Rancid Soil

PROPER TOOLS

   Sara's mother looked over to find her baby girl fast asleep in the passenger seat. She began to find herself dosing off herself and decided to find a place to park for the night, there was no way she was going back to that house, at least not tonight. As she pulled in to an empty parking lot just off the main road she noticed it was a church. That's it she thought to herself, they must know something, She could see there were lights on, it was late but she was going to try anyway. She gently woke her daughter up and they both walked up to the church. "Why are we going to church, it's not Sunday" Sara said with sleep in her eyes. "Because baby, they might be able to help us". Sara was too tired to question just how this could help, but trusted her mother's instinct. Sara's mother knocked as if it was her own house, expecting someone to be right at the door. But no one came.

    Just as they were heading back to their car the door cracked. Sara's mother looked back "OH, Thank God" she said with a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry" the man said in a comforting voice, "You must be mistaken, we don't have services this late" the preacher chuckled, "Oh no I'm not here for service, I need some help". Maybe it was the desperation in her voice or maybe it was the fact that it was nearing ten o'clock and she had her little one looked genuinely disheveled. Whatever the reason the preacher could tell she needed help. "Come in, come in" he insisted, "I'm Pastor Daniels. How may I be of assistance?", "Well..." She started and for the next hour or so she explained what had happened that night, with Dodger, with the woman upstairs and her husband and how when he grabbed her hand at the dinner table it was ice cold. About the strangeness of the rest of her family and the wretched smell that only she could smell.

    "I see, I see" he said after hearing all that she had to say. "Well, I could do like most in my profession, give you a pat on the back and tell you I'll be praying for you" he chuckled and said jokingly "but I don't believe that would be very helpful in your case." "So how about this," the priest stretched his hands out to Sara and her mother. "Now let's not underestimate the power of prayer, just for starters". So they prayed, then he took them into a small room. "You will need some tools, no one can fix something broken without the proper tools" he said as he dug through doors that looked as if they had not been opened in ages. "Ah yes, here it is" he said with excitement. "This is what you will need" as he handed an old wooden box to Sara's mother. "What is this?" she asked. "Your tool box" he said with a smile. "Go on, Go on! open it". She undid the two clasps and opened the old wooden box to reveal an old silver cross and a small bottle of what she presumed to be holy water. "How will this cure my problem?" she said with disbelief, seeming frustrated.

    "Well from what I gather the house itself is the problem, you see if the house is infected then this is the antidote", "For evil cannot exist in the same plain as good, they are like oil and water. They can be together but not in the same space, you know what I mean?", "Not really" she replied. "Ok look at it this way, you cannot kill the evil any more then you can kill good. But you can push it out of one place as long as you have something to replace it with. If you don't replace it immediately the infection or evil in your case, will just come back". "Ahh". Sara's mother was more then skeptical of this method. How could a little bottle of water and an old silver cross cure her house? "You must believe that you have the power through Christ or the whole act is in vain." "All you will do is anger it, and once it knows you are weak you may not have a second chance to eradicate it, or worse." He began to get very serious. "Now please get some rest you may stay here if you wish, I have an empty room for guests." "That would be nice, I know Sara is very tired" she said as she looked down at her half asleep, very confused daughter. "Yes, well then, right this way" as he took her to the guest room.

    All she could think about was how this was going to work, Just as the pastor was to leave her for the night, Some still small voice told her to ask the pastor one more time, to explain how this was going to work. After about an hour of deep conversation, in a strange situation, a strange place and a strange bed, it finally clicked! Sara's mother jumped up! "Your right, and I can do this!" She gathered her things thinking to herself, I will not be run out of my own house, My Own Life, MY FAMILY!, no matter what's inside that house. She gently lifted her fast asleep daughter off the cot and left quietly. "Thank you Pastor", she whispered. He smiled as he held the door for them.