The horse stopped. Bill saw the rattlesnake ahead of him. It was coiled ready to spring. Bill and the snake stared at each other waiting to see who would make the first move.
Bill had no fear of snakes. Indeed some people thought he was one himself especially with the crafty way he dealt with people.
The snake began acting strange. It uncurled itself. Instead of leaving in the brush it twisted itself into a circle and put its tail in its mouth.
That was all Bill needed to see. He pulled out his revolver and fired.
“Stupid snake.”
Linked to Carrot Ranch’s October 1 Flash Fiction Challenge where Charli Mills offers the theme of dusty trail for these 99-word stories.
The only muse worth listening to,
The only One who even is,
Corrects us, guides us, leads us. His
Consuming fire will clean, renew
Transforming everything we do.
We sinners turn. This living flame
Burns off the chaff. The devil's blame
Becomes as nothing. We are still.
As falsehood breaks, each true word will
No longer be lukewarm, nor tame.
Linked to Ronovan Writes Décima Poetry Challenge where the challenge is to use the rhyme word “still” in the D part of the rhyme pattern ABBAACCDDC. For another poem on the Holy Spirit see Mary Hood’s poem Holy Spirit and her observation that there’s a difference between the Greek muses and the Holy Spirit. I used to talk about “muses”, but given the Holy Spirit I see no need to hide Him behind some Greek myth.
“The Good Spirit knows everything about you and he’s apt to forgive you but you have to submit to him and want it,” the ancient guru who lived only on air and was said to float about the temple high in the mountain explained.
I was still curious and so while seated at his feet, I asked him, “And what about the Bad Spirit?”
“Ah, the Bad Spirit knows a good deal about you as well but he’s only interested in what he can use as blackmail to keep your mouth shut.”
He didn’t seem to have anything more to reveal and I couldn’t think of anything more to ask him and so I lowered the volume of the sound of my breathing and I sat.
When the sun set he suddenly twisted his head unnaturally in my direction showing his burning eyes and steamy horns making me jump wishing I never risked the arduous climb up this mountain and wondering if I could find my way back down in the dark.
“So, in your current circumstances, boy, which one of those spirits do you think it’s now safer to serve?”
Here is a statement on abortion by Jonathan Cahn that I found powerful and convincing.
What is evil we now call good and what is good we now call evil. What we once revered we now revile and what we once knew to be wrong we now celebrate. We too have profaned the sacred and have sanctified the profane and as for our children, our most innocent possession, we have sacrificed them on the altars of self-indulgence. It was here, in this city, over there. It was here that their collective murder was blessed and given sanction. But a thousand laws and a thousand Supreme Court rulings and a thousand angels swearing on a thousand Bibles cannot alter one iota of this basic measure of morality: to shed the blood of an unborn baby is to murder a human life.
If you are a resident of the United States, 18 years of age or older, the Moral Outcry provides an opportunity for you to sign a petition to the United States Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade. This starts about 4:09:00 in the video.
I am a registered Democrat in Miami Beach, Florida. I voted for the President, Donald Trump, and I predict he will win on November 3rd. Then I predict he, along with the help of others, will drain this swamp.
I am grateful that the Senate confirmed Amy Coney Barrett as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court with a vote of 52 to 48.
From summer green to autumn red
To winter white and rest.
Arise from winter's silent bed.
Spring has passed the test.
Linked to Cosmic Photo Challenge where Dale offers the theme of inversions. While walking in the forest preserve, I ran into a maple tree that had turned deep red earlier than the others. Unsure of what an inversion was, I thought of this change as an inversion, moving from summer green to autumn red.
Also linked to Trent P. McDonald’s The Weekly Smile. Outside of an email exchange with someone offering a proof of the 3x+1 conjecture, I did not update my program further. So no excuse for a smile from that quarter, but weather was beautiful, I explored new trails in the forest preserve and I enjoyed (online) The Return, the Washington Prayer March on Saturday. Many smiles there.
Another smile arriving this very morning came from listening to Crystal Grimes’ composition Gratitude DSE #9.
“Yahweh gets things done. After the prophet poured oil on Jehu, proclaiming him king, he ran off. Jehu’s officers thought the prophet was an idiot until they heard the announcement: Yahweh anointed Jehu to drain the swamp. Jehu killed Jehoram and Ahaziah. At Jehu’s command eunuchs threw Jezebel from her window. While Jehu and his men got refreshments, dogs snacked on Jezebel.”
“That’s a gruesome story.”
“Jehu killed Ahab’s entire family and anyone he could get his hands on associated with Baal.”
“I see. Beware when Yahweh has His fill of you.”
Linked to Carrot Ranch’s September 24 Flash Fiction Challenge where Charli Mills offers the theme of snacking. You can read more about Jehu in 2 Kings chapters 9 and 10 where it is told in more detail and better than I have.
This is Yom Kippur. Although unrelated to the story, after listening to Jonathan Cahn’s Yom Kippur Broadcast, I put the finishing touches on the story:
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Today is the Washington Prayer March, The Return. Psalm 51 is a psalm David wrote after being exposed by Nathan for his relationship with Bathsheba. Many verses are memorable especially verse 10 (12 in the Tehillim) where David asks God to create in him a clean heart, something only God can do.
Poetry, Short Prose and Walking 