Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Weary (05/03/12)
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TITLE: The Meeting | Previous Challenge Entry
By Peg Broussard
05/10/12 -
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Out of the shadows a movement got her attention --- but not soon enough. Thump!
“No -- oh no! This isn’t happening!”
Skidding to a stop, she fumbled with the seat belt, slipped her sandals on and jumped from the car. Several yards ahead lay a small black puppy. He whimpered as Sandy knelt beside him.
“Poor thing! I’m so sorry!”
Sandy raced to her car and popped the trunk open. Luggage was tossed out first, then some small boxes top heavy with books. She peered through the dusk - the puppy was trying to move.
“Blanket,” she mumbled. “What did I do with it?” Pillows, a small coffee maker, a make-up case and other assorted items lay in a mess behind her.
“Darn it! Where is that blanket?”
Finally she spotted it. Yanking the blanket from under a box of dishes, Sandy ran toward the puppy.
“C’mon fella, let’s find some help.”
Less than a mile away, Sandy was in Summerhaven. Past the bakery, the library, the park -- it was just as Uncle George had described it. Sandy pulled into the Sheriff’s parking lot. Cuddling the puppy, Sandy hurried toward the door. Just as she reached for it, the door swung open.
“There he is,” the man spoke, reaching for Sandy’s bundle. She instinctively held the puppy closer.
“He’s in need of medical attention.”
Pushing past the stranger to the reception desk, Sandy told the young deputy, “I need to get help.”
“Yes, ma’am, I can see that.”
“Could you contact a vet?”
“I can do that,” Deputy Johnson told her. “Dr. Patrick? I think we’ve found your escape artist.”
As Dr. Patrick approached her, Sandy felt as if she had been hit with a brick.
She had waited most of her life for him. She had dated, but the “man of her dreams” never became a reality. When she prayed for a companion to help her through the rough spots and be a good man, she naturally conjured him up.
A million thoughts raced through her mind, tumbling over themselves. Sandy could hear her mother telling her, “You will know the right man when you meet him. God doesn’t make mistakes.”
Now, standing in the small Sheriff’s station, Sandy almost laughed. Of all the bars....she thought. Here was a stranger that she had known all her life. It was a ridiculous situation. She was weary and felt as if she couldn’t put one foot in front of the other. She mentally shook herself and handed the puppy to him.
“He’s injured,” Sandy told him. “He came out of nowhere and I bumped him with my car. I don’t know if anything is broken.”
“Well,” Dr. Patrick told her, “I don’t know about the puppy, but I can see you could use some TLC. How about a cup of coffee or tea? My office is three doors down. Let’s take this guy and see what’s going on.”
******
“What happened then, Granny?”
Sandy smiled indulgently at her grandson. He had heard the ‘puppy story’ enough to almost tell it himself!
“Well, my sweet boy, then your grandfather and I got married and have lived happily ever after!”
“Cuz God answered your prayers, right? He sent T-pa to find you cuz you were broken, right?”
“Well, something like that. Prayer is very powerful. It makes you feel close to the Lord. He is always watching out for us, but he gives us choices. It is up to us to figure out what the right choices are. Ok, so how does the story really end?”
Ian smiled brightly, happy he remembered.
“Come near to God and....”
“He will come near to you...” Sandy whispered softy.
Author’s Note: Quotation “Come near to God and He will come near to you.” Taken from the Bible New International Readers’ Version.
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