"It's Time" | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: "It's Time" | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jessica Weitzel
02/11/09
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Julie pushed her red apple streaked hair behind her ears. Giant leaves from the rubber tree’s foliage dropped water on her face as she makes her way along the thick walking trial between the distant jungle village of Huarmaca and the Andes of Peru. Her summer trip provided many opportunities to work in orphanages, teach school, and share her faith. Just being there was a miracle in its own right. Todd Elwood, Julie’s father almost had a panic attack when he found out she was flying to Lima, for the summer.

“Wait up’, Julie shouted into the dense brush. Poor Julie, always last in line, and always caught up in her own little world. She couldn’t see anyone up ahead, and hurried her pace. Only that caused her to trip on a wire and fall down into a deep, muddy hole. Julie’s friend and missionary guide were already two miles ahead, and gave no thoughts to the whereabouts of their fellow companion.

Knocked out cold, blood pooled next to her shoulder, raising a puddle of red and brown mixture to stain her blue cotton t-shirt. Giant clicking beetles scuttle across her legs, while Manta Blanca laid eggs in the dung surrounding her.

Blinking, Julie finds herself deep in the wet, dark, muddy cavern. She can’t see anything, and her hands start to shake. Feverously, she reaches out to find something, anything that might help her get out. Digging at the walls around her, Julie’s dirt caked eyes brim with tears.

“God, help me. I can’t see. Please get me outta here. I want to live. Please let me live.”

Thunder roars as if in response, causing the ground to shake with a mighty force. The heavens break loose to down pours of rain onto Julie’s bruised and broken body. Minutes go by, and the waters increase, causing mud slides to break atop the hole, ending in Julie’s final burial. Throbbing pain shoots up her spine, and she knows she will never walk again.

A few miles away, Tarina Williams turns back to ask her friend a question, “Hey Juls, how about a cup of fresh well water? Julie? “Realizing she had totally missed her friend’s disappearance, she called out to the missionary for help. It had been raining the past two hours, and there was no telling where she could be.

Julie couldn’t feel her legs anymore. Coming in and out of consciousness, she dreamt.

“Hey there sis, how are you?”

“Mary? Is that you?”

“Yup, its me, I’ve missed you all these years, how come it took you so long to visit?”

“Visit? You died when I was five, how could I visit you? Where are we?”

“Julie, let’s just say it’s time.”

“Time for what?”

Waves of water drain into the abyss, causing Julie to awaken. Swallowing dirt and gravel with water up to her neck, she finds breathing harder than before.

“Julie? Where are you girl?” Came the call of Tarina as she backtracks the trail. “I feel so stupid right now Lord, what am I supposed to do? How could I not notice she was gone?” In the distance, clouds lower to the ground, and debris are thrown in every direction. A small tornado touches down, breaking into the path before her. Golf ball size hail pelt against the bark of old wooden trees and Tarina runs for shelter.

Not far from Tarina stood an older man, with brown khakis, a pipe in his mouth, snickering at the site before him. Leaning against an old hut like house, he rubs his hands through the overgrown hair on his head. “Blasted storm, we were almost done with the deal, and some idiot girl has to come and ruin everything, but she is getting what she deserves!” Turning, he walks to the open path and straight into a whirlwind of hail and rain and is swept up, never to be seen again.

Feeling sleepy, Julie looks up as clouds break against the bright blue skies, displaying a double rainbow dipping into a nearby lake. Gently, she turns her head to the right, gasping one last time. “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

The next day, Julie’s body was found in a mound of dirt, along the trail. Drug lords of the area used such holes to catch local police trying to investigate their cocaine shops. Julie Elwood is remembered for her gentle spirit, kind heart, and desire to share Christ within Peru.

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