Pebbles

PEBBLES

Bad times don’t last, but they don’t go away easily either. You have to outwit it, outmatch it, and outclass it. We always ask "why" to so many things that happen in our lives. More often than not we do not find the answer to it, but there are a privileged  few who do find the answer; they are not intellectuals, nor are they experts of any kind. They are common people like you and me. How then do they find the answer to the question “why”; the answer to which is most elusive of all? How do they manage it? Do they have some sort of special powers? Do they make it their lifelong quest to find the answer to the said question? NO they do not.

The one's who find the answer, are the one's who after a while stop asking the question, and start observing silently. It’s an arduous process of waiting patiently and then waiting some more, but they finally do receive the answer to their question. And when they do receive it, it Is as beautiful as the lilies of the valley, as sweet as the honey in the rock, and as satisfying as the heavenly manna. So why don’t you stop asking and start waiting, and then waiting SOME MORE.

Now many of you may be asking yourselves, “What’s all this fuss about waiting? Ain’t we got nothing better to do?" And some would definitely be asking themselves, "what on earth is this bloke talking about?" But trust me; I say this because I once heard a story, a story about someone who waited, and found the answer - it stuck to  my mind ever since.

The story begins like any other story would…..

Long, long ago, in a place far, far away, there was a rock perched atop a cliff. It was in the mountains of Palestine,they say.

It was a bright, sunny morning, and the rock was enjoying the glorious view perched atop the blessed vantage point. Oh, how happy she was," could there be any bigger joy than to be seated on a high place such as this, and enjoy the cool breeze with  friends?" Scarcely had she finished asking herself this question, than a stiff wind blew and pushed her over the edge.

She was now rolling down the cliff, bouncing off boulders and branches and what not. Oh, what pain! What wretched pain it was. Then she started cursing her luck," why oh why did fate deal so cruelly with me?" "Why did not God have mercy on me?" "Didn’t I look up to the heavens when I sat on my throne?"  "Why did God forsake me then?"

She was all flail, flail, flail and wail, wail, wail. Amidst all the flailing and wailing she never thought that God could have a bigger role planned out for her.

After a lot of rolling and skidding and banging she finally plunged headlong into a stream of murky water. She could not see herself, she could not breathe, and so she started asking questions by the dozen. Why would someone in such a majestic retreat fall down to such a lowly state? Why was God punishing her? She asked herself. What could she have possibly done wrong?

Now down the stream she rolled, and as the water transported her to places unknown, knocking off a lil rough edge from here, a lil from there, she thought to herself, “This is my destiny”. And so she stopped complaining, and decided to enjoy the cool touch of the water.

 By and by she came to rest on a soft bed of sand. There she lay, listening to the gushing sounds of the babbling brook, all round and smooth, perfect in symmetry, perfect in beauty. But do not think she that reached there in a day or two, it took years. Long years, where she was buffeted by the waters, sometimes stuck in crevices for weeks together, not knowing what to do. But she had made a pact with herself and she stood by it. Never did she utter a word; never a complaint escaped her lips. She let the water do its work, the work of cleansing, and shaping, and transporting.

Now she lay on the bed of the brook, waiting patiently and then waiting some more. "I can almost see sunshine", she said to herself, "can almost hear the birds sing." "But wait, who is this that walks down the narrow winding pathway that leads to the brook? Why? It is the young king of Israel." It was David, the terrible one of Judah.

And then it was all excitement, all adrenalin. He picked her up, felt her in his hands, "it’s the right shape, the right weight", he said to himself as he deposited her in his shepherd bag.

"Are those bugles I hear? Are those trumpets? And whom do I hear roaring curses against the Lord almighty? He must surely be punished." The king put his hand into the bag once again, this time with great determination and purpose, took the smooth stone into his hands once again. She could not believe her eyes, was she really in the sling of David? Round and round David swung the sling and let go. The stone  rocketed through the air, speeding towards its target.

CRACK…. It sunk into the forehead oh the wretched philistine.

Oh what joy, joy unspeakable, "i helped the king destroy the philistine," she said to herself. And then she saw the plan of god clearly, with tears in her eyes.

So you see folks, waiting is not all that bad. There may be trials, but you have to wait. There may be pain, but you have to wait some more, because there comes a day when the great King will take you in his hands and catapult you into glory unknown, and then there will be no stopping you.

So now let us along with king David say; my soul, WAIT thou upon God.

Stanley S.G.

Reviews

[Stan Lee]

Thank you for sharing this story.
I enjoyed reading it.
The incredibly skillful way you have written this has me keen to read more.

[stansg]

Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you like it.

[Samuel Dickens]

I find this very creative and well-written. And what better way to tell a Bible tale, than to do so in a parable? In my own life, I've seen what seemed like tragedy turn into a blessing. No doubts do I have that it was God's work.

[stansg]

Thanks for stopping by Sam. I'm glad you could relate to it.

[Helen Crutchett]

Dear Stanley,

We all know the story of David and Goliath, one of the most loved stories in the Bible.

Your way of telling this from the view of the rock was superb! (Her) story was intriguing and had profound pathos and deep meaning.

The story was well thought out, very easy to read and most enjoyable. I loved the powerful ending indeed.

It was a story of high value and extremely beautiful. '

Well done Stan!


Kind regards,

Helena

[stansg]

Thanks Helena, you are very kind. The story of David and Goliath is my favorite bible story and it never stops to fascinate no matter how many times you read it, I'm glad that i could tell the story from a different perspective and that it has been well received so far.

[Helen Crutchett]

You are welcome Stanley. Keep up the good work!

Helena :)

[A. H. Pinley]

This story reminded of a story I read to my kids every year called, "The Three Trees". It deals with purpose and significance. Small task are not necessary worth less.

[Marie]

I love this story and was not distracted by your use of tenses. The concept of waiting on God's plan is not original, yet your telling of it is fresh and new.

[stansg]

Thank you for your kind comments Marie.

[Mai L Nissen]

Hey Stansg! Here is my review as requested:

I like the point of the story! I think the personification of the pebble is charming and works really well :)

Though there are little things you need to be careful of, in order not to confuse the reader. Past tense vs. present tense. I realize that you start out in the presence and then tell a story of the past. However, in that story you suddenly change from past tense to present tense.

"Scarcely had she finished asking herself this question, than a stiff wind blew and pushed her over the edge. She could not see herself,"
Here you go from past tense to present tense:
"Now down the stream she rolls, and as the water transports her to places unknown, knocking off a lil rough edge from here, a lil from there, she thinks to herself, “This is my destiny”. And so she stops complaining, and decides to enjoy the cool touch of the water."

Furthermore, here you go from 3rd person to 1st person: "Oh how happy she was, could there be any bigger joy than to be seated on a high place such as this, and enjoy the cool breeze with my friends?"

I think if you tidy these things up, it would be an enjoyable read :)

[stansg]

Thank you for reading and reviewing, i realized that there were some errors in tense, thank you for pointing them out to me, I'll rectify them right away. Btw is there any way by which we can toggle between 3rd person and 1st person in order to make the narrative more effective?

[Mai L Nissen]

That is certainly a possibility. However, not within connected sentence. If you wish to keep this sentence you need to make it clear by using inverted commas: "Oh how happy she was, "could there be any bigger joy than to be seated on a high place such as this, and enjoy the cool breeze with my friends?"" I don't know if that is what you mean?

[stansg]

Thank you for reminding me about inverted commas... haha.. we never use punctuation marks these days because of texting do we? I need to go back to elementary school grammar and brush up my punctuations. I have corrected most of the tense errors but there may still be a few remaining, could you take a look?

[Mai L Nissen]

I don't exactly abide by the rules of grammar either :) At least not in comments... I will definitely take a look - though it won't be until tomorrow :)

[stansg]

No worries, thank you.