SUNRISE
by Deborah R de Souza She turned and looked at the house. The house on top of the hill stared back at her. For the past fifteen years, this had been her home. She knew how every lane, road, and path curved and bent. She knew exactly where each one would take her, and what she would see as she travelled along each one of them. The fields that bordered these roads were always filled with flowers of every colour one could imagine.
She had gathered them, put them in vases, and placed them on the dining table so that her home would look nice. She even collected them and placed them at her altar. Her mother always said it was important to show the Lord how much you loved Him by doing little things like this. And despite all that, she never thought it important to know the names of these flowers. How sad. Now as they waved their good-byes to her, she felt a hand clutch her heart. Yellow, purple, pink, even blue. They all had names. They knew her but she never thought to know them. And now she would never know… The small village with its three hundred and twenty-seven, well, twentyeight people now that little Toby had made his entrance into the world had been her world since she was five. It had been a huge place when she had first seen it. Everything was huge, the grocery store, the shops with their porcelain coloured mannequins and out-dated fashion, the Library with its very limited editions, and the Church with at that time round-faced and belly, Father Albert Jenkins. He now looked tired and worn out, sharing the same stories, and giving the same homilies. Even a glance at the opposite sex would render a girl pregnant! She smiled at the memory. She looked to her right of the scene painted before her at another house. Sarah’s house. Sweet Sarah. Her first and best friend.
(Property of Deborah R de Souza
[email protected] . Not to be copied or distributed in any form without permission ©) Permission given to DramaShare 2010 for publishing, and to DramaShare members for use.
Sarah, however, went along and did what was expected of her. Sarah was eighteen when she became the wife of Jim, and now at twenty, Sarah was mother. She did not want this for herself although Zack wanted to marry her. Zach was educated. He studied in the bigger cities and could provide very well for a wife. Zack was a banker, and he worked in the largest and only bank in the village. He was kind, sweet, generous, and he loved her. But she did not love him, at least not in the way a wife should love her husband. And Zack never understood. He believed that they could work it out and he would make her happy. She could not and would not settle for something she knew would never give her fulfillment. There is something beyond the horizon. Something calling to her, and something she kept at bay until she could no longer stand it. The voice became louder, it consumed her and it took all of her might to control the impulse to throw away everything and just run to meet that voice. To run into a pair of warm, and loving open arms, knowing she would never, ever want of anything anymore. Knowing that she would never need to work things out but work towards goals and ambitions that would help make a difference in the lives of others. She remembered the first time she brought this up to her parents. She would always see the shock in the eyes of her mother and the joy in those of her father. Her mother had her own ambitions for her, her father had no expectations except that she was true to herself. She knew when she decided to leave her family, her friends, Zack and Sarah, that there was a wonder and a delight that would engulf her, and protect her. She shook herself back to the present. The rising dust ahead meant her ride was coming, and she could hear the rumblings of an old car approaching. She looked up at the man beside her. He looked down with tears in his eyes and whispered: “Your mother loves you very much and she will come around. But I am very proud of you.”
(Property of Deborah R de Souza
[email protected] . Not to be copied or distributed in any form without permission ©) Permission given to DramaShare 2010 for publishing, and to DramaShare members for use.
She hugged him, tears flowing down her own face. If ever she experienced the love of God it was through this man who held her with tenderness, giving her everything he could and asking for nothing in return. The two ladies who stepped out of the car looked radiant. No one would ever tell that they were approaching their autumn years. Bright eyes, pink cheeks and an energy that every teenager would envy. “We’re delighted to have you with us. And we know you’ll be very good for our community. The children are very excited to meet you.” “How long is the journey?” she asked. “Two days,” they replied. She looked up at her father for one last time. “You’ve always known, haven’t you?” He said. “Yes,” she said. Then with one last hug and one last look at her home, she slipped into the seat of the car her heart beating fast, her palms sweaty with excitement. She was going to do what she was born to do, and be with the Man who had captured her heart since she was five. The Lord Jesus Christ had one more warrior on His side, a beautiful, giving, loving and self-sacrificing young woman at the dawn of her Sunrise.
(Property of Deborah R de Souza
[email protected] . Not to be copied or distributed in any form without permission ©) Permission given to DramaShare 2010 for publishing, and to DramaShare members for use.
