Short Story - by Noah Yoo (Part 1)

The young man wiped furiously away at his tears, pressing harder on the gas pedal. “Why God?” he yelled at the air rippling past his face, “All she ever did was talk about You and Your stupid rules. You could have stopped the gunner! You let him kill her! I hate You!”
His hands clutched the steering wheel of his second-hand Mustang. His knuckles were white as he sped forward, blind with anger. “It wasn’t enough to take mom and dad, leaving us all alone in the world, was it? No, You just couldn’t leave well enough alone!” Again, he reached up a hand to wipe away the sweat. “She said You loved her. How could You!” He swallowed at the memory, running past the police into the deserted school building, seeing his little sister lying there in a pool of her own blood…his hands shook with rage.
Suddenly he spotted the small pocket-sized Bible lying on the dashboard. His sister had given it to him for his birthday, and he had just been about to read it when the call came…he reached over and grabbed the Bible, flinging it to the floor of his car. He took his foot from the gas, and stomped on it furiously, grinding it with his heel. “Take that!” he yelled.
Suddenly, in front of him, he saw a little rabbit making it's way across the road. His first instinct was to step on the brakes, but then the fury overtook him. Even though he knew, somewhere deep down in his gut that she would have tried to step him, he stepped on the gas. “For my sister!” he screamed.
The jolt went through his entire body, and he felt himself being flung forward by the force of the sudden stop. His head crashed into the dashboard, and then all was still.
Slowly he reached a hand up, feeling the blood mingled with broken glass trickling down his face. The windshield was broken, and the hood was a mass of twisted metal. Slowly he looked up.
There, standing in the road was a huge golden lion. He’d seen lions before - they were beautiful, especially if they were standing in a ray of sun; the way it would sparkle over them, making them seem to glow. But this lion was five times brighter than that. His mane was like a sea of gold, and his eyes burned like fire. Crouching beneath him, almost lost in the huge mass of fur, was the rabbit. Unharmed. And instantly the boy knew who he was.
“You,” he gasped. He pulled himself out of the seat, fumbling for the buckle in his anger. “You killed my sister!” He flung himself at the beast, kicking and punching at the golden body. His muscles bulged, bigger than most of his friends’, but the lion did not flinch once.
His rage now even larger than before, the boy grabbed the only weapon he had. Again and again he brought the sacred book down on the lion's head. “You promised!” he screamed, “I read it in here! You promised to take care of her! I hate you, I hate you I hate you!” His arms stopped, held above his head, and then the Bible fell to the ground. “How could you?” he sobbed, slumping forward, his anger overcome by grief, “She was all I had. You said you loved her…”
He was sobbing now, truly sobbing. The first time since his parents died. If he had looked up, he would have seen the glistening tears above him, welling with pity and sorrow.
“You think,” a huge, deep, golden voice rolled over him, “You think I do not love her?”
The boy tried to stop his crying, ashamed. “How could you?” he muttered bitterly, “You let her die. What kind of a love is that?”
“Come,” said the Lion, “Come. I have something to show you.”
And suddenly the boy felt the ground beneath him fall away, and saw lights flashing before his eyes, and the warm, sweet breath of the Lion enveloped him.
“Where are we?” he asked, staring at the scene before him. He was staring at the deep waters of the ocean. He felt light, giddy almost, as if he had no weight at all.
“Hush, watch.” Said the Lion. And he turned back. The boy looked.

To be continued in the next issue....