A Note from the Real Author
I’ve been tossing around ideas for a faith-based fantasy story for awhile. Like the fictional father in this story within a story, I realized I just needed to sit down and start to write. I hope this serialized adventure will convey the meaning and mystery that I love most in the stories about Jesus and his disciples in the gospels.
Jared Dees
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Prelude to The Adventurer
John came downstairs to find his kids playing video games again. It seemed like that was all they ever wanted to do anymore.
He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down for his morning devotional reading of the Bible. He opened the book and realized something. Here he was filling his head and heart with the words from the Good Book, while his kids sat there killing brain cells in front of their video games.
“Hey kids,” said the father. “Put your games away and come read the Bible with me.”
“Ugh, do we have to?” asked his son
“Yeah, the Bible is so boring,” said his daughter.
“The Bible is . . . what? Boring? Are you kidding me?” the father replied.
“Yeah, and we’ve heard it all before anyway. We go to Sunday school and we hear the readings at church,” the girl explained.
“Tell me one thing that is more exciting than the Bible,” the father said as he took away their devices.
“Hey!” they shouted.
“Seriously, name one thing,” said the dad again.
The kids started to rattle off all kind of things they enjoyed more than the Bible:
“Star Wars. Pokemon. Superheroes. Minecraft. Fortnite. Zelda. LEGO. Shopkins. Beyblades. . . .”
“Okay, I get it,” said the dad.
“Yeah, the Bible would be a lot cooler if there were more dragons and swords and magic and stuff like that,” said his son.
“Or a love story,” said his daughter.
John tried to convince them otherwise, but their eyes just glazed over when he started to talk to them about sin and salvation and the amazing things that they could learn about God by reading the Bible.
He thought about that conversation all day while at work. He just had to come up with a way to get the kids to enjoy the Bible more.
At the end of the morning, he called his wife. He told her about the conversation with the kids in the morning.
“Well, why don’t you do something about it? Write something they will enjoy,” she told him.
She was right. Rather than fight it, he would write it.
“If they want dragons, swords, magic, adventure, romance, and video games, that’s what I’ll give to them,” he thought to himself.
So, he started to write.
The next morning he shared his story with them.
Here is what he said:
Chapter 1
Our story begins with a boy in a boat. He was fishing, but not very well. There was nothing biting that morning. The boy was as bored as could be.
Now, this boy felt boredom much more than you and me. You see, the boy lived in a land of heroes. Everyone, when they were old enough, set out on an adventure full of monsters, magic, weapons, and fun. It was a world full of adventurers.
But the boy in the boat wasn’t an adventurer yet. He was just a kid with a fishing pole and a net and nothing to do. His parents and his brother were out on their adventures. He hadn’t seen them in a long time.
He could take care of himself while they were gone. Plus, there were lots of old, retired adventurers in the village to watch over him. He loved to listen to their stories about their adventures and the world outside the village as it was in their days. Sometimes, though, it just made him sad that he was still there stuck in the village in the middle of nowhere.
All he needed was a quest. The other kids in the village had found their quests and set out on their adventures already. All his friends were gone. Not this boy. All he did was fish and finish chores all day.
“That’s it,” said the boy. “I’ve had enough.”
He would go make his own adventure. He pulled up the fishing pole and picked up the oars. He started to row back towards the shore of the lake.
As he got closer to the shore, he saw a man standing there.
It was an Adventurer and he was staring right at him.
Chapter 2
“An Adventurer? Here in the middle of nowhere? That’s strange,” the boy said to himself.
The boy continued to row and arrived at the shore. Suddenly, the man spoke.
“Follow me,” he said.
The boy didn’t know what to say so he just sat there in the boat fumbling over his words.
“Uh, oh, okay. Let me just tie up this boat and gather up some of my things,” he started to say.
“Leave it,” said the adventurer. “Leave everything and come follow me.”
“But,” the boy objected.
“Leave it or stay. The choice is yours,” said the adventurer turning away to walk back towards the village.
The boy hesitated for a moment. Was this finally the quest he was waiting for? Didn’t he need to gather up supplies to take with him on the way?
He jumped out of the boat and stumbled on the gravel as he tried to catch up to the Adventurer. He looked back to see the boat slowly drift away back into the lake.
No going back now. His adventure was about to begin and this strange hero was going to lead the way.
Interlude 1
“Wait a minute,” said John’s son. “We know this story. It’s the call of the first disciples, right?”
“You recognize it?” asked the dad.
“Of course, Dad,” said his daughter.
“Well, good. What do you think of the story so far?”
“Not much has happened,” said the son.
“True, the adventure is just about to begin,” said the dad.
“So, the main character is a disciple and that adventurer on the shore is Jesus?” asked his daughter.
“You tell me,” said the dad.
“Let’s continue the story. I want to know what adventure this kid goes on with the Jesus character,” said the son.
“Are you sure?” asked the dad with a smile. “This isn’t too boring for you is it?”
The kids rolled their eyes. “C’mon Dad, just read.”
The story continues next week!
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