FINDING YOU (You Were There - Historical Writing Competition)

This is part of a Creative Writing competition at the Goodreads Group, Rubical

The challenge was as follows:

History: If You Were There Competition

Have you ever considered history and wondered what it would be like to actually be in that scene yourself? Perhaps you're a gladiator fighting for your life in a Roman amphitheater (the Colosseum), or you're currently in a raiding party of Vikings (or being raided by them). Or you can even imagine yourself in a Bible scene, but if you do this please provide Scripture evidence and be as accurate as possible. Don't make stuff up. Whatever is happening, imagine yourself in this scene and write about it.

1. Same rules throughout the group matter here too.

2. Try to keep all posts between 300-1000 words.

3. Please have a title or something that lets everyone know what time period your scene is in. (Example: Ancient Rome--title)

What follows is one of the two top entries and is by Christian writer, Leyla K. C.
She has generously agreed to allow her story to be posted here at Master's Peace Theatre and I am excited to have her as our very first Guest Contributor. Plus, she has included the FULL version with extra content!

Finding You

The wind is colder than usual due to it being mid winter. The wind caresses my face as I walk towards the prison. My soft leather sandals make a swooshing sound as they hit the dirt. I reach the doors and one of the guards asks. "Name?" He looks straight ahead not even bothering to look my way. 

"Leora." 

He nods and opens a door for me. "Enter." 

I bowed my head and entered the prison. I hated this place but my father was in debt to the leader of the Guard. Darius, as he was known, was going to kill my father unless he could pay the debt. So my father sold me to him. Darius assigned me the job of feeding the prisoners. I was to make the food and feed it to them. 

I grab my bread basket and walk down a hall to my right. The walls are lined with torches to help the guards see. My shoes make soft hushed noises as I walk down the cobblestone floor. I finally reach the stairs and begin my descent. The steps spiral downward and I begin to feel dizzy. I stop and close my eyes for a moment. Regaining my senses, I finally open my eyes and begin walking down again. 

Owen sits in a chair at the bottom of the stairs, his blond hair tousled as he looks down. I walk up behind him. 

"Hello Owen."  He startles then looks up at me and smiles.

"Hello, Leora. How are you fairing?" I smile back and pull a bread out of my basket. I hand it to him and see that he holds a parchment.

"I'm well. What's that?" I say as I motion  towards the paper with my hand. He looks down at the parchment and says. 

"Oh! It's from one of the prisoners. He wanted me to read it. Said it was important."  I look at the paper and furrow my brows.

"What does it say?" He looks at me then smiles.

"I've already finished it. Would you like to read it?" I know he means well but sorrow fills my heart. I never did learn to read.

"I can't take it." He looks at me and furrows his brow.

"I really wouldn't mind if you took it."  I look away and push a loose curl behind my ear.

"I can't take it because I can't read." I look at him through the corner of my eye. His eyes grow wide with understanding. 

"I see." I sigh and look up at him.

"Thank you for the offer. But I'm afraid I must go. "I begin to walk away when he grabs my hand.

 "Wait Leora. I can read it to you." I look at him and hope rises in my chest.

 "Are you sure? You wouldn't mind?" He releases my arm and smiles.

 "Of course not." I grin and turn towards him. 

"Wonderful. Do you want to start today or another day?" He smiles even wider and says,

 "After you’re done feeding the prisoners come sit by me and I'll read to you." I smile and agree to meet him once I'm done with my duty. I then walk off to go feed the prisoners. This is going to be wonderful! I can't wait. 

The reading session went well but it left me thinking. It was the fourth verse of the first chapter. And declared a man to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. A man the son of God? Resurrected from the dead? I needed to know who this person was. Who was this man?

Later that day as I'm doing my dinner run, I see a man with parchment and a quill. He's the only one with the pieces for writing. He came some time last month. What was his name? Philip? No, Paul. I walk over to him and ask,

"Bread?" He looks up at me and smiles.

 "Yes, please." He's one of the few that shows kindness. I grab a bread and a half then wrap it in a cloth. He rises and comes to the door. He outstretches his hands and I give him the cloth. 

"Thank you." He says as he looks at me. 

"May I ask you a question, sir?" He smiles and nods.

 "Of course." I switch my basket to the other hand and ask,

"Are you the one that wrote that letter Owen has?" He furrows his brow and says,

"Yes. Why do you ask?" I take a deep breath and say,

"How do you know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God?" His eyes became alight as if they had been set aflame. I looked deeply into his brown irises, something was there. Something wise and strong. But what? 

"I know, because He has showed me." I placed my basket on the floor and sat down. Paul lowered himself as well. 

"I didn't always believe. In fact I killed those who claimed Jesus was the Son of God." My eyes widen and I scoot closer to the bars.

 "What made you change your mind?" He looked down at his bread and sighed.

 "A man named Stephen said he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. I had called it blasphemy and encouraged people to stone him. They had and as they did, he said 'Lord forgive them, they know not what they do.' Those words have haunted me since that day." I look at him and see sorrow swim in his eyes. He looks back at me and continues with his story. 

"I then went on a mission to kill anyone and everyone who claimed Jesus was the Son of God. At one point I decided to go to Damascus. On my journey, as I neared the city, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me. 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' I asked. 'Who are you, Lord?' The voice replied. 'I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do'. "

 I stare at Paul, wonder circling in my chest. I've never heard such things before.
"The men with me were speechless for they too had heard the voice, but had seen no one. I picked myself up off the ground, but when I opened my eyes, I realized I was blind. I had my companions lead me by hand to Damascus. There I remained blind for three days. During that time I didn't eat or drink." 

My eyes were wide and I was twisting my hands in my lap. These things sounded outrageous, yet I could only accept them as truth. 

"Now there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him through a vision and told him to go to the house of Judas on Straight Street. Soon the man showed up at the house and healed my eyes."
I breathed in deeply. I didn't know what to think. His claims were so bizarre, yet something about them seemed so real.

 "Paul? How do I become a follower of Jesus?" The man smiled and reached for my hand through the metal bars. I hesitated then grabbed his hand.

 "Do you want Jesus in your life?" I looked deeply into his eyes. This man was behind bars yet he still smiled, still showed gratitude. He could be killed any minute yet he radiated peace. I swallowed and nodded. 

"Yes." He reached for my other hand and I grabbed it. He nodded. Paul's  face was serious but his eyes danced with joy.

 "If you believe the words I say, then repeat them." I nodded and followed him as he closed while bowing his head. 

"Lord, Jesus Christ, I acknowledge my sins and repent of them. I ask Your merciful forgiveness." I repeated after Paul. My heart pounded, I couldn't explain it but I knew my life was about to change. It scared me yet I couldn't resist it.

 "Lord, I believe that you died and rose again so that I might have ever lasting life. Righteous Savior, I surrender to You if You'll have me. Amen." I repeated the final words and a breath rushed out of me.

I suddenly felt lighter, more free. I looked at Paul who simply smiled and laughed.
"Thank you." I said as tears streamed down my face. My breathing was shaky but I had never been so happy.
"It's not me, it's Him." I smiled and got up. Paul rose too and handed me my cloth back. I took it and placed it back in my bread basket. 

"Leora? Are you okay?" I looked to see Owen  coming down the hall.

 "Yes. In fact I've never been better. Owen, you need to hear Paul's story. It will change you. Set you free." 

by Leyla K. C.

~~~~~~~About the Author~~~~~~

Hello everyone! My name is Leyla K. C. and I'm a young teen girl who lives out in the west of the USA. For most of my life I've been a Christian. I love the Lord because of all the battles he's allowed for me to fight and because of all his blessings. When I write these stories I ask the Lord to give me his words. I want my stories to help, encourage and bless people. I hope you enjoyed my story and God Bless you


Thank you, Leyla for allowing me to post your story here at Master's Peace Theatre. I've been enjoying reading all that you've written and I'm so happy that you are our very first Guest Contributor. I know I speak for my readers as well when I say, I hope you'll let us see more of your work here in the future.
Love Laura-Lee (Moderator/Creator)

If you'd like to know more about Leyla K. C. you can visit her Goodreads profile?
Leyla K. C. Goodreads Profile


Why not go and read the real story in the Bible that Leyla based her story on?
Paul's Conversion Acts 9:1-35

NOTE: Other top entry, "Broken Glass" is also posted here at Master's Peace Theatre.

If you like to read and want to try your hand at Creative Writing, why don't you join us at the Group Rubical? Lots of people to encourage you and make you feel welcome. LLR

RUBICAL at Goodreads