The grass is not green, but yellow.
Faces after faces of living skeletons in filthy rags staggered
aimlessly towards nowhere in particular. A long haired living
skeleton threw a tiny half-alive skeleton away from itself.
Dont leave me, mama! The young half-dead whimpered, not with its
voice, but its eyes.
The long haired skeleton walked on, joining the faces after faces
of skeletons in filthy rags in their journey to nowhere. The young
half-dead tried to force its tiny legs to stand, but it crumpled to
the ground. Its skeleton legs were incapable of supporting
it.
Dont leave me, mama. Dont leave me! It screamed,
wordlessly.
Shu Zhen, are you with us? The voice of her church friend, Mei
Zhen brought the 22 year old young woman back to the real
world.
Er
yes, Shu Zhen stammered.
Sigh, you are daydreaming, again, arent you? Xiao Hui, another
of her friends from church, sighed.
Well, er, not really
Shu Zhen replied. Her friends took no
notice of her.
The food here really sucked, Mei Zhen commented. Her not-so-thin
hand, with the use of a knife, cut out another large portion of
meat from one of the several dishes before her.
I dont think we can finish
the food, Shu Zhen said. Besides,
we are quite fortunate to have something to eat.
Fortunate? The food is not free. We paid for them, you know. With
our money. Our hard-earned money. Xiao Hui stated her opinion,
aggressively. She paused for a moment to help herself to some
sliced pieces of beef on her plate. The government, with the 2%
tax increase, really robs us of our livelihood. We will starve to
death, I tell you, starve to death!
Shu Zhen shuddered. She thought of the skeletons she saw in her
vision. What about the Ethiopians who are currently suffering from
a famine? Arent we more fortunate than them?
We cant really compare ourselves with them. They are used to it.
Xiao Mei replied.
Well, still, maybe we can do something to help them, Shu Zhen
suggested, timidly.
Dont be silly, Shu Zhen. There is nothing we can do to help them.
Only those God has called to be missionaries are given the
abilities to help these destitute people. Mei Zhen said.
Why are you so sure that God is not calling us to be the
missionaries, Shu Zhen wondered aloud to herself. She was too
fearful to express her insignificant voice.
The cramped seat in the plane afforded her plenty of time to
reflect on the words of her parents.
You are kind to the world, but cruel to your own parents! Her
mother had expressed in disappointment.
We brought you up, gave you a good education, and now you
sigh
it is your choice. Her father sighed.
Shu Zhen thought about her bungalow that she had resided in since
she was a child. She thought of the eight maids that her busy
parents had hired to look to her needs. She thought of the
never-ending-supply of food that her house had never failed to
provide her. She thought of the income that was the envy of her
friends, which she received as a manager of her fathers
company.
Fear crept into her heart and mocked her. You are a sheltered pot.
You wont be able to deal with the hardships there. What a foolish
decision this is. Fears voice was loud. Shu Zhen was too timid to
combat Fear.
The grass is not green, but yellow. The young half-dead was lying
alone, counting the seconds before blackness engulfed it. Its eyes
would soon fail it like the way its legs and voice did. In the
midst of darkness, it saw a figure of light walking closer and
closer towards it.
I am Jesus. The figure of light whispered to the child. The child
smiled when he saw the bread in the hands of the figure of light.
The blackness would not engulf him, after all. The child lied
comfortably in the laps of Jesus. I will be your mama. The voice
of Shu Zhen said, lovingly.
Boldness delivered a crushing blow to Fear, and Fear was defeated.
Shu Zhen held tightly to the vision in her mind, and found to her
surprise she was not afraid anymore.
Note: This is a story written for the intermediate section of
faithwriters.com. The topic is Bold(emotionally).
Date it is published: 03/09/07