BONUS POST: Sebastian’s Gift

Merry Christmas everyone! Yes, I know it’s only Christmas Eve, but I felt I should offer a nice little Christmas gift from me to all of you. So I chose this little flash fiction to get us all in the holiday mood. I hope you enjoy!

 

Sebastian’s Gift by Megan Fatheree

It is true that destiny may not exist and fate is unkind to everyone, but as I sat in my flat that snowy Christmas Eve, I dared to hope that perhaps it would be kind to me.

I knew I wasn’t the most beautiful girl in London, or the kindest or the most promising in my field, but I wished for once that he would notice me.

By “he”, I of course meant Sebastian Edwards. Most people didn’t like him, and I could see why, sometimes. Sebastian was raised in a home without much love, so he was hardpressed to show affection to anyone. His circle of friends was very small, but thankfully included myself. He spoke his mind rudely on occasion, but all the same he had the kindest heart of anyone I had ever met. There was really only one problem. Sebastian never seemed to notice me.

I’m sure that to him I was just a pest. Someone who came in between him and his hobbies. I’m sure I always showed up at the most inopportune times, and his breeding wouldn’t allow him to throw me out. If he wasn’t such a gentlemen, I’m almost sure he would have.

That Christmas Eve, I dared to try to make an impression on his wandering mind. I had bought him a gift, carefully thought out and bought with money that I had saved for months. It was exactly the kind of thing he had insisted he needed not long ago. A gift that, I was sure, would please even the most cynical of men. That gift, in question, sat on the table in front of me, wrapped meticulously and awaiting a bow.

I tied the ribbon in a foolish way, the first time, and had to untie it and try again. It took me several tries to straighten it just the way I wanted. Then, carefully, I placed it in the bag containing presents for the others who would be attending Sebastian’s small gathering. His small circle of friends.

They were my small circle, as well. I don’t think Sebastian understood that I had as much difficulty making friends as he did. I had a good personality, everyone always told me so, but I had a tendency to hide it behind timidity and silence until I really got to know someone. Most people mistook it for coolness or aloofness and didn’t bother to try to make my acquaintance. Sebastian had stayed around long enough to find the heart of gold underneath. The heart of gold that I was sure he cared nothing for.

I sighed and, checking my appearance in the mirror before I left and adding some red lipstick, I set out for Sebastian’s flat, absolutely certain that nothing would make him see me. Though, looking back, perhaps fate had different designs in store.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

#NeverForget

That’s what’s circulating today, September 11, 2015. #NeverForget.

Fourteen years ago, tragedy struck the United States of America. The hardest hit was New York City, but our entire nation felt it. It was the worst, most unexpected attack on our nation since Pearl Harbor, and it was an act of war.

Many people died that day, on September 11th, 2001. And our nation changed forever.

I remember where I was when the planes hit the Twin Towers. I was in my living room, a mere 7 years old, and I didn’t really comprehend what was happening. My mom and dad sat watching the news, in shock as they watched tons — literal TONS — of steel and glass crumble to the ground. The news replayed the fireball that used to be a plane over and over, and I remember the newscaster literally weeping as she explained what was happening.

You see, when something that catastrophic happens, everything changes. You can never go back to the way it was before. You can never regain the little piece of innocence that was lost. Even if you have to move forward, you must always remember. Remember so that next time we can do better. Remember so those who died won’t have died in vain.

Don’t lock yourself away and forget that it ever happened. We all know that history repeats itself, so we should strive our best to make sure this particular point doesn’t. An act of war should never be forgotten. An act of war should be remembered for what it was. And, as Americans, it should royally tick us off that someone dared to attack us ON OUR OWN SOIL! We’re supposed to be a free country, right? But what does it make us if we don’t stand up for ourselves and let others know they can’t mess with us and get away with it?

So, today, remember the fallen and remember those who fight for us. Remember that your freedom comes at a price to countless others. Respect them and thank them for giving up a piece of their life to keep yours safe.

#AlwaysRemember

#NeverForget

BONUS POST: Forgotten Glory

Seeing as how Resurrection Sunday is fast approaching, I thought I’d share with you a short story I recently wrote on the subject. It’s titled Forgotten Glory, and is one of the works I’m very proud of. Please enjoy it, and share it with others this Easter season.

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Forgotten Glory

copyright 2015, by Megan Fatheree

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His sentence was set, and I watched them beat him again and again, stripping the very skin from the body he had chosen. He didn’t cry out, he didn’t try to run away.

They laid a cross on his back and demanded he carry it, though I knew he didn’t deserve it. He was blameless, and always will be. Yet he took it upon his shoulders and started that long walk to the destiny he had crafted with his own hands.

Along the way he faltered, and fell under the weight of his burden. A man stepped forward, chosen from the crowd, and stepped beside my Lord. With much exertion and a cry of a mortal’s pain, this man lifted the load I would have gladly carried. If only He would say something.

The Lord rose from where he had fallen and rested the weight once again on his shoulders. Even like this, his glory poured forth and touched the ones willing to receive.

The people threw words and launched their anger. I couldn’t understand how quickly they had forgotten all the things their Lord had done. How soon they had turned from his love and overflowing compassion to follow their so-called spiritual leaders.

Others joined me on the way to Golgotha, the Place of the Skull that should not belong to the one who made all of Heaven and Earth. Demons taunted, laughed, and those who had fallen long ago looked on without interest.

With each beat of the hammer that drove metal through his precious skin, a pulse propelled all of us forward. A host of heavenly warriors ready to battle. We would take him up, away from this earthly agony. If only he would say the word.

A sign above his head proclaimed his majesty, and still the people did not recognize him. They mocked him. They asked where we were, why he would not call on us to save him. And I didn’t see their beauty then. Instead of the masterpieces he had molded them to be, I saw only the Serpent, ruler of the mortal realms.

The sky turned dark as night, and thunder clapped in the distance. Lucifer himself arrived to see his great accomplishment.

The sin of all those he loved so dearly appeared to us. Each sin a blemish on his skin. One by one, we saw the sin of the past. The present. The future. A mountain of evil so vast, we could hardly bear to look at him.

“Where is your Father now?” Lucifer taunted, and a sneer distorted his beautiful face.

My Lord lifted his head and shouted through his pain, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

I leapt forward, ready to pull him from this cross, but the others held me back. “Why does he not say the word?” I screamed.

The humans below had not understood his agony, and they offered him the worst of their wine. Thunder cracked and lightning split the clouds, a brief reprieve from the opaque blackness surrounding him.

Then, in a moment of splendor, he gave one last shout. “It is finished!” he decreed, and we watched his spirit rip from its mortal confines.

Lucifer laughed and disappeared to his Hell, and the Demons danced with joy. The fallen ones turned and walked away. But they didn’t see what we saw.

For once in forever, all of heaven cried as we watched him release his mortal being. Rocks split open and the earth shook, crying out for the Messiah they knew. Tombs opened, the dead rose again, and those who had killed him fell to their knees. The curtain in the temple split, and we could hear it tear from miles around. His glory spilled from the Holy of Holies and flooded the entire earth. There was no more separation.

I looked on as a stranger laid the form in a borrowed grave, but I knew he wasn’t there. So I turned my eyes down and watched him descend to the very pit of Hell, where the gates swung open willingly.

Without a warrior in sight, he marched in to the place he had created for the fallen ones.

Lucifer cringed and cowered in fear, but my Lord reached out a hand. No argument could have been made. No agreement could have been reached. Even Lucifer recognized the authority of the Blameless One, whose spotless life meant He never deserved to die. An undeserved death that granted Him authority over the one who thought he had caused His demise.

The heavy keys of death and the grave jingled in His hands, and for one moment in time, all of Hell was silent. Every monster and sinner knew that Jesus had won, and they hadn’t even known there was a battle.

The gates slammed as He left them, and locked in finality. No longer would the Earth be without hope.

I watched him ascend, back to the Earth, and I knew the others saw too.

Spirit met flesh in a flash of blinding light, and the human guards couldn’t stand for the weight of His glory. We moved as one to surround the tomb, and I easily pushed the stone away from the entrance.

Not one of us stood as He stepped into the light of His own Majesty. We all knew the love that He had displayed. For a second time, graves split open and those thought dead rose from their slumber. Each one saw him and each one worshipped. No one would ever understand His great love and mercy better than those who had seen it that day.

As we watched Him ascend to greet His Father, all of heaven rejoiced in that love. For we knew He had defeated the chains of bondage and won freedom for all. We knew this wouldn’t be the last time He showed his glory to the humans He loved best. We knew we would see Him forever seated by His Father in Heaven.

And that he would come back again.