beach towel.
Jim sat on the beach in front of the house as a couple holding hands approached. He pretended as though he was waiting for someone and checked his imaginary watch as he saw the female companion look in his direction. He shot her a weak smile and wave and when she responded with one of her own his heart rested.
Jim watched the couple walk away from him as he counted in his head. When he made it to two hundred and neither of them had looked back even once, he decided they were not spying on him. With no one coming from the other direction, he sprinted to the porch and on the porch floor was a single key on a Mickey Mouse key ring matching the beach towel hanging over the porch rail.
Brother Jim wondered which door it would open and tried the back door first. The key slid easily into the lock and turned with just as much ease, opening the door. He ducked inside and quickly locked the door behind him.
Once inside, Jim had a sudden thought that he was about to be ambushed. He clenched his fists and prepared for an onslaught. After standing in a frozen pose for a few moments and hearing the screaming in his mind subside, he calmed to hear nothing but the hum of an air conditioner. Jim skeptically looked around the airy room to find no one waiting to hurt him and only a quiet and calm room with a note sitting in the middle of the kitchen table. It read:
“Stay two days. Shave beard. Cut hair. Fridge is full. Pray.”
The note was written in his own handwriting. He shivered, wondering how this had happened. So many thoughts raced through his head. He wondered if somehow he was the mastermind behind all of this and was somehow tricking himself? Was someone else drugging him and fooling him? Or was it God’s will? Being raised as he was, he decided that everything that happened to him was God’s will.
Jim looked in the bathroom to find a pack of triple-bladed razors, shaving cream, an electric razor, and scissors. His hair and beard had been itching all morning in the heat and he longed to be free of the beard his daddy made him grow for spiritual reasons he did not ever fully explain.
Brother Jim plugged in the electric razor first and turned it on. The buzz of the little machine excited him as he pulled it across his face and watched a shower of hairs tumble into the sink. Jim could not even remember when he had begun to grow the beard and a feeling of liberation filled the little bathroom. At one point, he had to stop shaving and take the plug out of the bottom of the sink and run scorching hot water to get all the hairs through the bathroom pipes. Having the sink cleared, he finished the job with the shaving cream and the hand razors.
Finished with shaving his face, Jim barely recognized himself in the mirror. He thought he looked young. The long beard for years had made him feel like an old man. Inspired, he turned to his hair. The directions from the kitchen table directed him to cut his hair and he did. He cut it short. Not buzz short, but short enough.
Jim ran a bath and soaked in a sweltering hot bath and tried to wash all thoughts out of his mind. After about thirty minutes, he let the water drain and reclined in the tub until it was completely empty. Feeling good, Jim decided to shower and wash his hair and body and did so until the hot water ran out.
Exiting the shower, Jim caught a glimpse of himself in the foggy bathroom mirror. He momentarily froze. Through the fog filled glass, he moved his head left and right trying to get a better view of himself. Sweat trickled down his brow as he feared wiping the glass. His daddy would be so mad at him, he thought. Jim said a quick prayer and picked up an unused washcloth. Very slowly, he wiped the mirror clear of its foggy residue.
With his new image in full view, Jim threw his head back as if he had seen a ghost. His breathing took off at a sprint and he dropped the towel that hung around his body as he stumbled into the toilet and lost his footing in
Jim sat on the beach in front of the house as a couple holding hands approached. He pretended as though he was waiting for someone and checked his imaginary watch as he saw the female companion look in his direction. He shot her a weak smile and wave and when she responded with one of her own his heart rested.
Jim watched the couple walk away from him as he counted in his head. When he made it to two hundred and neither of them had looked back even once, he decided they were not spying on him. With no one coming from the other direction, he sprinted to the porch and on the porch floor was a single key on a Mickey Mouse key ring matching the beach towel hanging over the porch rail.
Brother Jim wondered which door it would open and tried the back door first. The key slid easily into the lock and turned with just as much ease, opening the door. He ducked inside and quickly locked the door behind him.
Once inside, Jim had a sudden thought that he was about to be ambushed. He clenched his fists and prepared for an onslaught. After standing in a frozen pose for a few moments and hearing the screaming in his mind subside, he calmed to hear nothing but the hum of an air conditioner. Jim skeptically looked around the airy room to find no one waiting to hurt him and only a quiet and calm room with a note sitting in the middle of the kitchen table. It read:
“Stay two days. Shave beard. Cut hair. Fridge is full. Pray.”
The note was written in his own handwriting. He shivered, wondering how this had happened. So many thoughts raced through his head. He wondered if somehow he was the mastermind behind all of this and was somehow tricking himself? Was someone else drugging him and fooling him? Or was it God’s will? Being raised as he was, he decided that everything that happened to him was God’s will.
Jim looked in the bathroom to find a pack of triple-bladed razors, shaving cream, an electric razor, and scissors. His hair and beard had been itching all morning in the heat and he longed to be free of the beard his daddy made him grow for spiritual reasons he did not ever fully explain.
Brother Jim plugged in the electric razor first and turned it on. The buzz of the little machine excited him as he pulled it across his face and watched a shower of hairs tumble into the sink. Jim could not even remember when he had begun to grow the beard and a feeling of liberation filled the little bathroom. At one point, he had to stop shaving and take the plug out of the bottom of the sink and run scorching hot water to get all the hairs through the bathroom pipes. Having the sink cleared, he finished the job with the shaving cream and the hand razors.
Finished with shaving his face, Jim barely recognized himself in the mirror. He thought he looked young. The long beard for years had made him feel like an old man. Inspired, he turned to his hair. The directions from the kitchen table directed him to cut his hair and he did. He cut it short. Not buzz short, but short enough.
Jim ran a bath and soaked in a sweltering hot bath and tried to wash all thoughts out of his mind. After about thirty minutes, he let the water drain and reclined in the tub until it was completely empty. Feeling good, Jim decided to shower and wash his hair and body and did so until the hot water ran out.
Exiting the shower, Jim caught a glimpse of himself in the foggy bathroom mirror. He momentarily froze. Through the fog filled glass, he moved his head left and right trying to get a better view of himself. Sweat trickled down his brow as he feared wiping the glass. His daddy would be so mad at him, he thought. Jim said a quick prayer and picked up an unused washcloth. Very slowly, he wiped the mirror clear of its foggy residue.
With his new image in full view, Jim threw his head back as if he had seen a ghost. His breathing took off at a sprint and he dropped the towel that hung around his body as he stumbled into the toilet and lost his footing in
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