just a step away | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: just a step away | Previous Challenge Entry
By Aziel Karthak
04/11/05
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Maron looked aimlessly ahead. A stream of sweat broke on his forehead and fluently journeyed his sun-beaten face, before settling on his lips. The contact briefly stung but the pain lost itself in the tempest that raged inside him. For two full days Maron had been on the run from the law. He had woken up early morning to two policemen banging on his front door and somehow had escaped. But that was fleeting respite. He would very soon go to jail. It was something entirely different that was killing him inside though.

Maron and Jonah were childhood friends. They had many things in common but the one factor that pulled them to each other was their refulgent minds. It was ironic that Maron and Jonah never competed with each other; rather one saw the other as an extension of himself. They had been through everything together, from bearing Maron’s grandpa’s stories on God, which both regarded as baseless theories, to creating mini-bombs in the lab. They had started off with school mischief, and had realized the endless possibilities their minds could open up for them. Once, they had compromised morals for a quick, cheap thrill and had hitherto been married to the latter. The friends were big-time con artists now, robbing banks with embarrassing ease, at times simply for pleasure.

It had been seventy two hours ago since their biggest day. It was a successful swindle. The money lay with Jonah and, as always, it was going to be split down the middle. However, this time, the police had picked up a scent. Jonah had found out and quietly slipped out of town with the spoils, without a hint or warning. There was too much at stake to let friendship come in the way.

Maron was a picture of distress. His skin, bronzed and enervated, took another pounding from the afternoon sun. His eyes drooped with sleep; his feet bled with lacerations. He could still flee if he chose to. He would be too much for the handicapped local police. But betrayal was proving a difficult fall to get up from. Both hands in face, atop a plateau-like rock that overlooked a large expanse of water and a massive mountain, Maron wept tears of agony.

The mountain reflected perfectly in the still waters of the lake. Parts of the water body shimmered golden with the evening rays. Maron was gazing at the stunning view for some time now. Then he saw a falcon with a small bird hooked in its mighty talons fly close by. For no apparent reason the falcon lost control of its prey, whose dead weight accelerated the fall down, before hitting the lake in a small explosion of white spray. The reflection of the mountain on the water fragmented. The once perfect picture was scattered in ripples of confusion. The entire scene reminded Maron of his friendship with Jonah: calm, beautiful but so human, so temporary.

Maron had a dream that night. He was sitting at the same rock, looking at the top of the mountain at a radiant cross. Everything around the cross seemed to glow with its brilliance; still there was no discomfort in looking straight at its brightness. Maron woke up from the dream. His mind flashed back to his grandpa’s stories of Calvary, its glory and its redemptive powers. He looked at the mountain silhouetted against the moonlit sky. There was no cross. No light. But it had not changed from the previous evening. Unlike the waters, it was still strong and immovable. He fleetingly felt God.

Now the stories of Jesus Christ and the crucifixion flowed like grain on Maron’s mind. ‘Baseless theories’ turned concrete fact. The once-dormant, inert script written two millennia ago calmed the storm inside him. Here was a Man who came down from Heaven to salvage someone like him. At what price? Insults? Abuse? And he was God. Now that is friendship. Maron thought about Jonah. He wished his friend was there to feel what he was feeling. He wished Jonah was there to experience a God who came down from Heaven and stationed Himself close to people, just one simple step away from each one of us.

Maron vaguely heard footsteps. It was the police. There were more than two today. One pointed a gun at Maron’s head, one took out handcuffs. It bothered Maron little. He was already on his knees, taking the step to salvation and eternal friendship with his Lord.

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