Short Story: The Loss of her Hair

Ahmad was filled with a rage he had never thought he possessed when he heard the rumor. A stranger; a white man; a foreigner was discovered in the city of Raekl. How dare the infidel dared to grace the streets of Raekl, a city meant only for the Easties! There was only one sentence for such a man, and Ahmad could not wait to see it carry up.

Ahmad rushed with rage to the central square, followed by a crowd of zealous Easties like himself. There, in the central square, stood a pale-skinned man, who was surrounded by Easties eager to stone him to death. Despite being surrounded by his would-be-executioners, the foreigner was calm, unafraid. Ahmad could not help but secretly admired the foreigner for his act of bravery.

“Listen, Eastie,” the man declared boldly. “Yallah is not God. Yaet is the true God, and He came down as a man, Lioamb, to pay the sins of the world. Follow Him, the one true God, instead of a fake religion, please!”

Whatever admiration Ahmad felt initially at the man’s bravery was gone. Now, he only felt contempt for the man. How dare the man challenge the supremacy of Yallah, the one true God? Surely, this stranger must be a follower of Saan, the head daemon. This infidel must die and be purged from their holy city.

“For your crime of blasphemy, I sentenced you to die!” The high priest of Yallah declared. The crowd began to stone the man.

“Death! Death to the infidel!" the crowd chanted, their voices rising in a deafening chorus as they began to rain their stones upon the defenseless man. 

Ahmad felt a sense of satisfaction as the stones found their mark, each blow landing with a sickening thud. The white man cried out in pain and then crumpled to the ground, still and moving, blood streaming from his dead body. Ahmad gave a shout of triumph together with the crowd as they rejoiced over the death of an infidel. Yet, Ahmad could not help but somehow wondered, every foreigner knew they would be killed if they were found in Raekl. So, why did this infidel still come? Surely, it could not be because this infidel thought that Lioamb, a mere man, was God incarnate. Still, this foreigner seemed to believe strongly in what he preached and was prepared to pay for his life with it. Such an act haunted Ahmad.

Sure, the infidel was killed and purity restored to Raekl, yet he left behind in Ahmad a doubt that nothing could fill. 

 

Short Story: Not a Coward

 Ajiani dreaded what would become of him if his wife ever learned the truth. The fact was, Ajiani was growing old and his strength was no longer what it used to be. In the past, Ajiani would easily slay his enemies no matter what their numbers or strengths. Yesterday, he barely escaped being captured alive by his enemies.

The truth was, his strength was failing him, and if his wife Seray knew the truth, she would order him to be killed and his meat shared as food for the rest of the Barbars. That was the fate that awaited every man in the tribe too weak to fight. A man who could not fight was useless to the tribe and only deserved to become meat for the tribe to feed on.  So, Ajiani tried to hide his growing weakness from his wife. Ajiani felt guilty for hiding his failing strength from his wife, yet he did not want to die. 

A commotion at the central square where the tribe usually gathered to celebrate their victories drew Ajiani’s attention. A stranger stood there, his pale skin in sharp contrast to the dark faces of the Barbars.

“People of Sau Afriu!” The man cried out. “I bring with me great news, news of a power beyond your wildest dream!”

Power, that was what Ajiani wanted, so he listened eagerly to what the pale skinned man had to say.

"I come from Endland, where I wanted to share about Yaet, the one true God, who came down to be born as a man Lioamb for our sake," the man continued, his voice rising with passion. "Though He was cruelly burnt at the cross by the High Priest Sura, death could not hold Him! Lioamb rose again, triumphant over the grave!"

A God who would be born as a man, a God who loved mankind so much that He became a man Himself. Ajiani felt something stirred within himself as he listened to the man from Endland.

"Believe in Lioamb," the stranger implored, "and you need never fear death again! For those who follow Him are promised eternal life in the heavens above!"

Ajiani wept when he heard that. Ajiani believed in Lioamb and felt that the fear that had gripped him for so long—fear of his failing strength, fear of growing old, fear of death—began to loosen its holds.

Tell me more of this Lioamb," Ajiani said, ignoring the surprised looks from his tribesmen.

As the pale-skinned man shared his teachings, Ajiani felt a profound shift within himself. Ajiani knew there was something he must do. He must tell the truth of his failing strength to his wife. Ajiani could no longer lie now that he was a Lioambite. 

True, he might be killed for telling the truth. Still, that was better than to tell a lie. He was a Lioambite now and he must live like one. Ajiani was no longer a coward. Lioamb had given him strength and made him bold.

Short Story: The Skeptic's Pride

 Tom laughed at how naive his wife could be, when it came to her belief in Lioambity.

"God in human flesh?" Tom laughed, his eyes full of unbeliefs. “Truly, my dear Mary, you have an imagination that knows no bounds. How can you possibly believe such nonsense?"

Mary's eyes narrowed, in determination. Her husband had taunted her faith before, more than once in fact but her faith remained strong in the midst of her husband’s unbeliefs and skepticism at her faith. Today, she was determined yet again to prove her husband wrong.

"Lioamb is the true God," Mary declared, her voice unwavering. "He came to this world to show us the way of Yaet, to guide us out of the darkness and into the light. Sura, the wicked high priest, may have sought to destroy Him, but Lioamb's power was greater than death itself."

Mary truly believed in a most absurd religion, Tom thought to himself. If Lioamb was God, as He claimed to be, why did he die and if He could perform miracles, then, why not now? These were questions to the faith which Tom could find no answer for. So Tom questioned his wife, “If Lioamb was truly God, then how could He have been killed?And even if He did somehow rise from the dead, why did He not appear to the world, to prove His divinity beyond all doubt?"

"Lioamb's death was not the end, but the beginning of a greater truth," Mary explained, her voice slightly sorrowful. "He sacrificed Himself to open the path to Yaet's kingdom for all who would believe."

Tom scoffed. "So, you're telling me that this Lioamb died, and then somehow came back to life, just to go back to his heaven? What kind of a God does that?"

Lioamb's ways are not ours to understand," Mary declared, her voice resolute. "He moved in mysterious ways, guided by a divine purpose that transcends our mortal comprehension."

"And you, my dear Mary, are content to blindly follow the teachings of this Lioambity, without question or doubt?" Tom mocked, a sardonic smile forming on his face.

Mary's gaze never wavered, her unwavering faith a testament to the depth of her conviction. "I do not follow Lioambity out of blind obedience," Mary replied, her words measured and deliberate. "I follow Him because I have seen the power of His teachings, the transformative effect they have had on those who embrace them."

Tom scoffed, his skepticism unwavering. "And what of Sura, the wicked high priest? If Lioamb was truly God, why did he allow himself to be murdered by such a man?"

Mary's expression softened, a hint of sadness crossing her features. "Sura's actions were driven by jealousy and fear, not by a true understanding of Lioamb's divine purpose," Mary explained. "The path to Yaet's kingdom is not one of violence and retribution, but of love and forgiveness."

Tom's brow furrowed, his intellect grappling with the concept Mary presented. "So, you're telling me that this Lioamb, who you claim is God, allowed Himself to be killed, not to prove His power, but to show us a way of love and forgiveness?"

Mary nodded, a small, serene smile playing on her lips. "Yes, Tom. That is precisely what I believe. Lioamb's sacrifice was not a sign of weakness, but of the greatest strength – the strength to overcome hatred with love, and to transform the world through the power of redemption."

Tom was silent, he contemplated Mary’s words. A God who allowed Himself to be killed, not because He could not stop it, but because He deliberately chose to die to show love and forgiveness to the world. Tom’s logic could not accept such a God. Yet, Tom’s heart longed that God is indeed so loving and forgiving. Tom’s logic struggled with his heart and Tom did not know what he would finally choose to believe.

Short Story: Death of the Infidel

Ahmad was filled with a rage he had never thought he possessed when he heard the rumor. A stranger; a white man; a foreigner was discovered in the city of Raekl. How dare the infidel dared to grace the streets of Raekl, a city meant only for the Easties! There was only one sentence for such a man, and Ahmad could not wait to see it carry up.

Ahmad rushed with rage to the central square, followed by a crowd of zealous Easties like himself. There, in the central square, stood a pale-skinned man, who was surrounded by Easties eager to stone him to death. Despite being surrounded by his would-be-executioners, the foreigner was calm, unafraid. Ahmad could not help but secretly admired the foreigner for his act of bravery.

"Listen, Eastie," the man declared boldly."Yallah is not God. Yaet is the true God, and He came down as a man, Lioamb, to pay the sins of the world. Follow Him, the one true God, instead of a fake religion, please!"

Whatever admiration Ahmad felt initially at the man's bravery was gone. Now, he only felt contempt for the man. How dare the man challenge the supremacy of Yallah, the one true God? Surely, this stranger must be a follower of Saan, the head daemon. This infidel must die and be purged from their holy city.

"For your crime of blasphemy, I sentenced you to die!" The high priest of Yallah declared. The crowd began to stone the man.

"Death! Death to the infidel!" the crowd chanted, their voices rising in a deafening chorus as they began to rain their stones upon the defenseless man. 

Ahmad felt a sense of satisfaction as the stones found their mark, each blow landing with a sickening thud. The white man cried out in pain and then crumpled to the ground, still and moving, blood streaming from his dead body. Ahmad gave a shout of triumph together with the crowd as they rejoiced over the death of an infidel. Yet, Ahmad could not help but somehow wondered, every foreigner knew they would be killed if they were found in Raekl. So, why did this infidel still come? Surely, it could not be because this infidel thought that Lioamb, a mere man, was God incarnate. Still, this foreigner seemed to believe strongly in what he preached and was prepared to pay for his life with it. Such an act haunted Ahmad.

Sure, the infidel was killed and purity restored to Raekl, yet he left behind in Ahmad a doubt that nothing could fill. 

 

Short Story: A Tien who cried...

A Tien never cried. A Tien was not supposed to cry. Da Fu had not shed a tear since he was six years old and knew it was a taboo in his culture to cry. A Tien who cried was believed to commit a crime worse than murder or theft or poverty. A Tien who cried dishonored his or her family, ancestors and clans. He or she would be disowned by his or her family and left to fend for himself or herself. Da Fu knew that by heart and since the age of six, had not shed a tear. 

Da Fu never shed a drop of tears when the bandits descended upon his family and killed his parents. He was sad for his parents' death but no tears fell from his face. He did not cry when the uncle who took him in and brought him up, betrayed his trust by raping his wife on her wedding day. He was upset by the betrayal but not a drop of water fell from his eyes.

Yet, Da Fu was weeping like a baby now. He could not control the water that fell freely from his eyes. The Anerikans had travelled all the way from Endland to spread about a God who became man to the Tiens in Chyca. And Da Fu's eyes rained tears as he heard the tale of a God, who unlike Long, did not expect to be served, but came to serve instead His creation. A God who died as a man by burning at the stake, all because He loved mankind and wanted to pay for their sins.

Such a God was unlike what Da Fu had grown up with. Long was kind, yes, but he still expected man to keep a distance from him. Yaet, on the other hand, wanted to draw so close to man that He became born as a man Himself, as Lioamb. 

Why… why won't the water stop raining from his eyes? Da Fu wondered. It did not matter. Da Fu was determined to be a Lioambite, and if being a Lioambite meant that he would start to cry again like before he was six years old, Da Fu was only too glad to be a Tien who cried.

 

Short Story: The High Priest's Redemption

The high priest Sura awoke from his nightmare with a start. It had been the same nightmare he was having. The execution of Lioamb, a heretic and blasphemer, by burning at the stake, ought to have relieved him but he was haunted by it instead. It had been five years since Lioamb had been burned at the cross. Still, Sura could not bring himself to forget the eyes of Lioamb that had looked at Sura with such love and forgiveness even as Lioamb met His end at the stake by burning. 

The high priest Sura had expected hatred, even fear from Lioamb. Not love and forgiveness. Not a calmness in His face as He met His end at the stake. Lioamb was supposed to be a heretic,  a blasphemer. He was supposed to feel guilty for his crime. Yet, He seemed calm and He seemed like what He claimed to be—Yaet the Most High God Himself.

Could Lioamb actually be Yaet, as He had claimed to be? The question had haunted the high priest since Lioamb’s death. Worse, Lioamb’s disciples claimed that Lioamb rose from the dead three days after His death. And they were willing to die for their beliefs. How could they possibly die for what was a lie? Perhaps, it was no lie. Perhaps Lioamb truly rose from the dead. If Lioamb could rise from the dead, then He truly must be the Most High Yaet.

And if Lioamb was Yaet, what a crime he, the high priest of Yaet, had committed against his maker.  He had pronounced Lioamb a blasphemer and sentenced him to death by burning. Sura felt nothing but a sense of remorse for what he had done. That was no hope for him. He had sinned against his maker himself.

“Sura, it is never too late to repent of what you have done. Lioamb did not want you to live a life of remorse, but of forgiveness…” Tifet, a Lioambite who followed Lioamb’s teachings comforted the high priest Sura.

“Can there even be hope…for me? I personally pronounced the death of Lioamb.” Sura replied in depression.

“Lioamb knew He would die and chose to die. He knew you would kill Him, but that did not stop Him from loving you or forgiving you for what you did. The best thing you could do to replay His love or forgiveness…is to trust in Him and follow His teachings.” Tifet replied.

Sura was convinced that Lioamb was Yaet, and Sura was determined that he would follow Lioamb from now on. Sura resigned from his high priest’s post and became a Lioambite. Sura had found his redemption from his sins, and it was not because of the fact that he was a high priest or based on anything he had done. Instead, it was based on the love of Lioamb and what He had done for Sura. 

Short Story: Snow Black

 Once upon a time, there was a girl. Her name was Snow Black. She was neither beautiful nor attractive. Her mother died when she was a very young child. As a result of that, her father decided to marry another woman and she became the step mother of the child Snow Black.

The step mother of Snow Black was a vicious and wicked woman. Despite the fact that the child was not born to be beautiful, or attractive, she was jealous of the father's occasional attention to the young lady of 16 years old. Yet, Snow Black was never hateful towards her step mother. No matter how cruelly her step mother treated her, Snow Black was always ready to repay her step mother back with love.

One day, while Snow Black was out on a trip to the forest to save little rabbits from being preyed by cruel hunters, her stepmother bribed the bodyguard of Snow Black to kill the young lady in the forest.

The bodyguard needed the money the queen gave to him to take care of his elderly parents, who were suffering from serious illness. However, he could not bring himself to kill a lady, who even though, she was not good looking, had a beautiful heart.

Therefore, he told Snow Black the truth and pleaded with her to flee far away from her cruel step mother. When he returned home to the queen, he lied to her that the girl was dead.

Snow Black walked through the forest and came into contact with a house. She went into the house and was astonished by the 7 beds that were so small, that she had to join them together as a bed before she could rest in them.

Feeling tired, she chose to sleep in the bed, but was awakened in the evening by loud voices. She awoke, to find that she was all tied up. 7 dwarfs were staring hard into her face. Their faces were full of scars. They appeared to be dwarfs, who were well-acquainted with the hardness of life. There were no mercies in their eyes.

"What are you doing with our beds?" The dwarfs demanded. Their tones were cold.

"Please... please forgive me... I am only resting here because I thought no one stayed in this place... and I was so tired." Snow Black's tone was full of fear.

"Ho ho... so you thought, huh, that, you could take this house for yourself just because no one stayed here? Well, for your crime, you would be our slaves for life."

The verdicts of the dwarfs were hard. They were not moved even when the young lady broke down and told them her own sad story of how her own step mother was out to plot her life. This was a hard world. People were hard to them. They received from no mercy from this hard world, and they chose to give none in return to a victim who was more victimized by the hard world than themselves.

But Snow Black was a girl of a most beautiful heart. Instead of begrudging and hating her captors for being so hard towards her, she chose to repay their evil with kindness. She gave her best to all the works which her captor had given her to do, and she was tender and kind to them. Even though she had many opportunities to escape from her captors, she chose to stay behind and take good care of them.

Soon, she won a place in the hearts of the 7 dwarfs and was looked upon, secretly, by them as a mother figure. Just when her life was getting better with the dwarfs, her evil step mother found out about the fact that she was not dead. It was through a slip of the mouth of that bodyguard of hers. Apparently, he drank too much wine and in his drunken state, he unintentionally revealed to the step mother about the fact that Snow Black was still alive.

You would think that the evil, vicious woman would forget all about killing her step daughter, because the young lady could not possibly be a threat to her anymore, now that she was separated from her father. But that was not to be the case. The jealousy of the evil queen was so great, that she would not allow the girl to live, simply because there were moments in the queen's time with the king, where the king was so obsessed with the loss of his precious child, that he totally ignored the queen.

So, she disguised herself as an old woman after some of her servants that she sent out to trace the whereabouts of Snow Black returned to her with the report of seeing her living together with 7 dwarfs somewhere in the forest.

Snow Black was at home alone by herself when the evil queen came. She was deceived into thinking that the evil queen was a poor beggar who had no place to go to, and being kind-hearted, she let the evil queen came into her house. The moment the evil queen came into the house, she took out a knife and stabbed Snow Black 6 times in what she thought was the heart of the young lady. The young lady had no chance before her wicked stepmother. She fell to the ground, gasping in pain as the blood began to flow out of her.

Laughing wickedly, the evil queen left the house, leaving the lady to die a slow death alone by herself. By the time the 7 dwarfs returned to the house, the young lady was dead. There was no breath in her body. Her body felt like ice to the dwarfs. The dwarfs were hard men. Hard men shed blood, but never shed tears. Yet, when they saw Snow Black lying there, still and unmoving, with a body that was cold like ice, they broke down and cried.

"Snow Black, Snow Black, return to us!"

Their tears were in vain. The world was hard and uncaring. It was cold, and no one would be there to listen to the cries of 7 scar-faced men, who had never in their lives received any mercy from anyone except the tender-hearted lady they were not merciful to. In sorrow, they built a flower bed for the lady that was like a mother to them. A lady, who was not beautiful in any way, physically, and yet was the most beautiful of women to the hearts of these 7 hard men whose lives were touched by her.

Their sobbing drew the attention of a prince who was not of the same world as themselves. He came from a galaxy far beyond the hard world that the 7 dwarfs were accustomed to, in a world where there was only love, mercy, kindness and goodness. He was the prince and would be King of that beautiful place, the Paradise.

He listened to the story of the 7 crying dwarfs, and was moved by the beauty of the young lady. He was attracted and drawn to her, not because of her physical appearance but because of her beautiful heart, that was loving, kind, merciful and tender. He looked at the pale, white face of the girl who was dead for quite a few hours, and the wound in her heart that was pierced there cruelly by the one she trusted in and loved. Tears of compassion fell from his eyes as he thought of the agony the young lady had to go through just before she died; the pain that must be so excruciating to the lady, left there by a someone she was trying to be kind to.

"Do not die, most beautiful of women," said the prince as he whispered into the ear of the breathless girl. "You must live because I want you to be my queen." The prince was born with a special kind of blood, a blood that could heal the most deadly of wounds. In his love for the young lady, he stabbed the dagger into his very own heart and as he was dying, allowed his blood to flow into the wounded heart of the tender-hearted lady. Every drop of his blood into the broken heart of Snow Black brought back to her a beat from her broken heart. Every dying breath of the prince as he sacrificially gave his own life for her brought back to her dead and still body her breath.

The prince gave up his life so that a young lady who was wounded in her heart by someone she loved and trusted could rise up from her grave. With every blood shed to redeem the life of a broken-hearted girl, the broken heart of the girl began to beat, again. With every breath that he gave out for the young lady in his sacrifice, the nose of the dead girl started to breathe again. As Snow Black's eyes began to open, she saw the smile of the dying prince before her.

"You are a good-hearted girl. You deserve to live. Do not die. I want you to be my Queen." He collapsed into the arms of the revived girl, who had heard all that he had spoken even while she was dead, and who had felt his blood gushing into her body healing her wounds. Tears fell from her eyes as she looked at the prince that chose to die so that she might live, again.

"Why... why did you die for someone like me?" Tears fell from her eyes as she looked at the prince that chose to die so that she might live, again. No one had sacrificed for her before. It was always she who was sacrificing for other people. No one had ever loved her so deeply. Yet, this prince, this prince from a faraway country, from paradise, came and fell in love with her. He said she was the most beautiful of women and he wanted to take her home with him as his queen.

He traded his life and shed his blood so that her wounded heart, pierced into pieces by the betrayal of the one she loved could beat, again. His blood healed the hole in her heart and brought life back into a young lady that would, otherwise, be dead. Tears flowed from Snow Black's eyes as she stared into the dead body of the prince. The hole in his heart was so much bigger, so much wider than what was previously there in that heart of hers. It was there because of His love.

"Don't die, my handsome prince. How can I be your Queen, if you are dead?" The tears of the princess woke the prince up from His slumber, and instantly, the handsome prince was transformed into a being that was full of sunshine brightness. A crown was on His head and His entire being was shinning with a golden-ness that so bright, that it blinded the eyes of the young lady for quite a long period of time.

"Are you really willing to come with me, most beautiful of women, to my Kingdom, to be my Queen?" The voice of the prince was different. Previously, the voice was loving and tender, and like a servant. Now, it was commanding, full of authority, and like that of a King. Snow Black smiled and shyly held the hand of the majestic being before her.

"Yes," she replied, with her head slightly bowed down, her cheeks flushed. They kissed.

And there were claps arising from the hands of the 7 dwarfs, and millions of invisible beings that suddenly became visible who had just arrived from paradise to escort their King and His newly found bride back to their Kingdom.

Short Story: The Beautiful Jade

It happened in a flash... so fast that it was not physically possible for any human being in my shoe to be able to handle the event in an adequate manner. The orange blur of a ball flew out of the hand of a tall but skinny boy into the face of a fat boy who wore a pair of spectacle.

The spectacle fell to the ground, and blood began to flow rapidly out of the nose of the fat boy. This happened in but a spit of a second.

"Why did you hit me?" The fat boy shouted at the skinny boy as he dashed madly towards the skinny boy with his fist held high, poised to deliver a punch that was sure to hurt the skinny boy before him.

"I hated people who insulted my mum," the skinny boy yelled back, as he got himself into a defensive position, to ward off the attack of the angry boy he had hit the face with a basketball.

"Stop it, stop it, you two!" I shouted, as I ran toward the boy, when I finally gathered myself together. My cries were like arrows that I shot towards the boys, that fell to the ground, without reaching into their ears. The children, or monsters, for that that was what they sometimes seemed to me, were fighting. They were much younger than me, but so violent that I was afraid of them deep inside my heart, but I never let it showed.

The boys stopped, each looking accusingly at the other party, 100 confident that it was the other person's fault that the fight even began in the first place. I looked at the blood that flowed out of the nose of the fat boy.

Oh no, this looked serious, I thought to myself. What will happen to my grade? I needed that A so badly. Lord Jesus, help me.

"What is happening here?" the supervisor of the centre rushed onto the scene, much like the saviour that was coming to save the show. It did not matter that I had already asked the children about the whole account of their fight. It did not matter that I had in mind what was the way to discipline or punish the children. It did not matter what I said, or wanted to say.

"Why don't you go into the centre and take care of the other children?" he said to me, dismissing me off, thinking I was inadequate to handle or deal with the situation.

I was not exactly a social worker, after all. Just a trainee. Just a student from some social work department in some university, a burden that was placed in his centre, that he had to take care of.

The children looked at me, they knew who had the power in the centre. They knew who could punish them, and who couldn't. They knew that I was a fake supervisor, that I had no power, that the next time, they got into a fight, there I was someone they needed to be afraid of.

The punishment wasn't fair. The fat boy was the one who called Jake names and he insulted Jake's mother. The other children joined in to provoke Jake together, led by the fat boy. The basketball was flung into the fat boy's face in a moment of anger. But, Jake was the only one punished. The other children were playing happily outdoor in the evening, while Jake remained alone in the centre.

I saw the anger in his face, I saw the accusations. It wasn't fair, his eyes seemed to scream, and I agreed with him.

It wasn't fair, I screamed within my heart. It wasn't... it wasn't... it wasn't fair. But there was nothing I could do about the whole situation. He was the boss, he was the supervisor, he was the one who will feedback to my school about my internship.

And I needed that A badly. 

Short Story: The Story of the Wayward Dragon

 Nisa was tied to the altar, a sacrifice for the Dragon, that terrorised the world of Gideon. She was a follower of the Most High Gibeon, who was believed by the many Gibeonites to be the creator of the world of Gideon. Yet, the believers of Gideon had lost their faith in their Most High, after not having seen any miracles for more than a thousand year. They followed Gibeon out of a routine, reading from His Holy Book, acts of wonder He did in the world of Gideon, which they now considered as myths. The worship rituals of Gibeon were seen as a kind of tradition, which the Gibeonites blindly followed.

At the other end, there were the followers of the Dragon. They were increasing in numbers day after day. Unlike the Gibeonites, they believed in the power of the Dragon. They had travelled to the cave of Darkness, where he dwelt, and seen his power at work. They had seen his magic spells manifesting in their world, and they knew that if they followed the Dragon, they could be leaders in the world of Gibeon, and they loved their power. They had to sacrifice sons and daughters to gain favor from the Dragon, and they had no qualm about doing so.

Nisa was the daughter of a Dragonite, a follower of the Dragon, that was held in high esteem among the Dragonites. Nisa's mother had purposely kept apart her daughter from the sacrifice, not out of maternal love, but out of a desire for greater power. It was believed that a sacrifice to the Dragon would gain the parent of the sacrifice the most power if the child reached the age of 7, and Matina, Nisa's mother had persuaded the other Dragonites to sacrifice their sons and daughters while she waited for her own daughter to reach the age of 7. All the years when she had been the mother of Nisa, she had lied to the child that she loved her when in reality, she was merely waiting for the right opportunity to sacrifice her. Tears dripped down Nisa's eyes as she awaited what she knew would be her death. It was not the death that frightened her, but it was her mother's cruelty that saddened her young heart. Nisa always knew that her mother was an evil Dragonite, but she thought that her mother genuinely love her and she never expected that all the love her mother showed her was merely a pretence. Unknown to her mother, Nisa believed in the stories of the Most High, and even as young as the age of 5, she chose to follow and call on the name of the Most High in times of her troubles. But this time, she was too sad to call on the name of the Most High. Her mother Matina's acts hurt her heart so deeply that she lost all her will to live.

"Most beloved Dragon, I bring to you my child, Nisa." Matina chanted.
"Grrrr..."
"Most beloved Dragon, she is of age, of the perfect age." Matina declared loudly.
"Grrr..."
Matina took out her knife and went to Nisa, intending to slice out her heart.
"Most High, save my mama." Nisa whispered. That was her last words.
There was a puff of smoke, and the Dragon appeared. He took the heart with his furry hands and consumed the heart.
"Grrr..." He grunted in satisfaction. "Matina, I am most well pleased with you. Not only had you sacrificed your only daughter, but you had sacrificed her when she is at the perfect age. Grrr...furthermore, she is of the follower of the Most High Gibeon, that foolish coward who created this world and banished me to the cave of darkness, denying me of my freedom, simply because I dared to suggest to Him that He let me rule the world in His place. I was being most polite, wanting to relieve Him of His burdens. He did always mention to me that He was tired of the unbeliefs of His creation, and out of my goodwill, I offered to take His place as the new ruler of the world. For my kindness, He banished me to the cave of darkness, where I now had to dwell in. I could not leave that sickening dark place, except on occasions when you, my worthy followers summoned me."
"Most beloved Dragon, Gibeon had not appeared in this world for a thousand year. Most likely, He had met with some kind of mishap. You will be the new ruler over us, and I am glad to be of service to you." Matina said, without feeling a sense of remorse over the death of her daughter.
"Yes, the time for me to be free from the cave had come. That fool Gibeon had told me that if his follower ever died as a sacrifice to me, the spell of the cave would be broken and I would be free to move in the world. Grrr..." Dragon laughed.
"Oh, that means we can be with you now, our master, and share in your joys of being the new ruler of this world?"
"Yes, Matina, and for your reward, I will let you have the honour to be my first meal, who I could eat of my own free accord, without the need of stupid mortals like you. Grrr. Grrr. Grrr."
Dragon uttered a series of words and Matina was transformed into a cooked chicken, which Dragon devoured with a great hint of satisfaction.

"When the Dragon is freed, and the world is in darkness, cry out to me and I will send you my anointed servant, and He will defeat the Dragon and free you from his malice forever." Gimeon read out from the Holy Book, with zeal and excitement. The reddish brown hair which marked Him out as unique among the youngster in the Academy of Gibeon flew as the wind blew. He was a most beautiful youngster, not beautiful because of his physical appearance, but beautiful because he always respond to the mockeries of his peer around him with kindness. At such, he won his initial enemies over to his cause, and they became his friend. The other youngsters who formerly mocked and made fun of Gimeon were now his best friends, always eagered to be with him and listened to his sharing from the Holy Book. Unlike the other mortals in the world of Gideon, Gimeon believed with all his heart in the existence of Gibeon, and he actively seek to learn more about the ways of Gibeon and he actively shared the way of Gibeon with his peers and the people around him.
"But Gimeon, the Dragon has been freed, and he is now the world's new king, and yet the anointed servant of Gibeon has not come to us." Yafu, one of his youngster friend mumbled as he listened to Gimeon.
"I am sure the Most High had foreseen that Dragon will be freed, and that even now, His anointed servant walked among us." Gimeon smiled.
"But Dragon said that he is the maker of the world, and we all could see his powers, clearly. The Most High, on the other hand, is most silent when we suffered under the cruel rule of Dragon. Why don't we give up on believing in the Most High and followed Dragon? Most people in the world are doing that, now. Only our town, the town of Faith, still chooses to believe in the Most High, and Dragon merely allowed us to exist, because he regarded us, the followers of Gibeon as his trophies." Tafa, another Gimeon's youngster friend mumbled.
"Do you actually believed that Dragon is our maker, when hs is merciless and cruel? Yet, in our hearts, we retain our conscience, and we know through our conscience that when we kill people with no regard like the way Dragon did, it is very wrong. I believer our maker must be kind hearted, because we are born with the desire to be kind hearted. Therefore Gibeon, whose moral law is holy and pure, must indeed be our true maker. "Gimeon answered with a laugh.
"Why haven't His anointed servant come, then, in response to our cries?" Yafu asked.
"Perhaps He had come and is in your midst. You just do not recognise him," Gimeon replied.
"Well, let's not think about Gibeon or Dragon. Let's go to the pool and have a swim." Tafa muttered.
"Sure, let's have a swim." Gimeon replied, with a laugh.

"Servant, I had read in the Holy Book that the anointed servant will arrive when I am freed. It had been ten years since I had reigned in this world of Gideon, and all I had seen of Gibeon's servants are fools and cowards. To challenge Him who had the audacity to lock me in the cave of darkness for so many, so many years, I had preserved the town of Faith, hoping to see the day when I can match power with His anointed servant. Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... bur none of his servants had dared to challenge me to a duel. My challenge, dedicated to all adults above the age of 17, posted in the town hall of the town of Faith remained unheeded for years. Grrr... Grrr... Grrr..." Dragon laughed.
"That is because... most beloved master... Gibeon is afraid of you." Nata declared, as he massaged the back of Dragon.
"What a disappointment. These ten years had been a boredom to me. None of the mortals is my challenge or my match. By my incantations and spells, I can turn them into every things I desire, and they are not able to resist me. Grrr... Grrr... they all cowered in fear before me... even the so called followers of Gibeon all cowered in fear before me. Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... I am so bored."
"Most beloved Master, none can ever be your match. Not Gibeon and definitely not his annoited servant. You will reigned in this world for a thousand year." Nata declared.
"Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... a thousand year is a long time. I had already begun to get bored of being the ruler of this world. I really hope for a challenge, for something that will take away my boredom." Dragon yawned.
At this point, a woman ran towards Dragon in excitement.
"Most beloved Master, the challenge... the challenge... someone had finally dared to challenge you."
"Grrr... Grrr... finally. And who is this fool?" Dragon laughed.
"He is called Gimeon, and he is 18 years old, and he lives in the town of faith." the woman replied.
"This should be fun and interesting," Dragon laughed. "Tell this fool to meet me in the cave of darkness, and sent a notice to the entire world that all the leaders I had appointed to watch over my world for me are to gather in the cave of darkness. I want them to watch how I made a fool of this stupid Gimeon."

The cave of darkness were filled with people who surrounded the two men that were facing each other. One of the man was a youngster with reddish brown hair. The other man was a handsome man in his middle age, with furry hands. The crowd that surrounded them was cheering the man with furry hands and mocking the youngster.
"So you are the one that dared to challenge me?" Dragon sneered.
"I come to you in the name of the Most High Gibeon," Gimeon replied, calmly.
"Gibeon is a fool, and so are you. Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... " Dragon laughed.
"I trust in Gibeon, that He will never fail me." Gimeon answered.
"Very well, name your challenge. I will defeat you no matter what challenge you may raise. Magic, wisdom, power, you can name any form of challenge you want. And if you defeat me, I will give you all my powers and teach you all my incantations and spells and let you rule over the world." Dragon declared.
"I do not need your spells or incantations, all you have to do is this: Vomit out all the hearts you had eaten and all the people you had consumed if you lose the battle," Gimeon declared.
"Very well, then. Name your challenge." Dragon replied.
"Your magic is your pride and strength. Using your magic, do what you will with me, except the taking of my life. If I call you master, you will win the battle. If I still hold onto Gibeon in spite of what you had done, then you lose." Gimeon replied.
"Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... very well, then, you fool. Be prepared to regret challenging the source of my strength. If I cannot defeat you after five tries, I will admit defeat." Dragon declared.
"I will take you on," replied Gimeon.
"Fire appears and burns Gimeon, but do not take his life." Dragon chanted.
Fire began to consume the body of Gimeon. Gimeon screamed in pain.
"Do you acknowledge me as your master?" Dragon hissed.
"I love Gibeon and Gibeon alone," Gimeon replied.
"Fire vanishes. Frost-bites appear. Frost-bites, surround Gimeon but do not take his life." Dragon chanted.
Frost-bites began to appear all over the body of Gimeon. Gimeon screamed in pain.
"Do you acknowledge me as your master?" Dragon hissed.
"Gibeon is my only master. I delight to follow Him." Gimeon replied.
"Frost-bites disappear. Itches of all kinds, terrorise Gimeon with your power but do not take his life." Dragon chanted.
Gimeon began to scratch his body, unable to bear with the itch that surrounded him.
"Do you acknowledge me as your master?" Dragon hissed.
"Trust in Gibeon and His powers will come to this world, again." Gimeon replied.
"Itches disappear. You are tough. I will show you no mercy. Fire, frost bites and itches of all kinds. Terrorise Gimeon with your power but do not take his life." Dragon chanted.
Gimeon felt like he was in the greatest of agony. But he looked on the faces of the mockers who were there to cheer Dragon on and he thought of all the oppressions they suffered under the power of Dragon, and he endured his ordeal.
"Do you acknowledge me as your master?" Dragon hissed.
"Dragon, oh Dragon, my most beloved creation. You are always so eager to rule over everyone as their master, but tell me honestly, in all these ten years, when I had let you ruled over the mortals, had you truly experienced joy? Worship your maker, and turn from your evil ways, and then you will know the joy you lost the instant you desired power over being my humble servant." Gimeon replied.
"You... you are Gibeon. You are that stupid creator of mine who trapped me in the cave of darkness! You had come down in the form of man. How is that possible?" Dragon exclaimed.
"I am the creator. All things are possible for me. You still have one more chance to use your magic, or are you ready to admit defeat?" Gimeon replied.
"Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... my change of vengeance is at hand. All these years... you banished me into the cave of darkness... simply because of my desire to rule over these foolish mortals you had created. You denied me of my freedom, you forgot about all the years when I had been your most faithful servant, and refused to show your love to me. All because of my desire to rule in place of you. I could never hurt you when you are still the Most High Creator. But now that you are a mere mortal, I can hurt you. I can actually hurt you. And I will see for myself now if you really love these mortals or if you are in fact the universe greatest hypocrite. I will show you no mercy this time." Dragon shouted in anger.
"I know what you have in mind. Indeed, it is the hardest of all tests, but I will accept your challenge." Gimeon replied.
"Mortals that surround me, be filled with hatred for this Gimeon that you see. Do to Him anything and everything you will, including the removal of his very life." Dragon exclaimed.
The crowd was filled with a wild hatred for Gimeon and they began to hit him, spit on him and beat him.
"If you acknowledge me as your master, I will stop your ordeal and spare your life." Dragon hissed.
Tears fell from the eyes of Gimeon. It was not the blows of his creation that pained him, but it was the madness that filled their hearts that made him endured an agony which no physical blow could ever bring. Like wild beasts, they had forgotten the images He had created them to be. They had traded away His glories, His righteousness for hatred, evil, greed, power, like what his servant Dragon had done. It was this evilness that was in the people that ultimately pained him.
"Dragon, Dragon, you can never take my life. I willingly surrender my power, and I willingly give out my life." Gimeon uttered and he fell to the ground and died.
Dragon stared at the dead form before him. Gibeon, the creator God, he could use his magic to defend himself before his creation. For it was Gibeon who has given to Dragon his magic. Yet, Gibeon, when he was in the form of the mortal man Gimeon, did not make use of His magic to defend His own life but chose to give out his life in love for his creation.
"I have no doubt, my master, that you are true love. I admit my defeat. Do to me as you will." Dragon replied. "If you can come back to life."
"If? Oh Dragon, oh Dragon, you had been with me all these thousands of years before I created the mortals, and you can still doubt my power. Is there anything too difficult for me?" Gimeon laughed as he rose from the ground.
"You cheater. You never truly died." Dragon laughed.
"And you Dragon, you do not truly wish that I died. Keep your promise to me and vomit out all the hearts and people that you had eaten." Gimeon laughed.
Dragon vomited out all the hearts and people he had eaten.
"Return to life!" Gimeon commanded the hearts and pieces of mortals that had been vomited out by Dragon.
Nisa opened her eyes and saw that she was alive. Not only that, she saw her mother Matina, and she was in tears.
"My daughter Nisa, forgive me. I had been a cruel mother." Matina cried. Nisa looked at Gimeon and she laughed.
"Thank you, Most High, for saving my mother."
Gibeon laughed. "My precious child, it is not me, but your faith in me, that saves your mother."
"Master," Dragon muttered. "What shall we do with these evil beings who trample on your most holy body." He pointed at the crowd that had beaten Gimeon to death, that was now staring at Gimeon in bewilderment.
Gimeon laughed, "Oh Dragon, none of these evil being had trampled on my body like the way you did. Yet, in spite of what you did, I had not lost my love for you. Go and teach them my ways, that they may learn to trust me even in times when I am not there to show them my powers and wonders."
"I humbly obey, my master," Dragon replied. "Thank you for being so patient with me and with all of your creations."
"'To quote my other form in another world, in that world known as earth, where I am known by another name and another body, I had not come to save the righteous but to save the sinners. And you, my beloved Dragon, is the chief of the sinners, and all your trials and tests are there to turn you away from your evilness, so that you can follow again my path of righteousness."
"Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... what is your name in that other world, my master?" Dragon asked.
"That is a mystery, my precious servant, reserved for those who can truly discern."

Short Story: An Undesirable Letter

 

Dear sir/madam,

Do not throw away this letter!

It is of the greatest importance that you do not stop reading this letter until you had finished it from the start to the end. I promise you infinite rewards to realize your wildest dreams on earth if you do as I tell you.

When this letter reaches you, it may be that the letter is quite old; it may be that the letter is sealed neatly in an envelope. It does not matter how long this letter takes to travel to you, it does not matter how you come to chance upon it. Continue to read it until the end. I promise to reward you for your endeavors.

Your utmost attention to this letter can save a life, my life! Now, read it with care, like you are reading the most important piece of document you will ever find in your life.

The realm where I am imprisoned is strange. It is a plane of no sizes and shapes; it is a place of all sizes and shapes. There is no wall here, no sky to limit the height, no earth to limit the depth. It is like a void with neither height nor depth, and neither length nor width. Yet, it has everything: Sky, earth, height, depth, length, width, everything.

Hey! Do not put off this letter! I am not insane! I can assure you, I am perfectly okay. You don't believe me? I am a human being. I have one head, two eyes, two ears, one body and four limbs. That is what a human being looks like, right? See… I am sane.

Now, you believe me. Yet, in this place where I am, I can have 2 heads, three hundred eyes and five hundred ears if I want to. I can be a knight in shinning armor with the arms of a dragon and… oh wait, don't throw off this letter, I will stop here.

Before you think I am mad, I will move on to describe what I look like in a manner which you can accept. Let's just think for now that I am a human being like you with one body and four limbs. I will move on to describe further how I look like so you can visualize me in your mind's eyes. This is the image which my family and friends will remember me to be like from their mental conceptions during the moment when I am not in this prison and back with them in your world.

I am a 24-year old girl; my hair can be messy, or trendy, depending on your taste in fashion. I wear a pair of spectacles that I consider to give me an educated look, but my friends tend to comment that it makes me look nerdy. My body is shaped in a manner which I am happy with, but my parents think I am too round to be able to find the dream guy of my life. Oh well… whatever. I prefer to be dressed in comfortable wear, a casual oversized T-shirt, ¾ pants and the same pair of sport shoes I had worn for a consecutive 3 years. It tends to give me an easy going look, though if you are a nasty person, you may see me as a sloppy person.

Can you now visualize what I look like? Good. That is how I look like whenever I am back to your world again, momentarily away from the prison which I am currently trapped in.

I am a NUS student in Singapore, a girl with a dream, someone very average, well, just like you. I am taking a course on social work in my university, with the dream to help the less privileged people in my country one day. I am a good hearted girl, like my many good hearted classmates in my social work modules.

Oh yes, I am a Christian, too. I love Jesus and I love my brothers and sisters in Christ. I dream of traveling to third world countries to do mission works for the underprivileged. I enjoy attending Sunday services in my church, and worshipping God with my voice and body. Oh yes, you can say I am a devoted Christian. I read up a lot on the bible, pray and fast regularly, and am often concerned about spreading my faith to others and doing good works to make the lives of my fellow countrymen better. Now, you have me, an easy-going, kind-hearted Christian and aspiring social worker.

How do I, then, end up in this place? It is a long, long story, which you must be patient to read through if you hope to help me come out of the awful prison that I am currently in. Oh, even now, I see a dragon with a robotic head and five hundred arms hunting down my mother. Arggh! My mother can take care of herself for now. I will rescue her as soon as I finish my narration of my tale to you.

Here is an account of how I came to this place. It began with a feeling of helplessness. One day, I was out there, sitting on a sofa, having a chit-chat with my family members while we were watching some kind of charity show. A fun and relaxing moment turned into a life-scattering conversation for me. Basically, here is a very concise account of how the conversation flowed.

My little brother wanted to dial the number to help donate some money to the charity organization. My daddy frowned and told him to remember the NKF saga and declared with conviction that there was no such thing as the poor in Singapore. I was upset by what my daddy said and told my daddy and my other family members about the different types of poor people I saw during my social work internship. My mummy came in to help my trapped daddy and told me that these poor people were just plain lazy. I wanted to argue further with the fact that the poor people that I saw were not lazy people, but unfortunate people. My daddy used his 'daddy card' when he and mummy could not out-argue their rebellious NUS daughter and told me to shut up and not 'spoil' our family's relaxation moments.

None of my family members watching the charity show was interested about the family of a drug addict father who had their electricity and water supply cut off because they were to poor to pay their bills. They did not want to listen to the real life story of a wife who is always waiting in fear during every stormy day in Singapore that her husband will literally drown in the sea because her husband is a fisherman.

You get it, a literal fisherman who sits in a literal fishing boat, not that much different from the small fishing boat my Jesus sits in 2000 years ago. Heck, I never even know fisherman still exists in Singapore, not the kind that sits in small sampan, anyway.

I feel like a tiny dot, an invisible, small tiny dot when I am with that wife who worries for her husband. I feel weak and helpless when I am with an eight-member household with just $200 a month to live on. I do not know how to teach a primary 2 boy who is an expert on porn to refrain from reading sexual materials because his father is still unsure today about who he co-produces his son with—the 5th or 7th girlfriend.

I am one body and four limbs, and yet, the people that scream for help are like the sand on the seashore, like stars in the night sky, and though I believe in Jesus and God, I am neither Jesus nor God.

It was at the height of my helplessness that I came across this accursed man, who tricked me into my prison. He is the man I will never forget, the one who was responsible for putting me into this prison where a dragon with a robotic head and five hundred arms can co-exist together with my poor mother.

Thanks to him, I am now in charge of training an army of dwarfs and elves in their upcoming battle with the evil demon king, and at the same time, running around trying to prevent a lunatic scientist from inventing gigantic intelligent robots that plot to take over the world. I had traveled to the top of a mountain that can turn red and blue simultaneously. I had crawl through a valley of skulls and bones. I dodged the flying arrows of witches and narrowly escaped being turned into the bride of the prince of evil.

The name of this accursed person is the Fiction Writer. How can I ever forget his name? He is the one whose letter I chanced upon one day during my short and average life as a student. It was his letter that ultimately brought me to my current plight.

This man, there is one talent I do not deny he has. He can write awesome letter–letter that excited me and made me wanted to read all that he had to tell me about himself. He began his letter with a promise, a promise to give me infinite wealth and endless riches if I will be patient enough to read through it from the start to the end. He claimed to be able to solve my problem if I will only give my ears to listen to what he has to say to me.

He proceeded to talk to me about his travel in the realm of fiction, the world where he is living in. He talked about the dragons and robots that he was able to see, and the human right advocates he was privileged to fight an unjust cause with. He seductively lured me to read more into his letter by colouring my imagination with the magical wonders of this place, which became my prison now. The place, he described, in his letters, is such a magical land of power, it can hold both walls and no walls at the same time.

He cast a spell on me with his fascinating arrangement of sentences, drove my mind into excitement with his choice of words and use of symbols and metaphors and allegories. He brought me back to the past, and carried me into the future; he even took me on a journey into the story of the prodigal son, my favourite story in the bible, the one that talked about the reconciliation of a hopeless son into the laps of his loving father.

Oh, this accursed person, known as Fiction Writer, he really studied my weakness. He stirred up such interest in me to be obsessed with his letter! In my helpless moment, he offered me power, power beyond my wildest dream, power to be that Christian and social worker I wanted to be, power to open the eyes of my friends and family, and to invite my fellow Singaporeans to travel in a journey with me to study the lives of the underprivileged people I see which everyone else ignore.

His letter enticed me and I read his letter from the start to the end like the way you are reading my letter now. I cannot help falling in love with his letter. I was at the mountain of my helplessness and his letter offered me a chance to escape from my painful reality. Now, I am trapped forever in this world of fiction, alone, and in a great deal of misery.

But, one day, the accursed man came to me, and he offered me a chance to make my life here more endurable.

Here is an exact quotation of what he said, word for word: "Go and lure another person into this world like the way in which I lure you here."

Hahaha, yes, you have finally realized it. I am doing the same thing to you as he had cruelly done to me. You should never have read this letter in the first place. Have you not read my title? I hinted that this letter will change your life in an undesirable way. You cannot say I did not warn you.

Here is the horror: You cannot save my life!

I lied to you at the beginning of my letter.

No one who enters into the realm of fiction can ever come out of this place. You will forever be trapped with a dual personality, the one you show to your friends and family, and the one you receive from this prison. You will be both a dragon and a robot, you will be hunted down from high places by witches and monsters, you will sit with great historical figures and have tea with them, you will explore injustices and human right issues, you will open up the part of the world no one will ever bother to notice—the unfair education system in Singapore, the plight of the ITE students, the flaws of the society of Singapore.

You think I am insane earlier in the letter when I tell you about the nature of my prison. You laugh at me when at one moment I tell you I have one head and four limbs, and the next moment, I tell you it is possible for me to have three hundred eyes and five hundred ears. I see you are not laughing now.

Thank you for coming to join me in the realm of fiction. Enjoy your moments. Hahaha.

P/S: Oh yes, one more thing. I am offering you a chance to make your life more bearable. Go and take up a pen right now and lure someone here like the way I lured you. Be creative, wink.

Yours Sincerely,

Another Fiction Writer

Novella: The Life and Death of Lioamb

 Prologue

Yaet wept. His people’s cries constantly bombarded His ears.

“Yaet. I am hungry. Give me food, give me food, please.”
“Yaet. I tried to teach my son your ways. But he ran away from home yesterday.”

“Yaet. I wanted to tithe to you, but I don’t even have enough money for myself.”

The Chosuns cried constantly to Yaet, and He heard them. He wanted to reach out to them. He loved them and wanted to let them know He is with them. But His hands were tied. 

The priest He tried to speak to to give food to the hungry conveniently ignored His voices whenever it suited them. The king He chose to lead the people cared more for his own needs and wants than the people He had put him in charge of. The truth is, Yaet dearly wanted to reach out to the people but His hands are tied without human vessels who responded to His call.

“My people,” Yaet cried. “You have no idea how often I wanted to help you in your plights but the vessels I had chosen to convey my will to you are not responding to my call as I wanted them to. Still, fret not. For this time, I will not use human vessels. I will come personally as a man. I am coming to you. Wait for me. I am coming. I promise.”

Chapter One The birth of Lioamb

Myam awoke with a start. What was this dream she was having? 

For this time, I will not use human vessels. I will come personally as a man. 

What did Yaet mean by that? And why did He convey that message to her? What did Yaet mean by saying that He is coming? Why did He send her this dream?

Myam pondered silently over what Yaet could possibly want with her.

Ryo was glad to be engaged to Myam. Myam was beautiful and known for her kindness. Ryo was glad to be the man she wanted to spend her life with. Yet, now Ryo seriously hesitated over whether he should still take Myan to be his wife or not. Myam had been pregnant for three months now and Ryo was not the father of the child. According to Myam, she had slept with no man and she possessed the child after having a dream from the Most High Yaet saying He is coming. Ryo found it hard to believe such a tale, even if Myam was known as a woman of integrity who never lied. In the end, Ryo chose to end the engagement with Myam silently. Ryo could never be the father of a child who was not his own flesh and blood.

Myam was saddened when Ryo chose not to believe her and ended their engagement. Still, she was determined to obey the Most High Yaet, whatever His call might be. Myam knew she had slept with no man, and that the child in her belly came as a result of that strange dream which Yaet had sent her.

Does that mean that the child in her belly is actually Yaet Himself, coming in the flesh, personally as  a man, as He promised in His dream to do? Myam marveled at the trust Yaet had for her, a mere lowly woman and she vowed silently to raise the child to the best of her ability.

When the day of birth came for the child, Myam gave Him the name Lioamb, which symbolized His dual role as the lion and the lamb.

I am your vessel, Yaet. I will raise You well. Myam uttered a prayer during the birth of Lioamb. She will not fail Yaet.

Chapter Two The Child Lioamb

Lioamb laughed as he climbed the tree faster and higher than his friend, Yosef. “I am better than you.” Lioamb boosted.

“Not after tomorrow. From tomorrow onward, I will be better at climbing trees than you.” Yosef replied. “And faster, too.”

Lioamb laughed, “Are you so sure about that?”
“Positvely sure,” Yosef replied, laughing too. The two of them sat at the branches of the tree they had climbed, observing the morning dawn.

Lioamb knew He was in reality, the Most High Yaet. But for now, He focused on being a child, the child Lioamb. Lioamb secretly wondered, though, if Yosef would still be His friend if He knew Lioamb was in reality the Most High God of heaven or if he would keep a distance from Lioamb due to reverence and fear. Lioamb hoped it was the former but knew in reality, that it would be the later.

The growl in the stomachs of the two boys at noon reminded them that it was time to look for food. The two boys got off the tree they climbed and went to the stalls of the city of Iyrael, hunting for their favourite treats. 

“This is delicious,” Yosef laughed as he stuffed a meat bun into his mouth. 

“I like this better,” Lioamb pointed at the roast leg of a lamb. 

“But expensive,” Yosef laugheed. “Beyond what you can afford.”

“Agreed, so I will have a meat bun as well.” Lioamb laughed as He purchased a meat bun and consumed it slowly. 

Lioamb knew it was His destiny to one day die for the world and its sins, but for now, He enjoyed being a child and He enjoyed feasting on meat buns with His friend Yosef.

Chapter Three The Teenager Lioamb

Lioamb wept. Yosef was dead. His friend died at the mere age of 15. Yosef went fishing with his dad and the boat capsized and Yosef could not swim well, so he ended up drowning. By the time Yosef’s dad got Yosef to shore, the teenager was already dead.

Lioamb wept because He knew by one word, and one word alone, He could resurrect Yosef since He was the Most High. Yet, it was not His time to reveal Himself to the world, yet.

He had not reached the age of 30, the age that was the minimum age set by Him when He was Yaet to serve as priest of the Most High. He had set a minimum age to serve as priest in order to protect the people from the pride of youth and to ensure that the priest could be a father figure for the people due to his maturity. 

This rule meant that He could not serve in His ministry, and perform a miracle by raising Yosef from the dead. Yosef would have to remain dead.

Lioamb took comfort from the fact that Yosef’s soul would be welcomed in heaven by Maal, his head agel that he left in charge of heaven after He came down to be born as a man. Maal was seeing to the affairs of heaven in His absence and Maal would comfort Yosef and tell Yosef the truth about Lioamb’s identity, that Lioamb was in reality the Most High Yaet. Lioamb wondered what Yosef thought of the fact that his friend was in reality the Most High. Yosef would most likely feel honored to have the Most High as His friend.

Still, it would be years before Lioamb could see Yosef again, and Lioamb missed Yosef deeply.

“Do not be sad, everyone has to die,” Myam, Lioamb’s mother comforted Lioamb at Yosef’s funeral.

Still, Lioamb felt sad, and He wept. For His friend Yosef.

Chapter Four Lioamb’s miracles

Lioamb was delighted. The day had arrived. He had reached the age 30. That meant He was ready to begin in Iyrael what He was born to do. On his birthday, held a feast, in which 120 of his relatives and friends were gathered. He waited for the moment where he was to cut the cake of his birthday to speak.

“For many of us, we thought we could serve Yaet by tithing to him and praying to Him and serving Him in His temple as priests. But have we really considered what it was that Yaet truly wanted from us?”

His speech captivated the attention of the small crowd gathered at His birthday feast and they listened to Him as He went on.

“Yaet wanted nothing from us but that we love and serve our fellow men and women as we claimed to love and serve Him.”

“I do love and serve my fellow men and women. I give alms, occasionally, to the poor.” A rich relative declared.

“But do you also bring home the poor, and homeless? Do you also tend to the sick and the weak? Mere giving of alms is not enough.  What Yaet required is a genuine concern for the underprivileged and not a mere superficial charity to the poor.

At the moment, the wine at the festival ran out and the servants went to tell Lioamb about it. Lioamb knew it was His time to reveal Himself to the world, and unless He performed miracles, no one would believe He is Yaet.

“Bring some water to me,”Lioamb commanded. The servants did as told. Lioamb closed His eyes and uttered, “Water, become wine!”

The guests at the festival marvelled in astonishment as the water in the jar transformed before their eyes into wine.

“If you can transform water to wine, can you also heal my eyes?” A blind relative asked, hoping against hope that he could see with his eyes if Lioamb could heal him.

“I can. Eyes, see.” Lioamb declared. The blind relative shouted in joy, “I can… see… I can… see.” 

Words of Lioamb’s miracles spread and people from all over the city of Iyrael brought their sick to him and Lioamb managed to heal them all.

Chapter Five Lioamb’s death

The sun hung low over Iyrael as Lioamb stood before the high Priest Sura. The high priest Sura for infuriated. For three years, Lioamb had walked over Iyrael, healing the sick and performing miracles after miracles. He had even been heard to claim as Yaet, the Most High God of the world.

The high priest Sura could not tolerate such blasphemy. If he did not do anything, the whole Iyrael would turn from following the high priest to following Lioamb. They would forget about their God, Yaet and chose to follow after a mere man, Lioamb instead. As a high priest of Yaet, Sura could not accept such blasphemy.

Hence, Sura had Lioamb brought to him. For someone who was said to perform miracles and heal the sick, Lioamb looked ordinary enough. A mere commoner. 

“It is said that you taught that the priests ought to be more compassionate to the poor than we currently are, and that you can heal the sick and perform all kinds of miracles. Is what I heard true?” Sura questioned. Lioamb did not reply, but remained silent.

“Do you think you are better than us, the priests, to teach about the requirements of Yaet?” Sura demanded. Still, Lioamb did not answer. Sura was enraged. Who did Lioamb think He is, why didn’t He answer the high priest’s questions. 

“Are you Yaet, as some claimed You to be? I charge you under an oath to the Most high God Yaet to answer this question truthfully!” Sura exclaimed in anger.

Lioamb sighed, “Yes, I am Yaet. It is as you said.”

“Blasphemy!” Sura shouted in anger! “And for this blasphemy, I pronounced that Lioamb be burnt to death at the stake!”

“Death! Death to the blasphemer!” The priests shouted in agreement to what the high priest pronounced. They led Lioamb to the stake, tied Him and set the stake on fire. The fire consumed Lioamb, but He did not scream or shout as the fire took away His life. Instead, He looked at the priests and high priest with eyes of forgiveness and love.

Epilogue

The disciples of Lioamb gathered the burnt remains of Lioamb and contained them in an urn. They lowered the urn into the grave and silently mourned the death of their beloved master.

How could Lioamb, if He really was Yaet, be killed? That was the question that haunted Apram, the eldest of the disciple, and the other younger disciples as they grieved over Lioamb’s death. They had been sure that Lioamb was who He claimed to be, the high God Yaet in human form. No one could perform the miracles Yaet did and healed the sick the way He could, if He was not the Most High God Himself. Yet, surely, if Lioamb was truly Yaet, Lioamb would not die, not at a mere burning at the stake, not by the hands of those He had made.

Yes. Lioamb is not Yaet. Lioamb is not the Most High God of heaven. Lioamb is a mere man and He had deceived them all. That is at least what Apram believed now. It is time to let go of Lioamb.

“Brothers and sisters, as we all know, Lioamb had died. And if Lioamb had been Yaet, He would not have died. Therefore, we are wrong about His deity. It is time to let Him go. We must go our separate ways from now on. We know the high priest Sura is persecuting all previous followers of Lioamb. If we retain our beliefs in Lioamb, we may be killed, too.” Apram said, sadly.

The other disciples nodded their heads in agreement. It is indeed time to let go of their beliefs in Lioamb and go their separate ways. 

“Letting go of Me so soon, Apram? I would not believe that of you.” The familiar voice of Lioamb rang out as Lioamb appeared physically in front of His disciples!

“Lioamb, You are not dead! You are alive!” Apram exclaimed, tears of joy running down his eyes. Apram gave Lioamb a hug. “Yes, it is indeed You. You truly are alive!”

“I told you, I am Yaet. How, then, can death hold a final victory over Me? Death is no enemy that can conquer Me.” Lioamb laughed. “Rather, I conquered death and all enemies of mankind.”

“Yaet, you are indeed Yaet, my lord and my God!” Apram rejoiced. The other disciples were delighted, too and they all gathered around Lioamb.

“I must die in order that men’s sins might be paid for. Spread the news of My coming, My death and My resurrection. I will return to heaven in three days' time, but you will remain in this world until your work in this world is done. Then, you will join Me in heaven. Do not be afraid of the persecutions that will come upon you. Trust instead in me who had conquered death.” Lioamb exclaimed. 

“We will follow You all the way!” The disciples shouted. “Nothing will stop us in our devotions to You!”

Thus, the religion of Lioambity was born, its roots firmly planted in the soil of Iyrael but its branches reaching out to touch lives far beyond the city's ancient walls. Lioamb’s diciples, known as the Lioambites by the outsiders, devoted themselves to spreading His teachings. Though they were persecuted, imprisoned and killed, they multipied and increased in numbers. The legacy of Lioamb, the God who became man, lived on in the hearts and minds of His followers, forever changing the spiritual landscape of the world.