The Little Girl

The old man was dressed in black. He knelt before the altar. He was motionless. His hands clutched each other trying to hang onto this life in desperate prayer. His arms were braced firmly on the back of the pew in front of him as they struggled to keep his body erect. The little girl studied him from the pew ahead. She wondered if he might be dead since he hadn’t moved an inch in several minutes. He was lifeless and shut off from the world.

Elizabeth was dressed in a proper spring bonnet with ribbons to secure it to her head in case a wind arose. She wore a brightly colored frilly dress with flowers and butterflies adorning it. She stroked several strands of hair that escaped from the bonnet and hair pins, Elizabeth was the opposite of the old man- full of life and energy- open to everything in the world. 

As hymns were sung by the small choir dressed in black robes, Elizabeth scanned the interior of the building. There were beautiful multi-colored windows all around the place which seemed in sharp contrast to the dead man on the cross. After the song, the priest spoke of God. Eternal life and salvation was just around the corner. She wondered if God might be sitting just beyond the door near the altar. Maybe he was having lunch. She thought, “I wonder what he might be eating?”. She might just take a look later and ask him what he likes to eat- “He’s probably lucky and he can eat whatever he wants”. She thought “It must be cool to be God”.

Elizabeth turned to see if the old man was alive. He had moved. Although he was sitting now, he still was motionless, blankly staring straight ahead like he was in a trance or something. He did not look well. Maybe he was almost dead. Her mother poked her on the shoulder and pointed to the altar. People were talking about Jerimiah. He was brave and a very good fisherman. He brought fish back to help feed a lot of people. Elizabeth thought “I bet I ate one of the fish he caught”.They were pretty big fish as she recalled and she wondered if the fish ever bit him.  He apparently died in a terrible storm at sea trying to save the ship and the other men. 

She stared at the box Jerimiah was in. There were a lot of flowers on the box. She thought, “Too bad he can’t see them because he’s in the box”. But then she figured he probably had special eyes now that he’s dead. He probably could see right through the box. She wondered if he would be having lunch later with God. “Would he get to eat anything he wanted too?”.  

It seemed like hours had passed. Elizabeth tied, untied and retied her bonnet ribbons. She listened to some more songs that seemed sad. She sang the words silently to “Mary Had a Little Lamb” as her feet tapped out the beat. She didn’t think it would be a good idea to sing that out loud, even quietly. God might spank her or make her sit on the woodpile for an hour. Her mother warned her that she must be quiet, respectful. But maybe God would sing the song right along with her. She silently asked, “God, do you know the words?”. Then she chuckled to herself. “Of course he knows the words. He knows everything”.

Finally her mother gestured to her to get up. As she entered the aisle Elizabeth looked at the old man, Jeremiah’s father. He still sat quietly staring ahead while others were filling out. Elizabeth, being a bit impulsive as usual, took a few steps over to him. She said in a bright and cheery voice, “I bet Jerimiah liked the flowers”. She then hugged him tightly. Their eyes met as they stared at each other a foot or so apart. She added, “I hope he didn’t get bitten by the fish. Do you think you could show me how to catch a fish and not get bitten?. Ezra smiled slightly and nodded affirmatively.Her mother sighed and said quietly “I’m sorry, you must excuse Elizabeth. She meant no disrespect”. Then she turned to Elizabeth, “We must go now”. 

As they walked slowly down the aisle Elizabeth pulled on her mother’s arm and asked, “Do you think Jeremiah brought God a big fish?”.