Creative Christianity: The Widow's Quest - Part 4

(The following story is based on the parable in Luke 18:1-8. It is a fictional account with allegorical aspects. This is a fictional world with characters and events created by me.)

Connie, Rocky, and their little band of pups continued along through the manufacturing district until they entered another area of residences. This neighborhood looked a little better off than the area she had found Rocky, and substantially better than the Rift, but it still looked worn and weary. Connie wondered if that was how she looked?

She knew they needed to get something to eat, but toting along a pack of pups probably wasn’t going to let them in to very many places.

“I think we need to find a place to rest for a little while.” Connie spoke out loud.

“And get something to eat. I’m starving, and I think Isabella is too.” Rocky looked behind them.

Image by Lenka Novotná from Pixabay

“Isabella?” Connie looked to where the mother pup was following at some distance. She looked ready to drop. The two puppies who were walking still seemed to have plenty of spunk.

Rocky nodded. “Yeah, that was my baby sister’s name.”

Connie’s heart hurt. The boy had been through so much loss. She had too. She decided they weren’t going to lose Isabella. She stopped walking so the the pup could catch up, and as they waited she noticed a young woman pushing a stroller down a side street.

She handed Rocky her side bag with the two sleeping pups and said, “Stay right here. I am going to see if we can get some help.”

She jogged towards the woman. Trying to not look threatening, she slowed to a walk and smiled while still a few yards off.

Image by Patou Ricard from Pixabay

“Hello,” she began.

“I don’t got any money, so don’t try to sell me anything,” the woman clipped.

Connie could see as she got closer, while the woman was younger, she looked tired, and not particularly clean. She quickly attempted to put her at ease.

“Oh, I am not a sales person. I was just wondering if you might help me, you see I am new to the area, and my nephew and I have been walking for a while and wondered if there was a park nearby where we could rest for a bit.” She felt bad lying about Rocky, and she also didn’t mention getting food. She didn’t want the woman to think she had money.

“You got that dog’s papers?” The woman jutted her chin out towards where Rocky, Isabella and the two puppies waited.

Connie tried to think fast. “Well, I would gladly get her papers, but as I said I am new to the area and we actually just found her today. I felt so bad for her and her little pups.”

The woman drew closer, and Connie could see a little boy in the stroller, probably about two. “Do you think I could show them pups to my boy? He just loves animals, and they are such a rarity around here, since they all need to be papered. We can’t afford the fees, let alone the food to feed one.”

Connie relaxed a little. “I understand. Everything is so expensive. A pet is a big commitment. I am Connie, by the way.”

The woman finally smiled. “I’m Maribelle, and this is my boy Adam.”

Connie bent down. “It is very nice to meet you and your momma, Adam. If you don’t mind walking over, the mother pup is very tired. She needs food, but I wasn’t sure where to go.'“

She and Maribelle started walking and the young woman said, “If you need food there is an old church on the corner of Rawls and Jones. They serve lunch and dinner. You just have to sit and listen to the pastor talk about his religion.”

Connie took that information and filed it away. When they reached Rocky and the dogs, Maribelle picked up one of the puppies and showed him to her son. The boy laughed and wiggled in his seat with joy.

Maribelle stood up and asked, “You a steamer? I see your bag there.”

“Well, I uh…yes, I am.”

“If you and your family want to come to my house, I’ll give you food in exchange for work on our water heater. It stopped working a few weeks back. Sure would be nice to have hot water again.”

Constance looked at Rocky who nodded enthusiastically. She knew she was taking a chance. She had long ago stopped trusting people and knew this could be a trap. Desperate people did desperate things. She knew that fact well from living in the Rift. She looked at the young mother and her little boy and thought something about them felt right.

She nodded. “That would be nice, and I will take a look at your water heater.”

Image by Andreas Lischka from Pixabay

Maribelle smiled brightly. “Wonderful! Adam, did you hear that we are going to have company and you can play longer with the puppies.”

Adam clapped his hands and said, “…upppies!!”

They all laughed. Connie picked up her bag of tools, where the two smaller pups were just starting to wake up. She pulled each one out. Rocky took one, and Maribelle, much to Adam’s delight put the other one in the stroller with him. They made their way to Maribelle’s home.

Connie found herself marveling at feelings that rose inside her; feelings she hadn’t had for a very long time. Gratitude, joy and hope. Still, the Rift part of her wondered how long it would last. How long before she was, once again, disappointed, let down, and hurt? How long?

Creative Christianity: The Widow's Quest - Part 3

Rocky was an amiable companion. It seemed he had not had anyone to talk to, or at least anyone who would listen to him for quite a while. He talked about the neighborhood he lived in before his father had left and his mother died. He told her how when he was very small it had been a decent place; a place where people looked out for each other and took care of each other.

“I’m not sure what happened. I think I was so caught off guard when my dad left and didn’t come back that I didn’t realize what was beginning to happen in our neighborhood. The older people were dying, and the other adults were taking off, just like my dad…”

Constance was surprise at how perceptive and willing to share this young man was. Again, her heart swelled with feelings, not only for this boy, but for the children she had always wanted to have.

Image from Pixabay

They had left the area closest to the Rift boundary behind and were slowly making their way through an an industrial part of the lower south side of Minward. This is the area her forged work papers said she was assigned to do maintenance. She wanted to get as far from there as possible. She saw workers milling about waiting for the morning whistle to open the gate and let them inside.

Just as they crossed an alley way they both heard a soft bark. Connie turned her head, but kept her pace. Rocky, turned into the alley.

“Hey, come look at this!”

Connie stopped, but didn’t venture into the alley. “Rocky, I think it’s a bad idea to get too close to any wild animals around here. Not only that, but we need to keep moving.”

“But Connie, we can’t leave her. She needs our help.” Rocky was persistent.

Connie finally relented. She looked around again, and moved slowly into the alley. She drew up next to the boy and there, in a partially decomposed wooden crate, was a female dog with four young pups who were currently eating their breakfast.

Image by Montree Ladlongmuang from Pixabay

Before Connie could stop him, Rocky had bent down and was petting the mother and all her babies. The dog licked his hands and face causing him to laugh. The little pups whimpered and wiggled, their attention distracted from suckling to a new play companion. Rocky soon had his lap full of yapping, licking, biting puppy ardor.

Connie was about to scold him, but then she realized this was probably something he needed. She wondered how long it had been since he had been able to be just a boy. She decided the Manor at Minward wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was the Rift. She could give the lad a few minutes of joy. She plopped down on the ground beside him, and soon had puppies in her lap as well which made her forget for a few moments the hardship life had brought her.

After a few more minutes Connie put her hand gently on the boy’s shoulder. “We really should not stay here any longer. We might draw someone’s attention that isn’t friendly.”

“But what about the dogs? We can’t just leave them.” Rocky’s voice was concerned.

“I’m sorry, Rocky, but where I am going there won’t be any place for a dog, let alone her pups. It would be different if you had a home you could go back to, or if I wasn’t on a quest.”

“A quest?”

Constance hesitated, but then she made a decision. “Yes, Rocky. I am on a quest to talk to the Lord of Minward about bringing justice into the Rift.”

Rocky’s attention left the puppies and focused on her face. “You’re from the Rift? I didn’t think anyone ever left there, unless they are a Hy-Bred.”

“Well, that’s mostly true…unless you have friends who can forge work papers.”

Rocky’s eyes widened. “You mean, you are kind of like a spy?”

Connie laughed. “Hardly! I’m no more a spy than you are the Lord of Minward. I’m just one person trying to make a difference and find redemption and justice for people suffering in the Rift.”

She stood up. “We need to get going.”

Rocky put each of the pups back by their mother then stood up. “I wish we could give them some food or something…especially the mom. She looks like she needs it more than them.”

“She’s doing what mothers do; giving up her own comfort and needs to give life to her own.”

Rocky gave a little wave and they moved quickly out of the alley.

It wasn’t long before they began walking again that they heard numerous tiny yips and yaps coming from behind them. They both turned around and there came the mama dog with one pup in her mouth and the other three waddling along behind her as quickly as their little legs could carry them.

“Connie, look! They want to come with us.”

Constance watched the dogs struggling to follow them, and once again her heart softened. She knew at the rate they were going she might never get to the Manor of Minward, but somehow that didn’t seem quite as urgent as it had a few hours ago. She looked at the boy, and then at the pups. She began unraveling the scarf she had around her neck, then she opened her pack and got down on her knees.

“What are you doing?” Rocky asked.

“Well, we won’t get very far if we don’t give all those short little legs some help. I’m going to make a soft place in my pack where the smaller two can lay. Those two bigger ones should be able to keep up.”

Image by Aleš Háva from Pixabay

Rocky looked excited. “You mean we are going to take them with us?”

Connie nodded.

“Oh yippee! I’ve never had a pet.”

Connie picked up the two smaller puppies and put them gently down into her side pack. They snuggled together and almost immediately fell asleep.

“Come on. We’ve got to get some food some where soon, for us and them.”

Connie was not sure why she was accumulating this rag tag band of misfits, but she knew she had to help those who were less fortunate. Maybe it was how she had been raised. Maybe it was something she knew her husband would have wanted. Maybe it was God trying to show her she was not alone. Whatever the answer she knew they were now in it together.

Creative Christianity: The Widow's Quest - Part2

(This is a fictional piece based on the parable of the widow and the judge from Luke 18. I wrote this piece for entertainment purposes only.)

By the time Constance got to the second check point the rain was torrential. Her coat felt heavy as it took on water, and her tool bag was completely soaked. Thankfully, there was a long line of people which, she hoped, would make it easier for her to just slide through without much notice.

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

As she stood in the line, she noticed the other people waiting. It was a hobby of hers, people watching. She had always enjoyed sitting in obscure places to watch people. People were so interesting and unique. That was how she and Amos had met. He had been sitting on a different bench a little way away from her at the small park near her parents’ home. Apparently, he enjoyed doing the same thing. It wasn’t that unusual. If you weren’t part of DeCaro’s network, there wasn’t much else to do.

She noticed him sitting there, and he noticed her. Eventually, they noticed each other noticing each other. One day when she arrived at her spot, he was sitting on her bench with a bag. Inside were two sandwiches. His pick up line had been, “I made too many sandwiches this morning. Would you mind eating one so I don’t have to throw it away?”

Image by WikimediaImages from Pixabay

They both laughed. No one ever threw anything away in the Rift. Every morsel, every scrap contributed towards keeping you alive.

The people in the line were mainly workers, but there were a few Hy-Breds. These were people from the upper echelon that came into the Rift to gamble, buy drugs, and abuse whoever they could, just because they had money. One couple in particular was getting impatient and tried to cut ahead of others in line. This caused a small fight to ensue.

Check points at the perimeter of the Rift were actual guard stations, all employed by DeCaro. Several guards came out to break up the fight. There were at least two people who scooted past the check point without getting their papers stamped. The problem with this lay in the fact that if they got caught outside the Rift without their papers in order they would be sent back to DeCaro, and from there most likely sent to the Extermination Yard.

Constance kept her head down and stayed out of the way while the guards took control of the situation. The Hy-Breds were taken inside to warm up while they waited for a ride to take them home. The others who fought back were beaten and not allowed to cross.

It was all so incredibly unfair. That was exactly why she was willing to risk an audience with the Lord of Minward. She had no idea what sort of a man he was, but she knew she had to try to get his attention focused on the Rift and the people who were being preyed on who lived there.

Image by gregkorg from Pixabay

“Papers!”

The man behind the window was angry, Constance assumed, for having to deal with the fight. DeCaro’s employees preferred to not have to work. She quickly presented her papers. He barely even looked at them before he stamped them and shoved them back at her. She fought the urge to grab them and run. Instead, she began to fold them while she still stood in front of the window.

“Move along!”

Constance moved slowly as if she was still struggling to get her papers back into her coat pocket before the rain completely soaked them. What she was really doing was trying to make herself look as inept as possible. She walked away, breathing a sigh of relief.

Just because she was no longer in the Rift, didn’t mean she was out of danger. Not everyone in the city of Minward were law abiding citizens. She kept alert. She was thankful once the rain slowed eventually stopping. She crossed a few streets, but at the next corner she knew she was being followed.

Image by 652234 from Pixabay

Running was not an option, so she decided to confront the person. She whirled, coming face to face with a young man, probably not more than twelve or thirteen. Startled, he stopped, looking at her with wide eyes.

“Can I help you, young man?”

“I…I…thought…maybe, I could help you…you know…for a little coin.” He gave her a sideways smile trying to look hopeful.

Constance sighed. “I’m sorry, lad. I don’t have any extra coin.”

The boy didn’t give up. “Well, what do you have in that bag? There’s got to be something valuable in there.”

Constance felt bad for the boy, but she also knew she wasn’t in a safe place. He might be working with a gang, and she could be surrounded before she knew it. “This is just my tool bag. Do you live around here?'“

“Here and there.”

She looked around, noting the windows, doors, and side streets. She didn’t notice any movement, so she started to relax.

“Where’s your family?”

“Dad left a while ago and hasn’t come back. My mom said, that’s because he’s no good. My mom….” It was plain to see the boy was grieving. “She got sick. Without a job, she couldn’t afford to go to the doctor. She died a few months ago.”

Constance’s heart broke for the boy. “You don’t have any other family? An aunt or uncle? Grandparents?”

He wiped at his eyes with his ragged shirt sleeve, and shook his head. “I had a baby sister, but she died when I was little. I never knew my grandparents.”

What could she do for this boy? She lived in the Rift. She was just as bad off as he was…well, that was not entirely true. She had been raised by two loving parents. She had known the love of a wonderful man. She had friends, and she had a purpose. An idea came to her; a crazy, but wonderful idea.

“Since I would be negligent to leave you alone would you like to come with me? I am going to see the Lord of Minward.”

The lad’s jaw dropped. “Do you have an invitation? I heard he don’t see anyone without an invitation.”

Constance was quiet for a moment. “Well, no, but I am going to see him anyway. I have to see him.” Her voice grew stronger. “Besides I could use the company, and you look like you could use a decent meal.”

“Hey! I thought you said you didn’t have any extra coin!”

“I don’t, for someone who is trying to take advantage of me, but I do have coin to share for someone who is a friend.”

The boy thought for a moment, then he smiled. “I can be your friend.”

“Good! Let’s be off then. I want to get to the upper city and the Manor of Minward by the time the sun is high over head. What’s your name, by the way?”

“My mom named me Peter, but you can call me Rocky.”

“Rocky it is. I am Constance, but you can call me Connie.”

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Constance wasn’t sure if she believed in God or not, but for some reason this young boy had wormed his way into her heart and her mothering instinct took over. She and Amos had tried to have children, but never did, and then he died.

Maybe, just maybe she was being given a second chance.

Creative Christianity - The Widow's Quest: Part 1

The following piece begins a series based on the passage found in Luke 18:1-8. It presents a fictional account with allegorical aspects which coincide with the parable told by Jesus in those Scriptures. This is a fictional story with a world, and characters built by me. I hope you enjoy it.

Constance made her way through the narrow, muddy streets, thankful it was raining. A constant downpour washed away some of the surface filth making her feel there was a modicum of cleanliness here in the Rift. She kept her head down, the hood of her coat concealing her face. She didn’t want anyone to know where she was going. If they found out she was on her way to the Manor of Minward they would beat her until she was no longer recognizable. The Black Needles didn’t appreciate the people of their ward asking for help. They didn’t need help. They could make it on their own.

Image by Lucent_Designs_dinoson20 from Pixabay

Constance smirked beneath her hood. Neoplo “The Builder” De Caro wasn’t just known for building the run down, decaying ruins the people of the Rift had to live in, but for raising up the crime syndicate that preyed on the very people it was supposed to protect. She had seen enough; enough suffering; enough struggle; enough darkness. If the Lord of Minward was truly just, as she had often heard through her fourty-three years, why didn’t anything change? She was going to find out.

She was going to have to get past a few of De Caro’s check points. He wasn’t fond of people leaving his barony. He had an intricate web of knowledge woven together by his army of groveling lackeys. Constance learned from the time she was very young to blend in. She didn’t want to stand out. Being noticed by Neopolo, meant you became one of his, either that, or you conveniently disappeared. She felt bad for the younger people. De Caro’s appetite wasn’t just reserved for food and drink.

Constance felt bile rise in her throat, but she swallowed it, and clenched her fists. She wasn’t going to become just another of De Caro’s appetizers. She had to have hope; hope that the Lord of Minward would be able to make a change. Maybe he just wasn’t aware of how bad it was in the Rift. As the Lord of an entire city, he must be very busy, and maybe information wasn’t getting through due to De Caro’s influence.

The first check point loomed ahead. Her training in boiler maintenance should be able to get her through this one. She felt the tool bag by her side, then slid her hand into her coat pocket where the forged work papers printed on union stationary, and folded neatly, stayed dry from the down pour.

Image by Anna Veronika from Pixabay

Constance wasn’t alone in this quest. There were a few others who wanted a better life, and knew De Caro’s empire building wasn’t going to benefit them. She and Amos had formed a small group of other “believers”, which now was up to twenty members. They rarely all met together, but stayed in touch using messages sent via trusted couriers. Since the steam movement, and its subsequent advancements in communications, things like sending handwritten messages on foot had become obsolete. Now things were moved along through vast tubular networks both above and below ground pushed along by the compressed power of steam.

Amos had been like a little boy, completely enamored with the advent of the new Steam Era. He loved the machines, the gears, the noise and the power behind something so simple as heated water. She missed him terribly. It was coming up on five years since his death, but grief was relentless where darkness bred, and the Rift was a breeding ground for all that was dank, and miserable.

Image by Peter H from Pixabay

Constance took a deep breath and moved confidently to the first check point. Each check point held a small booth barely big enough for one person, but often occupied by several of Neoplo’s goons. There were three of them in this one. They were chatting and laughing. There were several other people in line.

When her turn came, Constance pulled the papers out of her pocket and quickly shoved them through the small opening in the window.

The man looked down on her, from where he sat in the dry, heated booth.

“You in a hurry there, lass?”

Constance wanted to quip back she was old enough to be his mother, but didn’t reply, just shrugged. She found the best thing to do was not engage. Once you started talking, they became interested. She waited, turning to look at the line that was forming behind her. That was a good thing. The more people waiting, the less time they would take to push you through.

The man stamped her papers and passed them back through the window. As she reached to take them, he wouldn’t let go. She looked up at his scruffy face.

Image by Sammy-Sander from Pixabay

“Smile, Sunshine. Life ain’t so bad. Doesn’t old De Caro take good care of his people?”

Constance swallowed the retort brewing in her gut, gave a shy smile and nodded her head.

“There we go! You have a good night now, lass!”

Constance placed the papers back in her coat pocket. As she walked away she let out a deep breath. One more check point to go.