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Stories from the Verse
Con Verse Lea
Chapter 55: Takano 74
Table of Contents
Previous chapter: Hastings 246
There was no sign of Lauren when Tommy emerged from the nest, and no food cooking. Uncertain exactly what was happening, she picked up her hunting arrow and headed down to the lake, thinking Lauren might be there. With no sign of her, Tommy abruptly thought to relax and feel for her--yes, she was out there, somewhere in the woods. Maybe she was hunting; or maybe she was praying. Well, whatever it was, Tommy knew she shouldn’t depend on her for all her meals. She waded into the chilly morning water of the lake, and waited for curious fish to gather. It did not take long, and in a few minutes she had skewered one.
Looking at it, she decided it was a small one, and she could do better. She broke it into pieces, and it brought something to mind. “Jesus,” she prayed aloud, “multiply my fish.” The dropped fragments soon attracted more fish, and bigger fish, and she was able to spear a good sized something--she had no idea what kind of fish it was, other than that it was not a goldfish. It would make a decent brunch for them.
Trudging back to camp, she tossed the fish on the fire, noting that Lauren had apparently stoked it before she left. Then she went back in the nest and changed into dry clothes, bringing her wet things outside to drape over the side of the nest to dry.
Lauren was standing by the fire. Tommy walked over and stood next to her.
“I think I need a Bible,” she said.
Lauren chuckled. “I think I need a hundred Bibles,” she answered. “We might both be out of luck.”
They stood in silence for a moment, and then Lauren handed her a book. “Here,” she said. “You can have mine.”
“What will you read?”
“Oh, I’ll miss it, certainly,” she replied, “but by now I’ve got enough of it memorized that I can simply repeat what I’ve already read. It will be good for me.”
“I can’t take your Bible,” Tommy said.
“Sure, you can. God has provided you with a Bible. When He wants me to have one, He’ll arrange for it.”
“But,” Tommy said, flipping through some of the pages, “you’ve made notes in the margins of this one.”
“And may they help and bless you. Just remember that the notes in the margin are not the scripture; they’re only my thoughts on the scripture.”
“I don’t feel right about this.”
“Well, I think you need it more than I do--not as much, maybe, as all those people out there, but I only have the one Bible, and you’re my primary student, so I’m giving it to you.”
Tommy was silenced.
“Thank you,” she finally said, and after standing in silence another moment, she walked back, sat on the edge of the nest, and started reading.
A thought occurred to her. “Any particular part you think I should read?”
“All of it, eventually. But there are a couple of good places to start. Some people start with the New Testament, and some with Mark or John. I think Romans is a particularly good place to start. But if you’re going to read all of it, I’m not sure it matters where you begin. In some ways, it’s good to begin at the beginning; but you probably already know a lot of it, so pick a place, and stick to it.”
Yeah, like that was helpful. All right, then, begin at the beginning. She started reading.
There is a behind-the-writings look at the thoughts, influences, and ideas of this chapter, along with twenty other sequential chapters of this novel, in mark Joseph "young" web log entry #470: Verser Turnings. Given a moment, this link should take you directly to the section relevant to this chapter. It may contain spoilers of upcoming chapters.
As to the old stories that have long been here:
