Now that I have myself sufficiently calmed down – but not comfortable yet by far with what just happened – I look up and see that there’s a bookstore in the strip. Remembering that Mona never did give me that Topical Bible that she promised me, I get out and head inside.
It takes a while to weave through the store until I find the Religion section. It’s bigger than I thought it would be. A couple of aisles, although when you consider all of the world’s religions, it seems like it should be bigger than it is. Oxymoron, I know.
I find the Christianity section and scan for a Topical Bible. There are all kinds of Bibles here – women’s bibles, teenager’s bibles, children’s bibles, bibles in Spanish, picture-bibles, King James versions, Catholic versions, bibles in Chinese or Korean or Japanese or something similar.
No Topical Bibles.
And there are books and books and books about the Bible. About how to live a good Christian life. About how to accept God and be blessed by him. On and on and on they go.
“Can I help you find something?” a man in his mid-thirties, with shaggy brown hair and a small goatee approaches me, the store lights flashing off his rimless- glasses.
“Just browsing,” I give him a smile.
He smiles back before saying, “People browse in the art books, or the fantasy or the mystery sections. When someone comes back here, they’re looking for something. Even if they don’t know what it is.”
“Well, he just hit the nail on the head,” I snort mentally, “Do you have a book on being a redeemer and if the Goddess is real and what the actual facts are?”
“A Topical Bible?” I ask instead.
“Ah,” he smiles again, “That would be in the reference section. Are you researching something?”
“Um,” I glance around, completely overwhelmed, “Sort of.”
“Well, I’m working on my doctorate in Comparative Religion,” he chuckles, “I could help you narrow things down if you like.”
“Oh, I seriously doubt it,” I snort again. But let’s blow his mind anyway – what the hell? “Proof of a Goddess in Christian or earlier writings – not that New Age stuff over there,” I waive my hand at the next aisle over, “Research on nephilim or other divine creatures. Research on the war in Heaven and exactly what and who and why. And, yeah, a Topical Bible and a regular Bible, written in plain English.”
I wait for him to flinch or run away or alert security about the crazy woman in aisle nineteen. But he does none of them. Instead, he smiles bigger and reaches behind me, “Well, the Contemporary English Version would probably be your best bet,” he hands me a book far thicker than my attention-span, “And the Topical Bible is up front. But, for the rest of that, you’d probably do better at the campus bookstore. I get off at five – if you want to meet me here I can help you find what you’re looking for…?”
“Claire,” I answer him, “That’s very kind, but I – um – don’t know if I’ll be in town that long.”
He gives me a brief frown, like he’s sure I’m just blowing him off, “I’m sorry – it’s hard to explain – but I’m kind of on standby for the next couple of hours. Can you give me just a minute and I’ll check to see if there’s any news on when I’m leaving again…?”
“Michael,” he smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. He still thinks I’m blowing him off, “I’ll just get your reference book and meet you up front.”
YOU ARE READING
Sinners and Saints
FantasyHell has demons, imps, succubi and incubi. Not to mention Don Lucifer and Doña Lilith. What does Heaven have to combat that nefarious, meticulous bureaucracy? Overworked priests mired in scandal and an outdated rule book and angels as disassociat...
