A College Seeress' Diary

X-napped

Dear Jesus,

When I read through the account of Daniel in the lion's den this morning during my personal Bible study, I didn't realize that successive events of similar nature would happen to me today.
You were indirectly preparing my heart for what was to come.
It was to prove and try me if indeed I had learned all that you had been teaching me. It was to be the climax of the ongoing battle.

Now, as I relayed earlier, John came and pulled me out from the midst of my fellows who had been enjoying the show that featured a special-my shame.

John didn't say anything to me after we left my department. He just rode on for a very long time, cycling through almost the entire circumference of the campus.

I sat still behind him, content to lean my head against his back (we didn't wear helmets), listening to the muffled beating of his heart as I allowed the lashing wind to weave through my hair.

I was replaying, with many cringes, what happened back in class. I might have to walk through school with a facemask or some sort of other disguise on for at least a week, I thought. This kind of memory can't be easily forgotten.

We got to the almost-deserted link road that connects the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Physics. That place was at the furthest fringe areas of the campus, very close to the undeveloped forest towards the south, so it was understandable that no vehicle or person was in sight.

It would have been no biggie to just scoot through here-I knew John was trying to think and cool off, and so was I-especially since we had Angel's Wings to transport us fast.
But something unexpected happened that was the herald to an intense battle.

The tyres of Angel's Wings started wobbling, slowly at first, then in a more pronounced way that got the Harley bike shaking. I heard the splatter of rubber against the tarmac and soon smelt the burn of friction faintly just as John manoeuvered the bike to pull over.

We got down and John squatted to examine the situation.
He ran his hand over the tyres with a serious look on his face.

Straightening with a long sigh, he said, "Looks like we got a puncture. We overworked the tyres already so it couldn't hold on any longer."

"Oh!" was all I could say.

"Looks like a deliberate work to me," I heard John mutter.

I frowned and looked again at the tyres, contemplating. Yes, it looked like a deliberate act given the arrangement of the punctures.
Poor Angel's Wings! Who could have done this and why?

John took the key, tucked it into his pocket and eased the two-wheeled contraption off the road. He started to walk up the road and motioned for me to follow him.

Hastening after him, I said, "Are we just going to leave it here?"

"We don't have a choice. The sun is already setting and before you know it, it'll be dark."

I nodded and we walked on slowly in silence.

After a while, John said, "What happened back there? Why did you have to let them walk all over you?"

I sighed.
"It's complicated. It wasn't as if I enjoyed it myself. It was God's instruction, John. How could I disobey him? And besides, there was no easy way out of that for me."

My voice was shaking slightly as I explained. I didn't know how much the experience bruised me. I thought I was okay with it.
I wasn't. I was hurt and many questions were swarming my mind.

John noticed my emotional tug-of-war and stopped walking to look at me with sympathy.
"I shouldn't have asked," he said.

"No, no, it's fine. How did you find out about it by the way?"