West Side Rescuer | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: West Side Rescuer | Previous Challenge Entry
By Katherine Boulanger
06/02/09
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES

Tim cringed as the brutal-looking ruffians closed in around him. “Hey!” a girl’s voice, not sounding much older than thirteen, barked. “Back off! Leave him alone!”
“Stay outta this, girly!” the leader growled.
“You’re not exactly being discreet, you know! Plus, you’re on my turf! Don’t you remember, Joe, how I beat you up last week? I’ll do it again if you don’t beat it!” she responded, not losing an inch of her bravado.
Joe groaned, but left with the rest of his gang. An instant later, Tim felt the girl helping him to his feet. “You alright?” she asked.
“Yeah, I think so.” he replied, stunned, taking in her appearance. She wore ripped jeans and a worn-out jacket. Her face was streaked with dirt, a clear sign that she lived in these streets. She wasn’t very big. He was surprised Joe had listened to her. “Who are you?” he asked.
“Robyn Brooks. Yep, that’s me.” she answered, noticing the look on his face. “Oh, don’t look at me that way. I’d go to church like you, if they’d let me in.”
Tim remembered he’d been coming home from church when the Joe’s gang jumped him. “They won’t let you?”
“No, they say I’m a bad influence on the ‘good kids.’ Go figure. I don’t do anything wrong, except that I don’t have a home, and, you know, that I don’t dress what they call proper.” She wondered if she’d said too much, but felt too bitter to care.
“You’re serious?”
Robyn gave him a look that said, “Are you mocking me?”
“Whoa, I had no idea…” a wave of heat washed over him as he realized before today he would’ve thought the very same. How shallow! Surely God would want His church open to all Christians, not just those wealthy enough to dress suave! Sure, there were people who did it on purpose, just to be rude, but Tim hadn’t thought that perhaps some of them couldn’t help it. Had he been naïve to this the whole time?
“You know you just said all that out loud?” Robyn told him.
Tim’s face blushed even redder.
“Don’t worry. I won’t beat you up or anything. I agree with what you said though.”
“Well, um…” Tim felt really bad about it all, how the church leaders misjudged her and everything. The way she said it, it’d be a dream come true for her to be allowed back in. He collected himself and asked her, “Would you like to come home with me? My mom can let you sleep in the guest room, and probably also let you use some clothes that’d be considered decent.”
“You sure she’d let me in?” Robyn wasn’t sure she believed him.
“Yeah, if she knew what you did for me.” Tim replied.
“You mean keeping Joe Davis and his gang from jumping you?”
“Yeah.”
“Well,” Robyn though about it for a moment, “sure, okay.”

“So, you’re the one who saved those rascals from hurting my little Timmy, huh?” his mother said, teasingly.
“Aw, Mom.” he blushed.
“Yep, that’s me.” Robyn answered.
“From the looks of it, I’ll bet you could’ve taken on all of them.”
“I don’t know about all of them…” she responded, blushing a little.
“Uh, Mom…” Tim started. “I was wondering if maybe Robyn could stay in the guest room, and uh, maybe borrow something of yours to wear for church, since they won’t let her in with what she’s wearing.” (Tim’s mom wasn’t all that big herself, either.)
“Well, sure! I was wondering when I’d get to show off my cooking!”
Tim groaned teasingly. Robyn laughed. How long it’d been since somebody actually thought of her as an honest person’s guest, or even fit to be called something other than a hood! And now, someone actually saw the truth! “Boy!” she said aloud, laughingly. “If Joe Davis and his guys knew what a sweet kid I can be, they’d never listen to me again!”
But at least God had granted her prayer: to be allowed back into His church and looked on as one of His people. And as Tim’s mom went into the kitchen, she followed, calling out, “Anything I can help you with?”

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.