For a moment I looked down from the roof and saw Samuel. He landed in the dirt just before the pub’s wooden patio. He was flat on his back, with his arms and legs spread out like a big X. My donkey was near him and walked over lazily to sniff his face and give him little kisses on his forehead.
From this, I could see Samuel was still alive and only in a dreamy daze. His eyebrows moved slightly as Darnel’s warm sniffs tickled his face, and he turned his head away from the slow and steady licks of the donkey’s tongue.
I called down, “Don’t worry, I’m coming down!”. I rushed down the stairs, nearly tripping as I went down the narrow corridor. By the time I made it to Samuel, a small crowd had formed around him. It was the smokers. All their smokes clung to the corner of their open mouths, with long segments of ash waiting to fall onto their coats. On their faces was a look of confusion, for they were not ready to deal with such a serious matter. To them, it was play time.
I pushed through the crowd, and knelt down to Samuel. He opened his eyes, and looked up to me like my mother, as if he wanted to whisper something to me but felt too weak. I leaned closer, put my ear to his lips.
He whispered, “Get (cough) Get a doctor… I can’t feel my legs, Peter. I can’t move my toes.”
I stood up with a look of determination. I knew from my father's illness that the doctor would reluctantly accept patients at all hours, especially ones of this nature. I told a few in the crowd to assist me in getting together the material needed to properly assist Samuel without further injuring his back.
People, without question, took to helping me fashion a sling to wrap around Samuel’s body from their own coats.
“We can’t be took jerky with him,” A woman from the crowd said while fashioning her jacket into a makeshift splint to steady Samuel’s legs. “My husband fell off our barn last year, and the doctor told me we could make everything worse if we’re not careful.”
Samuel saw all the people working around him and smiled. “You are all too kind,” he said softly, “You all have hearts so full of love… so full of care… you jump to help me, and for nothing in return.”
The owner of the pub, a short and witty man named Willy Jr., came out with a long bit of rope and a snow sled his children used in the winter to skate down the town’s many hills.
“Here,” he said to me, “we can pull him on this.” He looked down to Samuel, who while in pain, appeared to still be in good spirits. Willy Jr. bent down and asked him in a sincere, reminiscent tone, “You don’t worry, okay buddy. You took care of me and my wife when we needed you, and I’m going to take care of you.”
The injured man responded in a raspy voice, “Willy, my friend (cough) you would sacrifice such a beautiful sled for me? Please, let the ass drag me, I already can't feel my backside, the ride will be of no trouble.”
Willy laughed, shaking his head in disbelief as he did, and standing up to talk with me. He said to me, still looking down at Samuel with bewilderment and care in his eyes, “What a stranger.” He then looked to me, his brows scrunched together with confusion, “after all that he has done for us, after all the wisdom God has given him, like a treasure he selflessly shares with all in his lot, and he still sees himself as a person not worth our help.”
A few people carefully lifted Samuel onto the sled and readied my donkey, Darnel. I got on Darnel, put my feet in the stirrups, and just before we went, Willy Jr. stopped me, and said, “Peter, you take good care of our holyman”, with his calloused hands, he grabbed my pant leg tightly, “He has touched us all, showed us all the light, and I fear if he were to die, we would become a flock with no shepherd. We would be hopeless to fight against modern man’s notions, hopeless I tell you. So, please, on the trip there, and while the doctor looks him over, keep God in your heart, be a beacon of light during this dark time.. For all that you see here.”
I nodded, “You have my word, Willy. I’ll keep God in my eye, in my heart, and in my belly. There will not be a moment where it leaves my body, for I will have Samuel, our town’s holyman, by my side as a constant reminder.”
Willy let go pant leg and ran his hand over his beard, thinking to himself for a moment, then, suddenly, he looked to me with a hopeful gleam in his eyes, “I believe you Peter. I believe you. You better get going now…” He slapped Darnel rear and we began down the road toward the doctor’s hilltop home. Behind me I could hear Willy Jr. yell to me one last time, “Samuel!” his harsh voice reverated through the empty alleys, “Don’t forget! Anything Is possible with God in your heart! Anything!”
138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPX1b0JzvcO
and then Add to home screen.