WHIRLWIND

Round 1

The sun shone brightly in the sky then quickly disapeared as the clouds moved in. It looked like it would be another one of those gloomy days again thought Jeff as he stood on the street corner. His friend Alex came running up to him.

“Hey man we gotta go. Its gonna rain.”

“Yeah,” replied Jeff as he snached up his Bible and headed for youth group. His friend Alex smiled and yelled as he surged ahead.

“This is gonna be a killer youth group, man,” he hollared over the sound of an onrushing car. “Were gonna have pizza and have a tight water balloon fight. Its gonna be so awesome. Plus were gonna be studing in Revelation. This is going to be sweet.” Jeff sighed. Alex had been bent on youth group ever since he had came to know Christ two years ago at youth camp. “Come on,” he yelled as he crossed the street and opened the large wooden doors of Christ the Rock.

As Jeff entered, the noise grew to an almost unbearable level. A song drifted over to him from the loud speekers in the corner. Warm smiles greeted him as he walked into the fellowship hall. Mark the youth pastor laughed at a joke then smiled at Jeff and yelled, “Hey good your here I didn’t know if you were coming.”

“Yep, I’m here,” hollered Jeff back at him. But deep down inside he cringed he didn’t want to be here. It just didn’t make any sense. Something didn’t click. This whole Christ thing didn’t make any sense. This stuff is for Alex he thought. Not for me.

As Jeff thought that, somewhere, where time and distance don’t matter sat a man. A beast. On his throne. He arched his head back smiled and let out the loudest, meanest, most grueling laugh. Beside him sat a legion of deamons they to joined in the ground shaking laughter. Round one was his.

Round 2

Jeff stared up at his ceiling. There dangled a poster of Micheal Jordan. It hung loosely. Held to the ceiling only by one piece of tape. Any time it would fall down. Any time it would come loose and slowy drift to the ground. Jeff sighed then rolled over put a pillow over his head. Youth group had tired him out. Sure it was ok, but not quite what he was looking for. Something seemed to be missing every time he walked into Church. Something just wasn’t there. As the thoughts flowed over his tired body Jeff fell fast asleep.

He awoke as his alarm sounded loudly into the morning air. The sun shone brightly through his bedroom window. The smell of burnt toast wafted up to his room. Jeff groaned and rolled out of bed. He slowly climbed into the shower, turned it on cold then let the water drip down his body. He emerged just a few minutes later, put on his clothes and headed downstairs for breakfast. His dad greated him with a half smile half frown.

“Not again?” asked Jeff sadly.

“Yep,” replied his father,”Its burnt again. I just don’t understand that darned toaster.” Jeff took his seet and stared at the darkened toast in front of him. He then glanced up at the clock, got up, and hurried out the door towards the bus.

The bus clammered to a stop in front of Jeffs house directly at 8:05. The door opened and Jeff climed on. He slowly walked to the back of the bus. Half way back something pulled him into a seat. Jeff swung backward and hit the seat as the bus started up again.

“Hey, man whats up with that?” Jeff turned to see Alex smiling at him. Then continued, “You could have killed me.”

“Sorry man,” Alex replied with a frown. Then his lips curled up and he smiled smiled again. “Hey don’t be so glum dude. Were going to the science center today. No school.”

Jeff turned and smiled back at Alex. “Yeah, I quess your right. Any day that doesn’t start out with school can’t be that bad. The bus rumbled down the road then stopped infront of school. Everybody got up and slowly climed off the school bus. Jeff and Alex climbed off and joined there classmates standing by another bus. As they arrived there teacher began the normal field trip talk. Alex and Jeff slipped to the back of the mob ready to get onto the bus.

The bus came to a stop in front of the double doors at the science center. The teacher gave her lecture about not running off then everyone piled out into the early morning air. First off was a presentation about monkeys. The kids climbed into there seats. Alex looked up at the board in front of him and groaned. A chart on the board showed monkey slowly evolving into man. Oh man Alex thought with a small sigh this is not good at all.

The doors of the small science center classroom opened and 30 kids poored out into the hallway. Then they headed to the cafeteria for some lunch. “This sure beats school food,” called Jeff from across the cafeteria beconing Alex to sit with him. “What a presentation,” he said as Alex sat down beside him. He popped a french fry into his mouth and continued. “Can you believe we came from monkeys. Thats way cool.”

“Oh, man” Alex groaned and looked at Jeff. “You can’t believe that stuff its all false. They have no proof, no fossils that prove any of that.”

“You want to bet,” said Jeff as he took a bite of his burger, “that proffessor dude in there said it was real. ” The words struck Alex like an axe. How could anyone believe that stuff? How could his friend believe that stuff?

A sinister smile came upon the face of the beast. Fire shot out of his nosterals. His bait was set and now it was time to reap the rewards. Round 2 was finished. Now it was perfect time to execute round 3.

Round 3

Jeff woke up to the sound of a car screetching out in the street. He turned over and stared at his alarm clock. The red numbers declared it to be 3:00 a.m. Jeff rolled over and stared at the ceiling. His poster of Micheal Jordan hung ever closer to death. One strong gust and it would be knocked to the floor. Jeff closed his eyes sighed and fell asleep.

“Hey, Jeff.” The friendly smile that greeted him every morning was there again. But this time the smile from Alex seemed to be a bit less happy.

“Hey Alex.” Jeff replied with a smile of his own. He then plopped down in the seat beside Alex. The bus rambled on but Alex seemed as if he had nothing to say to Jeff. It seemed as if Jeff was slipping but how could he help him. Alex sighed looked at the roof of the bus then wispered.

“God, I know you work in mysterious ways. I don’t care how you do it, but could you please help me to get through to Jeff. Thanks.” and with a sigh he sat back in his seat and let the jolts and shakes of the bus soothe his mind.

The bus stopped, as usuall, in front of school. Everyone climbed out and headed to there classrooms. Jeff slowly got up and followed everyone into the school building. As Jeff rounded the corner he was pulled into an empty hallway. Jeffs body jolted in the other direction.

“Hey dude.” A voice said.

“Alex,” replied Jeff. “one of these days your going to kill me doin........” but his voice trailed off. It wasn’t Alex. He was face to face with Andrew and Mark. Two kids know for being in detention so much that this year it was there home room. “What do you want?” Questioned Jeff.

“We want you.” chimed Andrew.

“Yeah, you can be one of us. You can have whatever you want whenever you want it.” Added Mark with a snear.

“What, you must be kidding.” replied Jeff with a quizzical look on his face. “You guys are wack.” He added then headed down the hall to class.

“We know you don’t like all that Church stuff, come on man this is your chance. Maybe this is what your looking for.” The sound echoed softly down the hall as Jeff headed to class. All day it sounded in his head. Man those guys were idiots. But something just couldn’t let go of that thought. The two did have a point.

Jeff headed home from school alone that afternoon. As he walked the thoughts of the day ratlled around in his head. Soon he came to his house. He climbed the five steps to the door then he opened it and headed for the kithchen. He stopped abruptly as he saw his mom and dad sitting on the coach looking at him. A tear streaked his moms eye.

Neither of them should be home! An alarm sounded in Jeffs head. What was going on here. Something was wrong.

“Jeff,” it was his dads voice. This time though, it wasn’t a happy sound that came from his dad’s lips. “We have something to tell you. This isn’t easy to say so wer’re just going to tell you.” Jeff’s head screamed. Oh no, no don’t say. “Its just not working out” Jeffs dad continued “we’re getting a divorce.”

“NOOOOOO! No your not.” Jeff screamed. “NO! NO! This is not happening,” he sobbed and cupped his hands on his ears. “IM NOT HEARING THIS!” he yelled into his dads face. “You are all stupid!” He screamed and raced up to his room. He opened the door and slammed it behind him. He then went over to his bead picked up the spread then through it on the floor. He picked up a pillow smashed it into his chest of drawers. Then he spotted his Bible. He picked it up. Opened the pages. The words all blured together. He held it high over his head and threw it down as hard as he could. “How could you do this to me,” he yelled, “How could you do this to me God. Do you even care?” Jeff jumped onto his bead and started hitting the matress.

Then the words suddenly echoed into his head. “Maybe this is what your looking for.” Jeff let out a loud scream pulled open his drawer and emerged with a school phone book. The numbers were blurry, but he found what he was looking for. He dialed then waited. On the ceiling above him the poster of Micheal Jordan dangled helplessly overhead anytime it would fall. The phone rang then someone picked up.

“Hey, Andrew.........”

The beast reared his head back. His face was locked in rage. A smile creviced his lips. Fire shot out of his hands. His fish was caught. Round 3 was his.... or was it. For somewhere, somewhere where love and happiness abide sits a man on a throne. But this throne is not a throne of fire, not a throne of hate. Its a throne of love. A throne of joy. This man sits on his throne of love, a smile graces his face. A prayer of help graces his mind. “Please help me get through to him” it says. This man smiles. Not a prayer will go unaswered. He smiled. Not a single prayer.

Round 4

Jeff woke up groggy the next morning. He sat up in bed and looked out his window. Clouds hung low over the sky. Yesterdays events suddenly hit Jeff like a punch in the stomach. He squeased his eyes shut punched his pillow screamed one last time and with a tear in his eye he got up. He headed to the shower turned it on cold. He couldn’t feel the water. The pain he felt inside just wouldn’t go away. He shut his eyes and let the tears mix with the cooling water. He then shut off the water and headed downstairs.

Jeff sat and watched TV till nine. He wasn’t about to face the pressures of school. Soon his dad came down and sat down beside him. Jeff moved away.

“Jeff,” his father said. “Everything will be all right. You can’t mope around all day.” The words cut through Jeff like a knife.

“EVERYTHING WILL BE ALL RIGHT!! Your the one who’s putting me through this. You just don’t care.” Jeff screamed. “Your the one to blame.”

“Jeff.” his father called, but it was to late. Jeff got up through the coach pillow at his dad and ran to the front door. He slammed it shut. The whole house shook, but the silence that followed was deafening. His father put his head in his hands and cried.

Jeff headed down the street. His feet carried him, but where they carried him he didn’t know. He shot past his nieghbors houses. Suddenly the tree lined streets turned into sidewalks. The sidewalks made way for large buildings, but Jeff kept running. His legs carried him on and on. Finnally he stopped. He looked around. He walked into an alley and sat down. Sweat dripped from his forehead. His shirt was ripped. As he sat the memories came back to him. The word rang through his mind. Divorce. It stung like a bee. Never again was he going to go home. Never again was he going to hang with Alex. He had new friends now. Friends that cared.

The clouds in the sky gave way to rain. It rained and rained all through the afternoon. Jeff just sat there and let the water soak his body. But as soon as the rain had come it left. The sun peaked through the clouds. Jeff put his head betwean his legs and sat. He waited. He sat and waited for something. For something he wasn’t sure of.

“Hey Jeff,” called a voice. Jeff looked up startled. There in the shadows stood Andrew and Mark. “What are you doin here.”

“Just thinking.” replied Jeff as he stood up. Mark and Andrew walked up to him.

“So you decided to join us,” Andrew remarked, “Finally you got some sense knocked into that brain of yours. Like I said whatever you want you can have. So what is it.”

“I want the pain to go away. I want to be happy again.” Jeff said with a sad scared look on his face.

“Hmmm.” Andrew thought for a moment and then looked at Mark. He then pulled something out of his pocket. He walked up to Jeff and handed him something. It looked different than anything he’d ever seen.

“What is it.” Jeff questioned. Something didn’t seem right about this.

“Just try it man. All your pain will be gone. Nothing, and noone will ever trouble you again.” The sun beat down on Jeff. His head ached he had nothing to eat. His stomach hurt. But more than anything his heart hurt. I’ll do anything to rid this pain his head screamed. He reached out to take what was in Andrews had. Suddenly a car wizzed zed by on the street. The walls of the building beside him seemmed to spin uncontrollably. Jeff groaped around for something to hold on to. Suddenly everything went black.

Round 5

“Wake up Jeff.”

The sound was so close but so far away. Jeff opened his eyes. He looked around. Everything was blurry. Through his squinting eyes he could make out a shape in the distance. His side hurt. But he had to get up and see what was in the distance. The pain surged through his body as he tried to get up. He fell back down onto the hard dirt surface. He tried again to get up but fell back one more time. Finnaly he stood himself up. The blurr in the distance was gone.

“Jeff over here.”

The sound came from every direction. Jeff turned around and nearly fell down. His head was spinning. Everything around him blurred. He straighterned himself up. Slowly his vision got better. Surrounding him was a vast stretch of dirt. Lines formed in the dirt from lack of water. The dirt seemed to peel away from the earth as the sun beat down. There was nothing in site.

“Jeff come here”

This time the sound was ugly. It had a terrifying screach to it. Jeff shuttered. He looked around in the distance there was a shadow it was getting larger. Jeffs mouth was dry. The sun beat down on him. It seamed as if there was no escape from this burning torture. His face hurt as he touched it.

“Jeff”

This time the voice was worse. It screached as it called Jeffs name. The shape in the distance was closing in. Jeff could start to make out what it was. It was dressed in black. A hood covered its face. The shape came even closer. Now Jeff could make out the hands. They were the only thing that was visible. The rest was hidden inside the black cloak. The fingers were red and knarled the nailes jutted out of each finger.

“Its time”

The voice called. This time it came from the robed figure. Jeff shuddered at the voice. The hands that came out of the robe slowly rose to the hood. They clutched the seem of each side of the cloak. Suddenly a laugh split the silence. The earth began to shake. The hands threw back the cloaks hood. Jeffs hands began to shake. His knees knocked together. His mouth was open. In front of him stood something more terrifing than than anything on earth. The hood revealed a head. Eyes bloodshot and red. Two horns stood on the beasts head. His mouth curled up to show brown hooked teath. Fire came up out of his head. It was the most hideous thing ever. Suddenly it came towards Jeff. Fire shot out of the ground. Jeff was trapped. The beast got up close to him. Jeff shuddered. The beast opened his mouth.

“Its over”

Jeff screamed. The ground began to spin. Fire leaped at his ankles. The beast stared at him. His face like that of death. Everything went black.

Round 6

Jeff sat up terrified. Sweat dreanched his body. He looked around. It was dark out. All he could see were the bricks rising high in front of him. He was back in the alley. Jeff took a deep breath. His palms where sweaty. He looked up to the sky. The stars shone brightly. Not a cloud could be seen. One star shone brightly over the others. Jeff stared at it for a few seconds. The light seemed to grow. Almost as if it were reaching out to him. The light seemed to bring light to the dark alley. Jeff began to cry. “I don’t know how to start.” He began tears welling up inside, “I know lifes not going to be easy. But I don’t want to screw it up. Please Lord forgive me. I need you.” With that he got up and headed home.

He quietly entered. He headed upstairs, but a note caught his attention. On the bar sat a note. All it said was “I’m Sorry”. Jeff smiled then headed upstairs. He paused for a moment in front of his dads door. He opened it just a bit. Light from the moon peered in through the window.

“Good Night, Dad” Jeff wispered as he closed the door. He walked down the hallway and headed to his room. He opened the door and turned on the light. The Micheal Jordan poster that hung ever so loosely began to flutter to the ground. Jeff walk over and caugh it before it hit. He walked over to his desk and put some tape on the back of it. Standing on his bed he put it back in its place. Stuck tightly to the cieling.

“Your not gonna fall again,” said Jeff softly. “Your stuck tight.” With that he walked over to the Bible picked it up and put it on his bed. Then he picked up the phone and dialed.

“Hello,” a sleepy voice called from the other line.
“Hi Alex,” said Jeff with a tear in his eye, “ I need your help.”

Far Far away. Where love is blooming and a stream of life trickles through a city of diamons sits a man on his throne. A throne of love, A throne of joy. This man is smiling a smile of happiness. And beside him sits a legion of people who smile with him. The beast was defeated. The round and the war are Gods!!