Emma stood and thought, poking her finger into her cheek, than twirling it in her hair, then making two fists and putting them on her hips and declared, “The Shadow Man is using the cats and the grownup bosses.”
Chandler sat back down like he was ready to learn something and asked, “How so?”
Emma paced back and forth in front of her class of one and explained it:
“It’s like this, Chandler. God is in the sky. So is Santa Claus and him and God speak to each other. They also speak to the earth. That is called a trinity, and its good—they look out for us, and our grownups.”
Chandler was rapt in attention, really soaking this school lesson up through his droopy dog ears.
Emma continued, her left fist on her hip and her right finger pointing here and there:
“So, if there is bad out there, well, that should be in threes, right? So, you have your Shadow Man. Then you have your cats—kind of like creepy, sneaky Santa Claus that takes your stuff instead of brings it—and then there is the TV bosses.”
Chandler nodded his head and said, “Make’s sense.”
Emma was all of a sudden stricken with pity for Chandler, because, even though he could talk now during grownup stupid-time, you had to explain everything to him!
“So Chandler, its simple, the Shadow Man has put the clouds up between us and the Sun—and we all know that God controls the Sun—I mean he lives in the sky and the Sun is the biggest thing up there. It’s like his bedroom. And when the Sun shines, it will really be Tamarno and the Shadow Man and his TV bosses and stupid-time will all go away!”
Chandler stood at attention and agreed, “Okay, so how do we pull aside those dark clouds?”
“God’s the boss, right, the boss of all. We just have to get him looking our way and the Sun will burn away the clouds and bring the day!”
The theology above was told to me the day before I wrote this story, upon meeting Emma for the first time in six months and constitutes interpretation thus far of the Children’s Bible I gave her for Christmas and her observations as to the world of grownups and above.
Tamarno! Is scheduled to be published by July 2020, for Emma’s birthday. Emma and Chandler have been friends for six months now, which is a long time when you’re four.
very good, james. touching.
Glad you think so.
Wasn't sure I could pull it off.