AN AFRICAN DAWN. | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: AN AFRICAN DAWN. | Previous Challenge Entry
By Kenneth Heath
03/12/08
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES

AN AFRICAN DAWN

Peter smiled as he stepped out onto the veranda. It was 4:45 am and according to him the best part of the day. Seating himself in his favorite chair he turned to watch the sunrise. On cue, inching over the dark horizon appeared the first slivers of light. Boldly, they advanced lighting up the crisp new day with their fiery hues. The water- feature gurgled gently as nature awoke from its sleepy slumber. Mingling with the heady aroma of his Mocha Java coffee, the fresh perfumes of the Jasmine creeper and the Frangipani tree blossoms, infused an opium of well-being within his soul. As the night insects noisily withdrew to their dark shady spots within the shrubbery, the flowers stretched forth their petals in a timeless ”pilates” movement, exposing a kaleidoscope of vivid colour as they greeted the dawn.

Excitedly the wild birds flew in to feast on the crushed corn that he had put out for them. The bees’ went buzzing about their business and the dragonfly’s darted about the shimmering swimming pool. The rich earthy smell of freshly cut grass added to the heavenly bouquet as each blade stretched towards the sunlight evicting the heavy morning dew from its comfortable perch. In the valley, the mist hung heavy, clinging to the African bush until it was vaporized by the hot sun revealing, the battle-scarred bush where man toiled against nature in the never-ending cycle of agriculture.

It’s tough living in paradise, he mused, as the chiming of the grandfather clock rudely interrupted the moment, “Time waits for no man”, he thought as he yawned and stretched. Peter was fascinated by time, God had created it and man through the years had developed intricate mechanisms to measure it. He collected watches and clocks, the precise movement of the mechanisms and the beauty of their containers fascinated him. Of all the watches in his collection, the Seiko automatic was his favorite, being motion powered, it never required winding or batteries. Keeping perfect time it had been his faithful companion through the years.

Peter was known as a procrastinator and no amount of “perfect timing” could ever replace the amount of unfinished business that he had left undone. Years ago, well-meaning friends had given him “ A ROUND TUIT DISC” to hang from the rearview mirror of his motor vehicle. With a humorous set of instructions, the disc encouraged the owner to get around to doing things instead of procrastinating. Yes today was the day, and it was time to leave. He put on his Buffalo skin hat and strode purposefully towards his car. Breathing in the crisp morning air he looked back one last time to see the relentless sun scattering the last sleepy shadows as it flowed across the landscape revealing a plethora of magnificent colours and sights.

Rounding a bend in the road he never had a chance to avoid the oncoming car as it overtook a slower vehicle at speed and hit his vehicle head-on. Regaining consciousness a while later Peter became aware of the pain and the smell of oil, petrol and dust as they intermingled. Trapped in the wreckage, his faithful heart was pumping his life’s blood out of the gaping wound in his leg. There was no movement from the other vehicles as they too were nothing more than piles of scrap metal, victims of human error with their human occupants reduced to statistics and obituaries in the local newspaper.

In his last moments of life, all that he could see were his “round tuit” disc and his broken Seiko watch. As the fiery sun reached its zenith, time ran out and Peter went to be with his Lord and Savior, sadly leaving much unfinished business behind.

Dear believer, as you rise early and embrace “the Son” and inhale the goodness of this wonderful life He has given you, do not be slack in sharing this precious gift called salvation with others because, as Jesus said in John 9:4, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” The sands of time are running out for this world system as we fast approach “midnight”. Jesus’ instructions expressly apply to you and I in these last days and my question to you is; will you get “ around to it”, before it is too late? Tick..tock!

PREVIOUS ENTRY | NEXT ENTRY
SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY FOR THIS WEEK'S CHALLENGE

The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.

If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE

JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.