The following is a snippet form The Samaritan Perspective by Eric Stender.
Chapter 1
A Certain Man’s Perspective
The Jerusalem sun had already begun it’s descent beyond the clouds. Soon the sun would disappear and the moon would rise up to meet the stars. I wanted to be home with my wife and son before then. The market was busy today with different people buying and selling. People came from all over to trade in Jerusalem. They also came for religious reasons, seeing that Jerusalem is the capital city of Israel. Today, I’d hopefully have time to do both.
My ears perked up a little bit. There was talk in the market of thieves on the road back home to Jericho. Apparently, more and more bodies were found left discarded like a waste in the desert. The undertakers had plenty of work, but it made traders leery of traveling between cities.
“If they can trade it, they’ll take it,” I heard the man say as I paid for my bag of grain. Stuffing the grain into my leather satchel I gave the man a cautious smile.
“I’m not too worried,” I explained. “I don’t have anything anyone wants and certainly nothing worth stealing” Truth was I didn’t have much more than the clothes on my back, the tattered sandals on my feet, and the all too little grain in my satchel that I had just purchased. But I knew as well as everyone else did that thieves around here would beat a man unconscious, take everything they could get their hands on, and riffle through it later to see if the spoils had anything of worth. Thieves couldn’t afford to wait for the right rich target to pass by. Every man, woman or child was an opportunity including an average man like me.
“Just be careful,” he warned.
As I looked around the marketplace I saw all kinds of things a thief might actually want. There were beautiful tapestries, linens, pottery, and even more things well beyond what I could afford. Nothing to worry about I told myself. Judging by the sun it was only the seventh hour of the day. There was still time to stop by the temple and say a quick prayer before heading out of town.
On foot, there was only a six or seven-hour journey between the temple at Jerusalem and a seat at the dinner table back home in Jericho. Most of that was downhill so it never seemed like it took that long. It was a journey I had made many times back and forth to the city to get supplies and today would be much the same. After a quick prayer at the temple, I walked back through the market on my way out of town passing through the familiar gates leading towards home. With a little luck and speed, I could still make it home before dark.
Traveling home today was much like any other day. Even though I was traveling alone there had been plenty of other people to share the road with. Some traveled on horse and others in carriages, but most were just like me, traveling on foot. Some were coming, some were going, but all were minding their own business.
After about an hour or so I noticed that the passersby seemed fewer and farther between. A strange feeling sat in the pit of my stomach. My mouth had dried out in the sun so I took a sip from my canteen and swallowed hard. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to swallow the fear that was beginning to creep it’s way back up my throat and causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up.
I stopped suddenly, kicking up dust around my toes. As the dust settled back to earth I cupped my hand above my eyes looking out as far forward as I could see… no one, nothing. The path behind me looked the same, no one, nothing. Just a single set of footprints left by my own two feet. The outline of the city had disappeared over the horizon. How did I let myself get this far from everyone else? My heart raced thinking of the stories and warnings I had heard back in Jerusalem. The man in the market told me to be careful, but this… This was not being careful.
Arguing with myself, I couldn't figure out if time had gotten away from me in the market or if I didn't have the time I thought I had to pray at the temple. It didn’t really matter because I still had quite a distance to cover before getting home and the sun was steadily falling from the sky much faster than normal.
I shook the canteen a little. It felt light. The water was at least half gone and running out quickly. With a few more hours of travel ahead of me and even less daylight, I started to worry.
It had been almost too quiet, even for the desert. I felt more than heard the dry wind brush past my ears. I could hear the satchel beating against my side as I pressed onward. That along with the sloshing of a few ounces of water remaining in the canteen made a good beat. The sand and dust gave way in a light thud with each lonely step. None of which gave me any comfort, so I began to hum an old song from my childhood. It was the same song I sang to my son, Samuel, to get him to sleep as a baby. In that moment thinking of Samuel, all worry faded away like a distant melody.
The humming turned into singing and the worries kept fading away. I missed my son. I missed my wife. I figured she’d probably laugh at me with that beautiful smile of hers when I explained how worried and fearful I had been. A smile formed and a single tear rolled down my cheek. I couldn’t wait to get home, hug my son and go to bed with my wife.
“Beautiful song,” a low and scratchy voice suddenly sounded to my left.
I had been so lost in my daydream that I didn’t even notice the man creep up just half a step behind on my left side. Startled, I stopped cold letting out a small gasp. I looked at the man not completely sure what to say or do. The man was smiling, a good sign, but his teeth had all but rotted out leaving a green and black smile of decay in his mouth. I didn’t know if I should stay or run. Surprised, I just stared at the man as if paralyzed hoping for another sign. Then it came.
“He said, beautiful song,” another voice called out, but this time closer and from my right side. As I tried to turn to find the source of the voice something hit me on the side of my head. The desert went hazy and the ground started to turn on its side. I felt another blow but this time in the stomach. As I bent over in agony something came up and hit me in the jaw. With a quick flash of light, the desert went dark.
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