AN: Thanks to those who reviewed! I have to say I wasn't expecting very many reviews on this whim of a story... Hey I'm going to put all my thanks to people who've reviewed to my poems and other stories since my last posts on this author note. I've attempted to upload several chapters to two different stories at once... and that can get confusing. So all my thanks are going here. Hope you all don't mind. Thanks!

Katana Blade (Hmmmm... I was a little too obvious, huh? Well, actually that's where I plan for this to go. Mostly. I have a few twists in mind other than the given. And when I write a story, I just go with an opening scene or an overall idea, and then let it embellish itself. So actually I have no idea where this story might end up! Not even I can attempt to predict teh ending. About your reveiw for "What's the Point", um, yeah I tend toask questions. Actually,I probably think too much about that stuff. Know what I mean?You do have a really good point. I think that's definitely the biggest reason why God created Hell. But technically, we all are sinners, all of us have a sin-nature, and we can all fall prey to teh Devil. Kind of what I said before, we all deserve to go to Hell. No sin is greater than any other, so technically we're all in line with those murderers and blasphemers, aren't we? I don't konw if it's safe to say that we're all followers of Satan, because I dont' know exactly waht that would be described as. If you think of being a follower of Satan as beign a lying, stealiking, murderer blasphemer, then yeah I guess we all arefollowers of Satan. Tell me ifI'm wrong, that's just a thought.Thanks for reviewing!) Emandley (Oh, thanks! I'm... well, waht am I supposed to say to that? Thanks?Is there a synonym for thank you because I coudl sure use it... I'm saying the same word over and over for lack of a better one, but please know I mean it!) Iris Domingo (Yeah, racism and racial diversity are subjects, or rather subect, that is close to my heart. It's one of those things about the world that horrifies me. How oculd people be so cruel?) Sassy Lil Scorpio (I know where you're going. See, sometimes poetry limits your words. When I get going about something, I don't want to worry about rhyming or pattern or anything like that. Know waht I mean? I could try to put all that into a poem... Thanks! I appreciate your reviews, and I'm being honest about that!) Trine (You don't have any idea how much your reviews matter to me. All of you. Yeah, I could do some more explanation, though... and wouldn't mind doing it! All because of my lack of time, though, I dont konw if I'll be able to any time soon) LadyLuck (By isolated, what do you mean? Hehe, whenever I hear teh word isolated, I think of a little bungalow or cottage in teh middle of an Africanjungle and I can hear monkeys and rainforest animals in the background. Mosquito netting, teh croaking of frogs, exotic birds... my imagination is running wild! Help! Okay, anyway, before I get going, thanks for your review!) Suave Boogie (You've just made the point I wastryingot make but didn't!Congratulations and thanks! That's awesome. Yes, a just God would have to inforce His laws! It's only right! Oooh thanks for your review! Great point!) Jay Ling (Hey... thanks!) Proud Atheist (Good point. I get where you're going, totally.I didn't even think of that, but I do have an answer. Satan does have power over people and does have his hand in teh world today, too. Do you think any God-fearing man would ever kill those babies in Egypt? I don't think so. Also, it's amazing what power lust can do to someone. It's a very tempting thing, the Devil's tool. I think that Pharoah would have gone even further to get more power, and that's Satan right there for you, murdering all those babies and using Pharoah's power to go against his greatest enemy, God. It's all spiritual warfare. Also, the Bible says that all babies go to Heaven, because they aren't old enough to make a choice to follow Him. The Devil can murder all the babies he wants, whether with abortion or Pharoah's army, but they're all building up God's Kingdom anyhow, anyway! I hope that sort of explained it to you, adn if you want you can email me, it's teh same as my penname at I would like for you to do that if you don't think I gave you a good explanation. Thanks for reveiwing, though!) Fairlane (Hey your explanation was so much better than mine! That was a really good point! I said 'send' for lack of a better word, but that is definitely true that it's the person's choice, not God's, that separates them from Him. Oooh, good! Oh, and as you can see you're not alone when it comes to rambling, from the paragraph above...)

Sorry anybody if I missed your review, I'm sure I missed some. I'm going to get back to that tomorrow after I finish another chapter. Sorry! Thanks for reviewing! Adn here's my actual writing:

Chapter 1

Again on Sunday morning, Aaron walked up the steps to the church. This time he wasn't as nervous as he had been on Wednesday, but his stomach still lurched as he saw Rebecca standing next to the wooden table on the side of the lobby. Today was Missions Sunday, as they had about every other month, when there was an update from the mission's board, and sometimes the missionaries they supported would drop in to share a little bit about what they do. The little table off to the side that normally held church bulletins, handouts, miscellaneous orphaned bowls and cutlery that had been abandoned at the last church pot luck, the prayer request box, and other things now held piles of newsletters from their various missionaries from Mexico, Canada, Africa, Europe, China, and other places around the globe.

Rebecca was looking at a pamphlet as he casually walked up next to her. "Hey, Rebecca. It's nice to see you. I think we must have missed each other last Sunday; I didn't see you."

She gave him a quick smile; it was like a flash and then gone, leaving you seeing spots. As he stood there debating what next to say to her, Aaron was also wondering whether she had actually smiled or not. It could have been a figment of his imagination. Whether or not the grin had appeared on her face or not, his next sentence was, "So how have you been doing lately?"

Rebecca nervously shrugged her shoulders, set down her pamphlet, randomly grabbed up another newsletter and hurried off as the music started. As he joined his own family, he thought: Note to self: Ask questions that require verbal answers.

That evening at youth group Aaron arrived early, hoping that Don and Anne wouldn't think he was rude. But he had to talk to Rebecca, had to make her realize that he wasn't going to bite.

Much to his happiness, Rebecca arrived just a little later than himself. He had to hang onto the couch to keep from pouncing on her, raining questions down onto her, hoping that he sounded kind all the while. He smiled in her direction, knew she saw it, but received only a nervous glance as a reply. As she sat down in the rocking chair that was her typical seat, Aaron turned to her.

"Hey, Rebecca. How are you doing… since I talked to you this morning?" Okay, so talked wasn't the word for it. It had been a one-sided conversation.

Shrug.

He hopped up, pretending to be undaunted. "I think they've got some snacks in the kitchen. I told them we needed goldfish crackers, so they'd better have some. Want me to get you a cupful?"

Nod.

Aaron walked into the kitchen, smiled to Anne, who was mixing some lemonade, and grabbed two small Dixie cups. "I see you've got goldfish. Bravo."

"If 'bravo' is a form of 'thank you', then I guess you're welcome," Anne grinned over at him as he scooped up the little orange fishes in the cups. "You must really love them."

He shrugged and smiled again, not bothering to explain that the second cup was for Rebecca. Picking up a little fishy between his fingers and waving, swooping it around like it was swimming, he quipped, "What can I say? They're just so cute… up until you crunch them between your teeth." He walked back into the living room singing, "The snack that smiles back, Goldfish."

Rebecca nodded her thanks when Aaron handed her the cup of cheddar crackers.

"I heard on the prayer chain that your grandmother was in the hospital." Great conversation starter, Shakespeare. Now she's going to start bawling over her hospitalized grandmother. They probably had this great relationship…

She just shrugged. Again.

"Do you know how she's doing?" She hadn't started crying and she didn't seem any less embarrassed or nervous than before, so he asked her another question.

"Good," she mumbled, and then seemed to dare a look at him. He smiled what he thought would be a warm, welcoming, and hopefully kind smile.

Rebecca's face turned white as a sheet and she went rushing to the restroom, just as Anne came out to the living room to hand him a cup of lemonade and make herself comfortable in the recliner on the other side of the couch.

"I imagined that going… differently," sighed Aaron, leaning back onto the couch to relax and waiting for her to come back out.

Anne had the warmest smile. He didn't even start to hope that his was anything close to that. "I appreciate your efforts to befriend her, Aaron. That's really nice of you. I think she really needs a friend, and I think she feels a little bit intimidated that someone older than her, like myself, would try to be her friend. She probably thinks it's just because I'm one of the youth pastors, and it's my job, but I really would like to crack that tough outer shell."

"I just smiled at her."

Anne nodded knowingly. "Did it ever occur to you that she might take your attentions…the wrong way? And be a little freaked out?"

Aaron admired Anne. She could make someone feel so at ease, even talking about something uncomfortable. And her use of the phrase 'freaked out' was something you wouldn't expect from somebody that was almost thirty, nearly a decade older than he was.

He looked down. "Oh. I never thought of that." His head snapped back up. "But that's not what I'm trying to achieve, you know. I just want…"

"I know," Anne said. It was as if she knew everything.

Aaron went for another cupful of goldfish just as a few other cars drove up into the driveway for youth group. Once there were more people, he knew Rebecca would come out of the bathroom, so she wouldn't have to talk one-on-one with him again.