Master, to whom shall we go?

Another draft I never finished is this unfinished short story. If it is a good idea let me know and I'll keep working on stories based on Sunday's readings.

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(Taken from the Gospel of the Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time)

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My Goal: Make weekly stories based on something from the week's Gospel for my spiritual growth and to use my talents for a form of evangelization.

Characters: the people who make the story happen. 

        (Yessi (wears a red hat, and likes cooking, hates dishes, friends went to college, age 24), 

        Carl (likes dogs and camping, age 25))

Setting: the where and when of the story. 

        (Benque, Now)

Plot: the events that happen in the story. 

1. They are in zone of comfort - Carl is camping / Yessi is cooking

2. But they want something - Someone to camp with / someone to eat with her
3. They enter an unfamiliar situation - Carl buy food / Yessi buy groceries and see praise & worship flyer
4. Adapt to it - They both go
5. Get what they wanted - They camp and cook for each other
6. Pay a heavy price - to see each other they need to go to church
7. Return to familiar situation - Carl is camping / Yessi is cooking

8. Having changed - They plan to camp after Mass on Sunday?

        

Conflict: the pattern that is interrupted in the story. 

        (to see each other they need to go to church and Jesus)

Resolution: the end result of the story.

        (They go to camp and Mass)

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Carl smells rain in the distance. He gets up from the damp log and packs up his happy cow cheese and slices of bread he was eating for supper. The rain gave him just enough time to go into his tent. It poured down, weighing over his tent and causing the sides to move up and down. The rain came violently slapping the tent with forceful winds. Carl unzipped his sleeping bag and got in. 

Yessi opened the faucet. She let some water pour and put her hand under the running water. Her fingertips slightly wet she sprinkled some water onto the frying pan. She saw the water bead and slide around on the pan. She sliced a square of Margerine onto the pan. It sizzled and steamed. She poured diced onions green peppers and tomatoes. Then, she lowered the fire. The aroma of sizzling veggies filling the room, she cracked an egg and poured it in. Yessi moved it around to cook it evenly and when she was happy with how the egg looked, she served it in a plate onto a slice of toast bread. 

In the sleeping bag, Carl shuffled around trying to make himself comfortable. He had slept many nights on the floor, he thought. This was a nicer night. He was warm and dry in his sleeping bag and away from the torrential rain. It wasn't the temperature or the comfort of his bed he missed. Carl wondered what it could be that was making him feel uneasy. It wasn't the fear of something lurking in the night. There aren't many animals or people around there. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. So, he tossed and turned some more now hearing the squish and slush of the soaked ground beneath him.  

Pulling a chair to sit, Yessi looked at the food but turned around to soak the frying pan. She hated doing the dishes. This made the task slightly easier, but it grossed her out touching wet jiggly food. So, she began washing the cutting board and knife she used to cut the onion and tomato. She cleaned it and thought to herself that she forgot to season the food. A clumsy accident but another sign to her that she is doing what she loves halfheartedly. She thinks of how it was nice sharing her enjoyment with her friends. She misses them. 

Carl thinks of his mom whom he wishes would join him when he goes camping. She hates sleeping on the floor and being dirty and full of bug bites. The rain starts easing. Its moving on. The field comes alive with sounds of frogs croaking and cicadas clicking. Carl shimmies out of his sleeping bag and pushes on his tent to take off some of the clinging water droplets. He unzips the tent and lets in the cool air carrying the sound of a night full of life. He looks out and thinks to himself how nice it would be to have someone to enjoy this with him. 

A hand reaches for a bag of bread. Yessy walks past a guy looking at a stale bread. She picks up a bag of rice. Curry rice would be a nice change. Turning toward the seasonings she grabs some curry powder and picks out what she needs to restock on: recado, black pepper, Coriander, spice seed, and some salt. Still recollecting what her pantry needs; she sees a flyer on a column. 

He got the bread. This one was cheaper. Not many people buy this one because it always tastes stale. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it might even have mold polka dotting itself onto the bread. That's why you need to check. Carl walks toward the register having gotten his essentials of bread and cheese. He sees a beautiful girl wearing a red hat and a yellow blouse. He sees her in the way looking at a column, so he shyly turns back and goes through another aisle. It might be the poster she is reading. They put it there earlier. Carl had read it when he passed by. It was for a praise and worship that was going to be held at the Church on the hill. 

On the flyer Yessy read:

<<COME AS YOU ARE>>

<<TO A NIGHT OF RAISE AND WORSHIP UNDER THE STARS>>

<<IN FRONT OF ALL SAINTS CHAPEL>>

<<THERE WILL BE SONGS, PRAYER, SCRIPTURE, FRIENDSHIP, AND FOOD>>

Carl wanted to go to meet new people.

So did Yessy. 

On the night of the event, it looked very intimidating. There were rows of chairs, candles on the floor arranged as a cross, people were talking in groups, at the far end was a priest hearing confession. At the center of it all was an altar with candles. 

Carl felt ostracized. The groups had already broken off into people that were familiar with each other. As soon as its over he would leave. Maybe he could leave before it even starts. Carl turned around and headed for the entrance. 

"Is it over?" asked Yessy.

"No. It hasn't started. I was actually going home." answered Carl.

Bewildered Yessy asked, "Why?"

"I don't know. I feel bad. I don't know anyone there," replied Carl. 

"I don't know anyone there either. Would you want to go back if we sat together?" Yessy suggested. 

"Okay!" said Carl excitedly. 

They both walked back to where the altar was and sat next to each other. More people trickled in and took a seat. Even the chatting groups took seats around themselves.