The Shepherd by Jack A. Ling (the read aloud family .TXT) 📕

Chapter 2
Eye of The Lord

In our lives, there comes a single moment when we must choose between the right and the wrong. The moral and the immoral. Thee good and the evil. The living and the dead. The strong and the weak. The holy and the unholy. And it is when this moment comes upon us, that we realize who we really and truly are. There is no single motion which causes one to realize their true intentions until that same individual is faced between choosing one and deserting the other. And once we choose one. Once we choose the moral and holy, or the evil and dead, we truly realize that we had this intention all of our lives. We just didn’t have a call to action. I cannot imagine life without something until that very something ceases to exist. And I cannot imagine all of my life to be with another something until I am actually called and have motion to do just that. For there is a difference between thinking and doing. This, my friends, is how we live and die. How we do and undo. How we choose and wait. There will be a moment, and you will not know how to act until your soul is burdened to act with all your power, might, strength, and will. We must learn to let go before we may learn to hold on.
***
The sun had just risen to give birth to the heat which had died all those hours ago when it had set. But just as the sun had killed the heat to one and all, it has given birth to it all the same. And just like the sun, a certain individual rose to their feet to begin their cycle once again. This specific individual had the hair of pure ash and the eyes of pure stardust. She gathered herself and began to operate towards the kitchen of that home which rose in suburbs of Winter Springs. But as she was walking, she wondered how long she had been living in the same apartment. Ah yes, six years to the day. It was on that fateful summer’s evening that the strong-looking man had given her the keys to where she would dread to return every day and night.
While thinking of this, she was foolish enough to trip and stumble her face into the pantry where she wanted something to eat. Opening the doors with hope, the mistress discovered that there was in fact nothing to eat but scattered chocolates and breakfast bars which made her want to vomit.
Suddenly, the woman heard a sound which sent excitement thrilling through her bones as if she had in fact won the lottery. But of course it was not; it was nothing other than her cell phone. As she jumped forth to grab her phone, the shadow which had diminished in size while she was in the dark of her room grew and grew until it was thrice its original size and density.
“Hello?” she managed, trying not to sound over excited from having something to possibly do that day.
“Morgan?” the crude voice on the other end expressed.
“Who is this?”
“It’s Derek Johnson from the office. You need to get to town immediately!”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t ask. Just get going!” the young lad screamed just as he ended the call in a mildly rude fashion.

A deep, dark depressive feeling shrouded the settlement which lie upon the gravel path. The only light which kept those darkening shadows of the people alive was from the sun which was partly covered by the cross on the top of a church. This church seemed like it had been unused for at least a decade if not an entire epoch. An epoch of sadness and unholiness. An epoch of “emptiness”. But this did not matter to the citizens of course. Nothing did really matter to them, but where they were going to locate their next food source. But this did not stop them from gathering in the middle of town around the jailhouse where an individual had been kept for several weeks due to an unknown cause as of the moment. Even as the mob was unknown to the cause of this man being imprisoned, they felt no contempt in screaming those slurs: “Ah! Death to him!”, “Burden the death-bringer!”, and many, many others.
Even as she did feel threatened to the very core of her being, the one called Morgan pushed her way through to the front of this death-loving mob with the various “Sorry” and “Excuse me,” but they didn’t seem to care. As she walked up the steps to the door, her newly-purchased boots clicked repeatedly with an annoying rhythm. But she did eventually make her way only to stumble upon a large-breasted man with a large figure almost like an ape.
“Excuse me, I need to get through to the door, please,” she smiled as she attempted to push her way through the large man.
“I don’t think so,” the man grabbed her by the neck. “This is town business, lady.” But the man was suddenly stopped by a cold-looking hand which placed itself upon the man’s shoulder, extending a shadow over his foot.
“Let her speak. For it is His will, boy,” a cold, heartless voice crept through the room. This then caused the man to move aside without ease. “Come here, my dear.”
“Who are you?” Morgan whispered as she eased forward, slowly.
“He is my shepherd, my sweet.”
“Who? What do you mean?”
“Well, the Lord, of course! None else shall take the place as the Lord. He sees all. He knows all. He loves all.”
“I’m not sure that I understand, sir.”
“Do you not see it?” the man ached as he lifted his finger to the sky, indicating the sun which just showed past the cross.
“The sun?”
“Yes and no, my dear.”
“Excuse me?”
“The eye of the heavens shineth upon us all. None are out of its bound. For He is the heavens, and his child is our shepherd.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about!”
“The eye of the one Lord is upon us all. Even you, dear.”
“What eye? Who is the Lord?”
“The eye which shineth in the holy brightness of the heavens above! Nothing shall shine brighter than that which He hath placed to give us life! Warmth! Light!”
“So, the sun?”
“If you must call it such then do so, but do not mistake that He watches you.”
“Who?”
“Must I repeat myself every time, girl? The Lord! He who gave us reasons for living!”
“And what reasons are those?”
“To pursue that which is his image! Love and glory!”
“And why must we listen?”
“My love, a time is coming. A time where we must choose.”
“What must we choose?”
“Good or bad. Moral or immoral. Good or evil. Holy or unholy. Light or shadow.”
“How will we know when this time is here?”
“The heavens shall shake with the fury of all that lives and is dead. Stars shall fall, and the Lord shall come.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The time when our Lord shall judge us all. The living, dead, and otherwise. And the rest shall see the fury of the world.”
“The fury of the world?”
“The end, my dear.”
“The end of what?”
“Everything,” the man moaned as the one called Johnson yelled for Morgan.
“Well, I have to go, but why are you here?”
“The Lord has been turned upon. Good-bye. And remember: the eye of the Lord watches you and judges always,” the man said as he released a quick bit of laughter and fell to the floor.

Publication Date: 04-20-2012

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