Short Stories & Poetry

The Voice 

     They sit in a row- Yellow, Blue, Pink and Gray.

     

     The depth of blue causes him to sit reflectively as he waits for "The Voice." Blue is a smart one, or so he'd been told. He often sat with the old men Saturday mornings and listened to their wisdom. As Blue listened, he weighed their wisdom against his own, all the while making mental notes for his future. 

     Blue's reasoning kicked in again and he wondered why he needed the guidance of another voice. He trusted his well planned future, which was based on his well planned understanding. As he pondered his wisdom within his heart, Blue missed the sound of "The Voice," got up, and went on his way to his next well planned destination.

     Pink sat quietly, calmly waiting for, "The Voice" she had heard so much about. She set her notebook down on the seat vacated by Blue and let her heart ponder on the things she had heard and recorded about "The Voice." She had been told it was lovely, warm and comforting. This voice sounded like a good companion- a real heart warmer! She looked up as one of her most re-assuring friends walked in the door. 

     "Pink, let's go, what are you still waiting for? The voice is not all you imagine it will be. I have a plan for us." He said smoothly.

     Pink laced her fingers through his, let her heart melt under his gaze and followed him out the door. So swept away was she that she didn't realize she had missed the voice that was calling her name as she had been listening to the voice of her lover.

     Yellow sat on the edge of his seat, fidgeting excitedly as he waited next to dull Gray for, "The Voice". He had spent the day striking up one conversation after another with those seated around him. He had heard that wonderful adventures began with the words "The Voice," spoke. Yellow didn't want to miss out on the chance for new and interesting adventures. Earlier that day, his contagious excitement had filled the waiting room and helped to motivate himself and the other colors to wait in semi-patient expectancy as they dreamed of the amazing words "The Voice," might speak. 

     Yellow turned his thoughts to the present. Gray was waiting quietly next to him- blue and pink were long gone. He looked at his watch and thought of all the adventures waiting to be had outside of the waiting room. 

     "Who am I kidding?" He thought. 

     He knew how to live the exciting life- he didn't need any help from this notorious "Voice." Tired of waiting, Yellow hopped up and ran out the door. Just as the latch clicked "The Voice" spoke his name: 

     "Yellow?"

     But Yellow was long gone. 

     Gray looked timidly towards the door, wondering if maybe she should call after Yellow. After all, he had seemed so eager, but she saw that he was too far down the road to hear her. She felt sad as she sat there all alone. Being the only one left, she had heard the sound of "The Voice," three times now. 

     "Blue..."

     "Pink..."

     "Yellow...?" He called. 

      She wondered if her turn would ever come.

      Gray knew that she didn't possess the depth of Blue, the warmth of Pink, or the excitement of Yellow but she still had a longing desire for, "The Voice." She too had heard wonderful things about "The Voice." The rumors told that he possessed the beauty and perfect qualities of every color and that if you listened to him long enough, that his beauty started to make you colorful too. She liked this idea. With no colors of her own, Gray found hope in the thought of getting to hear, "The Voice." 

     As Gray waited quietly, she finally heard her name.

     "Could it be?!" She thought with excitement.

      But, in her heart, she knew it was true. "The Voice," was speaking to her- Gray. She timidly got up and moved closer so she wouldn't miss anything. Her heart filled with wonder as she moved listened to the sound of his voice and as she moved closer, she caught a glimpse of the brightening colors.

     "Let me hear what the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people, to His faithful, to those who turn to Him in their hearts."

~Psalm 85:8 

Prestige and Lights 

   2 Chronicles 21:11 “Moreover he made high places in the hill country of Judah, and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into unfaithfulness, and made Judah go astray.”

Setting up platforms on which to exalt things other that God will lead to downfall.

   Prestige: that had been it's name during it's hayday. Darkness, dirt, stench and ruins- it surrounds them as they walk through the broken down walls and the jagged streets of the abandoned village. It used to be a top notch tourist location that attracted the biggest and best from all over the globe. In it's peak you could walk up and down the streets in the warm light of a summer evening and see stages set up as far as the eye could see. They all ran there- to the village of stars because it promised them something: a platform where they could be seen and admired- where they could see and admire.

   The village had been birthed out of the dreams of a single man who got tired of the one stage of the rescuer. All the people in the village of Prestige had known who the rescuer was at one point or another. They had watched him pull out countless poor and weak people, helping them get out of their debt and set up some type of satisfying life, but the villagers who came to live in Prestige didn't want that type of life- they had seen where the people ended up. All those who chose to follow the rescuer ended up in the village of lights on the hill, but that village had only one stage that rested right in the center and the stage didn't seem to be very special. The stage in the Village of Lights wasn't set above the common people like the stages of Prestige, but instead it stood on ground level. All the people in the village of lights would come right up to the edges, some even daring to get up on the stage itself and they would all stand and admire the rescuer who was constantly engaged with even the lowliest villagers.

   This was not what the people of Prestige were looking for. They didn't want to sit around and look at this one stage, they wanted something more exciting. What would the do all day if they just had one show to watch? They would rather be the stars. This is what prestige offered: a chance to set up a platform to exalt and admire whatever they wanted to place there...there was more variety and flavor.

   There was something bothersome about the stages set up in Prestige though...there were so many that they lost their luster and the people that lived there got exhausted running from platform to platform in search of something that would satisfy their desire for fulfilling excitement. All the staring up and straining to see the next best performance began to take it's tole, and the people of Prestige started to leave the village one after another- all leaving more worn out and dissatisfied than when they had arrived.

   As years passed and the humble Village of Lights began to grow bit by bit. Simultaneously, Prestige attracted crowds that rushed in and out, leaving the city filled with stages that were growing older and more rickety with every show that was performed on them. Finally the breaking point came- one night as the village was at a roaring height, a few new people entered the city- they were hungrier for fame than ever as they violently stormed the stages for a night of intense performance. The crowds were huge and they were all waiting for a good show to catch their eye. The stages couldn't take it anymore, they had nothing left in them. One by one as the bands reached their loudest, the dancers jumped one last time, and the comedians got one last laugh, the surge of the crowds became too much, and like dominoes, the stages began to fall; one after another until the city was left in smoke, stench and chaos. People ran in every direction crying out in disappointment and horror as they looked at the pandemonium of the broken down platforms where so many of them had stood and exalted their iconic figures. Their hearts grew faint when they realized that none of it had amounted to anything but fallen down rubble and terrible disappointing destruction.

   A few turned and looked off longing toward the warm glow coming from the Village of Lights in the distance...they wondered what it would have been like to reach up their hands towards only one stage...or even to sit on the edge of it and admire the lights that the rescuer had set up...as the fires keep burning and tears fall, a brave hopeful few get up and walk towards the Village of Lights.