Paths 1 & 2

 Hi!

Here are 2 short stories I wrote for 2 picture prompts at writing camp. Neither one is very long which is why you get two of them. I hope you enjoy.

I'm staying busy with writing and getting ready for camp and life, and trying to get as many extra things done as I can before camp starts and before I head to work for 2-3 weeks at the County Clerk's Office.

 

 Path 1

    The old man trudged up the winding brick road pausing at the light-post but whether to catch his breath or to wait for someone, I couldn’t tell. His coat was brown and matched the rest of his surroundings that chilly autumn day. Except for the overcast sky, the only things not drab and bare were the turquoise flower pots lining the side of the building. I wondered who the old man was and where he was going but I wasn’t fluent in the language to ask. I loved these quite brick streets that almost doubled back on themselves only on a higher level. So much more interesting than the paved black streets back home where one couldn’t pause on the stone wall and look down on the brick street you had just been on.
    Oh, I never could describe this scene. I’ve tried. My friends just send me polite messages back with things like “neat” or “how nice” but I know they can’t see it. They can’t feel the chill in the air or smell the bread and coffee from the little shop just behind me. They can’t watch the old man begin his slow walk up the road. The can’t imagine the old light posts with actual flames that get lit when darkness comes and that burn all night casting their flickering light over the uneven road. They can’t understand why my heart is here even if I don’t know the language yet. They didn’t hear the still small voice that whispered, “This is the way, walk ye in it,” that first morning I walked up this very road.
    I want to share Christ here. To love the young and the old, to laugh with the people, to cry when they do, and to live a live so that others may see my Savior.
    The old man has turned the corner and I can no longer see him. Perhaps if I get my bike which is leaning over there on the railing, I can follow the old man and at least offer him a smile.

Path 2

    Lisa stopped and set down her suitcase in the middle of the road. Early morning sunlight streamed through the trees on her right creating lines and making the green leaves of the trees shine. Even the moss growing on the ground seemed to be a deeper, richer green than she’d ever seen before.
    She drew a deep breath. Everything was fresh and clean after last night’s shower. She could smell the damp earth, the decaying leaves, and somewhere, hidden in the woods, were flowers, for she could smell their sweet perfume.
    “A fresh morning and a fresh start.”
    She glanced back the way she had come and shook her head. She was thankful to be leaving that place. Mr. and Mrs. Steel had given her a roof over her head for four years, but that was about it. Lisa had lost count of the number of times someone in the family had told her she wasn’t worth the food she ate, or reminded her that she was a charity case even though she worked from sunup to sundown.
    With a shudder at the memories of slaps, yells, little food, and worse, Lisa was ready for something different. Something better.
    Last night had been the last straw. She had packed her things into the battered old suitcase that had once belonged to her mother and stolen out of the house when everyone was still sleeping. Afraid to walk the path though the woods at night for fear she wouldn’t find the road, she had slept in the barn. When the first light of dawn had come, she slipped away and through the woods until she came to the road. She didn’t have much in her suitcase, but a few worn changes of clothes and the Bible a lady at the little brown church down in the village had given her last summer when she had ventured to see what all the talk was about. Though Lisa didn’t understand everything she read in her little Book, her heart hungered for more.
    “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” Softly she repeated the verse which had led to to making the decision to leave the only home she knew and venture forth into the unknown.
    “Abraham went forth,” she whispered, “and he didn’t know where he was going. But the Lord led him.”
    Dropping to her knees there in the road, with the sunlight streaming around her, Lisa prayed. “Oh, Lord, please lead me in the way You want me to go just like You led Abraham.”

 

Which path story did you like better?

 Do you like pictures of paths?

Next month I'll have 2 more paths for you.