Welcome to Friday Fiction! This week it is being posted by Patty Wysong herself, so be sure to visit her at Patterings for more great fiction.
My own contribution reflects the busy time it has been in our household, hence a rerun and it isn't even exactly fiction - more like a devotional with a fictional element.
Butterfly Feet
Big brown eyes stare warily. A man is approaching, in knee-high waders, with a straw hat blocking the sun. He carries a bucket and a shovel in gloved hands. The big brown eyes belong to a black bull calf. The man comes to muck out the stall.
After a moment of fumbling with the latch the man swings the gate open. The calf stares at the open pasture before him in bewilderment. The man gives him a nudge and watches for a moment as the calf walks cautiously through the gate. Then he turns and begins his murky task.
The calf surveys the pasture as if he’s not sure which way to go first. Understanding takes hold, and a wriggle of excitement takes over his entire body. He leaps with all the effort he can muster, as though to take on the wings of a butterfly and fly away in freedom’s exhilaration. He lands, not softly on butterfly feet, but awkwardly with the cloddy hooves of a baby cow. Surprised, he gives his head a playful shake and tries again. No wings, no flight.
It matters not. He moves again in the kind of clumsy frisking only a calf can achieve. His playful antics are watched with an amused chuckle by the man cleaning out the stall. “Enjoy it while you can, little guy!” the man says. He turns back to his work with a sigh.
***
Sometimes I’m surprised by my own clumsiness. In my heart, I float on butterfly wings and land softly on butterfly feet. Outwardly, I struggle daily with the unmentionable signs of aging. Sigh. Someday… someday I will dance and fly and sing. Someday I will be as surprised and ecstatic as a calf frisking from its stall…
***
“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.”
Malachi 4:2 NASB
5 comments:
Aww...The description of the calf "finding its wings" is very sweet and vivid.
LoL--so cute!
I know the feeling of the thunks of baby cow feet! Great comparison! I love watching calves--and there's lots of them around right now! ; )
It is so much fun to watch young animals at play. Wonderful descriptions in this piece!
This is beautifully written! I enjoyed it very much.
Yes, that awkward moment when we realize our age is just awful, isn't it? Ah well...in heaven, we'll all be light as air and as graceful on the outside as we are on the inside! Love this analogy!
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