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| Homecoming |
"Don't worry, Chris," I'll run you home. He glanced across the parking lot and looked at the parsonage. The daylight was already fading. He could see lights on in the windows of his home. He thought the lights looked oddly blue but chalked it up to the diminishing sunlight and the fact that electricity was still relatively new. The church had it first, and then the house. The deacons had decided that it needed to be done and rallied the congregation. It had been a pleasant surprise, as most elders of the church didn't have electricity in their own homes.
The pastor didn't bother to tell his wife Alyona "Ally" what he was doing because she was used to the ministry's unpredictable nature. Instead, he turned his attention to comforting Chris. "Say, Chris, I forgot to turn the lights off. Do you want me to show you how and where to turn them off?"
"Yes sir!" exclaimed Chris, suddenly happy. Like other younger people, he thought such duties were a big deal. The two went to the back of the sanctuary where the light switches were located. They weren't the kind that flipped. You had to rotate them clockwise until they clicked.
They accomplished their task, and the church was powered down, at least until the next day when the pastor would go into his office. Many people believed and outright stated that Mike only worked three hours a week. They failed to realize that it took him hours of preparation to be able to speak, teach, and preach for those three hours.
Their task accomplished, the pair got into Mike's old truck, and the pastor took Chris home. He pulled into the Tompkins driveway. Chris thanked him for the ride and got out. No one came out to greet Mike or see what was happening. No one came to the door at all. The pastor expected as much from that particular family.
Mike returned to Haven Hill, the location of the Haven Church and the pastor's residence. He looked, but the lights in his windows no longer seemed to be tinted blue. He didn't give it much thought. He went inside, where Ally had dinner prepared. They ate together, and they went to bed a little later than usual. Mike read a chapter of the Bible and then drifted off to sleep.
The next morning Mike got up early (his normal habit) and prepared to do some devotional reading. First, he stepped out onto the porch with a cup of coffee. He glanced at what he knew was a mid-length winding road - not much more than a pathway - that ran past the church and ended at Haven Cemetery. The blue color was back.
See Part 3 here.
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