Relentless - Part 1: The Pursued
The following piece and its subsequent installments are works of fiction created by myself as allegorical of the Christian life. As with any allegory it is a picture or type, more specifically in this case a picture of what our relationship with God might look like. The following parts will be posted monthly on the fourth Thursday as part of my Creative Christianity feature. I hope you will enjoy it.
He was coming for her. She didn’t know how she knew, but she knew. She tried to shake it off, telling herself she was being silly. Why would he still be pursuing her? She had left the smothering confines of his kingdom long ago. She was nothing to him, not any more. She had made sure of that.
Image by Christian_Birkholz from Pixabay
She smiled coyly at the bloke sitting at the end of the bar. He looked like a decent sort and maybe with a bit of change. She could tell by the sunglasses that sat on the top of his finely coiffed hair and the watch that shone loudly on his wrist.
“Buy me a drink?” She used her most innocent, yet seductive purr.
“Sure,” he responded with feigned enthusiasm. He sidled closer to where she sat.
She could tell he’d been here before. Not in this exact pub, but at this point in life. His wife or current lover had jilted him, leaving him for someone with fresher curb appeal. Just like her he was trying to find a small measure of comfort, even if just for a moment.
“I’d ask you what’s a nice girl like you doing in a dive like this, but I think we both know, neither of us is very nice.” His voice sounded tired.
She smiled. “My, my, a philosopher.”
He smirked, the corner of his mouth just barely rising before he lifted his glass in a mock toast towards hers. “How did you know? Was it my snarky response, or my academic attire that gave me away?”
Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay
She clinked her glass against his. “Definitely, the snark.”
They sank into a puddle of warm conversation, not really talking about anything, but also everything. He told her about his kids; she talked about her dogs. He shared the frustrations of the academic world, and she griped about the long hours she worked in the medical arena.
“So why are you here?” He asked. “You seem like a genuinely descent person? Don’t you have a family, friends, a significant other?”
The alcohol was beginning to make her feel odd. Her whole body was covered with goosebumps.
“Ooo, I feel weird. Hey you didn’t put something in my drink did you?” She looked at the professor, whose face looked concerned. “Hey, bartender! I need some help. I think this guy messed with my drink.”
The lights over the bar and around the pub began to flicker. She looked around the room and suddenly realized she and the bloke were the only ones in the room. She didn’t even see the bar tender, who was normally playing musical glasses as he cleaned and wiped down the counter.
“I feel it too,” the professor said quietly.
“Feel what?”
“A presence.” The man’s voice had become a subdued whisper.
Image by Robert Owen-Wahl from Pixabay
The lights went out, all except the blinking open sign in the window. The pub seemed to fill with moving shadows and sounds. She thought it sounded like many voices whispering, or were they hissing. She knew in her gut she needed to run, but she couldn’t.
“What have you done?” The man’s voice sounded befuddled.
Funny, it made her think of her mother asking her the same question when she had emptied a three pound bag of flour onto the living room floor.
The prof looked at her with wide eyes. “You are one of his. You have his seal.”
She jumped off the stool and away from him. “What? What are you talking about? I don’t belong to anyone! I’m my own person.”
The shadows in the room seemed to grow, almost taking on a three dimensional quality. Were they moving towards her?
“Then why are they here?” The bloke nodded towards the shadows.
“I assure you I don’t have any idea what they are, let alone why they are here.”
“Boy, you really are naive aren’t you. Everyone knows anyone who leaves his kingdom will be followed by the Shadowed Ones.”
Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay
She looked from the creeping shadows to the professor. “Well, I highly doubt that everyone has this information seeing as this is the first time I have heard of it.”
The bloke’s face became gentle and kind. “He wants you to come back. He never wanted you to leave. He loves you, Laney.”
Laney felt her jaw drop. “How do you know my name? I didn’t tell you my name.”
“Laney, he will never stop pursuing you. He cannot bear that you have left. He knows exactly who you are and what you need. Return to him.”
Laney shook her head. “NO! I can’t go back. It’s too late….this has to be a nightmare….maybe if I just close my eyes it will all disappear.”
The professor put a hand on her shoulder. Laney felt a different presence. Suddenly, an explosion of light forced her to close her eyes, but a force that could only be described as a tsunami of love swept passed her.
It was gone. She heard the tinkle of glasses, subdued voices and snippets of laughter surround her. Opening her eyes she found herself sitting at the bar. The bartender was busy wiping the counter. There were a few others at the bar, but the snarky professor had vanished.
The bartender approached. “Need another round, Laney?”
Laney looked at her empty glass. She took a deep shuddering breath. “Fill it up!”