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THE CHINA DOLL OF A WOMAN—A SEQUEL

By Mr. Morgan P. McCarthy

            Flanders and his Christian girlfriend Xiao were digging into the earth with shovels underneath his big red maple in his corner yard on Lewis Street.  Off to the side was a little wooden coffin of Flanders’s beloved late Saluki. “Chartres was a grand dog in his life, Xiao,” said Flanders.

            “I loved him, too, Flanders,” said Xiao, sharing his grief.

            He looked up at the top of his towering red maple tree in mourning, and he said, “I call my tree here, ‘the biggest tree in De Pere,’”

            Looking up at what he was looking up into, she said, “So tall.  So wide.  So many branches.  So many leaves. It surely looks like De Pere’s biggest tree.”

            “I call my yard ‘the yard with the big tree,’” he said.

            “And you call my yard ‘the yard with the lamppost,’” she said.

            She was the China doll of a woman.  And he was her Christian boyfriend.  And her place was only about three blocks away from his place, over on North Erie Street.  Both his place and her place

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were upper apartments.  And they were both mighty faithful born-again Christians living for God.

When they had first met ten years ago and became boyfriend-and-girlfriend-in-Christ, his Saluki was two years old, and he was twenty-two years old, and she was twenty-two years old.  Now, ten years later, still dating only each other, he and she were both thirty-two years old, and his Chartres was now taken away from him in this life.  Her upper apartment now with the lamppost in the front yard was his upper apartment back then.  And his upper apartment now was this one here where they were burying that adorable Saluki under the big tree.  His full name was “Flanders Arckery Nickels.”  And her full name was “Xiao Xiu Xiong.”  No one was so special to him than his China doll of a woman—except his personal Saviour Jesus Christ.  And his China doll of a woman found him equally especial—him being second in her life only to the Good Lord.

            “Flanders,” said Xiao, “do you have any verses from the Bible that tell what I am feeling right now with this sad burial?”

            “You are as sorrowful as I am,” he said.  “I know some Scripture that tells what I am feeling and what you are feeling,”

            “Could you tell them to me as we bury beloved Chartres?” asked Miss Xiong.

            He went on to recite a long passage of eleven verses penned by Solomon long, long ago:  “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.  Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.  What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh:  but the earth abideth for ever.  The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.  The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.  All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.  All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it:

the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.  The thing that hath been, it is that

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which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done:  and there is no new thing under the sun.  Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new?  It hath been already of old time, which was before us.  There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.”

            “That sounds like from the book of Ecclesiastes,” said the China doll of a woman.

            “Ecclesiastes 1:1-11, Xiao,” said Flanders Nickels.

            “The Holy Spirit of God is also called ‘the Comforter,’ Flanders,” said Miss Xiao Xiong.

            “He comforts us in our times of grief here at the grave,” said Flanders.

            “What do you think that you will do now?” asked the Oriental woman.

            “I do not want to get another dog right now, Xiao,” he said.

            “I can never love another dog the way I loved your Chartres, Flanders,” said the China doll of a woman.

            “There will never be another Saluki coming into my life,” vowed Flanders.

            “Knowing our Heavenly Father as I do and as you do, Flanders,” said the Asian woman, “I would bet that He would give you something really happy to replace the happiness you lost when Chartres had passed away.”

            “God does that for His children,” said Flanders, finding encouragement.

            “And His children are all of the born-again people out there like us,” said the China doll of a woman.

            “Us sons and daughters of God, girl,” said Flanders.

            “Like in that great hymn, ‘God Leads Us Along,’” said Miss Xiong.

            Flanders began to sing the chorus to this hymn in his poignant feelings right now:

“Some thru the waters, some thru the flood,

Some thru the fire, but all thru the blood;

Some thru great sorrow, but God gives a song,

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In the night season and all the day long.”

            “It is written for us now, boyfriend,” said the Oriental woman, “’…; for [Jesus] hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’  Hebrews 13:5.”

            “And as He said to His Apostles in the Great Commission, so does He say to us this day, O Xiao, ‘…:  and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.  Amen.’  Matthew 28:20,” said Flanders.

            “I think that I feel better now in the Lord,” said the China doll of a woman.

            “I have God.  I have you.  I have myself,” said Flanders.  “Things are looking better for me now, girl,” said Flanders Nickels.

            And boyfriend-and-girlfriend-in-the-Lord went on to finish burying the late Saluki “Chartres,” God’s gift for Flanders for over ten years of canine companionship.

            It was another day now, and Flanders and his Asian girlfriend were on a date at his place in his living room.  “Your much brown carpet in this big living room feels good on my bare feet,” said Xiao.

            “It is a big living room with nice carpet at that,” he said.

            “I have never seen so big a living room in any apartment before that I have ever seen, Flanders,” she did say.

            “The living room is the biggest that I have ever had in all of my upper apartments, Xiao, but this living room is in itself most of this apartment,” he did say.  “There are not a lot of other rooms in this apartment, and they are small rooms at that.”

            She came up to his big windows of this living room and looked out onto his corner yard.  She said, “I do believe, Flanders, that every year those branches of your ‘biggest tree in De Pere’ get closer and closer to this window.”

            “I noticed the same thing, Xiao,” he said.

            “Are we going to look into those Olympics books that you said that you checked out from the

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library, Flanders?” asked the China doll of a woman.

            “Yes!  Let’s go and do that right now,” he said.

            “Which Olympic year did you pick out for us to look into this time?” she asked.

            “I thought that I would try the year 1988,” he said.

            “What happened in the Olympics back in 1988?” she asked.

            “There were both Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics that leap year, Xiao,” he said.

            “You’ve been reading the book before our date, boyfriend,” flirted the China doll of a woman.

            “I discovered a woman in that book that you need to take a look at,” he said.

            “There is another woman in your life now all of a sudden?” she asked.  He laughed through his nose.  She laughed through her closed lips.  And they grinned at each other.

            He said, “She was a German figure skater who won the gold medal in the 1988 Winter Olympics that I saw in the book.  That was the XV Winter Olympiad, and they took place at Calgary, Canada.”

            “Is this figure skater pretty?” asked the China doll of a woman.

            “Her ice skating dress is pretty,” said Flanders Nickels.

            “She has on a pretty ice skating dress?” asked Miss Xiong.

            “It is so pretty, Xiao, that I have come to call it ‘the ice skating dress of ice skating dresses.’” he said.

            “What makes it so pretty?  Can I see it?  What color is it?” asked Xiao.

            “It was so pretty that it caused a controversy among the judges because of its bold and sexy style.  It is right here on this page.  And it is blue,” said Flanders.

            He showed her the most fascinating picture of that book:  And the China doll of a woman looked upon it with the equal appreciation to it as Flanders’s, but through the eyes of a straight woman and not through the eyes of a straight man.  Xiao Xiong went on to read the name of the Olympian

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champion in the provocative blue ice skating dress out loud:  “Katarina Witt.”

            “I want to see her skate in her dress!” said Flanders.

            “I want to wear her skating dress!” said Miss Xiao Xiong.

            ‘Whoa, Katarina!” said Flanders.

            “Woo, Miss Witt!” said the Oriental woman.

            “My favorite Olympic woman,” he said.

            “I want to skate just like her,” said the Asian woman.

            And the two went on to read all about Katarina Witt and how she had won the gold medal in women’s figure skating at those Calgary Winter Olympics and how it was the short program and not the long program in which she wore that blue dress and how her skimpy blue dress had caused such a stir in those old days of long ago.

            Indeed when Flanders and Xiao finished their date for the day, they both said that they had a great time together, in fact one of their most fun times together.  Flanders asked her, “Are you going to become an ice skater now that you and I discovered Katarina Witt, Xiao?”

            And the China doll of a woman said subtly, “Not only that, boyfriend, but much more.  Just wait and see.”

            “What do you mean, Xiao?” he asked in wonder and curiosity.

            “It will be a surprise,” was all that his girlfriend-in-Christ would say for now.

            The next day, Xiao Xiong, by herself, sneaked over to her seamstress friend’s little shop on a most exciting errand unlike any that she had gone on before.  This seamstress friend was named “So Thread.”  And her little seamstress shop was called, “Throwbacks, Incorporated.”  Miss Thread made a living for herself by making women’s clothes that had gone out of style many years before.  She always consulted first with her client in order to find out just exactly what her client was looking for, and she used only the right fabric for the right attire, and she handmade all of her apparel most professionally.

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So Thread knew all about how to make Medieval dresses (with their great abundance of material) and prom gowns of acetate (that which became better known erroneously as “ugly dresses”) and fairy princess bridal gowns (from the days of long-sleeved wedding gowns) and skirted two-piece swimsuits and skirted one-piece swimsuits (the latter better known as “swim dresses”) and Shaker sweater vests (whose fabric “Orlon Acrylic” was a thing of the past) and pleated cheerleader skirts (here in these days of cheerleader skirts without pleats) and long-sleeved cheerleader sweaters (here in these days of sleeveless cheerleader vests).  The China doll of a woman asked her seamstress friend in this consultation, “So, can you make for me an ice skating dress from fashions of 1988?”

            “Yes, I can, Xiao,” said Miss Thread.

            “Could you make for me, maybe a Katarina Witt ice skating dress?” asked Miss Xiong.

            “Yes, I can,” said the professional seamstress.

            “Can I show you a picture of her in it for you to make just for me for me and my boyfriend?” asked Xiao.

            “I can do that,” said So.

            “Here are some pictures of her skating in it,” said the China doll of a girl.  “I copied pictures of her in it from a library book with the copying machine.  I’ve got pictures of the front and of the back and of both sides of Katarina Witt in that blue ice skating dress.”

            The Oriental woman showed Miss Thread the pictures.  “Ah, Xiao, you will look beautiful in this when I get done with it.”

            “I want to wear it for my boyfriend.  And I want to wear it for myself.  And I want to wear it and learn how to become a figure skater,” said the China doll of a woman.

            “Good friend Xiao, Throwbacks, Incorporated will do the job right for you,” promised So Thread.  And at once the outdated and expert seamstress got out a roll of measuring tape and began to measure up the China doll of a woman.

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            And a few weeks later, Miss Xiao Xiu Xiong’s big day came to show Flanders Nickels his new China doll of a woman.  This was what her boyfriend-in-Christ did see as he beheld her in her new outfit:  Across her two shoulders were fluffy pieces of blue fringe blowing in the wind.  Along her neckline was a diaphanous fabric that ended just above her breasts.  Down her torso from her breasts to her nether regions was blue fabric that covered completely.  Running vertically down her front from the  diaphanous section and down the blue section were converging silver lines that came together into a single point just below her belly.  Covering her arms were very long blue arm warmers, starting from her upper arm way above her elbows and ending at the ends of her wrists, with a single loop on each

arm warmer going over her middle finger of each hand.  Silver lines ran parallel to each other straight across each arm warmer from top to bottom.  And covering both of her hips was much bundle of blue fringe, also blowing about in this gentle breeze.  And in her back, a diaphanous fabric covered the top half and a blue fabric covered the bottom half.  And, again, those silver lines ran all down her back from top to bottom all throughout.

            Flanders took one look at her dressed in this in her yard with the lamppost here in the sunset, and he was too awed to speak.  This Asian woman knew her boyfriend-in-Christ well.  The reason why he was not saying good things about the new Xiao Xiong was because she overwhelmed him with comeliness of attire.  He was struck dumb, and he had dream in his eyes, and he had never seen her look so good before as she did right now.

            The pretty Asian woman broke the silence and did ask him finally, “What do you think about your new China doll of a woman now, Flanders?”

            “Katarina Witt never looked so good,” he said.

            “Do you love it?” she asked.

            “And you never looked so good,” he said.

            “Am I beautiful as your China doll of a woman in her new ice skating dress?” she asked.

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            “You are more beautiful than my old China doll of a girl in her old fairy princess bridal gown,” he told her.

            “I was younger back then,” she said.

            “You were irresistible then; you are idyllic now,” he told her.

            “I make my boyfriend happy,” said Xiao.  “God is good.”

            A few days later, the ice skating dress woman and her boyfriend-in-the-Lord were at an office supply store all by itself in the countryside.  “What are we doing here, Flanders?  Are you buying office supplies all of a sudden?”

            “It was God who sent me here,” he said.  “Remember the crow.”

            “We followed a crow here from De Pere.  But as soon as the crow got us here, it flew off on us,” said Xiao.

            “God had told me to follow the crow,” said Flanders.

            “You were hoping that the crow would take you to the dog pound, Flanders,” said Miss Xiong.

            “I changed my mind about not getting another dog in life,” said Flanders.

            “’Pencils and Papers,’” said the Asian woman.  “That’s a good name for a store like this one.”

            “I wonder what I need to buy at this store for God,” he said.

            “Remember how you did ask God what He wanted you to do for him in this life now that Chartres is gone now,” said the China doll of a woman.

            “Maybe I shall find out today at Papers and Pencils,” he said.

            “Trust the Lord,” she said good scriptural counsel.

            “’Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.’  Proverbs 3:5-6,” said Flanders Nickels.

            “Do you think that you will know what it is that God wants for you today in this store the moment that you see it?” asked the Oriental woman.

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            “The way I feel I might not like what it is when I first find out what it is,” said Flanders.

            “Maybe you might get to liking it after you buy it,” said Xiao Xiong.

            “Office supplies,” he said, seeking desire and hope for what God might have for him today right here.

            They strolled around Pencils and Papers for a little while, staying near to each other in this browsing.  Then the blue skating dress woman said, “Look.  Over there.  Nice filing cabinets, Flanders.”

            “Filing cabinets, Xiao?” he asked in impassiveness.

            “One of these would look good in your bedroom, Flanders,” she said.

            He said in indifference, “I have nothing with which to fill a filing cabinet.”

            Keeping the faith, the China doll of a woman said, “Oh, but you might later.”

            Flanders heeded his Christian girlfriend’s good spirit and began to look around in this filing cabinet department.  He saw metal filing cabinets and wooden filing cabinets.  He saw two-drawer filing cabinets and three-drawer filing cabinets and four-drawer filing cabinets. He saw cheaper filing cabinets and more expensive filing cabinets.

            Then his blue ice skating dress girlfriend said, “Look here, boyfriend.  Take a look at this nice metal two-drawer filing cabinet.  What do you think?”

            He took a look at it, and he kind of liked this one.  “Let’s try it out,” he said.  And he took his hand to the top drawer and tried to pull it out.  Behold, it stuck halfway out.  “I’ll try again with the other one,” he said.  And he sought to pull the bottom drawer open of this same filing cabinet, but it did not budge from where it was shut.

            “My, Flanders, what a queer brand new filing cabinet this one is,” said Xiao Xiong.

            “I would say that this is not what God wishes for me,” he said.  “Let’s get out of here.”

            “Oh, let’s try again with another one, Flanders,” said Miss Xiong.

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            “One more, girlfriend, and then we’re out of here,” he said.

            “You won’t find any dogs to adopt at this shop, Flanders,” she told him his thoughts.

            Then he saw a wooden two-drawer filing cabinet.  He liked this one better than the other one.  He came up to it.  She followed.  And he said, “Let’s see if this wooden one opens up any better than that metal one.”  He pulled on the two drawers, the top first and the bottom second.  And they both slid open quite easily, and they both shut quite easily.  And he liked what this one looked like.

            “You like this one.  Don’t you, Flanders?” asked the China doll of a woman.

            “You can tell, girlfriend,” he did confess.

            “Are you going to buy it then?” she asked.

            “I need to make real sure, Xiao, that this is the one that will change my life,” he said.

            Knowing that her boyfriend’s hesitation was not God’s will, but his own stubborn will, the Oriental woman said, “Flanders, you’re tempting God.  God sent you here, not to the Green Bay Humane Society.”

            Nonetheless, the longsuffering God went ahead to give Flanders a sign that this was what He had sent him here for.  Flanders found himself testing the two drawers again of this wooden filing cabinet.  This time in the top drawer in the way back was a Book.  He pulled it out and exclaimed, “Xiao, a Holy Bible.  And it is a King James Version Bible!”  Then, in a treasure hunt, he opened the bottom drawer of this wooden filing cabinet, and in the way back was an index card.  He pulled it out and looked upon it.  He said, “It says Psalm 25:4-5, Xiao!”

            “Oh, Flanders,” said the China doll of a woman, “look it up and read it!”

            He quickly did so, and he proclaimed this Scripture in reading out loud its two verses, “Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.  Lead me in thy truth, and teach me:  for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.”

            “Are you thinking what I am thinking?” asked the girlfriend in her blue skating dress.

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            “God has spoken.  I will obey.  I will buy this filing cabinet,” said Flanders Nickels.

            Neither he nor Xiao knew why God had destined this wooden filing cabinet for Flanders, but this pair of Bible verses made it very clear to boyfriend-and-girlfriend-in-the-Lord that this was what Flanders must buy here at the office supply shop.  And Flanders acted in the good faith of a faithful born-again believer.  He bought it and took it home and admired it for a very long time.  And he was glad that he had this in his bedroom for now on.  And his China doll of a woman shared his most novel sensations upon such a purchase with him.  God would tell him later with what He would will Flanders to fill up this filing cabinet.

            It was a few days later, and the Asian ice skating student was at the local indoor skating rink on the other side of the river.  Xiao was now following through on her new quest in life to learn how to skate in her blue figure skating dress.  Being unsure about this new thing to learn, she had asked her teacher if her boyfriend Flanders could be in the stands and give her encouragement.  The teacher consented, and Flanders was there for her this day in her first lesson.

            Right off from the start, the new skating student found surprise difficulties.  She could not get her feet into her ice skates.  “Alas, they’re too small,” said Xiao.

            Her instructor, named, “Axel Lutz,” sought to make her more comfortable with him, and he said, “That will be no problem, Miss Xiong.  I can get some skates from the back that will fit your feet just right.”  And he spent some time getting a foot measuring tool to find out her shoe size, and rummaging in the back of the ice skating building for the right ice skates for her feet, and helping her to put them on over her feet.

            “Thank you, Mr. Lutz,” she said.  “I think that I am ready now to learn how to skate.”

            Flanders gave her forth a good hearty cheer, “You’re looking great, girl!”

            Then Axel had her to step out onto the ice on her new skates.  She stepped out onto the ice on her new skates.  And at once, first the one leg, then the other leg, slid out forward from underneath

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herself where she was standing.  And she fell hard upon her bottom onto the hard ice.  And she sat there, gasping for air, her breath knocked out of herself for a long while.

            Caring and experienced with beginner students, Axel Lutz said, “I’m sorry.  Are you okay? This kind of thing happens to some of my new students, Miss Xiong.  Sometimes it takes a few classes before this kind of thing doesn’t happen anymore.”

            Flanders called forth in some embarrassment, “Don’t give up, girlfriend.”

            Mr. Lutz said to her, “Rest up a while, Miss Xiong, until you can get your wind back.”  And she got her wind back.

            Then Axel said to her, “Hold my hand, and I will help you up.  Lean against the boards if you feel that you need to.”

            “Thank you, Mr. Lutz,” said Miss Xiong.  And her new teacher helped her up.  And she grabbed a tight hold with both hands on to the board that made the wall.

            Flanders called forth in unsure exhortation, “Remember, girl, Katarina Witt had to start at the beginning, too.”

            “I’m scared,” said the first day skating student.

            In kindness, the teacher said, “Don’t be afraid of the ice.  Make the ice afraid of you, Miss Xiong.”

            “I think that I’ll try that, Mr. Lutz,” said Miss Xiao Xiong.

            “Now let go of the boards,” he said in good words.

            Xiao let go of the boards with her one hand, but she did not let go of the boards with her other hand.  This made it hard for her instructor to follow through with her next needed lesson.

            Flanders called forth in mild rebuke, “Let go with both hands, girlfriend.”

            She listened to her boyfriend-in-Christ, and she let go of the boards now with both hands.

Behold, her skating feet were sure and steady.  “Why, I am a few inches above the ice!” she exclaimed.

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“And I’m not falling!”

            “That’s the spirit, Miss Xiong,” said the skating instructor.

            And Flanders found hope for her now this day. “Yes!  Yes!  Xiao!” cheered her boyfriend.

            Axel Lutz then said to her, “For now you need to take baby steps before you can take big steps.

Try to walk around on your skates on the ice.  You need not learn how to skate on the ice on your first lesson. It takes time and practice.”

            “Okay, Mr. Lutz,” said the China doll of a woman.  And she took a step and stopped.  “Why, I’m still standing!” she exclaimed.  She took another step and stopped, and she was still standing.

“Why, I do believe that I am getting the hang of these ice skates,” she did say to teacher and to boyfriend.

            Axel said to her, “Take a couple more steps on the ice, Miss Xiong.”

            Flanders said in much appreciated levity, “Don’t fall down and go ‘boom,’ Xiao.”

            “I won’t anymore, boyfriend,” she said right back to him.  He and her teacher looked at each other and grinned in friendship.  This made the blue ice skating dress beginner happy.

            And she took a couple more steps on the ice in her ice skates.  Boom!  Her right leg slid off to her right hand side, and her left leg slid off to her left hand side.  And she did the splits.  And she landed right down upon her very place where no woman would want to land down upon on the hard cold ice.  Man or woman, that had to hurt.  Laughing with herself, the China doll of a woman said, “I’m all right, guys.  I fell down upon my parts.  But I will still be able to bring forth children if I get married.”

            The instructor and the boyfriend looked at each other.  The instructor shook his head.  The boyfriend raised his arms up along both of his sides.  And now the Oriental woman was no longer sure of becoming another Katarina Witt.  She looked at Axel, and he said a most kind, “You are one of my slower students, Miss Xiong.”

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            She looked at Flanders, and he was coming down now over the wall and onto the ice to be with her after her fall just now.  “I am your damsel in distress, O Flanders.”

            And he said, “And I am your knight in shining armor, pretty Xiao.”  And he helped her back up on her ice skates.  Her spirit was heavy now with her plans maybe not to come true for her.

            And she said to her instructor, “Mr. Lutz, tell me the truth.  Am I cut out for figure skating?”

            And he said, “Miss Xiong, figure skating is not cut out for you.”

            “Thanks for saying that so gently, Mr. Lutz.” said the China doll of a woman.  “I believe that.”

            “I would like to charge you no fee for today’s lesson, Miss Xiong,” said Axel Lutz. “Today’s lesson is on me.”

            She then looked down upon her front of her Katarina Witt ice skating dress, put her hand to her lower torso where all of the silver lines converged at the bottom, and she prayed and said, “What can I do now for you, Lord?  I cannot skate in this.”

            Then Flanders Nickels spoke and said to his China doll of a woman, “Girlfriend, you don’t have to learn how to skate in that sexy little dress.  You can keep wearing that nice blue dress even if you don’t skate anymore.  You look really, really good to me in it in anything that you do in it, Xiao.  And I adore and thrill at our every date together when you have that on like you do.”

            “Do you really think so, Flanders?” she asked with wild new hopes.

            “You do not have skate like Katarina Witt to stir up my drives with you in that blue ice skating dress, O China doll of my woman,” said Flanders Nickels.

            “Flanders, that’s the nicest compliment that you ever said to me,” she sang out in great joy.

            “I meant it, Xiao, and I will always mean it,” he promised in verity.

            “Oh, boyfriend.  I don’t think that I will cry now,” she said.

            And he put his arms around her and gave her a big hug.  And she cried in rejoicing.  “Girlfriend, you’re crying,” he said tenderly.

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            “Oh, but it is a happy cry, Flanders,” she said.  And they drew apart.  She then took off her skates, put back on her shoes, and thanked the teacher for his noble efforts.

            He said, “You’ve got a great boyfriend, Miss Xiao.  And, Flanders, you’ve got a great girlfriend.  I can see that you are both meant for each other.”

            “God brought us together, Axel,” she said. And she thanked him for his patience with her.  Then Flanders proffered his right arm, and she took it in her left arm, and they turned and went back to the east side of town where their homes were.

            In her silent prayers to God later that night, alone in her yard with the lamppost, she asked God secretly, “What do You want me to do in this life for You, O Lord, seeing that You do not want me to ice skate?”

            And the still small voice of the Holy Spirit said in her ear, “I want you to become the mistress of a big dog in your new life. My daughter.”

            “A big dog of my own, Lord?” she asked.

            “Yes, My child.  A big red dog,” He replied to her outside here.

            And the China doll of a woman pondered her most surprising future of such a turnabout at this.

            A few days later, the two were on a fellowship date at her place on North Erie Street.  They were sitting side by side on her living room sofa and talking about their futures and what God might have for them to do.  Then Flanders said, “I’ve been checking out the dog pound, Xiao.”

            “Flanders, are you sure that you should be doing that?  God did get you that wonderful filing cabinet.  You cannot have both a dog and a filing cabinet in one life and still make God happy, you know.” she said.

            “Oh, but I did not find a dog yet, Xiao,” he said for an excuse.

            “That I can tell,” she said.

            “The filing cabinet, also, is still empty,” he said, making a second excuse for his disobedience.

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            “You’re going to get into trouble with the Lord if you keep going back there like this,” said the Asian woman.

            “I’m waiting for God to have me to begin putting things into my new filing cabinet,” he said.

            “Is that not what carnal Christians call ‘partial obedience?’” asked Xiao Xiong.  “We both know what our good Pastor says about that.”

            “He says, ‘Partial obedience is still disobedience,’” confessed Flanders.

            “Pastor also tells us in his flock that the safest place for a child of God to be is right in the middle of the will of God.” edified the China doll of a woman her stubborn Christian boyfriend.

            “I stand appropriately rebuked,” said Flanders Nickels.  “I must stop going to the humane center for a dog.”

            “Flanders,” said the Oriental woman.  “God has been giving me some ideas that you might not like.”

            “What kind of ideas?” he asked.

            “I think that He wants me to go to the dog pound,” said the China doll of a woman.

            “To go and pick up a dog for your own, Xiao?” he cried out.

            “Yeah, boyfriend,” she said.

            “You get the dog.  And I do not get the dog,” he said.  He sighed, then said, “The Lord’s will be done, pretty Xiao.”

            “Are you mad at me, Flanders?” she asked.

            “No,” he said.

            “Are you mad at God, Flanders?” she asked.

            “Kind of, Xiao,” he said.

            “Are you mad at the dog?” she asked.

            “I can never be mad at a dog,” he did say.  “I would like to be good friends with your new dog,

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if that is okay with you and with your dog,” he did say.

            “We three can be a threesome as it was with myself and you and your Saluki Chartres, Flanders.” suggested the China doll of a woman.

            “I’d like that,” he said.

            “Are you still mad at God?” she asked.

            “No,” he said.  “I am not mad at God anymore.”

            “God wants for your Christian girlfriend a big red dog.  He told me,” said the Asian ice skater dress woman.

            “Red is a good color for a big dog,” said Flanders.

            ‘What breeds of big dogs are red, Flanders?”  she asked her dog expert boyfriend.

            “Why, Irish Setters come first to my mind, Xiao,” he said.

            “Irish Setters,” she said.  “I may soon have an Irish Setter of my own.  What do you think, Flanders?”

            “You would make a great mistress, Xiao,” he said.  “And your Irish Setter would make a great pet.”  He was greatly reconciled now to his life after Chartres with this new dog of Xiao’s soon to become his new friend.

            “I wonder what kind of name I can give him,” she said.

            “Maybe God will tell you when you see him for your first time,” said Flanders.

            “You won’t be jealous?” she asked, still unsure of what he was thinking.

            “I will not be jealous of him, and I will not make him jealous of me,” Flanders promised.  “I feel okay now that I will not have my own dog anymore.  I had my Saluki.  And I will still have a little of the Irish Setter.  As you were friends with my Chartres, I will be friends with your dog, when he gets his name.”

            “I’ll keep praying that God use you to put your first paper into that mysterious wooden filing

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cabinet, Flanders,” said the Oriental woman.  Then she said, “Is it okay with you that I pray for that?”

            “Yes, Xiao.  I’ve been wondering what kinds of papers such will be for me,” he said.

            “Could they be drawings, maybe, Flanders?” she asked.  “Are you going to draw sketches of Bible happenings, do you think?”

            He quickly said, “I got D-’s in art class, Xiao,  I am no artist at that for sure.”  He went on to say, “I the only thing I can draw are stick men.”

            “Maybe you can write sermons down and share them with the others at church,” said the Asian woman.  “Your filing cabinet could store them.  Or you can write little devotional messages.  Or you could write up lots of Bible commentaries.  You could spread God’s Word with those from your filing cabinet.  Few people know the Scriptures as well as you do, Flanders.”

            “I do love to study God’s Word –both the Holy Bible itself and Holy Bible study booklets, Xiao,” said Flanders, “But I think that I will leave the expository writing to Bible scholars.  I may be a Bible student, but I am hardly a Bible scholar.”

            “It sounds like you are not into writing nonfiction,” said the China doll of a woman.

            “I am not one for writing term papers and essays and newspaper articles,” he did say in thought.

            “Well, Flanders, what about fiction?” asked Xiao Xiong.

            “Fiction?” asked Flanders Nickels.

            “Or maybe fantasy,” she said right after that.

            “Fantasy!” he exclaimed.

            “Both fiction and fantasy,” said the blue ice skating dress girlfriend.

            “That does sound like great fun to do with God.  It would make a great way to spread the Word of God.  What a ministry that would be for a guy like myself,” said Flanders.

            “What do you think, boyfriend?” asked his girlfriend-in-Christ.

            “I never did anything like that before,” he said.  “But I’m sure that with the Holy Spirit I can

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come up with some good ideas.  And in time I can get better at it.  And I can glorify my Saviour through writing, girlfriend.”

            “Just think, Flanders, your brand new wooden filing cabinet with two drawers of paper full of writing,” said the China doll of a woman.

            “I wonder what I should start with, Xiao,” he said.  “Am I to try poetry?  Is is going to be plays? Maybe God prefers short stories instead.  Am I going to write a whole novel someday?”

            “Try something and see where it goes for you with God after that,” said the Oriental girlfriend.

            “Yes.  Yes,” he said.  “I can write all about Chartres and what we did together for our twelve years.”

            “Flanders, Chartres is dead,” said the China doll of a woman.  “You must write for Jesus and talk about salvation.”

            “I can write about your Irish Setter and tell what you and he will do together for the next twelve years,” said Flanders.

            “That would not spread the Gospel or the Word very well to the reader,” said the Asian woman.

            “I have much to think about, Xiao Xiong,” he said.  Then he said, “I want a dog, too.”

            It was a week later, and Xiao and Flanders were at the Green Bay dog pound.  They stood before the door.  “You should not be here again, Flanders,” said his Christian girlfriend.

            “This is my first time here with you,” he said.

            “God wants me to have a dog.  God wants you to have a filing cabinet,” said the Oriental woman.  “Your writing ministry will be compromised with a dog now of your own.”

            “I do admit, girl, in your case,  that a skating profession would compromise your love for the big red dog,” said Flanders Nickels.

            “And he is waiting here for me to fall in love with,” said Xiao.

            “The volunteer humane society worker did say that there is a grown-up Irish Setter waiting for

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adoption right here right now,” said Flanders.

            “He told me that on the phone.  Yes!   And he’s holding him for me.  And here I am,” said the China doll of a woman.

            “Well let’s go see, girlfriend,” said Flanders.

            And they both went into the dog shelter.

            And they discovered him at once. He was there in the cage, chasing his own tail with his mouth in a game of showmanship for the ice skater dress woman.  “He’s most handsome,” said Flanders.

            “He’s my own,” she sang out in reverie.

            “What do you think that you will call him?” asked Flanders.

            “He’s going around and around like a wheel in a real neat game,” said Xiao.

            “Like a wheel, Xiao,” he said.

            “I think that I will call his name, ‘Wheeler,’” said the Christian girlfriend.

            Upon hearing this new name for himself, the red Irish Setter at once stopped his tail-chasing efforts and cocked his head to the side before the prospective mistress, and gave her a brown-eyed look.

            “Wheeler,” sang forth the China doll of a woman.  And Wheeler proffered his paw on the other side of the cage.

            Flanders said, “He wants to get out of there to have you shake his hand.”

            The volunteer then unlocked the cage and let Wheeler out to get familiar with his new mistress.

The big Irish Setter then proffered his paw again to shake hands with his loving mistress.  Xiao Xiong reached out her hand toward Wheeler’s extended paw.

            Lo, Flanders reached out his hand very quickly to that proffered red fore paw, and he shook hands with Wheeler just before Xiao could.  And just like that, the dog Wheeler grabbed a hold of the man’s hand and did bite down upon it not so gently at all at that.  “I’m bit!” cried out Flanders.  And he quickly put his wounded hand into his well hand.  “I shouldn’t have done that,” he confessed his

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trespass.  His finger tips were bleeding.  And his hand hurt.  But it was his fault. He had been most wrong.

            Right after that, the China doll of a woman took the Irish Setter’s proffered fore paw into her own hand, and mistress and pet shook hands in mutual affection.  Then Wheeler kissed that hand.  And Xiao kissed that fore paw.  And Miss Xiong hugged noble and faithful Wheeler around his neck.  They were now each other’s for the rest of their days together in life.

            “I’m sorry, Xiao,” said Flanders.  “I’m sorry, Wheeler.”

            “I forgive you, Boyfriend,” said the China doll of a girl.

            “Do you forgive me, too, Wheeler?” asked Flanders.

            Wheeler looked up at him with much canine savvy, and he then went ahead to proffer Flanders his paw to shake second.  Flanders did not hesitate, but said, “Lord, have mercy,” and he took the Irish Setter’s outstretched paw into his good hand.  And this time he did not bet bit.  This time they shook hands.  And then Wheeler took away his fore paw.  Flanders was forgiven.  “We are friends for life, Wheeler?” asked Flanders.  And the big red dog nodded his head in assent. Flanders had learned his lesson this time.  And he promised, “I will never come between you and him like that again, Xiao.”

            And Xiao said, “And he better not go and bite my boyfriend like that ever again, too, Flanders.  I’m sorry that he did that.  Bad boy, Wheeler.”

            And the Irish Setter showed apology to Flanders in his features.  “I forgive you, boy,” said Flanders in sincere affection.

            A few days later, having fully repented of his old love for dogs and his lack of new love for his filing cabinet, Flanders was alone with God in prayer as he lay upon his bed in the dark.  And a knock came upon his upper apartment door.  Thinking it may be precious Xiao again, he got to his feet and rushed to open up his door.  Lo, a man whom he did not know nor ever met stood there before him.  And the first thing this man said was, “Good Flanders Arckery Nickels, it is written, ‘Be not forgetful

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to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained strangers unawares.’  Hebrews 13:2.”

            The born-again believer was seeing a real angel before him and speaking to him.  And Flanders said, “Speak, Lord.  I Your servant do hear.”

            “I have come to show you the will of God,” said the angel.

            “My filing cabinet,” said Flanders.  “With what shall I fill it up?”

            “You shall fill it up your filing cabinet with short stories and with novels that you shall write with God,” said the angel.

            “What shall it look like when I get it done, O Lord?” asked Flanders.

            “Follow me, O Flanders, and behold the wooden filing cabinet consummated to the glory of God.” said the angel.  And Flanders followed the angel into his own bedroom.  And the angel said, “Behold the consummate filing cabinet.”  /And a light from Heaven shone down upon this two-drawer cabinet.  “Lo, your Canon Ministry.” declared the angel of the Lord.

            Flanders fell down before the filing cabinet and looked upon it in its glory of the future.  On the front of the top drawer was an index card label inside a slot which read “The Canon of Horsetails and Cattails.”  Flanders spoke and said, “’Of Horsetails and Cattails.’  What kind of canon is this, O Lord?”

            The angel spoke and said, “This will be your collection of all of your short stories that you will have written, O mighty writer of God.”

            “May I take a look inside?” asked Flanders.

            “Open it up and see, O man of God,” said the angel of the Lord.

            And Flanders Nickels opened up this top drawer, and he saw a drawer front to back full of short stories.  Each of these many stories were filed away in its hard copy in its own yellow envelope in turn in its own manila filing folder.  On the yellow envelopes were a penciled-in story title and the spelled-out story number underneath (that is, “the first story,” “the second story,” “the third story,” etc., in the order they were to have been written.)  And on the tabs of the filing folders were penciled in the story’s

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title and the story Roman numeral underneath (that is, “story I,” “story II,” “story III,” in the order that they will have been written.)  And the tabs to these filing folders were arranged most professionally in this filing cabinet drawer—the first tab for its story was on the far left of its folder; the second tab for its story was in the middle of its filing folder; the third tab for its story was on the far right of its filing folder—and so on for each successive group of three regularly front to back in its drawer.

            “Angel of the Lord,” asked Flanders, “what are these horsetails and cattails for which I will have given the name of my Christian short story collection?”

            “Scientists call them ‘Equisetum’ and ‘Typha,’” said the angel of the Lord.  “They will become your two favorite plants of God’s creation.  ‘Horsetails’ are known for their hollow green tubular stems all divided up into partitions with segments in between.  And ‘cattails’ are known for their towering thick stems and for their brown fuzzy heads on top.”

            “I know those,” said Flanders in wonder of this prophecy of the angel.  “When will they become my favorite plants?”

            “When you write about them in a story,” said the angel.  “You will have written a third story about a paradise called ‘the land.’  In that third such story, you will describe perhaps the most idyllic setting of settings of all of your writings.  It will be a Heaven with horsetails and cattails unlike any place you will have wrought in your imagination as a writer.  It shall surely glorify the Maker of all.  And you will come to fall in love with horsetail plants and cattail plants from then on, O writer of God.”

            Then Flanders saw two more little papers taped to the front of this upper drawer, both underneath the title of this collection of stories that was in the slot.  One read, “’Blind, or broken, or maimed, or having a wen, or scurvy, or scabbed, ye shall not offer these unto the Lord, nor make an offering by fire of them upon the altar unto the Lord.’  Leviticus 22:22.”  And the other one read, “’Ye shall not offer unto the Lord that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut; neither shall ye make

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any offering thereof in your land.’  Leviticus 22:24.”

            “Do you know what those two verses mean in the Old Testament days, my son?” asked the angel of God.

            “I think that God is saying to offer only perfect animals on the altar in a man’s worship of God thus,” said Flanders.  “A man must never sacrifice an imperfect animal to the perfect God in such worship of those old days long ago.”

            “You are right, my son,” said the angel.

            “Are these same two verses that I have on this short story filing cabinet drawer someday to become my official Scripture for my Canon of Horsetails and Cattails?”

            “Yes, O man,” said the angel.  “Do you know why?”

            Flanders thought for a while, then surmised, “Is that because that when I write my stories for God and for man that I will do my very best that I can do when I write to the glory of God?  Does it mean that I will give God the best story that I can write at that point in my writing life?  Do these verses tell of how I will never write a badly written story in this canon, that God will never get my worst, and that I will never write to God’s inglory?”

            “Indeed all of that and more, O Flanders.” said the angel.

            “Flanders Nickels, the writer,” said Flanders in reverence of his Lord Jesus Christ and what He was going to make him to become.”  And he shut up the top drawer of this filing cabinet.

            Then he looked to the bottom drawer of this filing cabinet.  This drawer also had a slot with an index card label inside of it on the front.  “My ‘Canon of Griffins and Unicorns,’” read Flanders out loud this title.   “Good angel, I know all about griffins and unicorns.” said Flanders.  “’Griffins’ are mythical animals that are half-eagle and half-lion.  And ‘unicorns’ are mythical animals that are horses with a single pointed horn on their foreheads.”

            “You will be writing much about such fantasy animals in all of your written works in this canon

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that is stored in this lower drawer,” said the good angel.

            “What kinds of writing will go into this drawer?” asked Flanders.

            “This Canon of Griffins and Unicorns is all about novels, O man of God,” said the angel.

            “I shall write books, O angel?” asked Flanders.

            “Look in and see, Flanders,” said the angel.

            And Flanders pulled open now this lower drawer.  Behold, hard copy whole novels all bound in most professional report cover binders.  These all filled up this lower drawer front to back.  And these report covers were all different colors one from another.  On each cover of these books near the top were little papers that had the typed name of the novel and the typed author’s name.  And below these titles in a little taped on white square near the bottom were the penciled-in words in order of novel completion in Roman numerology–”Novel I,” “Novel II,” “Novel III,” etc.

            “These are so big and so many,” said Flanders in great ardent wonder.

            “Look upon the Scripture that symbolizes your Christian novels of Griffins and Unicorns, O Flanders.” said the angel of God.

            Flanders thereupon looked onto the front of this novel drawer below the title of this drawer in the slot.  The first Scripture said, “’Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee?  In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.  And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil?  And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?  Offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? Saith the Lord of hosts.’  Malachi 1:7-8.” The second Scripture read, “’Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it!  And ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering:  Should I accept this of your hand? Saith the Lord.  But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing:  for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.’  Malachi 1:13-14.”

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            “Good Flanders, in time to come these two pairs of Bible verses will come to be your symbols of your novel collection therein,” said the angel.  “You know what they mean for God’s people in the days of Malachi.”

            “Just as those two verses of Leviticus chapter twenty-two,” said Flanders.  “They mean to worship God in truth and in spirit when you offer an offering unto God.  Do not offer an animal to God that you would not offer a friend.  The offering must be perfect, not deformed.”

            “Well said,” said the angel of the Lord.  “Do you know what these two pairs of Malachi verses will mean to you in time to come for your Canon of Griffins and Unicorns, good Flanders?”

            “I believe that I do,” said Flanders.  “The same as the verses for my short story collection.  And that is to take heed to what I write in my novels as I write them.  I must not write carelessly, and I must not write recklessly.  I must strive to write my novels as best as I can chapter by chapter and page by page and line by line and word by word.  I am doing it for God.  It is my utmost for my Utmost.  And my writing will be my uttermost for my Uttermost.”

            “Most well spoken, O Flanders Nickels,” said the angel of the Lord.

            “Flanders Nickels the author,” said Flanders, savoring his new ministry in his ears.

            “I give you a counsel of good news,” said the angel.  “When you sit down to write every day, if you do your very best your writing will be satisfying to your soul and your spirit.  But if you sit down to write any day, and you do not try your best, your writing that day will not satisfy your soul and your spirit.  The contentment comes with the challenge overcome in every writing you will do for God in this Canon Ministry of yours.”

            “I promise to remember that,” said Flanders.

            “Your stories and your novels will share the Gospel to your readers; your stories and your novels will spread the Word of God to your readers; your stories and your novels will tell God’s plan of salvation to your readers,” summed up the angel of God Flanders’s ministry with his canons.

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            “Christian literature,” said Flanders.

            “In sum, Flanders, the religious/inspirational genre,” said the angel.  “With a science fantasy genre blended into it lots.  And with wholesome romance genre throughout.”

            “I am eager to begin,” said Flanders.

            “It is written to the glory of answered prayer, O writer for God, ‘Shew my thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.  Lead me in thy truth, and teach me:  for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.’  Psalm 25:4-5,” declared the good angel.

            “I saw that verse before!” exclaimed Flanders.  “It was there, waiting for me to find it right inside this very filing cabinet that day for me at the real neat little shop.”

            “Is this Psalter passage any more a mystery to you now, Flanders?” asked the angel.

            “I know what it says now,” said Flanders.  “It tells me that God would someday tell me why He had me to buy this filing cabinet in the first place.  And today, the Lord has told me.  It is to write Christian literature for God and to store it in this filing cabinet and to get it published for a lost and dying world.”

            “Write, good and faithful Flanders,” said the angel of God.

            “I shall write,” said Flanders.

            Then the angel sent from God reached out and touched this consummate filing cabinet, and, lo, it became the original filing cabinet.  It was once again the original and basic and empty filing cabinet that Flanders had seen and had bought from the office supply store.

            And the angel of the Lord disappeared.

            And Flanders Arckery Nickels sat down to write a short story.

            It was a month later now, and Flanders was on another date with his China doll of a woman and her frisky Irish Setter Wheeler.  They were outside in her front yard of Winter night in the falling snow.

The lamppost was giving beautiful light to the snow and to the blue ice skating dress woman and to

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the big red dog.  And the snow fell down upon the Oriental woman’s hair and enhanced its black comeliness like highlights.  The Asian woman then said, “See how handsome my Wheeler is with his red coat completely covered with snow, Flanders.”

            “Throw another snowball up for him to catch, girlfriend,” said Flanders.  And she made another snowball in her mittens.  And she threw it underhand straight upward from where she was standing.  And the snowball fell back downward.  And Wheeler examined it artfully, and he leaped up, and he snatched it out of the air with his muzzle.  Then he began to consume it with his teeth.  “He’s eating snow again, girlfriend,” said Flanders.

            “That means that he is thirsty,” said the China doll of a woman.  And Xiao Xiong went and brought out Wheeler a bowl of evaporated milk.

            “Oh, his favorite, Xiao,” said Flanders.  And the two watched as Wheeler eagerly lapped up his special milk from the bowl.  Then he looked at Flanders.

            Miss Xiong said, “He wants you to make him another great big snowball, Flanders.”

            “He loves that game in the snow,” said Flanders.  And Flanders gathered a handful of snow, rolled it over and over all over this little front yard, and finished the building of his big snowball.

            “We’re all ready, boy,” said the mistress.

            And Wheeler played his game:  He leaped and pounced upon the big snowball.  And he began to fiercely scratch away at it with both front legs and their many claws in a frenzy.  And boyfriend and girlfriend began to clap with their mittens on, and this only served to incite him more in this most canine assault.  And in the end, this big snowball was divided in the middle into two pieces.  And both pieces rolled over left and right and lay there on the ground, divided equally.

            “He could do the same thing to a snowman, Flanders,” said Xiao.

            “Three big snowballs of snowman would take him three times as long as one lone big snowball,” said Flanders.

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            “Not if the three snowballs are all different sizes like in a regular snowman,” said the Christian girlfriend.

            “You’re a thinker, Xiao,” he said.

            The Irish Setter looked at his mistress and at his friend in attention as they spoke in conjectures.

            “He knows that we are talking about him,” said the blue ice skating dress woman.

            “And I bet that he knows what we are saying, too,” said Flanders.

            Then the mistress spoke and asked, “Wheeler, would you go and bring me a stick?”

            In obedience, the Irish Setter ran out behind the two-unit apartment building to find a stick in the back alley.  Flanders asked Xiao, “Is it for ‘fetch?’  Is it for ‘keepaway?’  Is it for ‘tug-o-war?’”

            “It is for only you and me, boyfriend.” said the China doll of a woman.

            “What do we get to do with a stick for only ourselves and each other?” he asked.

            “When Wheeler comes back, then I will show you,” said the Asian girlfriend.

            “Oriental woman, you beguile your boyfriend,” said Flanders in flirt.

            Then Xiao asked, “Did you do more writing yet today, Flanders?”

            “I did indeed,” he said.  “And I will do more writing tonight later on.”

            “”Is this story III that you are working on tonight?” she asked.

            “Uh huh,” he said.  “But it is only in its note page.  I have to find a title for it yet.  And I have to  figure out more ideas to write down on the note page.  And then after that, I will begin page one of the handwritten version.”
“And then you go ahead and finish the handwritten version.  And after that you go and make the typewritten version, making the changes necessary from the handwritten version,” said Miss Xiong.

            “You know your writer boyfriend-in-the-Lord most well,” said Flanders.

            “You’re just starting and already you are a great writer,” said Xiao.  “God is using your writing talent to His great and glorious praise.”

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            “Did you like reading my first two stories, Xiao?” he asked.

            “I did.  I really did, Flanders,” said the ice skating dress woman in blue.  “I love how you wrote about me in ‘The China Doll of a Girl’ of back ten years or so ago.  And I loved your other story about me here ten years later in ‘The China Doll of a Woman—A Sequel.’”

            “Hopefully the Lord can use my short stories to win lost souls and to edify and build up Christians in the faith.” said Flanders Nickels.

            Just then Wheeler came back out onto this front yard.  In his mouth was a big stick.  And he came up to his mistress.  And he dropped the stick before her feet.  And she picked it up and held it in her hands and gave Flanders an affectionate gleam in her dark Chinese eyes.

            Then she came out to the driveway, covered with much snow not all spread about from the games of today, and she put this stick into the snow.  And she began to write a message in the snow with the stick,  She was facing her apartment building, and her back was to the city street as she was writing her message thereby.  She wanted everybody passing by here on North Erie Street and its sidewalk to see this writing in the snow.  But she especially wanted her handsome boyfriend to see these words.  And then she was done.  And Flanders looked down upon it and saw the sweet eight words, “I am Flanders’s China doll of a woman.”

            After reading this, he gave her a long ardent hug there in the snow.

            Then he reached out his hands, and she gave him her stick.  And he wrote in the snow to one side of her message his message of twelve words, “My China doll of a woman inspires me to write for God.”

            Upon reading this, the China doll of a woman leaned toward him and gave him their first kiss.

            It is written, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life:  in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”  Psalm 16:11.

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