Well I've decided on the main character for my book.* His name is Elijah Christopher Rollins, or Eli for short. He attends Benjamin Franklin Memorial High School in Portland, Oregon and he is 17. He doesn't have a driver's licence or even a permit, mainly because his mom (who is a 911 operator) doesn't want him to end up like someone on the other end of the countless car accident calls she receives. His parents are divorced and he lives with his mom... his dad moved to Montana to head up a fire crew a few years back. Eli is a smart kid. He's a junior and in several AP classes. He doesn't like drinking or smoking, but he's more or less addicted to fighting. He has major issues with pride and therefore gets into a lot of violent disagreements... and he's good at kicking butt. He's been threatened several times with expulsion if he gets in more fights, but since a lot of the administration likes his sense of humor and wit, he hasn't been asked to leave.
There's some basic info. He hangs out with Eric, a varsity basketball player, Hippy, a nicotine addicted artist, and Katie, a moody tomboy. Not much in the way of plot line so far, but the basic point of the story is to relay and dispel common misconceptions about Christianity through a fictional account of a teen trying to find the Way.
Here's a little sample. The setup: Eli just got home from Sunday morning youth group, where the youth pastor Dave gave him his first Bible:
"Holy Bible" was imprinted on the front in gold, the embossed letters looking faded and worn on a background of black cardboard molded to look like leather. As Eli ran his fingers over the words, he was reminded of ancient, dusty science fiction novels that told of the daring deeds of space rangers who used such advanced technology as phones without cords.
With a heavy sigh, Eli flipped open the front cover. The first page was blank except for the scribbled lyrics to the first verse of "Amazing Grace" and what looked like a coffee stain. At least he hoped it was coffee. Muttering about being off to a good start, he turned the second page. This one was a little more interesting, though not by much. It had a sort of fill-in-the-blank section, all of which had already been filled in. Eli saw that this Bible originally belonged to a certain William P. Sherman. It had been given to him by his mother on the twelfth day of August, 1999, with a little message written in:
Will,
I know you're still looking for the truth. Maybe this can help to give you some of those answers.
Love,
Mom
"Poetic," Eli quipped. He contemplated tearing out the page just in case William P. Sherman ever came skulking around Grace Community Church looking for his old Bible, but decided that someone with a name like that wouldn't pose much of a threat. He was content just to turn to the third page. This revealed an extensive table of contents. Eli glanced over the long list of names and corresponding page numbers for a few moments, rolling the strange words around on his tongue.
Not seeing any point so far, Eli flipped some more pages until he found one entitled Genesis. "Alright, here we go," he said quietly, and began to read aloud. "In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth." Great. "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." Weird. A visual formed in Eli's head of the ocean at night, without any stars or moon, and floating on top of the inky waters was a ball of light, humming a slow tune.
Eli read through a few more verses before becoming completely bored and stopping. What letdown. The beginning of any work is supposed to grab the reader's attention... Eli had been taught that in the fourth grade. Besides, this was the Bible. Everyone was always proclaiming how wondrous and life-changing the book was, but all Eli could tell was that it was written below his reading level and it was dreadfully repetitive.
"Where's the good stuff?" He asked the still opened book. "Where are those verses that Dave or Emily are always quoting and saying how beautiful they are?"
As if in response, Eli remembered Dave talking last Sunday about how the Bible held so many answers to the questions people have been asking for centuries. "Sometimes," Dave had said, holding his duck tape covered Bible aloft, "it feels like you can just pick a verse at random and it will tell you all you need to know."
"Alright, Dave," Eli said quietly, "let's see it, then." With that, Eli set his Bible on its spine, holding the book together with his thumb and forefinger. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment about what question he wanted answered the most. The choice was easy.
"God," Eli said, "if you really exist, show me now." And he let the book go. With a soft thump, the pages fell apart. Eli opened his eyes at the exact moment the book settled and his gaze locked onto a passage. He lifted the book, never taking his eyes off the words, and began to read his answer.
1 Kings 6:8
"The entrance to the lowest floor was on the south side of the temple; a stairway led up to the middle level and from there to the third."
Eli re-read the passage about three times in silence.
"Wow," he said, closing the book and tossing it on top of his dresser, "riveting."
-Daniel K
*I've decided that this time I'm actually going to write it.
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