Fiction contest finalist: Rachel Brown

Rachel Brown is the only finalist in the high school division of our 3rd annual ec fiction contest. Rachel is from Danville, Va., in 10th grade, and likes golf, guitar, reading, hanging out with her friends—and writing, of course! 


The panel picked Rachel's story as a finalist because her point of view and the perspective from which she told the story (two protagonists telling what's happening from their points of view) was intriguing to us. Good job, Rachel! 

Here's Rachel's story: 

She was on the edge. She could not take it any longer. The stress, the tears, the pain had swallowed her whole, and she could not escape.

She crammed her books into her locker. As she shoved her last book inside, she noticed this book didn’t even have a cover. They say not to judge a book by its cover, but what if it doesn’t have a cover? The only thing that matters to this book is what is on the inside, yet no one cares to pick it up. It is coverless and seemingly hopeless.

The girl got up, slammed the locker door, and hoped never to return.

He was experiencing the last day of school of his senior year. No exams, no summer school; life was good… until yesterday.

*****
His youth pastor had issued a challenge to all the seniors. He told them to introduce themselves to someone who seemed to be alone, invite him or her to church, and tell that person that God cares for him or her.

The bell ending the last day of school had just rung, and the boy hadn’t taken his pastor up on the challenge.
***
She had suffered a miserable life.  Each boyfriend she had told her he loved her, had sex with her, then moved on to the next girl.  Each drink she had only washed away the problems for a little while.  Each high only made her forget about her worries temporarily. 
Her dad had walked away from the family when she was nine-years-old; he had taken their money but left his only daughter.  Mom wasn’t much better.  When she came home from school, she saw her mother lying in the floor, barely conscious, with an empty beer bottle in her hand. The only good thing her mother did for her was bring in money from her cashier job; the money was only enough to keep them alive.

But now, she didn’t see the point in living.
***
He had everything he had ever wanted.  Good family, good friends, good athletic career, and good grades were all aspects of his life.  He also had a great God, but he didn’t tell people about that part of his life very often.

He was a Christian; it was true.  He had been following Christ since he was 9 years old. But he had always had trouble telling others about his faith. He was fearless as a lion on the football field, yet when it came to ministering to others, he was as timid as a deer.  His whole high school career, he had made no attempts to tell others about Jesus.

But now, that was going to change. 

***
She walked out into the blistering heat, and the sun seemed to scorch her alive. She didn’t care.  The gun they had in their house still had one bullet; one bullet was all she needed to end the pain.

He walked through the door to the outside, clutching his skateboard.  The sun was bright overhead.  He would need sunscreen if he was going to skateboard this afternoon.   But he still had the mission to complete; one person to shine the Light to be all he needed.

She stood on the sidewalk outside the front of her school, waiting for her bus.  It was late again.  No surprise.   

He walked up the sidewalk at the front of school. Today was the last day of high school of his life. He had to make it memorable.  He had to find someone.

She turned her head left and right, looking anywhere for the bus.  All she saw was some boy, probably a senior, approaching.  He was attractive, but she had learned her lesson about boys such as him. 

He looked ahead, and he spotted a girl standing on the sidewalk.  She was probably a freshman waiting for her bus.  She looked his way, and he stopped.  She looked away again, and he trudged toward her. 

She almost ran away, but this guy did not look to be a creep.  Was that a smile on his face?

He plastered a nervous smile on his face and looked at her, really looked at her, for the first time.  She looked broken. 

She turned to the boy as he approached.

He introduced himself to her. He told her why he wanted to talk with her.  He told her it was all because of God.  He told her how God had issued him a challenge through his youth pastor- to tell someone about Jesus—and how God had chosen her to be the one to whom he ministered.  Finally, he told her the one thing every person needs and secretly wants to her.  He said that God loves her, no matter what.

Somewhere deep within the girl’s psyche, she felt that this God the boy spoke of cared for her.  How else could He have reached out to her when she was on the edge?  Just as the bus pulled up, he gave her a bulletin telling about his church, and he invited her to come. She looked at the verse on the front of the bulletin, 1 John 4:19. It stated,  “You are loved because He first loved you.”     

Two days later, she attended her first church service.

The next Sunday, she realized that God really did care about her as she listened to the song “Mighty to Save.”  The song’s words rang out, “My Savior, He can move the mountains. My God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save.”

Two weeks later, she gave her life to Christ and continued to grow closer to Him.

Eight years later, she traveled the United States, telling teenagers of God’s everlasting love.

He never found out all she did, all the lives she changed for Christ.  He never knew what an impact he made. But God knows, and that fact is really all that matters.