God is a Clown?
© 2016 Paul DeThroe
Excerpt from Nightmare Worlds, Collection of
Weird & Frightening Tales
“God
is a clown?” Mrs. Maple, the crabby, retired, former mayor and current Sunday
school teacher, angrily stood over Damien and his superbly detailed clown,
drawn over a crucified Jesus coloring page.
“Well,
yea, that’s how I see it,” Damien responded fearlessly, not caring how deep a
hole he was digging himself into.
“Well,
I’ve never!” Mrs. Maple stormed off with the offensive picture in hand. Awkward
silence filled the dank basement classroom, which was packed with pre-teen boys
and girls. No one had been privy to see the piece of art that’d made Mrs. Maple
angry, but they knew it had to be exceptionally vile, and that by drawing it,
Damien was a now a terrible person. They all pointed fingers and stared at him.
His instincts told him that he’d never be allowed to fit in with any of them
again.
“Did
you draw this?” Father Patricide’s cold grip tightened around the back collar
of Damien’s shirt, while the doodle he’d drawn over the image on the Jesus was
thrust just inches in front of his face. It was like all the air had been let
out of the room. The fidgety kids sat silent and held their breath, awaiting
Damien’s public condemnation from the meanest soul to ever wear a clerical
collar, at least in their collective opinion.
“Yes
father, it was I,” Damien’s faced flushed, as he admitted to the charges, under
duress. He would’ve admitted it anyway; he was especially proud of the piece.
Even if it caused the church hierarchy to perform an old school crack down on
their newest dissident, to keep the rest of the kids in line. Damien was ready
to make his personal revolution against the establishment.
The
old frail priest, who’d be lucky to hold his own in a playground fight with
most kids Damien’s age, relied on the implied power of his position to wield
authority. He violently yanked Damien out of his seat and thrashed him all
around the room while yelling at him for being a heretic.
“Look
what you’ve done, Damien! How dare you desecrate an image of the Lord? God is
very forgiving, but not for those who mock him. Get out of my church, and don’t
come back, unless your parents are willing to pay for a special priest from the
Vatican to exorcise the demons out of your heathen ass.”
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