Skip to main content

A Reason To Clean. A Free End Times Story

 


A Reason To Clean. A Short Story.



Grace shoved the book she'd been reading aside. It was time to put her plan into action. She flicked her long silver plait over her shoulder, and looked around her living room. Where should she start?
The title of the book, was "Swedish Death Cleaning." Rather morbid, but on point, Grace thought. She really did have far too many things. 

Grace grabbed a roll of rubbish bags and tore one off. She was ready. The author had suggested that one should start with the easy stuff: rubbish, junk, old food, and broken items. That would be easy.

She moved quickly through the rooms of her moderate home, and threw anything rubbishy looking into the bag. It didn't take too long. She lived alone. Greg had passed on suddenly a few years previously, and now there was only one "G."

Grace had finally parted with most of his possessions. Now it was her own stuff's turn.

By the end of the day, Grace had moved on to the kitchen drawers as well as her book collection. The latter had proved tougher than she'd anticipated, and she'd allowed several volumes to linger in her hands. Now, though, a box of paper treasures waited for her to place them in the boot of her car.

Grace  kept up the pace the following day, turning her attention to the living room with its stacks of now defunct DVD's.

"Mom?" The voice brought her out of her reverie. She smiled at her youngest.
"Leah, I'm glad you stopped by. I was thinking of putting the kettle on."

"What are you up to?" Leah glance around the room took in several bare shelves. "Cleaning?"

"Kind of." Grace chuckled as she took out two mugs and her best coffee. "A bit more involved though. I'm lightening my load."

Leah sat opposite Grace at the scarred kitchen table. A sheet of hair, so like her mother's, but almost black, fell forwards. "Are you becoming a minimalist, Mom? Very trendy." She smiled. "Just don't get rid of everything. I might want a keepsake."

Grace stirred her latte slowly. "No, it's not that. I have heard of the movement though." She patted Leah's hand. "And of course you can take whatever you want. You, and Jake, and Eva." Grace took a sip of her drink before continuing. "I've been reading. And thinking a lot. It's not right that you should have to go through all my junk when I'm not here, and after all, I can't take anything with me."

"Mom..." Leah's expression looked pained.

"No, just listen for a moment." Grace kept her voice calm. She couldn't hide the joy in her tone though. "I don't expect to be here for much longer, Leah. I don't expect any of God's children to be. Jesus is fetching us soon, and I want to be ready."


***

Dry leaves eddied around her ankles as Leah hurried up her mother's driveway. She clutched her phone in one hand. The excited voice of the news anchor could still be heard on the livestream. "And the numbers are climbing. Millions are reported to be missing."

In a cloud of numbness and horror, she reached the front door and inserted her key. Absurdly, she imagined her mother still cleaning and de-cluttering within.
But as she turned the handle, her mother's recent words prepared her for what she would find.

"Jesus is fetching us soon."

He had.


***

Copyright: pencil in His Hand.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Searching: A Free Inspirational Story

  The Searching: A Free Inspirational Story Dear Readers, Here is a gift from me to you. "The Searching" is a story which has been puttering around in my heart for awhile. It nearly didn't get written though, as I was a bit unsure as to whether I could get it to work. But God is faithful, and He gave me both the inspiration and the words. There were a few times when I nearly gave up, but now, I'm so glad that I didn't. It's one of my favourites, and I hope that you enjoy it too.  *** Previous cover The Searching: A Novella *** By Alison Lawrence *** Copyright Copyright owner: Alison Lawrence. 2024 All rights reserved. "The Searching" is a work of fiction with a true message. :) Bible quotation from: The Amplified Bible, Copyright ©️ 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987, by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Dedication *** To Venetia💕💕💕 *** Chapter One Tirsa glanced around the field to see where her brother Detta was. Sh...

The Yearning: The Sequel to "The Searching." Free Longer Story

  Inspirational fiction  The Yearning: The Sequel to "The Searching." Copyright: Alison Lawrence 2024. All rights reserved. *** Dedication: To all who are yearning for so much more. *** Chapter One (Author's note: Han is pronounced Hun.) It was only six o'clock in the morning, but Lidda could already feel it was going to be an unpleasantly hot day. She emptied her basket of cabbage scraps into the chicken coop, looking around for Han as she did so. He and his brother Vinny would have finished milking by now. No doubt they’d be in for breakfast soon. Lidda allowed herself a small sigh. She wasn't one to complain, but sometimes, the burden of her workload and of being a young wife rested very heavily on her shoulders. She entered the cool kitchen once more, and stirred the obligatory porridge before starting on the eggs. Her mind drifted quite naturally to Tirsa. Where are you dear one? How I wish you'd come back to us. Lidda missed her quirky free-thinking sist...

Flash Fiction, A Poem, Garden Glimpses, & an Update

  Flash Fiction, A Poem, Garden Glimpses, & an Update In this post: a mini inspirational story, a poem, plus what's up in my garden, and a blog and writing update . A sparrow, yet loved and counted. Photo: Ratanjot Singh.Unsplash. Little One The little one watches from her spot in the old apple tree. She peeks through the canopy of bright green leaves and ruby globes. She watches while resting in shady, cool, calm. She stares at the rushing, busy, blurry people. Where are they going? Why so rushed? People of all sizes and styles, yet all with the same harried, frazzled, furrowed frowns. She cocks her head, then fluffs her feathers: just a little sparrow, yet loved, fed, and counted. While people rush and worry, she lives, and breathes, and feeds, and flies; before she falls, and softly dies.  In Him. *** End of Self Now at end of self, decided: Give my all to You. Lay down each rock, and burden, sin: and start each day anew. *** Garden Glimpses January here in the southern...