CHAPTER 10
419 Words
CHAPTER 10
“I thought I might find you in here.” Carl’s booming voice pierced through the silence of the church library.
Scott looked up from the book he’d been reading.
“What you got there?” Carl asked.
He held it up. “Revolution in World Missions. You read it?”
Carl smiled. “Only about five times. You set? Sandy and Woong are waiting in the car.”
Scott followed his pastor out the door. Carl fumbled in his pockets and muttered, “Now where did I put those keys?”
Once they reached his Honda, Carl eased himself into the driver’s seat, and Scott hopped in the back. Carl’s wife Sandy turned around to smile at him. “I’m so glad you decided to join us for lunch.”
“I can’t find my keys,” Carl grumbled, and Sandy pointed to the ignition, where they dangled from a New Orleans Saints keychain.
“Hey, Mr. Scott,” Woong piped up. “Do you wanna hear a joke?”
Scott smiled. He’d never felt all that comfortable around kids, but for some reason, Carl and Sandy’s son was one of the exceptions. “Sure. Tell me a good joke.”
“Ok.” Woong scrunched up his face in thought before finally reciting, “Knock, knock.”
“Who’s there?”
“Isaiah.”
“Isaiah who?”
“Isaiah prayer for you every day. Get it?”
Scott let out the expected chuckle. “That’s a good one.”
“Now it’s your turn,” Woong stated as Carl pulled out of the parking lot.
“My turn to tell you a joke?”
Woong nodded. Scott thought back to his two years at Bible school. He’d learned some riddles there. If only he could remember one.
“Ok, how about this.” He smiled at Woong’s eager expression. “What were Goliath’s last words?”
“Goliath?” Woong repeated.
“Yeah. Goliath. You know, the giant David killed with the slingshot and the stone.”
“What were his last words?” Woong squinted and scratched his cheek. Scott had never met a kid with more expressive features. “I don’t know. I give up.”
Scott beamed. “Ok. Goliath’s last words were, ‘Such a thing never entered my head before.’” He laughed before he realized the rest of the car was silent.
“I don’t get it.” Woong frowned, but he didn’t wait for Scott to explain the punchline. “But now it’s my turn. Dad told this one in church last Sunday, so if you heard it then just pretend like you didn’t, all right? How does Moses make his coffee? He-brews it.”
It was a short drive to Carl and Sandy’s home in Medford, especially in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. By the time Carl pulled his Honda into the garage, Scott realized two things. First, the Lindgrens were even bigger saints than he’d realized for the patience they showed Woong, who apparently was only quiet when he was eating or sleeping.
Second, if Scott tried really hard and had enough distracting him, he could go a full twelve minutes without letting thoughts of Susannah Peters creep into his mind and darken his mood.
- Writer
