Jedidiah Stitch

1st installment of my serial novel, Jedidiah Stitch  , come back next Thursday for part 2

Jedidiah Stitch tumbled out of his warm cozy bed onto the hard wooden floor. Today was a big day for Jedidiah. He crawled across the room and peered once again into his backpack that he packed the night before. There was a flashlight, his tattered Bible, three comic books, six sticks of gum, a sweat shirt, an apple, his bottle cap collection and 2 hot wheel cars. Then he added a string that used to belong to an old kite. He pulled the enormous backpack on his pajama clad body. Jedidiah was too excited to waste time with dressing this morning.

He stealthfully tip-toed to the window and slowly climbed out onto the tree below.  Jedidiah was now free. He rubbed his scraggly blond hair out of his eyes and decided the best course of action was west through the giant dirt lot.  The dirt lot was full of interesting things to add to his backpack, things he may need on his journey down town.

Down town is four blocks from Jed’s small house on Jefferson Street.  The dirt lot was bumpy and sometimes contained nails, which if found would be added to his stash. The only problem this morning was that Jedidiah forgot his shoes.  So his dirty size threes scuffled through the empty lot.

Jedidiah didn’t know where his journey would lead him. His vision last night was of an old red brick building that had wood planks over the two upstairs windows.  He could hear muffled crying and arguing but the vision ended without him recognizing what he was being called to do. When he packed his bag some of the odd items seemed to jump off his shelf and into his hands; still Jed had no idea what God had in store for him today.

After four long blocks and very swollen feet Jed saw the red building from his dream. The only thing missing was one wooden plank. Jedidiah climbed the metal staircase on his knees trying to avoid the squeaky steps. He could see in the one uncovered window. “Maybe I am too early, “ Jedidiah whispered.

There were three children huddled in the corner. Jedidiah knew that one of them was the crying child from the night before. Through the dimly lit room he could see that there was someone else there. He could feel an evil presence and the sweat from his brow was dripping onto his now muddy feet.  He wiped his hands on the back of his puppy pajamas. Jedidiah knelt and prayed, not as a habit but as a necessity. He knew something was wrong here, someone was evil and something had to be done about it.

What Jedidiah didn’t know was that the man inside had the missing plank in his hand. For some reason the man thought he may need it. Did the man suspect a supernaturally charged ten year old was outside on his fire escape? Probably not. The man was scared, but not of anything earthly. 

Jedidiah stood up and pulled on his sweat shirt. Then he tried to smooth down his unruly bed head and adjusted his pjs. He was not scared; rather he was full of peace. He still did not know what he was going to do, but those children did not belong in this abandoned apartment building. Those children needed to be saved.

Jedidiah wiggled his way under the planked window, the one closest to the children. A rumbling noise from the opposite corner revealed a dark figure wielding a wooden plank. Jed rose and stood facing the figure with his arms outstretched as a sign of surrender. He resembled the Lord on the cross with his dirt stained palms facing the man.

The man raised the plank even higher above his head ready to strike.