HOPE

 SHORT STORY: CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION

I'd always prided myself in being strong but sometimes even the toughest rock, with enough force will crack under pressure.

My name is Lisa, and I'm a Christian—Christ-like as the name is supposed to mean.

I am not very bright but ever since I was little, I'd always wondered about the unseen—the creator to be exact, the one who made the stars I've grown so fond of.

The beautiful constellations—the constellation 'Orion' had always fascinated me.

I remembered one night, when I was about eight, inside our compound, I'd gazed up the heavens above and had seen three stars that followed each other perfectly—I had never seen such beauty, such perfection in my short life.

The distance between each star was almost mathematically allotted.

I sigh as I focused back on the whiteboard our eight grade teacher was scribbling on.

We were in English class, and sometimes, it gets boring.

I tried to stifle a yawn and went back to my daydream...

But the teacher had already caught my faraway gaze.

"...don't you think so Lisa?"

'Wait, what...?'

I hadn't been paying attention.

"I'm sorry, ma'am?"

"Miss Lisa, have you even heard a word I said?"

'Nope.'

"I'm so sorry Mrs Stevens, I-I got carried away, " I tried to explain drably.

Mrs Steven's raised her thin-rimmed glasses up the bridge of her nose as if she needed to do it to see me clearly.

Her eagle-like eyes trained on me.

They were soft yet eagle-like, awesome contradictions weren't they?

'Yup'

That's just how Christianity and the world were—polar opposites.

And there's no way—there's bound to be a clash.

"Of course you were Miss Cartwright. Then I guess you won't mind going to detention?" she said wryly, almost gleefully at me.

I groan inwardly.

"No, ma'am, " I said quietly.

"You may have your seat, " she instructed with a final note and went back to her teaching.

I let out a sigh.

Fast forward, it was lunch break.

As usual, I was sitting alone at my table, but something changed that that—someone joined me, a boy to be precise.

He sat opposite me, laying his launch in front of him.

We were both silent for a while, both willing the other to say the first word.

I hadn't bothered looking up—I already knew who it was.

He was a misfit—like me.

His fiery-red hair flashed in my peripheral—such was the uniqueness of a peculiar number of the Europeans.

He was from Ireland—a transfer student.

I'd always been fascinated, but my eyes remained on my half-eaten meal.

Maybe if I didn't say anything, he'll leave.

But he didn't.

Slightly frustrated, I look up to find him staring at me.

His plate was empty.

"Um, I think you got the wrong seat, " I said.

He shook his head and smiled a little, his beautiful blue eyes somehow shining brighter.

I gulped.

He was handsome no doubt.

"You know what eating here means, trust me you don't want what they do to me," I say in a lower tone, so my bullies that were just a few tables away, watching with hawk-like eyes wouldn't hear me.

He merely shrugged and his smile brightened.

My heart spiked.

"I don't care," he said 

"We're in it together now," he said quietly.

My eyes widened as I stared at him, dumbfounded.

"I don't want you to get hurt," I almost whispered.

Something crossed his eyes and they became slightly more serious.

"I don't mind, I think it's very admirable how you stand up for what you believe in. It's something I admire about you, Lisa,"

My eyes widened.

'What was he talking about?'

"I've been watching you, all this while,  I had always wondered why you put up with the bullying," his eyes shone with a glint.

"It's because what you have is worth standing up for, Jesus is worth standing up for," his brows were furrowed as if in deep thought.

"B-But what are you doing here Bryan? I thought you didn't believe in God," I said quietly, looking down at the food I'd already lost appetite for.

He used to be one of those who bullied me, in fact, he was the one who instigated the whole thing.

Ever since I became a Christian, ever since I gave my life to Christ, that passion had driven me.

It'd showed in my lifestyle; the music I listened to—all my old ones I'd gotten rid of—and the crowds I walked with.

That was why, I sat alone because all those crowds I'd left behind had been the people I used to hang out with, smoked and got drunk with.

Now they were my bullies. They bullied me in school, online—everywhere.

But I didn't care, not anymore.

And Bryan had been the head of it all.

He'd been my best friend, my secret crush.

And now he was back, after all he'd done. I didn't know what to think.

But now looking into his eyes, I knew something's changed.

I realised quite strongly, that he'd changed.

He wasn't the same Bryan I'd known.

"You changed me, Lisa, without you even knowing it," he said quietly, his blue eyes staring deeply into my own.

"Your endurance and strong convictions changed my life. I'd decided I wanted to be like you, to have something I strongly believed in, to have something to hope in and fight for," he smiled gently at me.

All I could do was stare at him, dumbfounded.

I swallowed.

"What do you say? Let's stick together?" he asked somewhat hopeful.

My eyes were still wide with shock.

But then, I shook myself from my dazed state and smiled warmly back at him.

I shrugged lightly.

"Sure, why not. I've missed my best friend anyways."

He grinned back at me and I couldn't help grinning back.

©Oracle

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Author's note: Hey guys, it's been a while, sorry bout that. I wrote a short story for a competition on 'Christian Persecution'

This comes in diverse forms but the key is to hold the fort and always spread the love of Christ to all. Overcome good with evil, not evil with evil. May the Lord help you and I in Jesus name. Amen❤🌹.

Have a lovely day/night. And don't forget to follow and subscribe😊❤🌹.

Thank you🤗❤🌹