• Sep. 10, 2009
Writing...
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Thanks!
If you have never had to write out a skeleton for a novel, you have no idea how completely taxing it can be on your brain. I am at the point now in my One Year Adventure Novel lessons where that is what I am working on. Yesterday I actually threw down my pencil in frustration.
Thing is, when I write, I jump in without a plan. Of course, I have a general idea of where it will end up, but that's it. So this is a new thing for me, because I have to have a basic plan of my story. I imagine it a lot: what goes on, who does what, etc. But not every scene! And it is so much information to take in from my lessons sometimes. Like I had never, ever thought about ideals until I started doing OYAN. Never. The thought about what ideals my characters would represent had never crossed my mind; or about the "Inciting Incident" and theme, or I have never dug deep into why my heroine wants/doesn't want to go after the story goal. Not consciously, anyway.
It is one of the best and hardest things I have ever done. And I love it, even when I throw down my pencil and am tempted to cry from lack of answers to the questions.
I only have 7 lessons left before I begin the actual writing process!!! I am SO excited!! Yes, I have written some scenes on assignment (and on the side for fun), but have been going through the planning stage, which can get pretty intense.
I've only had it for 53 days...and have already done 32 lessons ;-) I think I will be done a lot sooner than the approximate 9 months. I am getting highly addicted to writing. I start to go crazy if I have to skip a lesson for lack of time ;-)
4Him,
~Hannah
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• Apr. 16, 2009
One of my stories...
Last week I got the idea for an Easter short story. I wrote most of it several days ago, and then Dad helped me edited it today. I hope you enjoy it!! Please let me know what you think, and if you see weak points in my writing, please tell me, because I really want to write well.
The sounds of morning in the usually quiet stable penetrated into the fitful sleep of the small boy. Yawning, Levi slowly sat up in his bed, simply a pile of soft hay in an empty corner of the barn. His eyes red-rimmed from crying himself to sleep, his little body covered in tattered clothes, and his dark hair with a permanent cowlick, didn’t suggest that he was anything other than a little beggar boy.
He had been one, until two weeks ago. Two weeks ago he had never seen the sun rise in the morning or watched the passersby in the busy marketplace. He had, in fact, been blind.
Then the Man came. Levi had heard that He was coming, but never thought, never even dared to hope that He would take notice of a young orphan boy sitting on the street corner, begging food from the people that passed by.
But as Levi sat there in the hot sunlight, the people around him grew silent and he felt a shadow fall across his face. Instinctively he shrank back, thinking that the person that had thrown the shadow would yell at him and yank him to his feet, commanding him to never come and beg there again. It had happened before on other street corners, and Levi dreaded it.
Instead, a warm hand touched his shoulder. Levi relaxed under the kind hand, and a strong yet gentle voice spoke to him. “Young man,” the voice said.
“Yes, sir?” Levi couldn’t help but keep his curiosity out of his tone.
“Do you believe Adonai Roph’ekha can heal you?”
Now Levi knew who was speaking to him. The Man, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus, Who went about in Adonai’s Name teaching and healing. Yes, he knew his answer.
“Yes. I know Adonai Roph’ekha can heal me, if He wants to.”
Jesus gently laid His hands on Levi’s face, covering his eyes. He took His hands down and smiled. The first thing Levi saw was the Man’s smiling face. Ecstatic, he impulsively hugged Jesus, a wide grin on his face and wonder in his eyes.
But that had been two weeks ago. Life had been wonderful for a week and a half after that. He found a job caring for a widow’s animals in return for sleeping in the stable and three meals a day. He hurried through his chores every morning, and then spent the rest of the day gleefully following Jesus and His disciples throughout the city, listening and watching.
He was continually amazed at the world. The bright sunlight which he had only felt before, the olive trees that now had shape and color to add to the rustling of the wind through their leaves, even the empty alleyway behind the stable held hundreds of intricate details that most people who had been able to see their whole lives, would have missed.
Then, one night while he was blissfully sleeping, the soldiers came.
That morning, the city was in an uproar. Everyone had their own opinion as to what should happen to the Man Who claimed He was GOD’s own Son. Some were appalled, some believed in Him and wanted Him to free Himself and take charge of the kingdom.
Levi was scared, scared for the only person Who had cared for him since the death of his parents. He pushed and shoved his way through the crowd, watched Pilate renounce any say as to what would happen to the prisoner, and heard the growing mob shout for crucifixion.
Sobbing, Levi sank down against a tall marble column, resting his cheek against the cool stone. As he sat there, desensitized to the rest of the world, the crowd melted away, preferring to be in the streets to watch Jesus and two criminals stumble through the rough streets, carrying heavy wooden crossbeams that quickly became stained with their blood.
“How could this happen,” he said to himself. “Just as I was given the chance at a new life, just as I found Him. Now I have nothing.”
Suddenly a brighter thought penetrated through the thick fog in his brain. Maybe on the Hill of the Skull Jesus would call down legions of angles, free Himself from the Pharisees and Romans, and everything would be right once again, with Him ruling in place of Pilate and Caesar.
He must go see, Levi told himself. If he missed it, he would be forever disappointed.
The streets were empty and quiet as he scurried along, more hopeful at every step.
In sight of the hill he stopped short, his dreams dashed into pieces as if he had hurled them into the rough stones under his feet.
There, on the hill, were three crosses, but only one registered in his mind.
In between the two common thieves hung his Teacher. Beaten, bloodied and bruised, gasping for every breath, the worst pain imaginable etched on His face, the skin on His back hanging in shreds from where the pieces of metal and bone imbedded in the whip had shown no mercy.
The crude crown of twisted thorns dug itself into His head, not just laid there, but shoved on and cruelly pounded into the scalp with a wooden mallet. And yet He said “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
At those words, Levi saw some of the people that had been shouting insults look down at the hard packed earth, shame turning their faces a deep scarlet, ashamed at mocking a man who would not defend Himself. A few left, no longer finding satisfaction in watching the Man Who was to them an imposter and blasphemer, suffer so.
The soldiers, used to this barbaric form of punishment sat in a circle on the bare ground near the crosses.
Levi saw them casting lots onto the dirt, cheering when the dice rolled in their favor and cursing loudly when luck turned against them. Judging from the heap of cloth next to them, Levi realized that they were gambling for the clothes that Jesus had worn only minutes before.
Brokenhearted, Levi crumpled underneath an olive tree and wept, tears rushing down his face in a torrent. He never knew how long he sat there, but it seemed like an eternity. The sun had suddenly stopped shining and darkness had come over the land, thick, oppressive darkness that not only affected Levi’s vision, but darkness so thick that he could feel it.
Suddenly a dry, rasping voice that he thought he should have recognized broke out over the crowd. Lifting up his head, Levi strained to hear the words.
“My GOD, My GOD, why have You forsaken Me?
A moment later Levi heard a loud cry, saying
“Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” and the figure on the center cross went limp.
“No!” Levi wailed, and threw himself across the ground, emotions coming over him like a tidal wave.
But no one heard the cry of the small boy, for the whole earth shook violently, knocking even strong men off their feet. Rocks split and tumbled, and in the
“Surely He was the Son of GOD!” they exclaimed after the earthquake, now believing that they had wrongly killed an innocent man- the Son of GOD.
Worn out with grief, depressed, angry at Pilate and the Jewish leaders, and confused as to why Adonai Shalom would have allowed this, Levi made his way home to the stable through the silent, subdued crowds.
Levi was called out of his thoughts as Anna, the widow, called his name. Handing him a coin, she asked him to go to the marketplace and buy some lamb for her to make for dinner that evening. Obediently, he headed toward the busiest section of town.
“Three days,” he thought. “Three days since that horrible afternoon. Will I ever be happy again?”
The last few days he had lived as though in a dream, not caring about anything anymore and crying for hours on end. Just the thought of that day made tears well up in his eyes again. Stubbornly, he blinked them away. He couldn’t cry in the crowded streets, he might accidentally run into someone or stumble into a vendor’s wares.
Coming upon a butcher’s stall, he bargained for a leg of fresh lamb, ignoring the flies that persistently buzzed about his head. Satisfied with his purchase, he took it back to Anna, who thanked him, and told him that she was going to make a stew, so he had better be on time for the evening meal.
He nodded his head and wandered off, going nowhere in particular, just walking aimlessly about, buried in his own thoughts. Suddenly, something caught his eye. It was nothing unusual, just two women walking together, each carrying a large, carefully wrapped parcel.
“I know them,” Levi said to himself. “Mary and Mary Magdalene, they followed Jesus. They were kind to me, and shared lunch with me one day.”
Curious, Levi followed them, for as they walked, he could hear the low murmur of their voices. He wondered where they were going and why they were talking in whispers. He made no effort to hide himself, for he was not a sneak, but they didn’t turn around. After several minutes of walking, they turned off the main road and onto a small path that led into the interior of a large, spacious garden.
Toward the back of the garden the women stopped, as if in shock and trying to decide whether to run or stay still. The ground started to shake, and Levi stepped off the sandy path so he could see what had made the two women so surprised.
As he looked, a small squad of Roman soldiers that had been guarding a tomb suddenly fell down. Levi could see the look of panic and fear on their faces. Once they hit the ground, they were as still as death.
He heard a grinding noise, and tearing his eyes away from the soldiers, he about fell over himself.
He blinked and rubbed his eyes, thinking that he, Levi bar Enan couldn’t be seeing an angel. He looked again. It was real.
Clothed in the whitest white Levi had ever seen, he seemed to glow like lightning. Effortlessly, he pushed back the stone that blocked the tomb’s entrance, breaking the seal. Finished, he sat upon the huge stone.
Levi crept through the trees to get closer; he wanted to see if the soldiers were dead. Glancing behind him, he saw that Mary and Mary Magdalene still stood in shocked silence. Picking up a tiny pebble, he tossed it at the bright breastplate of the soldier nearest him. Shocked at his own daring, he held his breath as Plink! the pebble hit its target. The man didn’t move, and Levi exhaled slowly, but then the angel spoke and caused Levi to nearly jump out of his skin.
"Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.
He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into
His eyes and words were directed to the two women huddled together in confusion, shock, and awe. Smiles slowly dawning on their faces, yet with slight fear in their eyes, they turned around and hurried off, their steps now lighter as if a weight had been taken off of their shoulders.
Levi backed out of the tangle of bushes and vines as silently as possible and followed them out of the garden. He, too, felt lighter, and for the first time in several days he felt happy. Extremely happy. He started to run, he felt so good, so happy and free. He gave a joyous shout, and then suddenly stopped running. Looking up into the heavens, he said a quick, heartfelt prayer, thanking Adonai Elohim that his beloved Teacher now lived again.
The End of this Story, but the Beginning for Levi and Followers of Christ everywhere…
Historical Note:
There are many names for GOD in Hebrew, indcluding Adonai (LORD) Adonai Roph’ekha (The LORD who heals), Adonai Shalom (The LORD of peace), and Adonai Elohim (The LORD GOD).
I am not Hebrew or Jewish, but I assume they use the different names of the LORD in context, like Adonai Roph’ekha when they are talking about the LORD healing them. If I am wrong on this point, please let me know.
Author’s Note:
Levi bar Enan is a fictional character completely created and brought to life through my imagination. If he resembles any person, living or dead, it is completly coinccidental!
And I am the sole owner and copyright holder of this work. If you would like to copy any part of it for any reason, please contact me first and ask permission.
Copyright 2009
Editing and adding...
God bless!!!
4Him,
~Hannah
