Lucetta was walking home from church one day when she decided to take a short cut through the woods. This wasn't normally the route she would take to get home, but now that the idea had presented itself it wouldn't go away. Voices seemed to war inside her head. The louder of the two tried to tell her that walking through the woods wasn't the safest way to get home, but the sun was shining and the birds were singing. Obviously, nothing bad could happen on a beautiful day like this. And although the other voice was quieter, almost a whisper, Lucetta recognized it. She'd been following it most of her life. So Lucetta ignored the loud voice, turned off the beaten path, and trounced into the forest.
For a while all was well. She took advantage of the silence and solitude to pray and seek out God's presence. Lucetta was so preoccupied that it wasn't until almost an hour later that she realized her quick short cut through the forest was taking far too long. Slightly worried, she looked around and became conscious of the fact that she had absolutely no idea where she was. But Lucetta was seventeen years old and had all of the confidence, or perhaps stupidity, that being a teenager implies. Instead of wasting time being afraid, she boldly strode off, veering to the right.
Lucetta was stubborn. Because of this it took several changes of direction before she would admit to herself that she was lost. However, it was only early afternoon; the sun was still beating down through gaps in the trees and the birds still twittering in the distance. She decided that there really wasn't anything she could do except keep going. And so she did.
Lucetta took more notice of her surroundings now, trying to find some sort of landmark that would tell her where she was. Silently she reviewed all that she knew of trail finding, which didn't take long. Abruptly, she stopped and sat down on a large flat rock. Conveniently located under the shade of a towering oak tree, it seemed a good spot to stop and evaluate her situation. Lucetta soon realized that she was going about this in the wrong way. The patch of forest wasn't that big and if she simply kept going in one direction she ought to come out of it in no time. She didn't know why she hadn't already, but supposed she'd somehow been walking in circles.
Decision made, she stood up and stretched. She spun in a complete circle then shrugged. Since she had no idea where she was, one direction was as good as another. She strode off through a gap between two fir trees with a firm resolution to walk in a straight line. But it was impossible to keep going in anything resembling a straight line. It seemed that Lucetta had the opportunity to go in almost any direction save the one she wanted. Patches of overgrown blackberry plants, thickets of thorny undergrowth, and even a few streams, contrived to force her into what she knew was a circle. But she was powerless to prevent it and soon she found herself sitting under the shade of the same towering oak tree, on the same flat rock.
Now Lucetta was beginning to get worried. But she had gotten in here somehow, so there must be at least one way out. Standing up, she turned her back on the gap between the fir trees and set off once again. This time it seemed that she had found a trail. Relieved, she followed it, only to have it abruptly end around thirty feet later. Determined to get out of this infernal woods, she made a valiant attempt to continue without a path. It was a good half hour later that she arrived, tired and scratched, to sit on the same flat rock under the same towering oak tree.
Worry had turned into undeniable fear. Lucetta hated feeling afraid, hated the way it made her feel helpless. Why had she even come into this stupid forest anyway? It didn't take long to remember. Fear turned into anger as she found an outlet for her emotions. "God, I came in here like You told me to. I wouldn't mind some help…" Even though she was mad, she couldn't yell at God. It went against everything she believed in. If she really trusted Him, why was she worried? If she really believed He was always with her, why was she feeling so abandoned? Unwelcome doubts crowded into her mind and her self-control snapped. "Are you even listening?" she yelled at the unseen sky.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I am listening."
Startled, Lucetta jumped up and scanned the surrounding vegetation for the speaker. No one was in sight. She'd thought she had been afraid before, but she had been wrong. She realized that she had been only anxious before, more troubled than anything else. Now genuine fear curled and writhed in the depths of her abdomen. She wished she had some pepper spray, or a knife, or even a stout branch. "Who are you? Show yourself!" she commanded, pleased that there had been no tremor in her voice.
"Who am I?" the voice mocked. "Let's think this one through, shall we? Weren't you addressing God? And I answered. So that must make me…"
"You are not God." Lucetta stated firmly, eyes still searching for whomever the voice belonged to.
"And how would you know? Has God ever spoken to you before?"
"Well…sort of. Not like this. It was more, well, in my head, if you know what I mean."
"Actually, I don't. But don't bother trying to explain. It would just be a waste of time. And you were right. I'm not God. I couldn't possibly be, since He doesn't exist."
Lucetta shook her head. The questions had thrown her. She didn't know how to explain God's guidance to someone who didn't already know what she was talking about. Having grown up in the church, all she'd ever had to do before was spout some well known and half understood axiom about 'feeling led' and everyone had always known what she meant. She was alone, frightened, and slightly confused. But now the conversation was on familiar ground. "But God does exist. Everyone knows that. And where are you anyway?"
"What arrogance! 'I think God exists so therefore He does and everyone else should think the same way I do'. Do you ever listen to yourself?"
Arrogance? "What are you talking about? And for the last time where are you?"
She heard a heavy sigh, then silence. In Lucetta's opinion this sudden silence was an improvement. How dare some unseen person claim to be God? And as for calling her arrogant…No, she didn't really want to talk to the owner of the voice anymore anyway. All she wanted to do was go home.
She was just about to try a different direction when she heard a rustling sound. The noise seemed to have originated from somewhere behind her back. Since there wasn't a breeze she knew that the sound hadn't been produced by the movements of the leaves surrounding her. Someone was now behind her. She turned, gloating smile on her face, mouth open to utter a triumphant statement, but the sentence never came. Lucetta was frozen in shock. Was this the owner of the voice?
He was tall. Very tall. Probably ten feet. He wore white robes which draped down to sandal clad feet. And he seemed to be surrounded by a faint glow. She noticed that if she focused on the glow it faded. But when she ignored the light it grew in intensity until she was forced to look at it. At which point it promptly faded again. This was very disconcerting, but at the time she was too preoccupied to be very bothered by it, thinking that it was just a trick of the light through the trees. What upset her more was the fact that he was undeniably hovering six inches off of the ground.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading. The most obvious problem that I see with this is that I never described Lucetta. Unfortunately, I was in the midst of chapter 4 before I realized this and I don't really know how to fix it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I also realize that this doesn't seem to include very much scripture, and possibly doesn't seem to belong in this section at the moment. I promise that later chapters will clear this up. Thanks for being patient. I also wanted to describe briefly the way that this story originated. As many of you know, there are people who post here from time to time who seem to mock Christianity. These people portray all non Christians as wise, nearly perfect beings and all Christians as ignorant, arrogant single-celled organisms. This made me very angry and I got an idea for a bitingly sarcastic parody type story that would work the opposite way. I have since come to realize that as sweet as revenge may seem, it is better left to God. I want to sincerely apologize and ask forgiveness for anything that I have said in the past that has seemed arrogant and for any stupid remarks that I have unthinkingly made that may have hurt some of you. This story is a reformed version of the one that I wanted to write. Please keep me accountable. Thanks.