Where Lies Adventure!

OF GODS AND MEN Chapter 23: Safe Returns               Cassius was on his knees, searching the desperately the still water for any sign of life.  Nothing stirred, and in the cloudy blackness of the ocean there was nothing to see.  It had been only moments since he realized that Tarsus Cole had passed beyond his sight, yet those moments felt like an eternity.  Any time now, he expected Adulatio to say that Tarsus Cole had failed.              Then, he felt it: a surge, in the pit of his own stomach like the rising of the tide.   It was a sensation he had never experienced before, but he was struck by the thought that this must have been what mortals felt when in the presence of the gods.   An instant after the feeling struck him, he saw it - a light, small and golden, shone deep in the black of the Crystal Sea.   Even from where Cassius knelt watching it, on the other side of the ocean, it felt warm and became warmer by the second.   The light was growing bigger too, and was mo

CONFESSION   Father Atropos sat stewing in the cramped confession booth.  One more confession, and this Saturday would be over.  Normally, he’d look forward to this time so that he could review his homilies for Sunday mass.  But not today, because once Father Atropos took his final confession, he would no longer be the priest of the St. Francis parish.               “We’re bringing in Father York,” Atropos reflected on his conversation with the bishop that very morning.             “Can you tell me why, Father?” Atropos asked.   “York is too young to lead a parish.”             “I am sorry Johann,” the bishop had.   “But we’ve received complaints.   Parishioners feel you are too austere and traditional.   They are leaving St. Francis.   A change needed to be made.”             Atropos fumed at the recollection.   He worked tirelessly to uphold the beautifully rich doctrines of the faith, and he demanded no less effort from his parishioners.   Were all the rites, sacraments