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Previous Challenge Entry
Topic: Whispers (01/26/04)
TITLE: Answering the Whispers
By David Mullins
01/30/04
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"What was that?" Sammy rolled over in his bed. It was the whispers again, same as the night before, and the ones before that. He wrestled with the thought of tip-toeing across the hall again, to wake his folks, to get some comfort. The whispers didn't scare him so much. They seemed to be kind. Gentle. Like they were coming from his mom or dad, but they had decidedly ruled that out a week ago, when he had first awoken them under similar circumstances. After the first few nights of this, his parents had wearily asked him to stop waking them up in the middle of the night. They didn't believe him, he was sure of it. He though he heard them whispering about special doctors they might take him to, to cure his "en-som-ne-ya," whatever that was. So he just stopped saying anything. He rolled onto his stomach, and tried to fall back asleep.

It was only an hour later when the whispers came back. He though this time about yelling back. Why wouldn't they let him sleep? But what would he say? Please go away, crazy whispers? Yeah, right. His parents already thought he needed a doctor. What if they heard him? No, there had to be something he could do. Then a vague memory fluttered into his imagination. A Sunday school flannel-board story, with a little boy named Sam, just like him. He heard whispers at night too! It was way, way back when he had heard that story. Almost a whole grade ago!! But he could still hear Miss Keenan's voice, as clear as if she was there. "Then Eli realized it was the LORD who was calling the boy. So he said to Samuel, "Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, `Yes, LORD, your servant is listening.' " So Samuel went back to bed." Sammy flopped onto his back. Well, it couldn't hurt! And something deep inside of him cried out to give it a try. The whispers began again. In a timid little voice, he whispered back, "Yes, Lord, your servant is listening."

For the first time, in the midst of the whispers, Sammy clearly heard his own name...