* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
If her parents were surprised to see her and Ben exiting the plane together early the next morning, they were careful not to show it. If anything they looked pleased. They offered Ben a drive into town.
On the way home her parents told her about friends of hers that were in town. Heather was working overseas teaching English and couldn't come back for the holidays, but most of the others had been able to. Corrie was back from Yale for the holidays. It must have been nice to have a scholarship Mary thought, trying not to feel bitter. Melissa had just started teacher's college. Amanda and Erin were both married and had gotten jobs in town - Amanda at the library and Erin at the hairdresser's. Alison wasn't doing so well. She, like Mary, had gotten into the Diversion Program but lost her scholarship. She'd had a series of jobs, but hadn't found anything permanent.
"Sounds like me." Mary thought. "Like I was." She corrected herself.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Simon was watching Sam and David play with Happy in the front yard and waved at them as they pulled into the driveway. Happy meandered over to see who'd arrived and barked happily as she recognized Mary, bringing her the stick that one of the twins had just thrown. Mary patted the shaggy head. Then pulled her hand away. Perhaps she should have gotten the dog some shampoo too.
Ben pulled himself out of the car and the twins ran towards him. "Hey guys." The twins ran up to him. He lifted them up, one in each arm and swung them around. They squealed and started tugging him towards the house when he put them down, then raced ahead to let Lucy and Kevin know they'd arrived.
Ben and Mary followed, hand-in-hand.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Later in the morning Mary hitched a ride to the mall with Kevin and Ben who had their own last minute shopping to do.
Mary needed to look or something suitable for the twins. Perhaps they could share a book, she thought.
When she got to the mall she headed straight for the bookstore. Before she reached it she was startled to hear her name called, and turned around to see Alison walking towards her. Mary smiled back at Alison, feeling slightly uncomfortable. They'd been such good friends when they'd been on the basketball team together, but had fallen out of touch and having listened to her parents' analysis of Alison's life made her feel as though she'd been gossiping about her friend. The awkwardness fell away quickly in the face of Alison's joy in seeing her. They finished their shopping together. Alison was buying a present for her five-year-old nephew and they found some nice t-shirts in the right size for both him and the twins. Afterwards, Alison invited Mary back to her house for lunch. They met Ben and Kevin who offered them a lift.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mary had been a bit nervous about seeing Mr. MacDonald again. After all, she'd been part of the group that Alison had been with when she'd gotten in so much trouble. But Mr. MacDonald seemed very pleased to see her. He asked her about her job and was pleased to hear about how involved she'd become with her Church. "Alison has a possibility of entering a college program in Buffalo." He informed her.
"Daaad. We've been over this. I'm just not comfortable going that far away. I'd feel like I was in exile."
He didn't say anything, but just gave her a hug and smiled a bit sadly. They had a nice lunch together - grilled cheese sandwiches so Mary didn't have to explain the vegetarianism.
Later when he drove her home, Mr. MacDonald asked Mary some more pointed questions about the co-op. He nodded his head. "It's exactly what she needs," he said, "structure, a sense of purpose. I know your father meant well when he backed up the coach on his decision to lock the gym, but it just seemed as though Alison lost her sense of direction after that."
Mary nodded her head. She knew exactly what he was saying.
"How hard is it to get into this residence, Mary? Are there places available on a regular basis?"
Mary hesitated for a second. She wasn't sure why. But then she nodded her head. There were always places available.
Before dropping her off, Mr. MacDonald found out the contact information from her. "It can't hurt." He smiled at her ruefully and wished her a Merry Christmas.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mary came back to chaos.
Happy had died.
David had been playing with her. Tossing her a stick. He'd been warned not to toss it too far, but his aim was still not great, and he'd sent it flying into the road way. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem. It was a quiet street. It had just been bad luck that Glass's came driving around the corner just then.
It wasn't my fault. David protested. No one said anything, either to blame or reassure, which was probably worse than recriminations would have been. Mary picked him up, gave him a hug and carried him indoors.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When she entered the dining room the food was already being passed around. She noticed that she'd been served turkey and wondered how she could not eat it without making a fuss.
David was looking upset, and she realized why when she heard Lucy tell her father: "Well there's no point lying to him. Happy can't have gone to heaven. It's not like animals have souls."
Compassion had never really been Lucy's strong point, Mary reflected. On some level it was always more important to her to be acknowledged to be an expert, to be right. She had the brains to be a minister, but not really the heart.
"Yes they do." Mary said as she sat down. The whole table seemed to pause. "Have souls I mean." Mary looked over at Lucy. "It's a translation problem. The same word 'nephesh' was translated as 'soul' or 'being' when it referred to humans (Genesis 2:7), and 'creature' for animals (Genesis 2:19), but it's actually the same thing. The Bible also tells us in a couple of spots that there are animals in heaven. Isaiah 65:25 and Revelations 5:13, for example." She paused then, seeing David out of the corner of her eye looking, if not happy, at least relieved. "Could you pass the peas please, Luce?"
If her parents were surprised to see her and Ben exiting the plane together early the next morning, they were careful not to show it. If anything they looked pleased. They offered Ben a drive into town.
On the way home her parents told her about friends of hers that were in town. Heather was working overseas teaching English and couldn't come back for the holidays, but most of the others had been able to. Corrie was back from Yale for the holidays. It must have been nice to have a scholarship Mary thought, trying not to feel bitter. Melissa had just started teacher's college. Amanda and Erin were both married and had gotten jobs in town - Amanda at the library and Erin at the hairdresser's. Alison wasn't doing so well. She, like Mary, had gotten into the Diversion Program but lost her scholarship. She'd had a series of jobs, but hadn't found anything permanent.
"Sounds like me." Mary thought. "Like I was." She corrected herself.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Simon was watching Sam and David play with Happy in the front yard and waved at them as they pulled into the driveway. Happy meandered over to see who'd arrived and barked happily as she recognized Mary, bringing her the stick that one of the twins had just thrown. Mary patted the shaggy head. Then pulled her hand away. Perhaps she should have gotten the dog some shampoo too.
Ben pulled himself out of the car and the twins ran towards him. "Hey guys." The twins ran up to him. He lifted them up, one in each arm and swung them around. They squealed and started tugging him towards the house when he put them down, then raced ahead to let Lucy and Kevin know they'd arrived.
Ben and Mary followed, hand-in-hand.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Later in the morning Mary hitched a ride to the mall with Kevin and Ben who had their own last minute shopping to do.
Mary needed to look or something suitable for the twins. Perhaps they could share a book, she thought.
When she got to the mall she headed straight for the bookstore. Before she reached it she was startled to hear her name called, and turned around to see Alison walking towards her. Mary smiled back at Alison, feeling slightly uncomfortable. They'd been such good friends when they'd been on the basketball team together, but had fallen out of touch and having listened to her parents' analysis of Alison's life made her feel as though she'd been gossiping about her friend. The awkwardness fell away quickly in the face of Alison's joy in seeing her. They finished their shopping together. Alison was buying a present for her five-year-old nephew and they found some nice t-shirts in the right size for both him and the twins. Afterwards, Alison invited Mary back to her house for lunch. They met Ben and Kevin who offered them a lift.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mary had been a bit nervous about seeing Mr. MacDonald again. After all, she'd been part of the group that Alison had been with when she'd gotten in so much trouble. But Mr. MacDonald seemed very pleased to see her. He asked her about her job and was pleased to hear about how involved she'd become with her Church. "Alison has a possibility of entering a college program in Buffalo." He informed her.
"Daaad. We've been over this. I'm just not comfortable going that far away. I'd feel like I was in exile."
He didn't say anything, but just gave her a hug and smiled a bit sadly. They had a nice lunch together - grilled cheese sandwiches so Mary didn't have to explain the vegetarianism.
Later when he drove her home, Mr. MacDonald asked Mary some more pointed questions about the co-op. He nodded his head. "It's exactly what she needs," he said, "structure, a sense of purpose. I know your father meant well when he backed up the coach on his decision to lock the gym, but it just seemed as though Alison lost her sense of direction after that."
Mary nodded her head. She knew exactly what he was saying.
"How hard is it to get into this residence, Mary? Are there places available on a regular basis?"
Mary hesitated for a second. She wasn't sure why. But then she nodded her head. There were always places available.
Before dropping her off, Mr. MacDonald found out the contact information from her. "It can't hurt." He smiled at her ruefully and wished her a Merry Christmas.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mary came back to chaos.
Happy had died.
David had been playing with her. Tossing her a stick. He'd been warned not to toss it too far, but his aim was still not great, and he'd sent it flying into the road way. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem. It was a quiet street. It had just been bad luck that Glass's came driving around the corner just then.
It wasn't my fault. David protested. No one said anything, either to blame or reassure, which was probably worse than recriminations would have been. Mary picked him up, gave him a hug and carried him indoors.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When she entered the dining room the food was already being passed around. She noticed that she'd been served turkey and wondered how she could not eat it without making a fuss.
David was looking upset, and she realized why when she heard Lucy tell her father: "Well there's no point lying to him. Happy can't have gone to heaven. It's not like animals have souls."
Compassion had never really been Lucy's strong point, Mary reflected. On some level it was always more important to her to be acknowledged to be an expert, to be right. She had the brains to be a minister, but not really the heart.
"Yes they do." Mary said as she sat down. The whole table seemed to pause. "Have souls I mean." Mary looked over at Lucy. "It's a translation problem. The same word 'nephesh' was translated as 'soul' or 'being' when it referred to humans (Genesis 2:7), and 'creature' for animals (Genesis 2:19), but it's actually the same thing. The Bible also tells us in a couple of spots that there are animals in heaven. Isaiah 65:25 and Revelations 5:13, for example." She paused then, seeing David out of the corner of her eye looking, if not happy, at least relieved. "Could you pass the peas please, Luce?"