Jedidiah and the Mermaid

Jedidiah had no idea where the community pool was, but the image of the beautiful drowning mermaid was forefront in his mind. He took Jefferson street west for three blocks and then turned north for another two. If Jed had arrived five minutes earlier he would have been directly behind a skipping Asian girl, but then he would have been too early.
Mai Lin danced into the gate of the community pool and eagerly counted out $1.75 to the scrawny blond haired teenager at the window. Mai Lin's grin was contagious and the scrawny teenager smiled back. Mai Lin was totally oblivious to him and continued skipping onward to the poolside. Troy and his bumbling buddies were already in the pool area standing by the life guard booth. Mai Lin took off her street clothes to reveal a beautifully embroidered pink bikini and a equally stunning yellow sarong upon her waist.
Robby Larson, Troy's handsome older cousin, was also undressing. He took off his shirt to reveal his muscles and began to flirt with the life guard on duty.
"Hello Chink!" Yelled Troy's gangly red-headed accomplice, Walter Cunningham.
"Yes, May Lin How are you?" Troy cut in. Mai didn't even realize that Troy mispronounced her name, nor did she realize the condescending tone to his voice.
Troy was also grinning ear to ear, but not because he was happy to see Mai, but because of the fun he was about to have with her.
"So Mai, are you a good swimmer?" Troy moved closer to Mai as he walked forcing her to walk further along the edge of the pool away from the safe shallow end.
"Um not really," Mai shyly returned.
"That's too bad. We are excellent swimmers." Troy snidely responded. This time Mai could sense danger. She also could hear her mother's voice in her head, first in hurried Mandarin and then in choppy English. "Those boys are trouble. You need to to get away." Mai turned to run but Walter forced her to turn towards the pool instead with a sharp blow to her side.
"Let's see if Chinagirl can swim." Troy exclaimed as he pushed Mai forward. Mai lost footing and plunged face first into the freezing pool. After her apparent belly flop, she began thrashing her arms frantically, bobbing and coughing in between each thrash.
Jennifer Jones, the cute 17 year old life guard, was still flirting with Robby Larson and did not notice the drowning girl.
At the very moment that Mai had stopped flailing her arms, Jedidiah was digging in his backpack for $1.75. He found exact change in a small forgotten pocket, and quickly paid the young attendant. Three laughing boys nearly toppled over Jedidiah as he rounded the corner to the pool. The red-headed one elbowed Jedidiah as he rudely passed by.
Jedidiah had never been to the community pool so the initial shock to his nasal cavity was enough to make him nearly gag. Then he saw her. The mermaid from his dream was floating in the pool. Jedidiah wasted no time. He jumped into the freezing water head first and pulled on the dangling body. It was as if God had given him fins and gills as Jedidiah glided effortlessly through the water.
Mai Lin hacked and wheezed, spitting water all over the concrete floor. "Th- ank you" , she gasped.
Jedidiah found her towel and placed it on her delicate shoulders as she wheezed and hacked some more.
Then all of a sudden she rose. Jed followed.
"It is my family's custom to thank someone properly. How can I find you to return this favor?"
Jedidiah reached into his back pack and found a pencil and a piece of paper. "Funny thing", Jedidiah thought, "I didn't put those in there." The paper was an overdue phone bill complete with his address and mother's account information on it, not something you would usually hand a stranger.
Jedidiah turned over the bill and began to write his initials vertically down the left side of the paper.
J
C
S
It was almost artistic as if he were going to write an acrostic poem. Then he began to write his name, but he stopped on the e, and continued to write Jesus. On his other initials he wrote Christ Saves and then he handed the paper to Mai.
Go to the address on the back and yell these words. That is the only gift I need. Jedidiah turned to leave so he didn't see the shocked expression on Mai Lin's face. "What an odd thing." She thought.
"Jesus Christ Saves" Mai Lin knew her Buddist parent's would hate that. The rebel in Mai Lin smiled. "Yes he does!"

Jedidiah 6 "Decisions"

One would think that after having a beer bottle hurled toward your head, you would want to get as far away as possible, but not Adela Stitch. Adela was as stubborn as the lid on a brand new spaghetti jar, and she was going to get her money from James Stitch. She pushed Jason gently aside and brushed the dirt from her blue jeans. This time she marched to the door. James was still there propped in the door frame, wiping frantically at his bloody nose with his blue paisley handkerchief that he got at a garage sale. Jimmy's blow had caused the bleeding to drip all the way down James' white tank top and onto his yellow nylon shorts.

"So James. How much are ya gonna give me?"
"I told you lady, I ain't got nothing"
"Well that be the case I will just take your keys to the Harley."

Adela walked over to the beautiful red 1957 Panhead chopper that was parked in his covered spot #204, which James paid an extra rental fee each month, to help keep the Harley in near mint condition. James Stitch had hardly anything of any value, but he had this. He didn't ride it and never did. He washed it, waxed it and stared at it from his plastic .99 cent Walmart chair from his tiny apartment porch.

"Not the Harley." James squealed like a little girl. "I may have some money in the sock drawer."
The "sock drawer" was James'private alcohol stash that he surreptitiously hid from his current wife Melody. It was a small black metal cash box that he kept under his bed among his yearbooks and boring motorcycle magazines. James offered the prized box to Adela. Once opened, it revealed only $250 in small bills. Adela laughed. "Seriously James? That Harley is worth at least $20,000 and you want me to settle for this, not even enough for one month's rent, never mind the four months I owe, nor the ten years of child support you owe me."

Meanwhile Jedidiah was tossing and turning on the couch. Usually after saving lives and souls, he had no problem sleeping midday. God had different plans for Jedidiah today, however. Jed slept for approximately 20 minutes, just enough time to dream. This time, he saw a girl. She was not much older than he with long black hair and a beautiful delicate face. Her hair was flowing as if she was a mermaid. Though her delicate face soon turned an awfuil shade of pale blue. She was not swimming nor struggling to do so, she was simply floating.

Jedidiah had never learned to swim, never even went to a public pool, lake or beach. This was odd for a child who grew up on the California coast, but Jedidiah was an odd child. He wasn't sure how, but he knew that he needed to dive in and save this drowning girl.

Jed got off the couch and looked in his backpack. He didn't think he would need the remaining items, but God had a funny way of surprising him so he left the contents alone. He found a pair of shorts that would have to serve as a bathing suit and put them on and then found a small worn towel to add to the backpack. Then he kneeled to pray.

Mai Lin is actually 2 months shy of 13. Her family moved to San Francisco 3 years ago from Nanjin, a large city in Eastern China. Mai's family owned a business and was very hard working, but Mai had a rebellious streak in her.

Mai did not know how to swim, but Troy Winters did. Troy was her parent's worst nightmare and part of the reason why Mai was so attracted to him. He was in the 8th grade and on the basketball team and most importantly, he was white. Mai was in the 7th grade and absolutely forbidden to date and especially not allowed to fraternize with white boys. Mai thought Troy was inviting her on a date to the community pool. Troy had other plans. Troy pretended to like Mai, but he secretly loathed her and all the chinks. He overhead Mai telling her friend Gloria that she couldn't swim and he created a plan.

Mai glided gracefully past the Budda statues that glared from each room. She silently slithered to the front door. Her mama was out on the porch tending to their tiny herb garden. Her baba was at the family's dry cleaning business so neither parent heard her leave.

Mai skipped the 4 blocks to the community pool towel swinging wildly in hand. Troy, however, was hiding behind the stairwell just inside the door. He was equally excited.

Jedidiah 5 "Confrontation"

Jed had no idea that his mom found an eviction notice plastered to their door that morning, nor did he realize that at this very moment his brothers were preventing her from doing something she would later regret if it didn't kill her.
Jedidiah had never met his father. James Stitch was one of those men who made your blood curl after meeting him only once. He was rough on the exterior and even more callous on the inside. Even when he chose to be sober and clean, he was an abusive husband and father. His rude demeanor and foul temper kept Adela and the boys living a sheltered life away from the neighbors and any friends they may have gained throughout the years.

Jesse, Jason and Jimmy all remember years with pop as stressful and even disturbing. Only Jared, the oldest replica of James, remembers the wildly fun side of dad, that Adela originally was drawn to. Jedidiah was a baby when James high tailed it out of Adela's crazy world, thus relieving her of further abuse. In fact the night he left, James violently attacked Adela. Jared, who was 10 at the time jumped in to protect his mother who was holding the baby Jedidiah. Jedidiah had already a divine protector though at this time had no idea of it. James fought his son with an open switch blade, but Jared, the fearless younger version of James, was not afraid.

Jimmy, Jason and Jesse stayed weeping in the corner. In fact, up to this point the three boys always observed from the corners. For some reason, as Adela traipsed across town with nothing but a torn eviction notice in her hand in search of James Stitch, the two older boys Jimmy and Jason got out of the corner and headed after her.

Both boys were a good twenty minutes behind their mom. Not because they wished to be, but to avoid her seeing them. They knew that their mom had a lot to say so that afforded the boys some extra time. Adela was owed 10 years of child support, not that their drug induced alcoholic father had any intention or means of paying it. He would at least let her make a fool out of herself, in his opinion before striking.

Jedidiah was extremely dirty and ravishingly hungry so he temporarily gave up searching for his missing mother and three brothers. Jesse, who was only 13, was actually only two doors down at his friend Mark's house, and was just as clueless as Jedidiah of their whereabouts. By the time Jedidiah had showered and ate a peanut butter sandwich, his mother and two brothers were all the way across town at James's apartment.

Adela was a small woman at on 5'2. When she knocked on the metal door she felt even smaller. When James, who was a good foot taller than her, opened the door she shrunk. His drunken 200 pound body shook the door frame as he leaned upon it.

"Whatchu want?" James yelled angrily.
"Well hello James." Adela calmly replied. "I am going to lose the house." She thrusted the eviction letter at James.
"How is that my business lady?" James slurred.
"Well your boys will need some place to live and you owe us lots of money." Adela bravely blurted out.
"Ha ha, I don't have any money for you." snickered an incoherent James.

By this time, two heads were poking out of the hedge across the walk way trying to remain silent. Also at this time, Jedidiah had finished his sandwich and was on his knees praying for his mother.

So when James Stitch threw a beer bottle at Adela, the two teenagers jumped from the bushes and headed toward their furious father. And at at the very moment when James rose his fist towards Adela, Jedidiah was praying.

"Lord please protect my mother, wherever she may be. Guard her from danger. Send your angels to surround her. Guide my brothers as they too are missing. Help them to make wise decisions, Lord." At the mention of the word "angels" James swung his fury towards Adela and Jason from the left and Jimmy from the right tackled their huge father.

Jason then grabbed his mother to comfort her. Neither brother ever suspected their youngest brother was praying for them, nor would they have considered themselves angels. God will use even two rough hooligan teenagers to act as his angels.

When Jedidiah was done praying. He was spent and sweating. A warm jolt of peace had surged through him. He knew it wasn't his lunch but he could not exactly explain it either. Adela knew her youngest son was unique. She knew of some of his special "powers" yet she did not know that the power of Jedidiah was really the power of God.

Jedidiah then laid down on the couch in front of the television, which he rarely watched. He knew his mother would return soon and he needed to rest.

The Mud Pile--Installment 4 Jedidiah Stitch

When lying in a mud puddle at the edge of a drunk man’s feet, you only have a few options.  One, stand up and hope that the drunk man forgets that he was trying to kill you. Two, roll away and start running, and three, lay there until the stench becomes unbearable. Jedidiah lied there long enough to pray and realized that yes, the mud was not all that comfortable and the stench was unbearable.

Installment 3 Jedidiah Stitch

“Mickey Massacre”


        Any normal 10 year old would never think of walking towards the barrel of a loaded gun. Fortunately, Jedidiah was not a normal 10 year old. Jedidiah was not always so brave, however. There was a time, almost a year before, that Jedidiah was made fun of at school for his long name, his short stature, his messy blond hair that even gel could not tame, and his clothes that were usually quite worn looking as they were passed from brother to brother, finally arriving at the youngest of 4.
       Then Jedidiah met Mickey “Massacre” Smith, the meanest biggest bully in the 5th grade. Jedidiah was the smallest wimpiest kid in the 4th grade. Mickey would give wedgies to the kindergartners and steal lunch money from little first grade girls leaving them in tears.
      Nobody dared to stand up to The Massacre because he was so huge and terrifying. Jedidiah would not have stood up to him either if it weren’t for Susie Sullivan. Susie had eyes that sparkled like diamonds, a smile as sweet as ice cream, and curly golden locks the color of sunshine. Mickey made Susie cry by spitting on her ham sandwich. Jedidiah couldn’t stand it any longer.
       Jedidiah was a flea compared to Mickey. Despite this, he walked right up to Mickey confronting him. He raised his right fist as high as he could, which only fell to Mickey’s belly. Jed was sure that Mickey’s belly was as hard as a bag of rocks, but none-the-less he started to slowly move his fist towards it. Right before contact was made, Jed heard a voice. The voice said “Stop! Pray!”
     Now Jedidiah recognized a voice as his conscious, the softer version of his own voice when faced with indecision, but this voice was different. He knew this was God. Jedidiah accepted Christ into his heart at a tender age of 6 and at that time, even though he truly meant well, he did not know what that meant entirely. He never heard this voice so clearly before. This voice was telling Jedidiah to not only stop, but to pray….for Mickey. Jedidiah slowly put his fist down. He stood silently in prayer, while a very shocked Mickey started to laugh.
     “Have you met the Lord Jesus?” Jedidiah calmly asked the huge 5th grader.
Mickey’s mouth dropped open. His knees gave way and he fell to the dirty cafeteria floor. Then his chuckles turned to sobbing.
      Jedidiah, determined to make a difference, kept at it. “Jesus died for you and me. You can know him as I do and change your ways.”
      Mickey looked up and directed his anger, frustrations and sadness of his horrible home life towards the heavens; putting aside all of these, he replied, “I want to change. I do. I do.”
      By this time the entire 5th grade, and most of the 4th, were surrounding the two boys, mostly standing in awe of what they were witnessing. The smallest boy at Thomas Morrow Elementary School had brought the biggest boy in the city to his knees in submission.
      Of course, Jedidiah knew that it was God and not by his own strength that had done this miracle, but most of the kids did not. Close to 4o students witnessed Jedidiah lead Mickey “the Massacre” to Christ and they wanted to have that same power.
      Ever since this incident a year ago, Jedidiah has spoken directly to God. His dreams and visions tell him what to do and his prayers give him the tools he needs to accomplish his missions. This is why Jedidiah was not afraid to walk towards the barrel of a gun, a loaded one at that. After all, the Lord was in charge and this was not his ending. In fact, as Jedidiah continued to walk forward, at approximately the same time that the man pulled the trigger, Jedidiah tripped on a stick. He fell to the muddy ground and narrowly, but not coincidentally, missed being shot in the face by a deadly bullet

Jedidiah Stitch continued....part 2

Here is the 2nd installment of my serial blog story. Please come back next Thursday for part 3

        Without even flinching, Jedidiah reached inside his backpack and pulled out the flashlight and bible. He began reading from John chapter 3. The nameless man dropped the plank and got on his knees. He began to cry as Jedidiah read “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotton son, For whoever believes in him shall not perish but will have everlasting life.” The man, who was by this point weeping uncontrollably, slowly crawled over to the huddled children and untied them. Jedidiah kept reading, as if he did not even notice the man’s actions. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Then Jedidiah stopped and looked at the man and children crammed together in the corner. He then reached in his back pack and handed the youngest boy the two cars. He gave the scared 6 year old girl a stick of gum and to the oldest boy, who looked maybe 9, he gave the comic books. Then he gave a stick of gum to the man, who now looked embarrassed.  Jedidiah sat down next to the man.

            “What is your name?” Jedidiah asked boldly.

            “Elliot Bently” the plankless man replied.

            “You are forgiven by God’s grace. Just send the kids home.” Jedidiah said and rose to stand.  Then he turned and headed out the unplanked window.

            Jedidiah knew that he was not going home. He walked 3 more blocks further into the seedy downtown area. Most 10 year olds would have trembled in fear, but Jedidiah was not afraid. He walked until he found a dirty wooden bench. He sat down and prayed for wisdom and guidance.

            After almost a half hour, Jed started walked west toward a bridge. There was a man, standing on the edge of it staring into the ditch below. He wavered back and forth. The man, whose clothes were ragged and dirty, did not seem well.

            “Hey sir!” Jedidiah called to the man.

            “Uh” the man whimpered back.

            “Please don’t jump”

            The old man pulled  out a pistol and pointed it towards Jed. “How dare you tell me what to do youngin’” The man uttered. “You have no idea what I am going through.”

            Jedidiah calmly moved closer to the man, not fearing the gun that was pointed to his chest. “Please sir, I know more than you think and I know you are a child of God.”

            The man, whose heart was stone, kept the gun up pointed at Jed. “I’ll take you out too boy. I am not afraid to die.” The arthritic hand wobbled but it stayed focused on its target.

            “I know sir. But this is not God’s plan.” Jedidiah continued moving closer. He was so close, now Jed could smell the man’s stench of alcohol, tobacco and some other unidentifiable smells.

            The old man pulled the trigger.

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.