Glory Be

Chapter Fourteen

"So, I was thinking you should start with this," Sydney handed a book over to Isaiah.

A day had passed since their initial agreement. Isaiah was so excited that he had a hard time sleeping last night. He paced around, trying to rid himself of the energy. Until he found himself back in the pews, ridden with guilt, asking for guidance. God didn't speak to him then. Isaiah couldn't even be sure God cared about him doing this, but he knew his Father wouldn't like it. Eventually, sleep came, but the Church bells followed without hesitation.

"On The Origin of Species," Isaiah muttered the title, "You mentioned this yesterday, yes?"

"Mhm," Sydney said, his lips turning up, "Darwin's masterpiece, published after he visited the Galapagos islands."

But he wouldn't have to tell his Father, right? This was just... Printshop work. Learning about the material. All part of the apprenticeship. His Father would surely understand. Besides, he was also making a friend. Maybe God was listening.

"Galapagos..." Isaiah repeated under his breath, "Where's that?"

"Ecuador, in South America." Sydney said, and opened the cover in front of Isaiah, "Now, I thought we could start with this because it introduces the idea of evolution from the very beginning, and if you have questions, you can ask me."

"Great," Isaiah smiled up at Sydney, "How'd you become so knowledgeable about science, Sydney?"

Sydney's smile faded to a thoughtful sneer, and he leaned back. With a shrug of his shoulders, he said, "My dad, for the most part."

"Really?" Isaiah said eagerly, "I suppose living and working at the printshop helped a lot too. There are so many books here."

"Yeah, I guess so," Sydney left it at that. He looked around himself before returning his gaze to Isaiah, "Well, I better get back to it. Read what you can before lunch, and then we can follow up."

"Read it during work?" Isaiah asked nervously.

"You had no problem doing it yesterday, right?" Sydney chuckled but shrugged, "But really, it's no big deal, and if it is, just tell my dad it was my idea."

Isaiah slowly nodded, "You won't get in trouble though, right?"

"Huh?" Sydney's scrunched up his face, "In trouble? No, nah, it's not that serious."

"Oh, alright," Isaiah replied, and the argument between Sydney and Mr. Kowal disappeared from his mind.

"Well, I'll call you for lunch, and we can discuss what you read," Sydney smiled, "And maybe you can help me with the printing press again before we leave for lunch. If you're up for it."

Isaiah smiled back, "Yeah, I can definitely try." Sydney lazily waved his hand goodbye and left for the backroom. Isaiah placed the book on the table and stared at the introduction chapter. The black text floated off the page and swirled around in Isaiah's mind.

Isaiah spent the next few hours sneaking looks at the publication. He scratched notes into the margins using a dull pencil. Nothing of much depth, mainly just question marks. Still, Isaiah eagerly continued through the first chapter, only starting the second by the time Sydney called for him. Isaiah left the book and followed Sydney to the backroom. Where he was greeted with a stack of paper by the printing press.

"So, are you ready to try again?" Sydney teased, and Isaiah noticed his fingernails were dyed black from the ink.

"Yes, definitely," Isaiah faked the confidence. It was unlikely his strength had increased that drastically in the last few days.

"Go for it," Sydney gestured to the contraption.

Isaiah bit his lip as he approached the printing press with a nervous hand. The steps on how to run the machine weren't the hard part—he had been repeating the instructions in his head all week—it was the physical part. The machine was heavy, and pulling the lever to stamp the paper took a lot of energy. Isaiah wrapped his hands around the handle and attempted to pull it towards him. Which should've caused a cascade down the coil and inked the paper with the articles.