Thomas’ Computer: a short story loosely based on real events
Chapter 2

“git oft me!” withered a pathetic looking boy from under the foot of an impressive looking football player named Bud
“Now why should I even consider that for what you did?” rumbled the burly 11th grader

You see the problem with this situation is not only the boy under the oppressive foot of an 11th grader but he himself was a grade higher ad 2 years older. From the time puberty decided to invade the boys all ready hectic life, to his not so exciting 18th birthday, he was considered… well just average. Nothing about this boy could be labeled anything more than average. He had an average nose attached to his normal face, he stood at an average 5 foot 8 inches, which also made him ineligible for the “jock elite”, and he made average grades in his average school. His hair was average brown which matched his average clothing all the way down to his average shoes, he lived in an average neighborhood with average neighbors. However, there is one thing that makes this average boy not so entirely… average.

“Oohhhh, look his eyes are turning red, this must mean he is getting angry, hahahaha,” taunted the ogre.

When the boy was born the doctors believed that he had some sort infantile virus which centered on the iris. What the doctors could not explain is how the boy’s eye color could change so quickly and with such vivid colors. Within the first minutes of birth the boy’s eyes had changed every color, from white to yellow, from purple to black. The doctors, finally, had to conclude that the boy’s ciliary body produces different chemicals depending on different moods which causes the iris to react, creating a collideascope effect. Mr. and Mrs. Shmelder, like most parents, loved their boy regardless of any “defect” he might have. However, the other boys he went to school with did not share his parent’s acceptance of his ability to “eye shift”.

“Hunny… why are you sad?” asked the boys loving mother.

“Mom stop reading me like that.” Though the boy was trying to sound like a man he was doing a poor impersonation.

His mother did not have to look into her sons static blue eyes to understand her sons inner agony, all she had to do was listen to the way he trudged through the front door.

“Rocky thought I was looking at his girlfriend again,” muttered the defeated boy, “which of course I wasn’t.” that was a lie. She was beautiful. The boy thought to himself ‘How could I stop my eyes from turning pink, or stop my heart from running away every time I see her.’

With an exhausted grunt the boy all but whispered “I just don’t understand.”
With an air of finality which his mother was incapable of penetrating, he retreated into his own world where everybody viewed his average life as something more. With every foot fall on the stairs that lead to his room, he retreated deeper into the life he lived in. This realm of fantasy that existed in his head. When he grasped the cold bronze door knob to gain access to his cluttered room, he saw a small package standing like a lone guard in front of his door. The boy, slowly and with much reserve, bent over and picked up this lone guardian.

“MOM! Where did this package come from?”

Though he was trying to keep his excitement down he was doing a bad job of it. Before any reply could come back he walked into his room and shut the door behind him, which made the broad “KEEP OUT OR YOU WILL DIE...SISTERS INCLUDED” sign fall from its position on the door, replacing the package as the lone guardian in the deserted hallway. As infinite possibilities rolled through his now clearly excited face, he began to open the tightly wrapped package. Starting with the removal of the sticker with the word THOMAS scrolled across it. This of course was his name.

Thomas’ Computer: a short story loosely based or real events

When in ages before such lights of such brightness were less frequent they would only cause confusion among those blessed enough to witness such extravagant beauty. In others, worship would be the only justifiable action to take in view of the lights bright radiance. The lone cowboy could only consider those in his life that have made the same lofty claims as he now can make. “I have seen what no man has seen and yet can I remain sane in a reality that rejects such outrageous existences.”

The light now reduced to a small glimmer of the once overpowering sun it had been only a few short seconds ago, shrunk into the expanding glow of the fast approaching sky father, who would soon reclaim his rights to the heavens. Slowly and with many cracks, clicks and a general protest from his sore and overused back, the old cowboy attempted and succeeded to get up from his dusty earth bed and begin the old routine of preparing for the quickly budding day, which started with saddling his old horse.

“Did you see that Charlie?”

Charlie gave the cowboy a long look that the cowboy assumed as a definite yes. Though the horse was old he was not blind. Actually, as far as creatures were concerned, Charlie was one of the smartest animals, humans included, the cowboy had ever known. If you were to ask the cowboy who he trusted with his life, he would pick his horse. His reasoning behind this choice was quite simple. Charlie didn’t mind if he didn't talk very much and Charlie never complained, couldn’t say the same for those he claimed friendship with and he doubted the family he had left would do the same.

“Do you think people would consider me crazy, Charlie, if I told them what transpired this morning?”

Charlie just stood there and assumed the cowboy must be joking if he thinks people don’t consider him crazy all ready. The cowboy was never the one people you would feel comfortable going to if you had a trouble or needed help. The towns that he did go into never cared much for the cowboy's ancient traditions or his ancient horse. Why should they? He thought. Cars, cell phones, go, go, go, the fact that everybody has a place to go and seemingly no time to get there. That must be why they go so fast,

"Kids," the cowboy muttered under his breath, with head shake approval Charlie always gave to the cowboy's none verbal rants.

The cowboy had all he would ever need here in the wilderness under the free sky. With such companions as the stars that made their illustrious show spread across the black stage of night. How could one get tired of such pompous entities that so righteously allow you to peruse their lofty performances for so little of a price? Price? The cowboy did not often think of the price that he paid in order to experience the events we currently find him in. For a price was most definitely paid to free him from the bondage that so ensnared our hero. If you think I have made a mistake to choose this lone and alone cowboy as the protagonist of our story you are the one that is mistaken, for a hero he is as a hero he always was. Hero’s are in us all, no matter how little or how big they might be. But as this man will come to find, discovering the hero in yourself is a journey that will take you through the heights of joy to depths of suffering, through the mount of olives to the place of your death.

Together All Aroundness

Life is full of change and wrongly balanced weights. This simple yet complicated fact is something I have known for some time. It’s like getting stuck in one of those mirror mazes that you see cliché style carnivals in small towns. You feel like you should be old enough to navigate through this thing with no problem, but you get more and more frustrated at the fact that you can't. I wonder why things must change. I'm not talking about the type of change that you feel when one of your favorite shows on T.V. is canceled or moves to another time. I'm talking about the kind of change that shakes your very concept of happiness and being.
The older I get the more I realize that life is a magnificent equalizer. Everything has a balance, a reaction to ever action and a versa to every visa. When one thing moves or shifts everything else feels the consequence of that one small movement and seek a similar counter. Imagine if you will a platform on a very large fulcrum balanced perfectly.
Am I trying to challenge our concept of reality? Or am I just musing about something everybody has an opinion of yet never shares with people around them. When you pick up your cross you are forfeiting your right to control your life. When you pick up your cross you will deny yourself and live only by the permission of your King. However, this Lord is no dictator but has given you permission to live and sets his holy throne in you taking up permanent residence to give endless blessings. In essence, change becomes the pieces that make up your life. It is only then that God shows what true balance is. It’s like a world that is always just a little off and all the people on this world live with this “natural” feeling that life will always be a little off. Even if you were to come from another world and correct the problem by adding the weight that was taken so long ago, people will have a hard time adjusting to what is correct. When Jesus decides to affect the lives of those that come in contact with him he will leave them “unbalanced”. Things that once held no controversy or the people that everyone assumes “have it together” no longer seem right.
When we are confronted with the changes that God demands of us to make, the only reason they don’t fit is because we live in a crooked world. It is the Spirit in us trying his best to make us more like we should be and who once were.
What does all of this mean? When you feel like you have got all of your “things” together it is surprising how quickly God can spread those “things” all around. As cliché as that sounds, it’s kind of his thing. So when you feel unbalanced. When all of your unquestionables are in question and all of the people in your life take on a different light. May the God who is all together around you and through you, bring you the peace that you so desperately need. Know and be comforted that God knows, intimately, that you are in need, and he is the one who will give you what you need to be “balanced”.