by Donald Hancock

Created on: July 20, 2009   Last Updated: July 21, 2009

He Couldn't Sleep Through This Beauty

"Like as a father pitieth his children..." the minister droned on with his scripture text, and John really tried to keep his mind on the sermon. He was determined to stay awake this morning during the entire "message". But his pastor was very "blah" in many ways. So, instead of listening to the text, John found himself listing the ways that this man excelled in producing boredom. His voice had absolutely no animation. His stance was wooden with no movement at all, not even an occasional hand gesture. His sermons were always, from John's point of view, irrelevant to today's world.

As John continued to think of another short coming, his eyes happened to peripherally notice an orange blur on the row across the aisle and two rows in front of him. As he looked closer, he saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen so far in his whole young life. Once he saw her he could not take his eyes off of her. She was not a member, that was for sure. She had to be a visitor. She was sitting next to Sue Sandow. Sue did have a cousin that he had played with when he was in the fifth grade. She was blond, just like this girl. But he remembered her as being skinny and really tall for her age. She certainly did not resemble this girl except for the blond hair.

After what seemed to John like three hours, the sermon was over. During the closing hymn he was able to get a look at his vision of beauty in a standing mode and was in no way disappointed . Her figure was as perfect as her face.

After the benediction, John turned into the aisle but slowed his steps to coincide with the approach of the orange dress. He smiled as Sue's eyes met his. "Oh, John, do you remember my cousin, Summer? She visited me way back....it must have been in fifth grade." John was hesitant to say anything because he was so anxious to make a good impression. He finally came up with, "You could not possibly be that skinny...". That's all he was able to get out before biting his tongue.

"Yes, I was that skinny, tall drink of water that beat you guys playing Monopoly, checkers, Fish, and Old Maid. I guess I was compensating for being such an ugly duckling." By that time all three had gone through the church door and were going down the steps of the church. "What have you two got planned for this afternoon, Sue?" "I was going to ask you the same thing, John." "Well", quipped John, "I'm open to anything but Monopoly, checkers, Fish, and Old Maid!" They all

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>