Friday. Friday’s always feel special. I know half the time I do some work over the weekend so it isn’t the complete end to the week, still it feels special. And technically this is a three day weekend too. I’ll pop in with the morning writing prompts anyway, but otherwise, I’m taking Monday off. A nice quiet three day weekend sounds great. Just me and a long list of garden chores. followed by the collapse into a chair post shower with a good book. That is the kind of three day weekend I really want. But we still have Friday to finish off. So, are you ready to get started?
Okay this one just flat out amused me. I love the thought of a supremely talented but slightly mad glassmaker adapting the window designs. I don’t know why it amuses me, it just does.
Friday, May 27th: The stained glass showed a story he could not immediately place.
The stained glass showed a story he could not immediately place. It was an odd feeling. He spent so many years with weekly attendance in church services, followed by Sunday school, evening service and then Wednesday youth group activities that the unfamiliar scene left him unbalanced.
He stared at the glass and let his bible stories run through his head. None of them fit. He decided to pick one element and decide what stories were possible. His eyes fell on the image of a stained glass rabbit.
Jeremy stared at the rabbit. For the life of him, he couldn’t think of a single bible story that featured a rabbit. He shook his head and moved on to the next window. The glass was crimson and green and reminded him of Christmas. In one section there was a scribe, the pen in his hand clearly visible. There were other elements around him. There was a ram which made him think of Isaac and the sacrifice that wasn’t. However nothing around the ram seemed to relate to that story either.
“Unless I somehow missed the three vultures sitting and watching the ram.” Curiosity spurred him forward and Jeremy strolled forward, each image a little more baffling than the one before. At first he could pick out a few possible elements that sparked some familiarity, but then he would lose it. In the last one there was a cat.
“Is that cat wearing boots?” he asked. He leaned forward. It was. Jeremy studied the image. Had the church decided to blend fables and fairy stories with bible lessons. That seemed a strange combination for a church that otherwise looked very traditional.
“I see you are enthralled by out stained glass,” someone said.
Jeremy turned and found an elderly priest smiling at him. “Um, yes,” he said. “I thought I knew my bible stories, but I seem to be a little lost.”
The priest chuckled. “It happens here.” He was told. “When the church was built there was a wonderful glass maker who originally came from the parish. Instead of donating money he donated stained glass windows. They are works of sheer beauty.”
Jeremey nodded. He couldn’t fault them. The intricate and beautiful glass from the front was what drew him in.
“And the ones he designed before he, well, took a turn, is the phrase most often used,” the priest said. “Are spectacular. Unfortunately no one realized he had passed the turn until after all of the windows were in. Then of course they were too beautiful and too expensive to replace.”
“So he went mad?” Jeremy asked.
“I’m not entirely certain,” the priest said. “Some think he went mad, others think that is was some sort of dementia that let him blend fables with biblical tales and others simply said that he lost his faith and this was the result. There are a few who think it is all three. I’ve never been able to decide, however I will say that the large stain glass window in the back featuring the cow jumping over the moon is by far my favorite. As impious as that may be.”
Ten til Midnight 