And Then…. I Woke Up….
The sound of the alarm seemed faint as I was sleeping comfortably in my warm, cozy bed, wrapped up in the hand made quilt grandma gave me last Christmas . I finally rose to silence the annoying, beeping, sound of the alarm. As I glanced toward the window something caught my eye, I hesitantly got out of bed, keeping my gaze on whatever it was that I saw. When I reached the narrow window, my still sleepy eyes surveyed the yard. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but something just didn't feel right. I quickly realized that it was Thursday and I still had to go to school. As I dressed and got my stuff together, the less and less I thought about the odd feeling I had this morning. As I quietly approached the kitchen, my mother, feeling my presence, asked, "What would you like for breakfast, Jessie?"
"Pancakes will be good, thanks", I replied, as my attention was drawn to the small kitchen tv.
"Today's weather in LA is quite strange, well we haven't had weather like this since, well, since 1995, the year David Sickamore brought …."
The news broadcaster kept talking, I said under my breath, "David Sickamore?"
"What's that sweetie?" mother asked.
"um…who's David Sickamore?"
"Oh, hum, let's see.." my mom said with a sigh, scratching her head.
"David Sickamore.. well he is a very bad man, he doesn't know or doesn't want to know God.
"Mom", I said boldly, "I'm not a child, you can tell me what happened."
"Ok, well you were just a little baby when the name David Sickamore made the headline news. He had killed three people, because they were Christians."
My eyes widened and my thoughts raced, I knew my mom could see my expression and I'm sure she felt my heart pump, even though I was sitting 3 feet away from her.
"You know what, you're still too young for this, I shouldn't have told you anything… I'm sorry honey," mom said.
"No mom," I reassured her that I could handle this. Mom continued telling me the story.
When I arrived at school, everyone was talking about David Sickamore and how weird the weather was today. I also thought about David Sickamore as I walked down the long, boring, hallways from class to class, even though I thought about everything there was to think about, my mind was still flooded with questions.
By the time I got home, I had some answers to my questions, but
something was still troubling me. I got off the bus and rushed towards home. As I got through the front door I could see my father in the living room watching the news. "Hi dad, do you know where mom is?"
"Hi Jessie girl, yeah she is in the kitchen cooking dinner, is everything
ok?"
"Mom!" I yelled.
"What's the matter Jessica?"
"Mom, the killer, David Sickamore, is in this area!" "He could come to our neighborhood, what if he comes to our house? "
"Honey…" mom said.
"Mom, I said hesitantly… what if he comes to our house, you know we have a cross on the front door…"
"Jessie, hold on, calm down." Mom walked towards me with her arms open to embrace me. I felt her warm arms wrapped around my cold, anxious, body. It was quiet now, but my heavy breathing broke the silence.
"Honey, how about you help me cook dinner, to get your mind off of things?" "Thanks mom, but I've got a ton of homework to do"
"Alright then, I'll call you when it's time to set the table."
Slowly I walked up the stairs, and headed for my bedroom. I turned on every light switch I walked past and looked around every corner there
was…just to make sure there wasn't anything out of the
ordinary. Before I new it my mom called me down to set the table for
dinner. "Ok, mom, be right there!" I finished up my last
math problem and ran down the stairs to the kitchen. Mom fixed my
favorite dinner, chicken pot pie. I love the warm crust with the
steamy baked carrots and green peas. I thanked mom for dinner and
went up to bed. When I entered my room I walked over to my bed,
which I hadn't made up this morning. I snuggled up in my quilt and
said my prayers, then tried to fall asleep.
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! I once again heard my alarm clock. Time to get up and ready for school, I thought to myself. I looked around and noticed
that my quilt was missing, but I didn't have time to look for it now,
I had to get to school early, I was meeting Beth so we could work on
our up-coming roles together.
Today wasn't much different than yesterday… everyone was still talking about David Sickamore. By the end of the day I was exhausted. When I got home I saw that the front door was wide open! I looked at the garage and noticed that both my parent's cars were there. I felt a wave of relief overcome me. I entered the house and looked around. It was a disaster! Everything was knocked over, books thrown around, papers on the floor, lamps were broken, the entire place was trashed!
"Mom….Dad…" I called, I began to worry because there wasn't any response. "Mooommm…. Daaadd!" I called again, but no one
answered. I rushed over to the phone, as I was about to pick it up
the phone rang! I answered it bewildered…"hello", I spoke into the phone.
"Hello, Jessica, or should I call you Jessie?" the mysterious voice said.
I could tell that it was a male speaking to me. I didn't answer, but
he didn't seem to mind. He quickly began to talk once again.
"My dear, do you love your parents?"
"Then you best do what I am going to tell you to do, darling." The man on the other line said.
I began to think, is this man who I think he is?! Is this David
Sickamore? He continued to talk. "Precious, you know where the
old gym is, right?"
"Well then, I'm looking forward to meeting you there at 5:00 tonight."
Before I could say another word, he hung up the phone. I could feel the house spinning beneath my numb feet. I dropped the receiver, my sweaty hands could not hold it any longer. I didn't bother to pick it up. I walked to the corner of the living room and sat on the floor. I closed my eyes and started to cry. I felt as if my brain was going to explode if I thought anymore about what was going to happen. The only sound I could hear was the sound of the clock going, "tick…tock" and my heart pounding as if it were ready to jump out of my chest! I decided I better do what this man told me because my parents lives depended on me and he obviously knew where I live. I grabbed a bag and put my mom's cell into it along with a flashlight and a jacket, then I was on my way. I wasn't sure how to feel or what to think. I just kept walking. When I arrived at the gym the parking lot was empty. The lights were all off, but the doors were unlocked. I knew they were in there. I gulped a breath of air and cleared my throat, proceeded to push open the door and enter the room. I saw a beam of light shinning through a broken window down onto the center of the room. I walked into the light and called out, "hello?"
Then I heard a laugh then clapping and someone say, "very good, very good." I saw a dark figure walking toward me, then I saw a glimpse of his face. "you, you, you're, David Sickamore!" I finally stammered.
"Yes, yes, congratulations, you fell right into my hands."
"What?!" I said angrily and confused.
"Did you really think that your parents were here?" he said with a chuckle. "How else could I have gotten you down here?"
"Uh, uh…", I muttered.
"Oh, you don't have to speak", "all I want from you is a yes or a no"
"What?" I asked, still confused and now shaking all over.
"Answer me this…do you believe in Jesus Christ?"
I answered boldly and proudly…YES!" He pointed a gun to my face and I heard a loud bang! I jumped and then fell down! When I opened my eyes I realized that I was in my bedroom! Then I heard the bang again! this time it was followed by my mother's voice calling for me to "WAKE UP! You're going to be late for school!"
It was just a dream, I thought to myself and then laughing with relief I yelled, "it was just a dream."
"What is just a dream?" mom asked when I finally opened the door.
"Let's go down for breakfast, mom, and I'll tell you all about it…."
The moral of this story is; if you find yourself in a difficult
situation, and your faith is being tested, what are you going to say?
Jessica had the choice to say no to David Sickamore, but she stayed
true to God and herself. She answered him boldly and proudly, "yes,
I do believe in Jesus Christ."
