It was helpful to pretend
it was a democracy. That way breaking into a church at night for no good
reason, and being a foreigner would hopefully help absolve her of all criminal
charges. She had come here nearly every night when the insomnia haunted her and
her desire to be back home got to heavy. As she lay on the bitter cold marbled
mosaic floor of the church, she felt the weight of monarchy, and the weight of
being in the country she had always wanted to visit. She had wanted to be here,
but it had turned out different than she thought. She relaxed and her mind
began to wander. She wondered about
the how tedious it would be to piece together all those mosaics. But it was
probably more tedious to find stones in so many colors. She questioned why Jesus had a rainbow mosaic
above his head? Why was that domed ceiling so deep? How would your neck feel
after putting those teeny tiles up there? And what if you got off the
scaffolding only to realize that Jesus looked nothing like Jesus. And then he
quiet thoughts were shattered. She heard the sound of denim swishing together. She
was already still, but everything, even her brain, froze. There was someone in
the church. But no, how did she not hear the door open? She was plastered flat
to the floor, just like the mosaics. She couldn’t move or this person would see
her. But wait, they already had. That’s why they were there. Her fear of being
caught breaking into a church turned into fear of being murdered. She should
have been thinking religious thoughts; maybe then God would save her. She
slowly inched herself up, trying to stay quiet, but she couldn’t hear anything
over the drumming of her heart. It seemed like the other person had stopped
moving too. She scanned the church with only her eyes, too scared to move her
head. She made eye contact with Peter, James, John, and a few other saints she
couldn’t name. She looked to the door, straight down the aisle from her,
calculating how long it would take her to run. Too long; especially since she
now saw a new statue next to the door. Then their eyes locked.
“I followed you here.”
She had waited her whole life for this and now she was
missing it.
- R. B.
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