Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: PURE (09/06/24)
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TITLE: As Snow | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jack Taylor
09/12/24 -
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Today, she didn’t care. It was here Todd had proposed and promised her the skies. “God, you knew what would happen. Why?” She slipped off the ring and hurled it into the abyss. It was tempting to follow that ring. She stepped forward - only to be snagged from behind.
“Whoa! Friend, that’s a long way down. I wouldn’t want you to slip in all this snow.”
The young man with a firm grasp on her backpack stepped closer, pulling her back toward him. He spun her around, she stumbled, and he lifted her upright. “You’re a lot braver than I would be,” he said. “If I saw you throwing what I thought I saw, then I would tell you that he’s not worth it.”
It was like being shaken out of a trance. All her senses opened. The roaring of tumbling water echoed up the canyon, a chill breeze swept through her blouse, and the scent of pine filled her lungs. And the brown eyes refusing to look away had the kindest sparkle matching a soul-stirring smile. Her mouth hung open and refused to close.
“I see you’re not much of a conversationalist,” he said. “I’m Ian. First time here.” He pulled her a few steps more away from the edge.
“I imagine that you’ve likely been here before. Maybe you can show me around the other parts a little further from the edge. What did your mother call you?”
She continued to stare him down, bracing her feet against further movement.
“Give it time,” he said. “Time heals things.”
She shook her head and stared at his hiking boots. “Not this.”
He nodded toward a stump. “Come, sit a moment and tell me what’s happening. Do you have a drink you could share?”
She allowed herself to be led toward the stump which he wiped off. She lowered her backpack and removed a water bottle. He took it and poured some into his gaping mouth. “Thanks,” he said. “You should have some, it’s easy to dehydrate up here. You can make crazy decisions if you don’t get your water.”
She accepted the bottle, sipped some, and put the lid back on. “It wasn’t a crazy decision,” she said.
“Prove it!” he said.
She furrowed her eyes. “I don’t even know you. I don’t have to explain anything to you.”
He smiled, extending his hand. “Ian, remember? I would say I’m your savior but we both know there’s only one savior and it isn’t me.”
“Adele! I don’t know where you came from or why you’re here but I killed my fiancé and it’s only right I pay for it.”
He stood facing her, blocking the sun from her face. “I did not wake up imagining this. How did you kill him and how does throwing yourself off a cliff pay for it?”
Adele hunched her shoulders and hugged herself. He shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around her. “Thanks,” she said. “My fiancé worked the night shift and I told him I’d pick him up. I was studying for my finals so I stayed up. As we were driving home, a drunk ran a red light and killed him. I didn’t get a scratch. We had pure love and there’s no way I will get that back again.”
He crouched down on his haunches and looked up at her. “You’ve always had pure love coming at you and never lost it. You just need to know where to look.”
“What are you talking about?” she said, glaring.
“You were knit together in pure love by your creator. The one who is your savior gave his life to show you his pure love. We’ve all fallen short and he says, ‘come now, let us settle the matter… though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.’ Look around at all this snow. Pure love.”
“I’m a preacher’s kid. Words don’t cut it.”
“Good! They didn’t cut it for Jesus. Let’s walk back together and talk this through.”
“Are you an angel?”
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