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The Tishbite
The Untold Story of Elijah

By Kurt W. Schuller (USA)

Chapter 8

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 Eight

Chapter 8
“Move!” Elijah yelled, kicking at the donkey’s side.

The animal’s only response was to flick its ears back and forth in defiance.
“I said, move!” He yelled kicking with all might.
The donkey did indeed move, but not in the way Elijah intended. Kicking up violently with its hind legs the donkey threw Elijah off of his back, face first into the sandy dune. He picked himself up, spitting the fine grains of sand from his mouth and cursing the donkey’s parentage. Then the exhaustion of 18 hours of riding took over and he sat back down on the sandy dune and began to feel guilty.
“If I am this tired being the rider, how much more must you suffer for being ridden.” he said aloud to the donkey. He got up, reached into the pack that the donkey was carrying and brought out a carrot to feed the animal. Eyeing him suspiciously at first the donkey gave in to her hunger and took it.
“Like a donkey being led by a carrot” Elijah said, smiling to himself.
The full moon had allowed them to travel all night, yet it had made for a slow progress. With the sun just starting to rise he realized that they both needed rest.
“I am sorry to have pushed you so hard.” He said, gently rubbing the animal’s side where he had been kicking him earlier. “Rest now.”
He took a bedroll, laid it out and fell instantaneously to sleep.
The sound of cackling roused him from his sleep. He got up onto his elbows and listened intently for the direction it was coming from. He crawled on his hands and knees up the sand dune following the sounds. Elijah thought that it sounded like ravens, a rather large flock of them by the growing cacophony of calls emanating from behind the dune.
As he reached the top he gasped. There were thousands of them. At their center was diminutive figure, apparently human, possibly female and dressed in what appeared to be fine white silk.  It lay under a mature broom tree, its tight yellow flowers only just beginning to burst through.. The figure did not move so Elijah suspected that it must be either dead or asleep, though given the circumstance dead was the more likely reality. Yet the birds were not violating or picking at it as you might expect. In fact they seemed to be quite protective of it. One after another after another would light gently upon the figures chest, pause for a brief sweet moment and then fly away, making room for another, as if they were individually paying their respect. Elijah was awe struck.
“Hee haw” brayed the donkey.
He did not want to take his eyes off of what was happening, but did not want the donkey to scare the ravens off. Without looking back he waved his arms back at the sound of the animal and whispered “Shhssssh”
“Hee haw” brayed the animal again, this time even louder. Elijah was about to turn and deal with this interruption when he noticed the figure in white began to stir. Slowly, very slowly, it began to sit up.
“HEE HAW”
Angrily, Elijah turned and yelled. “Can you not be quiet?”
His yelling brought him out of his dream and back to consciousness.
Or had it? Elijah looked around from his bedroll. He was laying on soft green grass in a rolling meadow. Just a few hundred yards ahead was the gated entrance to Samaria.
“Hee haw” He turned and saw the donkey standing behind him.
“What happened” he uttered to himself with amazement, eyes wide with equal parts fear and fascination.
The donkey neighed like a horse and shook her head from side to side as if to answer Elijah’s question.
Elijah lay back down and shut his eyes tightly. “I am still dreaming. All I need to do is just to wake up.”
He heard the donkey neigh again and squinted one eye open to see the animal once again shaking its head from side to side.
“Are you mocking me?” he said opening both eyes wide to stare at the creature.
“Heh” an unfamiliar voice cried out. “Are you really talking to that donkey?”
He turned and saw a merchant riding a heavily laden wagon.
“No” yelled a frustrated Elijah. “I am dreaming! I’ll thank you to please just leave me alone so that I can wake up.”
A look of fright came over the merchant and he urged his wagon to go faster, wanting only to get away from an obviously deranged individual.
 As he watched the merchant hurry away Elijah finally realized that he was no longer dreaming. Yet here he was, ten miles further than he was when he had gone to sleep, just outside of his destination.
Elijah looked up to heaven. “Thank you”.
But then his mind began to turn and twist with one question after another. He looked up a second time.
“Again, thank you, But why did you help me now, when I had not asked for it? And why did you not help me only a day earlier, when I begged for more than an hour?”
There was only the rustle of a spring breeze for an answer.
“Sometimes Lord -” Elijah looked down at sandals he had traded all that he had for.
 “-You are hard to understand.”

Continued Next Week