Literature Discussion - Lit-Talk.com

The Tishbite
The Untold Story of Elijah

By Kurt W. Schuller (USA)

Chapter 21

This manuscript (currently titled "the tishbite" but I am considering "A Man of God") is unfinished This Is a fictional account of the life of Elijah. It is raw and powerful reflecting the actual state of life at the time.It has a strong sexual theme which is necessary because of the story it tells. It is both inspirational as well as entertaining. It was written to entertain the reader first.` Your feedback is welcome I hope you enjoy.

Part one: A Man Of God

Chapter Twenty-one

- I think. I think I heard one of them say that. They said that he would come and get me.”
A chill went through Joseph. Yeshiva could have been one of the three dead men he had seen hanging from the forts wall.
Joseph stood up straight. “  Did you say Sarah?” he exclaimed. “ I have been looking all over for you. I am a priest too. Yeshiva couldn’t come so he sent me instead. I’m sorry I took so long.”
Sarah’s expression was a mixture of relief and confusion.
“But I thought you didn’t know who Yeshiva was?”
Joseph smiled nervously. “Oh that, well. We priests have special names for one another. I knew your Yeshiva as- as . . . Obadiah. But there is no mistaking you. He told me to get here right away and rescue the beautiful and fair Sarah. Will you do me the honor of accompanying me, Sarah?”
The girl looked at him and for the first time since he had met her he saw a smile slowly broaden across her face. She was so relieved that she could not speak; she could only nod her head yes excitedly before hugging him tight against her face.
This scene had caught the attention of the other children in the trash-strewn street.  They were used to the occasional coin or crumb of food being tossed to them. But they had never seen anyone stop and be so concerned for the likes of one of them. They were drawn toward Joseph as he stood in the street hugging Sarah.
Soon they surrounded him, reaching up to pull at his robes.
“Help me, too.” He heard again and again from the growing throng of desperate children.
Joseph took Sarah by the hand and began to walk away from them but they continued to follow and plead for help.
“Why won’t you help us?” an older boy with a bandage around his head yelled.
His heart was sinking. He could not help them all. He shouldn’t have even helped Sarah. Not knowing what else to do, he picked her up in his arms and started to run.
So did the children, only now they were no longer pleading for help; now there was anger and rage in their eyes.
Joseph picked up his pace, straining breathlessly under the extra weight he carried in his arms. Now a mob, he feared what these desperate children would do to him and Sarah if they caught them. Ahead he saw his destination and veered toward it.
Sarah saw the direction that he was heading.
”NO!” she cried in fear. “Not there! No one goes in there.” She began to struggle to get away from him. “We will die.”
Joseph struggled to keep her from wriggling out of his arms. Just about out of breath and nearing exhaustion he lunged through the gates guarding the buildings entrance. The two of them collapsed onto the weed-filled courtyard and Joseph lost his hold on her.  She screamed and tried to get to her feet, wanting only to get out of there. Joseph lunged from his prone position and grabbed her wrist.
“They’ll hurt you, Sarah. You can’t go out there.”
He pulled her back close to him. “Trust me. There is nothing to fear here.”
Sarah stopped fighting him. Looking back, she saw the mob of children standing outside the entrance. They stood for a time,  afraid to come in and seemingly confused about what to do next. Then they slowly began to disperse, going back to their prospective street corners and hopeless lives.
“I don’t understand.” Said Sarah in amazement. “Why aren’t we dead?”
Joseph could not answer as he struggled to catch his breath.
“Everyone believed this place cursed. My father would never even let us walk past it.”
“Do you even- know what this- place is Sarah?” Joseph panted pulling himself up onto his feet.
“It’s evil.”
“I guess I understand how such a story came to be. It was the site of some rather fantastic events. Have you heard of Jeroboam?”
“Is he a King from long ago?”
 Joseph smiled. “Very good Sarah. He was the first after Solomon. He built this place. It used to be a temple to God.”
“How did a temple come to be known as a place of evil?”
“Jeroboam placed a golden calf on the altar to represent God. This angered the Lord and he sent “A man of God” to challenge him. He came here when the king was praying and accused him of idolatry. Then, as the King turned to face his accuser, the altar split open and thick black smoke began to pour out of it. The Golden calf was swallowed up and began to burn. In an instant the precious gold had been rendered to nothing but worthless ash. The smoke and fire disappeared and all was silent. Jeroboam sifted through the ashes, looking for any trace of the gold, but there was nothing. The king trembled with rage and he reached out from the altar to grab the prophet, wanting only to wrap his ash-covered fingers around his throat.  But when his hand grabbed the prophet’s coat it withered and shriveled up, and the king was frozen to the altar unable to move.  The two of them stood there, locked together. The kings men tried to help him but they too were frozen where they stood. The king, filled with terror, forgot his anger and pleaded for mercy. He begged the prophet to intercede with the Lord and heal him. The prophet did and the kings hand was restored.”
Joseph looked down at Sarah, her mouth and eyes opened wide in amazement.
Joseph laughed and tweaked her nose. “ There’s a lot more to that story, but we’ll save it for another day. You can imagine, after a scene like that, why this place became abandoned and considered cursed.  C’mon, let’s go inside.”
Joseph took her hand and began to walk up the steps toward the door but was stopped by Sarah’s frozen stance.
“Do we have to go in there?” she said voice trembling.
Joseph leaned close to her. “ Sarah” he smiled. “You trust me, don’t you?”
Sarah took a long and deep breath before nodding her head hesitantly. Joseph again took her hand and they started together up the steps.
The sun poured through large hole in the roof, illuminating the crumbling altar before them. Thieves had long ago stripped anything of value and the entire room was coated in layers of ash. In that ash appeared multiple footsteps that led up to altar. Many people had been here before them and quite recently.
“Wait here Sarah.” Obadiah said, trembling. For a brief moment he feared what might happen to him when he touched the altar. In his mind he saw himself frozen to the altar, hands withered and disfigured.
He shook the thought from his mind. After all, it was obvious that many had been here before him and nothing bad had happened to them. He reached the top step and put his hand on the altar.
Nothing but ash resided there. What he was looking for was not on top of the altar.
He knelt in front of it. There was a cubicle in the altars center, covered by what appeared to be a newer curtain. Joseph pushed the curtain to the side to see what was behind it.
“Nothing” he sighed, eyes falling in frustration.
“What are you looking for?” Sarah said fearfully. Joseph’s visible aggravation bothered her greatly.
Joseph pushed the curtain back in annoyance. It was then that he saw it. There was writing on the curtain! A sly smile crept over his face.
“Found it.”

Continued Next Week