag of bones. He pressed in close while she grasped his short, coarse hair, and pulled herself up to rest on her elbow. “Another morning… and I’m still here. I’m sure the good Lord has given me enough sunrises and sunsets. It’s Temple Day and I’m going to need your help. I’m feeling rather weak these days.”

He stood like a statue as she swung her feet onto the floor and used his back to prop herself upright. “Your daddy was such a good herder and I know you could have done better than herding an old woman like me. I don’t think I would have made it home last night if you hadn’t kept me from falling over. You and that cane.” She chuckled as she gently swung her torso back and forth before lunging forward and grasping the gnarled chunk of ebony. “Got it!” She steadied herself and reached down to scratch the companion whose head pressed against her hip. “I know, you’ve got me.” She chuckled, knuckling the top of his head.

“You know, my Eli never wanted a dog. Said, your kind would cost too much to look after. Not sure what I was thinking, bringing you home, but you’ve had to live off the land from the first day until now. Your Creator knows your needs, just like he knows mine.”

His long tail wagged as he waited for her to struggle into her tunic. A psalm was on her lips this morning and it blended with the bird song being swallowed by the shuffling feet, rattling wheels, creaking carriages, and gruff voices shouting out shalom. She reached for the bag and hoisted it over her shoulder, almost tipping over in the process. She broke off her song and reached for the door. “Okay, Joshua, it’s time to see what the good Lord has done to take care of us today.”

The Temple courts were less than a bound and a dash away but he pressed gently against her leg, keeping her steady across the uneven bricks embedded below them. As they passed the blind beggar his brief “ruff” elicited a cheery ‘shalom’. The merchants setting up their shop tossed an old biscuit in his direction and he expressed his appreciation with a ‘woof’ as he swallowed it in one gulp. A woman heading toward the Temple pressed something into his widow’s hand. It was a small meat roll.

The widow propped herself up with her cane and leaned against a stable wall. She tore the treat in two and giggled in delight as he licked his share out of her hand. As she pushed off the wall, a group of seven black-robed teachers paraded by almost bowling her over. His growl alone alerted them to her fragile presence. They moved on like a stream around a rock, solving the issues of the world, without greeting or apology.

At the edge of the Temple Court, the widow ordered him to lie down. He watched as she wobbled over the cobblestones toward a box central to the area. She opened her bag, removed two small coins, and dropped them inside. A teacher nearby kept watching her, but she shuffled back to him. “There, there, Joshua, we’ve thanked the Lord. Let’s see what he’ll provide today.”

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