By the Book

Chapter 2

Sit down and take a few deep breaths

Paul hadn't realized he was standing. He sat carefully in his chair and took a deep breath, then another. How many was a few? Three, four?

Keep breathing

Paul sat on his chair and breathed until he stopped shaking.

Do Tuesday

Paul got up and washed his bowl and spoon, carefully wiping them each three times. He washed the pot too and set it upside down on the stove. Once he finished it was time for him to go and look after his garden. He meticulously weeded the small plot of land that grew most of what he ate. The feel and smell of the dirt almost made him forget about God's visit and the quest. There were peas and lettuce and even a tomato that were ripe. He picked them and carried his harvest into the kitchen. When he completed the weeding, he went out to the pasture to look after his sheep. The ewe provided him with fleece to trade and milk for his oatmeal. It wasn't time to sheer her, but he milked her and put the milk aside while he made sure that she was healthy and uninjured.

First he examined her head and eyes. His fingers travelled down her neck, then down each leg. He lifted each foot in sequence to check her feet. Then he checked her back and stomach, then hind legs and feet. She smelled like she was supposed to - earthy and like wet wool. The ewe simply stood and chewed at some grass. She was used to this. Paul did it every Tuesday.

After he checked his ewe, he made a count of the other sheep in the pasture. There were fourteen. All was well. He picked up the milk and started walking back to his home. God said that he was to take the first person he met. Maybe it would be Diana! She would have to come with him. It would be a long and dangerous journey and they would have to become close companions. She might even learn to like him. Paul was lost in his daydream when he heard a voice hail him.

"Hey, Paul!" The voice that wasn't Diana's yanked him from his pleasant dreams. Daniel jogged up to him. "I need some vegetables." He hoisted a bag. "I have eggs."

"Come to the house," Paul said in a despondent voice. He saw Daniel give him an odd look.

"It is Tuesday, isn't it?"

"Of course it is. What else could it be?"

"So, we always trade on Tuesday," Daniel said. "You're looking at me like it was Friday."

"How could Tuesday be Friday?" Paul said.

"But you like Friday much more than Tuesday, don't you?" Daniel swung the bag with the eggs. "Fridays are when you see Diana. I get the feeling that you like her cheese a lot more than you like my eggs."

"I follow the Book," Paul said and walked a little faster.

"Of course you do," Daniel said. "Don't we all?"

"Lo, the man and the woman looked at the tree," Paul said in his Book quoting voice "and saw that the fruit was good, but God had said not to eat of the fruit of the Tree and so the man and the woman refrained. They went to God in the cool of the evening and asked God to tell them what to do next. They feared to displease him. God told them to be fruitful and enjoy life, but the man and the woman insisted that God tell them what they should do so that they wouldn't offend God by chance. In the morning and in the evening, they asked God the same question. Each evening and each morning God told them to be fruitful and enjoy life. But still the man and the woman feared to offend God. So God gave them the Book."

"You don't need to quote scripture at me," Daniel said. "I have my own copy of the Book."

"Sorry," Paul said. Of course, Daniel had his own copy and would know it as well as he did. Didn't every person find the Book when they were old enough to read? No one knew where they came from, even the Book said little about the Book. Each person's Book was subtly different. Paul's Book made him a gardener and shepherd while Daniel's Book made him raise chickens.

Paul wondered briefly if Daniel's Book said the same things about welcoming God as Paul's did. He was sure it did. All the Books came with that yellow marker so they could turn to it as soon as God appeared. It was just that God didn't show up very often.

They reached Paul's home and went inside. Daniel went to the vegetables and began picking out what he wanted. Paul looked at the Page. He was already thinking of it in the capitals he usually reserved for the Book.