Go In!

NOTE: The FICTION story below is a change from the kind of writing you normally find here. For an explanation...see the previous post (“Going in Circles,” posted on June 25, 2018).

I wrote the piece below while learning more about how to write “fast fiction.” As instructed, I typed the rough draft of that "short short" story in only 5 minutes and then edited it extensively before posting it here. I based the story on a photo I’d taken recently while running errands in town. (I added the word WELCOME to the photo.)

Enjoy! Please leave a comment to let me know if you like the change.

I am a black wrought iron bench with lovely designs. Day after day, I sit in front of a white marble wall and to the left of the entrance to what folks around here call Opportunity House.

Not everyone notices me. But I notice them. Some people stride confidently to the door and hurry in. Others approach Opportunity House slowly, or, I should say, timidly. Others sit on me for a few minutes to catch their breath and do some deep breathing. But they finally do go in.

Some folks linger but then leave. As I watch them walk away, their shoulders stooped, their faces dejected, and their heads bowed with shame, I feel sorry for them. I want to cry out, “Come back! Come back! Go in! If you leave now, you’ll never know what you could have been and what you could have done.”

"...be strong and courageous. 

Do not be terrified; 

do not be discouraged, 

for the LORD your God 

will be with you 

wherever you go."

Joshua 1:9, NIV