#sixsentencestories – Page 14 – Poetry, Short Prose and Walking

Toast—Six Sentence Story

He can’t fool me with those magic tricks, George thought wondering why he was wasting his time watching a guy pull rabbits out of an empty hat. He yelled at the magician, “Hey, you with that rabbit in your hand, pitch the hat and pop another bunny out of thin air!” The magician didn’t know how to convince George to shut up, but neither could George convince God to toast the magician like Zeus would have done with a lightning bolt.

Admittedly, George didn’t believe in God (nor Zeus, for that matter) so he wasn’t seriously asking for assistance. Since the magician couldn’t make George vanish with a wave of his wand—try as he might—he finally phoned the security team to escort George out.

Decades later, when the magician was too old to bewitch even toddlers, George winced as he recalled his own truth-without-love rudeness and begged God to pull some kindness out of his now empty heart which the merciful Lord was only too happy to do.

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Denise offers the prompt word “toast” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Acts 8:9-11
⁹But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
¹⁰To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.
¹¹And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries.

Grid—Six Sentence Story

John’s life did not follow a nice rectangular grid. Brief was his time from birth to final breath.

Though short with winding dead ends, he was offered along the way many opportunities to serve, if he obediently chose to do so. Sometimes he obeyed. Sometimes he had better things to do.

In the end flames burnt those better things leaving John with only a few grains of pure gold, enough—indeed more than what some of the others had—but not enough to stop his tears since there could have been so much more.

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Denise offers the prompt word “grid” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

1 Corinthians 3:14-15
¹⁴If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
¹⁵If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

Console—Six Sentence Story

Robert walked up to the pastor while he was delivering the sermon, lay flat on the platform in front of the congregation and screamed at the top of his voice, “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” Then he rose and walked with indifference to the back of the church expecting a lecture of some sort from Jeremy because of the disturbance he caused. In his own defense he would argue that all he was trying to do was call on the name of the Lord to prove that such magic tricks don’t work especially for the likes of him.

Jeremy, who let Robert enter wondering what delightful mischief was on his mind today, waited for him unsure whether to reprimand or console. Without understanding what good it would do but with Robert’s permission Jeremy followed the request of a soft inward voice to put his hands on each side of Robert’s head and say, “Jesus!”

It surprised Jeremy to see Robert crumble to the floor weeping with an uncontrolled joy knowing finally that even someone like himself could never be the same again.

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Denise offers the prompt word “console” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

This tale is fictional. However, if you have a born-again relationship with the Holy Spirit, what happened between Jeremy and Robert is not the result of magic tricks nor hypnosis. Hearing His soft inward voice should not be confused with talking to oneself (nor with some demon’s temptation to do something inappropriate). His voice will tell you what to do. You will not likely feel comfortable doing it, but He responds to your obedience out of love for you and those around you for His own glory.

Strain—Six Sentence Story

For Stan the idea that anything might exist put a strain on what he could philosophically tolerate. Asserting himself he told his students that there wasn’t a single good reason why any of them were here.

But all of that was before the accident, the emergency room, the coma and the visitations. Things started to click when one visitor with attractive horns offered him a full twenty years in exchange for his spirit.

Stan wished he could have told his students what he discovered before his life support was removed. He consoled himself with the thought that they would find it more credible if they heard it from someone else.

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Denise offers the prompt word “strain” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Melancholy—Six Sentence Story

The hostility between Steve and Bobby was miraculously resolved during the funeral of their older-by-twelve-years sister and Fred’s wife, Lily. During Fred’s eulogy for his wife he handed Steve and Bobby separate boxes containing mementos of their lives from infancy through grade school that Lily saved having watched over them many decades ago. He then handed them envelops with the words “Last Will” written on them containing a letter asking her two brothers to stop fighting with each other.

Touched by a sense of melancholy while going through the box he received from Fred, Bobby apologized to and forgave Steve who seeing this as a sign of weakness announced to all at the funeral that this long-overdue confession coming from the likes of Bobby was a miracle (which it may well have been).

In spite of that remark peace between them lasted until Steve insisted moments later that he get credit for being the one who apologized first which everyone at the funeral knew was a lie. Through the resulting commotion Fred called for silence and handed the brothers another envelop containing Lily’s second Last Will which simply read, “Didn’t I tell you two to STOP FIGHTING?”

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Denise offers the prompt word “melancholy” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

1 John 2:9
He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

Security—Six Sentence Story

Neither Timothy nor Martha had a clue how to grow stuff as they looked at the good ground in front of them having enough stones to make a small mountain. Some neighbors reminded them that when winter came they were going to starve. Every time they heard the word starve they giggled without knowing why.

Come summer the crops grew. Come harvest time the yield was a hundredfold. Come winter Timothy and Martha, ignoring the neighbors’ security concerns, opened their doors to those hungry enough to stop by to make sure no one in the village starved.

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Denise offers the prompt word “security” for this week’s Six Sentence Story.

Matthew 13:23
But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Replay—Six Sentence Story

Ralph ran his mind like an audio device on permanent replay. He believed in neither demonic nor angelic spirits which made the demons giggle with double delight.

What overflowed through his mouth further challenged his pretenses of being rational. Additionally all the time he spent muttering to himself made him wonder precisely whom those meditations were meant to impress.

To keep reality afloat in spite of his doubt that reality was really real he wondered if reality might well be an AI program simulating who knows what or whether there were some female identity trapped inside his male body all of which surprised even Satan who laughed at the inanities unrenewed minds wasted their lives on. As the day ended Ralph tried to put his spirit to sleep while his spirit struggled to wake him up.

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Denise offers the prompt word “replay” for this week’s Six Sentence Story.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Petrichor—Six Sentence Story

Jake’s rationalizations tried to redirect the waterfall of reality away from himself so he could avoid getting wet. If the latter rain came his soul was so dry he might start smelling like petrichor. And if he got filled to overflowing who knows what might happen?

From mountain sources water splashed down boulders like conviction eroding away the resistance of his stony heart.

Jake remembered reading somewhere that given the current rate of erosion the entire mountain would be at sea level in less than fifty million years assuming reality lasted that long. He wondered how long his heart could hold out.

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Denise offers the prompt word “petrichor” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories. Although I’ve heard it before I had to look it up. Petrichor is “the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil.“

James 5:7
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

Box—Six Sentence Story

Many stories, few of them good, could have been told about her by those depositing their tithes in the treasury box. Most everyone advised her to keep her tiny coins since neither the temple nor the Lord needed them as much as she did. Figuring she couldn’t survive on them but sensing no one really wanted what little she had to offer she didn’t know what to do.

Regardless of her failings which were perhaps right up there with our own those two coins were all she had. They weren’t much, but they weren’t counterfeit either.

And so she gave away every single one.

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Denise offers the prompt word “box” for this week’s Six Sentence Story.

Luke 21:1-4
And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
²And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
³And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
⁴For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

Yellowbelly—Six Sentence Story

Early in the morning worried about how he was going to use the assigned word “yellowbelly” in a story Jeremy walked to the ocean as the beach was being raked into a linear pattern perfect in its symmetry until he stepped on it. He saw a bird and considered but then rejected the idea that he might be able to get away with writing a story about a yellowbelly seagull.

Forgetting about the word he wondered where the birds that were coming to shore spent the night, but all they wondered about was whether he brought snacks. Others bored with the sun tossed pieces of bread to the birds who grabbed whatever they could as Jeremy clicked his camera.

Eventually everyone, including the yellowbelly seagulls, realized that the day had indeed begun as expected without their needing to be there at all. It just happened leaving it to those like Jeremy who’d rationalize the joy out of stuff to only step back onto the freshly raked sand and see to his surprise sunrise, birds, beach and even himself as one awesome gift among many others from the Lord for which his thanks was long overdue.

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Denise offers the prompt word “yellowbelly” to be used in this week’s Six Sentence Stories.

Job 37:14
Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.