|
“…agent of God. Ignorance of the Holy Spirit will…” the pastor’s voice droned on about the Holy Spirit. Darcei Heathrow stole a quick glance at the clock, 20 more minutes and she would be free. Minutes crawled by slowly and seemed to go on forever. Darcei stiffled a yawn and shifted uncomfortably in the pew. The heat was unbearable and the church had no air conditioning. The only windows were stained glass windows, which lined the ceiling and walls. She sat like a robot, staring straight ahead at the pastor as her mind wandered freely. His words flitted across the surface of her mind, but she paid no heed. “Now let us close with a word of prayer,” drawled the pastor.
“Finally,” muttered Darcei, as she simultaneously dropped her head in prayer. A boring ten minutes went by. The pastor went on to pray about everything from evil spirits to sick grandmothers to ministries in Taiwan.
“Amen,” he finally said. Darcei’s heart soared; she had survived yet another boring Sunday morning. Her parents stayed to chatter, while Darcei stared, unfocused, at the people around her. She could sense something about these people, something she didn’t quite like. They seemed so uptight, formal, and fake. Fake smiles and fake friendliness. Darcei wondered what they actually did outside Sundays. Images of partying, smoking, and drinking flashed through her head. These people weren’t really as bad as she imagined, were they?
A voice unexpectedly scattered his thoughts. “This is my daughter, Darcei,” said her mother, Arianna Heathrow.
Darcei stood up slowly and stared coldly at the pastor for a moment. This was the last person on earth she wanted to talk to. Arianna gave her daughter a curious look. Darcei straightened up forced a smile onto her face, “Good morning, Pastor James.”
The elderly pastor cleared his throat and seemed to be inspecting Darcei. “You’ve grown since the last time I saw you.” Darcei felt uncomfortable under the pastor’s gaze. His eyes seemed to follow her every movement, like a hawk watching its prey.
“Darcei mentioned to me how much she liked your sermon this morning,” commented Arianna lightly.
“Of course,” said Darcei, playing along, “the way you described the Holy Spirit was truly unique, very fascinating indeed. And how…” She launched into a long, meaningless, list of things that had brushed across her mind in the past hour.
The pastor smiled proudly, “I’m glad you’ve been listening, not many young people listen to sermons these days. They don’t even bother to come to church either.”
Arianna grinned and made an exaggerated motion to look at her watch. She gasped in feigned surprise, “Look at the time! Oh my! I’m sorry Pastor James, but we really must get going. My sister Mabel is coming from England and we must pick her up at the airport.”
The pastor nodded understandingly. “Very well then, I shall see you next Sunday.”
Arianna smiled and left, Darcei followed her out the wide church doors. Her father, Chris, was standing at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for them. The Heathrows piled into their car and left the church.
“What took so long?” asked Chris.
“Pastor James,” answered Arianna blankly.
“Mother, how come I didn’t know you had a sister named Mabel?” inquired Darcei, annoyed.
“Because I don’t have one”
“Then why did you say so?”
“Wouldn’t you say the same thing if you were stuck talking to a pastor of all people?”
“You know mom, we could always just not go to church. You’re always pointing out how religion is futile anyway.”
“Of course, but, umm…” Arianna trailed off. She didn’t know what to say.
“Tradition,” cut in Chris quickly, noticing Arianna’s unease, “It has been a Heathrow tradition to go to church every Sunday. It was also one of your grandfather’s dying wishes.”
Arianna shot Chris a look of gratitude. There were so many time like this, that Darcei had come so close to discovering the truth. The truth about them, about her real parents, about everything. She feared the future, when Darcei became older, perhaps she could handle the truth.
“We’re home! Come on now, lunch for everyone.” came Chris’ cheerful voice. Cheerful, yet, there was a sliver of fear in his voice. The same fear that ran through Arianna. |
