Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Crystal (04/24/25)
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TITLE: Crystal Clear | Previous Challenge Entry
By Asha John
05/01/25 -
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As far as he could remember, he was fascinated by shiny pebbles, rocks and glass pieces which glistened in the sun.
They seemed to almost always bring a ray a hope to his befuddled mind. If you asked him, he could never articulate why they had that effect on him. Mr. Wicker, the Counselor at the Relief Mission where Jeb spend his winter nights, seemed to think that, in an unexplainable way, they gave him hopeful thoughts of a better future. At least, that was what Mr. Wicker gathered from their many conversations over the last couple of years.
Jeb liked Mr. Wicker.
He was probably the only person with whom Jeb felt comfortable enough to talk about his emotions. Rather, the only person he tried to talk to.
Being speech and comprehension challenged to a moderate degree, Jeb could only string together a few words awkwardly and he repeated them often. There were a few favorite phrases he used with great exuberance when excited about something in particular.
Pulling himself up, Jeb stood and stretched. His attention wandered to the dogeared book tucked into a corner of his cart which carried most of what he owned.
A faint smile creased the corners of his mouth as he remembered Mr. Wicker’s gift last Christmas, a picture book on crystals and all varieties of gems.
“I go see Mr. Wicker” Jeb mumbled to himself and quickly walked away from the pond.
As he pushed his cart through the streets, he once again felt that overwhelming weariness that had dogged him for weeks.
It was that day of the week when Mr. Wicker got one of the preachers from the church to read from the Bible to all the homeless men who stayed in the Mission grounds at night.
Jeb wasn’t too keen to hang around there as big groups made him nervous. What’s more, whenever he happened to be there, most of what the preacher said didn’t make any sense. He loved some of the songs, the ones with the soft melodies. At times, they seemed to ease the ache in his heart but when the preacher used words like eternal life, sacrifice, and such, he was baffled.
Today was different for some reason. It did not matter if this was the Bible Day. He was so tired of life and of wandering about aimless in the streets. He had to talk to Mr. Wicker about it. Tell him how he felt.
Weary and dusty after a long trek through many streets, Jeb opened the gate, wheeled his cart in and made his way to the office at the far end of the Mission compound.
Passing by the community room, he paused for a moment to look in through the open windows, unable to contain his curiosity about what everyone else was doing.
Whaz that?
Through the curtains, Jeb saw the most extraordinary thing. There was a small case of shiny gemstones on the table beside the Bible. The preacher was holding up one of those stones in his hand while addressing the group. And it was glittering.
Mesmerized by the sight, Jeb propped his hands on the window ledge and leaned forward to catch what the preacher was talking about.
He seemed to be reading out of the Bible. His clarion voice carried over with a note of excitement that even Jeb could recognize well.
‘And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.' **
Jeb’s eyes widened in amazement as if someone had lit a lamp in his mind. The radiance of Jerusalem compared to a crystal appealed to him as nothing else could.
“I want to gho ther! I want to gho ther!”
He shouted out to no one in particular.
‘Is God ther, Mr.Wicker?” Grabbing the cart, Jeb hurried towards the Mission office, “Is God ther?
** Revelation 21:10
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