Non- fiction submission:
Where’s the Bull?
“Therefore let us draw near with
confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace
to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16 NASB).
“Animal Control?”
“Yes, this is Austin at
Animal Control.”
“My name is _________. I live at _______ Ave, in front of the Christian Church. A bull
is running loose in our backyard! Please come quickly!”
“All right, ma’am,
we’ll have someone there right away.”
“Hurry, please,” I
choked through panicky tears. Then I called my husband.
“Honey, a bull from
next door has broken through our fence! Can’t you do something? I called Animal
Control, but they haven’t arrived yet.”
“I’ll be right there,
sweetheart. Don’t panic.”
Sitting on the edge of
the bed, I tried to pray through the sobs. We’d only been married a few months.
Our recent move to a suburb of Santa Maria on the California coast excited us. The
two and a half acres our church and parsonage sat on what felt like a ranch to us
city kids. At first, we had thought it sweet that the Catholic priests at the
rectory next door allowed 4-H’ers to keep their animal projects in their
pasture. Now I wondered if crazy was a better word to describe their
neighborliness.
My imagination running amuck,
I envisioned the headline: “Twenty-year-old Minister’s Wife Mauled by Runaway
Bull.” Although I’d never met a bull in person, I’d seen enough movies to know
if you came anywhere near one, especially if you were wearing red, you’d better
get right with God.
“Where’s the bull?” the
Animal Control men asked when Hubby answered the doorbell. He bravely led them
around to the backyard. They were ready with large sticks, to protect
themselves in case the bull decided to charge, and to herd it back to its own
yard. These men were heroes in my eyes. I was already planning the letter to
the editor I would write in their honor.
14 comments:
Adorable! I love it.
Thank you for the short and sweet diversion. For all the trouble he caused, I hope the bull at least left some fertilizer for the garden :)
“My name is _________. I live at _______ Ave.
The blanks stopped me.
If it were a manuscript I would read on. A published book? Maybe not.
Thanks for updating your picture Diana! Now you look like you!!!
LOL Sharon, thanks re the new pic. Long overdue!
The blanks were so you all would not know the name of the contributing author until the reveal next week. Sorry for the pause. :-)
Oh, non fiction. Okay.
I don't know. Being from the south and living in the country, I can't see why she's upset enough to cry. Just stay in until it's gone...
I'm not sure what I am supposed to feel in this submission. At first I thought maybe it was humorous, but then the tone felt more serious. I would like the writing to solidly tell me what type of book this is.
I think this would work much better if the author played up her active imagination and city girl ignorance of country living more. I think she should start with that. Tell us that she and her husband were excited to move to the country and hint at their inexperience, then tell us about how she over-reacted to the bull. I'd understand and be sympathetic if I knew first where she was coming from. As is, she's seems a little silly to be afraid of a bull.
I like the story! I'm a city girl too who has encountered a bull before and I understand her uncertainty! I'd read on, I expect it to be humorous laced with faithfulness.
Yep, I'd check it out further. Like the premise (cause we had a "wild" bull! Fortunately, our sweetheart neighbors were VERY understanding. lol) Needs work, but what work of ours doesn't?
I agree with some of the other commenters that it's a humorous story (and I probably would keep reading), but some early mention of her being a city girl would make her reaction a lot more understandable. Nobody's afraid of livestock where I'm from. :-) :-) :-)
Agree with most of the above comments, but would definitely read on anyway.
Thanks for your comments, everyone! Lots of others have beeen reading on since Two Scoops of Grace with Chuckles on Top released; it was #10 on Amazon in the Christian Humor/Family/Parenting category last week!
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