Psalm 23

Inspired by: "California Blue" by Roy Orbison. With a little help from Lisa too.


The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

A gentle breeze flowed down the deserted valley, catching the very tops of what few trees that were still left standing. They cried out in a plaintive wail, as if the breeze was simply one more degradation placed onto its weary body.

One of the trees suddenly falls over, its trunk battered, brutalized and weakened by the ravages of time. It kisses the ground and explodes on impact, showering the immediate area with rotten wood, decayed bark and insect eaten leaves.

The forest, having one of its parts brutally ripped away, erupts in a frenzied anxiety attack. Squirrels and chipmunks, birds and snakes, four legged animals of all sizes, flee to the surrounding area for safety and reassurance.

In a matter of moments, the anxiety attack is over and the forest returns to its current decaying and deteriorating state of being. But not for long, as a quiet rumbling soon reappears. The forest is alive again with nervous energy, when suddenly the leftover rotted tree trunk explodes, and covers the immediate area with a fetid mass of rotted wood.

Poking his head out, a solitary man dressed in woodsman clothes crawls out of the rotted tree trunk and collapses face first on the ground.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me besides the still waters.

Rolling over, he lays there for a few minutes, as a gentle mist falls and coats his tired body with a cool sheen of refreshment. Closing his eyes, he quickly imagines himself back home, sitting on the front porch watching a late afternoon rainstorm.

A sharp poke in his arm breaks the revelry and he sits up. Looking around wildly, he scrambles to his feet and takes off running. Weaving through the trees, he bursts through the brush and finds himself in a lush green field dotted with wildflowers. Running through it, he feels incredibly alive, yet just a little bit scared. He suddenly trips on a stray rock and lands face first in a slow moving stream.

He restoreth my soul; he leadeath me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Parched, the man drinks his fill and washes his face and head with the cool running water. Collapsing on the bank, he again imagines himself on the front porch watching a late afternoon rainstorm, only this time, his wife and two daughters are with him. Smiling, he reaches to pull his wife closer when he feels another sharp poke in his arm. Looking down, he sees a few drops of blood appear. Looking up, the last thing he sees before waking up is his wife's disapproving smile.

Sitting up, he finds himself physically refreshed but spiritually drained. Sighing, he scans his surroundings to see if he could catch a glimpse of a trail or path. After a minute or so, he spots a rainbow some four hundred yards off to his left. Standing, he starts off towards the rainbow.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

About halfway to his destination, he stumbles upon a fork. Both seen to go towards the rainbow. Shrugging, he chooses the path to his left and continues his journey. About ten minutes in, he sees that he's no closer to the rainbow but the further along he goes, the more he feels a tightening in his chest. Finally the pain becomes so unbearable that he stops where he's at and drops to the ground.

Breathing heavily, he goes to open his shirt but finds that his hands have turned to a deep shade of blue. Rising to his knees, he begins to wail as the pain in his chest spreads throughout his body.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

The heavens suddenly open and in a mere matter of minutes, he is completely drenched in a foul scented rain from head to toe. Wiping the rain from his eyes, he sees a small ray of light moving towards him.

As it draws closer, he experiences a heavy feeling of sadness, while at the same time the pain in his body starts to dissipate. It finally stops about three feet from him and begins to change into something more human.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

He blinks a couple of times to clear his eyes and when he finally focuses, he sees that his wife and daughter are now standing in front of him. He claps his hands in joy and reaches out to touch one of them, but his family shakes their heads and gives him a sad disapproving smile. He tries to get to his feet, but his eyes widen when he realizes that his breathing has become all but non-existent.

Falling to his side, the last thing he sees is his daughter reaching out to touch his cheek. Just before he goes, a solitary tear runs down his cheek and touches his daughter's hand.
______________________

"You want to do the paperwork on this one?" asks Larry while he takes out the I.V. lines.
Ted studied the man's face for a couple of minutes, before grabbing the clipboard. "Do you ever wonder whether they feel anything?"
"I used to. Why?"
"I could have sworn that I saw a tear run down his face at the end."
"Interesting. Say, if you're done with the paperwork, you should get started on disinfecting and cleaning the chamber."
"And you'll take care of the body?"
Larry pulled out the black body bag and said, "You bet."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
(c) 2009 by GBMJr. All rights reserved

The City

Inspired by: a sight for sore eyes

It was another hot and sticky day in the city. Bicycles were barely moving as people didn't have enough energy to battle with the melting rubber that the streets were creating. It was so hot that the birds took to hitching rides on the shoulders of unsuspecting pedestrians in order to get to where they needed to be.

Driving? Traffic was at a standstill, as engines were frying out, leaving bloating corpses to rot on the thoroughfares. Fire hydrants were bone dry as the city cut off the supply to save water during the current heat wave. In essence, no one was going nowhere no how.

Such was the afternoon when Ted decided to sit out under the tree and catch a few z's. Opening the door, he was met with such a furnace blast that he immediately dropped to his knees in pain.
"Shit," was the only word that Ted was able to utter before passing out face first on the hard ground.
Ted spent the next fifteen minutes decomposing as his body got acclimated to the Mojave desert-like temperatures. When it finally did, it took almost all of his energy to simply peel himself up and give himself enough of a push to roll over to the scrawny tree near the sidewalk.

Hitting the tree with a thud, Ted stayed where he was and waited for the pain to subside. Once it did, he pulled himself upright and assumed his customary position in his stadium seat. Taking out his crumpled pack of cigarettes, he managed to fin an unbroken one to smoke. Lighting it, he took a deep drag, blew out a couple smoke rings, and leaned back to enjoy what little coolness the scrawny tree provided.

About a half hour later, after observing nothing of consequence walk past him, Ted felt the tree suddenly shift positions.
"Good tree. What direction?"
The tree bent over to the right and Ted readjusted his position accordingly. The one thing Ted discovered about his tree early on was that it had an uncanny ability to sniff out delectable human scenery. The first few times it happened, Ted brushed it off as simply the imaginings of a tired mind. But when it started happening on a more frequent basis, he began to pay closer attention to the outer movements of the tree. Within a couple of weeks, he was able to develop a symbiotic relationship with the tree.

Ted had about a five minute wait before the tree said something. Checking to his right, he still didn't see anyone of note, except for a small blue jay which landed on the top of his foot. Puzzled, Ted was about to shoo the bird away when three more of its brethren came to a rest on top of him.

A cardinal was on his head, while an oriole and a robin found a home on his shoulders. To the casual passer by, it looked like Ted was just another local eccentric plying his wares. To Ted, it was much more serious These birds wee the eyes and ears of the scrawny little tree. When they came a knockin', Ted paid close attention to their little nuances, because those little nuances helped determine how he should act.

With today's squared landing, Ted knew that he needed to be on his best behaviour. The blue jay told him that he had at best, three minutes to get ready. Not really knowing what to do, but knowing he had to do something, he reached behind his stadium chair and pulled out a small eight and a half by eleven inch sign. Dusting it off, he held it chest high. Whistling once, the cardinal pushed his mirror shades down for him and resumed his previous position.

Just in time too, for the object of this latest flare up came strolling into view. Ted caught sight of her and almost lost it right then and there.

She definitely was a child of God, for God must have been in a fantastic mood that day. She was a little tall, about five foot nine, but slender. She was wearing one of those off the shoulder shirts that showed off her soft chestnut brown skin and tastefully hinted at the items contained underneath. She was wearing cut-offs that started at just below the belly button and stopped at mid thigh. Her purple tinted hair was gently bouncing against her backside as she casually strolled down the sidewalk. Her lips were adorned with a purple tinted black lipstick that meshed perfectly with her diamond nose stud. Completing the package was a pair of medium sized silver hoops that meshed with the Texas mirrors she was wearing.

When she got to within earshot, Ted whistled to get her attention. She stopped about two feet past him, raised her sunglasses and gave him a questioning look. He simply smiled and pointed at his sign. She moved in for a closer look and read the sign out loud.

"Want an inexpensive, yet natural gift, that will lift the spirit, refresh the soul, and simply rock your world?"

Frowning, she dropped her glasses and started to walk away. Ted did his best wolf whistle and when she turned around, she saw that he was holding a yellow tulip. She also saw that the sign was flipped over, which said, I'm not jacking you
"Seriously?"
Ted handed her the tulip and flipped over another sign.
Seriously
Ted saw the young lady take a deep inhale of the flower and smile. Raising his eyebrow, the four birds took off in all points of the compass.

Within three minutes, all four birds came zooming back, each carrying massive quantities of flowers and such in their claws and beaks. With military precision coupled with a gentle touch, two of the birds created an intricate weave of wild flowers, leaves and twigs in her hair, while the other two created a chain of interlocking daisies, tulips, hyacinths, tiger lilies and dandelions, which they then carefully placed around her neck.

When they finished, they resumed their respective perches on Ted. Ted whistled again and held up a large hand mirror, which she took. Looking his way and that, she broke out in a big grin, before letting it fade away as Ted's gift began to lift her spirits and freshen her soul.

After a while, she wiped away a couple of tears from her eyes and got ready to leave. Before doing so, she leaned in and stroked Ted's face while waiting for the cardinal to step down from his current perch, then gave him a kiss on the top of his head.

Cupping his chin, she lifted his mirrors and got the shock of her life. Quickly composing herself, she said very quietly, "Thank you, it was just what the doctor ordered."
Ted wiped away a few tears from her eyes with a tissue and carefully put his mirrors back on. Taking her hand, he gently caressed it and said, "Usted es la mayoria de la recepcion."

The young lady lingered for another minute, gave him a gentle kiss on the lips and quietly walked away.
~~~~~~~
(c)2009 by GBMJr. All rights reserved