Thou Shall Not Fear
“May the Lord bless you and keep you,” Father Collins said throughout the silent church. “May the Lord make his face shine down upon you, and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.”
Then together, everyone murmured, “Amen.”
And then the shuffling of feet was heard throughout the church as people began to exist out of the pews, along with the sound of chatter amongst them.
“Look Daddy!” Chris, my younger brother, showed the paper with scribbles drawn across it. “Look what I drew!”
My dad chuckled at my little brother, and my mom reached for his hand to hold as we waited to exist out of the pew. There was a line going across the main aisle, so we were going to have to wait a few moments.
“What’d you draw, Son?” My dad asked, evidently trying to understand what Chris drew. Chris loved to draw; we could be anywhere, and he’d have a piece of paper, some crayons, and he’d be drawing. However, the cutest thing ever was his face when he drew; he was so concentrated, so serious on what he drew, and I could tell he was actually trying his best to make something great.
My little brother was going to be the next Michelangelo.
“See? That’s Father Collins, and this is Jesus,” Chris explained eagerly, his small finger pointing out the scribbled figures. I squinted my eyes to see closer, and I did see a messy form of a human, though I would’ve never have been able to tell who and what they were without Chris explaining.
“Wow, you did such a good job.” My mom commended him cheerfully, reaching down to run her hands through his copper-colored hair. Chris beamed up from her praise; he loved when people complimented his drawings.
We finally were able to step out of the pew as the line began to thin out. Father Collins always waited in the back of the church to say goodbye to every single person.
And each time, Chris always tried to sneak past him, but it never worked.
“Ah, I see you Chris,” Father Collins laughed heartedly and Chris giggled before growing serious as we said our farewells.
The Sunday afternoon was bright and sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and this, however, was ruined when I remembered that I had a research paper due the next day. I’ve been working on it throughout the week, so I was practically finished; I just had to edit and add a few more things, and I had to create the works cited page. I knew of some people who were just now starting their essays.
“Avery, would you mind babysitting Chris today?” My mom asked as we began heading to the parking lot. I could see a few kids playing in the front of the school, and it looked like they were playing tag. Chris looked like he wanted to play, but I had a feeling my mom wouldn’t let him due to his formal outfit. My mom would be furious if he ruined that outfit.
“I can babysit him,” I replied. “Where are you going?”
