Animal Stories

 In another small town, I used to live in there was a Civil War mansion. It was huge and intrigued me, to say the least. Made out of beautiful red bricks and columns that were carved in so much detail. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that it had been a plantation at one time. One day I dared to walk up to the door and knock. An elderly man came to the door dressed as like a butler would have worn clothes back then.  

I asked him if I could talk with the owner of the mansion. He told me to go around to the back door and he would tell her that she had a visitor. I began to feel a little strange. Nonetheless, I did as he said. Truth is stranger than fiction, believe me. He led me into a big room filled with old antiques. A huge table draped with a crocheted table cloth. A centerpiece of an old harvest basket...very old and dusty was placed in the middle of the table. A very tall woman entered the room wearing a flowing silk robe. She had long thick flowing black hair. She sat down at the table and didn't say a word. I introduced myself and she said hello. The room began to feel cold or maybe anxiety was happening to me.

I told her I was very interested in the mansion and could she tell me a little about herself. She said the man was her husband. I began to feel a little more normal at that point. She slumped in the chair as if she didn't want me there. "Are you surprised that I'm in my nightgown at this time of day"? She asked me without a smile but in a very monotone voice. I told her no. I asked her if she had lived there very long and she said twenty-five years. I told her that I desired to see the inside of the mansion and I also wanted to ask her if she was a Christian. She said that she never left the house. She added that she wrote animal stories and hundreds of them had been published. She started talking about animals and how she left a little water spout drip a little for a stray animal that should come by. The look on her face let me know that she did not want to talk about Jesus at all. 

My first and last thought as I was escorted out of the mansion was that she was a real witch. Was she? Maybe. I thought it was very interesting that she did not say goodbye to me. She did hear from me that Jesus died for our sins. It was good to get out in the fresh air where it was warm. Even as I write this that strange feeling comes over me. What God did with that visit I may never know.