Double The Irony

It's Fiction Fridays, and Patty from Patterings is graciously allowing me to be hostess. I'm so excited! To learn more about her meme, click here.

To post your own fiction or to read others today, just go to cute lil old Mr. Linky at the bottom of this post:

Double The Irony
How ironic, I dare say. My cross necklace, which represented my newly found freedom in Christ, was tangled up in knots. I slammed the heirloom piece down on the bathroom counter and looked up at my blurry face in the mirror. Just like your life, Sandy. It’s your senior year. You’re supposed to be having the time of your life, but instead, your life’s a mess.

That was the day I decided I wouldn’t hide the truth any longer. The difficult part, though, would be convincing my friend Tamara to do the same. We'd both shared the same secret for two years, and that meant we’d shared each other’s pain as well. So it was double the knots. But I’d heard on the Christian radio that morning, “And the Truth shall set you free...” I was desperate to be free.


“No way, Sandy. I won’t tell anyone about it. And if you do, our friendship is done, ya hear?”

After an hour of heartfelt pleading, she refused to budge. I sighed with frustration. “How can you say that? After all we’ve been through? Tamara, you're my best friend. I love you. I just can’t live this way anymore.” My lips and hands were numb from trembling.

Tamara had a comeback for everything. “Well, you think you’re bad-off now, just wait until you tell. You’re going to make everything worse.”


Tamara was right. Just five days later, I wanted to kill myself. I chose to tell the truth, and all that came back at me were accusations. Wishing I could curl up as tight as the knot in my stomach, I sobbed on my bed. Alone. My foster parents didn’t believe me, and my best friend had abandoned me. Once again, I was an outcast. And the jerk gets off the hook. Of course he does, he coaches the winning volleyball team in the state. "So much for the truth setting me free."

Over the next several months, I survived while Tamara thrived. I quit the volleyball team. Tamara became captain. My grades went down. Hers went up. I was the school freak. She was the Homecoming queen candidate. She had dared to keep the secret, while I'd opted to tell the truth, and it was obvious that her dare had trumped the truth.

It was double the pain.

My loneliness led me back to the one place where, years before, I had felt accepted: my youth group. Completely broken, I felt I had nothing to lose. “I have a prayer request,” I squeaked. There I was, asking for something when I had ignored multiple attempts by different members of the group to befriend me in the past.

They, without hesitation, surrounded me. As warm hands touched my shoulders, my arms and my sides, one of my peers prayed, “Lord, give Sandy your strength. Keep her close to You. And Lord, please untangle the mess of this whole situation.” Near strangers shed tears with me, and none of us could have been more shocked with the moments following.

“Hey everyone. Everyone, could I ask you to listen to Jaimee for a minute? She has something to say,” our youth group leader announced.

Waves of “Sure,” “Absolutely,” “Of course,” rippled through the air before thick silence consumed the room.

Jaimee, who I had always considered a self-assured person, looked horribly unsure of her decision to speak. Several brave swallows later, her words tumbled out clumsily. “I—I—Ohh.…” She looked down at her sneakers, stole a deep breath and said, “I need to tell you all that I was also harassed by Coach Daniels. I just never had the courage to tell anyone. Until now…and I know there have been several others—at least.” A bright blue mascara trail streamed down her cheeks.

I couldn’t breathe. Then the thought occurred to me. That’s why she quit the team last year. It had nothing to do with her grades. Then, several others? Could it be true?

All of us gathered round Jaimee the same way everyone had surrounded me earlier. This time, I prayed. Right in front of her, I grabbed both of her clammy hands and prayed the best I knew how. “Oh God, thank you for Jaimee. Thank you, that even knowing how much it may cost her, she has dared to tell the truth. And Lord, may the truth bring peace—and—freedom. For both of us." And for Tamara too, Lord, I prayed silently from the depth of love I still had for her in my heart.

As I opened my eyes after the final Amen, I couldn’t help but notice the cross necklace Jaimee wore. It didn’t have a single knot. I dare say, how ironic.


Reference: John 8:32




In the Key of HE,

Purity Tested/At the Well

Tracy at Thirsty for Him is the hostess of Joyfully Living's "At the Well" meme this week, and her topic is Purity--being set apart from the world.

I feel led to share a story with the young ladies at the well today...

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young,
but set an example for the believers
in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."
1 Timothy 4:12

Tamela hoped she was doing just that: setting an example of her Christian faith through her speech, her life, her faith and her purity. While other seniors were running around drinking alcohol, fooling around with their boyfriends or fighting and gossiping with their friends, she was on the up and up. It had taken her several years, but she finally had a grasp on how to be "in the world" but not "of it" at school.

"
Blessed are the pure in heart," she thought several times a day, "for they will see God." She'd been taught that the way to living a holy life was to keep her heart pure. Her mother had taught her. Her youth leader had taught her. People had come to know this about her.

The evening of the senior prom had arrived, and Tamela knew that it was going to be the night of her life. Eric and she had been dating for six months, and she was crazy about him. He was a perfect gentlemen when he arrived to pick her up, corsage in hand. As he opened the car door for her, he told her how beautiful she looked.

"Thank you, Eric, you're so sweet," she said, cheeks flushed.

After the most romantic and incredible evening she had ever had, and it was much more so than she even could've dreamed, she thanked God in her mind for blessing her with it. "Eric, I'm so thankful God gave you to me. The evening was perfect. Thank you."

"Only the perfect evening for the perfect girl." His eyes melted her heart.

She scooted a little closer to him in the car, grabbed his arm over hers and nestled her head in his shoulder. She dreamed of the fairy tale end at the front door of her house and shut her eyes, completely secure and relaxed. She felt the car turn and then come to a stop.

"What?" Tamela was horrified. "What are you doing here?" She noticed the words "Super 8 Motel" as she looked up in front of her.

"You'll see..." he said and shut the car door.

Her heart was beating out of her chest, and her eyes were burning with fear. "How can a young woman keep her way pure? By living according to Your Word," she recited, gasping for air. "I seek You with all my heart; do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You."

Peace overcame her. And strength too. Courage turned to action. Tamela opened the car door, walked inside the small, grungy door to the check-in window and said, "May I use your phone please?"

"Wait, Tamela, no, what are you doing?" Eric punched.

"I'm calling my dad to come and get me, that's what."

"Wait, why?" He sighed, handing the key back to the cashier. "Forget it, Tamela, I'll take you home."

"No, I don't trust you now. I told you that I would never be with a guy before I got married. And I've never done anything to lead you to believe otherwise."

The cashier handed her the phone, and then, "Dad? Hi, I'm okay, but um, I need you to come and get me..."

Later that evening, she wrote in her journal through foggy eyes.
"So I guess what it all boils down to in this life is that if you keep your heart pure, then you'll know what to do when that sinful moment comes along. I didn't ask for it, I didn't even hope for it, but the moment came. The secret for being holy starts in my heart, so I always want to keep a clean heart. God help me keep a pure heart."

Then she wrote,
"Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22" and "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10"

She ended the shoulda-coulda-been perfect night as perfectly as she knew how--on her knees by her bed.


For incredible advice, insight and wisdom on this necessary topic, please visit Tracy's blog. She'll have so much there and more...

In the Key of HE,

Little Miss Drama's WoW-zer Wings

***Patty Wysong's Fiction Fridays meme is being hosted by Joanne Sher over at An Open Book today. If you'd like to participate with your own post, click here. To learn more about Fiction Friday's, click here:



Little Miss Drama’s ‘wOw’zer Wings
By LauraLee Shaw

“I just hate my life, Molly!” eight-year-old Jessica exclaimed to her favorite doll. Jessica, the Moore family’s drama queen, often talked to Molly when her life seemed to be falling apart—which was quite often.

“I’ll betcha’ Tinkerbell never had to clean her room. Her mom prob’ly just let her fly and sparkle her whole exciting life long!” Jessica plopped Molly into her lap and tied a bonnet around her braided hair. “Let’s go out to the playhouse, Molly. We need some ‘WoW’ in our day.”

As Jessica made her way down the stairs with Molly clutched against her chest, she whispered, “Besides, we won’t have to listen to Cameron’s loud music out there. He’s going through a phase, you know.”

“Where ya’ goin,’ Sweetie Pea?” Jessica’s mom asked.

“Molly and I are going to the playhouse for some ‘WoW.’ Maybe this time I’ll get my wings.” Jessica skipped through the back door as her mom stared after her. Just the night before, they’d had a discussion about the special fairyland Jessica had discovered inside her playhouse. Supposedly, she’d found a secret door that led to a place where she could fly and be free to imagine all she wanted.

“Oh-that sounds lovely. What’s it like to fly?” her mom had asked her.

Jessica’s eyes grew the size of saucers. “Welllll—I haven’t actually flown yet, but I’ll be getting my wings any day now. And then I’ll be free—free like a bird,” she explained.

Each time Jessica took Molly to visit her dream world, the routine was the same. First, she’d sit Molly down on her wooden rocker. Then she’d pose the doll’s hands perfectly over her lap. Finally, Jessica would instruct Molly to watch closely as she opened what she had named the ‘Door of WoW.’

Shimmery dust would whisp through the entryway, and two beautiful young fairies would flutter into the room. They would dress Jessica in the loveliest of attire—full of sparkles and sequins—with shiny shoes to suit the outfit. They flaunted an extra pair of magical wings each time, but before Jessica could grab them, the fairies would fly away.

This particular day, though, as Molly sat faithfully to the side, the fairies greeted Jessica at the ‘Door of WoW,’ carrying a colorful set of feathered wings. “Today, you have earned your wings.” The fairies’ musical voices sang the words Jessica had been waiting to hear as they flew around the playhouse.

“WooooooW, can you believe it, Molly? I’m getting my wings today. See how perfect they are? They’ll carry me wherever I wanna go—up over the rooftops all the way to the fluffy clouds—with only the sound of the birds chirping their wonderful song.”

As the young fairies held the wings in the air, Jessica stared in wide-eyed amazement at their perfection. She spun around, thrust her arms out to the side, shut her eyes as tightly as she could—and waited as the young fairies fit her with her new wings.

Suddenly, the ground shook. The thumping impact caused Molly to fall off her rocker. The entire playhouse transformed into a forest. There was even a sparkling stream flowing throughout. And Jessica was flying! She soared just above the stream but below the trees. She shrieked shrills of sheer delight as she learned to fly. Jessica looked down to see that Molly had landed safely on top of a fluffy bush. “Now, thiiiiiiiiis is the liiiiiiiiiife, Molly. Look at meeeeeeeeeee—I’m flyyyyyyinnng.”

Longing to turn cartwheels on the clouds, Jessica decided to fly up, Up, UP toward them. Suddenly, a loud crack echoed through the trees. Jessica’s ‘wOw’zer wings had snapped right in two, plummeting her DOWN, Down, down to the earth below. She belly flopped into the stream with a splatter.

Her arms flailing, Jessica cried, “Molly! I can’t swim!” After a short struggle, her toes found the muddy bottom of the water, and she waddled her way out onto solid ground.

“You call these things wings?” she squawked as her heavy feet sloshed back to Molly. “Thanks anyway, fairies, but you can keep ‘em. They’re worthless! I wanna go home.”

Jessica opened her eyes, and she found Molly rocking in her chair looking quite content. “Oh, Molly, I’m so glad you’re alright. That flying thing wasn’t all it was cracked up to be!”

As she burst through the back door to her house, a delicious, familiar smell welcomed Jessica. Her mom was waiting for her with a huge platter of fried chicken.

“Hey, Sweetie Pea—I thought you might be hungry. You want a couple of wings like usual?” her mom asked.

Jessica brought her hands to her head and belted out, “Oh, n-n-no-no-NO, Mom. NO WINGS. If it’s all the same to you, we’ll stick with the legs from now on—won’t we, Molly?”

Author’s food for thought: Are there WINGS in your life?

“Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.” Jonah 2:8—(NIV)

Moral: All that glitters is not gold.

(c) Copyright 2008 LauraLee Shaw

In the Key of HE,