Parable Of The Wurtle

"Just as the song says, it was a cold dark night in Jerusalem. Most people had retired for the night except those people of the night. Roman rule had become increasing oppressive and the Jews were waiting anxiously for the deliverer who would save the people from Rome.

Outside her house Annah could hear the street whores giggling as they tried to lure Roman officers in for some earthly pleasures. If any people could overthrow the Romans it was those women, she thought to herself. She was a bit worried that David had not come back home yet. He normally did not take this long, but then it was a long trip. David was a shepherd-boy and he worked very hard taking care of the sheep. Once in a while he would get in a spot of trouble when returning home, but that was just because the Roman soldiers were always looking to create some.

Soon they would be delivered. And not by that Jesus character either. He was some sort of magician--creating dinner for thousands from a few loaves and some sardines. How could people eat that stuff? They must have known he made it. What where they thinking? That the disciples and him carried enough food for thousands with them up the hill? C'mon give me a break. Oh, well. She knew that wherever David was he was safe--for God would always guide him.

"Where is the wurtle?! Where is it?" the creature screamed at David in Hebrew. "Peace be still" said the prophet. David recognized him from the newspapers. He was that Jesus fellow. "Who you talking to?" the creature screamed at Jesus. Perhaps I should just nail you down and torture you"

"No!" yelled another one. "That will not help us. They will speak."

David wanted to pray but he did not exactly know how. "Can you teach me how to pray?" he whispered to the prophet-man. "Not know kid...you'll have to wait till the sermon on the mount or you'll be depriving generations unborn."

David nodded like he understood what the man meant, but still he was scared. He had locked the sheep in their barn on the outskirts of greater Jerusalem and was walking home when, a few hundred cubits outside the wall of Jerusalem he met a blind man who had just come from the city. "Peace to you" he had said to the blind man who proceeded to tell him a parable. David knew he was late going home, but the parable was interesting. It was about a man in a far away land, whose name was called Jack.

He had sat and discussed with the blind man awhile and was amazed at just how much the fellow knew. He spoke about other worlds and stars far away. He spoke about things called spaceships that flew like birds. And then there were footsteps from behind. David turned around long enough to see a young man, whom he now recognized as Jesus, wave a greeting to the old me "hey pop!" And then, in an instance, a big bird that spat fire from it's tail descended upon them. Three big creatures floated out from the bird's belly and pushed David inside the bird. He could hear them discuss outside. "Leave the blind man alone! He can not be of help to us! Quick get the other one...he's the one we’re looking for!" And now they were within the bird.

"When was the last time you saw David?" constable Mintz asked Annah.

"This morning when he was taking out the sheep. He's never been this late before. Never ever."

"Hmmm. You know there's a curfew. Let me check if there were any reports of anyone caught breaking the curfew."

The constable was a nice man who tried to do his job to the best of his ability, but the Romans were making it increasingly hard. He dispatched a messenger to the other precinct to find out what was going on, while in his mind he wished someone would invent telephones soon. This gig just wasn't happening. He wondered where he got all these thoughts from--telephones, cars, computers, vibrators. His mind was way ahead of his time he thought--way way ahead. Maybe he was the messiah. Naaah.

"Want to sit down Annah? Have a cup of coffee?"

"Coffee?"

"Er ..it's like tea."

"No thank you constable." The constable was a strange man. Nice but strange.

Within a few minutes the messenger had returned with no word about the boy. Constable Mintz was justifiably upset, and so was Annah.

"Ok, I'm going to have to go check it out."

"I'm coming with you" Annah said determinedly.

"Dammit Annah, you're a tavern-keeper not a police officer!" Mintz said with severely strange dramatism. Somewhere in the background one could hear the theme music for "Roman Gladiators" playing. It added a strange touch to the sequence.

"I have to come with you. He's my boy" Annah said sternly.

"Ok, ok, but don't get in the way. And keep this, you might need it." It was a piece of metal shaped like a hashiva. What madness had overtaken the good constable?

They rode on the constable's chariot for a few minutes till they got to the Jerusalem gate.

"A fine evening to you constable" the gate-keeper said.

"And to you too. May your days be happy."

"And yours too. May you live a long and fruitful life like the elders."

"And you too. May you bear as many.."

"Ahem!" interjected Annah.

"Yes" constable Mintz said, getting a grip of himself. "Did you see the little David boy come through the gates yet?

"Hmmm. Now that I think of it I thought I spotted him afar off, but he never really did get here. If anyone would know it would be the blind man. It looked like they were together."

"Quick Annah come with me! We must find the blind-man!" Mintz shouted. His face lit-up strangely.

"They rode quickly through the gates up the road until they got to a spot where they spotted a small fire. They got off the chariot and ran to the fire. Sitting by the fire was a man keeping warm.

"Take off your shoes for you are on holy ground" the man said.

"This is no time for fun and games" barked constable Mintz uneasily. Something about the man made him shiver. He was a bit old and had a lot of hair. He looked as though he were looking directly through the constable, and then the realization dawned on both Annah and the constable that he was blind.

"I have to ask you a couple of question abo..."

"TAKE OF THY SHOES!" barked the man again.

Annah and Mintz took of their sandals in a hurry and then sat down.

"Let me tell you a story" the man said.

Annah and Mintz wanted to react, but something in his voice made them sit contently and listen.

"In the beginning, I created the earth. And it was without form and void. Well, that's not true--it was not completely void. Within the earth was the wurtle."

"The wurtle!" gasped Mintz. He recognized the word.

"SILENCE!" the blind man shouted. His voice seemed to echo.

He continued. "After a few days I finished this world, and somewhere within it I left the wurtle, because I felt no one could find it."

The wurtle!" gasped Mintz. He recognized the word. The reader recognized the sentence.

Blind man continued. "The devil and his followers tried to overthrow me and I cast them to hell to burn for eternity till the end of time. But before the end of time, the devil realized that if he could find the wurtle, he would be able to hold humanity hostage by changing the spiritual molecular structure of love, and shaping it to become worthless--and that, my child is the greatest fear of all. For once love becomes worthless, mankind shall become slaves to evil. But even worse than that, if he so desired, he could destroy the wurtle, and then it would take a little more than two millenniums for mankind to perish!"

Annah and Mintz gasped.

"And so I decided to come down to earth to find the wurtle. I had sent people before me but no one could find it. Not Moses, not Abraham, not Jeremiah. We were all in a state of panic for the devil and his allies had been flying to the earth as what the Romans now call ‘unidentifiable flying chariots’ and they had come close to finding the wurtle.

But then just yesterday, yesterday Jesus sends us a message saying he had found the wurtle and was ready to come home! So I ran down here as soon as I could. My eyesight is not what it used to be, but I was able to see where Jesus would be at 11pm tonite. But alas as fate would have it, just as Jesus was coming down the path, and I was talking to your son David, the devil captured Jesus in one of his machines, and your boy is there with them."

"Can't you do anything? Anything at all?" cried Annah.

"Not a darn thing. For I have so loved the world I sent Jesus, and now the Devil's hate is almost as strong as my love--my power. If I use the rest of my love mankind is doomed. All we can do is wait and see... all we can do is wait."

"I ..don't..don't..know what you are talking about?" whispered Jesus to the creature.

By now the creatures where furious. The had nailed him to the cross and were poking spears in his side in order that he might tell them where the wurtle was.

David the little shepherd boy was cringing in the corner for he was seeing things never to be believed. He felt compassion for the man on the cross.

Jesus stirred.

David wondered. Hmm. He felt yet more compassion for the man on the cross.

Jesus moved.

David began to feel really sorry for the man on the cross and as though it were fantasy, Jesus began to grow in strength and laugh and yell. The creatures where taken aback for they knew not what they were doing. Neither did they know where this power was coming from, for they could not understand the reality of love.

"It must be the wurtle! It's giving him power!" they shouted in confusion. "It must be somewhere around here! Find it! Find it!"

Within seconds Jesus had more or less resurrected from the dead and was in full control of the situation. With blinding flashes he began to destroy the creatures one by one and the choice for them came between surviving or finding the wurtle.

Meanwhile, in the field, the three people had begun to run towards where the flashes where coming from. Thunder was heard all around Israel and rain, as had never been seen before pelted down hard so that anyone who was outside at the time took shelter instantly. God must be angry, they thought.

Well he was excited, for he kept shouting "That's my boy! That’s my son! In him I'm well pleased!" and with each shout there was an earthquake. Soon, Jesus destroyed all but a few of the creatures by which time they ran out of the craft, and with speed that amazed, dug a hole in the ground and disappeared. By the time the three had run to the craft, Jesus was outside with the little David, exhausted from his sacrifice of love, kneeling by his side.

"David are you ok?" shouted Annah as she ran towards her son, tears streaming down her face.

"Ok?" Jesus said. "He just saved mankind. How're you holding up dad?"

"Not bad... not bad. I'm just happy this thing is over with."

Everyone sat down under the craft to get away from the rain. When the rain had stopped, Jesus spoke.

"I found the wurtle. Everything's going to be alright now. There won't even be a chance that mankind will be destroyed now."

"Ohh... I'm just so happy. If the evil one had gotten the wurtle, he would have been able to master it and then become the almighty. Good would have become evil and worse than mankind being destroyed, mankind would have become slaves to the evil one."

Jesus beamed with pride as he put his hand within his soul and brought out the wurtle. It was the singularly most indescribable moment anyone could witness. There was peace, and it blew the wind unto the faces of all present. Everyone glowed.

And then in a swift motion constable Mintz pulled out a large piece of metal from his pocket and pointed it at Jesus. Before anyone could comprehend what was going on, a blinding flash of light came from the metal and then there was smoke. When the smoke cleared, Jesus was down on the floor bleeding. The wurtle was gone and Mintz was taking off down the field. Annah knew what she had to do.

She ran after Mintz and pulled out the metal he had given her. She aimed it in his direction and pulled the little stick, just as he had done with his. There was a blinding flash of light. This time all the earth shook as houses broke, and streets caved in. With a great yell of intense pain, Mintz was destroyed and as he went up in smoke he screamed:

"I was this close you bitch! I am the lord of evil! I will not die alone! I will not perish in hell alone. I am the master of darkness."

This all said and done he erupted as like a volcano and blew up. Every living thing within cubits of where he erupted was killed instantly, but luckily Annah survived. The wurtle had been destroyed. The wurtle was gone.

Annah limped back to where God lay huddled over Jesus.

"How is he?" she asked.

"He'll live" God said. "But mankind is doomed. Mankind is doomed."

The end