The Ecclesia

One Morning in Paradise - pg 7 - 8

       The counter continues past the basin, where a modern microwave oven hangs below a cabinet over a stove located halfway between the sink and the corner. 

       On the kitchen's front wall, an archway leading to the dining room is guarded on its right by a tall cabinet used as a broom closet. Continuing to the right is a rather large refrigerator in the center of the wall. Finally, it terminates behind John and Emily at the coffee bar just to the left of the passage that leads to the stairway hall.

       At the table, both of the teenagers are trying to tell their story to the officer simultaneously. Their voices amplified due to their intense excitement over the ordeal they had just been through only an hour earlier. 

       “Alright, alright, just calm down! I can’t listen to both of you at the same time. Who was driving? Let’s start there,” Officer Teller commands above the clamor in a loud authoritative voice.

       The two boys quiet down, and the older of the two speaks up, “I was,” the youngster exclaims, holding his right hand in the air like the high school student he is. The driver is young Michael Dietz, a local seventeen-year-old Palmerton high school student who, while not being an outright criminal, definitely lives just inside the limits of the law, all the while stretching those same limits to his maximum ability. He is tall with an athletic build, short black hair, and hazel eyes. His slightly Roman nose sits above a mouth that seems to be in a persistent smirk mounted upon a narrow chin, which gives him a constant smart-aleck look. 

       The other youth is short, stocky, and slightly overweight, although not flabby. Lenard Oliver is his name, but everyone just calls him Lenny. His brown hair is wild and unkempt and long enough to stick out from under his ball cap in all directions, which he always wears backward. His bangs hang down past his hat to just above his eyebrows, and his brown eyes set wide apart on his round face along with a broad nose, and his pursed lips, along with his short chin, give him a young, determined, Friar Tuck kind of appearance. 

       “Okay, what happened?” the officer asks, clicking his pen and setting it to the notepad in his left hand. 

       As Michael begins to explain, Emily grabs her father by the arm and gives him an alarmed look, turning her head so only her father can see her, and silently mouths the words, “Oh my God!” 

       The officer, with his back towards her, couldn’t see her. And the two boys are too involved with their story to notice anyway. 

       “You don’t need us for anything, do you, Officer Teller?” Emily inquires as she nudges her father toward the hall entrance. 

       “Oh, ah - why no, Emily,” the officer says in a sort of controlled stutter, concentrating on his notebook, without turning around, “Unless you were a witness.” 

       "Sorry. I was just getting coffee started when the boys came to the door. I didn't see a thing," Emily replies. 

       Emily nudges her father and begins pushing him ahead of her through the arch into the staircase hall. 

       "What's going on, girl? What is it?" John asks as soon as they get to the foot of the stairs. 

       "Did you see it? Did you see it? If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I would swear it wasn't so." 

       "What, Emily, what are you talking about?" 

       “The lump and scar on the back of Mr. Teller’s right hand. He’s taken a        “tag.” He‘s taken the Mark of the Beast[1]!” 

       “I know,” John sighs, “He showed it to me when we were outside earlier.       What we’ll have to do is, we’ll have to gather the “clan” together and pray about it. 

       “What about the girls? They still upstairs in the dorm?” 

       “Yes,” Emily replies, “They’re up there getting dressed. Beowulf is with them, keeping them company. I really should go up and see if I can do anything to help them get situated.” 

       “Alright,” John replies, “I’ll get a couple of the boys together to help with breakfast.” 

[1] Rev. 13:16

One Morning in Paradise - pg 9 & 10

       Emily smiles in confirmation and turns to walk up the stairs. “What about orientation?” She says, suddenly turning around, “Are we good for tomorrow?” 

       “Orientation will be right on time as usual,” replies John winking and giving her a thumbs up. 

       “Cool!” Emily says, quickly turning and bounding up the stairs. 

       “Wouldn’t it be nice if I had that kind of energy again?” John muses to himself. 

       "Youth is truly wasted on the young," he muses to himself, half smiling. 

He then turns toward the front door and heads off toward the bunkhouse, where he intends to recruit a couple of his boys to help with breakfast.

       He then turns toward the front door and heads off toward the bunkhouse, where he intends to recruit a couple of his boys to help with breakfast. 

       The attic runs the entire width of the house and is set up as a dormitory with a line of eight beds set perpendicular to the wall, spaced evenly on either side, each with two thirty-inch wide wardrobes between them. Two young women, Sarah Chen and Rebecca Frost have finished dressing and are sitting on one of the beds chatting and waiting for the state of affairs in the kitchen to conclude. 

       "I'm worried, Sarah," Rebecca says, "I've never, ever done anything like this before. I mean, being away from home and all. How about you? How do you feel?" 

       Rebecca is a beautiful yet petite girl in her late teens. Although she shows signs of maturing into womanhood, she has managed to hang onto just a hint of baby fat. Her curly blond hair flows down past her shoulders and hangs in bangs in front just above her large bright blue eyes, giving her face an almost angelic appearance. Her pink pullover sweater matches her ankle-length purple-flowered, cream-colored skirt. Rebecca's burgundy cowboy boots complete her ensemble, giving her an endearing cuteness, which she is categorically trying to pull off and effectively succeeding.  

          Rebecca’s parents are longtime members of the church from Baltimore and sent her to Paradise Farm to learn how to live “off-grid” and return to a more simple lifestyle without the intrusions of modern gadgetry and all its trappings (i.e., the rat race) that come with it. It’s what the church calls “Transition.”
      She is sitting on Sarah's bunk with Sarah on her right and her left arm resting on Beowulf, the family pet, lying by her side with his head resting between his paws.
      "Don't worry, Rebecca, I've done this once before, but not here," Sarah replies.
      Sarah is a little more than a year older than Rebecca, almost twenty. Her long straight black hair hangs down to her waist, and it's obvious she has Asian ancestry somewhere in her family tree. Her brown, almond-shaped eyes give away her Asian heritage. The girl's bubbly personality makes friends out of just about everybody she meets, and she was very popular when she was in high school.
      Her thick thigh-length, gray sweater hides an off-white t-shirt and is tied at the waist with a matching belt. Her blue jeans are deftly tucked into her flat-heeled black leather boots as she sits next to Rebecca with her hands folded between her knees.
      "It was a "transition" down in Maryland last May," she went on, "I was kind of nervous back then and had a hard time adjusting, but I learned a lot, and I think I'm more prepared now, especially now that I know what's going on this second time around."
      She puts her arm around Rebecca's shoulder, giving her a little squeeze. "Don't worry. I'm sure Pastor Phillips knows what he's doing. He won't let anything happen to us. I have complete faith in him." She pauses. "And Emily! She is so, so cool. When you do something wrong, she lets you know it, but she doesn't make you feel like an idiot when 

One Morning in Paradise - pg 11 & 12

        “Now, Pastor Phillips used to preach at our church before he retired, but that was way before I was born. My mom told me all about him, and everything she says was all good. She says he was very wise and caring." 

       "As a matter of fact, my mom will be coming up here tomorrow to begin the transition process. You have just got to meet her. I know she's my mom and all, but she is so, so cool. I can't wait till she gets here. We're gonna have such a great time." 

       Just then, the door to the attic slowly creeks open on its old and worn hinges at the bottom of the staircase. After closing the door quietly behind her, Emily ascends the old rugged stairs, and Beowulf, who is almost blind, slumps off the bed and ambles to the top of the stairs to greet her. 

       "I see you are all dressed and ready to get started. That's great!" Emily says, smiling as she strides over to the bunk across from the younger women and sits down. 

       "Unfortunately, we have to wait until the situation in the kitchen is over with before we can deal with getting breakfast ready, but once the coast is clear, we can get down to  the business at hand." 

        "However, we have some extenuating circumstances to take care of, and Pastore Philips has recruited a couple of the boys to round up breakfast."

        "What about orientation?" Sarah inquires.

       "Okay, orientation begins at three o'clock tomorrow afternoon, so the commotion in the kitchen won't have any bearing in that regard, Sheila replies to Sarah. "Your Mom and Dad will be on the first bus, which is due at ten o'clock. I'm sure they'll be excited to see you just as much as you will be to see them." 

        "I know," says Sarah, "I can't wait."

       "Good! Now, as soon as the kitchen is cleared and the policeman is gone, the boys will get to work on breakfast, and you two; well, you two are going to be relegated to a special assignment."  

       “Tow truck’s here!” John Phillips’s voice echoes down the hall toward the kitchen. John is calling from the house's front door, where he had taken up a position in his old rocker to monitor things outside. 

       "Oh no!" says the young driver of the crumpled car, "My dad is gonna kill me!"
"Don't worry, Mr. Dietz," Officer Teller says reassuringly, "You'll be alright. Nobody is seriously hurt, and the car looks repairable."
      "I would like to get a better look at the scene of the accident, though," he says as he turns toward the hallway entrance to the kitchen. "You boys want to follow me down to the car? I may have a few more questions I need to ask before this is over."
      Scooting their chairs back and standing up, the boys begin following the officer through the kitchen entrance and down the hall toward the front door.
As they walk past the stairway, they see Emily reaching the foot of the staircase as she is coming downstairs and they each turn and thank her for breakfast without missing a step on the way out the front door. Michael turns to watch Emily walk down the hall toward the kitchen, hoping she would turn around so he could flash her his "coolest" smile as he backs through the storm door.  
      However, Emily never looks back, and Michael stumbles over Lenny, who had stopped to tie his shoe just outside the front door. The two young men end up falling over each other and stumbling across the porch, almost falling down the front steps.
      "Whoa, guys!" Officer Teller warns. "We're not in that much of a hurry. Now get up, get yourselves together and act like a couple of adults, Okay?"
      The two young men stand and brush themselves off as they recover from the mishap, all the while apologizing to the constable and the pastor.
      John looks at the two ungainly young men, "Careful boys," he says, smiling and shooting a glance toward the officer and letting go a little chuckle.
      The trio, Officer Teller, and the two students, start for the squad car when suddenly, Michael put his hand on his head. "My hat!" he says, "I left it in the kitchen!"
      "Hey guys, I'll be right back. I have to go back and get my hat!" 

One Morning in Paradise - pg 13 & 14

       Michael runs back towards the house, bounding up the set of five porch steps in two leaps. "I forgot my hat, Mr. Phillips!" Michael says as he shoots past John. Still rocking away, he watches the young man with a look of wonderment written across his face. 

       Flinging open the storm door, Michael bolts inside just as Sarah reaches the bottom of the stairs. Michael stops on a dime as he meets Sarah's gaze and immediately becomes stricken by how beautiful she looks. Sarah is caught entirely by surprise, as she is startled by the smitten youth, and it is evident to both of them that his attraction is immediate and total. 

       For an eternal four seconds, they just stand there looking into each other's eyes until Michael finally says, "Hi!" 

       "Hi!" Sarah says in return, smiling almost shyly. 

       Again they just stand there looking at each other, the young man intoxicated with pure infatuation. "I forgot my hat," Michael finally says, "I left it in the kitchen," and he slowly moves past her into the hallway toward the kitchen, unable to remove his eyes from the young lady on the staircase. 

       He can't take his eyes off her for a second. All the while thinking to himself that she is the most beautiful girl he has ever seen in the whole world or at least the world known to him. 

       "Here it is!" Emily interrupts as she rushes down the hall with the ball cap held out in her right hand. 

       Emily places the cap squarely on Michael's head. Then hooking his right arm with her left, she turns him toward the front door. All the while, Michael is trying to look back at Sarah as Emily ushers him out. Eventually folding her hand into Michael's, trying to distract him by patting him on the back of his right hand and saying, "It was nice of you to stop by Mr. Dietz. We would love for you to stay for breakfast, but we have much to do today, and we would just be getting in your way. You should stop by Saturday night for our Bible study. We would love to see you then." 

       Emily pauses at the top of the porch steps, lets go of Michael's hand, and unhooks his arm from hers, "But for now, you'd better get down to your dad's car and help Officer Teller out with his investigation. Hope to see you Saturday."