Miryam Howard-Meier, a regular contributor to A Word with You Press and poster of insightful comments, kindly reminded us that her third entry for our Defying Moments contest had yet to bask in the brown-and-yellow glory of our home page.  Miryam notes that this story falls outside of her usual repertoire, but we encourage risk-taking here. We’re glad Miryam decided to be bold.  What follows could perhaps be called an allegory, or maybe a fable, or maybe even a parable of sorts.  It is, at its heart, a reminder that love is worth fighting for – that even when we feel irretrievably lost, love can lead us home.

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Topic: If Only They Knew

The Escape

Viocuron stood proudly before his clan at the council of the pit. In all of his existence he had never been so pleased as he was this day.  How effortlessly he had managed to creep into the intricate opening of this weak human’s mind, injecting the evil poison with his long syringe-like fingers.  Viocuron was boastful of his work. He had managed to succeed in the first leg of this vital mission, by defiling one of the most prominent leaders of The Book on earth. Now, timing was everything, if this virus of filth was going to spread as it was designed to do.  If only this weak human knew what he had opened himself up too, he would have never entertained those thoughts in his first few moments of awakening.

Time was running out, and Viocuron and his clan knew that they must use every weapon in their arsenal to conquer the people of The Book.  The plan was so simple, yet so powerful.  “If only the humans of The Book actually knew what was written inside of it!” the clan would mock.  The first step in defeating any enemy is, knowing what they know, and in this case, it was too easy for belief! Viocuron had waited patiently, and it had paid off. The human was very popular among his peers. Many stood in long lines to hear his wisdom and see the miracles at his hands.

Then one late night, when the human was asleep, Viocuron sent lies and offence into his dreams. He reminded the human of all the things that others had said against him. It just took a short time before the human was enraged with anger for being wronged, and he forgot all the forgiveness, which he had once so sincerely declared. The human set out to avenge himself, and was contemplating plans of how he could get even. The trap had been set so easily. Viocuron continued to boast over his good work, and how he succeeded at just the right moment when the human was in his most powerful hour!

As the clan continued to fan the offences within the human’s heart, they gathered in victory and danced around the pit in triumphant exaltation. Meanwhile, the human was consumed with increasing offence and bitterness. He became argumentative with everyone around him, and lost the wisdom he once walked in. His wife divorced him and he was left alone — alone to drown in his bitterness.  With no income, no home, health failing, and no friends, the human walked the streets at night, sleeping on the ground in cardboard boxes wherever he found a place out of the weather. He could not understand how this had happened to him, and continued to curse everyone else for his pain and suffering.

The clan did not forget about the human. They hovered over him night and day, and continued to inject everyone that the human touched with his infectious disease. The human was sitting alone in a park one afternoon, as he often did, when he noticed a young boy flying his kite. He watched the kite rising higher as it finger-painted the sky, and for the first time in years, he remembered how it felt to have joy.  He continued to watch, as the boy hooted at the top of his lungs when his kite swooped down low and then shot upward like a rocket in the sky.  As he watched the expression on the young boy’s face, the years of bitterness suddenly began to crumble, exposing his desire to feel love again. It was a divine download; complete in every way.  How could he have his life back?  How could he experience this joy again? — He struggled for answers.   Just then the boy came over to his side by the park bench and held the string-wrapped stick out to the man.

“Take it,” he said to the man. The man looked curiously at the boy for a moment, and then reluctantly took it.  The force of the wind gushing through the string caused the man’s hand to lift upward, pulling at his whole being to rise up and submit to the gust.  He found himself running, as he held tight to the ball of string within his fist, and as he ran, he began to feel again… with each leap he remembered the peace of what it was like to be a man of The Book.  He was so overwhelmed that he fell to the ground, crying out with tears of remorse.

The boy bent down next to the man and spoke, “I have been sent to you today from the Gd of The Book. I am you when you were a boy. Gd wants you to know that He still loves you the way He did then, and He understands your pain.”

As the man looked up into the boy’s eyes, he saw something that he had lost in all the years of his bitterness. He saw the love he once knew. It was distant, yet familiar.

“I want this love back! I want this love back!” sobbed the man uncontrollably, and he awoke from his slumber on the park bench. The man was instantly alert, and knew what he must do. It was simple, yet so powerful…

“I will repent,” he said.

At that moment Viocuron and his clan screamed in agonizing, blood-curdling defeat, vowing not to give up, as they began their vigil again of patiently waiting, for just the right moment….

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Viocuron is an extra-creepy name.  I imagine him as a sort of alien vampire with pale green skin, a freakishly elongated head, and fingernails like scimitars.  Oh, yes – and a cape with a high, stiff collar.