Lexy Nix Nix, a Christian and a griffin mistress and a lady archer, dresses up every day in her special harem girl outfit. She has a pet griffin called ‘Cyclone.’
And her ministry for God is to slay the Black Mare Unicorn, a demon called ‘Evening,’ who persecutes her. In her prayers, she petitions God to give her a Christian boyfriend. She and Cyclone live in America, at the southern shores of the Sea of the North, a vast body of water between the United States and Canada and just west of the Great Lakes. Meanwhile, on the northern shores of this Sea of the North, in Canada, lives Flanders Nickels, a Christian and a griffin keeper and an inventor and the world’s only rifleman. He invented a rifle in these days of swords and spears and bows and arrows. He is a master to his pet griffin called ‘Tornado.’ His ministry for God is to slay his foe the Black Stallion Unicorn, a demon called ‘Night.’ He prays everyday for a Christian girlfriend to come into his life.
God answers prayer, and girl meets boy.
THE GRIFFIN KEEPERS
Mr. Morgan P. McCarthy
The Table of Contents
Book I—Introduction………………………………………………………………………………Page 1
Chapter I……………………………………………………………………………………Page 2
Book II—The Tale of Lexy……………………………………………………………………….Page 16
Chapter I.………………………………………………………………………………….Page 17
Chapter II.…………………………………………………………………………………Page 24
Chapter III…………………………………………………………………………………Page 40
Chapter IV…………………………………………………………………………………Page 52
Chapter V………………………………………………………………………………….Page 65
Chapter VI…………………………………………………………………………………Page 77
Book III—The Tale of Flanders…………………………………………………………………..Page 90
Chapter I…………………………………………………………………………………..Page 91
Chapter II…………………………………………………………………………………Page 104
Chapter III………………………………………………………………………………..Page 117
Chapter IV……………………………………………………………………………….Page 131
Chapter V………………………………………………………………………………..Page 143
Chapter VI……………………………………………………………………………….Page 156
Book IV—The Tale of Girl Meets Boy………………………………………………………….Page 169
Chapter I…………………………………………………………………………………Page 170
Chapter II…………………………………………………………………………………Page 183
Chapter III……………………………………………………………………………….Page 197
Chapter IV……………………………………………………………………………….Page 211
Chapter V…………………………………………………………………………………Page 225
Chapter VI……………………………………………………………………………….Page 237
Book V—Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………Page 252
Chapter I…………………………………………………………………………………Page 253
BOOK I—INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I
Lexy, a young Christian woman, and her pet he-griffin Cyclone, were standing before a glass shop door that read “Charmeuse Closet.”
“My mistress,” called forth Cyclone, “what is that–’charmeuse?’”
“I think that that is the fabric that I want to wear over myself for the rest of my life,” she said. “It is the material of Arab women and of harem girl women and of belly dance girls.”
“Is that that colorful fabric that I see on ‘I Dream of Jeannie?’” asked Cyclone.
“Uh huh, the woman genie wears that material in pink,” said Lexy.
“Do men like girls in charmeuse, Mistress?” asked the he-griffin.
“Men like their women in that, and women like to be women in that, Cyclone,” said Lexy.
“I don’t see girls dressed like that here in America,” said the griffin pet.
“Arab girl clothes, harem girl clothes, belly dance girl clothes:” said Lexy. “All more popular in the Arab countries than here in the west. But that’s all the more reason why I want to wear something like that here in the United States. Maybe I will catch a boyfriend someday after I buy what I need to attract a guy.”
“You are no Arab woman, O mistress,” said Cyclone.
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“That’s true, Cyclone,” said Lexy. “And I am proud to be an American. There may be many things going wrong for our country, but it is still the greatest country in the world in which to live. And I will not be in trouble dressing up in a belly dance woman outfit. The veterans of our armed forces have fought for our great nation to preserve our freedoms. That is one reason why I can dress up most Arabic in a most western country.
“And my mistress is a most faithful and dedicated born-again Christian,” said Cyclone. “You are the farthest thing from being a Muslim that a young woman can be.”
“Christ is the only begotten Son of God. Jesus is Lord. Allah is a devil. The Bible’s prophets sent by God spoke verities. Muhammad, sent by Satan, was a false prophet who spoke lies. The King James Bible was written by God. The Q-ran was written by man,” summed up Lexy the born-again believer.
“Shall we go in and do some shopping for your brand new outfit, Mistress?” asked the pet he-griffin.
“Your mistress is excited, O good and loyal Cyclone,” said Lexy. “I cannot wait to put it on and show everyone my belly.”
“Chartreuse,” said the he-griffin.
“No. ‘Chartreuse’ means ‘brilliant yellow-green,’” said the griffin keeper.
“Charmeuse,” the he-griffin corrected himself.
“As Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines it: ‘A fine semi-lustrous crepe in satin weave,’” said the first time visitor to Charmeuse Closet.
“I cannot wait to take my first look at my new mistress,” said Cyclone.
And griffin keeper and griffin pet went in to do her shopping. First they came to the department of tops. There she saw all manner of Arab attire that covered the torso only across the breasts, and all manner of Arab attire that covered almost the whole torso and did not cover the belly, and all manner
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of Arab tops that covered the torso all way down to nearly the belly and covered both arms all the way, and all manner of Arab apparel that covered the torso halfway down and covered only the upper arms.
This latter was the one that Lexy asked Cyclone, “What do you think of this rack, O good friend?”
And Cyclone said, “It could be called kind of like a belly dance girl’s short-sleeved shirt, O Mistress.”
“Which color would you think could look good on me as a young woman looking for a guy?” asked the griffin keeper.
“This purple one would match your much hair, Mistress. And the green one goes well with your complexion. And the black one is the same color as your eyes,” said Cyclone.
This griffin keeper woman had much pretty untamed hair of natural purple about her head. And her complexion was a native green. And her eyes were naturally black in their irises.
“I pick the green one, O Cyclone. Not every woman has pretty green skin as I do,” said the griffin keeper.
“Good choice, Mistress,” said the griffin friend. Lexy put it into her shopping cart.
Next woman and pet went to the department of bottoms. There they saw at first long flowing skirts, sheer and delicate and somewhat diaphanous. Lexy said, “If these belly dance skirts feel anywhere as good as they look to me right now in my eyes, I shall be in Heaven every day I put mine on.”
“Which type of harem girl skirt would you like to cover your bottom parts for the rest of your life, my mistress?” asked Cyclone.
“I don’t know. They all look just perfect for me. I cannot decide,” said Lexy.
“We have forever to spend here today,” said Cyclone. “Take your time. Browse. Think. And pick the best one for you,” said her kind griffin.
She walked around many racks of Arab women skirts. And she said first of all, “I don’t want
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a harem skirt that leaves both legs all bare whose material is off to both sides.”
“What would you like, my mistress?” asked Cyclone.
“Belly dance skirts that look like these on this rack,” said the griffin keeper, pointing to a rack nearby.
Cyclone looked and saw long flowing translucent such skirts that covered all and left no skin bare, from the waist down to the ankles or nearly to the ankles.
“I see what you mean,” said the he-griffin. “Completely covered, but not completely covered.”
“I want all of my legs to feel the material everywhere,” said Lexy.
“Would a green one make you happy, Mistress?” asked Cyclone.
“It would go with my top,” said the griffin keeper. “I would like a green Arab girl skirt.” She picked a long one and held it against herself. It went down to her feet. She shook her head. She picked another one and held it against herself. It went down close to her ankles. She looked up at her griffin friend and nodded and put it into her cart.
“Now where, Mistress?” asked Cyclone.
“I wish for a pair of harem girl pants,” said the griffin keeper, “to go with my skirt.”
“A top and a skirt and a pants,” said Cyclone. “Mistress, you could establish an Arab fashion trend in wearing those three all at once.”
“A woman wants to feel comfortable in her favorite outfit,” said Lexy.
“Chanteuse,” said Cyclone.
“’Chanteuse,’ means ‘woman singer’ in French,” corrected the griffin keeper.
“Charmeuse,” the griffin pet corrected himself.
“Top and skirt and pants.” she said.
“Harem girl pants must be in this section of the store for bottoms,” said Cyclone.
“I see them over by the dressing rooms,” said the griffin keeper. And she skipped her way over
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to this most delightful set of racks, her he-griffin walking behind her. In silence, she paused to look at and to touch and to smell the fresh fabric of many of these belly dance girl pants.
“Mistress, what do you like best about these Arab pants?” asked the he-griffin.
“All of the circular bands around the bottom of all of the pant legs,” said Lexy.
“Will it be green again for you?” asked the pet griffin, sure of his guess.
“If I can find a good green one,” said the griffin keeper.
“I don’t see much in this rack that is green,” said Cyclone.
“Same with the rack over here,” said Lexy.
“I don’t see any green harem girl pants in these racks,” said Cyclone.
After a while, she said, “Why, they ran out of green.”
“What will you do, Mistress?” asked the griffin.
“I will have you pick a color for me for my belly dance girl pants, good friend,” said the griffin keeper.
“I do like the color dark blue,” said Cyclone. “That’s the color of the sky at twilight.”
“Dark blue they will be,” declared Lexy. And she picked up a dark blue pair of Arab woman pants, prayed, and held them against her legs. “Not too long and not too short,” she said. “I’ll buy these, O Cyclone.” And she put these into her cart.
“Now for some harem women shoes,” said Cyclone.
“I wish not for shoes to cover my feet,” said the griffin keeper.
“Maybe an Arab woman scarf,” said the griffin.
“I wish not for a scarf to cover my head,” said Lexy.
“Perhaps an enticing mask,” asked the he-griffin.
“I wish not for a mask to cover any part of my face,” said Lexy.
“Any Arabian jewelry or anything like that, Mistress?” asked Cyclone.
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“I wish not for trinkets or baubles or gems to be on my body,” said the griffin keeper.
Just then Cyclone’s aquiline face lit up with an idea.
“What are you thinking about, Cyclone?” asked the griffin keeper.
And he said, “I do know just the right thing for you to have as an accessory to your new outfit, my most stunning mistress.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “The store owner did not know for certain. None of the customers knew. No one knows. But I saw them. You would catch the right man as boyfriend-in-the-Lord if you were to wear these things that I did see.”
“Are they comely?” asked the griffin keeper.
“They truly are something that this world has never seen before,” proclaimed Cyclone. “You would not be complete in your new outfit for the rest of your life were you not to wear them over your new favorite outfit for now on.”
“Where did you see such accessories?” asked the griffin keeper.
“At the Inventor’s Inventory, Incorporated,” said the he-griffin.
“These adornments…they sound like inventions,” said Lexy.
“When I saw them that day, I asked the shop keeper who invented them, and he said some inventor in the far north had made them. But he did not know the inventor’s name. He just told me that this guy needed some spending money and had to sell the them to the shop keeper, who in turn wanted to sell them in his store. There were only three of them in all of the store. I just hope that they are all there yet.”
“Good and loyal Cyclone, let us go to Inventor’s Inventory, Incorporated, and let me buy the three best adornments to go with my sexy new outfit,” said the griffin keeper.
“Hop on my back, good mistress, and I will fly you there with Godspeed.” said Cyclone.
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Lexy quickly paid for her wonderful new harem girl outfit of three pieces, and at once they traveled to the invention shop as fast as a griffin could fly.
Griffin and griffin keeper got there and found that all three of these accouterments were still there. They were most ornate leather belts hanging on a wooden dowel on a board all by itself. These most unique belts were full from beginning to ending with little metal cases with lead tips all held onto the belt by little straps of leather. On the bottom of each individual piece of these appurtenances were the embossed words “22-caliber.” And these were a little weighty. “Heart of my heart, I’ll buy these, Cyclone, whatever they may be.” said the griffin keeper. And she bought them. “Now let’s go home and see the new Lexy, you and I, O best friend,” said the griffin keeper. And they quickly came home through the air. And Lexy dressed up as the stunning harem girl for the rest of her life. She had on her solid green top with the short tight sleeves that showed her belly, and her blue pants that covered her complete legs with that cuff around her ankles at the bottom of her pant legs, and her green skirt that went on over her pants and that reached down halfway between her knees and her ankles, and one of those novel belts along her right shoulder going down diagonally to her left side, and one of those novel belts along her left shoulder going down diagonally to her right side, and one of those novel belts around her waist along the top of her skirt at her hips. And her feet were bare.
“Well, dear friend. Tell me the truth. Does your mistress look pretty now to handsome young men, do you think?” asked the griffin keeper.
“Mistress, Mistress, you even look desirable to me, and I am just a griffin,” gave Cyclone all due good praise to his best friend in life.
“I shall wear this every day for the rest of my life then,” avouched Lexy.
“Do you feel good in it?” asked Cyclone.
“I never felt better than I do now in this,” said the griffin keeper.
“Whoa, Mistress,” said her he-griffin in approval.
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“Amen, Cyclone,” said Lexy.
Meanwhile, far away and very far north was a man and his she-griffin pet in the man’s workroom. His name was “Flanders,” and her name was “Tornado.” All throughout this workroom were belts just like the one that Lexy had just bought. He did not know Lexy, and Lexy did not know him. Flanders was an inventor. And in his hands was an invention that was never wrought by any man anywhere. It was a weapon more deadly than any weapon used by soldier or hunter. It was a veritable doomsday machine. Flanders called it a “rifle.” And only he and Tornado knew about this rifle in the natural world. Flanders went on to say to Tornado, “With this rifle, God has given me my ministry as a demon-slayer as you know, girl. This rifle fires these projectiles that we see on these belts. These projectiles I call ‘bullets.’ And when these bullets are shot from this rifle, they enter into the demonic beasts, get bigger, and rip up holes in the evil beast. And the demon dies in my mission for God.”
“And that trigger is what shoots your bullets,” said Tornado.
“Yes. I raise my rifle, aim it, pull the trigger, and I shoot the bullet at the evil demon,” said Flanders.
“And all of these belts, you call them ‘ammunition belts,’ Master,” said the learned she-griffin.
“Also ‘artillery belts,’ good griffin,” said Flanders.
“In this world of swords and spears and bows and arrows, wise Master, this rifle and its bullets are most truly much more deadly than any other weapon anybody else knows about,” said his griffin pet.
“With my rifle, I do not have to engage the demon in close combat,” said the griffin keeper. “I can slay him even when I am far away from him. I can get him before he can get me. He is now suddenly vulnerable when he was not at any time before.”
“You are a most ingenious inventor, O Master,” said the griffin Tornado.
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“Verily I praise my God for what He has wrought in this through my hands,” said the griffin keeper.
The wood that made up the stock of the rifle he had purchased from Would Wood Company. The metal that made up the barrel of the rifle he had purchased from Cast Iron Foundry. The leather of his artillery belts he had purchased from Deer Hides Are Us. The metal that had gone into the making of the bullets he had purchased from Casings and Cases International. The lead of the bullets he had purchased from Led Lead Enterprises. The gunpowder for his ammunition he had purchased from TNT and Associates.
“Shoot this rifle now for me, Master,” petitioned the she-griffin.
“I did not yet do that—firing my rifle in rifle training,” said the griffin keeper.
“Our Lord would wish his inventor to also be a marksman,” said Tornado.
“Yeah. And that I am not,” said Flanders.
“Time for practicing now,” said the griffin pet.
“Let us get at it,” said Flanders.
“Outside to your prepared rifle range, Master,” said Tornado. And man and griffin went out back for his first training session with his ally in battle.
Here was a field of white chalk lines one hundred yards long by one hundred yards wide. He set up a big wooden target at the far right corner away at the other end. And he came back and stood at a place here in this end at the near left corner. He looked upon the target in its concentric colored circles and upon the white in the field outside of it. The innermost circle, the bullseye, was yellow; the next outer circle was red; the next outer circle was blue; the next outer circle was black; and the most outer circle was white; outside of that was the field of white. The target itself measured five feet by five feet. And the diameter of the colored circles was four feet. Wooden barrels of sand were set up behind the target to catch the bullets.
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Flanders said, “Tornado, in my first training session, as you can see, I am the farthest away from the target and still be within my rifle range.”
“Between you and your target, Master, lies one hundred forty-one yards,” said Tornado.
“Maybe I will get a bullseye,” said the Griffin Keeper. “Maybe my first shot will be a bullseye.”
“Do pray to God now that He get the glory from this new part of your life here on your rifle range, O Master,” said Tornado.
“Lord, let me get lots of bulls-eyes,” said the rifleman in expectation.
And the griffin keeper raised his rifle for his first official shot in practicing; he aimed the rifle for the yellow; and he pulled the trigger. There was a loud “bang.” And the bullet sped through the air with great velocity. Then Flanders brought down the rifle along his side. He said, “I cannot see from here where I might have hit the target.”
“I cannot tell, either,” said the she-griffin.
“Even with your eagle eyes?” asked the griffin keeper.
“It does look to me from here that you missed your target,” said the pet with the acute vision.
“Do you see anything in the white portion along the sides anywhere, Tornado?” asked Flanders.
“Uh uh,” she said with a shake of her head.
“Oo, do fly there and take a closer look, girl,” asked the novice rifleman.
“I shall do that,” said the she-griffin pet. And she flew up to the far corner of this rifle range, studied the target for bullet holes, and said, “Nothing here, Master.”
“Where did it go?” he asked.
“You must surely have missed the complete target, O Master,” said Tornado.
“Do look a little harder,” pressed Flanders.
“Your shot was a clean miss,” said the griffin pet.
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“Alas, my first shot, and I do not even get the white,” said Flanders.
“Take heart, Master. There is always a second chance in this training field for you,” said Tornado. And she flew back to be at his side.
He prayed quickly a second time, saying, “O Lord, can you make this second one better than that first one?” And he raised back up his rifle, aimed the barrel, and pulled the trigger. Again there was that characteristic “bang.” And the speeding bullet zipped through the air. And then there was silence.
“I cannot see what became of it,” said Flanders of his second fired bullet of this first practice session.
“From here, Master, I do not see its evidence anywhere upon the target,” said Tornado.
“Oh, do go there and find out for sure, O Tornado,” requested the new rifleman.
And she did so and did scan the target, looking for bullet holes. “Nope,” she said back to him.
“You did not hit the target this second time, either.” And she flew back to his side.
“Lord, bless this third shot,” prayed Flanders. And he studied the target so far away for him, and he squeezed the trigger. A third “bang” came into his ears. Nothing seemed any different for him now than the previous two times.
“Master, shall I go there and take a look?” asked the she-griffin.
“No, girl,” said Flanders. “You are a griffin, and griffins can see most clearly from far away. Tell me what you see there from here.”
And she said, “I can see a target with no bullet holes in it.”
“Woe! Three shots. Three complete misses,” exclaimed the inventor.
“Do try again, good Master,” encouraged his comrade.
Flanders shot his fourth bullet, then turned to Tornado. Tornado said, “You missed.”
Flanders fired his fifth bullet, and he awaited his griffin’s evaluation, and she said, “You missed
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again.”
“Father,” he prayed, looking up to Heaven, “I am a terrible shot.”
And his best friend said to him, “With God, you will become better at this, O Master.”
“God definitely needs his designated demon slayer to get better,” said Flanders.
“Remember, too, Master: We are both beginners with this rifle range,” exhorted the she-griffin pet.
“Yeah. You are right, Tornado,” said Flanders. “I am the inventor, not the sharpshooter yet.”
“Maybe, yourself being new at this, we should move a little closer to your target,” said the good griffin friend.
“That your griffin keeper can do,” agreed Flanders.
And he went and moved the target from the far right of the farthest chalk mark to the center of the farthest chalk mark. And strong Tornado moved the barrels of sand to right behind this target in its more favorable spot for the fledgling rifleman.
“That’s good. Very good. Right there is just right,” said Flanders. And he walked back fifty yards to the dead center of this square rifle range. He was now only fifty yards from his target.
“Shoot, good Master, and the Lord be with you,” said Tornado.
“I pray Thee, Lord, that I do better for you this time around,” said Flanders, looking Upward. “Here goes, girl. Wish me providence.”
And Flanders fired five more bullets from his rifle toward the target.
A silent moment passed between griffin keeper and griffin pet. “What do you see, O Tornado?” the griffin keeper asked.
“I do see five bullet holes in the target, Master. Yea!” cheered his best friend.
“Really?” asked the novice rifleman.
“Yeah!” said his ally.
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“Yea!” said Flanders. “Amen!”
And at once Flanders and Tornado ran up to see where he had struck this target. Five bullet holes were scattered all throughout the outer white of the five colored concentric circles. Not one colored concentric circle was hit with the five bullets. But he had hit the target, nonetheless, all five times.
“Praise the Lord!” gave the griffin keeper honor and glory to God.
“Well done in Christ, Master,” cheered Tornado Flanders once again.
“If I get even closer to the target, I can do even better than that,” said the griffin keeper.
“Maybe from only ten yards away,” thought the griffin pet out loud.
“Beginners ought to start at the beginning,” said Flanders. And he walked back ten yards from the target.”
“Thirty feet this time,” said Tornado, converting yards to feet.
“A lot more appropriate for your griffin keeper than four hundred twenty-three feet away like my first choice had been, girl,” he said back to her, himself also converting yards to feet.
“Go for it, Master. And shoot your rifle for Jesus,” said Tornado.
“In Your name I do fire my rifle, O Lord God,” said the Christian soldier in training. And Flanders fired five more bullets into his target from very nearby.
“I see what I did, and God made it very good, O griffin girl,” said Flanders.
“Five bullets and five hits, Master. And not one in the white outer portion! Congratulations!”
said the she-griffin. And Flanders and his pet were very glad.
Flanders quickly ran up to see his work upon the target. One bullet was in the white circle. One bullet was in the black circle. One bullet was in the blue circle. One bullet was in the red circle. One bullet was in the yellow circle.
“Bullseye! I got my first bullseye!” sang out the rifleman in rejoicing in the Lord.
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“And on your first training,” said Tornado, excited for her master.
“Yeah! Yeah!” said the griffin keeper. “And with the Lord, I can get better,”
“After a while, you shall be ready to serve the Lord with your rifle, O Master,” said the ally of battle.
“Then God will be able to use me as his Christian soldier.” said Flanders.
“Demon unicorns, look out,” said Tornado in the spirit of the moment.
“It is written, ‘But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ I Corinthians 15:57,” recited Flanders scripture.
“It is fitting that a born-again believer mighty in the Holy Ghost in all manner of worship should also be a mighty demon-slayer in battles, Master,” spoke the griffin of her griffin keeper.
“It is written again, ‘Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ,…’
II Corinthians 2:14,” recited the griffin keeper another battle verse from the Holy Bible.
“Amen and amen!” uttered Tornado.
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BOOK II—THE TALE OF LEXY
CHAPTER I
Lexy was alone in her house on the southern shores of the Sea of the North. The Sea of the North was a big lake, or little sea, between her United States and Canada. Between these two North American nations was the world’s longest friendly border. This American-Canadian border passed right through the middle of this Sea of the North, east to west. Wisconsin and Minnesota bordered the southern shores of this little sea in America. And Ontario bordered the northern shores of this little sea in Canada. North of this Sea of the North was Hudson Bay in Canada’s wild north. And north of Hudson Bay was Baffin Bay in Canada’s North Pole. And north of Baffin Bay was the Arctic Ocean at the peak of the North Pole. And the five Great Lakes were to the east of the Sea of the North.
Lexy’s full name was Miss Lexy Nix Nix, and right now she was evaluating her form and face and outfit in front of her full-length mirror in her living room. She stood five feet seven inches, and she weighed about one hundred fifteen pounds. Her complexion was green, and she looked like she could have come from Venus, but no one lived on Venus. Around her head was a pile of wild and untamed hair like unto a rag doll’s hair, and it was an extraterrestrial-type purple. She had a squat triangular nose, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. Her eyes had a glistening black to her irises. And her
two lips protruded almost like a simian’s, and this protrusion did hide the teeth of her smiles. And her
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chin was wide and short. Despite her much hair, sometimes her forehead still showed. She liked her forehead to be covered, and she made sure to comb her hair down over her forehead every morning. Indeed her ears never showed; there was much hair to completely cover both sides of her head to cover her ears without having to get out the comb. “I am fearfully and wonderfully made, O Father, as you say in Psalm 139:14. Aren’t I, Lord?” Was she a beautiful woman? God would probably say that she was. Maybe a man could come into her life and say that to her, also. Being herself, Lexy was unsure about the attraction of her face. Yet she said, “Thank You, O Creator, for having made me as I am.”
Then she paused to definitely admire her form, covered most fetchingly in her new outfit that she put on every morning upon getting out of bed. “Thank You, God, for having found for me this harem girl outfit,” she prayed up to Heaven. “And these three nice fancy belts, too, which mystify me and which everybody loves.” Then she saw most basic appurtenances not yet put on for the day. She was a lady archer for God, and she wanted to put on her archery pieces as well. Lexy Nix said to God, “If you made me a demon-slayer with my bow and arrow, I ought to put on my bow and arrow in case the demon comes after me again.” And she went and put on her lady archer appurtenances—a quiver full of arrows strapped over her shoulder with a leather strap and resting against her back, and a bow in her left hand, and a little green Robin Hood cap for her head. Coming back to her living room big mirror,
Lexy Nix Nix now saw herself as most complete. And she liked what she was seeing. And she said in prayer, “Surely now a boyfriend will come along and fall for me and say that I am a stunning woman, O Heavenly Father.”
In her thoughts to God of reverie and happiness, the lady archer again began to daydream about the perfect peace that she would find in Heaven right after the rapture of the believers. She knew that Heaven was her Home, and that Heaven was where she would go in the life to come, all because she was a born-again Christian. And becoming a born-again believer was the best decision that Lexy had ever made in her life. Because of this conversion, she would never go to Hell in the life to come. Jesus
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had become her personal Saviour. Christ had saved her soul. She had accepted His free gift of eternal life. And no one, not even herself, could take away from her this so great everlasting life. In her walk with Christ, Christ was her first love, and Christ loved her with a perfect love.
This living room of her house was a very large room that filled up the whole first floor of her home, a three-story edifice of red brick, mansard roof, and no basement. This mirror was on the back wall of this palatial living room, on the north wall and in the center. The front door was on the south wall, also in the center and across from the mirror. She had also two back doors in this living room—one on the back of the west wall next to the corner; and one on the back of the east wall next to the corner. Her he-griffin pet called these instead “side doors.” He was kind of right about this. There were no doors along the north wall of her living room. The whole floor of this extra large living room was covered with gold shag carpet. Her sofa was along the west wall, and she had a stuffed lion and two little square dark orange sofa pillows on its three cushions. In front of her sofa was a wooden green bin with a wooden green lid upon which she had her record player. Lexy loved traditional and hymn-book Christmas carols all year long. Along the one side of her green bin and resting upon the carpet on their edges was her whole collection of Christmas albums from Goodyear, from old days of ago. One such album had come out for each new year for twelve years for a collection of twelve delightful Christmas carol albums, for her to enjoy these days years later. And along the other side of her green bin and resting upon the carpet on their edges was her whole collection of Christmas albums from the Voice of Firestone, also from old days of records. Here she had Volume I through Volume VII, seven albums, of good old-fashioned Christmas carols, one album made each of seven years in a row in days of records. And in her life now as a young Christian woman, Lexy did listen to and enjoy playing these in her living room now a generation later. Along her east wall was her Bible-reading site.
This was a wood table and four wood chairs. Sundry Bible projects going on at the same time in her contemporary Christian life were scattered throughout in progress across this table. Over here she had
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on her Bible-reading table her King James Version Bible and her underlining pencils and her loose pencil sharpener. With these she read and underlined and wrote notes in her Bible on a regular basis as she did her Bible studies alone with God. It traditionally took Lexy about a year-and-a-quarter to finish doing this cover-to-cover, her method involving reading each chapter five times in a row and underlining the verses that stood out for her at the time, and writing down notes in the margins about these underscored passages. And over there on her Bible-reading table were her two index card notebooks, fifty index cards per index card notebook, ruled in front and plain in back, and each index card page measuring three inches by five inches. These index card notebooks were repositories of Bible verses to memorize and to re-memorize over and over again. The harder index card notebook had the more important Bible verses written down in their entirety in a most pleasingly formal format. The easier index card notebook had the shorter Bible verses or only partial Bible verses written down in a more informal format. In both index card notebooks, Lexy mastered not only the Bible verses therein, but also the Bible verse references that went with them. “As it is written in Psalm 119:11, O Lord, ‘Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.’ This verse she had memorized once already from her easy index card notebook, and she still remembered it now a few days later. “Hiding God’s Word in one’s heart,” meant “memorizing Scripture.” And this was almost as much fun as reading the Bible with her pencil. Upon this Bible-reading table also was a little table lamp with a little swing arm and a shade and a secure little base. Other lamps also lit up this living room with other good homey incandescent light bulbs. One floor lamp was in the back corner of the north wall along the west, near to that back door. And another floor lamp was in the back corner of the north wall along the east, near to that other back door. And along the south wall she had two more lamps, table lamps resting upon little tables. One lamp table was to the west of the front door, and the other lamp table was to the east of the front door. And Lexy Nix Nix, fond of extension cords for their practicality and convenience, had extension cords resting upon this nice gold carpet all over this homey
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and large living room. And this was a room with no windows. Around this ground floor room was a quaint corridor along all four walls. It was a basic, quite austere, hallway that was cold and unheated in the winter and hot and dim in the summer. This outer hallway was constructed of rough plywood and wood scraps and broken boards. Four exit doors were in the center of the four outer walls. And there were no windows in this hall. Long red mats covered all of the floors of this perimeter of hall. And there was nothing else in this hallway east and south and west and north.
What was in the second floor of her square house? Here was her kitchen and her utility room. The way up to this second story was a heated shaft in the very center of this house going from the living room up to this kitchen, This shaft had four entrance doors here in the living room—one for each of its four little walls–the doors opening into the living room. In this shaft was an enclosed wrought iron spiral staircase. And on the ceiling of this shaft up on the second floor was a rheostat chandelier of five incandescent bulbs, whose switches were at the bottom and at the top of this shaft inside. And the way in and out of this shaft up on the second floor was just as it was on the first floor:
a square little space with a door on all four sides. And it was in the center of the kitchen up there. Here she had her refrigerator and her freezer and her stove and oven and her sinks and her cupboards and her drawers and her pantry. And she had in this kitchen also her kitchen table and chairs of hardwood.
The kitchen table was made of maple; one chair was made of oak; one chair was made of cedar; one chair was made of elm; one chair was made of box elder. Why were all of these chairs different?
They were all so, because through the years, the original maple kitchen table chairs that matched the kitchen table, all got broken down and had to be replaced. This happened throughout the years one-by-one, and each time Lexy replaced them with a new chair that she bought from Shopko. And by now, none of the chairs she now had matched either the original table or the other chairs. But she was happy for her table and chairs here. Here was where she had her tart red cherry juice for breakfast every morning. She was never hungry for breakfast. So she did not eat food for breakfast (she had breakfast
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food on lunches and dinners instead). But she did have a thirst in the mornings. And she got out her little clear glass mug with the stem and base, and drank her mug of juice to start out her days. And hers was tart red cherry juice concentrate. One had to add water to it. It was a sixteen-ounce little bottle that had to be refrigerated after being opened. The label said, “no sugar added.” And the directions did read, “Mix 1 oz or 2 Tbsp with 6-8 oz liquid or mix ½ cup with 28 oz of water to make 1 quart.” Lexy’s way was to take her special tart cherry juice cup and to put into it two tablespoons of this cherry juice concentrate, then leave the set of metal measuring spoons in the mug carefully for the moment, trying not to get this thick dark liquid spilled anywhere for now, then to take her pitcher of refrigerated water originally from her kitchen faucet and to pour it into her glass mug, pouring it mainly upon the tablespoon and its residue to clean it up lest it touch and stain something else, then to stir it up with her tablespoon, then to set the clean set of measuring spoons on the counter. And her tart red cherry juice was ready to drink. Putting everything away, Lexy Nix then carefully brought her precious juice over to the kitchen table, trying not to spill and lose any of it. She made it always full almost to the top every time. Then she thanked God for her favorite juice. And she drank her tart red cherry juice to start out her day for the Lord. And she said, “’This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.’ Psalm 118:24.” The floor of her kitchen was tiles of a yellow brick pattern.
And she had windows in all the walls of the kitchen, not only on the kitchen’s three exterior walls, but also on the kitchen’s one interior wall. The windows that looked outside to the countryside numbered three for each exterior wall, each evenly placed and separate. She had neither blinds nor shades nor curtains nor drapes for these nine windows. She wanted light to come in from the outside during the day, and she wanted to see dark outside from in here during the night. Just as the sun shone in here in the days, so, too, did the moon shine in here in the nights. And, being all for windows being open in the warm days of Wisconsin summer, Lexy had fans running in her house and no air conditioners in her house. Lexy Nix had a regular gamut of box fans and ceiling fans and oscillating fans. And, as for her
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interior wall with the windows, they looked out into her utility room. This wall also had three equally spaced windows one by one spread out across the wall. A passageway from the kitchen to this utility room lay to both sides of this wall. In this utility room was her furnace and her water heater and her fuse box and her washer and her dryer and her pump and her meters. The floor of this room was of red brick patterned linoleum. And the windows of this room in its exterior walls were opened laterally with a handle, and they were very long up and down and very narrow left and right. And they numbered nine in all—three evenly placed on the three outer walls and all separate. In this utility room was a carpeted staircase that led up to the third floor. This staircase had twenty-five steps, with a landing after every five stairs, and with a ninety degree turn in the steps after each landing, and so on to the third floor. And this staircase had a mahogany railing to both sides.
What was in the third floor of this house? It was both an attic and a bedroom. Lexy called this her “attic bedroom.” In the center of this room on the third story was the staircase going down, with a railing up here in this room along three sides so that Lexy could not fall down out of her bedroom and into the stairs, and with a gate on the one side through which to go up and down the stairs here. Up here the floor was of willow with narrow slats of wood throughout all of this bedroom. And the ceiling was rife with nice and bare wooden rafters. Also five large skylights were in this top floor’s ceiling in the midst of the Mansard roof. For even more of God’s daylight to come into this bedroom attic, Lexy had four dormer windows, one for each of the four walls, before which was a cubbyhole. The floorboards always creaked underneath Lexy’s bare feet as she walked upon her bedroom floor. This attic had class. Lexy’s big brother would come to her house from time to time. And one day he had an incident up here in this attic that made her laugh at its incongruity. In her many years here in all of her barefoot days up here in this room with the old wooden floors, she had never scratched or scraped her feet on the floor boards. But one day when Big Brother was visiting her up here on this third floor, he was wearing thick winter socks, and his covered feet stepped across the bare wooden floors, and, lo, he
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got a sliver in his foot. “Ha ha ha,” she said at the time. Leave it to Big Brother. Lexy’s nightly prayer site was in this third floor room. It was on a pillow upon the wooden floor beside the bed in the dark. She liked to move her furniture around from time to time. And wherever she had moved her bed, the floor alongside this bed was where she set up her pillow upon which to kneel and pray. Sometimes she prayed between the bed and the wall; other times she prayed across the bed over on the other side. This Christian woman eschewed prayers in the lamplight and in the daylight; her focus and words to God in the light often lacked spirit and life. But in the dark of night with the lights off, her prayers to her Heavenly Father in this attic bedroom were full of spirit and soul and life and fervor. When God’s white moon shone into her dark bedroom, her prayers were enhanced even more so. In the summers, her windows were open during her prayers, and the song of nature outside in the countryside added God’s peace to her words to Him. And in the winters her windows were shut during her prayers, and the stillness of the sounds of outside not coming into her bedroom also gave an extra taste of rest to her words to God. Along another wall in this attic bedroom was her fireplace with its fireplace tool set rack of a poker and a brush and a shovel and a tongs, these tools made of black cast iron with ball peen handles. She had also in this bedroom a wood bin with firewood for her room up here. A braided elliptic rug lay on the wooden floor before the fireplace. This fireplace was for both heating and for lighting of this attic. Also for additional light, Miss Nix had six lanterns that she moved about at will—three red kerosene lanterns and three black railroad lanterns. And for personal business, Lexy had two half-bathrooms up here in this attic right next to her bedroom. The one half-bathroom had a toilet and a sink and a vanity cabinet and a medicine cabinet and a wastebasket and no window. The other half-bathroom had a tub and a shower stall and a linen closet and a rack for towels and for washrags and no windows. Each half-bathroom was lit by five 25-watt incandescent light bulbs. And both floors were of little square white tiles one-inch-by-one-inch.
Yet this house had one more thing in addition to its three floors of living quarters. Along one of
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the walls of this attic was a sturdy ladder of iron rungs that were fastened to the wall and which led up to the Mansard roof. Climbing this ladder and coming up out of the house above its third floor, one came to a most grand balcony that wrapped completely around the whole house at the level of the roof.
From up here and out here, Lexy could see the beautiful countrysides of northern Wisconsin in all directions wherever she chose to walk on this balcony. The floor of this encircling balcony was of wooden railroad ties. The railing of this grand balcony was like unto a black wrought iron railing in its aesthetic qualities like what one would find in a cemetery. And the width of this balcony was five feet.
And for adornment, at each of the four corners of this square of balcony was a gargoyle of steel that looked out upon the world from her housetop.
Lexy was in her living room now at her Bible-reading site with her Holy Bible open to the book of Proverbs. Today she was going to study Proverbs chapter thirty at her living room table. She already knew the first part of the first verse of this chapter from having read it before: Proverbs 30:1 did start out, “The words of Agur….” Well did Lexy know that God had used Solomon to write the book of Proverbs. But in this Proverbs 30 a man named Agur wrote God’s Word in this chapter. Solomon surely did write Proverbs chapter one through Proverbs chapter twenty-nine. Who was this mysterious Agur? Now it was time for Lexy to read this chapter once again in her Bible-study. This was going to be fun, and she could not wait. And she picked up her underlining pencil and began today’s Bible-reading for herself. And very soon she discovered a passage of two verses to underline.
They were verses fifteen and sixteen, and they read the following: “The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things that saith not, It is enough: The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.” After a brief rumination, Lexy asked, “Lord, what’s a horseleach?” And she remembered her Bible dictionary that she had on one of her lamp tables. And she got it and looked up this word. And this was the definition of “horse-leech” therein: “a well-known and blood-thirsty worm
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found in the stagnant waters of Palestine.” She thought some more and felt glad at this allegory; and she went ahead and underlined these two verses. And she resumed her reading of Proverbs 30. And she soon came upon another little allegory of items in verses eighteen and nineteen. This Bible passage read thus: “There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.” Lexy thought out loud to herself, “What would the way of a man with myself be?” Then she said to God in prayer, “It would be wonderful, for sure. I don’t know what it is like for myself yet, though.” Then she reflected upon this passage further: Would the way of a maid with a man be too wonderful for Agur, which he knows not? She daydreamed for a while about life with a cute Christian boyfriend; then she took her pencil and underlined these two Bible verses.
And Lexy went on to pick up where she had left off in the middle of Proverbs 30. And she came upon a passage of three more verses of delightful philosophy. They were verses twenty-one through twenty-three. And this was what God said in His Word therein: “For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear: For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat; For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.” At once did Lexy remember a know-it-all who was more like a know-nothing. He went around telling everybody whom he did meet, “There is no God.” God calls such a person who says that “a fool.” This outspoken man, full of braggadocio and pride, was the fool who was filled with meat. He always had beef jerky and beef sticks in his mouth. And he was one hundred pounds overweight. And his intellectual capacity was very limited. He was a dumb fool. And one time, in his ingenuous understanding, he came up to Lexy and said in sincerity, “I hope the Green Bay Packers go all the way…all the way to the Rose Bowl.” And when he said this, he had a little log of sausage in his hand with bite marks in it.
She said now in prayer upon such recollections, “This earth is disquieted with that man, and it cannot bear him in it.” And Lexy went ahead and underlined this passage of three verses. And she continued
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her Bible study of Proverbs 30. And another little treatise came to her eyes. This one filled up five verses. And it was verses twenty-four through twenty-eight. And this was how it went: “There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.” Lexy thought about ants. And a famous radio drama and famous literary work called ‘Leiningen Versus The Ants,” came to her remembrance from her childhood. In this story, an innumerable horde of ants were sweeping across the land. This army of ants was so great a plague that it could be compared to the destructive severity of one of God’s ten plagues in Egypt back in the day of proud Pharaoh. A most resourceful and formidable man named “Leiningen” declared war against this ant army coming toward his land in this story. This man used all manner of battle tactics at his disposal from his keen and intellectual mind. But the ants were so many.
And he was outnumbered. And he was being eaten up by a myriad of marching ants. But Leiningen did prevail. And he won and lived. And the ants lost and died. What a great dramatic story. After reminiscing about this radio drama, Lexy went ahead and underlined these five verses in her Bible as well. And she prayed for just one more little proverb passage like these four that she had just read.
And she resumed reading Proverbs 30. And God had ready for her one last little tale to underline in this chapter. It was verses twenty-nine through thirty-one. And she stood up and read this passage out loud to herself; “There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; A greyhound; and he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.” This was just as good as the others. And she sat back down and did underline these three Bible verses. And she reflected in the Lord upon this little tale. She thought upon lions. Her pet he-griffin was half-lion and half-eagle. Mankind called the lion “the king of the beasts.” The biological title for lions in the animal kingdom was “Felis Leo.” The Bible referred to her
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Saviour Jesus Christ as “the Lion of the Tribe of Juda.” She often wondered why Jesus had come from the lineage of Judah, the son of Jacob. Why did not Jesus come from the lineage of Reuben, the oldest son of Jacob? Why did not Jesus come from the lineage of Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob? In truth, Judah was the largest of the twelve tribes of Israel. And of the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah in the times of the Divided Kingdom, Judah was more righteous than was Israel in Old Testament history.
Lexy then went on to finish up Proverbs chapter thirty with a thanksgiving to God for its most divine inspiration. And she wanted a little bit more. And Lexy Nix went on to read Proverbs 31, this chapter written by a strange King Lemuel. And when she finished studying this chapter, Proverbs was all done. And she thanked God for this chapter as well.
Wanting her companionship with her griffin again, Lexy went outside and called forth, “Cyclone!” He was either hunting or flying or scouting. And at once he appeared far off in the horizon. Griffin ears were almost as adept as griffin eyes. Quickly coming to her, he lighted upon the ground and called forth in adoration, “Mistress, I am at your service.” And she hugged him around his lion chest in affection, and he groaned in happy contentment.
“Oh, I love you, Cyclone,” sang out the griffin keeper.
“And I love you, Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
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CHAPTER II
Lexy Nix Nix was with her beloved he-griffin pet Cyclone outside in her backyard on the southern shores of the Sea of the North. Together they were looking out upon these vast cold waters off into the far north beyond where eyes could see. The harem girl mistress was sitting upon the dry cool sand of this beach of hers. She adjusted her skirt portion about her lower legs; she pulled down upon the bottom of her pants legs by her feet; she tugged upon the bottom of her shirt above her belly button; she ran her hands across her artillery belts. “Now I am comfortable,” she said.
“You are the only belly dance girl who sits as well outside on the ground as she does outside on a lawn chair, O Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“Another month here in Wisconsin, and it will not be a day to sit outside—not on the ground or on a lawn chair,” she said.
“We both know what comes after autumn here in the north, Mistress,” said the pet griffin.
They both continued looking off into the farther north. The griffin keeper asked, “What do you suppose that it is like over there on the other side of this Sea of the North, O Cyclone?”
“You mean on this sea’s northern shore?” asked the he-griffin.
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“Uh huh,” said the griffin keeper.
“I’ve been there…a few times…hunting,” said Cyclone.
“What is it like there?” asked Miss Nix.
“You have heard of the tundra, Mistress?” asked the pet griffin.
“I have,” said Lexy.
“Well, that is where the tundra is, north of our Sea of the North,” said Cyclone.
“The Green Bay Packer fans in our state all call Lambeau Field in Green Bay ‘the frozen tundra,’” said Lexy Nix.
“That famous Ice Bowl attests to that, my mistress,” said the wise griffin.
“So, Cyclone, what did you see when you went hunting north of my big sea?” asked the griffin keeper. “Do tell your curious mistress what a real tundra looks like.”
“The first thing that I noticed was that there were not a lot of trees up there,” said Cyclone.
“Down here in northern Wisconsin we have lots and lots of trees,” said Lexy. “And we are full of big forests.”
“And I saw level and rolling plains, too, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“What else did you see in the frozen tundra?” she asked him.
“I saw the soil of the tundra,” said Cyclone. “It is cold; and it is black; and it is mucky.”
“A harem girl like myself would not want to sit upon such a ground as that, O Cyclone,” said Lexy Nix.
“And also the subsoil even is always frozen,” added the he-griffin.
“Nasty!” said Miss Nix.
“Ontario and Manitoba are not like Minnesota and Wisconsin and Upper Michigan,” said Cyclone.
“What else did you see north of my sea, O Cyclone?” asked the griffin keeper.
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“I saw moss up north there, Mistress,” said the pet griffin. “And I saw lichens. And I saw herbs. And I saw dwarf shrubs.”
“Moss? Lichens? Herbs? Little shrubs?” she asked. He nodded. And she replied, “Just give me a good old Wisconsin apple tree, instead.”
“You like your Honey Crisp apples, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“And you like your Granny Smith apples,” said the griffin keeper.
“Mine are nice and sour,” said the he-griffin.
“And mine are nice and sweet,” said Lexy Nix.
“To think that the Creator Who created apple trees also created moss, lichens, herbs, and shrubs,” said Cyclone.
“And everything He made was good,” she concurred.
“Mistress, do sing for me your favorite hymn about the Creator,” requested her best friend.
“You mean the hymn ‘I Sing the Mighty Power of God.’ Don’t you?” asked the griffin keeper.
“Your hymn about the Maker of the Sea of the North, O Mistress,” said Cyclone.
Looking out into the cold waters that bordered her vast yard, Lexy Nix Nix began to sing out loud this hymn:
“1. I sing the mighty pow’r of God
That made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad
And built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained
The sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at His command,
And all the stars obey.
2. I sing the goodness of the Lord
That filled the earth with food;
He formed the creatures with His word
And then pronounced them good.
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed
Where’er I turn my eye:
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If I survey the ground I tread
Or gaze upon the sky!
3. There’s not a plant or flow’r below
But makes Thy glories known;
And clouds arise and tempests blow
By order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee
Is ever in Thy care,
And ev’rywhere that man can be,
Thou, God, art present there.”
“Amen, Mistress! Amen!” praised the good griffin.
“Let’s go into your place right now,” said the griffin keeper. “I’m cold in my Arab girl outfit.”
“Arab women outfits are not meant for late autumns of America’s Midwest, Mistress,” said Cyclone in tease.
“It is always warmer in Arabia than it is here in Wisconsin,” said the griffin keeper.
“Do come into my lighthouse and warm up, O Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
Cyclone’s own lighthouse was on a little island across a channel from her mainland. A sturdy wooden footbridge crossed this little channel, His yard here on his island was full of goldenrod and milkweed and tall green grass four feet high and lots of Sumac trees. And his lighthouse stood as tall as her house. And it was also made of red bricks and mortar. And its beacon Cyclone did turn on every day when dark of night was coming on in this southern shore of the Sea of the North.
“Follow me, if you would, my mistress,” said the pet griffin. And he hopped across the footbridge, and she skipped across this footbridge right after him. And they stood before this lighthouse and looked up at its top.
“I get dizzy and uncomfortable when I look way up from way down,” said Lexy Nix.
“Oh, but you don’t get dizzy and uncomfortable when you look way down from way up,” said Cyclone.
“That’s true,” said Miss Lexy Nix. “In that way I do like heights at that.”
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“You love riding with me in the sky all the time,” said Cyclone. “And I do love giving you rides in the sky all the time.”
“Right now I feel like I could fall backwards on my head,” she said, still looking up at the top of her griffin’s lighthouse from its base.
“Then do not keep looking up there, Mistress,” said the pet griffin.
She brought her head back down to the base of the lighthouse. “There. That’s better,” said Lexy.
Cyclone put his head to the lighthouse door and clamped down with his beak upon a large iron ring attached to the door on its right side. He pulled back with his strong griffin form and opened the door outward toward himself. The large iron hinges along the left side of the lighthouse door creaked as he opened it. And griffin keeper and griffin pet went into the old lighthouse. And Cyclone then grabbed a same iron ring attached to the door on this side with his beak and pulled this heavy wooden door shut with another creaking.
Inside Cyclone’s home now was a fire burning in the fireplace. There were no windows down here at the base of this lighthouse, but all of the mirrors in here intensified little light into much light.
This interior, being a lighthouse, was naturally cylindrical, not wide, and very tall. The whole circular walls within were one big mirror—except for where the fireplace was. And the nice burning fire was reflected on into infinity in the mirrors all about Lexy and Cyclone. “It is so beautiful and cozy in here, O Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper.
“I put in the mirrors myself,” said Cyclone.
“I did like the red brick walls that this lighthouse had when I bought it, but I like the mirrors that you put in when you moved in much better,” said Lexy Nix.
“Do sit down and join your griffin by the fire, O Mistress,” requested Cyclone.
This whole lighthouse floor was covered in a pile of loose straw completely, and this pile was
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two feet thick. Here the he-griffin pet did sleep every night. And by this fireplace he did have a baled
bundle of hay all tied up with wire upon which his mistress could sit and fellowship with him every day in here. Upon this the griffin keeper now sat down, making sure not to let any loose straw from damaging her delicate belly dance girl outfit as she sat.
“You have a beautiful lighthouse, Cyclone. You fixed it up very well,” said Lexy.
“It’s my humble home,” said Cyclone. “Thank you for letting me have it when I became your pet.”
All around the perimeter of this cylindrical little tower inside was a winding wrought iron staircase going all the way up to the top. Liking to climb things, Lexy often times went up these winding stairs and opened a trap door above her head at the top and came out to the parapet outside.
Out there and up there the griffin keeper could see the countryside and its horizons just as well as she could from her third-story balcony of her own house. This parapet had a base of two-by-fours and railroad spikes. And it had a railing of wooden posts that reached Lexy’s shoulders, with thick hemp ropes at the level of Lexy’s midriff connecting post to post. And it encircled Cyclone’s lighthouse just below the big beacon at the very top.
Cyclone sat down in his bed of straw next to where his mistress sat upon her hay bale, and they looked into the fire. A silent contentment came upon griffin and griffin keeper here in this peaceful and godly lighthouse. “Do tell me what you are thinking, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“I was daydreaming again, Cyclone,” she said.
“About guys,” he said, knowing his mistress.
“Yeah,” she said.
“Are you lonely?” he asked.
“Yeah. A little,” she said. “But sharing my thoughts with God about my loneliness always makes me feel better.”
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“The Good Book calls the Holy Spirit of God the ‘Comforter,’” said the wise he-griffin pet.
“He comforts the lonely,” averred the griffin keeper.
“You need a boyfriend, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“A boyfriend-in-Christ,” emphasized Lexy.
“Indeed a boyfriend-in-the-Lord,” said the understanding griffin.
“But I have you, O best friend,” said Lexy.
“But with me you do not have sweet magic of romance, O Mistress,” said Cyclone most foundational truth about her life.
“With a Christian boyfriend I would have such sweet magic of romance,” said Miss Nix in reverie.
“A cute guy who loves the Lord as you do would make you positively giddy, my mistress,” said Cyclone.
“I could even fall in love with him,” said Lexy.
“At the very least you could have a crush on him,” said the pet griffin.
“That would be good, too, O Cyclone,” said Lexy Nix.
“And he could have a crush on you, too,” said her best friend griffin.
“I cannot remember a guy having a crush on me,” said the griffin keeper.
“God can bring it to pass, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“With God nothing is impossible,” said Lexy.
“With God all things are possible,” said her griffin confidant.
“I know what I could do with my special cute guy,” said Lexy.
“Something good and something fun that does God honor, I’d bet, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“Something magical and something romantic, too. I do dare say,” said Miss Nix.
“Something that you can do with a Christian boyfriend that you cannot do with your dear
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griffin. I dare say myself,” said Cyclone. “What is it that you can do best with a boyfriend-in-the-Lord?”
“We can fellowship and flirt both at the same time!” said the dreamy-eyed griffin keeper.
“An unsaved couple cannot do that because they can not share a God they know not,” said learned Cyclone.
“One moment, my saved boyfriend could tell me about how God had blessed him with something that day, and the next moment he could tell me how good I look in my belly dance girl outfit.” said Lexy Nix in great thoughts out loud.
“Or you two could go to church, and you could sit right next to him in the front pew and lean your head against his head during the sermon, maybe,” said her kind griffin pet.
“Or we could finish our Bible study with a hug,” said Lexy.
“Or you could finish your and your boyfriend’s prayer meeting with a kiss,” said Cyclone.
“Or we could go piggyback riding house to house and give out tracts and share the Gospel on door-to-door visitation,” said the griffin keeper.
“Or you two could go horsey-back riding in your big yard and sing hymns together as you do so,” said Cyclone.
“Romance and fellowship—what a brave new life that would be for me, O Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper.
“It sounds like good wholesome fun for a young Christian woman like yourself, Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
“And God can make it happen if He only wills it,” said the faithful woman of Jesus.
“As the Lord can answer your prayers, so, too, can He answer my prayers,” confided the he-griffin.
“You’ve been praying, too, good griffin friend?” asked the understanding griffin keeper.
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“That I have,” said the he-griffin.
“You desire a mate of your own. Don’t you, Cyclone?” asked Miss Lexy Nix.
“Aye,” said Cyclone. “Verily.”
“As we she-Christians desire a he-Christian, then so, too, do you he-griffins desire a she-griffin,” said Lexy, contemplating out loud.
“Uh huh. I do confess, O Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“Why, I never knew that you were lonely for a companion of your kind like that before, Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper.
“I have wondered about a griffin mate to come into my life for some time now, my mistress,” admitted the he-griffin.
“If you found the right mate, Cyclone,…” asked Lexy, “…I pray that you would not leave me,”
“I shall never leave you, dear Mistress,” said Cyclone. “I love you.”
“And I shall never leave you, O best friend, whether I find my new boyfriend or I not find my new boyfriend,” declared Lexy.
“Is that a promise, Mistress?” asked Cyclone.
“That is a promise, Cyclone,” said Lexy. “I love you.”
“You and I and our respective companions, together forever unto the rapture,” sang out Cyclone in great gladness.
“Or till death does us part,” proclaimed the griffin keeper.
“I discovered a verse in Psalms, and I think that it has a lot to do with what you and I pray about so much, Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
“It could be a Scripture verse that I saw before, maybe,” said Lexy Nix. “Which one is it?”
“It is Psalm 84:11, I believe,” he said to her.
“Ah, the verse of good hope,” she said.
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“You know that verse?” asked Cyclone.
“I even went and memorized it lots,” said Lexy Nix.
“Let me hear it from you, O Mistress,” said the griffin pet.
And she recited it to him, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
“Yep! That’s the one. That is the verse that I saw,” said the sagacious griffin. “That last part…does it say what I think it says?”
“That last part,” she said. And she said again by memory this verse’s last part, “…: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
“I read that part. I prayed about that part. I reflected upon that part,” said Cyclone. “I do believe that God is saying to us—you and me—that if a companion is a good thing for us and if we walk uprightly, then He will give us two our companions of the opposite gender.” He then asked, “Does that sound right to you, O Mistress?”
“I do believe that it does, Cyclone. And I do believe that it says indeed much more,” said Lexy.
“Like what, Mistress?” asked the searching griffin.
“It says to me about my own loneliness, that God is not holding out on me in not sending a boyfriend-in-Christ my way,” said Lexy Nix Nix. “It is as I have learned to say in my lonesomeness, ‘The God Who died on the cross has not forgotten me or overlooked me in not giving me a handsome fellow to date.’ God does not make mistakes; I make mistakes. Only the Good Lord knows what’s best for a young lady like myself. Who knows? Maybe a Christian boyfriend might not be a good thing for me. Maybe this hope of romance in my heart might not be a good thing for me. Maybe God wishes me to live only for him without any boyfriend in my life. Wife or girlfriend or lonely woman—whatever God wishes for me, I will be.”
“It is written about God in Psalm 73:25: ‘Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none
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upon earth that I desire beside thee.’” recited Cyclone most apt Words of God.
“God loves us, and we love God,” said the griffin keeper.
“Remember what Pastor always preaches to us in his flock about our prayer-answering God, Mistress,” said wise Cyclone.
“Yeah!” agreed Lexy Nix. “God answers our prayers three ways. He says, ‘Yes.’ Or He says, ‘No.’ Or He says, ‘Wait.’ And waiting is the hard part for us believers.”
“God has not said ‘Yes.’ to me yet for my prayers for a mate,” said Cyclone.
“He has not said, ‘Yes,’ to me for my prayers about a boyfriend, either,” said Lexy.
“But my Lord has not told me, ‘No,’ yet either, for my petitions,” said Cyclone.
“Neither has He told me ‘No’ for myself and my supplications, either,” said the griffin keeper.
“Then God must be telling you and me, ‘Wait,’” summed up the griffin pet.
“We—you and I—must wait upon our all-wise God,” said Miss Nix.
“Our prayer-answering God knows the past and the present and the future with perfect knowledge. We know only here and now. Our Lord is Spirit and Truth. We are flesh and blood. And God is sinless. And we are sinful,” said the learned he-griffin of God.
“It is written, O Cyclone, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ Matthew 11:28-30.” quoted the griffin keeper to her griffin.
“It is also written,” recited Cyclone further Scripture, “’Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.’ Philippians 4:6-7.”
“Amen! Amen!” concurred the griffin keeper.
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CHAPTER III
From a thousand feet in the air, Lexy pointed down to the ground below and said, “There, Cyclone, my wonderful marvelous sunflowers.”
“They’re blowing in the wind,” said Cyclone.
“A whole field of them,” she said in satisfaction. “I planted them.”
“And God made them grow,” said the he-griffin.
“And God made them to bear.” said Lexy.
“I love eating sunflower seeds,” said Cyclone.
“And I love to eat sunflower nuts,” said Miss Nix.
“And you like Grape-Nuts, Mistress, and I like Grape-Nuts Flakes,” said the griffin pet.
“Did you enjoy your cereal like I enjoyed mine today, O Cyclone?” asked the griffin keeper.
“Great breakfast, O Mistress,” said Cyclone.
The griffin keeper leaned forward and put her arms around Cyclone’s neck, and she said, “Thank you for this ride today. You know how happy I am when you give me a ride above my land like this.”
“Your humble griffin is ever at your service, O kind mistress,” replied the contented griffin.
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“And your grateful mistress is duly honored, O Cyclone,” said Lexy Nix Nix.
“Hold on tight, Mistress. I shall go a little higher now,” said Cyclone.
“Yes! Let’s go higher!” agreed Lexy. And she held on tighter to her best friend. And they ascended. “How much up are we now, do you think?” she asked.
“I would say that now we are 1500 feet above ground,” he did tell her.
“Weeeee!” she said in exhilaration.
“Look down there among the apple trees,” said Cyclone. “I see a family of deer in your orchard.”
She looked and saw a buck and a doe and three fawns. “Neat! Really neat!” she said.
“What a rack that that big buck has,” said the griffin.
“Lots of points,” she said.
“Fifteen,” said the griffin with the eagle eyes.
“You can tell that from up here?” she asked.
“Yep!” he said, proud of his visual acuity.
“You brag,” she said.
“Yep,” he said.
“Can’t you say anything other than ‘Yep?’” she asked.
“Yep,” he said.
“Oh, Cyclone. You’re too much,” teased the griffin keeper.
“Yep,” he said, and mistress and pet laughed out loud together.
“Could we go a little higher now?” she asked.
“How does two thousand feet above the ground sound to you, my mistress?” asked Cyclone.
And in an assent, she said, “Weeeee!” And Cyclone lifted up into the skies another five hundred feet.
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From up here, Lexy and her pet griffin could see a flock of Canadian Geese heading south for the coming winter. By the laws of nature made by God, this flock of geese was flying in a V-shape in the skies. “How many do you see, Cyclone?” asked the griffin keeper.
“I see nineteen of them,” said Cyclone. “Nine geese in the left line and ten geese in the right line.”
“Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper opening up a query, “you know your Bible and the ways of God.”
“I do, Mistress,” he said. “I read the Holy Bible every day.”
“I’ve got a question for you,” she said.
“Ah, my mistress has a Scripture in mind from which I can teach her,” said Cyclone, eager to show off his wisdom.
“About the ‘V-formations’ of flying Canadian geese, Cyclone, why is one line always longer than the other line?” she asked her question.
In seriousness the erudite griffin thought for a while, and in the end he did say, “Mistress, I can only say, as the Bible says, ‘The secret things belong unto the Lord our God.’ God’s written Word does not tell us everything. We will have to wait until we get to Heaven and ask Him, and There He will tell us.”
“Well I know why one line is always longer than the other line,” said the griffin keeper.
“Why?” asked Cyclone.
“Because there are more geese in that line than there are in that other line,” she said with wiles.
“Ouch, Mistress,” said Cyclone. “You are quite the riddler!”
“That I am. That I so am!” she teased her he-griffin. And the woman giggled, and the griffin tittered.
“Does 2500 feet sound fun for you, Mistress?” asked Cyclone, proffering an additional ascent.
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“Yes! Yes!” said the delighted griffin keeper. And he brought her up another five hundred feet.
“Weeeee!” she sang out in gladness.
“We are nearly half of a mile above the earth now,” said Cyclone.
“I’m holding on tight, good friend,” said Lexy.
“Do you see what I see in the top of that box elder tree, Mistress?” asked the he-griffin.
“I see a woods,” she said.
“It is the tree in the middle of the woods, the one that is the highest,” said Cyclone.
“I see the tallest box elder tree,” she said. “What are you looking at?”
“A big eagle’s nest,” he told her. “And I see an American Bald Eagle lighting now upon that nest.”
“Oh, I wish that I could see that,” she said. “At least you get to see that.”
“What a noble and honorable bird is the American Bald Eagle,” praised the griffin the Maker.
“The symbol of our United States, O Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper, giving honor to America. “What’s he doing now?”
“He’s got a little rodent in his mouth, and he is eating it now as I look,” said Cyclone.
“Unlucky little animal; lucky bald eagle,” said Miss Lexy Nix.
“Speaking of box elder trees, I read a few times in my Bible studies of something called ‘box trees,’” said the griffin. “Do you suppose that these box trees in the Bible are another name for ‘box elder trees’ of our part of the world, Mistress?”
“No, Cyclone,” said Lexy Nix Nix. “Box trees in the King James Bible are a type of evergreen tree, instead.”
“Those trees are good, too, then,” said Cyclone.
“What’s the bald eagle doing now down there?” asked the griffin keeper.
“He’s taking his last swallow, and now he is flying away from his nest,” said the griffin pet.
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“Majestic. Truly majestic,” praised Lexy the glorious bald eagle whom she could not see so far away.
“Shall we climb to three thousand feet, Mistress?” asked the he-griffin.
“Let us go to three thousand feet above God’s Earth,” agreed Lexy. And they ascended another five hundred feet. “Weeeee!” sang out the griffin keeper in this diversion better than any roller coaster. And she duly held on to Cyclone real tight.
“Mistress, we are now the height of ten football fields high in the skies,” Cyclone edified Lexy.
“Noah’s ark was four hundred fifty feet long and seventy-five feet wide and forty-five feet high,” the griffin keeper made computations in her head. “Where we both are right now, we are 6 2/3 as high as Noah’s ark was long.”
“Also, if I may so say,” said Cyclone, “we are now as high as forty of the widths of Noah’s ark.
And, also, we are now as high as sixty-six heights of Noah’s ark.”
“Whoa, Cyclone, this girl riding you now does like height and flying, but let’s not go any higher in the skies this time,” said Lexy.
“We shall go no higher, Mistress,” said the pet griffin.
“But could you take me out to our sea again?” she asked. “I want to see the Sea of the North again, if I could.”
“To the sea we shall go,” said Cyclone. And he turned to go northward here one thousand yards above the land. And after a while, they came out upon the Sea of the North. Now they were one thousand yards above the water.
“Water down there as far as the eyes can see, Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper.
“Cold water down there as far as the eyes can see,” added Cyclone.
“I can see pelicans,” she said.
“And I can see seagulls,” he said.
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“I can not see any other griffins, Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper.
“Us good guys, Mistress,” bragged Cyclone upon his kind. “Do you see any black unicorns?”
“Demons!” she said.
“Those bad guys,” said Cyclone.
“I do not see any of them,” said the griffin keeper.
“I don’t see any black unicorns, either, Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
“That’s good,” said Miss Nix. “Over a half a mile above my Sea of the North, a girl would be liable to fall down into the water like this were that one to come along and give us trouble again.”
“That one,” said Cyclone, looking around up here in fear for his mistress on his back were that one to attack them here and now.
“The Black Mare Unicorn,” said Lexy the thoughts of the both of them.
“Evening,” said Cyclone the name of the Black Mare Unicorn. And the griffin keeper also looked about herself way up here in hopes of not seeing this evil black unicorn anywhere near here.
“Cyclone, would you take me back safe and sound in my yard?” asked Miss Nix.
“You are fearful, Mistress,” said her comrade.
“Every time she comes after us, it is always a surprise. A few times, we were both lucky to still be alive when she left,” said Lexy.
“She fights like a demon,” said Cyclone.
“She is a she-demon,” said the Griffin Keeper.
And without another word, Cyclone turned back around and began to fly back to her land and her house and his lighthouse. It was wise not to stay here above the Sea of the North were the winged black unicorn demon to come after the griffin keeper before they got back to land.
“You have your bow and arrows, and I have my beak and claws and paws,” said Lexy’s ally in battle.
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“We have had to use them before, and until we slay the Black Mare Unicorn in battle, we will
have to use them again,” said the lady archer.
“I must make Godspeed, Mistress,” said her griffin. “I sense an evil force.”
“Why, we must be going one hundred miles per hour,” said the griffin keeper.
“I do not want to drop you down into the Sea of the North,” exclaimed Cyclone.
“She’s here. Isn’t she, Cyclone?” asked Lexy. “Tell me the truth.”
“All I can say is. ‘Hold on tight like you never did before and pray like you never prayed before,’” said the flying griffin.
“Is she right behind us?” asked the frightened griffin keeper.
“Do not turn back and look, lest you lose your hold on your caring griffin and fall down into the water, Mistress,” commanded her comrade in battle.
“I see land up ahead, Cyclone!” said Lexy Nix. And Lexy Nix prayed.
Then griffin keeper and griffin pet heard a most unjolly and demonic, “Ho! Ho! Ho!” spoken up here right behind them.
Yes. It was Evening, the Black Mare Unicorn, come for another battle against righteousness.
The Devil and his demons always laughed with malevolence. And this Black Mare Unicorn was dark as evening inside.
“My land! We’re there! We’re home!” called out the griffin keeper, looking down and seeing the sea behind them and the ground before them.
“Yet still half a mile above the earth, my mistress,” stated Cyclone. “You may not fall to your death into the sea anymore, but you can still fall to the death upon the ground now,”
“Remember the God who made your mistress a lady archer,” said Lexy Nix Nix, finding courage in the Lord back home now again.
The griffin soldier now stopped going forward and began to spiral downward to light upon their
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big countryside yard. At this same time, the Black Mare Unicorn also spiraled downward to light upon the land, her unicorn horn batting at Cyclone’s lion’s tail in scorn and in pride. Upon seeing this disrespect against her fellow soldier, Lexy, still riding her griffin’s back on their way down, fired an arrow at this demon unicorn, and she struck her in her own unicorn tail. Her pride wounded, Evening let out a most mortal horse neigh, became embarrassed at her crying out, and stopped her disrespect.
And all three soldiers lighted upon the ground. The Black Mare Unicorn had to recompose her self from her whinny, and she spoke and said, “I am one, and you are two. And yet I still outnumber you.”
The griffin keeper dismounted her griffin and said to her griffin, “Cyclone, flank the enemy left, and I shall flank the enemy right. The two soldiers-for-Christ did so, and Evening had a griffin facing her on the one side and a lady archer facing her on the other side.
“What? Ho!” called forth Evening, perplexed at first.
And Lexy said, “Black Mare Unicorn, you now have to fight a battle with two fronts. Who outnumbers whom now?”
Ever cool in wars, Evening went on to say, “A country cannot win a war when it has two fronts in which to fight. In World War II, Nazi Germany had the Allies of the United States and Western Europe to fight in one front and the Allies of Russia and Eastern Europe to fight in another front. Germany could not win. And the Axis of Hitler’s Germany had to eventually surrender.”
Cyclone spoke and said to Lexy, “Do not listen to the she-demon, Mistress. She is buying time and plotting strategy.”
Heeding her griffin’s words for promptness, the lady archer drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it and aimed it at Evening’s equine chest. And she drew back on her bowstring. And Cyclone awaited his mistress’s next battle command for him.
Then Evening said, “Lady archer, if you shoot an arrow into me, you shoot a horse whom God has created.”
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Rallying for a rebuttal, Lexy Nix said to the Black Mare Unicorn, “I never shoot arrows at God’s horses.”
“God created horses on the sixth day of creation,” said Evening. “That’s the same day that God first created men and women.”
Lexy eased up on her bowstring and let it slide back to its original tension. “Mistress,” rebuked Cyclone his keeper, “do not listen to her.”
“There is a famous children’s horse novel character called ‘Black Beauty.’” said the evil black unicorn. “If you shoot down a black she-unicorn like myself, it is the same as shooting down a black horse like Black Beauty.”
“I read that book when I was a little girl,” said Lexy. And she let her nocked arrow point down to the ground at her feet. “I refuse to shoot an arrow at a horse.”
“My keeper,” called forth the griffin in chastisement, “this is Evening with whom you talk.”
The Black Mare Unicorn continued her battle tactics as she carried them out impromptu, saying now, “Fine lady, would you like to hear some music?”
“You can make music,” said Lexy. “You have a horn.”
“I have a unicorn horn, and I can make music with it,” said Evening.
The lady archer let fall her arrow from her bow down to the ground before her feet.
“Mistress, do not let the Black Mare Unicorn toot on her horn. Only bad things happen when Evening toots on her horn,” called out Cyclone. “Do not forget.”
Lexy remembered now how Evening always cast her spells of black magic when she tooted her horn. And she said, “No. Not this time, Black Mare Unicorn.”
But it was too late. Evening tooted a note on her unicorn horn. And a thunderbolt blew up in the skies nearby. And the griffin keeper fell into a trance. Lexy stood there, still and unaware and without resistance.
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The good griffin was not the victim of this black magic. Cyclone, his lady archer comrade now temporarily taken out of the battle from this thunderbolt, no longer had his mistress giving him out battle commands. Now it was up to him to decide how to take on this fell unicorn demon. And he had to act very quickly. Evening was not afraid to kill. She had been sent by Satan. And Satan was a murderer from the beginning.
And the formidable griffin warrior lifted up into the sky and charged the gloating Black Mare Unicorn in the air. Before he could get to Evening, Evening lifted up her right front hoof, and did kick it right into Lexy’s head where she was standing in a daze. Cyclone heard the mortifying thud of the hoof into his mistress’s forehead. He saw his dear mistress’s head snap back sickeningly hard. And he saw with shock his mistress slump down to the ground in a great collapse. And she lay there, maybe dead, maybe almost dead, but definitely sorely wounded in battle.
But the he-griffin had his work to do for Jesus. And he did not let this dread circumstance abate the force of his own attack on the Black Mare Unicorn standing there and laughing. And Cyclone crashed his great griffin form hard into Evening’s great unicorn form. And the Black Mare Unicorn
fell down hard upon her side with a sore exhalation of air. And Cyclone began to peck upon her where she lay with his griffin beak, cutting her up all over her ribs. With the strength of the Devil, Evening rolled back over upon her belly, and she mightily stood back up with Cyclone standing upon her, and she took to flight, the he-griffin falling down off of her as she ascended above the ground. Cyclone pursued Evening in the air in her fleeing. But Evening’s demon unicorn wings were stronger than Cyclone’s mortal griffin’s wings. And the Black Mare Unicorn got away once again.
With a desperate word of prayer, the he-griffin warrior quickly flew back to be at his mistress’s side, to see if she were going to be okay. And when he got there, she was sitting up, her head bleeding down her face, and her consciousness broken free from her spell.
“My head! My head!” cried out Lexy Nix Nix. But she refused to cry.
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“Woe, O Lexy!” called forth Cyclone.
“Am I going to die?” she cried out.
“You yet live, my friend. I will that you continue to live,” supplicated the griffin.
“I will to live, Cyclone,” said Lexy, faint and wounded.
“Let me get you to a healing creek, best friend,” said the griffin.
“I feel like I am going to pass out,” she said faintly.
“Hold on, my comrade. I shall hold you in my eagle claws and lion paws and carry you to such a creek,” said Cyclone.
“If I faint, shall I ever come back to you, dear Cyclone?” asked the griffin keeper, her face sickly pale.
“Hold on. I beg of you,” cried out Cyclone.
“For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain,” she said quietly Philippians 1:21.
“You’re not going to die that easily, my stubborn mistress,” said Cyclone with authority.
And he gently and firmly grabbed a hold of his lady archer soldier for Christ, lifted up into the air not high, and with Godspeed carried her to a nearby healing creek. She neither died nor lost consciousness in this flight. And when they got to the healing creek, he set her down into the shallow edges of this special creek. Her senses re-orientated now, she leaned down where she sat in the healing waters and put her whole head into the waters once, twice, thrice, four times, five times. And when she brought her head back up out of the flowing creek the fifth time, her bleeding completely stopped from her forehead wound, and her face was cleaned up, and her awareness was completely full once again.
“I am all right, Cyclone!” she sang out. “I don’t hurt anymore in my head.”
She stood up and climbed up out of the healing creek and stood back up on the grassy bank.
She looked down upon herself and saw her precious belly dance girl outfit all dripping wet and clinging ungainly about her.
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“I’m sorry for getting your harem girl outfit all wet as I did, Mistress,” said her griffin.
Yet the griffin keeper went and said, “No, Cyclone. I thank you. This creek not only made me well, but it also washed all that nasty blood from off this outfit.”
“Your Arab girl outfit will be all right once it dries, and you are all right right now, Mistress,” said Cyclone. “For the former I am happy; for the latter, I am overjoyed.”
“Heaven for me will have to wait for another day, dear friend,” said the griffin keeper.
“God wants you here on Earth for yet a while longer, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“You and I have unfinished business to do with that Black Mare Unicorn, Cyclone,” said Lexy Nix.
“I live to see Evening fall in battle, Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
“So does your keeper, O Cyclone. So does your keeper,” said Lexy Nix Nix.
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CHAPTER IV
Mistress and pet were fellowshipping again together on her sandy shore of the Sea of the North. Right behind them was Cyclone’s lighthouse. Right behind Cyclone’s lighthouse was that wooden footbridge. Right behind that wooden footbridge was Lexy’s house. And right behind Lexy’s house was her front yard and the rest of Wisconsin. “So much frozen tundra on the other side of this Sea of the North,” said Lexy, gazing out upon the water. “You said that you saw it. I don’ t know if I want to see it. I do not like the cold—especially the cold of Canada, Cyclone.”
“That’s why there are so few people in Canada compared to how many people there are in our United States,” said Cyclone. “All over up there on the other side is much cold.”
“I know that America’s population right now is 334 million.” said the griffin keeper.
“And I know that Canada’s population right now is about 40 million,” said the griffin.
“And both countries are almost the same size, too,” said Lexy Nix.
“The border between Canada and America is the world’s longest friendly border, Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
“Our neighbors to the north are our friends, and we are friends to our neighbor to the north,”
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said the griffin keeper.
“I do believe that much of Canada’s population is in its southern part,” said Cyclone.
“I read that ninety percent of Canada’s population is within one hundred fifty miles of our border,” said Miss Nix.
“I read, Mistress, that Canada is the second largest country in the world regarding total area and all,” said the griffin pet.
“Are we third?” asked the griffin keeper.
“America is the third largest nation in square miles,” said Cyclone.
“Who’s fourth?” asked Lexy Nix.
“China,” said the learned griffin pet.
“Fifth?” asked the griffin keeper.
“Brazil,” said the he-griffin.
“And sixth?” asked Lexy Nix.
“Australia,” said Cyclone.
“After those six, the rest get much smaller real fast,” said Lexy.
Both mistress and pet well knew Russia to be the first largest sized country in the world.
Then the he-griffin said, “I wonder when God made this Sea of the North, my mistress.” And he added, “Sometime in the week of creation six thousand years ago. That much I know.”
“It was on the third day of creation, I believe,” said Lexy Nix.
“Genesis chapter one,” said the pet griffin, searching the scriptures now here upon the sandy shores. And then he read out loud to them both, “’And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas; and God saw that it was good.’ Genesis 1:9-10.”
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“’And the evening and the morning were the third day.’ Genesis 1:13,” added the griffin keeper.
“We have been here on this Earth for a few decades, and this Sea of the North has been on this Earth for six millennia, Mistress!” exclaimed the he-griffin.
“I pray that there shall be no end to this Sea of the North,” said the griffin keeper. “May it continue ever after we come home to be with Jesus,”
“It is a most glorious and divine sea, my mistress,” said Cyclone.
“I cannot imagine this world without it,” said Lexy Nix.
“I can only fantasize of this world after it,” said Cyclone, wise in the Scriptures.
“An Earth after my Sea of the North?” asked the griffin keeper.
“The beginning of the new Heaven and the new Earth,” said Cyclone.
“Do tell me what you say so, O Cyclone,” said Lexy Nix.
“Revelation 21:1, Mistress,” preached the Bible student griffin.
She quickly looked it up and read this verse, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”
“And there was no more sea,” stated Cyclone.
“No more Sea of the North,” she said, unsure and curious.
“Time as we know it will come to an end at that time,” said the he-griffin. “And eternity as we do not know it yet will begin.”
Having faith in a God of beauty, the griffin keeper asked, “What would God put in this new Earth to replace the Sea of the North?”
“Knowing God as we do in His divine works, I would think that He would come up with something even more wonderful than our sea to put here,” said Cyclone.
“I believe that,” said Lexy. “God would do that.”
“And this new Earth would be a happier place than the old Earth,” said Cyclone.
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“Would the new Heaven be better than the old Heaven?” asked Lexy.
“It is hard to imagine a Heaven better than the one God rules in now,” said Cyclone.
“God could do something like that, though I do not understand such things,” said the griffin keeper.
“Eschatology—wonderful for us who are of God; terrible for them who are not of God,” said
Cyclone.
“And it all begins in the rapture of the church—eschatology, that is,” said Lexy Nix Nix.
“The book of Revelation tells all about such end times prophecies,” said the he-griffin pet.
“I know a few other Bible verses that tell a little about this new Heaven and this new Earth, Cyclone,” said Lexy.
“I only know the one,” said the pet griffin. “Could you recite some of them to me?”
“I know of three others in the Holy Bible,” said the griffin keeper.
“Do say them to me, Mistress,” said Cyclone. “These kinds of things I love to hear about.”
“Well, there is Isaiah 65:17 for starters,” said Lexy Nix.
“I’m ready to hear it,” said her expectant pet.
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” she recited this prophetic verse.
“What does that mean–’the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind?’” asked Cyclone.
“Pastor said that it means that when we are in Heaven, we will not remember our loved ones who died in their sins and went to Hell,” said Lexy.
“That is good of God to make one in Heaven to forget. How can a saint in Heaven be happy There if he or she knows that a family member is suffering in Hell right then?”
“And there is also Isaiah 66:22,” said the griffin keeper.
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“Do tell me that one, too,” said the griffin, eager for more preaching.
“For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the
Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain,” recited Miss Nix.
“What is God saying there, do you think?” asked the good he-griffin.
“It sounds to me that God’s chosen nation Israel will be as forever as are the new heavens and
the new earth,” said Lexy.
“Great promise,” said Cyclone.
And fourth and last of such verses is II Peter 3:13,” said the griffin keeper.
“How does it go?” asked the pet griffin.
“I can still remember,” she said. And she recited this verse to him, “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
“Probably perfect righteousness,” said Cyclone.
“That sounds like the very best promise,” said Lexy Nix.
“Like a promise of promises,” said Cyclone.
“The wind blows hard and cold today by the sea, Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper.
“It feels like a north wind,” said the he-griffin.
“It’s coming from the water,” she said.
“It is indeed a north wind then,” said Cyclone.
“It is messing up my hair,” said Lexy.
“Ah, the disadvantage of being a woman,” said the he-griffin.
“I need a hat,” she said.
“Where is your green lady archer hat, Mistress?” asked Cyclone.
“It’s in the house,” she said. “I think that I will go and get it and put it on and cover my hair,” said Lexy.
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“Silly girl,” said Cyclone. “A lady archer without her Robin Hood cap,”
“I’ve got on everything of my lady archer apparel but the hat,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be here waiting for you, Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
And Lexy ran across the footbridge to the house, donned her little hat on her much hair, and ran back across the footbridge back to the beach. Lo, Cyclone was not here. At first she thought that something was not right. Then she thought that her griffin was hiding in their game. “Cyclone, I know you’re here,” she said. “Come out from where you are.”
But Cyclone did not come out before her. “Cyclone, where are you right now?” she asked. Something must have happened to her dear griffin pet.
And the griffin keeper paused to bow her head and to pray that God find him for her. “God, bring him back to me safe and sound, if You would.” she said Up to Heaven.
God heard her prayer, but Cyclone did not come back for her. Something happened to Cyclone, and Lexy was afraid.
Just then a great equine mass crashed down into the Sea of the North, and water splashed into her face and upon her front from this sea. Why, this that crashed down into the water from the sky was the Black Mare Unicorn!
Behold, her cherished Cyclone now came down and lighted upon the sand beside her. “Oh, Cyclone. I am so happy to see you!” said the griffin keeper.
“I saw her in the sky and I had to go get her, Mistress,” said her battle ally.
“She comes with only evil in her intentions,” said Lexy Nix.
“What should I do now?” asked her griffin for official battle commands.
“Do not go after her in the sea,” said Lexy. “A unicorn fights better in the water than a griffin does.”
“She’s coming up out of the water, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
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“Evening just doesn’t give up,” said the griffin keeper.
And Evening stood up, her unicorn knees buried in the edges of the Sea of the North here by the sandy shore. “Lucky shot, dastardly griffin,” snarled the Black Mare Unicorn. “That one hurt.”
“Anyone who comes after my mistress comes after me,” rebuked Cyclone.
“Come out of the sea and feel some of my arrows, Evening,” said Lexy. “Don’t think that I forgot what you did to my head last time, demon unicorn.” The lady archer at once prepared her arrow on her bow.
“If I come out of the sea, O woman of Jesus, you will regret your wishes.” said the Black Mare Unicorn. Yet Evening proceeded to retreat back deeper into the sea, keeping her eyes on the lady archer as she did so.
“She’s backing up, Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
“She knows that my arrows cannot travel through water so well as they do through the air,” said the lady archer. “She is a most clever battle warrior.”
“Archer woman,” said Evening. “I have my card to play upon you and your comrade as I stay out here in the deep water.”
“Mistress,” said Cyclone. “She does not tell you right now how cold the water is.”
“Are you getting cold, Black Mare Unicorn?” said Lexy in battle words. “Will you have to come out to warm up and suffer my arrow?”
“Woman of God,” said Evening. “Won’t you ask me what my card is to which I have referred?”
There was an upper hand in her tone.
“Come out and fight, Evening,” said Cyclone.
And Lexy said, “No, Black Mare Unicorn. Stay there and freeze.”
And Evening went on to show what her crafty words did mean: She went on to toot a tone on her unicorn horn. And there came forth once again this time the crack of a thunderbolt. And, behold,
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a raucous and foul harpy suddenly appearing in the sky and lighting down upon the sand before woman and he-griffin.
“Curses to you, O woman of God!” called forth this harpy.
The griffin keeper raised her bow and arrow and prepared to shoot down this dirty noisome she-creature.
But the Black Mare Unicorn proceeded to toot a note on her unicorn horn again. And that brought the thunderbolt again. And the thunderbolt wrought its magic again. And this time it was another harpy coming down from above and lighting upon the beach to menace lady and griffin again.
This harpy spoke and said, “I’m going to make you throw up, lady archer of God,” Indeed she smelled so terrible that griffin and mistress felt sick in their belly in her presence.
Lexy Nix now turned her arrow away from the first harpy and aimed it now at this second harpy.
And this gave time for Evening to blow a note on her unicorn horn and wrought her thunderbolt and do another act of magic. And it was the conjuring of a third harpy now, this one also coming down from the sky and lighting upon the beach between the two of God and the unicorn of Satan.
And this harpy was also a hideous hybrid of woman and bird. And she said to Lexy, “Go to the Devil, O Christian bow and arrow woman!”
The griffin keeper found herself taking her aim off of the second harpy and focusing it now upon this third harpy.
And the Black Mare Unicorn, still in the ice cold waters, tooted on her horn and brought the thunderbolt and wrought a fourth harpy coming down and lighting upon the sand and confronting woman and he-griffin.
And this fourth harpy hurled her insults upon the lady, saying to her, “I am going to see you burn down there.” And she looked down toward Hell beneath. This harpy’s woman’s head was
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covered with stringy sticky hair. Her eyes were too big for her woman’s face. And her nose was dripping mucus down toward her gaping mouth. All harpies looked alike.
The griffin keeper then took her aimed arrow away from the third harpy and now aimed it at this fourth harpy.
And, sure enough, with a unicorn horn note and its thunderbolt, the Black Mare Unicorn brought down from the sky yet another harpy to light upon the beach between herself and her Godly foes.
And this harpy said, “Let me grab you so you can smell me.”
Indeed, though all harpies were disgusting in sight and sound and touch, they were all the most disgusting in smell.
And the griffin keeper now turned her aim of her bow and arrow off of the fourth harpy and now put it upon the fifth harpy.
“She’s going to do it again,” groaned Cyclone about the prospect of Evening bringing a sixth harpy to come down and make griffin and mistress even more nauseous.
Lexy then turned her arrow away from the fifth harpy and aimed it at the Black Mare Unicorn hiding in the Sea of the North. Right now there was no more unicorn toot.
Cyclone said, “All that I can see of Evening out there is her unicorn horn.”
“If I can guess where her head is under the water, maybe I can get a lucky shot and shoot her dead in the sea, Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper.
“She must be about to freeze, Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
“Unicorns cannot stand cold so well as griffins can,” said Lexy Nix.
“She seems to have stopped bringing any more of these dread birds,” said Cyclone.
“She seems to have stopped fighting this battle, Cyclone,” said Lexy.
“The Black Mare Unicorn is always thinking, Mistress,” said the he-griffin. “We must look
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out.”
“I am going to get off my shot right now,” said the griffin keeper. “If I miss, I miss. If I hit, I hit.”
And the griffin keeper fired an arrow into the top of the waters of this frigid Sea of the North just below the unicorn’s horn.
But just as the arrow began whizzing through the air, the unicorn horn lowered all the way into the sea, the hidden unicorn head going deeper into the sea thereby, and Evening most adeptly averted this arrow as it tore into the waters and passed through the waters above her head.
“I missed!” called forth the griffin keeper.
“Shoot again!” said Cyclone.
And just then the great mass of the Black Mare Unicorn shot up and out of the deadly cold sea, struggled to gain flight, and found desperate strength in her wings to ascend and escape the sea. But Evening was evil, and evil is dogged in its war against good. Evening hovered above the Sea of the North and would not flee in her confidence of her five harpy soldiers.
The lady archer had her next arrow ready for the demon unicorn to shoot her down in battle where she stayed up there.
And Evening gave her battle commands now to the dirty rotten harpies, awaiting her orders: “Harpies, assault and eat!”
And the large she-bird women formed a single file line and began to march toward mistress and he-griffin. All five were hungry and drooling. And Lexy found herself distracted from the vulnerable Black Mare Unicorn and drawn to the five formidable harpies in their attack. And she panicked and took one step backwards and fired an arrow somewhere at the hovering Evening, and Lexy fell down upon her bottom.
At once the five harpies were upon her.
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But where was her best friend and ally right now?
Underneath the terrible harpies, the griffin keeper heard good Cyclone tell her good news, saying, “You got her!” Her arrow had struck the Black Mare Unicorn somewhere and somehow.
And there was skirmish in the air between griffin and unicorn. And there was skirmish on the ground between woman and harpies. Lexy understood that for the good of this battle that her he-griffin focus on the she-unicorn at this moment even though Lexy was the worse off for this for the moment.
She had to throw up a few times there on her back underneath the terrible stenches of five stinking harpies, but they were not doing much harm to her despite the fact that they outnumbered her five to one. The griffin keeper remembered how her Cyclone had once told her that harpies’ smell was worse than their bite. And she took great relief upon seeing that very statement coming through for her now in this battle against evil. All five harpies were doing a job on her belly with their sickening smell being right there upon her, but the rest of her body and even her precious Arab girl outfit was only superficially worse off in this battle. The griffin keeper was not even cut or bruised yet. And she threw up again, then got to her feet. Looking up, she saw Cyclone with her eagle claws gripping Evening ten feet in the air along the back of her mane. And she saw her arrow stuck fast in the right front fetlock of the Black Mare Unicorn. And she saw the Black Mare Unicorn swinging her unicorn horn left and right at the air in front of her. Evening could not reach Cyclone with her unicorn horn as long as Cyclone was above her and behind her head. And Evening was losing the battle up there.
In panic, the Black Mare Unicorn called forth, “Harpies, attend!”
They looked up blankly at their commander, and they stood still where they stood, and they were dumb. And their attention was taken away from Lexy and focused now on Evening. The unicorn demon in her hasty and confused battle commands had inadvertently caused the harpies to stop their battle against the lady archer. And the lady archer now had the advantage over the dirty bird women.
The Black Mare Unicorn escaped from the clutches of Cyclone and fled as fast as she could
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in the air away from battle.
The five noisome pestilential harpies also did so in like in escaping from Lexy. In victory, the lady archer fired a volley of arrows at them as they fled in flight. And they betrayed squawks and squeals of pain and discomfort. And just like that, the unicorn demon and her harpy demons were all gone for now. God had given the griffin keeper and her griffin victory in Jesus again over the Black Mare Unicorn.
The he-griffin came back down to Lexy Nix’s right-hand side and lighted beside her. “How do you feel, Mistress?” he asked, seeing the effects of the harpies upon her countenance.
“Like I ate bad meat,” she said.
“Do you have to do it again?” he asked.
“I think that I feel better now that they are not near anymore, Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper.
“How about you?”
“I feel sore and fatigued, Mistress,” said the ally in battle. “That Evening is one strong unicorn.”
“Evil black unicorns are bigger and stronger than even Clydesdales,” said the lady archer.
“They are possessed with Lucifer,” said Cyclone.
“He sends them out, and they do what he tells them to do,” said Lexy Nix Nix.
“Or tries to do what he tells them to do,” said the griffin pet.
“God got the best of the Devil once again in today’s battle, Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper.
“And God used us to accomplish His good will,” said Cyclone.
“To God be the glory!” said the lady archer.
“To God be the praise!” said the griffin warrior.
Lexy Nix Nix then carefully ran her hands across her harem girl outfit and examined her covering carefully all throughout.
“Is your belly dance woman outfit okay after the battle, Mistress?” asked her best friend.
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“Alas, O Cyclone. I seem to see some of my sickness that came out has spilled upon some of the fabric. Woe!” lamented Lexy Nix.
“I know what we can do about that, Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
“Maybe a washing machine,” said Lexy.
“I was thinking about a creek,” said Cyclone.
“Would that get the stink out, do you think?” asked Miss Nix.
“Not a regular creek, my mistress,” said the griffin pet. “I was thinking a healing creek.”
“Wonderful, Cyclone!” said Lexy. “But does a healing creek clean charmeuse as it heals battle wounds?”
“God’s healing creeks can work wonders on all sorts of bad things that happen in battle for His soldiers,” said the griffin pet.
“Well, let’s go there and clean up my outfit, good friend,” said the griffin keeper. “Could you take me to the closest one from here?”
“I am ever at your service, O Mistress,” sang forth Cyclone in joy over his best friend’s good cheer.
And griffin and griffin mistress went to a nearby healing creek, and Lexy confidently jumped right into the flowing waters in all of her clothes. And when she came back out, her belly dance woman outfit was clean and fresh and all brand new again to the smell.
“Thank You, God,” prayed Lexy up to Heaven.
“Amen!” praised Cyclone the God Who cares for His children.
“I’m hungry,” said the griffin keeper. “Let’s eat!”
“I, also, Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
And they came back home to eat French Toast. Lexy had hers with butter and Vermont maple syrup, and Cyclone had his with butter and strawberry preserves.
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CHAPTER V
Miss Lexy Nix was alone in her living room at her Bible-study table, memorizing exciting Bible verses for today’s Bible reading. She had two index card notebooks of fifty cards each, bound along the tops with a spiraling wire. One index card notebook was all white, each index card with a ruled front and an unruled back. The other index card notebook was colored with five different colors, one color for ten cards each—pink, orange, yellow, green, blue—also each card with a ruled front and an unruled back. These measured three inches by five inches. It was with these two index card notebooks where she memorized her favorite verses of Scripture over the years. Her format for writing these index card entries involved the tops and the bottoms of each open pair of leaves. The top of the two leaves was the back of the previous index card. The bottom of the two leaves was the front of the next index card. On the top open leaf this Bible student did write down five items of information about this Bible verse she was memorizing. First was the entry number itself in Roman numerals, that is the cardinal number of that Bible verse in its chronological time of its entry into the notebook by pencil. Entry I was the first verse that she had written into this notebook. Entry II was the second verse that
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she had put into this notebook. Entry III was her third written verse into this notebook. And so on. Second was a personal comment that she wrote in that told of what this Bible verse had spoken to her about. This was like a made up subtitle that explained this verse to her in her own words. Third was the date on which she had entered this verse into its page in this notebook. This included the month and day and year. Fourth was the word “verse” with a colon after it to write down tallies after each time she had sat down to memorize this verse. Fifth was the word “reference,” also with a colon after it, this time to write down tallies after each time she had memorized the reference to this verse. All of this went into the top leaf of the two open leaves she had prepared for each entry. As for the bottom leaves of the entries, upon these she hand wrote the Bible verses themselves. Along the top of these lower leaves was the entry number once again—Entry I, Entry II, Entry III, and so on—with an underline running along the ruled top line right beneath it all the way across. And then she wrote the entirety of this Bible verse by hand in pencil upon the body of this index card. And below the Bible verse, she wrote the Bible verse reference. And the reference involved the book of the Bible and the chapter of the book and the verse of the chapter—all where this verse could be found in the Bible. And her Holy Bible and her index card notebooks that she wrote up from the Holy Bible were all solely the Authorized King James Version Scriptures.
Lexy Nix now began her memorizing for this day with Psalm 119:11. And this was what Psalm 119:11 did say: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” She looked upon her little comment and read, “memorizing verses from the Bible.” Indeed hiding God’s Words in her heart thus was almost as much fun as reading the Bible in itself. She had come to see these index card notebooks as her second-in-command of all of her Bible studies and Bible projects in her horn of plenty of her Bible reading life in its great variety and riches. This entry was what she called “a revisitation.” She now rememorized it. Lexy turned the page of this index card notebook to memorize the next index card notebook entry. This one was both Song of Solomon 2:6 and Song of Solomon 8:3.
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The former read, “His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.” And the latter read a parallel, “His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me.” For her comment, she had written down, “Making out with a boyfriend. Never done before. Sounds like fun.” And with delights Lexy Nix Nix went on to memorize these two magic of romance verses and their references for her first time.
She then prayed and asked God, “Is there such a man like that out there for me?”
And, behold, in came Cyclone, saying to her, “Pastor does say, Mistress, that God has someone for everyone.”
“Cyclone, I didn’t see you there,” said Lexy.
“I wasn’t here until just now,” said the he-griffin pet.
“I was just praying,” she told him.
“About God maybe bringing a handsome Christian boyfriend into your life, I can see,” said Cyclone.
“Yeah,” she said. “That again.”
“Keep praying, Mistress,” said Cyclone. “Do not give up good hope.”
“I’m importunate,” she said, keeping the faith.
“You’re stubborn,” said Cyclone.
“We gals like guys a lot,” said Miss Lexy Nix.
“And we guy griffins like gal griffins, too, O my mistress,” confided Cyclone.
“You do, Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper. “You do!”
“You and your best friend do think and pray alike Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
“I forgot about that with you, O Cyclone,”said the griffin keeper. “You like griffins of the opposite gender,” confessed the griffin keeper. “We do think and pray alike.”
“Oh, but we do. And I do,” said Cyclone.
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“You are looking for a mate for companionship, and I am looking for a boyfriend-in-the-Lord
for companionship,” summed up the griffin keeper.
“As it says in the Christmas chapters, Mistress, ‘For with God nothing shall be impossible,’” recited the learned pet griffin.
“Luke 1:37, Cyclone,” said Lexy. “And also as it says in Mark 10:27: ‘…: for with God all things are possible.’”
“Which one of the two of us is going to have his or her prayers answered first?” asked Cyclone.
“Oh you of such great faith,” said Lexy Nix.
“You and your heart for romance,” said the pet griffin.
“Bah, you griffin,” teased the griffin keeper.
“Ha ha ha,” laughed Cyclone.
“Ask me what I was doing just now at my living room table here,” said the griffin keeper.
“Let me form a syllogism,” he said. “You read your Bible at your Bible-reading table every day. You are sitting at your Bible-reading table right now. Therefore you are reading your Bible.”
“Almost,” said the griffin keeper. “And also kind of.”
“Let me form another syllogism, Mistress,” Cyclone went on to say. “You wrote down Bible verses in your index card notebooks. You memorize from these index card notebooks. Therefore you are memorizing God’s Word this time,”
“All of the way,” said Lexy Nix. “And having a lot of fun doing so.”
“Did you remember to write down your tallies?” asked Cyclone.
“No. I did not. Thank you for reminding me, Cyclone,” said Lexy Nix. And she drew a tally for the verse and for the reference to both the first and the second entry of this day. “There,” said the griffin keeper. “Well, three great Bible verses memorized for now. And a thousand pages of verses of Holy Bible to go from here,, picking and choosing which ones become entries,” said Miss Nix.
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“You like that, Mistress,” said the griffin confidant.
“Yeah! I do! I’m so glad that the Bible is a great big book,” said Lexy.
“Pastor says that there are 31,173 verses in the King James Bible,” said Cyclone.
“I remember a dialogue I had with a fellow worker named Todd in the break room one day during lunch,” said Lexy. “There was a mischievous little girl in the break room, the daughter of one of the other workers, and she was spilling water about on purpose from her little paper cup. Todd told me about her, ‘She needs to read a book.’ Then Todd said, ‘A big book.’ Then Todd said, ‘The Bible.’”
“The Good Book can never be too big,” praised the griffin the King James Bible.
“It can never be big enough,” praised Lexy this same King James Bible another way.
“And its every verse is God-breathed and inspired by the Holy Ghost,” said Cyclone.
“We Christians tend to call the K.J.V. Bible ‘God’s love letter to mankind,’” said Miss Nix.
“Do you have a favorite book in the Bible, Mistress?” asked the he-griffin friend.
“I have one now after what I just saw in my index card notebook, Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper. “It is like my new favorite book of the Holy Bible.” And she said, “It is the Song of Solomon now.”
“Chapter one verse one: ‘The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.’” recited the wise Cyclone.
“Solomon wrote this book?” asked Lexy.
“Uh huh, Mistress,” said the pet griffin, nodding his head.
“Who’s the girl?” asked Lexy about the woman who spoke those two Bible verses that she had just worked on in memorization.
“Oh, she’s the Shulamite woman,” said Cyclone.
“Is she and Solomon boyfriend-and-girlfriend in that neat book?” asked Lexy.
“The Shulamite woman and Solomon are bride-and-groom in that book, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
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“They sure talk that way,” said Lexy. “At least the woman does, from what I have seen.”
“Just as the lady talks to Solomon in romance so, too, does Solomon talk to the lady in romance.” said Cyclone.
“Throughout all of the Song of Solomon?” asked the griffin keeper.
“All of all eight chapters indeed,” edified Cyclone his mistress.
“This must be better even than Shakespeare’s many sonnets,” said Miss Nix.
“God is a better writer than is the bard,” said Cyclone.
“How many verses does the Song of Solomon have?” asked Lexy.
“It has one hundred seventeen verses,” said the griffin friend.
“All of them romance verses, I hope,” she said.
“All of them, Mistress,” the he-griffin told her. “Pastor says that this book is an allegory about Christ’s love for the church.”
“Then Solomon must play the role of Jesus, and the Shulamite lady must play the role of the church,” surmised the griffin keeper.
“I would say so,” said Cyclone.
“Christ’s love for the church is agape love,” said Lexy in understanding. “Only the Lord can love with agape love.”
“A perfect love that surpasses romance love and brotherly love and family love and friendship love at that, Mistress,” said the he-griffin fellow shipper.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends,” recited Miss Nix an earlier entry from her index card notebooks. “John 15:11.”
“The Good Lord’s love that is of endless ‘…breadth and length and depth and height’ and ‘…which passeth knowledge.’” said Cyclone, wisdom from Ephesians 3:18-19.
“’We love him, because he first loved us.’ I John 4:19,” recited the griffin keeper another Bible
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verse that she had memorized.
“That used to be your favorite book of the Bible, O Mistress,” said Cyclone. “The epistle of I John.”
“Bible scholars refer to the books of I John and II John and III John as the ‘Johannine epistles,’”
said Lexy. “Pastor told me that.”
“Indeed the books of II John and III John are the shortest two books in the Bible—each almost half of one page long, but packed with great wisdom,” said Cyclone.
“II John has thirteen verses to it. III John has fourteen verses to it,” said the griffin keeper.
“They are one-chapter books without the chapter number, ‘1’ heading them, Mistress,” said the griffin.
“But my good old I John has five chapters to it,” said Miss Nix.
“Mistress, I bet that you do not know what scholars call the books of I Peter and II Peter,” challenged Cyclone. “Pastor told me.”
“The Petrine Epistles,” said Miss Lexy Nix. “Pastor told me, too.”
“And the epistles written by Paul the Apostle?” quizzed the griffin Bible reader.
“The Pauline Epistles at that, Cyclone,” said Miss Nix.
“Pastor told us,” said the he-griffin with a laugh.
“As you know about me, Cyclone, before the epistle of I John was my favorite book, my first favorite book was the gospel of John,” said the griffin keeper.
“Your early years as a born-again Christian,” said Cyclone.
“The gospel of John is a one-of-a-kind book among the four gospels, and the gospels of Matthew and Mark and Luke are in another group among the four books of the gospels,” said wise Lexy Nix.
“The books of Matthew and Mark and Luke are ‘the synoptic gospels,’ and the book of John
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is not a synoptic gospel,” correctly stated the griffin his griffin keeper’s truth.
“The book of John definitely says all about how a person needs to believe in the name of Jesus the Son of God in order to get saved,” said Miss Lexy Nix.
“The Apostle John is said in the Bible to be ‘the Apostle whom Jesus loved,” said the griffin fellow shipper.
The griffin keeper then searched the Scripture for a passage that she knew to be at the end of this book of John. And she found it quickly and said, “Listen to this, Cyclone, and tell me it isn’t most curious and mysterious about John the Beloved:” And she read John 21:20-23 out loud to her listening griffin: “Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following, which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among his brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?”
“I know what that is all about,” said the he-griffin.
“Pastor must have told you,” said Lexy.
“No. The Holy Spirit told me when I read it long ago,” said Cyclone.
“What does it mean?” asked the griffin keeper.
“It means ‘Don’t worry about what someone else does for God. Worry only about what you yourself do for God,’” taught her pet griffin.
“That’s a good lesson,” said the griffin keeper.
“At the time I was a little jealous of how you always thanked God for your food and drink and how I forgot much of the time to thank God for my food and drink,” confessed the griffin pet. “But God told me, ‘Don’t worry about what your mistress does. Instead go and do likewise.’”
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“Giving grace at the table is a very good thing,” said Lexy. “Mom always said, ‘Come, Lord Jesus. Be our guest. May this food to us be blessed.’ And Grandma always said, ‘God is good, and God is great. We thank Thee this day for our food.’”
“You and I thank the Lord for our food and drink in our own words, and not in a formal prose,” said Cyclone.
“Yeah,” said the griffin keeper. “We give grace not in a vain repetition, Cyclone.”
“That’s how born-again believers give grace—in spontaneous words.” said the he-griffin pet.
“Those last few verses in John chapter twenty-one that I read to you from the Bible just now…what you preached about them…the Holy Spirit has spoken to my heart just as He had to your heart when you first saw them long ago, Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper.
“Could you share a confidance to your confidant, Mistress?” asked the he-griffin.
“Yes, O best friend,” she said. “And this is what God tells me in that passage: I myself see how brave you are in our battles against the Black Mare Unicorn and how fearful I am about them. And I feel convicted of my sins of fear when I fight alongside of you against her. And I have a little jealousy of you in my own ministry as a lady archer. I can see now that I am not to fret over how well you fight. I need only to focus on how well I fight. This passage of John now speaks much to my heart. And I now repent of my sins before God, Cyclone.”
“Fear is not a bad thing, Mistress. Cowardice is the bad thing,” exhorted the griffin warrior.
“What a wonderful thing that it is for me that you have unsealed this great mystery to me of that set of Bible verses that I shared with you just now, Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper.
“As God had edified me, so, too, has God allowed me to edify you, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“And now here I am, this day having first memorized some verses from the Song of Solomon and declaring it to be my new favorite book of the Bible,” said Miss Lexy Nix.
“It can be like a virtual dating for you, Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
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“Like flirting with a guy with Bible verses,” said Lexy.
“Coquetry in a Bible book indeed,” said her understanding he-griffin pet.
“Reading romance verses that I would want to tell a boyfriend and to hear a boyfriend tell me,” said the griffin keeper.
“Your words and his words truly God’s Words,” said Cyclone.
“So sweet magic of romance in the Word of God,” said Lexy. “Who could have known such a thing?”
“Go for it, Mistress, and fill up your index card notebooks with a slew of entries from the Song of Solomon and memorize the whole lot,” said the pet griffin.
“What a way to dream about life with a boyfriend-in-Christ,” said Miss Nix.
“Read them; write them; memorize them,” said Cyclone about the verses therein.
“Solomon gives a lonely woman of God a most delectable taste of Christian dating, O Cyclone,” said Lexy.
“You will be the Shulamite woman; your boyfriend-in-the-Lord will be Solomon,” said the griffin Cyclone.
“I will be the bride; my handsome boyfriend will be the groom,” said Lexy Nix Nix.
And the harem girl fell in love with the Song of Solomon for the rest of her Christian life.
In time near to come, Lexy had indeed memorized all of her favorites of this most unusual book in the Bible. She had twenty-eight such verses on twenty-eight loose white index cards. She called this singular collection of index cards, “The gamut.” Each index card was penciled in the ruled front on top “gamut entry I,” “gamut entry II,” “gamut entry III,”.., on up to “gamut entry XXVIII.” And each index card was penciled in the middle of the ruled front two lines up and down the reference to this gamut’s index card verse. And each index card of this gamut had the typewritten verse on the unruled back that corresponded to the reference in the front. Some were partial verses; some were complete
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verses; none had more than one verse. The following paragraph is a summary of Lexy Nix Nix’s romantic gamut in its entirety:
“I] ‘The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.’ (Song of Solomon 1:1).
II] ‘Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than
wine.’ (Song of Solomon 1:2).
III] ‘I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s
chariots.’ (Song of Solomon 1:9).
IV] ‘…, he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.’ (Song of Solomon 1:13b).
V] ‘…I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was
sweet to my taste.’ (Song of Solomon 2:3b).
VI] ‘He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was
love.’ (Song of Solomon 2:4).
VII] ‘His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace
me.’ (Song of Solomon 2:6).
VIII] ‘My beloved spake and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair
one, and come away.’ (Song of Solomon 2:10).
IX] ‘My beloved is mine, and I am his:…’ (Song of Solomon 2:16a).
X] ‘Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came
up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is
barren among them.’ (Song of Solomon 4:2).
XI] ‘Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed
among the lilies.’ (Song of Solomon 4:5).
XII] ‘Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast
ravished my heart with one of thine eyes,…’ (Song of Solomon 4:9a).
XIII] ‘How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! How much better
is thy love than wine!…’ (Song of Solomon 4:10a).
XIV] ‘…, and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.’
(Song of Solomon 4:11b).
XV] ‘…Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.’
(Song of Solomon 4:16b).
XVI] ‘I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved,
that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.’ (Song of Solomon 5:8).
XVII] ‘I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine:…’ (Song of
Solomon 6:3a).
XVIII] ‘Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me:
thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.’ “Song of
Solomon 6:5).
XIX] ‘Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing,
whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among
them.’ (Song of Solomon 6:6).
XX] ‘Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon,
clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?’ (Song of
Solomon 6:10).
XXI] ‘How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter!…’
(Song of Solomon 7:1a).
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XXII] ‘Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.’ (Song
of Solomon 7:3).
XXIII] ‘How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!”
(Song of Solomon 7:6).
XXIV] ‘I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.’ (Song of
Solomon 7:10).
XXV] ‘…, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and
old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.’ (Song of Solomon
7:13b).
XXVI] ‘His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand
should embrace me.’ (Song of Solomon 8:3).
XXVII] ‘We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall
be done for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?’
(Song of Solomon 8:8).
XXVIII] ‘Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a
young hart upon the mountains of spices.’ (Song of Solomon 8:14).”
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CHAPTER VI
Miss Lexy Nix and Cyclone were again at their beach along the southern shores of the Sea of the North. The griffin keeper had a wooden crate full of tennis balls to her side upon the sand. Cyclone was hovering out above the sea twenty-five yards away. To his right was a rowboat in the water with a line and with no one in it. “Let’s have fun, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“Let us begin our game, Best Friend,” said the griffin keeper.
And she took a tennis ball from the wooden crate, showed it off in the air above her head before the he-griffin, and tossed it out to above the waters toward her griffin. With the athleticism of a griffin, Cyclone darted his eagle beak toward it and did snatch the tennis ball out of the air in his beak.
“Bravo!” cheered the griffin keeper.
The griffin then let fall the tennis ball into the empty rowboat, and did look for his mistress’s next throw. Lexy took another tennis ball from her crate, tried to squeeze it in both hands, gave up, and threw it out toward her pet griffin out above the sea. Ever adroit, Cyclone extended both eagle legs and snatched the tennis ball in both eagle claws.
“Encore!” cheered Miss Nix.
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He then dropped this tennis ball down into the rowboat below. And he awaited the third ball.
And the griffin keeper tossed tennis ball number three in their game. Always adept, Cyclone went ahead to catch this tennis ball in his hind lion paws.
“Yea, good Cyclone!” praised Lexy.
The griffin then dropped this ball down into the waiting rowboat and looked at his mistress for the next tennis ball. She threw tennis ball number four for the day toward him once again. And he stretched forth his lion tail and caught the tennis ball in the air, the end of his tail wrapping around it.
“You never cease to amaze me, O Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper.
And now he spoke, “My feat of fetch does not exceed my feat for battle, my mistress.” And he let fall this fourth tennis ball down into the rowboat as well.
“Oh, I know it, Cyclone,” she said. “I’ve seen you fight.”
“Is ‘fetch’ for sure the best word for our games at the sea like this, Mistress?” asked the he-griffin.
“We never came upon a name for this game, Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper.
“’Fetch’ sounds positively canine,” said the griffin.
“We could call this game ‘catch.’” said Lexy.
“That would be so for me—I do the catching. But what about you—you do the throwing,” said Cyclone in speculation.
“Then we could call this game ‘throw,’” said Lexy.
“Indeed that would be so for you, but it would not be so for me,” said Cyclone.
“I know: You could call our game, ‘catch,’ and I could call our game ‘throw,’” thought the mistress out loud.
“’Fetch’ sounds better to me now, Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
“I like dogs,” said Miss Nix.
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“And I like dogs, too, Mistress,” said the griffin pet.
“’Fetch’ this is for now on,” agreed Lexy Nix.
And pet and mistress continued playing their unique version of fetch until the wooden crate was empty and the rowboat was full.
“My arm is tired,” said the griffin keeper.
“Evaluating a score for himself, Cyclone said, “You threw a hundred tennis balls. I caught ninety of them. I dropped ten of them. The ten I dropped all ended up falling into the rowboat anyway.
Do I have to get a ninety for a score with ten of the tennis balls not caught, Mistress?”
“No, Cyclone. I give you a score of a hundred. The way I see it, the ones that were accidentally dropped into the rowboat must count for you at true catches.” And she said again, “I give you a score of one hundred.”
“Amen!” said the he-griffin.
Today’s game of fetch all done now, the he-griffin descended down toward the rowboat, grabbed a hold with his eagle beak the rope of the rowboat, and did tow it toward land. Once he got there, the griffin keeper proceeded to take the tennis balls out of the rowboat and to put them into the wooden crate one by one.
And the griffin keeper went on to say, “I remember how I had seen a guy catch things as well as you do, Cyclone.”
“Was it Jerry Rice or John Taylor?” asked Cyclone.
“No. It was an amazing Chinese acrobat at Great America Theme Park,” said Miss Nix.
“Did one throw to him, and did he catch what was thrown to him?” asked the he-griffin.
“Uh huh,” said Lexy Nix.
“I bet that acrobatics was involved in this game,” said Cyclone.
“Yes,” said Lexy. “He was on a unicycle upon a stage before an auditorium of people. He had
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a toothpick in his mouth. And he caught apples with his toothpick, apples thrown by volunteers in the seats.”
“He’s a better man than I,” said the he-griffin figuratively.
“Those same Chinese acrobats also stacked up wooden chairs four or five chairs high on the stage and did acrobatics upon the tops of these little towers of chairs,” said Lexy.
“Men can do greater things than griffins can when it comes to things like that,” said Cyclone.
Then he asked, “Did the Chinese acrobat on the unicycle catch all of the apples, Mistress?”
“Almost all of them,” said the griffin keeper.
“Which ones did he drop?” asked the he-griffin.
“The ones thrown by women,” said Lexy.
“Which ones did he catch?” asked Cyclone.
“The ones thrown by men,” said Lexy.
“Well, you women throw like girls,” said the griffin pet.
“God made us girls differently from you guys,” said Lexy.
“And our Maker made us male and female to His divine glory and praise,” said the he-griffin to his mistress.
“I thank God that I am a woman,” said the griffin keeper.
“And I thank God that I am a he-griffin,” said Cyclone. Then he said, “By the way, O Mistress, you threw like a guy today.”
“Why, thank you, smart Cyclone,” said Lexy Nix.
Just then a crack of thunder blasted in the sky somewhere nearby they knew not where. The sun was out; the sky was blue; there were no clouds; there was no rain; there had come no lightning. “Cyclone, that thunder is positively queer,” said Lexy looking around and seeing no cause for thunder where there was no lightning.
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“I have my ideas,” said Cyclone, and he began to scout around and seek something that Lexy knew not right now.
“What do you think that it might be?” asked the griffin keeper.
Just then another crack of thunder with no storm broke out in this area. It made no sense to Lexy, but Cyclone seemed to know what this was about.
Then a third crack of thunder with no thunderstorm echoed in the skies about this seashore of the north. And Lexy saw her he-griffin looking at her. And she understood.
These were three thunderbolts.
And right away three more thunderbolts blasted off.
It was the Black Mare Unicorn tooting on her unicorn horn and bringing to pass what she desired to come to pass.
And then six more successive thunderbolts roared across the skies.
Then all about was eerie silence for griffin keeper and griffin. Yet this silence seemed loud.
The Black Mare Unicorn had just conjured twelve works of black magic, but these twelve magic acts were yet hidden. And Evening was just as hidden as were these twelve magic works. Where were they all? What were they? When were they going to come out? And especially, where was Evening, and what was she planning?
Griffin keeper and griffin pet looked upon each other. Lexy whispered, “Make Evening come out.”
Cyclone whispered, “Be the brave lady archer once again, O Mistress.”
And Lexy said in whisper, “I am ready for her and her bag of tricks.”
And the he-griffin called out, “Black Mare Unicorn Evening, come out and show yourself.”
And the familiar jet black unicorn demon stepped out from behind some bushes and presented
herself in all of her dark malevolence.
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“I bid you both a ‘Hello,’” said Evening to the two soldiers of Christ.
“What has come from your twelve toots on your horn and your twelve thunderbolts, Black Mare Unicorn?” asked the griffin keeper in challenge.
“Allow me to introduce them to you, woman of God,” said Evening.
And right then twelve tall and gaunt and bony trolls came out from behind those same bushes, and these twelve ugly trolls formed a protective square around the Black Mare Unicorn with one troll per corner and two trolls per side.
And Evening said, “Griffin mistress, griffin of the mistress, meet my twelve new trolls. Twelve new trolls, meet a woman and a griffin both full of God.”
Upon hearing this allusion to God, the twelve trolls hissed and spat and stuck out their tongues.
The Black Mare Unicorn then said to the twelve trolls, “You know now where the woman and her pet stand. They are against where we stand. Now go and get them. And get them good!”
“Mistress,” called out Cyclone, “I urge you to find a refuge where you can best use your artillery right now!”
She looked around and saw trees and big boulders and his lighthouse. She chose Cyclone’s lighthouse. And in Godspeed the griffin keeper fled to the lighthouse and got there and went in and shut the door and locked it. And at once the trolls were banging upon the door and chanting, “Let us in! Let us in! Let us in!”
Very quickly the griffin keeper climbed to the top of this lighthouse by way of that spiraling wrought iron staircase inside. And she came up out onto the parapet. And she looked over the railing here outside. She saw the twelve trolls throwing themselves against the lighthouse door down below. She saw Evening standing off to the side, giving battle commands to her trolls. And she saw Cyclone standing before Evening in a showdown, both ready for combat one against one.
She then saw the trolls now start to use their biggest troll as a battering ram against her griffin’s
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lighthouse door three stories below. What a sight this was for any lady archer—to see eleven trolls ram a twelfth troll’s head into a solid wood door to break down the door. In fascination the griffin keeper watched. And indeed the hinges and the wood were breaking up! Now was the time for the lady archer to do what God had called her to do—to slay evil beasts and demon beasts with her bow and arrow.
From her safe vantage point up here, she aimed an arrow at the head of the battering ram troll as the battering was going on. She let fly the arrow. Behold, her arrow pierced the fierce troll into his left temple and came out of his right temple. Lo, Lexy’s first troll slain in battle.
Aghast, the trolls screeched bloody murder at the griffin keeper. Then the eleven remaining trolls most dishonorably tossed the troll corpse off to the side and began to stomp upon him and to heap epithets unto him where he lay dead. Then they looked up to Lexy three stories high, seemingly invulnerable with her bow and arrow up there.
Meanwhile, Evening and Cyclone assaulted each other at the same time, crashed against each other, and fell down together. And they rolled over and over in physical combat, first the unicorn on top, then the griffin on top, and so on. And they scratched and bit and slashed and struck. Lexy paused to seek to fire an arrow into the Black Mare Unicorn out there. But she was too afraid to accidentally strike Cyclone with her arrow instead. And she prudently prayed that God give Cyclone the victory in this battle out on the sand.
Then she looked down again to her own battle here at the lighthouse. And she saw another very odd sight in this battle against the trolls. One of the trolls—one that must surely have had the longest arms of the trolls, bent his knees, and leaped upward, and grabbed a hold around her lighthouse with both arms spread out to both of his sides. Though his arms still could not reach any great circumference of this wide lighthouse in its total circumference, nonetheless, his troll arms had a sure hold upon this exterior of her little fort here. And with his arms and not using his legs any, this long-armed troll began to climb up this wall and up toward her where she held her artillery.
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And to her dismay, the ten other trolls below chanted, “Get the girl! Get the girl! Get the girl!”
She saw her bow arm shaking in anxiety. She prayed, and the trembling ceased. Then she aimed her arrow at the climbing troll and fired it at him. Behold, her arrow pierced down the side of his right ear and did sever it from his head. He shrieked and took his right hand off of the lighthouse and put it to the right side of his head. But his left arm still held on securely to the lighthouse. He wanted to keep climbing up to go and get her! She fired another arrow upon this troll. And, lo, she cut off his left ear now from his head. He screeched now and took his left hand off of the lighthouse and put it to the left side of his head. He no longer had his arms holding on. And, of course, he fell. And as he fell, the ten other trolls panicked and ran out of the way in case he were to land upon any of them and crush them in his fall. He landed hard upon the solid ground. He was thereby slain in battle. And the ten remaining trolls gathered around him and stared down upon him in a silence and yet, also, in a judgment. He failed the Black Mare Unicorn. They best not do the same.
Lexy looked out upon the battle by the sea. Now it was taking place in the air. First Evening was pursuing Cyclone in flight, her unicorn horn prodding the back lion parts of the griffin. Then Cyclone was pursuing Evening in the air, his eagle beak pecking at the haunches of the unicorn.
Then Lexy heard the trolls chanting once again three stories below her out here. And what they were chanting was most inane nonsense, yet it frightened her in its impudence. It was the chanting of a poem written for children. And this was what the ten trolls were chanting up at her:
“Who killed poor Cock Robin?
‘I,’ said the sparrow, ‘with my little bow and arrow.’”
In rattled nerves, the griffin keeper yelled down to them, “Stifle!”
Instead they laughed. And they began to chant this poem up at her many times over.
Lexy turned away from her enemies in battle to see how her Cyclone was doing with their
enemy Evening in his battle. It was not going well right now for the he-griffin. Right now Cyclone
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was in the waters of the Sea of the North, his back above the surface of the waters, and his head below the surface of the waters and Evening standing upon him. And the he-griffin struggled against the Black Mare Unicorn to get his eagle head out of the sea for him to get his needed air. It was a fearsome wrestling match in the cold waters. Lexy fell upon desperate intercessory prayer for her friend and comrade.
Then the griffin keeper heard the sound of many big feet thumping the ground with busy quiet treading. She looked and saw the ten surviving trolls dancing and getting ready for a third assault against her. And they began their next battle strategy against the lady archer at the top of the lighthouse. She watched and she gaped. And she saw the ten trolls begin to form a living troll ladder.
Three stories below where she was standing, one troll climbed up the back of another troll and then proceeded to step out upon that troll’s shoulders. A third troll climbed the two trolls and stood upon the second troll’s shoulders. And a fourth troll did likewise and stood upon the third troll’s shoulders. And a fifth troll climbed up to and onto the fourth troll’s shoulders. They were well on their way to the top of this lighthouse where the lady archer was standing. Lexy made ready her arrow. She aimed it at the troll on top of the four other trolls. But then she came upon a better idea. The griffin keeper found a more effective battle tactic to use in this part of the battle. And she aimed her arrow at the bottom troll of the living troll ladder. And she fired her arrow at him. Lo, it went into his belly downward. He grunted, put both hands to his belly, and fell dead face down upon the ground before this lighthouse.
And when he fell, the four other trolls, the ones who had been above him in this troll ladder, also fell.
The highest troll fell down and hit his head against the bottom of this lighthouse and died in battle.
The second highest troll fell down and broke his right hip upon the earth. The third highest troll fell down upon the ground on his bottom and sat there with his breath knocked out of him. And the second highest troll fell down upon his knee and skinned it up.
Acting with wise hurry, the lady archer fired another arrow, and she struck the troll with the
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wounded knee in his other knee just as he stood back up. And he fell down upon his face and lay there with his fight taken out of him. She fired another arrow down there, and she impaled the troll who was still sitting upon the ground right into his back. He died in battle. She fired another arrow and she caught the troll with the wounded hip with her arrow into his heart. And he died in battle. The lady archer then fired another arrow at the troll whose knees were wounded, and she slew him with an arrow into his neck.
Five trolls died in battle just now against the lady archer in their attempt at forming a troll ladder. One troll had died in trying to climb up at her with his arms. And one troll had been shot through whose head was being used to break into the lighthouse. Seven trolls were down. There were five trolls to go.
And they all began to panic and to flee.
One surviving troll said, “I’m more afraid of this lady archer than I am of my dispatcher the Black Mare Unicorn!” And he fled battle for his life.
A second surviving troll said, “This fun is not fun anymore.” And he fled for his life.
A third surviving troll said, “This woman is just too much to handle.” And he also fled this battle.
A fourth surviving troll said, “This lady archer has the Spirit of God.” And he fled from Lexy, too.
And the fifth and last survivor among the little army of trolls said to her up there, “You’ll be sorry when my master the Black Mare Unicorn gets through with you!” And he shook his left fist up at Lexy. And he fled. But when began to run, he tripped over one of the dead trolls. And he fell down. And Lexy fired an arrow down upon him. And she impaled him in his left upper arm. His left arm hanging down at his side, he raised his right arm and shook his right fist up at her, and he began to curse the Christian lady in the name of Beelzebub. She fired another arrow at him, and she impaled
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him in his rib cage near the midriff. And he fell down dead on his back. Now there were no more trolls battling her. Eight trolls had fallen in battle with her bow and arrow. The four surviving trolls had all fled for their lives. And they were gone.
Quickly the lady archer looked out to the shore and the waters where the other part of the battle had been going on. She saw Cyclone chasing Evening right out of the battle. “Thank You, God, for this turnaround,” prayed the griffin keeper, greatly relieved that her best friend had regained the upper hand and was prevalent in battle once again over the Black Mare Unicorn. Both warriors in the skies above the sea out there were weary and wounded. But the demon unicorn had lost again and was now fleeing for her life. And in continual prayer Lexy watched pet and foe fly off into the horizon, until she could see them no more. Then she looked down upon the yard filled with dead trolls. Sure enough. It was now safe for the lady archer to go down there and to look around at what God had wrought with her archery skills. She counted eight troll corpses sprawled upon the ground. She said to herself, “Dead trolls cannot hurt you, Lexy.” And she left the parapet, came into the lighthouse, walked down the spiraling stairs and up to the door. And she opened the door and went outside and strolled along the yard here in the midst of the battle scene. After a while, she spoke and said to herself, “You make a mighty lady archer, O griffin keeper! Just wait till Cyclone comes back and sees what you did with your bow and arrow!”
Then she went on to survey this recent battle scene. There were surely a lot of trolls lying around like this. She had not known that she had slain in battle this many. They looked more numerous now than they had when she had first come back down out of the lighthouse. Just to make sure, the lady archer began to count them all one by one.
But Lexy now counted twelve trolls lying around!
Behold, four of the twelve trolls got up and charged her where she stood! These four were not dead. These four were the survivors. These four were the ones who had fled. These four were sneaky
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and had stealthily come back for more battle. And these four now surrounded the lady archer where she stood.
Before Lexy knew what to do, the four trolls grabbed all of her archery artillery and forced this artillery in all of it pieces out of her grasp and off of her body. And they heaved this whole gamut of her archery out into the channel which flowed under the wooden footbridge, and it all sank to the bottom of the low waters.
Then the trolls marched up to her like toy soldiers. She did not move. She found herself helpless without her bow and arrow in her hands. One pair of trolls massed themselves to her left side and her right side; the other pair of trolls massed themselves to her front side and her back side.
One troll said, “Let’s pull of her head.”
A second troll said, “Let’s pull of her feet.”
A third troll said, “Let’s pull off her legs.”
A fourth troll said, “Let’s pull off her hands.”
A silent moment went by; then all four trolls said at once, “Let’s pull off her arms!”
And Lexy knew that this was what the trolls were going to do to her—they were going to try to pull off her arms from her body. And the troll to her left grabbed a hold of her left wrist in both of his hands together. And the troll to her right grabbed a hold of her right wrist with both of his troll hands together. And the two trolls who held her arms both began to pull outward toward themselves. One troll by himself was stronger than she. Two trolls among themselves were more than a match for her.
They were leaning their troll forms back in their rigorous pulling of her arms. Her arms never hurt so bad before as they did now. And to the four trolls it was like a simple game of tug-o-war. And the griffin keeper’s arms were in torments from the tips of her fingernails to the base of her neck. She pondered pleading for mercy, but she knew that any troll conjured by the Black Mare Unicorn had no mercy. She tried to cry out for so-good Cyclone, but her throat did not utter sound. She prayed to God
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in silent thoughts to save her now. He had already saved her from her sins at her time of conversion long ago; He could save her from death at this time of peril right now as well.
Just then in came blessed Cyclone, having come back from his battle against Evening. Cyclone came like a cyclone. And he swooped in upon the four trolls, and he broke up the trolls from his mistress, and he pillaged and wreaked utter havoc upon the four trolls. And Lexy was rescued. And the four trolls lay dead here, slain in battle by the he-griffin. And Cyclone bowed before her and said, “I hope that I have done you honor, my Mistress.”
“You have done me honor, O wonderful Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper. “You have saved my life!”
“And I have chased away Evening,” said Cyclone.
And Lexy leaned her head against Cyclone’s head and gave him a hug of love despite the pain in her arms and said, “I love you forever, O Cyclone.”
“And I love you forever, O Lexy,” said Cyclone.
“My artillery!” cried out Lexy, letting go of her hug.
“Where is it?” asked Cyclone.
She looked out toward the wooden footbridge, thus guiding his look, and said, “Underneath and down in the water, if it has not flowed away.”
The dutiful griffin scampered up to the channel, dove in, and completely recovered her bow and her quiver and every one of her arrows.
“Amen, I can fight again,” said the griffin keeper.
“Mistress, you and I will not rest until we slay the Black Mare Unicorn in final battle,” declared the he-griffin.
“I know, Cyclone,” she said with a sigh. “I know.”
“Let us go and get better in a healing creek, Mistress.” said Cyclone. And Lexy agreed.
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BOOK III—THE TALE OF FLANDERS
CHAPTER I
Master and she-griffin were outside in the yard, gazing out into the Sea of the North from the northern shores of this sea. They were looking southward from the edges of Canada, and they were fellowshipping in the Lord. The master was a griffin keeper called “Flanders Nickels.” The she-griffin was a beloved pet named “Tornado.”
Flanders said, “Tornado, I wonder what it is like over there on the other side of this Sea of the North.”
“America,” said the she-griffin what they both knew. Then she said, “The land of the free, and the home of the brave.”
“Warmer down there, colder up here,” said the griffin keeper.
“You did well today in your training, O Master,” said Tornado.
“My first bulls-eye ever!” exclaimed Flanders.
“You’re definitely getting better,” said the she-griffin.
“The rest of my shots in today’s training…I missed the target all of those times,” said the griffin keeper.
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“With God as your Saviour, you will get even better, O Master,” said Tornado.
“It is good for me that I am born-again,” said the griffin keeper, “not only for in this life, but surely especially for in the life to come.”
Then the griffin keeper held up in front of himself his weapon with which he was practicing today and all the days.
“The rifle,” said Tornado.
“There is no weapon like unto this in all the world,” said Flanders. “And only you and I know about it.”
“You are a brilliant inventor, Master,” said the she-griffin.
“It is like a doomsday machine,”said Flanders.
“Centuries before its time,” said Tornado.
“Alas, its efficacy in battle is compromised with my lack of skill,” said the inventor.
“I can tell that you are saying that you are not as good as your weapon is in your battles for God, Master,” said the she-griffin.
“My daily training shall make my aim better with my rifle, Tornado,” said the griffin keeper in good faith in God.
“Master,” spoke up Tornado, “even if you never get real good at your rifle aim, you do still have lots and lots of bullets to shoot to make up for your misses.”
“Ha ha ha,” said Flanders. “Maybe much quantity will make up for little quality.”
“Ha ha ha,” said the she-griffin.
“One rifleman, one rifle, lots and lots of artillery belts,” said the griffin keeper.
“Look out, old Black Stallion Unicorn,” called forth Tornado to their foe who was not here against them now.
“That Black Stallion Unicorn keeps getting away from us when he attacks us,” said Flanders.
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“He is called, ‘Night,’ and he is aptly named,” said the she-griffin.
“He is as dark as night both on the outside and on the inside,” said the griffin keeper.
“I smell the nice smell of charcoal smoke, Master,” said Tornado. “Is dinner almost ready?”
“It will be all done not long from now,” said Flanders.
“Moose for us tonight,” said the she-griffin.
“You are a good hunter, Tornado,” said Flanders. “Did you find him far from here?”
“No, Master. Just a few miles away from here,” said Tornado.
“Was the moose hard to bring back?” asked Flanders.
“No, my master,” said the griffin pet. “I carried him in my lion legs as I flew back here with it.”
“I am liking the charcoal smoke just as you are, Tornado,” said Flanders, the two coming up to the grill to smell more.
“One dare not cook out with charcoal inside the house,” said Tornado, somewhat facetiously.
“Yeah. Carbon monoxide would get you,” agreed the griffin keeper.
“The two words ‘get you,’” said the griffin. “’Get:’ It is so short and yet says so much.”
“I would like to get that Black Stallion Unicorn one of these days and slay him in battle,” said Flanders Nickels.
“In God’s time, God will make that happen,” said Tornado.
“And God will use us two to do that,” said Flanders.
“Unless Night ends up getting us instead,” said the she-griffin.
“That wily and nasty Devil has quite a soldier for him in Night,” said the griffin keeper. “It could be that God might will us two to die for His cause in our battles against that Black Stallion Unicorn.”
“If that is what my Lord wants, that is what my Lord will get from me,” said Tornado.
“I, also, Tornado,” said the griffin keeper.
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“Is it done yet, Master?” asked the she-griffin, inquiring about dinner.
“You already asked that,” teased Flanders.
“It wasn’t done the last time that I asked that,” said Tornado.
“Nor was it done the time before last that you asked that, Tornado,” said the griffin keeper.
“I was hoping that this time now I would get the answer that I wanted,” said the she-griffin with her eagle beak open in the spirit of humor.
“Well, I believe now that I can say the answer that you have been waiting for,” said Flanders.
“Ooo. Do tell your hungry griffin pet, O Master,” said Tornado.
“It is done now,” said Flanders, looking into the open grill.
“Amen! Hunting big game makes a big griffin hungry,” said the pet griffin.
And master and pet sat down at the picnic table, had a word of prayer of thanksgiving for the food, and did eat together outside.
It was summer here in these northern shores of the Sea of the North. It was not the frozen tundra that it was in the other three seasons. And there was a temperate warmth to the air here as they had their picnic of meat.
As they ate, Flanders asked, “Tornado, guess what book I am reading these days.”
“The Bible,” said the she-griffin with a tone of subtle humor. The only book that her master read was the Bible.
“You sly griffin,” said Flanders. “I mean guess what book in the Bible I am reading.”
“Give me a clue, Master,” said Tornado. “Is your Bible in the house now?”
“No. Right now it is out there,” said Flanders, pointing to his picnic table.
She turned her head to gaze upon his outdoor Bible-reading picnic table some distance away and saw the open Good Book resting upon it. She exuded rumination in her eagle eyes as she looked upon it from way over here. Then she said, “It does look to me that you are reading Ecclesiastes,
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Master.”
“Whoa! You can see that from here?” asked Flanders in incredulity.
She went on to say, “My eyes cannot see the word ‘Ecclesiastes’ per se upon the printed page, Master. But my eyes can see so much of the stack of page edges along the left of the open pages of your Bible and so much of the stack of page edges along the right of the open pages of your Bible.
Your she-griffin knows the Holy Bible most knowledgeably, and she can deduce with this evidence that her master must have his Bible open to the book of Ecclesiastes.”
“Why, I never knew any Bible reader—man or griffin—who knows the Bible as well as you do, Tornado. You never cease to amaze me!” exclaimed Flanders Nickels. “It is Ecclesiastes that I have been reading.”
“Or maybe I guessed the right book because you are always telling Ecclesiastes verses to me, Master,” told the she-griffin all.
“Ah. The truth comes out. You got me there, clever griffin of mine,” said Flanders.
“Remember, I got an ‘A’ in logic class in college,” said the pet griffin.
“Good old-fashioned griffin ratiocination,” said the griffin keeper.
“I excelled in syllogisms,” she bragged about her “A.”
In shared laughter the two best friends went ahead and finished their dinner together at this picnic table by the sea. Then Flanders bade her join him at the other picnic table by the sea for Bible-reading and fellowship. And she eagerly followed her master there for worship of God.
He then said, “I found five passages in this book that I call my five favorites of Ecclesiastes, Tornado,” said Flanders. “They all say the same thing, but in different words.”
“Do I get to see all of them?” asked the griffin pet.
“Do you have the time?” he asked.
“I love Bible verses as you love Bible verses, Master,” said Tornado. “And I would love to
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find out your very favorite verses of your very favorite book of the Bible.”
“How happy I am to share my new discovery to a best friend like you, O Tornado,” said the griffin keeper.
“I am your humble griffin ever at your service, Master,” said Tornado in sincerity and affection.
“I am indebted to your love, Tornado,” said Flanders.
“Do tell me your brand new verses that you found out about in Ecclesiastes,” said the she-griffin, adoring fellowship with her master.
“This is the first one,” said the griffin keeper. “It is Ecclesiastes 2:24. Just take a look at this nice savor of God’s Word.”
Flanders showed her this Bible verse in his open Bible, and she read it out loud for them both: “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.” She studied this for a while, then asked, “Is God saying that having fun is a good thing?”
“Having the kind of fun that does not involve sin is a good thing,” said Flanders. “I believe that that is what God is saying here.”
“Solomon wrote this book, and he was the wisest man in the world,” said Tornado.
“This speaks to me most personally,” said Flanders. “Do you know what it says to me when I read it?”
“I think that I know, Master,” said the pet griffin.
“You do, Tornado. You know me better than anyone else knows me,” said the griffin keeper.
“You want a girlfriend to come into your life,” said Tornado.
“Yes!” said Flanders in enthusiasm.
“You want a girlfriend-in-the-Lord,” said the she-griffin.
“Amen, good Tornado!” said the griffin keeper.
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“A girlfriend-in-Christ who is living for the Lord,” added Tornado.
“All of that and more, girl,” said the griffin keeper.
“A pretty young woman to have good fun with that is not the wrong kind of fun to have between a born-again girlfriend and a born-again boyfriend,” said the she-griffin.
“You said it all in a nutshell, O Tornado,” said Flanders Nickels.
“And this verse says that to you,” said Tornado. Flanders nodded. “Do the four other verses that you have to show me say similar things in similar words?” she asked.
“Yes. Like the next one in Ecclesiastes,” said Flanders. “Ecclesiastes 3:12-13.” And he showed this set of verses to her. “Oo, do read it and hear what God is saying in His Word, Tornado,” said the griffin keeper.
And the learned she-griffin read it out loud: “I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in this life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.”
“God wants His children to be happy,” said Flanders.
“I can see that God is not saying here, ‘Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you shall die.’” said wise Tornado.
“Nay. You are right, Tornado,” said Flanders. “That kind of ideology belongs only to those who think that they will end up six feet under. The devil likes their kind of thinking. It is false doctrine.”
“Eat and drink and enjoy the good of all your labour. It is God’s gift,” paraphrased Tornado the Bible verse.
“Enjoy this life; it gets even better in the life to come,” preached Flanders this Bible verse.
“You, Master, pray that you can enjoy Christian female companionship,” said the she-griffin.
“Truly the woman that God would have for me would be the right woman for me,” said the
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griffin keeper.
“What’s your third ‘girlfriend verse,‘ Master?” asked the pet griffin.
“That’s Ecclesiastes 3:22, best friend,” said Flanders.
The she-griffin looked into his Bible and read it out loud: “Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion; for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?”
“My good portion from God now is in being God’s alone. My good portion from God later may be in being God’s and a girlfriend’s together,” said Flanders.
“These verses put reverie in your countenance, Master,” said the pet griffin.
“I may find a crush on a girl out there, for sure, Tornado,” said Flanders. “But maybe I may find a girl with whom I can fall in love.”
“Magic of romance, Master,” said Tornado.
“Second only to worship of God, good griffin,” said the griffin keeper.
“What’s the next Bible verse that you have to show me?” asked the griffin pet.
“That one is Ecclesiastes 5:18, good Tornado,” said Flanders.
And she read it out loud, “Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.”
“I still have you, O best friend. I shall always have you, and you shall always have me. And not even a girlfriend will ever divide the two of us,” said Flanders.
“The girlfriend that God could give you would be my friend, and I would be her friend,” promised the she-griffin.
“She will love me, and she will love you, Tornado,” said Flanders, knowing the way of God.
“I will love her as a sister-in-the-Lord, and I will love you as a brother-in-the-Lord,” said
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good and faithful Tornado.
“No better best friend can a griffin keeper like myself have than you, except the good Lord Jesus Christ,” proclaimed the griffin keeper.
“And I, you, except for the Lord, my master,” said the she-griffin in like.
“My confidante, my comrade, my life partner,” said the master to and of his griffin friend.
Then Tornado put her eagle beak honorably upon his open Bible, and she asked, “The fifth ‘girlfriend verse’ of Ecclesiastes, Master. Which one is it, and what does it say?”
“Good griffin girl, it is Ecclesiastes 8:15,” said Flanders, pointing to it with his index finger.
And the she-griffin read this verse out loud also: “Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.”
To this, Flanders said, “Do you ever think upon a he-griffin coming into your own life, Tornado?”
“That I would like, Master,” said Tornado.
“I never knew that about you,” said Flanders.
“I seem to have come to praying about that, Master,” said Tornado. “As I have heard you pray many times for God to send a pretty girl into your life, in our prayer meetings together here by the Sea of the North, I have myself come to wish for griffin companionship like that to come into my life, too, lately.”
“Is it a mate that you pray for?” asked the griffin keeper.
“It is a mate that I pray for, Master,” said the she-griffin.
“Would it be okay with you if your master started to pray for that to come true for you, Tornado?” asked Flanders Nickels.
“As you ask for such prayers for yourself from me, I now ask for such prayers for myself from
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you,” said Tornado.
“I shall pray for your request every day for now on, O best friend of mine,” promised the griffin keeper.
“God answers the prayers of his Christian soldiers,” said Tornado.
“And that is what we both are—Christian soldiers: myself with my rifle and my artillery belts of bullets, and yourself with your beak and talons and paws,” said Flanders Nickels.
“God has allowed the Black Stallion Unicorn to come from the Devil to try to take us both out of God’s world, but you and I will not go down without a fight, Master,” said Tornado.
“I would say that Night is outnumbered,” said the griffin keeper.
“And you do not mean just two-to-one,” said understanding Tornado.
“Indeed I mean with God on our side, we are on the winning side,” said Flanders Nickels.
“Amen, valiant master,” said the griffin ally. “The Black Stallion Unicorn knows where he is going in the life to come, and we know where we are going in the life to come.”
“There is no such greater difference in all of creation than his destiny and our destiny, O Tornado,” said the griffin keeper.
“Except for the difference between his father and our Father, Master,” said the she-griffin pet.
“Most wisely said, O Tornado,” said Flanders.
“Master, you have not told me about fair young Allyson now for a while,” said Tornado.
“A precocious preteen boy’s first girlfriend,” confessed Flanders Nickels.
“Who herself was a preteen girl,” said Tornado.
“We were both twelve years old,” said Flanders, remembering in gladness.
“Tell your griffin all about it again, Master,” said the griffin confidante.
“She was dressed in a blue one-piece swimsuit,” said Flanders. “She was too young to be endowed as a woman. And she was the first girl whom I saw as attractive in my young life,”
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“Hers was the first pretty face to come into your life,” said the griffin pet.
“And the first well-built form of her kind to steal my heart,” said Flanders.
“The maillot had a lot to do with it, I’d bet, Master,” said Tornado.
“I dared to wonder how it felt for her as a girl to have it on over her whole self like she did,” said Flanders Nickels.
“Comfortable,” said Tornado.
“More like stimulating,” said Flanders somewhat licentiously. “Lucky pretty girl. I wanted her.”
“And you came up to her,” said Tornado.
“She was playing in the sprinkler with her little sister in her parents’ front yard. I knew her mom as a cashier at the local grocery store. And I dared to seek my first date in life,” said the griffin keeper.
“You asked Allyson if you could play in the sprinkler with her,” said the griffin sharer of secrets.
“She went back to the house to ask her mom if I could play in the sprinkler with her, and her mom saw me and said that that would be good,” said Flanders.
“And you played in the sprinkler with a one-piece swimsuit girl in blue nylon/spandex,” said Tornado.
“I did not dare to touch this girl—surely not Allyson in her blue maillot,” said Flanders. “My whole self inside and outside was aroused. And I had the time of my life like never before.”
“I think Allyson might have been enjoying this little frolic with you for the same reasons,” said Tornado.
“You think so, Tornado?” asked the griffin keeper.
“One-piece swimsuit girls like boys, you know,” said the she-griffin.
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“I was in my blue jeans and short-sleeved shirt in my frolic in the sprinkler with Allyson,” said Flanders. “Did she still like me, even though I was not wearing a swimsuit?”
“She was excited about your face and your form as you were her face and her form,” said Tornado.
“I did not know whether of the two I most wanted with Allyson here in the sprinkler—her body or her one-piece swimsuit, Tornado,” said Flanders.
“Was her maillot dripping wet?” asked the pet griffin.
“It clung to her, and it shone in its wetness, and it was dripping off of her form down to her feet,” said Flanders.
“You wanted her one-piece swimsuit,” said Tornado. “Her body came second to you.”
“And her pretty face?” asked Flanders.
“That came third for you, Master,” said the she-griffin.
“What a girl she was,” said Flanders.
“I would think by now that your Allyson would be a young woman now and no longer an older girl,” said Tornado.
“As a woman she would look sexier in a blue one-piece swimsuit as she did as a girl in that same blue one-piece swimsuit,” said the griffin keeper.
“Do you think that she still might be very pretty to you, Master?” asked Tornado.
“A maillot girl like Allyson will always be very pretty, O good friend,” said Flanders.
“Just think, O Master, that day with Allyson in the sprinkler came to your life even before I did,” said Tornado.
“I found Allyson even before I found my precious Saviour,” said the griffin keeper.
“Allyson was like the first thing that you found in your life,” said the pet griffin.
“I kind of forgot about her little sister playing in the sprinkler there with us,” said Flanders.
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“Did Allyson also forget about her little sister there in the sprinkler with you having come to join in the spree, Master?” asked Tornado.
“Yeah. Now that I think about it, that she did,” said Flanders.
“Well, Allyson considered this time with you a date just as you did this time with her,” said Tornado.
“Then her mom came out to tell the two girls that dinner was ready,” said the griffin keeper. “And I went and told her, ‘Mrs. Green, when Allyson turns eighteen, I will marry her.’”
“What did her mom say to that, O bold and impetuous Master?” asked the she-griffin.
“She said, ‘Come into the house right now, Allyson, Autumn.’” said Flanders, dolorous upon remembering this sudden end to his first date with his first girl.
“Oops!” said Tornado.
“Even Allyson suddenly no longer liked me, when she saw how mad her mom got when I said what I said,” said the griffin keeper. “Her mom did not say a word to me all of this time.”
“The pretty maillot girl left you,” said Tornado.
“She and her little sister went into the house; I dared not to come back; and I never saw fair Allyson again,” said Flanders.
“I’m sad,” said the griffin confidante.
“I’m okay about it,” said the griffin keeper. “Who knows, maybe if I were dating the girl, I might not have come around to seek Christ and become born again.”
“Never having found the Saviour is way more tragic than having lost a one-piece swimsuit girl,” said Tornado.
“Allyson Green did not die for my sins as Jesus Christ did, good friend,” said Flanders.
“You came out ahead, Master,” said Tornado.
“Indeed, for eternity,” said Flanders Nickels.
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CHAPTER II
The griffin keeper Flanders Nickels lived in a three-story tall round house whose exterior walls were arcs instead of straight lines. Tornado lived in two stables beyond both ends of the round house. Flanders’s basement was most lavish and most comfortably remodeled, abundant with gold-colored carpet and paneling and much incandescent lighting. The steps going down the basement were wood, painted red, with black rubber matting covering much of the width of each step, and with open space between the steps in their backs. Down there he had a recreation room with a pool table, and three little rooms with louvered doors—one for the meters, one for the washing machine, and one for the dryer—and a lounging room with rocking chairs and a sofa and an easy chair, and a closet with all manner of board games and canisters of wooden building piece games for children and a bag of wooden blocks, and a closet with a menagerie of stuffed animals, and a utility room with a furnace and a water heater and a fuse box and a collection of fuses, and a workroom where Flanders worked on his rifle and its artillery belts.
On Flanders Nickels’ first floor of his circular house was his living room and his dining room and his kitchen and his hallways and his two breezeways. His living room was so spacious that it was palatial. It had thick brown shag carpet wall to wall, and large windows of three windows each with
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vertical blinds and with paintings of Pinkie and Blue Boy on the round walls and with Bible verse plaques between these paintings all around. This was the biggest room in his house. The vertical blinds were always wide open day and night. Flanders wanted always to see the light of day and to see the dark of night outside his living room windows whenever he was in his house. In here also was a ceiling fan with two pull chains with ceramic knobs at their ends. One pull chain was for ‘off and on,’ and the other pull chain was for ‘left or right.’ depending on it being the heat of summer or the cold of winter here in southern Canada. In here also he had a table and two chairs where he listened to the reading of the King James Bible by Alexander Scourby on cassette tapes upon his cassette tape player/radio/recorder. At this same table and chair set Flanders Nickels also read out loud for himself the King James Bible on a regular basis. At another table and chair set, this one larger and with four chairs, in this living room, Flanders did read his King James Bible daily in silence with an underlining and note-taking pencil of number two-and-one-half lead. In this living room, on top of a vertical empty orange crate, was Flanders’s land line telephone with a rotary dial. One day Flanders’s little brother called him, and Flanders came up to the phone, and picked it up. As a comical hyperbole to the great size to this living room, Little Brother said, after Flanders answered the phone. “Were you in the living room?” and Flanders said, “I was.” and Little Brother said, “Your living room is big. It took you a while to come and answer the phone,” and Flanders said back in joke, “I thought that I heard something ringing way over here.” As for Flanders’s dining room, a cozy little wooden hallway led from the living room to this dining room. In here was a large dining room table with six chairs around it, the whole set made of dark wood. A pull-down simple chandelier light of five incandescent 75-watt bulbs showered light upon this dining room table. And it was operated by a rheostat switch on the wall. Here did Flanders have his family over for all of their Thanksgivings and Christmases and Easters for feasts to honor the Lord with his family. Here, also, he ate with brothers-and-sisters-in-the-Lord on fellowships with his believers from his Baptist church. And here he would start eating with unbelievers
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and sharing the Gospel of salvation with them; this was a good idea from Pastor. And here all the time he and Tornado ate together if they did not eat together outside. As for Flanders’s kitchen, a hallway led from this dining room to this kitchen. The sink was in front of the window so that Flanders could look out onto this northern countryside as he washed and dried dishes. Here he cooked meat hunted down by his she-griffin, and bakery foods like pumpkin bread and banana bread and cranberry bread, and desserts like cappuccino pie and coffeecake and strawberry shortcake, and store-bought meat such as chicken thighs and mock chicken legs and Salisbury steaks, and potatoes like homemade French fries and hash browns and cheesy potatoes, and vegetables like cabbage and Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, and chocolate like pudding and tortes and hot fudge pudding cake. His favorite book in his kitchen was a hardcover cookbook all about homemade candy. Tornado’s favorite book of her master’s kitchen was the Cutco cookbook, full of recipes about how to cook beef and veal and lamb and pork and ham and variety meat and poultry. He also had in his kitchen the popular Betty Crocker Cookbook, given him from his mom for a Christmas present one year. This kitchen also had a pantry. And it had also a stove/oven and a refrigerator/freezer and cupboards/drawers. But it had not a kitchen table. Instead, in the middle of the kitchen was a real Christmas tree, cut from the forest and unadorned and watered daily and set up in a Christmas tree stand. A broom and a dustpan were in the corner of this kitchen to sweep up fallen loose evergreen needles. And griffin keeper and griffin both adored this wonderful symbol of the season of the birth of Jesus two thousand years ago. Also in this first floor to Flanders’s three-story round house were two breezeways. One breezeway was at one end of the house, and the other breezeway was at the other end of the house. The one had four doors—one opening unto the stairs that led to the basement, one opening into the hallway before the living room, one opening out to the front yard, and one opening out to the backyard. And the other also had four doors—one opening to the stairs that led up to the second floor, one opening to the hallway after the kitchen, one opening to the front yard, and one opening to the backyard.
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In Flanders’s second floor of his circular house was his bedroom and his two bathrooms. His bedroom was his prayer room. And his bed was his prayer site as he lay on his back and rested his head on his pillow. And the dark of night with the lights off and with the shades of the windows up was his prayer time. Every night he prayed for two hours straight, alone with his Heavenly Father. He talked to God in petitions and intercessions and praises and thanksgivings. Whatever was in his heart and soul and mind he did share with the Lord in his prayers. Indeed, so abundantly spiritual were Flanders’s prayers that it could be said that he talked to God as he would his best friend. And that was was Jesus was to him—his friend of friends. Flanders’ words of prayer were sincere, specific, spontaneous, simple, sometimes sassy, but always fervent and effectual. And his prayers always ascended all the way up to Heaven and to the throne of God. Rare were the prayer-warriors in Christendom who could pray like Flanders Nickels prayed. These prayers were full of the Holy Spirit of God from the salutation “Dear Father in Heaven” to the closing, “In Jesus’s name. Amen.” Also in Flanders’s bedroom was a desk with a desk chair and the papers to a new ministry that God had given this prayer-warrior. Flanders Nickels was learning how to become a witness-warrior on church visitation with the pastor and the deacon. His church was a Baptist church, an independent Baptist church, whose men of the flock went out calling door-to-door on Thursday Evening Visitation to spread the saving Gospel to the lost men and women and children out there. Flanders Nickels, just last week, had the joy of leading his first soul to Christ. The man’s name whom Flanders had led to the Lord was “Regal Royal Sixpence.” The paper that Flanders had for his new ministry as soul-winner he did entitle “My Lamb’s Book of Life.” There was a book written by God that was mentioned in the Bible. It was called “The Lamb’s Book of Life.” The Lord Jesus was the Lamb of God. And this “Book of Life” was a book in Heaven that had written in it all the names of all of the born-again Christians of all six thousand years of mankind’s history throughout the Earth. None who was not a born again Christian had his name in this book; he died in his sins and went to Hell. But all of the saints had their
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names in God’s divine book of names; they were either already in Heaven now or else they were going to be in Heaven when their time would come. The Good Lord knew all the past and all the present and all the future. Only Jesus could write this great compendium of born-again believer’s names. And now Regal Royal Sixpence had his name in the Lamb’s great book in Heaven, because of Flanders’s labors for Christ on visitation night last Thursday for this man’s soul. And now Regal Royal Sixpence had his name also in Flanders’s own little book of souls won for Christ, preceded by the words “Soul I.” in Roman numerals and the time and the date and the place of that man’s conversion, all in pencil on a ruled yellow sheet of notebook paper. This was what was on Flanders’s bedroom desk. And Flanders came to desire to soon write down “Soul II” in his own Lamb’s Book of Life with its name and date and time and place of salvation with it in pencil. And also in his second floor of his three-floor house were his two bathrooms. Both had raised floors of four inches high and were covered in little one-inch square white tiles. One had a shower stall and a bath tub and racks and a linen closet and had a hall leading up to it from one end of the bedroom. And the other had a sink and a medicine cabinet and a toilet and racks and a wastebasket and a vanity in it and had a hallway leading up to it from the other end of the bedroom. Beyond the one bathroom was another hallway that led to a staircase going down to the first floor. And beyond the other bathroom was another hallway that led to a staircase going up to the third floor.
And the third floor of this round house was a plain and austere basic attic, a room traditionally used for storage, this attic room the size of the whole third story. It was hot in the summer. And it was cold in the winter. Its floor was a dusty floor of wood planks and occasional slivers. Its ceiling was bare wood rafters without insulation. Its chimney of red brick rose in the middle of this room from the floor and to the ceiling and to above the roof. Its windows were closed throughout the four seasons. And there was nothing in this attic. And neither griffin keeper nor griffin spent time in here together or alone, either in time for God or in time for themselves. It was the forgotten room in the round house.
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As for the she-griffin Tornado, she lived in the two stables. The one stable was called “the day stable,” wherein she spent the hours of light of day. The other stable was called “the night stable,” wherein she spent the hours of dark of night. In the day stable she sought shelter from the elements in days of wind and rain and sleet and hail and snow and heat and cold. Otherwise, in good weather, she spent all of her time outdoors. The day stable had no finished floor and no furniture and no amenities, yet lots of windows. Griffins were not extravagant creatures; nor did they live for luxury. And Tornado was all-griffin. The only door of this stable was a solid wooden door that opened sideways on a pulley along the top. Plain brown dirt was the floor to this day stable. And often times other creatures came into this day stable from the outside in their wanderings. This day stable was five feet away from the griffin keeper’s house. In the night stable, Tornado spent her times sleeping for the night. This stable was a little different from the other stable. In here the dirt floor was covered with a layer of loose straw from corner to corner. And bales of hay were scattered randomly inside this night stable. And battery-powered lanterns gave light to this night stable. Each lantern took eight size D batteries, and the lights in the lanterns were long U-shaped fluorescent bulbs. These lanterns were put in each corner and in the middle of each wall of this night stable. And they sat upon the floor, and there were eight of them. These gave light for Tornado in the nights when it was not yet bedtime. This night stable was five feet away from her master’s house off on the other side of the house.
Flanders Nickels and Tornado were outside on their northern shores of the Sea of the North. They were playing a good Christian God-honoring game that Flanders called “Pass the Thanks.”
Good Baptist churches often played the God-glorifying game “Pass the Praise.” But griffin keeper and griffin were better at thanking God than they were at praising God. Thanksgiving was extolling God for what He did. Praising was extolling God for Who He was. Flanders started today’s happy diversion here at the beach in his back yard. “I thank God for letting me live here.” Then the griffin keeper said, “I pass the thanks to you, Tornado.”
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The she-griffin fellow shipper went and said, “I thank the Lord that I live in a wilderness where I can hunt at will any time and anywhere.” Then she said, “I pass the thanks to you, my master.”
And Flanders Nickels said, “I thank the Almighty that I have survived the battles against the Black Stallion Unicorn who comes in great vengeance. I pass the thanks to you, girl.”
And the she-griffin said, “I thank Jesus that He made me a griffin. I pass the thanks to you.”
And the griffin keeper said, “I thank God for the holiday of Thanksgiving. What better thing than givings of thanks to establish a holiday therefrom, O Tornado? I pass the thanks to you.”
“I thank Jesus both for His First Coming, which has come to pass, and for His Second Coming, which is yet to come,” said Tornado. “I pass the thanks to you, Master.”
“I thank the Most High for this rifle,” said Flanders, holding it up in front of the griffin pet. “This rifle from God has more than once saved our lives from Night, O Tornado. I pass the thanks to you.”
“I thank God for the King James Commission, that had translated the authentic original manuscripts into the King James Bible,” said Tornado. “I pass the thanks to you.”
“I thank my Heavenly Father for His promise to hear all of our prayers so long as we do not have unconfessed sins in our hearts,” said Flanders. “I pass the thanks to you, girl.”
“I thank the God of Providence that I have the strength and the wisdom to fly out across this Sea of the North and to look down and see God’s handiwork of creation down upon the sea below,” said the pet griffin. “I do pass the thanks to you.”
“And I thank the Maker for my big round house and for everything that He gave me that I have in my big round house. I pass the thanks to you,” said the griffin keeper.
“I thank Christ for having gone and willingly laid down His life on Calvary’s cross two thousand years ago,” said Tornado. “I pass the thanks to you, Master.”
“I thank Jesus for having saved my wretched and reprobate and lost soul,” said the griffin
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keeper. “I pass the thanks to you.”
Just then there came a change in the air. Something felt different out here at the beach of this Sea of the North. A presence of force was coming from far away.
“Master,” called forth the griffin ally, “do you feel what I feel now?”
“I feel an evil coming upon us, Tornado,” said the griffin keeper.
“I have sensed it before in all of the other times,” said Tornado.
“I believe that it is coming from the north this time,” said Flanders Nickels.
“None other than so-nefarious Night, my master,” said the griffin to the griffin keeper.
“Dastardly Black Stallion Unicorn,” said Flanders, preparing for battle.
“He is drawing nigh,” said Tornado.
“I sense his darkness,” said Flanders.
“And I, his blackness,” said the griffin comrade.
And there he was, high up in the air, a malevolent flying demon unicorn sent by Satan to slay Christians and griffins of God.
“Battle stations,” declared the griffin keeper. And griffin master and griffin pet prepared themselves for great battle. And they had a short word of prayer as Night descended toward the ground. And the prayer was done. And God heard them. And God saw them. And the Black Stallion Unicorn now lighted upon the earth, the Sea of the North behind them.
“Night, for what have you come to do the Devil’s work?” asked the griffin keeper, his rifle in his hand and his ammunition belt around his waist.
And Night said, “I shall not rest until I take you and your griffin away from this world ruled by the god of this world, O great soldier for Christ.”
Flanders spoke again and said, “In the words of the king of Israel to the king of Syria, O Black Stallion Unicorn, ‘Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.’”
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“A curse from my father to you, man of God, and a curse from my father to you, O griffin of God,” snapped the demon unicorn.
Tornado spoke now and said, “Actions speak louder than words, O Night.”
“Bring it on, unicorn of the devil,” said Flanders. And Flanders raised his rifle at the head of the Black Stallion Unicorn. And the griffin keeper’s griffin, faithful at his right hand side, awaited her master’s command to charge.
Night then gave forth a toot of note upon his unicorn horn. The tone from his unicorn horn brought force a gale force wind. The gale force wind performed a black magic act. And then the gale force wind ceased. Behold, the evil magic wrought by the Black Stallion Unicorn in today’s battle.
The two Christian soldiers saw now upon the ground a whole pile of artillery belts of all different calibers of bullets. With a battle awareness from his experience with Night, Flanders thought beyond the apparent, but also upon the subtle. These odd ammunition belts were all scattered here in a pile; did he still have his own ammunition belt around his waist?
“Master!” cried forth Tornado. “Your artillery belt!”
Prompted by his suspicions and urged by his comrade, Flanders put his hand to his waist. Behold, his artillery was no longer around his person. Night’s magic not only conjured a seemingly incongruous pile of ammunition belts, but also took away from Flanders his own most needful ammunition belt.
“I am going to run you through, O great and mighty Christian warrior,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn, lowering his fell unicorn horn at Flanders’s chest.
“Where is it?” asked the griffin keeper about his own artillery belt of twenty-two caliber bullets.
“Where did you put it?” Flanders was at a loss now for fighting words.
“It’s somewhere there in the pile, O mortal so close now to mortality.” said proud Night.
Focusing on battle now and turning to the God of his battles, the griffin keeper gave forth now
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his command to his fellow soldier of Christ, saying to him, “Tornado, attack!”
And the mighty griffin assaulted the mighty unicorn. And the battle between good beast and evil beast raged in fierceness before Flanders where he stood.
The griffin keeper knew that this clever battle strategy that his foe had executed upon his artillery belt had forced him as the rifleman out of the battle for now, leaving his own she-griffin comrade to take on clever Night by herself for now. Flanders Nickels’s role in today’s battle for now was to find his artillery belt in a big pile of many artillery belts. After he was to find the right ammunition belt, maybe then he could shoot down the experienced unicorn foe with his rifle and win the battle.
This pile of artillery was truly a mound three feet high and three feet wide at the bottom and two feet wide in the middle and one foot wide at the top. With another quick word of prayer as she-griffin fought he-unicorn, the griffin keeper quickly dug into the pile in search for his belt of twenty-two caliber bullets. He saw belts of five-caliber bullets, belts of ten-caliber bullets, belts of fifteen-caliber bullets, belts of twenty-caliber bullets, belts of twenty-five caliber bullets, belts of thirty-caliber bullets, belts of thirty-five caliber bullets, belts of forty-caliber bullets, belts of forty-five caliber bullets, and belts of fifty-caliber bullets. But all of these were all wrong for his rifle. He needed his own belt of twenty-two caliber bullets. And he was getting near to the bottom of the pile. And he did not come upon his much needed artillery.
Greatly concerned all this while for Tornado alone against Night, the griffin keeper despaired and looked away from his work on the pile and looked upon the raging battle between good and evil in front of him. In battle evaluation, he studied the little war. He saw the battle taking place now in the air just above the row of box elder trees not far away. The two great beasts were in ferocious combat. And it looked like Night was unsure and unsteady. And it looked like Tornado was sure and steady. Praise the Lord! Good and faithful Tornado was beating wicked and diabolical Night in this battle as the
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griffin keeper looked on.
Right away the rifleman turned back to the pile conjured by the Black Stallion Griffin. And, lo, right where the bottom of the pile had been and right in the center and now uncovered from Flanders’s urgent searching and rummaging was his own ammunition belt. Flanders checked the bullets to make sure, and, sure enough, they did read “22 caliber” on the casing. By dint of demon’s knowledge, Night had purposefully conjured all of the wrong artillery belts with the same color leather as this one that was the right one. And Flanders quickly snatched it up in his hands and yelled out in victory, “Got it, Tornado!”
Then the griffin keeper heard the very real sound of a tree cracking. He looked up in curiosity.
And he saw over there a towering box elder falling down toward the ground with Night hovering in the air above it. Where was Tornado? Then the big tree landed in a great crash. What was this all about?
The griffin keeper wondered why Night apparently knocked a tree down on its side. Then he saw evil Night looking down to the tree from the air with a steady gaze. Then Flanders heard the Black Stallion Unicorn laughing and looking down where the tree had fallen and saying, “Timber, O griffin of the Lord.” Yet Flanders’s griffin of the Lord was nowhere to seen from where the griffin keeper stood.
And Flanders understand the mystery before him now.
The box elder had been made to fall upon Tornado right where she was!
Scared to death for the life of beloved Tornado, Flanders Nickels quickly took a handful of bullets, loaded his rifle, and fired all the bullets in the rifle at the victorious Black Stallion Unicorn in the sky. All of the bullets missed the mocking unicorn demon, except one. That one hit Night most ungainly in his bottom. The unicorn neighed like a mortal horse. Indeed his shame at being shot in his most undignified part of his equine body was exceeded by his shame at crying out like a plain horse without a horn. And the Black Stallion Unicorn was completely rattled. And he fled for his own good away from battle against the griffin keeper once again. Night had been humiliated by the griffin
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keeper of Christ. And demons cannot bear embarrassment.
“Tornado!” now cried out Flanders, “Tornado, are you all right?” And the master ran up to the felled tree to look upon his pet. Lo, the she-griffin was pinned to the ground by the middle of the length of this heavy tree trunk.
“He tricked me, Master,” called forth the wounded griffin.
“You’re going to be okay,” said Flanders.
“Did you get him, Master?” asked Tornado.
“He won’t be able to sit for a while, girl,” said Flanders, trying not to be blunt.
“You’re getting better with your rifle, Master,” said the gallant she-griffin.
Both soldiers of Christ laughed with this merry comment.
Then the griffin keeper said, “That is the first time that I hit that Black Stallion Griffin with any of my shots, girl.”
“You saved my life, Master,” said Tornado.
“Your death would be the end of my life, dear friend,” said Flanders.
“I shall live so that you do not die,” said Tornado.
“We’ve got to get this tree off of you, good friend,” said Flanders Nickels.
“It is too heavy for me to help myself this time, O Master,” said the griffin comrade.
“Let your master take care of you, precious Tornado,” said the griffin keeper. And Flanders Nickels went to work to rescue his she-griffin. With rope and with winch and with lever and with much physical exertion, after much labor, the griffin master got the big tree off of the griffin pet wounded in battle.
“How do you feel, O friend?” asked Flanders.
“I feel broken pieces inside and my muscles are hurting, but how good it feels to be able to breathe and not to be stuck upon the earth by a great tree,” said Tornado. “Thanks for saving me, dear
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Master.”
“As you have saved my life much in our battles against great dark Night, so have I saved your life in this battle against great dark Night,” said the griffin keeper.
In rally, and with help from Flanders, Tornado got to her feet and hobbled around in great weakness of limbs and joints. “Alas, Master, if only I could fly to a healing creek. I cannot even walk to a healing creek.”
“I will become your healing creek, brave griffin,” said Flanders. “I shall take care of you night and day and see you get better.”
“I am indebted to your love, Master,” said Tornado.
“My love for you constrains me to do all I can do to help you to get better, girl,” said the griffin keeper.
“Our Good Lord Jesus is the God of love,” said Tornado.
“We love him, because he first loved us,” said the griffin keeper.
“I John 4:19,” said the wise griffin the reference to the Bible verse that her master had just quoted.
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CHAPTER III
Weeks later, without having faced Night in battle in this interim, Flanders and Tornado were taking a pilgrimage in the skies to Griffin Island in the middle of the Sea of the North. Tornado was all healed up from her battle wounds. Flanders felt great peace without Night coming storming in upon him. And griffin keeper and griffin pet were comfortable and happy here in the skies above their little sea. “Do you like the ride, Master?” asked Tornado. “Do you feel comfortable?”
“I like the ride and the scenery, Tornado,” said Flanders. “Water everywhere in all directions and way down below. Your lion’s back is a comfortable place to ride you here up in the skies.”
“I’ll keep being careful,” said the griffin friend.
“Far be it for a griffin to drop her master down into the sea, girl,” teased the griffin keeper.
“Not so bad to fall into the water than to fall down upon the ground, my master,” said Tornado with a laugh.
Laughing through his nose, Flanders said, “Promise me that if I fall, then you will catch me.”
“Master,” said the griffin friend, “if you fall, I will catch you.” And she laughed through her closed eagle beak.
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Master and pet well knew the athleticism of a griffin. Her speed of flight with her wings easily exceeded the speed of a force falling in a free fall. If he did fall off of her back, she could most easily descend and pick him up upon her back before he could fall very far. Indeed the griffin keeper was safer riding Tornado way up in the skies than any other master was riding his animal pet on the ground.
“What is Griffin Island like?” asked the griffin keeper.
“You have never been there,” said Tornado.
“You have been there,” said Flanders.
“Lots, Master,” said the griffin companion.
“What does it look like?”
“It is a paradise, Master,” said the she-griffin.
“I heard that God does not allow black unicorns to come to that island,” said Flanders.
“You heard right,” said Tornado.
“Griffin Island really is a paradise then, girl,” said the griffin keeper.
“But then again, there are no masters or mistresses who live on that island, either,” said the griffin pet.
“The griffins must be lonely on Griffin Island,” said Flanders.
“They are, Master, a little sometimes,” said Tornado. “A griffin like myself has a master to share my life with. None of the griffins on Griffin Island has a person with which to share his life.”
“That makes them free griffins,” said Flanders.
“Some griffins like to be free griffins. Some griffins want to be pet griffins,” said Tornado.
“None of the griffins in Griffin Island are pets,” said Flanders, thinking out loud.
“Good men and good women and good children often come to Griffin Island to adopt one of the griffins to become their pet, if that griffin so chooses to become their pet,” said Tornado.
“We are visiting Griffin Island on a vacation,” said Flanders Nickels.
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“All of the griffins will still be glad to see us, nonetheless,” said Tornado.
“And I will be glad to see them, too,” said Flanders. “And honored, also. Very honored.”
“This trip is fun for me, too, Master,” said the she-griffin. “Thank you for coming with me.”
“I heard that the world’s biggest libraries are on Griffin Island,” said Flanders.
“Some of these libraries house the most historical archives known to man,” said Tornado.
“We people believe that no species made by God know history as well as griffins do,” said Flanders Nickels.
“Griffins on Griffin Island know about origins of life on Earth in their mysteries,” said Tornado.
“We people know a little about the beginning of Earth’s history from the book of Genesis in the Holy Bible,” said Flanders.
“The Holy Bible has so much wisdom in it that its wisdom exceeds the wisdom of my kind on Griffin Island, O Master,” declared Tornado. “Tell me what you know about the origins of life on Earth from your wisdom of the Holy Bible.”
“Genesis chapter one verse one,” said Flanders. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
“The first verse of the Bible,” said the she-griffin. “I know that one.”
“Then the six-day week of creation comes after that,” said Flanders. “And that takes up the rest of Genesis chapter one.”
“And God rested on the seventh day,” said Tornado. “I know that one, too.” Then she said, “Tell me about the six days of creation and what God created on those days, Master.”
And Flanders preached creationism to his special companion here way up above the Sea of the North on their way to the griffin paradise: “On the first day of creation, God made light. And Day and Night were made. On the second day of creation, God made a sky to divide the waters above from the waters below. This firmament was called ‘Heaven.’ On the third day of creation, God made the oceans
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and the continents. God called the oceans ‘the Seas,’ and God called the continents ‘the Earth.’ On that same third day, God also made grass and trees and plants to grow upon the land. On the fourth day of creation, God made lights in the skies. He made the sun in the sky for the days, and He made the moon and the stars in the sky for the nights. On the fifth day of creation, God made life to live in the waters and in the skies. He made whales and fish and all life in salt waters and in fresh waters. And He made flying birds in the sky above the earth. On the sixth day of creation, God made life to live on the earth. He made cattle and the beasts of the earth and creeping things. And also on this sixth day, God made mankind. Each of us who are mankind were created in God’s image and in God’s likeness to have dominion over all of the animals of the Earth. And God saw everything that He had created, and, behold, it was very good.”
“Such good and perfect truth, Master,” said the she-griffin pet. “That sure makes a lot more sense than what those educated evolutionists claim to be the origins of mankind.”
“Good born-again believers and good wise griffins agree on that, girl,” said Flanders. “I choose to believe God.”
“So do I, Master,” said Tornado. “As do all of the griffins on Griffin Island.”
“But what do the griffins know about Earth’s earliest days that us people do not know?” asked Flanders.
“We have on Griffin Island records of the antediluvian Earth,” said Tornado.
“Writings before the time of Noah?” asked Flanders.
“Wisdom from the young Earth’s first two thousand years that God had His griffins to preserve ever since up to these days four thousand years later,” said Tornado.
“How were these writings not destroyed by the great flood?” asked Flanders.
“God had His angel Gabriel to bring them up to Heaven when He brought that great rain down upon this Earth,” said Tornado. “And then He had His angel Gabriel bring them back down from
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Heaven after He ceased that great rain upon this Earth.”
“Then what became of this pre-flood literature, Tornado?” asked Flanders.
“When Gabriel came back with the writings, God had him to come down to this island in the middle of the Sea of the North. Of course, He waited until the flood waters receded so that this island could be an island again,” said Tornado. “To preserve this history, God gave His griffins the ministry to take care of this ancient literature. He gave this Griffin Isle to the griffins to perform this mission.
And that is why we griffins are accounted to be second wisest of creatures only to mankind.”
“How did griffins survive the flood?” asked Flanders.
“Silly master,” said knowledgeable Tornado. “Griffins were also on Noah’s ark.”
“Of course,” said Flanders. “Silly me.”
“Two of my kind were in the ark—a male and a female,” said Tornado. “And they got out of the ark, and they settled in this island that we are visiting, Master, four millennia ago—very far from the mountains of Ararat.”
“Then they were there when Gabriel came down from Heaven with those books from before the flood, Tornado,” said the griffin keeper.
“Uh huh,” said Tornado with a nod of her eagle head.
“Those two griffins, then, were the first two griffins of the postdiluvian Earth then,” said Flanders.
“Yes,” said the she-griffin with another nod of her head.
“What did two griffins do to commence the work of the whole griffin species to come after?” asked Flanders.
“Do you mean, ‘What did they do with all of those books?’” asked Tornado.
“Yeah,” said the griffin keeper.
“God had them to build the world’s first library,” said the griffin teacher to his master pupil.
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“Amazing!” said Flanders Nickels. “Amazing!”
“Four thousand years, though, Master, has taken its toll on that library,” said the she-griffin.
“Is it gone?” asked Flanders.
“Not completely,” said Tornado.
“Is it still there?” asked the griffin keeper.
“Not completely,” said the griffin pet.
“Is it like the ruins of the Greek empire buildings and the Roman empire buildings, Tornado?” asked the griffin keeper.
“Yes, Master,” said Tornado.
“What became of its books then?” asked Flanders Nickels.
“They have been preserved and kept in good condition throughout all of the other libraries in Griffin Island in this day,” said Tornado.
“That’s good,” said the griffin keeper.
“Oh, I remember now something that I have to tell you about Griffin Island, Master,” said Tornado. “On this island, the griffins refer to themselves as ‘gryphons.’ instead. And they do not call their island ‘Griffin Island,’ but, rather, ‘Gryphon Island.’”
“You mean to them, they are not griffins as ‘g-r-i-f-f-i-n-s.’ They are gryphons as ‘g-r-y-p-h-o-n-s,’” asked Flanders.
“It is an honor to us griffins in our outside world to be called ‘gryphons,’ but it is an insult in their island to be called ‘griffins’ instead of ‘gryphons,’” said Tornado.
“You have been there before, Tornado,” said Flanders. “You know their customs that I know not. Thanks for telling me that. I will take care to address them as they ought to be addressed.”
“I think I see Gryphon Island up ahead, O Master,” said Tornado in excitement.
“I can’t see it yet,” said Flanders. “Your eyes are better than mine.”
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“You will see it soon,” said the griffin pet.
And the griffin keeper saw it soon. And, looking down, Flanders said, “Amazing! Amazing!”
Tornado went on to say, “Gryphon Island has less sin in it than any other place in this world, Master. And it has more righteousness in it than any other place in the world.”
“I can see from up here that God is in Gryphon Island in the Holy Spirit,” said Flanders.
“It is the site the most like the Garden of Eden since the end of Earth’s Dispensation of Innocence,” said the griffin pet.
And the flying griffin descended in a gradual spiral down toward the land, her master now discovering this paradise for his first time, and the two pilgrims lighted upon divine Gryphon Island, and Flanders dismounted his griffin with a most eager leap in his great zeal, and he set his feet upon the ground, and he said, “This is Heaven!”
“Indeed the next best thing to Heaven on this Earth,” said Tornado.
Just then a most noble gryphon came up to the two visitors and said unto them, “Welcome. It is written, ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.’ Proverbs 1:7. God bless you both.”
“God bless you, too,” said Tornado.
Responding in like in protocol and in thrill, Flanders said, “And God bless you, too, O noble gryphon.”
This gryphon said, “My name is ‘Savant.’”
And Flanders and Tornado introduced themselves to Savant. They talked a while about the Saviour of the world. Then they parted.
Lo, another gryphon came up to them, this one a majestic gryphon, and he greeted them saying, “I wish you both a good time here. It is written, ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of
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thy life shall be increased.’ Proverbs 9:10-11. May God be in you here in Gryphon Island.”
“May God be in you, too, O good gryphon,” said Tornado.
“May God be in you, too,” said Flanders.
This majestic gryphon said, “My name is ‘Sagacious.’” And griffin keeper visitor and griffin pet visitor introduced themselves to Sagacious. They talked about God the Heavenly Father for a long while. Then they parted.
Then a third gryphon came up to them, this one a glorious she-gryphon, and she said to them, “Come into our libraries and find truth, O visitors.” Then she said, “It is written, ‘And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.’ Job 28:28.
The Good Lord keep the both of you.”
“The Good Lord keep you, too, O good and glorious gryphon,” said Flanders, catching on to the honor and ways of this unique island in the middle of the Sea of the North.
“And the Good Lord keep you, too,” said Tornado.
And she introduced herself to them, saying, “My name is ‘Scholar.’”
And Flanders and Tornado gave their names in like to Scholar.
They fellow shipped together in talking about the Holy Ghost and His many ministries as the Third Person of God. Then they parted.
Then another she-gryphon approached them in friendship. She said to them, “Sojourners, do make yourselves at home this day in Gryphon Island.” And she said, “It is written, ‘The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.’ Proverbs 14:27. Rest in the Lord, and rejoice in His Presence.” She was a most meek she-gryphon, meekness like unto that of Moses.
Flanders and Tornado both said together to this meek gryphon, “Rest in the Lord, and rejoice
in His Presence.”
“My name is ‘Study,’” she said to Flanders and Tornado.
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And master and pet introduced their names to Study in like.
Then the three discussed eschatology—what it meant for gryphons and what it meant for saved people and what it meant for unsaved people. After filling up thus in fellowship, they parted.
Then a fifth good gryphon came up to them in Christ. This one had a banner across his chest that read, “Librarian.”
Flanders spoke hastily in his zeal at this novel refuge of an island, and he asked, “Good Gryphon, is that your name on your banner?”
“Nay, good man,” said the he-gryphon. “That is my ministry to God on this Gryphon Island.”
He then went on to say, “My name is ‘Book.’ What are your names, I do query.”
And Flanders and Tornado told their names to Book. Book was a hoary gryphon with the wisdom of centuries in his eagle eyes. Flanders secretly wondered if Book wore glasses the way his face looked so wise. Forbid the thought that a gryphon’s eagle eyes would require glasses.
Then Book said, “I am on my way to work right now. I pray that the Lord bless you two in your visit here with good memories that never grow dim.”
Tornado said, “I have been on Gryphon Island more than once before, O Book, and this is my master’s first time on Gryphon Island. I have and my master and I will have many good memories from our pilgrimage this day.”
“It is written,” said Book, “’The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility.’ Proverbs 15:33.”
In the presence of this gryphon librarian and in deference to his own griffin, Flanders asked, “Tornado, could we go into a library and look around?”
Tornado promptly said, “Our kind’s libraries on Gryphon Island are open to visitors from throughout the world, Master.”
And Book said, “Good man and good gryphon, I invite you to the Library of Books. That is my
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library. I can lead you two right up to it.”
Master and pet looked at each other. And Flanders said, “We’d like that very much, O Book.”
“Do follow me, Flanders, Tornado,” said Book.
And the three came up to an edifice with a most imposing entrance way. Two stone staircases of a hundred steps met together at an angle, and a single stone staircase beyond of another hundred steps led up to the library itself. Here at the base of the staircases was a statue of a lion along the left of the left staircase and a statue of an eagle along the right of the right staircase and a statue of a gryphon in between the left staircase and the right staircase. In front of the gryphon statue here at the base of the hill was a red marble monument that read “Library of Books.” Flanders wondered if this title referred to this library in reference to its contents or in reference to its librarian.
Book then led the way up the two hundred steps for master and pet. And they came to a door that was different from any other door that Flanders had seen. It was all glass, and it was more like three doors joined together, and it spun around in a circle. “What is this?” asked Flanders, both confused and curious.
“It is what we gryphons call ‘a revolving door,’ O Flanders,” said the librarian.
“I can see how it works, O Book,” said Flanders.
And the three went into the library, one at a time in each of the three partitions of this unusual door.
Behold, a repository of all wisdom and knowledge and education enshrined in a veritable citadel. And the first thing that Flanders Nickels noticed about this Library of Books were its bookshelves. This library’s bookshelves were everything different from the bookshelves of man’s libraries that Flanders had so known about. Flanders had always gone to libraries where the books were stored vertically, one after another, extending from left to right horizontally across a bookshelf.
But in this library of gryphons, the books were stored horizontally, one above another, extending from
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top to bottom vertically in a tall narrow cubicle. He at once thought how hard it must be to pick out a book to read that was on the bottom of one such bookshelf as these. He turned his head to the side to try to read some of the titles on the spines of these books. Book must have seen him doing this, and the librarian said, “Our older books are shelved a little more reader-friendly, if you want to come over to this section of the library, Flanders.”
And Book led Flanders to a section of bookshelves that were the same as the other bookshelves, except that these bookshelves here had wooden partitions between each book upon which each book was stored and which were attached to the sides of the bookcases. Flanders spoke and said, “I love your library, Book.”
“All of our libraries on Gryphon Island have the same types of bookcases that my library has, Flanders,” said Book.
“They are almost surrealistic, Books,” said Flanders in great approval.
“We gryphons have gryphon ideas, Master,” said Tornado.
“Good visitors, do come to the Scriptures Court,” said the librarian. And Book led them to an open courtyard in the middle of the library. There was no door, no wall, no railing around this courtyard. It was outside here in the midst of inside. And nothing lay between this inside and that outside. Here was a King James Version Bible shrine. There were no New King James Bibles. There were no New International Version Bibles. There were no New American Standard Version Bibles. There were no American Version Bibles. There were no Good News Bibles. There were no New World Translation Bibles. There were no Douay-Rimes Bibles. There were no Revised Standard Version Bibles. In this central court of this traditional library on Gryphon Island there were only Authorized King James Version Bibles. And there were hundreds of them. On a great stone monument of ten tablets in this Scriptures Court was the Epistle Dedicatory which the translators of the King James Bible had written to King James of England in 1611. And this courtyard also had in it copies of the
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original 1611 King James Bible with the English words and spellings of words of 1611 throughout from cover to cover.
“What a place this Scriptures Court is, O Book. There are none of the wrong Bibles in here. And there is only the right Bible in here,” said Flanders.
And Tornado said, “Great were the born-again translators who were part of the King James Commission,” said Tornado.
“Great are they in Heaven right now, Flanders, Tornado,” said Book.
Then the librarian led them to the back room. And he said, “Here are the secrets to the antediluvian earth.” And Flanders and Tornado eagerly began to read from these oldest writings known to man and griffin. They learned of a world without rain. Instead a mist came up from the ground to water the ground. They learned what kind of fruit it was that Adam and Eve had eaten and had thereby brought sin into the world. They learned of what the geography and the geology of the land before the great flood was like: bodies of water were different then, and the continents were different then. They read detailed facts about the tree of life and about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They learned all that was a part of Adam’s job to take care of the Garden of Eden. They learned what Adam had called the land animals and the sky animals in his own language. They learned about men who lived for almost a thousand years. They read writings written by Noah and Enoch and Adam. They learned what kind of weapon that Cain had used to kill his brother Abel and where it had taken place in the world. They read conversations between Adam and Eve. They learned where Cain had gotten his wife. They learned where in the east of the Garden of Eden that the Lord had put the Cherubim and the flaming sword to keep fallen man out of the Garden of Eden from then on. They read also of the land of Nod, where fallen mankind had settled in the dispensation of conscience. And they read of the giants in the earth, sons of God, who through daughters of men, begot mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And they learned details and case histories of the sin and of the violence of men
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–wherein “every imagination of the thoughts of his [mankind’s] was only evil continually—because of which God chose to destroy His world by way of water. And they learned all about the righteous deeds of Noah and his wife and his three sons and his three sons’ wives, because of which God spared their lives in the ark all during the great flood. And they came upon a list of all the species of animals that Noah had taken with him into the ark. And they learned what Noah saw when he came out of the ark at the age of six hundred one years old—indeed the advent to the postdiluvian Earth.
Never before had the griffin keeper and his she-griffin learned so much about these mysteries of the world as they had here in the back room of the Library of Books. They were so edified with wisdom that they felt a little overwhelmed now. And man and griffin were completely satisfied with their visit to Gryphon Island. It was time for them to go back home.
The librarian could tell that they were utterly fulfilled now. And he said to them, “Shall we go out the back of my library, Flanders, Tornado?” The two nodded their heads in respect to this great gryphon. And he led them to a back porch. Herein were little gryphons playing gryphon games. They were hopping over each other and playing tug-of-war with ropes and roughhousing in fun combat and pursuing red laser lights and laughing like gryphon children at play. The floor of this back porch was of hardwood with no furniture. The walls were full of windows, whose bottoms were higher than any child gryphon’s head. And the ceiling was higher than the ceiling to the rest of the library. This was like a little gymnasium for the kids among the gryphons who visited this library. And Tornado felt gladness and familiarity at this, and Flanders felt a great effectual novelty at this.
Flanders explained, “Wow, little children gryphons playing little children’s games, Book!”
“These good gryphons are our next generation here on Gryphon Island, Flanders,” said Book.
“And they are having fun in a place of learning.”
“Will they grow up someday and read in your library, Book?” asked Flanders, knowing the answer.
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“Yes, O good Flanders,” said the librarian. Then the librarian spoke and gave Flanders great wonder, saying, “Some of these may become librarians, also, like myself. I played in this back porch when I was their age. And now I am here as this very library’s librarian.”
Tornado said, “Amen, Book! I never knew.”
Then the three went out of the back porch’s back door and out onto the back of this Library of Books. Herein was a great stone arch and a ramp of red bricks that descended at a gradual angle for a whole block and another great stone arch at the ending of this ramp. On the one side of this ramp was short green grass and a row of sweet corn stalks growing out of the ground. On the other side of this ramp was short green grass and a row of field corn stalks growing out of the ground.
Flanders wondered upon this and looked at Tornado, who had been to this island before. And Tornado said, “The sweet corn on the cob is for people visitors, and the field corn on the cob is for gryphon visitors.”
The three then passed through the first arch, down the ramp, and through the second arch. And Flanders turned around to see the back of this library. And here where he stood was a monument in gray marble reading, “Welcome to the Library of Books.”
“I pray that we Gryphons all made you two good pilgrims feel welcome here on our island, Flanders Nickels, Tornado.” said Book.
“We have felt utmost welcome, Book,” said Flanders.
“This visit for me was as happy as were all my other visits, Book,” said Tornado.
“Do come again,” said the librarian.
“That we will,” said Flanders.
“We shall see each other again,” said Tornado.
“Maranatha,” said Book.
“Maranatha,” said the two travelers. And with that the two left Gryphon Island.
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CHAPTER IV
The griffin keeper and his pet she-griffin were fellowshipping in his large living room with the nice brown carpet. Flanders said, “Girl, you know how comfortable this nice carpet feels on my bare feet.”
“I do, Master,” said the griffin.
“Well, one day, this carpet proved most uncomfortable,” said Flanders.
“Something happened. Didn’t it?” asked Tornado.
“I cut my big toe on a piece of green glass buried in my carpet one night,” said Flanders.
“What was glass doing in your living room carpet, Master?” asked the griffin pet.
“I had accidentally broken my nice green glass mug with a stem on my table not too many days before, and I did not think that any of its glass had fallen to the floor,” said Flanders Nickels.
“Master, you need a vacuum cleaner,” said Tornado.
“Anyway, I picked up that big broken piece of glass and threw it away, and my toe is okay now,” said the griffin keeper.
“Master, let’s play our game ‘Questions and Answers,’” said Tornado.
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“Our quiz game on the Bible,” said Flanders. “But I get to start this time. You started the last time.”
“Ask me a question on the Bible, and your astute griffin will answer it,” said Tornado, ready for so sweet fellowship with her master.
“Which verse is the shortest verse in the Bible, and how many words does it have?” Flanders quizzed ready Tornado.
“Oh, that’s John 11:35, Master, and it says this, ‘Jesus wept,’ and it has two words,” said Tornado.
“Correct,” said Flanders. “So few words and yet so profound, Tornado,” said the griffin keeper.
“Jesus loved Lazarus in life and in death,” said Tornado.
“But in the end it turned out well for Lazarus,” said Flanders.
“Yeah! He raised him back to life,” said the pet griffin.
“Your turn to ask a question, Tornado,” said Flanders.
“And your turn to answer,” said Tornado. And Tornado asked her quiz question, “Where is the longest verse in the Bible, and how many words does it have?”
And the griffin keeper at once said, “The longest Scripture verse is Esther 8:9, Tornado. But I do not know how many words it has. I do know that it has lots of lines in it.”
“I’ll race you to go and count the words,” said Tornado. And both fellow shippers raced to find this Scripture and to count its many words. Tornado found the verse first and began to count by ones.
Flanders found this verse second and began to count by threes.
And before Tornado was ready, Flanders said, “Ninety words!”
“You were always better at math than I am, Master,” said Tornado. “I was just barely at fifty in my word count.”
“I count groups of three, and then I multiply that by three,” said Flanders. “And, voilà, I have
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everything all counted up. I counted thirty groups of three, multiplied thirty times three, and came up with ninety words in Esther 8:9.”
“Your turn now, Master,” said the she-griffin.
“How many times does the word ‘psalm’ appear in the book of Psalms, if you can tell me, girl,” said the griffin keeper.
“Four times does the word ‘psalm’ appear in the Psalter,” said Tornado. And she went on to recite them, “’Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.’ Psalm 81:2. ‘Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.’ Psalm 95:2. ‘Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.’ Psalm 98:5. ‘Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him; talk ye of all his wondrous works.’ Psalm 105:2.”
“Why, Tornado, you are a regular commentary book,” said the griffin keeper.
“You mean ‘concordance book,’ my master,” Tornado corrected him.
“Your turn, Tornado,” said Flanders.
“Where can a Bible student find the Hebrew alphabet in the Bible, O Master?” Tornado quizzed Flanders.
“Oh, I know that answer, girl,” said the griffin keeper. “In Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, one finds the Hebrew alphabet. Psalm 119 has one hundred seventy-six verses divided up into twenty-two groups of eight verses. There are in that chapter twenty-two such octets of Scripture. Heading each of these twenty-two bunches of scripture are a symbol followed by a spelled-out word in reference to that symbol. These are twenty-two letters are the Hebrew alphabet, Tornado.”
“Master, I can think of no other quiz question to ask you that is harder than that one I have just asked you,” said Tornado.
“Do you give up?” asked Flanders. “Do I win?”
“Goofy master. Your griffin never gives up. And in Questions and Answers there are no
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winners, and there are no losers,” said Tornado the truth of this fellowship of pop quizzes.
“Is it my turn now?” asked the griffin keeper. “Did we go and get out of order?”
“We did not go out of order,” said Tornado. “It is your turn, Master.”
“Tornado, where does God mention tornadoes in Scripture?” quizzed the griffin keeper his griffin.
“In the book of Jeremiah are tornadoes alluded to, Master,” said Tornado. “My name, you could say, is in the Word of God for ever.” And she said, “God calls them ‘whirlwinds.’ These are Jeremiah 23:19 and Jeremiah 25:32 and Jeremiah 30:23.”
“And also in Psalm 42:7,” said the griffin keeper.
“Oh yes. The ‘waterspouts,’ as God calls them,” said Tornado.
“Tornadoes upon the water,” said Flanders.
“And I think that Satan used a tornado to take away Job’s ten children from him in his testing from God,” said Tornado.
“Yeah. You’re right,” said Flanders. “That had to be a tornado.”
“As it is written, ‘And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead;…’” recited the griffin pet from Job chapter one.
“That could not have been just a hurricane,” said Flanders.
“Is it my turn now, Master?” asked Tornado.
“Are we done with my turn already?” asked the griffin keeper.
“I think so,” said Tornado.
“It is your turn now, girl,” said Flanders Nickels.
“What does Revelation 22:22 say?” asked Tornado.
“Oh, that’s easy,” said Flanders. “That is the last verse of the Bible.”
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“What does God say in that verse?” tested the griffin pet.
“He says this: ‘The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.’ Revelation 22:22.”
proudly recited the griffin keeper in his knowledge of the Holy Bible.
“Master, there is no Revelation 22:22,” said Tornado.
“What is that verse that I recited then?” asked Flanders.
“Revelation 22:21,” said Tornado. “Revelation 22:21 is the last verse of the Bible. There are no verses in the Book after that verse.”
“You got me,” said the griffin keeper. “You got your master good.”
“Do you give up? Do I win?” asked the she-griffin.
“Girl, I give up. You win,” said the griffin keeper in merry spirits and gladness of fellowship.
“Amen!” said Tornado. “And a ‘ha ha ha,’ at that.”
“Ha ha ha,” said Flanders Nickels.
Just then an eerie stillness filled this living room. All was suddenly silent both inside and outside. It was like the quiet before a tornado. “Master, do you hear it?” asked Tornado, referring to this sudden lack of sound.
“I hear nothing, too,” said the griffin keeper.
“What could bring this about upon us here?” asked Tornado.
“Tornado, I bid you at once to go out and do reconnaissance. Go out and scout around and look for what is happening out there.” commanded the griffin keeper battle orders.
And the two left this living room and went outside to confront any danger were there any danger out there. Tornado flew off into the skies to find out what brought such a phenomenon to this side of the Sea of the North. Flanders stood there in his back yard with his artillery belts and with his rifle and with a word of prayer.
The griffin keeper did not have to wait long to receive the report from his griffin ally. And what
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she had to say to him was just as he had surmised: “It is the Black Stallion Unicorn, Master. And he is coming here very quickly from the south.
“So tenacious Night,” said Flanders through gritted teeth. “My foe and yours, Tornado.”
“What would you have me to do as your comrade-in-battle, O Master?” asked the griffin soldier for battle orders from her superior.
“Get ready for war,” said Flanders. “Last time that Night had come, he had come in a greater fury than he had the time before. And this time he will come in greater fury than he had last time. And next time, if there is one, he will come in a greater fury even than this time.”
“The Black Stallion Unicorn fights harder and harder each successive time that he comes,” summed up the griffin warrior.
“He fights like Satan,” said the rifleman.
“Shoot him down, Master,” exhorted the griffin Tornado.
“That I will do,” said the griffin keeper.
Then the Black Stallion Unicorn appeared in the sky not far away and way above the waters of the Sea of the North.
“I see him,” said Flanders.
“Shoot him,” said Tornado again.
Flanders aimed his rifle and fired several times, but missed every time. “I missed. He’s an elusive one when he is in the skies.”
“Night is clever in battle,” said the she-griffin fighter.
“I need him to get a little closer and not flying around in the air like that,” said Flanders.
“Shall I bring Night down to the Earth so that you can get a clean shot at him, Master?” asked
Tornado.
“Yes, Tornado. Go and so do,” commanded the griffin keeper his griffin soldier.
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And the griffin attacked the unicorn in the sky and did chase him away from the sea and did force him to land upon the grass of her master’s backyard not far from shore.
Once the demon unicorn’s hooves touched down upon the land, the gentle wind and the noises of the outside of nature in the countryside resumed. But the presence of the evil of the Black Stallion Unicorn took peace away from this rural place out here. Night stood there, proud and defiant and rebellious, against Christ and Christ’s rifleman and Christ’s faithful griffin.
“Have you come for more, Night?” asked the griffin keeper.
“I have come for a rendezvous of battle, Flanders,” said Night.
“You ran away last time, Night,” said Tornado.
“The time that I do not run away will be the time that you both will be dead upon the earth,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn.
“You also ran away the time before that,” said the rifleman.
“I fled to live to fight another day, man of the Lord,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn.
“You shall not get away and run off this time,” said Tornado.
“The time that you do not run away will be the time that you lie dead upon the ground, O Black Stallion Unicorn,” said Flanders Nickels.
“Mortals, your words exceed your actions,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn.
“Then let us get it on, unicorn demon,” said Flanders.
“Master, let us not keep our God waiting,” said Tornado about getting to work for God as demon-slayers.
Flanders raised his rifle and aimed it at Night’s head and began to squeeze the trigger. At this moment, the Black Stallion Unicorn neither blinked nor winced, but stood there most confidently with his battle strategy. And Night tooted a note on his unicorn horn. And a great gale force wind came upon the three here in Flanders’s backyard by the beach. And a black magic was wrought by the
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gale force wind. And Flanders’s arms were pushed to one side from the wind. And his bullet went past the side of Night’s unicorn head and missed him. And the gale wind stopped.
Behold the magic wrought now by the Black Stallion Unicorn. This rifle suddenly sprouted dark little dragon wings that extended beyond both sides of the gun. And it flew away out of the rifleman’s hands. And it flew right up to Night. And it lighted upon the end of Night’s unicorn horn.
And the Black Stallion Unicorn said, “I’ve got your rifle now, O inventor for God. What are you going to do now?”
“My God will bring my rifle back to me in His time, O Black Stallion Unicorn. And there is nothing that you can do about it,” said Flanders Nickels.
“Man of battles, are you sure that you have enough time to wait for God?” asked Night.
“God has the final victory in His Christian soldiers’ battles against your kind, O Night,” said Flanders.
Understanding her master’s reason now for his many words in this time of battle, Tornado stealthily sneaked up to this Black Stallion Unicorn from behind. The griffin keeper was buying time and distracting Night with this debate between good and evil.
Not seeing the griffin of God, Night went on to say, “Man of God, if I had a hand and not a hoof, I would shoot you with your very own weapon right where you stand.”
“Ah, the disadvantages of being a unicorn,” said Flanders with ruse and clever retort.
“Oh, but O man, do I not have several times your physical strength as a man?” went on to brag the Black Stallion Unicorn.
“And also an equal or more superior mind to my own as a mortal, Night,” said the griffin keeper.
“Yeah! Yeah!” said Night without hesitation.
Flanders then raised his hand to Tornado, who was right behind Night, who did not see her.
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And with this cue, the she-griffin leaped and pounced upon the he-unicorn, and she drove him down to the ground, and she snapped up in her eagle claws the rifle with wings just as it flew off in flight. And with a firm grip on her master’s weapon for war, she flew back to Flanders with the spoils of victory in this skirmish of the battle. And the rifleman took back his rifle into his hands once again.
“Well done, comrade,” said Flanders.
“You vile dog!” yelled out the Black Stallion Unicorn. “And you hateful griffin!” Then Night confessed, “I’ve been tricked in battle. Woe!”
Holding out his rifle to his she-griffin, Flanders asked, “Would you do the honors, Tornado?”
Tornado did the honors to which Flanders made reference, and she went ahead and tore off the dragon-type wings right off of the rifle, and shredded up the wings into parts, and shred them upon the ground in scorn of the Black Stallion Unicorn. The rifle was now just as it had always been. It was ready now for the kill.
But the Black Stallion Unicorn recovered his battle composure and once again demonstrated his battle prowess. He tooted another note on his unicorn horn. And a gale wind passed through. And magic was performed. And the gale wind passed away.
Flanders did not know what the magic was that Night had just conjured. He only saw his dark unicorn adversary standing there, vulnerable and out in the open and standing upon the ground. And Flanders raised his rifle and aimed it at Night and was just about to pull the trigger.
“Master!” cried out good Tornado.
Alarmed by this cry of his comrade, the griffin keeper thought better than to shoot down his demon foe. Something was not right, and Tornado knew what it was. And Flanders did not pull the trigger.
And Tornado called forth, “Master, the end of your rifle is all blocked up with something.”
The griffin keeper looked into the barrel of his rifle. Sure enough. There was a solid little
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cylinder in there at the end that was stuck fast and was sticking out. “Why, Tornado, I could have been killed,” said the griffin keeper. “I thank you for saving my life!”
“That Night and his magic!” snarled the she-griffin soldier.
In his time of mock now, the Black Stallion Unicorn spoke and said, “Is there something wrong with your rifle, O Christian soldier?” In threat, Night lowered his unicorn horn and implied an imminent charge in upon them.
“I’ve got to get this plug out of my barrel,” said Flanders in this dire time. He tried to pull it out with his thumb and index finger. But his man’s hands did not have the strength to do this.
Then Tornado, endowed as a griffin to be stronger than a man, tried her attempts. She clamped her eagle beak own upon this foreign object and pulled with her strong neck muscles. But she could not get it out that way. Then she grabbed at this foreign object with the talons of her right eagle claw, and she pulled even harder. It pulled backward a little way, but not all the way. Now it was only half in. But her eagle’s right leg was hurting now from the challenge. Next she took her right lion paw and brought it to her front and grabbed a hold of this little foreign object with the claws of her paw. And she pulled with the strength of her lion leg. Lo, the foreign object now came out.
And in came formidable Night, unicorn horn first, right into the two struggling soldiers of God.
And his unicorn horn pierced Flanders right through his upper left arm! And Flanders fell in battle, wounded very gravely. And Tornado was knocked hard upon her eagle face by the brunt of this charge of the unicorn in his great mass. And the Black Stallion Unicorn went right past them where they were in his fierce assault, and he turned back and thought to charge again. Flanders lay on his side, maybe bleeding to death in his ruined arm. Tornado lay upon her belly, her head knocked senseless. All that the Black Stallion Unicorn had to do now was to charge the two warriors of God a second time with his horn and his bulk with the same force as he had just done with this first charge. And the man of the rifle and his protector his griffin would both be dead upon the ground.
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Flanders, upon seeing this assault, spoke in cleverness and said, “Black Stallion Unicorn, before finishing us two off, why not show us two one more magic trick. Show off your magic first; then show off your strength and slay us second. You do good black magic.”
In cue, Tornado also said, “Yeah, Night. Let’s see some of that supernatural side of you.”
This idea sounded great to the unicorn demon. And he grabbed a hold of this and thought for a long while: What magic could he do now that would once again make the rifle useless to the rifleman?
Meanwhile, Tornado’s senses began to come back to her. And Flanders was holding his rifle in his right arm where he lay and thinking how he could maybe somehow fire it despite his wrecked left arm.
Then Night decided upon a grand finale with his works of magic upon that deadly rifle. He would rig it so that it would fire only backwards back at the very shooter of the rifle. What a great idea, thought the evil unicorn demon. His own master the Devil would be well-pleased when he would find out how his Black Stallion Unicorn had slain God’s designated demon slayer with so clever a battle tactic as this.
Overconfident at so imminent his victory, Night danced around griffin master and griffin, saying to them in covert hint at his magic to come, “What goes out must come in.” Now Tornado was back upon her feet. And Flanders was sitting up.
And then the Black Stallion Unicorn went ahead and tooted a toot on his magical unicorn horn.
And that brought the temporary gale. And the gale brought the black magic. And the gale died down.
And the work of magic was effected. The rifle now would fire backwards were Flanders to try to shoot Night down now. The Black Stallion Unicorn knew. Tornado did not know. But Flanders Nickels was pondering upon those six words now–”what goes out must come in”–in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
And Flanders Nickels came to know.
And as the Black Stallion Unicorn waited for the rifleman of God to accidentally shoot his own self, the rifleman of God, with only one good arm for now, turned his rifle backwards, and aimed the
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rifle’s back end at Night’s unicorn form. Knowing that Flanders had found out his trick, the Black Stallion Unicorn panicked, and he sought to run away, himself too surprised to think to fly away.
And Flanders Nickels fired his rifle backwards at the fleeing demon unicorn. Behold, he caught Night in his left foreleg. Just as Night had wounded Flanders in his left arm, Flanders now wounded Night in his front left unicorn leg. Then Night thought clearly enough to try to escape more effectively in the air. And his great unicorn wings lifted him up into the skies, and he flew off to save his life. And he escaped. But he was sorely wounded in today’s battle.
By now, the she-griffin was in all of her senses. And Flanders could stand now, but dared not walk yet. “My arm, Tornado!” cried out the griffin keeper.
“Master, I will take you to a healing creek, and we will get your arm good as new again,” said Tornado.
“My rifle, Tornado!” cried out the rifleman.
“Master, we will take that to the healing creek and get that good as new again, too,” said Tornado.
“Will it fire my bullets forward again?” asked Flanders.
“God with his healing creek will give back strength to your arm and will fix your rifle to fire your bullets forward again, Master,” said the good she-griffin ally.
“God is good, and his healing creeks are good, O best friend,” said the griffin keeper.
And with no further ado, Tornado brought her master, his rifle in his right arm, through the air and to a healing creek. And they went in and found comfort to their bodies and repair to the rifle.
And they praised the Lord of life and thanked Him for their lives spared in this fierce battle of this day.
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CHAPTER V
The griffin keeper and his she-griffin pet were together in a rare night ride in the sky right now.
“Are you having fun, Master?” asked Tornado.
“I am, Tornado,” said Flanders. “It is weird looking down to the blackness of night between me and the Earth like this.”
“Don’t fall off,” said the pet griffin. “It would be harder for me to catch you and retrieve you if you fall in the dark of night instead of in the light of day.”
“I won’t,” said Flanders. “I’ll hold on tight.” And he held on tight in joy and fulfillment. And he continued looking down to admire God’ s darkness below. And he looked up to admire God’s darkness above. “What a beautiful night that God made for us tonight, Tornado,” said the griffin keeper. “We should do this more often, girl.”
“Master, I do believe that we are coming up to Lake Superior,” said Tornado.
“Ah, Lake Superior, immediately east of our Sea of the North,” said Flanders Nickels.
“Bigger than the other Great Lakes, but smaller than our Sea of the North,” said the she-griffin.
“And cold like our Sea of the North, as well,” said the griffin keeper. Then he said, “I think that I can see it.”
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“The moon is coming out from behind a cloud now. And it is a full moon,” said Tornado.
“Ah, now I can see it for sure,” said Flanders. “Lake Superior, the biggest lake in the world, I do believe.”
“That’s what the atlas says,” said Tornado. “31,700 square miles.”
Griffin keeper and griffin pet looked down upon this Great Lake in wonder of its divine Maker for a long silent moment as Tornado flew across the skies.
“It is written,” recited the griffin keeper, “‘The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.’ Isaiah 14:24.”
“What do you mean, my master?” asked Tornado
“God thought upon this Great Lake, and this Great Lake came to be,” said Flanders his interpretation of this verse. “The Creator purposed Lake Superior, and now it stands.”
Understanding her master and understanding the Scriptures, the she-griffin went on to preach, “The Creator of Lake Superior here below us today was also the God of judgment Who swore vengeance upon the wicked Assyrian Empire.”
“Again it is written, girl, ‘For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?’ Isaiah 14:27,” Flanders again recited Scripture. And he went on to explain his interpretation of this parallel Bible verse, saying, “God purposed Lake Superior to be, and no one can disannul Lake Superior. God’s hand made this Great Lake, and nobody can turn His hand back from this lake’s creation.”
“The God Who will destroy the wicked empire of Assyria in the Old Testament is also the Creator of this Great Lake beneath us,” said the griffin pet, understanding her master.
“It is a tangential interpretation at that,” said the griffin keeper, “but it still glorifies the Creator.”
“Master,” said Tornado, “you have not said much lately about your prayer request of God.”
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“My prayers that He give me a pretty girlfriend-in-the-Lord,” said Flanders Nickels.
“Yeah. That one,” said the griffin confidante.
“I’m still praying for that,” said Flanders. “And I find that my hope is getting stronger and stronger.”
“I, also, have been praying for that for you, O Master,” said the she-griffin best friend.
“Thank you, Tornado. I need that,” said the griffin keeper.
“If we keep after God like we have been for that to come true for you, Master, maybe God will go and do that for you—give you a pretty girlfriend-in-Christ,” said Tornado.
“The Bible calls that ‘importunity,’” said Flanders. “And you know what the Bible says about that in Luke 18:1, girl,”
“’And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;’” recited his griffin this Bible verse.
“And I have not stopped praying for you, either, girl,” said the griffin keeper.
“For God to give me a mate indeed,” said the she-griffin. “I, likewise, have also been praying for myself to that end, Master.”
“God hears your prayers, O Tornado, and mine,” said Flanders.
“But, Master, what would you do with a woman?” asked Tornado.
“What would I do with a girlfriend whom God gives me?” asked Flanders.
“Yeah. Did you ever think of what you and a girl could do that would be fun for the both of you and that would not dishonor your Heavenly Father?” asked the she-griffin.
“I have no idea of what a boyfriend-and-girlfriend-in-the-Lord can do together,” said Flanders.
“Dating a real pretty girl is a complete mystery to me. What makes up that sweet magic of romance that can come only between a man and a woman that does not dishonor their Lord Jesus?”
“You dream for a Christian girlfriend, and yet you do not know what to do with her once God
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gives you such a one, Master,” said Tornado.
“I one time almost had a girlfriend as you know,” said the griffin keeper.
“Fair Allyson in her blue one-piece swimsuit at twelve years of age,” said Tornado, knowing her master’s life before her time in his life.
“I was twelve then, and I had a great time with her in the sprinkler. But that was my only date, and it was spontaneous, and I never did get a second date with her,” said Flanders.
“Do you remember now years later what kind of fun that you were thinking of having with that comely maillot girl?” asked Tornado.
“Piggy back rides comes to mind first of all,” said Flanders.
“You daydreamed about giving Allyson a piggyback ride,” said Tornado.
“And I daydreamed about her giving me a piggyback ride, too,” said the griffin keeper.
“That’s a start. That sounds like good fun that you can still have as a man with a woman,” said the she-griffin.
“And I also daydreamed about horsey-back rides, O Tornado,” said Flanders, remembering old aspirations.
“You wanted to give the one-piece swimsuit girl a horsey-back ride,” said Tornado.
“And her giving me a horsey-back ride,” said Flanders all about pretty Allyson.
“That sounds romantic in its eccentricity,” said Tornado.
“Fun like that for myself as a boy still sounds like fun for me as a man,” said the griffin keeper.
“What else do you think that you would do for fun with a Christian gal in your life, Master?” asked the pet griffin.
“Now that I am a born-again believer, I can think of a whole gamut of fun things that I would love to do with a fellow born-again believer who is a girlfriend,” said Flanders.
“I bet that these fun things are all about fellowship. Aren’t they, Master?” asked the pet griffin.
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“Yes!” averred the griffin keeper at once.
“Things like going to church together and sitting next to each other as the pastor preaches his sermon. Is that one of the things that would make life magical for you, Master?” asked this griffin that knew him so well.
“Oh yes!” said Flanders.
“Maybe things like reading the Holy Bible together—you and she studying the Scriptures together– as a boyfriend-and-girlfriend-in-Christ can do best,” said Tornado.
“Pastor has us in the flock and himself do what he calls ‘responsive reading,’” said the griffin keeper. “You know. You go there, too, always.”
“Pastor picks a chapter in the Bible, and he reads the first verse out loud; and then we of the flock read the second verse out loud; and then he, the third; and then we the fourth, and so on,” said Tornado.
“My Christian girlfriend and I can do that together for the rest of our dating lives together,” said Flanders.
“And you two could pray out loud together, also, Master,” said Tornado.
“Our own little prayer circle—myself and my Christian girlfriend,” said Flanders in daydream.
“You and she can have most fervent and effectual prayer meetings together, O Master,” said his griffin friend.
“Yeah. We could do that—she and I. We could pray at my place. We could pray at her place. We could pray at any place,” said Flanders Nickels.
“And you and she could sing together, too. Just stop and think about that, if you would, my master,” said Tornado.
“Hymns from the hymnbook!” said Flanders. “Amen, O good griffin!”
“And Christmas carols from the Christmas carol book,” said his griffin best friend in life.
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“Hymns that are carols!” said the griffin keeper. “Those kinds of songs are so good that I call them ‘my songs.’’
“It would be fun for you to go caroling with your special girlfriend house to house on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, I’d bet, Master,” said his best friend.
“In the falling snow,” said Flanders in reverie of make-believe.
A silent moment passed between the two. Then the griffin confidante asked, “Master?”
“Yes, Tornado?” asked the griffin keeper.
“Would you forget your Tornado if God gives you your prayed-for girlfriend?” asked the pet griffin.
“I shall never forget you, Tornado,” promised Flanders.
“Master?” asked Tornado again.
“Yes, Tornado?” asked Flanders.
“Would your Tornado get in the way between you and her?” asked the griffin pet.
“You shall never get in the way between me and her, Tornado,” promised the griffin keeper.
“Master,” once again asked the griffin confidante.
“Yes, Tornado?” asked her master.
“Would you love me less if you found a woman to love than you do now without a woman to love?” asked Tornado.
“Tornado, my love for you will always be as it is right now,” promised the griffin keeper. “No woman of God can take away any of the love that I have always felt for you.”
“I believe you, and I love you, Master,” said the she-griffin Tornado.
“Verily the things that I can do with her alone, we three can also do together,” said Flanders Nickels. “The worship that I have with her, I can have with the both of you. The fellowship that I have with her, I can have with the both of you. And any magic of romance that I may do with her, she and I
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can do it in front of you,”
“Knowing you, Master, this romance will not be of the world, but of innocence and godliness,” said Tornado.
“Romance that will not displease our Heavenly Father,” said Flanders.
“No doubt romance that we griffins would not see the desire for in our griffin thinking.” said the she-griffin.
“Fun little man-and-woman talk and stuff,” said the griffin keeper.
“Not like the romance between a she-griffin and a he-griffin,” said Tornado.
“What about you, Tornado?” asked Flanders. “What would you do about your master if God gives you a mate for yourself?”
“I promise to stay faithful and true to you, Master,” said Tornado. “I can love you and I can love my mate without compromise to either of you both in my life.”
“I know the words that you say to me are true, girl,” said the griffin keeper.
“Further, Master, if you and your girlfriend and myself could make a great threesome among us, surely you and your girlfriend and myself and my mate could make a great foursome in Christ,” said Tornado. “Is that not also true?”
“It is also true, good and faithful Tornado,” said Flanders.
“That is a load off of my mind,” said Tornado.
“And mine, also, girl,” said the griffin keeper.
Another silence passed between the two here above Lake Superior in the dark of night way up the sky.
Then Flanders said, “I never did give fair Allyson a hug in her one-piece swimsuit that day.”
“That sounds like the kind of thing that a boy would like to do with a girl,” said Tornado.
“Surely one of those romance things that sensible griffins like you never think about,” said
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Flanders.
“You’re right, Master,” said Tornado.
“It is one of those romance things that men and women love to do with each other,” said Flanders.
“Unlike we griffins, you people can do that kind of thing with each other with the way that you people are built,” said Tornado.
“I think that I would thrill to give my future girlfriend-in-the-Lord a little hug,” said Flanders.
“Would that be an okay romance thing for you to do with a woman, Master?” asked the griffin pet.
“Do you mean, ‘Is an embrace like that okay for me to do in the eyes of God?’ Tornado?” asked Flanders.
“That’s what I mean, O Master,” said Tornado.
“I have read I Corinthians 7:1 many times over, Tornado, and I have doubts about putting my arms around a real living girl,” said Flanders.
“How does that verse go?” asked the she-griffin
“It goes exactly like this,” said the griffin keeper, and he recited it to her, “Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.”
“Hugging a woman is most certainly touching a woman,” said the griffin.
“Pastor always preaches to us men to save our hugs for our wives,” said Flanders.
“It must be a good thing to do with a woman only if she is your wife, it sounds like,” said Tornado.
“I must save any embraces that I may desire in my courtship till after our marriage, I think,” said Flanders.
“What about that other special little thing that men and women love to do in this magic of
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romance that you people so get a kick out of?” asked Tornado.
“I bet that you mean a kiss,” said Flanders. “Is that what you are talking about, Tornado?”
“Yes, kissing,” said Tornado.
“I wanted to do that with Allyson that day in her little blue maillot,” said Flanders. “But I never did.”
“Twelve-year-old children don’t usually think about that grown-up thing,” said Tornado. “Or do they?”
“Discovering Allyson playing in the sprinkler made me grown up all of a sudden, girl,” said Flanders.
“Do you think that you would want to kiss your girlfriend from God if she comes into your life?” asked the pet griffin.
“A real kiss with a real woman?” asked the griffin keeper.
“What do you mean by ‘a real kiss,’ Master?” asked the griffin.
“One that is right on her lips,” answered Flanders.
“Yes. A real kiss right on the lips,” said Tornado.
“That would be most magical romance of all,” said the lonely Christian fellow. “That would be the only thing more exciting for me than a real hug.”
“You’d like to do that,” said Tornado. “But would it be all right in the eyes of our holy God, Master?”
“I do not know of any Bible verse per se that condemns kissing a pretty girl on the lips,” said Flanders. “But I definitely know what Pastor preaches from the pulpit to us young men in the flock, O girl.”
“What does Pastor preach about men and women kissing each other?” asked the griffin friend.
“He says, ‘Save your kisses for your wife.’” said the griffin keeper.
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“Just as in the case for hugs,” said Tornado.
“Yes, Tornado,” said Flanders. “It seems that I must wait till I marry the girl before I can go ahead and give her that first kiss.”
“Can you wait that long, Master?” asked the she-griffin.
“I never gave a girl a kiss before,” said Flanders. “The mystique drives me into a passion.”
“We griffins cannot kiss, but you people can,” said Tornado.
“You griffins can touch beak to beak,” said Flanders.
“Yeah. That we can do with our mates,” said the she-griffin.
“Would that be fun for you to do with your he-griffin were God to give you a he-griffin, Tornado?” asked the griffin keeper.
“I think that I could get to like doing that, Master,” said Tornado, ruminating.
“Would you be happy being a mother of a family of griffins, Tornado?” asked the griffin keeper.
“I think that I would,” said Tornado. “But what about you, Master? Would you want a wife and children in your life?”
“Oh, I’m not so sure about that,” said Flanders. “Being a father is so much more responsibility than being just a single man as I am now.”
“Do you really want to have a wife in your life to hug and to kiss, Master?” asked Tornado a very hard question.
“I’m not so sure about that, either, Tornado,” confessed Flanders. “Being a husband is so much more responsibility than being a boyfriend,”
“You do not want children to raise, and you do not want a wife in your life that may conceive children into your life,” said Tornado good and necessary hard words.
“I may be lonely without a beautiful and thin girlfriend right now, but I would probably feel crowded in a home full of wife and children,” confessed Flanders Nickels.
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“The Holy Bible says that being single is a gift of God,” said Tornado.
“I do enjoy my freedom as a single guy. That I must say, Tornado,” said the griffin keeper.
“Are you sure that you want to marry the girlfriend that God might bring into your life, Master?” asked the pet griffin.
“Am I sure that God wants me to marry the girlfriend that He might bring into my life, girl?” asked Flanders Nickels.
“Mr. Flanders Nickels and Mrs. Allyson Nickels,” said Tornado. “Does that make you not so sure about marriage?”
“It kind of does at that, Tornado,” said Flanders.
“Maybe marriage would not make you happy, even if the girl be sent by God,” said Tornado.
“Maybe the girl sent by God must be to me a girlfriend and not a wife,” said Flanders.
“Foolish are young men who rush into marriage without first getting to know the woman,” said Tornado.
“Tragic will the end of that marriage be if God did not will that marriage to take place for the guy and the gal in the first place,” said Flanders.
“The happiest place for a born-again believer is to be right in the middle of the will of God, Master,” said the wise she-griffin.
“How does the Bible say that being single is a gift of God, O Tornado?” asked the griffin keeper.
“As Paul the Apostle puts it: ‘For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.’ I Corinthians 7:7,’ said the learned griffin pet.
“Even now after a lifetime of loneliness without a girlfriend for companion, I have to say that I do not really want a Christian girlfriend so much that I have to marry her, too,” said Flanders in
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sincerity.
“Mr. Flanders Nickels and Miss Allyson Green,” said Tornado. “Does that make you sure about your single life?”
“I like the sound of that!” exclaimed Flanders. “That sounds real neat, girl!”
“Master, you are not cut out for marriage. You are cut out for the single life,” said Tornado.
“I feel quite good about that, Tornado,” said Flanders.
“I do believe that you would be happy in a marriage only if you lived in a perfect world,” said the pet griffin.
“And this world of sin is a most imperfect world, girl,” said Flanders.
“There are problems in the best of marriages,” said Tornado.
“There are problems in marriage relationships that are not in dating relationships,” said Flanders.
“That must be the kicker, Master,” said Tornado.
“I am not cut out for a wife. I am cut out for a girlfriend,” said the griffin keeper.
“You feel good about learning that about yourself. Don’t you, O Master?” asked the griffin friend.
“Oh, I do. I surely do,” said Flanders.
“God can use you mightily for His work with yourself as a single man,” said Tornado.
“I remember a sermon that Pastor gave one Sunday morning about what you just said, girl,” said Flanders Nickels.
“Pastor preaches much on marriage and singleness,” said the she-griffin.
“He had us in the flock read out loud from the Bible a passage of verses. I can’t remember how they go. But I remember the reference,” said the griffin keeper. “I think that it was I Corinthians 7:32-35, good griffin friend.”
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“I know those four verses, my master,” said Tornado.
“Oo! Do tell them to me, if you would, so that I can remember,” said the griffin keeper.
And Tornado did just exactly that, saying, “But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.”
“Amen and amen!” said Flanders Nickels. “Glory! Glory!”
“You know the will of God for you about your girlfriend from God,” said Tornado.
“I shall never marry a woman in this life,” said Flanders, happy and content and at rest.
“I am happy for you, Master,” said the she-griffin.
“I pray, though, that that does not change God’s answer to my prayers for a girlfriend to come into my life, though, nonetheless,” said Flanders Nickels. “I pray that He does not hold back on giving me a pretty girlfriend-in-Christ just because she can never become my wife. I still really want a girlfriend-in-the-Lord despite all of this.”
“If God gives you a pretty Christian woman, you can still go and visit her, and she can still come and visit you, and you two can still go and visit other places together, Master,” said Tornado.
“Praise the Lord! Thank God!” said the griffin keeper.
“It is getting late, O Master. Shall we turn around and head back home?” asked Tornado.
“I’ve seen much of Lake Superior this night, griffin girl,” said Flanders. “Let’s turn around and head back home to our Sea of the North.”
“Aye aye, Master,” said Tornado. And with this they turned back and flew back home.
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CHAPTER VI
The griffin keeper and his she-griffin were out front, training for the battles in today’s practice. Flanders Nickels was out in a rifle range. And Tornado was in an obstacle course.
Flanders’s rifle range out in the front yard he had set up just recently. He had indeed gotten much better at his accuracy since his first days of practice some time ago. And he and Tornado had seen him get steadily better after each day’s training session. He was not a quick shot like some fastest gun in the west. That was not for what he was practicing. He was striving to be a marksman. And though he was not a sharpshooter, he was becoming the kind of Christian soldier who could slay evil black unicorns as God had called him to do. And the Lord was well-pleased with His warrior in progress. And Flanders was gaining confidence in his ministry for God.
Flanders’s rifle range here was one hundred yards long. He stood behind a wide chalk mark on his side of the range, and his target stood behind a wide chalk mark on the far side of the range. This target was three feet by three feet. And the diameter of the concentric circle part of the target was two-and-one-half feet. Here the outer circle was black. The next inner circle was yellow. The next inner circle was blue. The next inner circle was red. And the bullseye was white. The area outside of the concentric circles was white as well. The concentric circles were three inches wide. The bullseye was
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five inches in diameter. And the dividing lines between the rings took up the remaining one inch. The white bullseye earned a score of ten points. The red circle earned a score of nine points. The blue circle earned a score of eight points. The yellow circle earned a score of seven points. The black circle earned a score of six points. And the outer field of white earned five points. Missing the target earned no points.
Alone now in his training in his rifle range as his griffin comrade was alone in her training in the obstacle course, the rifleman talked to God. He said, “I haven’t practiced from one hundred yards away for a while, Father. The target seems small, and the rifle seems big.” Yet Flanders felt good with God in today’s novel distance in his practice. And with joy of the Lord he began to fire away from the bullets of his artillery belt around his waist. He shot individually and slowly and with much thought. Right away he hit the target on his first shot! He hit the outer white boundary with his twenty-two caliber bullet. “Lord, I have not hit any of the targets before with the first shot of a training session in a long time, and those were all closer targets then,” prayed the rifleman.
Next he shot and hit the target again. In fact he struck it in the black ring! “Yea, Lord!” said Flanders Nickels. “That was from the length of a football field away! Right away on shot two I hit the colored part of the target! I did not always get even this most outer circle in old days until well into my training.”
Then he shot his third bullet at the target. “Wouldn’t you know it?” he said. “Is that one in the yellow circle? Is that for real, O Lord?” In Flanders’s war games like these, if he were to have hit the yellow circle, he would have considered that a “shot that could take down the evil unicorn” were that to have been in a real battle. This was like a middle circle, an outer middle circle.
Then he fired his fourth bullet these three hundred feet away. Lo, a hit in the blue circle! This was also like a middle circle, but it was an inner middle circle. He said to God, “Father, if only my Tornado could have just seen this one! She would be rejoicing with me. In fact she would be proud of
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her master. I cannot remember the last time that I hit the blue circle before my first artillery belt was used up. With a shot like this I could have struck the evil unicorn right through the heart.”
Then he paused to pray for God to have the glory in this next shot. Then he fired his fifth bullet from his rifle. God received the glory. This twenty-two caliber bullet went right into the red circle! This circle was right around the bullseye itself. Throughout his many daily training sessions, from the early short distances to the later medium distances to the recent long distances, Flanders Nickels could only get a handful of shots that struck into the red circle in any given month of hard practice. Flanders said to God, “With a shot like this I could strike that bad black unicorn right between the eyes!”
Confident like never before, this confidence more in God than in himself, Flanders then went on to praise the Lord Who gives victory in battle. And his praise lasted for a good long while. Then he prepared his sixth shot of his rifle. He aimed, looked, fired. Behold, a bullseye right into the white circle in the middle! He had scored a bullseye only one time before in any of his war games in any of his rifle ranges that he had set up. He remembered how his Tornado had been there with him to see it.
Tornado was in her own war game now on another side of the yard. She did not see today’s bullseye. But God saw it. In fact it was God Who had given him this bullseye in the first place—from Flanders’s own improvements in his marksmanship over the course of many months of work and from God’s own grace from Above. “Thank You, thank You, O Heavenly Father,” gave Flanders Nickels more praise to God. “My best shot from my rifle ever, O Lord!” he exclaimed to Heaven. He could have shot off the unicorn horn from the unicorn demon’s head with this shot!
He then resumed his war games of this day. He did not have any more six-shots in a row as good as these first six shots in a row for the whole rest of this training session. But he could clearly see that he was beginning to excel into a worthy rifleman for God. And he was now on the cusp of being the demon-slayer that God needed him to be. And Night the Black Stallion Unicorn would be wise to stay away from Flanders and his rifle very soon from now.
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Meanwhile, as this was going on, Tornado the she-griffin was training in an obstacle course that Flanders had made for her for her own war games. This obstacle course was meant to hone her griffin mind and her griffin body to become the griffin keeper’s protector and fellow soldier and co-slayer of demons. Flanders was to be the commander, and Tornado was to be the comrade in their battles against the evil he-unicorn. And she began her obstacle course with her all:
First she grabbed a hold of with her eagle beak a thick hemp rope upon which was a heavy iron ball tied at the end. This hemp rope was two inches thick and seven feet long. And the iron ball was as the size of a bowling ball. And she lifted up into the skies with the rope in her beak and with the iron ball dangling down at the end of the rope below her lion paws. And she flew one-tenth of a mile to an empty metal barrel without a lid on top. And she descended to fifty feet above the open barrel, looked down, cut the end of the rope with her lion claws, and released the heavy iron ball from the rope. And, the rope still in her beak, she saw the iron ball land deadly accurate into the empty metal drum. It made a noise like unto Flanders’s rifle, but louder. Then she let go of the hemp rope, and saw it land right into the barrel right on top of the heavy ball. Then she flew off to her next test of this obstacle course.
Here she saw a circular track meet track like what one would see at a high school around its football field out back. And there stood a road runner at the starting point, all ready to run in lane one. Understanding the rules, the she-griffin lined up to the far side of this road runner at this starting point, in lane nine. The road runner was in the innermost lane, and the griffin was in the outermost lane. The two racers were to sprint around this track one time and try to get to the finish line first. The first one to take off would be the one who served as a starting gun for the race around the track. And the road runner took off first. And the griffin took off right behind him. And the race was on. No flying was permitted. And neither sprinter broke the rules by taking to flight. And in the first turn, the road runner was ahead of the griffin, but by no farther than he was when he pulled ahead with the first jump when he began this race between the two. They passed the first turn and came up to the second turn. And
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again the road runner was slightly ahead, Tornado having neither gained ground on him nor lost ground to him. And they passed the second turn. And they came up to the third turn. And now they were even. Even though most fleet, the road runner, being a biped of a bird, was at a disadvantage to the quadruped of the griffin. The she-griffin was endowed of God with two powerful front eagle legs and two strong back lion legs. And the two runners passed the third turn. And the finish line was just up ahead. And Tornado then pulled just ahead of the road runner. The road runner went, “Beep! Beep!”
Yet Tornado crossed the finish line first. Tornado won. The road runner lost.
Then the she-griffin in today’s war games went on to the third part of today’s obstacle course.
This one involved all flying. And it was a most unique race against seven herring gulls. And it was a ten-mile race. Tornado knew how to play this game; she had done it before. And she hovered above a tall spire of a pine tree one hundred feet tall. The seven herring gulls were perched in its highest branches. And as she waited her turn, first the first seagull flew off to begin his race; five seconds later the second seagull flew off to begin his race; five seconds after that the third seagull flew off for his race; and the fourth seagull five seconds after that; and the fifth one, another five seconds later; the sixth five seconds after that; finally the seventh five seconds after that. Five seconds after that, it was the griffin’s turn. And she took off to fly in this race in the skies. Tornado’s job was to pass up all of the herring gulls and get to the towering one-hundred foot high deciduous tree ten miles away before any of them did. The giant evergreen was the start of this course, and the giant leaf-bearing tree was the finish of this course. And the mighty she-griffin with her mighty eagle’s wings flew like the wind.
She passed up the herring gull with the five-second head start. And she passed the herring gull with the ten-second head start. And she passed the herring gull with the fifteen-second head start. And she passed the herring gull with the twenty-second head start. And she passed the herring gull with the twenty-five second head start. And she passed the herring gull with the thirty-second head start. And she passed the herring gull with the thirty-five second head start. And she got to the tree of the finish
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line first, and she hovered above it in victory. After that the herring gulls came flying in, one at a time,
and lighted in this deciduous tree’s upper boughs, and began their pleasant chatter of seagulls.
Then Tornado went on to compete in her fourth game of obstacle course of this day’s battle training. Herein was an open field of a dozen effigies of black unicorns “ready for battle.” These were straw forms of unicorn demons, images with sharp spear edges as unicorn horns on their heads. Some of these forms were on their hind legs, some on all four legs, some with their horn lowered for a spearing, some with their horn raised for a goring, some with their legs “in a charge”; some with their legs “at a stay.” And all were different, and none were real. Tornado’s job in this virtual war game was to utterly decimate this “army of the Devil” in “a fierce battle” and not to get wounded by any of these “black unicorns’” “horns” as she did her practice here. This war game would officially start when God sent His crow to come and call forth to Tornado. This crow would then fly away. And Tornado was then to do battle. And this war game would end when God would bring back the crow to this field and crow forth. And she had to get all of this “demon slaying” done before the crow called forth thus for this second call. And if she did this, she would still have fallen short if she suffered a wound upon herself anywhere of any degree from any of these “unicorn horns.” She stood there and had a word of prayer. God sent the crow to call. Virtual battle began. God sent the crow away for a while. Tornado then attacked the twelve “Black Stallion Unicorns” with the same fierceness with which she did attack the one real Black Stallion Unicorn in her real battles. And she ravaged the straw right out of the effigies of Night, one after another. First she was here; then she was there; always she seemed to be everywhere. And she most cautiously evaded the tips of the spears extending out of the unicorn heads. Then the last unicorn of straw was furiously all ripped and spread out upon the ground, its spear/horn falling down upon its current pile of hay on the ground. God then sent the crow back to call again. And virtual battle was done. The army of black unicorns was decimated. The she-griffin soldier was not poked or pricked or cut or torn with any battle wounds in this mock-battle. Tornado had passed this
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practice with flying colors. And a voice from Above called forth, “Well done, good and valiant Tornado.”
Back in the rifle range, the same Heavenly Father, upon seeing his rifleman’s greatest performance of all of his training, called down in like to the griffin keeper, “Well done, O good Christian soldier Flanders.”
The two warriors for Christ, now done with today’s rigorous practices, got back together and sat upon the beach of this Sea of the North. God gave His two rest to their minds and rest to their bodies from this training of this day. And they became refreshed and comfortable in the Lord again. And they then turned in for the day—Flanders to his bedroom of his house, and Tornado to her bedroom of her stable of the night.
And master and griffin got up the next day for prayer and Bible reading out on the northern shore of the Sea of the North in their back yard. Flanders, of course, had his rifle and his artillery belts with him, and Tornado was thinking about the next battle to come against so-tenacious Night.
Just then a telltale unicorn horn toot filled the air, and right after came the indicative temporary gale wind. Then the wind stopped, and all was quiet.
“Master, he is here,” said the she-griffin.
“And yet we cannot yet see him,” said Flanders.
“His magic has been conjured,” said Tornado.
“When we see his magic, then maybe we can see him,” said Flanders.
Behold, a strange billowing cloud of white smoke coming from the Sea of the North to shore not far from where they were sitting.
“Behold the Black Stallion Unicorn’s magic, Master, but where is the Black Stallion Unicorn?” asked Tornado.
“Hiding,” said the griffin keeper. “Hiding on us from behind his magic.”
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“What is that which is white and coming toward us?” asked the griffin.
“Is it white smoke? Is it a white cloud? Is it white fog?” asked Flanders.
“It is quickly coming upon us where we stand, Master,” said Tornado. “Should we retreat?”
“Nay, good Tornado. If we retreat, then he will advance,” said the griffin keeper.
“Master, but would that not be in our favor?” asked the she-griffin.
Understanding her, Flanders said. “Aye, wise griffin. If he advances, then we can see him. Most adept thinking, O Tornado.”
And in courage facing the unknown, master and griffin stood their ground as this white amorphous vapor spread up to them in its midst.
At once griffin and griffin keeper began to tear up in their eyes and to cough in hacking and to choke in their throats. “Retreat!” commanded Flanders in gasps. And the two ran back away and escaped the terrible white cloud. They stood there, looking at each other. Their eyes no longer watered, and they stopped coughing and they could breathe again.
But still the Black Stallion Unicorn did not show himself. And the white smoke was still floating out toward them where they now stood.
“Master, that tasted like sulfur!” exclaimed Tornado.
“It smelled like sulfur, too!” exclaimed the griffin keeper.
“It burns,” said Tornado.
“And it poisons, O comrade,” said Flanders Nickels.
“Are you okay, Master?” asked the she-griffin.
“So far,” said Flanders. “How about you?”
“I am feeling better now,” she said.
“In this battle, O Tornado, we will be all right only as long as we stay away from that cloud,” said Flanders.
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“It is coming upon us right now again, Master,” said Tornado.
“Retreat!” commanded Flanders battle orders.
And the two warriors-for-Christ retreat again a short distance. And they saw the amorphous white cloud of sulfur continue billowing out across this beach toward where they stood.
“Master, that Night is making us get off of our own beach,” said Tornado. The two were now almost off of the sand and almost on the grass of the backyard.
Surveying the opaque cloud of sulfur out over the shore of sand, the griffin keeper said, “I don’t know. The Black Stallion Unicorn could be in the sea; he could be in the air; he could be on the sand right now.”
“How close to the magic need Night to be when he toots his unicorn like he does, Master?” asked Tornado.
“It always seems that his magic is right by him when he conjures it, Tornado,” said the griffin keeper.
She-griffin and griffin master began to cough. The spreading white smoke was coming upon them again even here.
“Retreat,” commanded Flanders. “And the two soldiers of God ran back another ten feet.
In thoughts of what was just said before the command to retreat, Tornado said, “Then, Master, it goes to say that Night cannot be far away when he attacks us with his magic.”
“Perhaps, valiant Tornado, a bunch of shots from my rifle into that cloud of sulfur might make him change his mind about this cloud of his,” said the griffin keeper.
“Shoot him, Master!” agreed the she-griffin.
At once, the rifleman aimed his rifle into that concealing cloud, and he fired a volley of twenty-two caliber bullets into it, hoping that he might get the hidden Night in there with a little luck or with the hand of God.
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Yet that only provoked a diabolical laugh coming unto them from within that sulfur, “Ho ho ho!”
“Missed!” said the griffin keeper.
“Shoot at him again, Master,” said Tornado,
Tornado and Flanders began to cough up spit. The cloud had spread out again to where they had backed away.
“Retreat,” said Flanders. And the two backed up another many feet.
Looking out into the sulfuric smoke, Tornado said, “Alas, Master, our whole beach is covered now with that smoke.”
“That smoke has spread much since it had first come, and it has spread not only back against us and back out across the sea, but also left and right across all the sand. I cannot see our Sea of the North now from where I stand,” said the griffin keeper.
“Curse formidable Night,” cried out Tornado.
The griffin keeper paused to examine the circumstances in this brief moment before he and his ally would have to back up again out of the advancing white smoke. And Flanders said, “One thing I can surmise, Tornado, and that is that the Black Stallion Unicorn is not affected by his own sulfur.”
“Do you mean that he is impervious to his own magic?” asked the griffin comrade.
“He stands there in the middle of his white cloud in concealment, and he laughs,” said the griffin keeper. “That tells me that he is perfectly safe in all of that poison.”
“Shoot at him, O Master, before we have go back up any farther,” said Tornado in suggestion.
And Flanders raised his rifle, and he shot off another volley of bullets into that cloud of acid.
For a while master and she-griffin heard nothing. They waited. They prayed. Then Tornado asked, “Did you get him, Master. Is he dead?”
Just then a devilish laugh came out from that cloud of sulfur, “Ha ha ha!”
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“Curses!” yelled out the griffin keeper. “I missed again.”
The sulfur cloud was coming upon them again. “Retreat,” said Flanders Nickels battle commands. And the two soldiers of Christ backed up again.
“Master, we have gotten far away from our beach,” said Tornado. “The cloud is so big now that any random shooting into it now will not even come close to where the Black Stallion Unicorn hides now.”
Flanders studied this bad situation now with supplications to God. “I have an idea, Tornado,” said Flanders.
“It must have come from God,” said the griffin pet.
“It surely had to, girl,” said Flanders.
“Then it has to work, Master,” said Tornado.
“I ask you now to call out to the Black Stallion Unicorn wherever he is in there, and convince our foe to blow a note on his unicorn horn,” said Flanders.
“You want me to provoke Night to do another black magic trick?” asked Tornado.
“I need you to ask him to blow a note on his unicorn horn,” said Flanders in subtle explanation. “By no means ask Night to perform another black magic trick.”
“Night well knows that whenever he blows a note on his unicorn horn, that the magic trick comes to pass,” said Tornado.
“You and I both know what comes between the toot and the magic, good and faithful griffin,” said Flanders.
“Ah. I understand, Master,” said the griffin ally. And Tornado fully knew the plan. And he said, “I shall obey you and God, my master.”
“I shall be ready with my rifle,” said Flanders Nickels.
And Tornado called forth “Night!”
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From inside that white smoke came forth another dark laugh, “He he he!”
“Night!” called out the griffin warrior again. “I ask you to blow a note on your unicorn horn for me. I want to hear your music.”
“Griffin of God, I make beautiful music and I make great magic,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn from somewhere in there.
“I want to hear you do your thing,” said Tornado.
“You do?” asked Night. “Doesn’t your master also want to hear me do my thing, too?”
“Oh he does. He surely does,” said Tornado.
“But I don’t have any good ideas for what magic I wish to attack you two with right now,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn.
“Then just play with your unicorn horn, Night,” said Tornado.
“I don’t like playing on my unicorn horn and not making any magic when I do,” said Night.
“My master and I are okay with that,” said Tornado. “Play now and do magic later,”
“I do believe that you are trying to trick me, griffin of God,” said Night. “But there is nothing that you and your man with the rifle can do to me as long as I am in this cloud of sulfur.”
“My master and I are getting weary of retreating,” said Tornado.
“I shall humor you and your keeper, Tornado,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn.
And with this, fell Night began to toot a whole series of tones upon his unicorn without conjuring any magic at all against the two soldiers of Jesus. Indeed one toot by itself always had brought a temporary gale force wind. But this time there were a whole little song of toots that he blasted through his unicorn horn. And this brought about a gale storm that got away from Night.
The ensuing gale storm that was unleashed was a gale wind that was the farthest thing from temporary. In fact the Black Stallion Unicorn lost control of his wind. And it blew upon this billowing smoke of sulfur in a wind like unto a tornado. And it blew it all away into the skies above the sea. And this left
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the unicorn demon exposed upon the sand at the edge of the water. And not one magic had been wrought by the great gales all around.
Seeing what he had just done most inadvertently, the Black Stallion Unicorn cried out, “Help! Help!” And he fled for his life away from Flanders in most hasty flight into the air.
Flanders fired a third volley of shots now, this time without the sulfur smoke hindering his line of sight. And he hit Night with a number of bullets, most in uncritical places of his unicorn body, but definitely wounding him more effectively than he had in any of their battles to date.
“You got him, man!” exclaimed Tornado.
“I got him, girl!” exclaimed Flanders.
And Night screamed bloody murder and got away off into the skies. Whether he would live or die, Flanders and Tornado were to find out. Even Night was to find out for himself in the weeks to come.
The Black Stallion Unicorn had gotten the worst of it for his first time in this battle against the griffin keeper and the she-griffin.
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BOOK IV—THE TALE OF GIRL MEETS BOY
CHAPTER I
Lexy Nix Nix, again dressed in her harem girl attire and donning her complete lady archer accouterments, stood upon the edge of the world with her pet he-griffin Cyclone.
“Don’t lean too far over this edge, Mistress,” said Cyclone. “It is a long way down.”
“Do you think that it ever stops, Cyclone?” asked the griffin keeper.
“I myself think that it goes down forever,” said the he-griffin.
“Makes one think that way down there is Hell itself,” said Lexy.
“Hell maybe. A limbo definitely,” said Cyclone.
“The void that is still a mystery to all on this Earth,” said the griffin keeper.
“The Lord called you here, Mistress,” said the griffin pet.
“And you and I followed His call, good and loyal Cyclone,” said Lexy.
“He said, ‘Go west,’” said Cyclone.
“To the Most West, for sure,” said Lexy.
“Here, Mistress, at the West of the West,” said the griffin pet.
“We are standing in the one place on Earth where there is no more Earth farther west,” said
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Miss Nix.
“Just this great chasm, indeed, my mistress,” said the pet griffin.
“A place beyond the world, yet not in outer space,” said the griffin keeper.
“I even get dizzy trying to look down into it,” said Cyclone.
“A woman could fall forever,” said Lexy Nix.
“Mistress, I fear for you, and you do not fear for yourself,” said the he-griffin.
“I should probably step back away from the edge for now, Cyclone,” said the mistress.
“I would feel safer for you if you did that, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“I defer to your prudent caution, Cyclone,” said the griffin keeper, and she stepped back a couple steps away from the edge.
“Mistress, do you think that Jesus wanted you to come here for the same reason that I think?” asked the he-griffin.
“Uh huh,” she said with a nod of her head. “Christ has me to come here to answer all of my prayers,”
“You’ve been praying for a boyfriend-in-the-Lord to come into your life, and now you are here, and here is probably where you will get to meet this guy,” said Cyclone.
“God answers prayers in His most unique ways, O Cyclone,” she said. “What a wonderful place this is to meet my new guy.”
“Not every young Christian woman has God Himself to come down from Heaven to tell her, ‘Go to the West of the West, and there I will answer your prayers.’” said Cyclone her confidant.
“And it was Him. I know,” said the griffin keeper. “His voice was as the sound of many waters.”
“You told me that underneath His feet where He stood was all blue,” said Cyclone.
“Yes, Cyclone, blue like the sky,” answered the griffin keeper.
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“Are not sapphire stones also blue like the sky?” asked the he-griffin.
“I believe so, Cyclone,” said Lexy Nix.
“Well a bunch of Israelites in the Old Testament saw the same Jesus as you did the other day, Mistress,” said the pet griffin.
“That’s in the Bible. Isn’t it?” asked the griffin keeper.
“Yes, Mistress,” said Cyclone. “It is written, ’And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.’ Exodus 24:10.”
“That’s what I saw,” said Lexy. “Who saw Him back then like that?”
“Moses and Aaron and Nadab and Abihu and seventy elders of Israel,” said the griffin Cyclone.
“Oh, a bunch,” said the griffin keeper.
“The God of the Old Testament is the same God of these times today, O Mistress,” said the he-griffin.
“Indeed, only God can find this lonely Christian girl the right man to have as Christian boyfriend,” said Lexy Nix Nix.
Meanwhile at the East of the East stood a young man and his pet she-griffin at the edges of the world. God had told this man, “Go east until you can go east no farther,” This was the Most East.
Beyond here eastward there was no Earth. If one were to go farther east than here, he would be leaving the world. Beyond here was a bottomless pit of a gap. And all the world wondered and knew nothing about this endless drop below. It was, as even scientists had to call it, “a void.”
This man was Flanders Nickels, and this griffin was Tornado.
“It was the Good Lord Who told you to come here. Was it not, Master?” asked the she-griffin pet.
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“It was. He confessed the fact that He was Jesus come in the flesh,” said the griffin keeper.
“All antichrists deny the fact that Jesus had come in the flesh,” said the she-griffin. “He Who talked to you must have been the real Christ,”
“Besides that, girl, this Lord God shined brighter than any angel could shine,” said Flanders.
“What did He look like? Was He all one big bright light?” asked Tornado.
“I saw Him sitting upon a great throne. And I saw a green rainbow. And this green rainbow encircled His throne where He was sitting,” said the griffin keeper.
“That sounds like the Lord Jesus Who summoned the Apostle John to Heaven in Revelation in a temporary rapture,” said Tornado.
“I know what you mean, girl,” said the griffin keeper. “Revelation 4:3, ‘And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.’”
“Emeralds are green,” said Tornado.
“This rainbow I saw when I saw Jesus on His throne was green,” said Flanders.
“An emerald rainbow around God’s throne in Heaven,” said Tornado.
“And He told me, ‘Go to the eastern edges of the Earth, My son, and I shall answer your prayers there,’” said the griffin keeper.
“What has been more of a prayer request in your prayer life, Master, than finding a beautiful girlfriend-in-Christ?” asked his griffin confidante.
“Nothing,” said Flanders.
“Then that must be the reason that God had you and me to come here like this, without a doubt,” said Tornado. “You will find your special Christian girlfriend out here in the East of the East.”
“Or out there in the paradise,” said Flanders.
Tornado looked out into the limbo land. And she said, “Ah, Master, what better place than that
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paradise to meet a gal and fall in love with her,”
This paradise was called “Butte Isle.” It was an island on a towering butte in the middle of this void that extended from the bottom of the Earth all the way up to here on the surface of the Earth. The West of the West and the East of the East were essentially just a few miles apart. The Earth, being a sphere, its travelers could only travel so far east until they were in the west, and its travelers could only travel so far west until they were in the east. And the Most West of the world and its cliff and the Most East of the world and its cliff were separated by this same limbo which stood before Lexy where she now stood and before Flanders where he now stood. And in the middle of this strange mysterious emptiness stood this well-loved Butte Isle, a place where bold adventurers crossed the chasm on a great winged pet to come here and enjoy the peace and joy and love found only here on this island all by itself in the creation.
In the West of the West, God told Lexy, “My daughter and my griffin, come to the island that is a butte out in the middle of the great gap.”
In the East of the East, God said, “My faithful Flanders and you, Tornado, come to Butte Island right now.”
Lexy Nix Nix and her griffin best friend were walking in paradise alone with the Holy Spirit together. Neither spoke a word. Both were reveling in awe at this rustic little heaven. And God filled the air about with wonderful peace and rest and quiet.
Then she saw a man and his own griffin also walking here, coming her way, his countenance and stride and deportment manifestly filled with this same Spirit of peacefulness as this butte of an island. This man was short in stature, maybe even a few inches shorter than herself, who was a taller woman than most. And he was slim in physique, just as she was slim in physique. And he had a strange appurtenance with a leather strap that he wore along his back. It did not seem to be a tool or a
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toy or a keepsake. It could have been a weapon. It looked to be one part wood and one part iron. This was unlike anything that the lady archer had seen in her life with bows and arrows. Then she saw that he had a strange belt full of little cylinders or capsules around his waist. This was exactly the same thing that she had seen and known about in her dressing life. She had three of these same things around her person right now all the time for decoration, two down her shoulders, and the one right around her waist like him. He got closer as they continued walking toward each other in this isolated island atop this butte. And she saw him to have an overbite. Imagine this, a cute guy with buck teeth! This had to be the guy that God had for her. She saw that he also had a mustache, indeed one so long that she thought that he could eat his mustache. He was a true catch of a man for her. And he had a beard, also, long and sparse; he looked kind of like a billy goat. That must be why a goatee was called thus. That was what he had on his chin, and she loved it just the way it was. His hair was straight and brown and unevenly cut across the bangs. She could tell that he always cut his hair himself, probably with a little scissors in his medicine cabinet and in front of the mirror. His casual approach to his hair must surely have given him more time to spend with God in his quiet time with God. This man was a keeper for a woman like herself who also spent much quiet time with God. As for his nose, it was big and manifest and comely. She would love to touch his nose with her nose. As for his attire, he had on blue jeans that were an inch longer than his legs and a men’s long-sleeved blue chambray work shirt untucked and a men’s leather vest with buttons broken off and unbuttoned. In his one hand he held a pair of men’s black penny loafers. In his other hand he held a men’s paisley Jiffy hat. His feet, of course, were bare. This fellow with the griffin was the most exciting man that she had ever seen. It was truly major crush at first sight. Truly it had to become love at second sight.
Flanders Nickels and his pet griffin were walking reflectively in silence upon this Butte Isle.
Both were looking around for the woman that God had to give him up here between the two edges
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of the Earth. Here it was almost as carefree and full of God as was Heaven Itself.
Then Flanders saw a woman and her griffin. Both were far away. But they were definitely coming his way from in front of him. Flanders saw the flowing of a ravishing skirt above the ankles as the woman walked. Flanders saw the woman holding a bow in her left hand and an arrow in her right hand as she drew closer. And it looked like she was barefoot like himself. And then he saw a quiver of arrows along her back and a little green cap on her head. And then she was nearer as both walked toward each other. Behold, a fetching young green woman with wild purple hair and protruding lips and squat nose and eyes of black. This young lady looked like she had not come from this planet, but that made her all the more ravishing for this man who adored her extraterrestrial features just as they were. This woman was truly endowed by God in the eyes of Flanders. And her attire—it was positively Arabic—and she was positively not Arabic. And this Arabic-type woman had a top and a pants and a skirt. She looked like a siren of a harem girl. She could pass for a belly dance girl. He wanted her to become his girl. He had seen Arab women before that were dressed with a top and a single bottom of a pants of that area of the world. And he had seen Arab women before that were dressed with a top and a single bottom of a skirt from that part of the world. But this was the first Arab woman that he had seen dressed in a top and in a dual bottom of a pants inside a skirt like this. He could not tell which was more desirable—her face or her outfit. Then he saw something else about her.
And he marveled in glory of God. What did he see about her? She had on around her waist and diagonally down her torso three of his own invented artillery belts. Where did she get these? He had sold these three ammunition belts to a shopkeeper far away when he himself was short of money. He had never sold any others of his artillery belts before or since. The only three that he had to relinquish in his life as the rifle inventor were upon this beautiful woman’s person before him right now. He had thought to never see them again. And here they were before him now once again, worn by a belly dance girl of a woman, making her more like a dream girl to him now than the real girl before him
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now on Butte Isle.
Flanders Nickels stopped in front of this harem girl. He smiled at her in kindness and affection.
Lexy Nix stopped in front of this handsome prince of a guy. She smiled back at him in ardor.
He spoke first and said, “Most fair miss, have you come for me from God?”
“My Jesus has sent me here to find a boyfriend-in-Christ, O kind sir.” said Lexy. A silent moment went by; then Lexy said, “Are you, I pray, my one from the Lord, O sir?”
“My Jesus sent me here to find you, Miss,” said Flanders Nickels.
“My name is ‘Lexy,’” said the lady archer. “Lexy Nix Nix.”
“And I am ‘Flanders,” said the rifleman. “Flanders Arckery Nickels.”
“You’ve got a pretty griffin, Flanders,” said Lexy.
Flanders’s she-griffin bowed before the belly dance girl and said, “I am ‘Tornado.’ And I am pleased to meet you, Miss Nix.”
And Flanders said, “You’ve got a handsome griffin yourself, Lexy.”
And Lexy’s he-griffin bowed before the rifleman and said, “I am ‘Cyclone,’ and I thank you for your compliment, Mr. Nickels.”
Cyclone, himself also having desired a mate of his own, spoke and said, “I agree with you, Mistress. That Tornado is pretty.”
“You really think so, Cyclone?” asked Lexy.
“Oh yes, Mistress,” said Cyclone. “For sure.”
“Maybe you should tell Tornado that,” said Lexy.
“You see me as a pretty griffin, Cyclone?” asked Tornado.
“I do, at that, Tornado,” said Cyclone.
“Master,” said Tornado, also seeking a mate of her own, said, “I find Cyclone quite handsome, if I do say so myself,”
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“Silly pet griffin. Tell him, not me,” said Flanders.
“Of course,” said Tornado.
“Do you really think that I am attractive, Tornado?” asked Cyclone.
“You are the most attractive of griffins, Cyclone,” said Tornado.
“Why, thank you, Tornado,” said Cyclone.
“And I thank you, Cyclone,” said Tornado.
“Shall we go away and chat, Tornado?” suggested Cyclone.
“If that would be okay with our keepers, Cyclone,” said Tornado.
“’Go, good girl,” said Flanders. “And God be with you.”
“Go and have a good time, Cyclone,” said Lexy.
And the two griffin mates flew off to the other side of Butte Island for a private chat between each other.
Flanders and Lexy were now alone with each other. Flanders said, “Now we can be alone together and talk, Lexy.”
“I would like that very much, Flanders,” said Lexy. Then she asked, “Do you find me pretty, Flanders?”
In his secret thoughts only to himself and God, Flanders could see a resemblance between Lexy and Allyson. But, though they looked like each other, where Allyson was pretty, Lexy was beautiful. And he said in truth, “Lexy, you are the most stunning woman I have seen in this life.”
“No man has said that to me before,” said Lexy.
“I would think that every man would say that,” said Flanders. “You are a fascinating mystique of a woman to me. Everything about you is beautiful, and nothing about you is average. A girl like you can be found in this world only by the Maker of this world. I am so happy being with you right now for my first time.”
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“What a way for a guy to say to a gal, ‘I love you,’” said Lexy.
“What about you?” asked Flanders. “Do you think that you might love me?”
She sighed in reverie and giddy romance, and she said. “I never loved a guy before, Flanders. And I do not know for sure what love is. But I can say, ‘If I do not yet love you, it is awful close to love right now. And if it is not yet love that I feel for you, it surely will be before too long. And my woman’s heart does not want to keep love waiting.’”
“More true love than that no woman can say to any man,” said Flanders.
Lexy looked down in dreams and put her hands to her three artillery belts. Flanders looked down upon his artillery belt and put his hands to it.
She said, “I always wondered what these were that I wear for jewelry.”
He said, “They are the same thing that I wear for my mission for Jesus.”
“What are these?” she asked, putting her thumb and index finger to one of the pieces that made up her ammunition belt around her waist.
“They are called ‘bullets,’” he said.
“What do bullets do?” she asked.
“They are meant to slay evil black unicorns,” he said.
“My mission also is all about slaying evil black unicorns,” she said.
“I shoot bullets from my rifle at my unicorn demon,” he said. “Do you shoot arrows from your bow at your unicorn demon?”
“I do,” she said. “That is also my mission from God,”
“My griffin Tornado helps me in my battles,” said Flanders.
“My griffin Cyclone does the same for me in my battles,” said Lexy Nix.
“I must say, ‘No two people seeking companions of the opposite gender have more in common than you and I do, stunning Lexy,’” said Flanders Nickels.
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“A lonely girl of the Lord can’t help falling in love hearing that from a lonely guy of Christ, O Flanders,” said Lexy.
“If you were my wife, we should hug each other long and hard,” said Flanders.
“Can two people like us hug here in paradise, and God cannot see us?” asked Lexy.
“God sees the evil, and God sees the good,” said Flanders.
“Which is an embrace?” she asked. “Evil or good?”
Swept up into spontaneous romance, he did not answer her question, but did say, “It is when a man and a woman put their arms around each other and hold on to each other and become each other.”
“I have not an other in my life, Flanders,” said Lexy.
“Nor I, Lexy,” said Flanders.
“You are my first,” said Lexy.
“You are my only,” said Flanders.
“We are alone in the countryside out of this world,” said Lexy.
“God sees all,” said Flanders.
“God sees us,” said Lexy.
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good,” recited Flanders apropos Scripture.
“Proverbs 15:3,” said Lexy this verse’s reference.
Being good in the Lord, Flanders put his arms behind his own back. Lexy did the same. Whether it were okay in God for the two lonely people to give each other a hug, themselves not yet betrothed, both had doubts. This way they could not go and embrace each other with their hands behind their own backs. Lexy was glad for now for what he refused with her.
Lexy began to wonder if it would be so bad in God were she to give Flanders a quick little kiss
with the both of them having their arms behind their own backs. What a neat way to steal a kiss from a
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real cute guy now her boyfriend. It would be romance like none she had felt before. Sweet and short and never to be forgotten for the rest of her life.
Lexy spoke now and said, “Maybe, Flanders, if we cannot hug each other, could we maybe have a fun little kiss instead?”
“Ah, a kiss,” said Flanders, “one of the gifts that God gives to a man and a woman in marriage.”
She thought for a while, and then she said, “Did you as a guy ever get to do something like that before in your life?”
“Not yet, Lexy,” said Flanders.
“I, neither,” said Lexy.
“I wonder if a first kiss is the best kiss,” said Flanders.
“A first kiss might miss,” she said.
“A boyfriend and girlfriend would get the second kiss right,” said Flanders.
“We could maybe try it with each other now sometime and see how we do with our first time at it,” said Lexy.
“Maybe, if we did get betrothed, you and I could kiss each other any time the feeling came upon us like this,” said Flanders.
“We do have this feeling coming upon us right now, and we are boyfriend-and-girlfriend right now. Isn’t that so, Flanders?” asked Lexy.
Flanders Nickels spoke and said, “Proverbs 15:11.”
Knowing this verse, Lexy recited it for them both, “Hell and destruction are before the Lord: how much more then the hearts of the children of men?”
Doubting the righteousness of a first kiss like this, Flanders put his hand over his lips. Lexy did the same. There was going to be no kiss today between the man and the woman. Praise God.
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Indeed did Lexy had rest about this in Christ. So, too, did Flanders. It is written, “And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Romans 14:23.
Flanders and Lexy doubted the righteousness of a kiss right now, and if they had gone ahead and done such a thing without sureness of the will of God regarding such a romance like this, it would have been a sin between them.
Flanders then proffered his right hand and asked her, “Stunning Lexy, would you walk with me in paradise?”
She took his right hand in her left hand, and she said, “A walk with you in Butte Island would surely make me happy and make God happy, too, handsome Flanders.”
And two lonely griffin keepers became Christian girlfriend and Christian boyfriend.
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CHAPTER II
It was the next morning now for the band of four God-fearing pilgrims here on Butte Island. The two couples were on their second day here in this little Heaven. The lady archer and the gentleman rifleman were demonstrating their artillery and their skills with their artillery.
Lexy Nix Nix took her bow and arrow, nocked the arrow on her bowstring and asked, “Where would you like me to shoot, Flanders?”
He looked out into the distance and asked, “Do you see that fallen tree over up ahead?”
“I see it, Flanders,” said the lady archer.
“Try to hit it with your arrow, girl,” he challenged her.
“It is lying down upon its side,” she said. “I would have to shoot my arrow high up in the air and have it fall down upon the trunk from way up.”
“Give it some arc, maybe, Lexy,” said Flanders.
“That I shall do, Flanders,” said Lexy. And Lexy Nix studied the fallen tree, raised her aim upward, and said, “I seek to hit it in its bottom of its trunk. Do guide my arrow if You would, precious Jesus.” And she fired her arrow. All four saw this arrow ascend high up into the skies, stop its ascent,
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and begin its descent.
“It looks good so far, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“Coming down!” said Flanders.
“Go go go!” said Tornado.
And the arrow landed right into the bottom of the trunk of the fallen tree and stuck there fast and did not move.
“Bravo!” said Flanders, clapping and glad and impressed.
“Encore!” cheered Tornado.
“Show them again, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“I would be glad to show you again,” said Lexy. “What would you guys like me to shoot at this time?”
Flanders said, “That rock in the sand dune.”
Tornado said, “That pear in the pear tree.”
Cyclone said, “That great big leaf in the Catalpa tree.”
And Lexy said, “Would you guys like it if I went ahead and shot all three of them?”
In braggadocio of his new lady archer girlfriend, Flanders said, “All three at once.”
In merriment, Cyclone said, “My mistress can do that.”
Also in the mirth of this moment, Tornado said, “Three arrows all at the same time. Yes!”
Settling her three friends down, Lexy said, “That’s impossible. I will shoot three arrows—but one after another. But I will still hit my marks. God has made me good, real good.”
And Lexy fired her three arrows at her three marks, one at a time, and each time she hit her mark. First she hit the rock; then she hit the pear; then she hit the Catalpa leaf.
Then Flanders Nickels asked her, “Would you be willing to shoot an apple off of your boyfriend’s head, Lexy?”
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“With God as my Lord, I could shoot an acorn out of your hand, Flanders,” said Lexy sure of herself, but even more sure of God.
“Master, do not do so,” said Tornado, not so keen about her master’s request.
“Tornado, peace be to you,” said Cyclone. “My mistress has never missed the apple on my head when we do this archery game together—she and I.”
And Tornado said, “Well, then, Master, go for it.”
And Flanders picked a red apple and a green apple, held them in his hands to choose, and ended up choosing both of them; and he put them both upon his head, one behind the other, and he put his arms akimbo and awaited his lady archer to demonstrate her great prowess of artillery.
And Lexy said, “There once was a fellow in a fairy tale who bragged, ‘I killed seven with one blow.’ Everybody thought that he meant seven people, but he really meant seven flies. Well I am going to shoot through two with one arrow. And by this I mean that I will fire one arrow and take both apples off of my boyfriend’s head at once with this one arrow.”
Flanders said, “The apples feel like they are about to fall off right now, Lexy.”
“You better hurry up before they fall, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“Be brave, Master,” said Tornado.
“I feel brave,” said Flanders Nickels.
And the lady archer nocked her arrow, raised her bow, drew back the string, and aimed. And she fired. The arrow zoomed through the air with the sound of speeding little wind, and it went right through both the apple in front and the apple in back, and it continued on past the man, carrying two apples with it, and then it fell to earth well past the man. And the man was unharmed and unfazed.
“I knew you could do it, Lexy,” said Flanders.
“Whoa, a boyfriend who not only sees me as desirable, but also believes in my archery,” said Lexy in great gratitude to him.
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“You make a better archer than I do a rifleman,” said Flanders.
“I don’t know about that, Flanders,” said Lexy. “Would you show me the things that you can do with your rifle right now?”
“It is more like what my rifle can do with me,” said Flanders. “Though my rifle may be the greatest weapon in the world ever used by a Christian soldier, my aim is not so good as the rifle I shoot.”
“Could I see some of what makes it the greatest weapon ever used against demons, Flanders?” asked Lexy.
“What would you like me to shoot, O girlfriend?” asked Flanders, honoring her request.
“How about shooting that tree over there in its trunk?” she asked. She pointed toward it.
“That box elder ten yards away?” he asked.
“Uh huh, boyfriend,” she said. “Right in its trunk.”
“That I can surely shoot at,” he said.
Cyclone said, “That trunk must be a good one foot in diameter.”
“Its wood is most solid, Cyclone,” said Tornado. “Box elders are powerful trees, even a young one like this.”
“Will it blow up when your bullet hits it?” asked Lexy in her lack of knowledge about this rifle’s artillery.
“No, Lexy. But it will go deep into the wood before it stops,” said Flanders.
He put in a bullet from his ammunition belt, prepared the rifle, aimed at the tree, and fired one shot.
“I don’t see it, Mistress,” said Cyclone, also not wise in the ways of the rifleman’s artillery.
“Nothing happened,” said Lexy, with lots to learn yet about her boyfriend’s invention.
And Tornado said, “Direct hit, Master.”
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Lexy said, “Cyclone, let’s go up to the tree and get a real close look.”
And mistress and griffin pet scampered up to the box elder trunk to find out what happened. “Oh, I see a little hole in here,”said Lexy.
“I see it, too,” said Cyclone. “And it gets bigger the farther in it is.”
“Why it must be in there a good six inches,” said Lexy.
“It is. It is, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“None of my arrows can do that,” said Lexy Nix.
“What is this unusual and novel artillery, O Flanders?” asked Cyclone in awe.
“He calls them ‘bullets.’” said Lexy.
“These are twenty-two caliber bullets,” said Flanders.
“What’s a caliber?” asked Lexy and Cyclone both at once.
The rifleman said, “A ‘caliber’ is the ‘bore diameter in hundredths of an inch.’”
Cyclone and Lexy pondered this for a short while. Then Cyclone said, “Do your 22-caliber bullets have a diameter of twenty-two hundredths of an inch?”
“Yes. Their diameter is .22 of one inch,” said Flanders.
“That is 5.6 millimeters in Metric,” said Tornado.
“Why, that kind of artillery can go right through a whole unicorn demon,” said Lexy.
“Your arrows cannot do that, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“Nothing on this Earth short of God can do that, Cyclone,” said Lexy.
“I give the credit to the Lord,” said the rifleman.
“Master, show them more,” said Tornado.
“What would you guys like to have me shoot at next?” asked Flanders.
Lexy said, “An apple off of my head, Flanders.”
Cyclone said, “Yes! Yes!”
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Tornado said, “Ay ay”
And Flanders said, “I trust your arrow and the apple on my head, good girlfriend. But I do not trust my bullet and any apple on your head.”
“What decimation your rifle’s artillery could do to a simple little apple, Flanders,” said Lexy.
“I refuse to endanger the beautiful head of my darling,” said Flanders, absolute and unyielding.
“What if I were to hold an apple in my hand?” she asked.
“Your hand is precious to me. I refuse to accidentally hit it with my yet-unsure aim,” he said.
Cyclone pondered the rifleman’s words and said, “Maybe we should not go for it this time, Mistress.”
Yet Lexy was stubborn, and she said, “I can hold the apple up by its stem between my thumb and my index finger, Flanders.”
“Your thumb and index finger are more attractive to me than any other woman in her whole self, Lexy,” he said. “I would die inside if I shot off your fingers in an accident.”
“Well, okay,” said Lexy. “Suppose I have you shoot an apple out of the tree. I won’t make you afraid for me if you shoot at an apple that is still in the apple tree.”
“That I have rest in the Lord in doing, precious Lexy,” said the rifle inventor.
“How about this one right here?” asked Lexy. She put her hand to the lowest branch of the apple tree before them and touched the lowest apple of its branch. “That one, if you would,” she said.
Cyclone gave her an indication in his look. In understanding, Lexy backed away from the apple tree for Flanders to shoot his rifle.
Nothing was between Flanders and this apple tree. This apple tree was ten feet away from where he stood. And this apple was the easiest apple to hit of all the apples on this tree. It looked to be about three inches in diameter. It was a bright red apple. And it was waiting for him to show off his invincible weapon. He was calm and relaxed and confident. His new girlfriend could not be in danger
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with this demonstration. And he called upon God, and he shot at the apple hanging in the apple tree.
“It is completely broken up!” exclaimed Lexy.
“What powerful destruction from an artillery projectile so small, Flanders!” praised Cyclone.
“Flanders, you are better with your rifle than you give yourself credit for,” said Lexy Nix.
“Maybe I am better than I thought, Lexy,” said Flanders.
She then picked an apple off of this tree and held it in the air by its stem between her thumb and her index finger. “Boyfriend, if you can do what you just did with that apple hanging from the tree, you can also do the same thing with this apple hanging from my hand,” said Lexy.
Such a wave of encouragement swept over the rifleman upon hearing this pretty woman’s confidence in him. And he gave in to her assurance and said, “Yes, Lexy. I think that I shall go for it.”
“Now is the time, Master,” said Tornado, understanding how this could be the stepping stone that would give her master the sureness that a demon-slayer for God needed to have in battles.
The lady held up the apple dangling from her hand; Flanders aimed and fired; and the apple was most accurately shot out from below her two fingers with which she had held it.
“Why, I did it!” said Flanders.
“My new boyfriend is the best at what he does,” bragged Lexy on him.
“Mistress, what do you think?” asked Cyclone, equally awed by rifle and bullet and rifleman.
“I think it is time that he shoot an apple off of the palm of my hand next,” she said. “Would you do that for me, Flanders?” she asked.
“I shall, stunning girlfriend,” he said. She picked an apple, held it on her open hand and awaited her skilled boyfriend to do his thing. He aimed and pulled the trigger and indeed shot the apple right off of her palm. Mighty in good confidence, Flanders went on to say, “Lexy, would you do me the honor of shooting an apple off of your head?” She nodded. And she put an apple on her head, and he went and most accurately shot the apple off of her head. Now he was fully ready for Night for good.
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“You are a great inventor and a worthy foe to black unicorns, Flanders,” said the lady archer.
“I am greatly encouraged by those words, girlfriend,” said Flanders. “I shall not forget them.”
“You have your black unicorn demon, and I have mine,” said Lexy.
“Mine is the Black Stallion Unicorn,” said Flanders. “His name is ‘Night.’”
“Mine is the Black Mare Unicorn,” said Lexy. “Her name is ‘Evening.’”
“Where did your unicorn demoness come from?” asked Flanders. “What does this Evening have against you that she seeks your life?”
“It all began early in my life with Christ with my best friend Carly. Carly was my best friend before I met Cyclone. And Carly was not saved as I was. And she discovered a new best friend instead of myself. And it was a black filly unicorn,” said Lexy.
“A girl unicorn!” exclaimed Flanders.
“A female unicorn who was not grown up yet, at that, Flanders,” said Miss Nix.
“What was she messing around with a friend like that for?” asked Flanders.
“She did not have Christ, and she wanted to have some fun in her life the way that people sometimes do all wrong when they do not have Christ,” said Lexy.
“Did you warn her about Hell?” asked Flanders.
“Yes. I did that first of all,” said Lexy.
“Did you tell her about how she would miss out on Heaven, having a black filly unicorn like that to spend time with?” asked Flanders.
“Yes. That I did, too, for sure,” said Lexy.
“You surely told her about the Saviour,” said Flanders.
“Uh huh,” said Lexy. “And that was when this girl unicorn demon started to persecute me,
Flanders.” She went on to say, “I had my personal Saviour the Lord Jesus. And Carly needed this same personal Saviour—not this little filly unicorn—in her life.”
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“This black filly unicorn started to persecute you not when you told Carly about Hell, and not when you told Carly about Heaven, but when you told Carly about Christ,” said Flanders.
“Demons cry out in demonic utterances when the name of Christ is preached,” said Lexy. “Jesus was too much for this black filly unicorn to endure when I preached Him to Carly as I did.”
“What did Carly say about all of this?” asked Flanders.
“You would not believe it if I told you,” said Lexy.
“Do tell me, if you would,” said Flanders.
“She told me to quit picking on her black unicorn friend,” said Lexy. “But I refused to quit seeking Carly’s soul. I went on to tell her about her need for Christ every day then.”
“It sounds like a dangerous thing you were doing with a she-devil unicorn having come between you and Carly,” said Flanders.
“Yeah. That it happened,” said Lexy.
“What happened?” asked Flanders.
“Carly’s black filly unicorn attacked me when I shared John 3:16 with Carly right in front of her,” said Lexy.
“John 3:16,” said Flanders. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
“That set the filly demon over the edge, and she went after me,” said Lexy.
“Did she hurt you?” asked Flanders.
“She charged me, and she threw her right front hoof right at me, and she socked me in the belly,” said Lexy.
“The wickedness of a devil,” said Flanders.
“I fell down on my bottom. I could not breathe. I thought that I was going to die,” said Lexy.
“That hurt bad.”
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“Then what happened?” asked Flanders.
“You would not believe this, either, boyfriend,” said Lexy. “But you’ve got to hear it.”
“Tell me,” said Flanders.
“This time Carly told the black filly unicorn to quit picking on me,” said Lexy.
“Turnabout!” said Flanders.
“Turnaround is fair play,” said Lexy, jubilant in this reminiscence.
“”Serves the black filly unicorn right,” said Flanders Nickels.
“And then Carly asked me if we could be best friends again,” said Lexy.
“What a good ending,” said Flanders.
“Oh, it gets better than that,” said Lexy. “Wouldn’t you know it, but Carly then asked me if I would lead her to Christ right then and right there.”
“Amen!” said Flanders.
“Amen, Flanders,” said Lexy. “And I got to lead Carly to salvation right in front of the black filly unicorn, and the young she-demon unicorn did not know what to do to keep it from happening. God must have struck the young female unicorn demon dumb. Praise God.”
“How was your stomach feeling all this while?” asked Flanders.
“I thought about throwing up all this time, but nothing came up. I thank God for that, too,” said Lexy.
“The black filly unicorn lost the battle over Carly,” said Flanders.
“But she began her battles against myself,” said Lexy.
Flanders pondered her words. Then he said, “This black filly unicorn became your Black Mare Unicorn. Didn’t she, Lexy?”
“And that was when I took up archery for God,” said Lexy.
“That is why you are a lady archer now. Isn’t it?” asked Flanders.
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“Yes, Flanders,” said Lexy. “I am called of God to slay Evening with my bow and arrow,”
“Demons are tenacious,” said Flanders.
She sighed, then said, “Would that Night had done what she did to Carly to myself instead.”
“Did the Black Mare Unicorn kick her belly with her hoof, too?” asked Flanders.
“The Black Mare Unicorn ran her unicorn horn through Carly’s belly and killed her,” said Lexy.
“Oh! I am so sorry,” said Flanders.
“She’s in Heaven now, where Night shall never be,” said Lexy.
“You will see Carly again,” said Flanders.
“The Holy Comforter tells me that,” said Lexy. “I am greatly comforted in knowing that.”
“All because all born-again believers get to see in Heaven all the other born-again believers who passed on before them into Heaven,” said Flanders. “’Wherefore comfort one another with these words,’ I Thessalonians 4:18.”
“But how about you and your Black Stallion Unicorn, Flanders?” asked Lexy. “What got Night so mad at you that he keeps coming after you all the time?”
“It all started with Uncle Proffery,” said Flanders.
“Were you close to your uncle?” asked Lexy.
“I was his favorite nephew,” said Flanders.
“What did you two do together?” asked Lexy
“He was an inventor, and I was his student,” said Flanders.
“He was an inventor like you are an inventor, Flanders,” said Lexy.
“He it was who invented bullets, and I it was who went on to invent the rifle that shoots them,” said Flanders.
“Usually the saying goes, ‘Like father; like son,’ but in this case it goes, “Like uncle; like nephew.’” said Lexy Nix.
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“Uncle Proffery was centuries before his time,” said Flanders.
“How does this all work, Flanders—shooting your rifle with the bullets from your artillery belt?” asked Lexy.
“I’ll show you,” he said. And he showed and told her how his rifle fired bullets. “One takes a bullet like this from the ammunition belt and puts it into the chamber like this. Then the firing pin is pulled back. The twenty-two caliber bullet is now held back by spring tension. Then you squeeze the trigger. This releases the firing pin. And this firing pin then moves forward with great force. And it strikes the primer. The primer explodes. The spark from the primer ignites the gunpowder in the cartridge. The exploding gunpowder in the cartridge causes expanding gases. And the expanding gases force the bullet out of the cartridge. The bullet is then driven down the barrel of the rifle with great speed. Inside the barrel of the rifle are spiral grooves. I call these spiral grooves ‘rifling.’ This rifling causes the bullet to spin as it travels out of the barrel. The bullet’s speed and the expanding gases are what makes the bang that I hear when I fire my rifle.”
“What your uncle started, you finished, Flanders,” said Lexy.
“Alas, my Uncle Proffery had a questionable companion,” said Flanders.
“Like my Carly did,” said Lexy. “Don’t tell me that your uncle became friends with a black unicorn, too, Flanders,” said Lexy.
“It started out as just an acquaintance, too,” said Flanders. “But then they became friends.”
“Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners,” said Lexy.
“I Corinthians 15:33, indeed Lexy,” said Flanders.
“In her accurate understanding of this verse, Lexy said about its meaning, “If you chum around with the wrong crowd, you will get just like them.”
“I warned Uncle Proffery about that demon unicorn. I told him time and time again, ‘Unless you repent of your sins, Uncle, you will end up in Hell when you die.’ But the black unicorn kept telling
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him, ‘Don’t listen to your nephew. What does he know that you do not? He’s still just a kid.’” said Flanders to Lexy.
“What did your uncle see in the unicorn demon, Flanders?” asked Lexy.
“A demon full of flattery heaped upon my uncle,” said Flanders. “Uncle Proffery loved it when the black unicorn came to his shop and told him great things about himself and about his brilliant mind.”
“Why would a demon brag on a mortal?” asked Lexy.
“To make my uncle believe the unicorn in his words to reject Jesus and not to believe me in my words about accepting Jesus,” said Flanders.
Lexy paused, then said, “Your uncle was killed. Wasn’t he?”
“He was,” said Flanders.
“He died in his sins. Didn’t he?” asked Lexy.
“With a unicorn horn through his heart,” said Flanders.
What made the black unicorn think to gain by killing a man lost in his sins?” asked Lexy.
“I feel that I was beginning to get Uncle Proffery to see his need for Jesus. The black unicorn did not want to lose him to God,” said Flanders. “So he slew Uncle Proffery before Uncle Proffery changed his mind about Christ.”
“Alas, Flanders! You will never see Proffery again. He’s in Hell. You will be in Heaven,” said Lexy.
“I know that. And I sorrow over that,” said Flanders.
“This was not just Proffery’s unicorn then. He is your unicorn foe of today. Isn’t he?” asked Lexy.
“The very Black Stallion Unicorn who wants me dead today, O Lexy,” said Flanders.
“Night!” said Lexy.
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“And the very day that Uncle was slain, I began to invent the weapon that could shoot Uncle’s bullets.” said Flanders. “And not long later, there it was—my formidable rifle, Lexy.”
“God called you to become the rifleman that you are now, Flanders,” said Lexy.
“Hence my ministry to God as a demon slayer, Lexy,” said Flanders Nickels.
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CHAPTER III
How did Miss Lexy Nix Nix become a born-again Christian? The following narrative and dialogue tell the true tale:
At a very young age. Lexy went to a Billy Graham crusade with her family at a football stadium. And she first heard the name of the Lord spoken. Billy Graham stirred up his listeners into a fervor, and the whole stadium was saying the name of Jesus in a loud zeal, and the name of Jesus was
being glorified. This praise of Jesus surely must have gone all the way up to Heaven to Jesus’s throne!
Little Lexy did not know this Jesus personally. Who was this Jesus Whose name was being yelled out in great glory to Himself? And Lexy first began to wonder about God.
Not long later, Lexy went to a football game with her family at this same football stadium. And the home team was playing very poorly and was on the way to another loss this time today. And Lexy heard the name of the Lord spoken again here, too. The name of Jesus was being yelled out by many unhappy fans, and this name of Jesus was being used in vain, to the inglory of Him instead, and in very curse itself. Again, Lexy did not know who this Jesus was. And this time she wondered, Who was this Lord Jesus, Whose name was being used as a bad word? Lexy pondered more upon God.
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And little Lexy began to ask questions to everybody whom she thought would have the right answer for her. She began to seek God.
First she asked her first grade teacher, “Miss Instruction, Who is Jesus?”
And Miss Instruction said, “Lexy, Jesus is a great teacher,”
Then she asked her principal, “Mr. Headmaster, Who is Jesus?”
And Mr. Headmaster said, “Jesus is not real.”
Then she asked the school janitor, “Mr. Mop-up, Who is Jesus?”
And Mr. Mop-up said, “Jesus is dead.”
After this, she asked the brightest kid in class, “Pupil, Who is Jesus?”
And Pupil said, “Jesus is called ‘the Great Physician,’”
Then she asked the least bright kid in class, “Dunce, Who is Jesus?”
And Dunce said. “I don’t know. I never heard about this Jesus.”
Then she asked a Catholic priest, “Sir, Who is Jesus?”
And the Catholic priest said, “The son of the blessed virgin Mary, she who never sinned.”
Then she asked a Lutheran minister, “Pastor Luther, Who is Jesus?”
And Pastor Luther said, “He was a great martyr.”
She then asked her next-door neighbors, “Mr. and Mrs. Door, Who is Jesus?”
And Mr. Door said, “He was a great Jew.”
And Mrs. Door said, “He was a great Christian.”
Lexy, after hearing these nine specious answers, found all of them most false or at best not the whole truth. And none of these answers claimed the deity of Christ. Billy Graham at the stadium had said that Jesus was God. The maddening crowd had blasphemed Jesus most sacrilegiously at that same stadium not too long later. Who was this Lord Jesus whose name was so integral, and yet Whose Person everybody disagreed on? She had to find out, for sure. Or else something bad might happen
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to her if she were to die and go to the life after.
Why, Lexy could ask God Himself Who He was! She would ask this Jesus, “Lord, Who are You?” If she needed to find out more about Him for the good of her soul maybe, would not He tell her what she needed to know about Him? And she got down on her knees beside her bed one night, and she prayed for her first time. She said, “O Jesus, would You tell me about Yourself?” These were a little girl’s eight sincere words of simple interrogative. And she was five years old. The loving Lord heard her prayer from Heaven. He began to answer her prayer. He began to work out circumstances in her life that were to save her soul to the uttermost. And she was going to be mighty saved from her sins. She was to become a daughter of God not very long later.
Not long after her fervent prayer, Lexy and her family went to a Jesus rally at a church down the road called “Fundamentalist Baptist Church.” Lexy right away asked the pastor, “Pastor Sunday, Who is Jesus?”
And Mr. Sunday right away confessed, “Jesus is God,”
Finally, an answer that was completely true and the whole truth. Lexy knew now that she had come to the right place. She had hopes that all was soon to be well with her eternal soul.
Pastor Sunday of Fundamentalist Baptist Church went on to say to her, “The Apostle Paul says several times in the book of Colossians how Jesus is God, little Lexy.”
“Would you tell them all to me, Pastor Sunday?” asked young Lexy the girl.
“That I can,” said the good Baptist pastor. “In Colossians 1:15 it says about Jesus, ‘Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.’ In Colossians 1:17. it says about this same Jesus, ‘And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.’ And in Colossians 1:19. God’s Word says this about Jesus, ‘For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.’ And in Colossians 2:9, the Holy Bible says this about the Good Lord Jesus, ‘For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.’”
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“Good Pastor Sunday, would you tell me what I need to know about Jesus that I do not know right now?” asked little Lexy. “All of these things are all brand new to a little girl like myself.”
“I can tell you all that you need to know about Jesus in order to become born again,” said the good pastor.
“I am not born again right now. But I would like to become born again right here right away,” said young Lexy.
And Pastor Sunday preached the doctrine of Christ to a young girl barely out of kindergarten:
“This Jesus, also called ‘Christ,’ was born into life on Earth in a manger. His mother was the virgin Mary. His father, through a divine conception, was the Holy Spirit. This is what Christmas is all about.
Before Christ was born as a baby, He had been living already for forever up in the glories of Heaven at God His Father’s right hand side. After His birth as a baby, Christ was God Himself living in the Earth that He had made as Creator. At thirty years of age, He began His three-year ministry to the world as the God-man. He had John the Baptist baptize Him in the Jordan River. In the middle of this, John the Baptist saw a dove that was the Holy Spirit come down from Heaven and light upon Him, and he heard God the Father call down from Heaven saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’
Next in Christ’s life, the old Devil came down from the sky to tempt Him. And Satan tempted God three times to fall into sin alone with him in the wilderness. Finding strength to overcome these temptations through quoting Old Testament scripture, Christ prevailed over Satan. In Mark 10:45 it is written about Christ, ‘For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.’ And for his next three years of life on earth, from thirty years old to thirty-three years old, Jesus went on to prove His deity by casting out devils from people and by healing sick people and by curing people of their disabilities and by sundry other miracles, even by resurrecting dead people. And Christ preached to people—to groups and to individuals; inside synagogues and outside in the open; to those who wanted to hear and to those who did not want to hear.
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Christ indeed preached more on Hell than He did on Heaven. And much of His teaching was done in parables, that is, teachings on pictures of human life. His chief message was ‘Repent; for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’ And Christ most justifiably spoke out against false religious teachers and their false religious teachings of His day. And this turned many religious leaders against Him most unjustifiably. These were the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes and the elders and the lawyers and the chief priests and the high priests and the Herodians and almost all on the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish council. His truths also offended Jews and Gentiles alike. He was God, and all the world that did not follow Him turned against Him. And one of His own twelve, an Apostle named Judas, betrayed Christ for thirty pieces of silver. And upon Judas’s tip, the enemies of the Lord Jesus came to Him where no one could see, and arrested Him and carried Him away to trial. And mankind committed the most illegal court case ever perpetrated. And Christ the Lord was actually struck by Roman soldiers. And it got much worse for Christ. And He knew so ahead of time. He had come to Earth to die for the sins of mankind, and He had always known this. And now His time had come to die. And the rabble-rousing offended religious leaders stirred up the crowd outside to yell out about what to do with Christ, ‘Crucify Him! Crucify Him!’ And the governor gave in and had Christ crucified on the cross of Calvary. This cross was the Roman government’s way of execution wherein the condemned man had his feet nailed to a vertical board and his hands nailed to a horizontal board of a cross and then hung up to slowly die a most excruciating death. As the popular Christian song goes, ‘He could have called ten thousand angels, but He died alone for you and for me.’ Christ came to bleed to death for fallen mankind. That was why He had come. And that was how He would go. Christ’s blood, being the blood of God, was innocent blood, precious blood, cleansing blood, purchasing blood, washing blood, justifying blood, peace-making blood, sanctifying blood, everlasting blood. It is written about the blood of Christ on the cross, ‘Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
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fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot:’ I Peter 1:
18-19. Christ then said, ‘It is finished.’ And He yielded up the Ghost. His work of redemption for the sins of man was finished. Two good men—Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus—took His body down off of the cross and put it in a little cave of a tomb. And His physical body was in that grave for three days. And on the third day, visitors sent by God went to His tomb and found that it was empty!
Christ arose from the dead! Christ rose from the grave! He lived again! And the physically resurrected Christ walked His earth in the Holy Land for another forty days. A dead Christ could not save men and women and children. But a living Christ could save men and women and children. This is what Easter is all about—Christ’s glorious resurrection on the third day. And on the fortieth day, Christ ascended back up to Heaven. This is the ascension. He had come back Home at His Father’s right hand side Up in Heaven once again. And He is There now this day. But this time His hands have nail prints in them for an everlasting reminder to the saints for the price He paid for their salvation.”
“I believe, Pastor Sunday,” confessed little Lexy Nix Nix. “I believe now.”
“Would you like to get saved now, Lexy?” asked Pastor.
“Yes, Pastor. I would,” said young Lexy. “I would like to get saved now.”
“Let us pray,” said Pastor. Little Lexy understood that to get saved, she must pray for salvation. And she understood that Pastor was going to lead her line by line through the prayer from beginning to end. And she understood that by praying this prayer that she was accepting the free gift of eternal life.
She knew that she was to become a born-again believer in Christ just as soon as this prayer was done and complete. She bowed her head and awaited Pastor’s words for her to say after him:
“Dear Father in Heaven,” prayed Pastor Sunday.
“Dear Father in Heaven,” repeated sincere little Lexy.
“I am a little girl with bad inside of me,” said the Baptist soul-winner.
“I am a little girl with bad inside of me,” said young Lexy.
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“It is called ‘sin,’ and it is my fault,” said Pastor.
“It is called ‘sin,’ and it is my fault,” said little Lexy.
“My sin sent Christ the Lord to the cross,” said Pastor Sunday.
“My sin sent Christ the Lord to the cross,” said Lexy.
“It was there where the Lord died for me,” said Pastor.
“It was there where the Lord died for me,” said Lexy Nix.
“But He came back to life on Easter Sunday,” said Pastor.
“But He came back to life on Easter Sunday,” said Miss Nix.
“I want to get right with You now, O God,” said Pastor.
“I want to get right with You now, O God,” said Miss Lexy Nix.
“Could You help me to do that? It is called ‘repentance,’” said the Baptist pastor.
“Could You help me to do that? It is called ‘repentance,’” said little Miss Nix.
“Save me and my soul from Hell,” said the fundamentalist pastor.
“Save me and my soul from Hell,” said young Lexy.
“Save me and my soul for Heaven instead,” said Pastor Sunday.
“Save me and my soul for Heaven instead,” said Lexy Nix.
“Only You can do this for me,” said Pastor.
“Only You can do this for me,” said little Lexy Nix.
“Thank You, Christ Jesus the Lord,” said the Baptist minister.
“Thank You, Christ Jesus the Lord,” said Lexy Nix.
“In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen,” said Pastor Sunday.
“In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen,” said Lexy.
Thus so great salvation had come upon Miss Lexy Nix Nix with a prayer. This was how she had become a born-again believer. This was how any and all can become a born-again Christian.
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How did Flanders Arckery Nickels himself become a born-again Christian? Like the salvation of Lexy, Flanders had found Christ at a very early age at a fundamental Baptist church and with good sound preaching of the Word of God. Flanders’s first friend in his life was another little boy whose name was “Regal Royal.” Regal Royal and Flanders had made a bet whose wager was that the loser have to go to that strict little white church down the road for the whole morning. Flanders bet that there would be a school snow day tomorrow with a big snowstorm forecast, and Regal bet that there would still be school for them both tomorrow despite all the snow that was predicted. Well school was open that day. Regal lost the bet. He had to go to church that coming Sunday for both Sunday School and Morning Worship. He sulked, complained, and did not speak to Flanders. Both were typical lost little boys where it comes to going to church. But there was a change in Regal that day when he came back from that church. In fact he started speaking to Flanders again. And he was happy. And he asked Flanders to forgive him. Flanders did at once. And Flanders asked Regal. “What happened to you?’
And Regal said, “I got born again at church, Flanders! It is the best thing that ever happened to me! I asked Jesus into my heart as my new personal Saviour! Amen!”
“Regal, I never heard you say, ‘Amen!’ before,” said Flanders.
“Amen, Flanders!” said Regal Royal.
“I think that I need to go to this church and check it out,” said Flanders, skeptical about why his best friend would be so excited about a place neither of them had ever wanted to go to before.
“You need to be there,” said Regal.
“Let’s go there this Sunday together,” said little Flanders. “But you have to come with me.”
“It is called ‘Foundational Baptist Church,” said Regal. The pastor and the deacon are twin brothers. It is hard to tell them apart. The deacon teaches Sunday School, and his name is ‘Wise.’ We call him “Deacon Wise.” The pastor preaches the message for church. His name is ‘Sage.’ We call him ‘Pastor Sage.’”
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“I’m going to find out all about this Foundational Baptist Church, O Best Friend,” said Flanders.
“I pray that you find Christ there as I have, good friend,” said Regal.
And Sunday came. And the two best friends went to the Baptist church together. First came Sunday School for Flanders. Second came Sunday Morning Worship for Flanders. Third came so great salvation for Flanders.
It started in Deacon Wise’s Sunday School class where the Sunday School teacher taught a class of ten little children, Flanders and Regal two of the ten there at class. Deacon Wise said, “Children, boys and girls, younger and older, what I have to teach you ten today is called by Bible scholars, ‘the parable of the lost coin.’” He paused.
“Is it a quarter?” asked one pupil.
“Is it a gold coin?” asked another pupil.
“Is it shiny or dull?” asked another young pupil.
“The Bible does not say a lot about this coin, but it was money that the person who lost it needed to get back for herself,” said Deacon Wise. And he went on to read this passage of the parable of the lost coin to his ten pupils, “’Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me: for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.’ Luke 15:8-10,”
At once Flanders comprehended a divine parallel between this woman’s money and his self here at Sunday school—this woman had ten silver coins, and this Sunday school class had ten pupils.
Deacon Wise went on to teach upon the parable that he had just read to his pupils, “These ten silver coins are symbols of ten people. Nine of these silver coins were not lost. One of these silver
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coins was lost. This parable can be said to be about ten people—nine people were not lost; one person was lost. The one lost coin was what she went ahead and looked very hard for to find.” Deacon Wise paused once again in his teaching.
Truly so uncanny similarity further now did Flanders see in this Sunday School class. He was surely the one lost among the ten in this Sunday School class, and the nine other pupils were surely the nine not lost among these ten in this Sunday School class. Flanders was ‘this silver coin’ which was being sought by a seeker. What should he do? Should he go and get saved? What did it mean to get saved?
Deacon Wise then went on to teach further upon this parable, saying, “The woman found her precious lost coin of silver, and she went and told all of her neighbors and friends, and everybody was happy with her. When a soul gets saved, there is always gladness in Heaven over that person.”
One of the pupils said, “Yeah, Deacon Wise. Even the angels were happy with her.”
“No, fine young man,” said Deacon Wise. “Angels cannot understand salvation. Salvation is said in the Bible to be ‘which things the angels desire to look into.’ Salvation is something that only people can understand. And this salvation is for us and not for them.”
Another pupil spoke up and said, “So, Deacon Wise, where the Bible says, ‘there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth,’ it means simply that there is joy in Heaven over one sinner that repents.”
Another young pupil spoke and said, “And it means that only the people already in Heaven are the ones who are rejoicing over the new Christian.”
And Deacon Wise said, “When a soul gets saved, the saved in Heaven and the saved on Earth are in joy over him.”
“Everybody should be the lost silver coin who gets found, Deacon Wise,” said Regal.
“It is written,” said Deacon Wise, “‘Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto
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the knowledge of the truth.’ I Timothy 2:4.”
And Regal said, “It is better to be a found coin than to be a lost coin.”
And Flanders thought secretly to himself, It is better to be a saved person than to be a person still lost. And he pondered these things in his heart. Maybe he should raise his hand and confess his sins in front of everybody. Maybe he should wait till after class and then come up to Deacon Wise and ask him privately what he needed to do to get saved. Maybe he should wait till after the morning service had come and gone before he bother the Sunday School teacher about such questions. Maybe later another day when it was more convenient.
Then Deacon Wise said, “That concludes our lesson for the day. Sunday school class is done. I dismiss you. I’ll see you at the Sunday Morning Service fifteen minutes from now.”
And Flanders decided that he lost his chance. Maybe later, he thought again to himself. But he doubted that that ‘later.’ was the will of God.
But he stayed for church. And Pastor Sage came up to the pulpit to preach his sermon for the day to his flock. And Pastor said, “Turn with me, if you would, to Luke chapter fifteen, verses four through seven.” The flock searched the Scriptures and found it. Flanders had no Bible, but Regal, sitting next to him, let him look into his open Bible. And Pastor and the flock read this passage out loud together: “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.”
Pastor Sage then said to his flock, “This is called ‘the parable of the lost sheep.’”
In spiritual discernment toward God’s ways of this day, little Flanders quickly began to silently
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count one-by-one the attendance in this auditorium. He was not listening right then to what the pastor was preaching about this parable of the lost sheep. He had to instead make sure with himself that God was working on him through miracles and that none of these things were coincidence. Sure enough, there were one hundred people at church this day including himself. There were one hundred sheep in this parable that this flock and Flanders had just read from the Bible. Surely this flock of ninety-nine here for Sunday Morning Worship were all saved, just as were those “ninety and nine sheep in the wilderness.” These ninety-nine good Baptists at church were the Lord’s “ninety and nine just persons who needed no repentance.” What was he? Of course he was the one lost sheep whom the shepherd went out to find. He was the one who needed to be found. He needed to be the one sinner that repented. He needed God. Should he raise his hand and say that he was the lost sheep of the flock right now? Should he wait till after church where he could get alone with Pastor Sage and ask him to help him? Should he wait a while and think about God by himself for a day or two first? He was not going to let this to all slip away from him. And a still small voice of the Holy Spirit said to Flanders, “Listen to Pastor’s message. I have put my words in His mouth. He shall show to you the way of salvation.” And little Flanders obeyed God. And he focused now hard upon the sermon of this day spoken by this good Baptist preacher.
And the preacher told all about how to become this sheep that repented: “How does one who is unsaved get saved? First of all, a person needs to know that he is lost in his sins and on his way to Hell. I have found as a soul-winner that before you can get a person saved, first you have to get him to know that he is lost. To the unsaved, Christ is the rock of offense and the stone of stumbling. I had found for myself just before I got born again that my offense at Jesus was not worth going to Hell for. The fires of Hell that awaited me as a lost sinner at the time changed my mind real quickly about the Lord Jesus. I at once humbled myself before Him and got right with God right away. No person can save himself. Only the Saviour can save a man’s soul.”
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Pastor Sage continued, “Second of all, a person needs to believe the Gospel of salvation with all of his heart. This saving Gospel is bipartite. It says the good news that Christ the Lord died for our sins and rose again the third day. In Romans 1:16, God says this: ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.’ There is no message in all of history as historical as this Gospel message. There is no wisdom in all of mankind as wise as this Gospel. There is no truth like unto this true Gospel. Those who reject this Gospel and die in their sins have to suffer the fires of Hell and experience the second death—the eternal lake of fire. Those who confess this Gospel die in Christ’s righteousness and go to the glories of Heaven and get to experience eternal life—life forever after in Paradise. This is what the death, burial, resurrection of Jesus is all about—saving souls of men and women and boys and girls who come to Him in repentance.”
Pastor Sage then went on to preach, “And third of all, a person needs to call upon Jesus to get saved. Romans 10:13 and Acts 2:21 both say that all that you have to do to get saved is to call upon the name of the Lord and ask to be saved. What do I mean by this? Simply pray. Salvation is called ‘the free gift of eternal life,’ and ‘the free gift of everlasting life,’ ‘Eternal life’ and ‘everlasting life’ means to be in Heaven forever in the life to come. You cannot earn Heaven by sacraments or ordinances or works or baptism or tipping the balance in your favor or good works of any kind. If a person could earn Heaven, why did Jesus have to go to the cross? Jesus went to the cross to make Heaven a free present. And that is the only way to get saved—to accept the present as free. And one accepts this present simply by coming to the Lord in prayer and asking Him for it. Ask for so great salvation humbly and sincerely and specifically, and God will give you this so great salvation mercifully and graciously and gloriously.”
Little Flanders believed in his heart now the truth that he was a sinner, that Christ died for his sins, and that he needed to pray and get saved. And Flanders was now a sheep in search for the Good
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Shepherd. And he was ready to pray and become a born-again Christian.
Pastor, standing behind his pulpit, said to his flock, “If there are any in this auditorium who doubt their salvation, pray this prayer after me as I pray it word-for-word. You can pray after me either out loud or real quietly or in your silent thoughts. The important thing is that you pray this sinners’ prayer and either find assurance in your salvation or find this salvation for real for your first time.
And Pastor Sage recited this sinners’ prayer to the congregation with a simple wording just right for little Flanders in his child’s knowledge of English: “Dear God in Heaven: I do things in my life that are real bad things to do. And also I don’t do things in life that are real good things to do. That makes me a dirty rotten sinner. And You are a God Who hates sin. And sin will send me down to Hell and make me burn in fire forever. But You still love me anyway. And You want me to go to Heaven instead. And You gave up Your only begotten Son to shed His blood and to die in my place on the cross long ago. And three days later, You raised back to life this Son of God. And He lives today. I ask You now to forgive me for my sins and to clean me up from my sins and to take away my sins. Jesus, please become my personal Saviour. Keep me out of Hell. Keep me for Heaven. Only You can do all of this. Thank You, Jesus. In Your name I do pray for this. Amen.”
Flanders had neither silently said this sinners’ prayer, nor quietly said this sinners’ prayer; but, rather exclaimed this sinners’ prayer as Pastor Sage had recited this version of it right here and now.
And there was rejoicing over this little Flanders’s conversion to Christianity down here just as there was Up There. This was how Flanders Arckery Nickels had become a born-again Christian. And he never turned back on Christ since. And Flanders and Regal became at that moment also best friends at church and no longer just best friends out of church.
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CHAPTER IV
Flanders and Lexy were on a date alone together, sitting upon the edge of the northern side of Butte Island. They were leaning their heads forward where they both sat and looking down into the bottomless pit that lay between east and west of the Earth.
“It does look like it goes down forever and never stops going down, boyfriend,” said the harem girl in green and blue.
“I never actually heard of anybody who had fallen down into this chasm in my lifetime,” said Flanders.
“Nor I, either,” said Lexy.
“It could not be like they would come back and tell people about it,” said Flanders.
“Aye, boyfriend,” said Lexy. “But though it is so very dark way down there, it seems so peaceful way up here as I look down into it.”
“Don’t lean over too far, girlfriend,” said Flanders.
“I’ll be careful, if you’ll be careful,” promised Miss Nix.
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“I’ll be careful, too,” promised Flanders.
“Where are the griffins?” asked Lexy.
“They’re getting to know each other on the other side of this great butte,” said Flanders. “They are spending time together on the southern edge of this island.”
“At least if they slip and fall, they can fly back to solid ground. But we don’t have wings,” said Lexy.
The gentle breezes blew romantically upon the girl’s much untamed hair from all directions. Flanders let himself become caught up in magical new feelings. He said, “Lexy.”
“Yes, Flanders?” asked the harem girl.
“These little winds are making your hair exciting to me like magic,” he said.
“Do you like my hair, Flanders?” she asked.
“It is a most extraterrestrial color. It is very much and very attractive. And it is as wild as the stunning girl who wears it,” he said.
“I never had a cute guy say so many unusual and kind things about my hair,” said the belly dance woman.
“I would reach out and touch it,” he said. “But you are not my possession. I do not own you, girlfriend.”
“Flanders,” she called out.
“Yes, Lexy?” he asked.
“Would you…own me…just this once with my hair?” she asked.
He quickly brought his right hand toward the side of her head. He stopped his hand just short of it. Then he put his hand into the thick pile of purple hair along this side of her head. Then he pulled it out as if he had done a bad thing. And he said, “No woman asked me to do that before, Lexy.”
“No man did that to me before, Flanders,” she said.
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“I’m sorry if I did you wrong in this, Lexy,” he said.
“I liked that, boyfriend,” she said.
“Then I am glad that I did that,” he said.
“There are other things that we can do, too,” she said.
“Things that we cannot do with our griffins?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said.
He looked upon her as they sat side by side together as new boyfriend and girlfriend. He paused to admire her artillery belt that went around her waist. He said, “You look good with my old ammunition belt around yourself down there, Lexy.”
“Do you want to reach out and touch it?” she asked.
“I really want to reach out and touch the whole thing, Lexy,” he told his belly dance woman.
“A lonely girl likes a handsome fellow to put his arm around her waist,” said Lexy Nix.
“This is getting too much,” he said. And he quickly said, “But I like it, Lexy,”
“Hug me in your arm, boyfriend,” said Lexy.
And he reached out his arm, did not pause to hesitate, and at once put his arm around her supple waist with its artillery belt around it.
“What do you think about this, boyfriend?” said Lexy.
“This is the most intimate that I ever got with a real woman, Lexy,” he said.
“Do you still like it?” she asked.
“I love it, girlfriend!” he exclaimed.
“Flanders,” she said.
“Yes, Lexy?” he asked.
“Do hold me around my waist a little harder,” she said. “I can hardly feel your arm like this.”
And he tightened his hold around her most very real woman’s waist. In joke at himself for his
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timid nature with a first girlfriend, he said, “It seems that I am bolder with unicorns in war than I am with girlfriends in peace.”
“I dare say, boyfriend,” said the harem woman, “I am new at all of this, too. Perhaps my many years of lonesomeness drives me faster to you than your many years of lonesomeness drives you to myself.”
“Are you forgetting something, stunning Lexy?” he asked, putting his other hand to his own artillery belt around his waist.
“My turn now,” she said in sweet words. And she put her arm around his waist now.
Then they leaned their heads against each other and rested them one against another in magic of romance. Her long hair was up against his short hair. He was thrilled. She was thrilled. Such simple little things as this innocent fun flirting was a new way of life for Flanders. It was life with a real living woman. And it was different than his good old life with just his she-griffin pet. He did things like this with Tornado all the time in his affections for her. But Tornado was just his pet. This human girl was his girlfriend. So different a girlfriend was from a griffin friend. He wondered if stunning Lexy really felt the same way about their new life as he did.
Flanders asked her, “Lexy, is this as special to you as it is to me?”
She said, “Yes, Flanders. This is.”
“Are you thinking the same thing as I am?” he asked.
“I was thinking how different being next to you like this is from being next to Cyclone like this,” said Lexy.
“So was I, Lexy; how much different you are for me than Tornado is,” said Flanders.
“We think the same, Flanders,” said Lexy.
“A stunning girl in paradise could steal a lonely soldier’s heart here like this, Lexy,” said Flanders.
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“Am I stunning?” asked the harem girl.
“Yes,” said Flanders. “Is this paradise?”
“Yes,” she said.
“A lonesome soldier is lonesome no longer, O Lexy,” said Flanders Nickels.
“And a lady archer has found her man,” said Lexy.
“You’ve got an irresistible lap, Lexy,” said Flanders.
“Would you like to sit on my lap, boyfriend?” asked Lexy.
“I would like to rest my head on your lap,” he said.
“Look at me. I’m giving ideas like this to a boyfriend,” said Lexy.
“Your boyfriend came up with this idea on his own,” said Flanders.
And the belly dance woman stretched out her legs from where she sat, patted down the blue charmeuse of her harem pants about her ankles, and spread out the green charmeuse of her harem skirt about her legs. And she slapped down upon her lap with her hands in invitation.
And Flanders lay down on his back and rested the back of his head upon his Arab girl’s lap.
“How’s that, boyfriend?” asked Lexy.
“Comfortable. Quite comfortable,” he said. “In fact sensuous.”
“Whoa, Flanders! Sensuous,” she said.
“I should say, woman, more like sensual,” said Flanders.
“Sensual,” said Lexy. “Next thing I’ll know, you will ask if you can rest your head on my belly.”
“You’ve got an irresistible belly, too, girlfriend,” said Flanders. “Bare and slender and showing off a belly button.”
“Flanders,” she said, “do you want my belly?”
“I’m content with your lap for now,” he said. “I can’t feel your outfit as I do now if I put my
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head on your stomach.”
“Do you like the feel of my belly dance girl outfit, Flanders?” she asked.
“I do,” he said. “What is this sexy fabric called?”
“It is called ‘charmeuse,’” she said.
“I get to feel part of it now where I lie,” he said. “But you are the lucky one of us two—you get to feel all of it, yourself dressed in it as you are.”
“I am a desirable woman,” flirted Lexy.
“And you are a greatly desired woman, girl,” he said.
After a while, Lexy Nix asked, “Flanders, when do I get to rest upon you?”
“Do you want to lie on my legs now, Lexy?” he asked.
“Oh, I do, Flanders,” she said.
“My legs are covered with denim,” he said.
“Women like their men in denim,” she said.
“Then that’s okay with me, girlfriend,” he said.
“And that’s all right with me, too, Flanders,” she said.
And they got up and switched positions. He sat up, spread out his legs from where he sat, and slapped his lap in his invitation this time. And she lay on her back and rested her adorable women’s head with much hair upon his lap.
“Are you comfortable, boyfriend?” asked the young woman.
“This is getting sexy,” he said.
“Does my hair arouse you?” she asked.
“Almost as much as does your charmeuse, woman,” he said.
“Your denim stimulates me,” she said. “Your lap full of blue jeans and all.”
“Tornado never gave me thoughts as you do, Lexy,” he said.
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“Are you thinking thoughts about me, Flanders?” asked Lexy.
“Not so much thinking thoughts, but feeling feelings,” he said.
“I know what you’re saying,” she said. “With you here with me as we are, I must say, ‘Cyclone was never like this for me.’”
“Are you feeling feelings for me, Lexy?” asked Flanders.
“I must say, ‘Yes,’ to that to you, Flanders,” she said.
“Your face looking up to me is the face of an angel,” he said.
“Flanders,” she said.
“Yes, Lexy?” he asked.
“Would a kiss be a thing that you would not do right now?” she asked.
“A kiss,” he said.
“I don’t have any experience at something like that. But I would like to try it one time anyway,” she said.
“You never kissed a guy before?” he asked.
“Uh uh,” she said in truth.
“I know for myself that I never kissed a girl before,” he said.
“You, also?” she asked. He nodded his head in assent. “Should we try it out and see if we get it right?”
“Whoa!” he said, his head becoming giddy.
Suddenly she raised her head from where she lay on his lap, and she put her protruding lips upon his regular lips and then separated her lips from his lips, and lay the back of her head again upon his lap. She waited upon him to say something.
And he said, “Oo là là,” in a voice barely above a whisper.
“Was it good for you, dear boyfriend?” asked Lexy.
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In reply, he leaned down his face toward her face looking up to him from his lap, and he kissed her right back. This kiss neither let go of for a long time. At long last he separated from this kiss.
Then he said, “It was good for me, Lexy.”
“I shall never forget this for the rest of my life, Flanders,” she said.
“I do believe that I got my kiss right, Lexy,” he said.
“And I think that I got my kiss just right, too,” she said.
“Will you remember this for the rest of your life, Flanders?” she asked.
“I will, Lexy,” he said. “Both the kiss that you stole from me and the kiss that I stole from you.”
A silent moment went by, and the harem girl said, “We should really do the other thing now, too—the both of us.”
“You surely mean ‘a hug,’” he said.
“Uh huh,” she said.
“Does a hug come after a kiss, or does a kiss come after a hug?” he asked her.
“I don’t know if dating like this has any rules about what order things come in,” she said in thoughts.
“If we both got our first kisses together right as we did, surely we can get our first embrace together right if we try it, girlfriend,” he said.
“We should give it a try, Flanders,” she said.
“Right here?” he asked, looking out into the empty space yet nearby beyond the planet.
She looked and said, “Maybe over there a little farther away from the cliff, Flanders.”
“Let’s not keep our hearts from magic of romance, girlfriend,” said Flanders.
He took her hand in his, lifted her up to her feet, and scampered off farther inland, herself scampering off with him at his side. And they stopped at a safe distance from the edges of this
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Butte Island. And they stood before each other, gazing into each other’s faces, their eyes level with each other’s eyes. And the boyfriend and the girlfriend simultaneously extended their arms, put them around each other’s torsos, and held each other long and hard in embrace. In romance of hug, the belly dance girl lifted up her one lower leg backward from where she stood. In this sweet romance, Flanders lifted up the girl in both of his arms and spun around in place where he stood, carrying the girl with him in this pirouette. And he set her back down upon her feet.
“Weeeee!” she said.
“Woooo!” he said.
“I love all of this,” she said.
“Lexy,” he said.
“Yes, Flanders?” she asked.
“I love all of you,” he said.
“You do?” she asked with bated breath.
“I have fallen in love with a lady archer this day,” he said.
“And I have fallen in love with a knight in shining armor today,” she said.
“For sure?” he asked.
“My heart says, ‘Yes.’ My soul says, ‘Yes.’ My spirit says, ‘Yes,’” said Lexy Nix Nix. And she went on to affirm what she felt, saying to him, “For sure, Flanders.”
“I’ve got to tell my Tornado what happened today,” he said.
“And I must tell Cyclone,” said Lexy.
“They will be glad to hear what we have to say,” said Flanders.
“Even after all of this whirlwind romance that we shared today, Flanders, the first thing that we thought about was to share our good news with our dear griffins,” said the harem girl.
“Proof, Lexy, that even a companion of our own kind will not take us away from our companion
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of griffin kind,” declared Flanders.
“I will never be jealous of Tornado,” said Lexy.
“Nor shall Tornado become jealous of you, Lexy,” said Flanders.
“And you?” asked Lexy.
“I shall never be jealous of Cyclone,” said Flanders.
“And Cyclone will not be jealous of you, Flanders,” said Lexy.
“We will have to leave Butte Island after a short while, Lexy,” said Flanders.
“Butte Island is a haven for born-again believers, but it is not meant to be a permanent home for born-again believers,” said Lexy.
“It is a paradise where God answers the prayers of the Christians,” said Flanders.
“God will tell us when our time comes to leave here and to go back home,” said Lexy.
“My home is Canada, on the north shore of the Sea of the North,” said Flanders.
“My home is the United States, on the south shore of the Sea of the North,” said Lexy.
“After we leave here and go back to our homes, a lot of cold water will be between you and me,” said Flanders.
“If we did marry, we could live together in the same house,” said Lexy.
“If we do not marry, we cannot live together in the same house,” said Flanders.
“If we do not marry, we could live in different houses that are close to each other,” said Lexy.
“Would you be happy dating a boyfriend-in-Christ for ever?” asked Flanders.
“I might not be happy with a husband,” said Lexy. “What about you, Flanders?”
“I would be happy to have you as my girlfriend-in-the-Lord, Lexy,” said Flanders. “Even for now on until the rapture.” Then he said, “I do not want a wife as I want a girlfriend.”
“Would you and Tornado move away from your side of the Sea of the North just to live near me and Cyclone?” she asked.
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“I think that I would indeed, Lexy,” he said to her. “What do you think that you would do?”
“I would pack up, and Cyclone and I would leave my side of the Sea of the North to be with you and Tornado, Flanders,” said Lexy.
“How happy in Christ if we could only settle down here in Butte Island,” said Flanders.
“There is no other place like Butte Island,” said Lexy.
“Oh, there is one place like this place, Lexy,” said Flanders. “Tornado and I have been there. It is also a paradise of God, and it is also an island, and it is also a happy place for the born-again believer.”
“Yes! You must be talking about Gryphon Isle in the middle of our Sea of the North,” said Lexy.
“My griffin has visited there many times, and I went there one time with her,” said Flanders.
“And my griffin has gone there before many times, also. But I have never been there yet,” said Lexy.
“Would you move there with me and be my next -door neighbor?” asked Flanders.
“I have never been in a place where there are more griffins than there are people,” said Lexy.
“What do you say?” asked Flanders.
“I’ll have to ask Cyclone,” said Lexy.
“I know what Tornado would say,” said Flanders.
“Cyclone had only good things to tell me about Gryphon Isle,” said Lexy. “I think that he would say will be the same that Tornado will say.”
“’Yes’ and ‘Yes,’” said Flanders the answers that both griffin keepers knew that their pet griffins would say.
“Then your stunning harem girl will also say, ‘Yes,’ to your proposition, Flanders,” said Lexy.
“You can hear my ‘Yes,’ in my excitement,” said Flanders.
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“I can, boyfriend. It’s settled then,” said Miss Nix. “We four are moving to Gryphon Island for the rest of our lives together until the rapture.”
“Then after the rapture, you and I come home to Heaven,” said Flanders.
“The only Place better than Gryphon Isle, and the only place better than Butte Island,” said Miss Lexy Nix.
“Heaven, the Paradise that is the permanent home for all saints,” said Flanders.
Meanwhile, on the opposite edge of this Butte Island, Tornado and Cyclone were alone and getting to know one another as well. Cyclone looked down into the endless schism down into the depths of the planet. He said, “Crossing this endless depth is easy for us griffins, but impossible for our keepers without us.”
Also peering down into this mystical void, Tornado said, “Our divine Maker gave us griffins wings, but did not give people wings.”
“What do you think that our keepers are doing alone with each other and not in front of us pets?” asked Cyclone.
“Maybe boy-and-girl things that two can do best,” said Tornado.
“My mistress always did tell me that she longed for sweet romance with a cute guy who might come into her life sometime,” said Cyclone.
“My master did, too,” said Tornado. “He wanted a Christian woman so. He always called this want ‘magic of romance,’”
“Do you think that our keepers might be falling in love right now as we talk?” asked Cyclone.
“If that is what is happening between them right now, our keepers will be feeling emotions that they can never feel toward us pets,” said Tornado.
“My keeper is loyal,” said Cyclone. “I know that she will still love me even if she falls into
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romantic love with the guy.”
“I say the same about my keeper, too,” said Tornado. “He may fall into a more magical love for the gal than the kind of love that he has always loved for me. But that will never lessen his love for his old she-griffin.”
“I can say likewise about my keeper,” said Cyclone. “Though she may learn to love Flanders more than she loves me, she will still love me just as much as she has always loved me before the man came into her life,”
“I serve a most faithful master,” said Tornado.
“And, I, too, a most faithful mistress,” said Cyclone.
“You and I are becoming mates now, Cyclone,” said Tornado, looking straight out down the gorge toward the endless in between of east and west.
“We are mates, Tornado,” said Cyclone.
“I promise God not to betray my master now that we have each other, Cyclone,” said Tornado.
“I hereby promise God not to betray my mistress, as well, now that we are each other’s, Tornado,” said Cyclone.
Tornado and Cyclone fell upon a contemplation as they gazed upon this beyond here at this ledge of Butte Island.
“What are you thinking about, Cyclone?” asked Tornado.
“I was thinking, Tornado, how demons also have wings,” said Cyclone.
A shared moment of silence came up upon the two here alone in paradise. Tornado said, “You are referring to black unicorn demons. Aren’t you?”
“Aye,” said Cyclone.
“And you mean the Black Stallion Unicorn and the Black Mare Unicorn,” said Tornado.
“Aye,” said Cyclone.
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“Night and Evening,” said Tornado.
“Aye,” said Cyclone.
“Two serpents in the garden, O Cyclone,” said Tornado.
“The Devil in paradise, O Tornado,” said Cyclone.
“God have mercy,” said Tornado.
“God give grace,” said Cyclone.
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CHAPTER V
It was sunset now upon Butte Island. The bond of four were playing a game that Flanders made up just today for their diversions. It was a specialized version of tag with the keepers riding their griffins on the ground and in the air in taking turns in catching one another. All four were laughing and trash-talking and having a great time together here in God’s paradise between the two edges of Earth.
But right now, a fell and fearsome beast stood upon the West of the West of the world. She looked out across the bottomless pit. Her mind understood that those whom she pursued were over there, in the sanctuary beyond this great gap. She shuddered with a supernatural cold chill at so great aversion to such a Godly demesne that she had to soon endure were she to finish her Devil’s work upon a griffin keeper woman and her pet he-griffin. Nothing was more uncomfortable to her than the holiness of God. And God’s holiness filled the air over there upon that island. It was like frostbite to her demonic form. But she was tenacious in her duty to Satan. She had let the woman get away from her in America. Now she must never let her get away from her again, even if it meant having to go over there across the bottomless pit. No demon had ever dared to go ahead and follow through with such a plan as this plan that this wicked she-demon was going to do. She would be the first black
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unicorn ever to trespass into that Godly Butte Island. All she knew was that Satan told her, “Now go and kill Lexy and Cyclone wherever you find them.” She looked ahead and gazed upon her long shadow that extended far in front of herself. She admired its darkness. It was dark like herself both on the outside and on the inside. The sun was turning red now with dusk. With no further ado, the she-demon unicorn began to fly across the great chasm beyond this Most West of the planet.
Behold, another baneful and great beast stood upon the East of the East of Earth. It was sunset here at this end of the world. Here was a he-unicorn demon. He had pursued Flanders and Tornado to the farthest edges of the world, and he knew as he stood here, that his two Christian foes were over there now, off of the world and in a Godly haven known as Butte Island. Both God and Christian godliness gave this he-demon a burning fever. He could feel a fever coming upon him now as he now stood just a short flight away from this sanctuary so abundant with God. And he did not like it. It made his head hurt. His master the Devil told him, “You chased that griffin keeper right to Paradise. Now you have to go to this Paradise at your own discomfort and finish off both him and his griffin.” This he-demon must now kill Flanders and Tornado and do it right and do it fully. Indeed this was the first black unicorn that Satan had dispatched to this Butte Island to do his work. As this he-unicorn demon stood upon this Most East of the globe, he turned and looked upon his long shadow of sunset stretching out behind him. It was darkness in a world of light. That was what he was in God’s creation. And he liked it. It made him feel powerful like Satan. He loved darkness and hated light. He basked in the blackness of his shadow. Then it was dusk, and the sun was turning red. And at once, the demon he-unicorn began his short flight across the bottomless pit on his way to do Satan’s evil work.
It was nighttime now for the bond of four. They had finished their game of tag. And all was joy and rejoicing among them. Flanders said, “If God let me, I would settle down right here and live happily ever after.”
Tornado said, “Master, remember. We are settling down in Gryphon Isle—the four of us.”
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“Boyfriend, you would live happily ever after in Gryphon Isle,” said Lexy.
And Cyclone said, “There are lots of griffins where we four are going. There are not so many griffins here on this island.”
“I will be happy in Gryphon Isle,” confessed Flanders.
“Master, when do you think that God will tell us to go back to the Earth?” asked Tornado.
“I would think soon, for sure,” said Flanders.
Lexy said, “I have come here to find myself a Christian boyfriend. Flanders, you have come here to find a Christian girlfriend. You two griffins found each other as mates. God would have no reason to keep us in paradise any longer now that all of this has happened for us.”
Flanders said, “God has blessed us four with a few extra days of this heaven after He has answered our prayers, guys and gals.”
Tornado said, “I can’t help but wonder if there is one more big thing that we four have ahead of us here before God tells us to come back home.”
“Something truly wonderful,” said Lexy. “It has to be absolutely wonderful.”
“Or maybe something truly terrible,” said Cyclone. “Something terrible that ends up wonderful in the long run, Mistress.”
“I heard how the Good Lord does things like that, Cyclone,” said Lexy.
“Yeah,” said Flanders. “God brings trials into the lives of Christians to conform them into the image of His Son.”
“But here, boyfriend, in Butte Island?” asked Lexy.
“One would not think to see adversity here, girlfriend,” said Flanders.
Tornado said, “Butte Island is much like Heaven, but it is not true Heaven,”
“What do you mean, Tornado?” asked Lexy.
Cyclone said, “I think, Mistress, that she means in true Heaven is no trial; in Butte Island is
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some trial.”
Flanders went on to say, “Even here where we are now has not Jesus set up His throne.”
Tornado said, “Perhaps we four have unfinished business to take care of in this paradise between the east and the west before we go and settle down in the paradise in the middle of the Sea of the North.”
“The paradise of the third heaven, where Jesus rules over all…,” said Flanders, “…We will have to wait for the rapture of the saints before we can go There.”
“I really want to go to the Heaven where Jesus is more than any other place,” said Lexy.
“Mistress, you will have to wait for God to choose when the right time for the rapture is for the world,” said Cyclone.
Tornado said, “The rapture is on God’s timetable—not our timetable.”
“Jesus looks down from Heaven, and He sees souls that still need to come to Him yet in this church age,” said Flanders. “When the last soul gets saved in this dispensation of grace, then Jesus will rapture us.”
“Come up hither,” said Lexy the words that God would say to issue in the imminent rapture.
“Three words,” said Flanders. “Truly marvelous words of life.”
“This rapture—it may be imminent, but it may not be soon,” said Cyclone.
“Cyclone, are you saying that we could die before the translation of us saints?” asked Lexy.
Flanders said, “Pastor always preaches that nothing more needs to get done before we get snatched up. But yes, we could still die of old age if He chooses to tarry.”
Tornado spoke and said, “Any one of us could die young before He comes in the clouds for us.”
Lexy said, “I like to think about Hebrews 10:37 a lot. That Bible verse gives me comfort when I think about dying—either old or young.”
Cyclone said, “What does that verse say, Mistress?”
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And Lexy Nix Nix recited it, “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”
“Take comfort, girlfriend,” said Flanders. “Even if we do have to die before we go to Heaven, dying for a born-again believer is like going to sleep and waking up in Heaven.”
Lexy thought about why they were still here on Butte Island after their prayers had been answered, and she thought about how even here was not so safe a place as Heaven to come, and she thought about how her way to Heaven might have to be the vale and not the clouds. And she said, “Wouldn’t it be queer if we all died here on Butte Island before we go to Heaven?”
Tornado said, “Indeed the only way to Heaven if the rapture has not yet happened is by way of death.”
Lexy then asked, “But what can kill us here?”
“The ledges,” said Flanders.
“Master, we four are well aware of the ledges,” said Tornado. “Surely we will not walk right off of Butte Island and fall.”
“I cannot think of any other danger that might threaten our lives here,” said Flanders.
“Nor I, either,” said Lexy.
“Surely no danger from within can harm us here,” said Flanders.
“Could there be danger from without that can harm us, Flanders?” asked Lexy.
“If there were danger from without, it would have to cross the several miles of bottomless pit to get here,” said Flanders.
“They would have to have wings,” said Lexy.
“We griffins have wings,” said Cyclone.
“But we are not bad guys,” said Tornado.
“Are there bad guys with wings that might come here from without and take our lives?” asked
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Lexy Nix Nix.
A collective gasp came upon the four. Flanders, in a weaker moment, rebuked his girlfriend-in-Christ, saying, “Don’t say such things, woman.”
Hurt feelings came upon Lexy’s face at this scolding. And it tore into Flanders’s heart deep.
Flanders quickly apologized and said, “I’m so sorry, Lexy. I was wrong. Please forgive me.”
She brought her lips together and said, “I forgive you, Flanders.”
Tornado said, “Cyclone and I were alone together that first day here, and we were both wondering the same thing.”
Cyclone said, “There may be one last battle.”
Flanders pondered this bad scenario. Then he said, “If battle were to take place on Butte Island, it would be the first battle ever to take place up here.”
“Can they find us way out here, Flanders, Cyclone, Tornado?” asked Lexy.
Flanders said, “Their master the Devil goes to and fro in the Earth and walks up and down in it.”
Cyclone said, “Once the Devil sees us here in the middle of nowhere, he will send his two unicorn demons toward here to get us.”
Tornado said, “But they will have a disadvantage to us four of God. Their unicorn bodies will not feel comfortable in this paradise as our griffin bodies do and as your human bodies do.”
“Indeed, just think about all the unsaved and all the demons,” said Flanders. “The real Heaven Above would be a miserable place for lost person and unicorn demon alike, because Up There is all worship of Jesus; and no lost person or black unicorn at all desires to worship Jesus. Heaven for anybody other than saved person or angel would be a Hell for them.”
Lexy said, “That might even keep our two foes from even coming here and bothering us.”
But Flanders said, “They fear Satan more than they fear God.”
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“They will come,” said Tornado.
“They may already be here,” said Cyclone.
“My foe Evening the Black Mare Unicorn,” said Lexy Nix Nix.
“And my foe Night the Black Stallion Unicorn,” said Flanders Arckery Nickels.
And evening drew on to night here in Butte Island.
“Shall we turn in for the night, Mistress?” asked Cyclone.
“We may fight tomorrow, Master,” said Tornado.
Lexy said, “Only God knows, Tornado.”
And Flanders said, “Let us have a prayer meeting right now.”
And the band of four gathered together in a most fervent prayer circle atop this great butte.
Miss Nix asked, “Who shall go first, boyfriend?”
And Flanders asked, “Tornado, would you like to go first?”
“I would be honored, Master,” said Tornado.
Then Flanders asked, “Would you go after her then, Cyclone?”
“The honor would be mine, Flanders,” said Cyclone.
Flanders then asked, “And would you like to go after him, Lexy?”
“That sounds good to me, boyfriend,” said Lexy.
“Then I will go last,” said Flanders.
And in the peaceful dark of this paradise, the she-griffin of Flanders began her prayer first of this prayer circle: “Dear Father in the Heaven above here: We four have been talking about death and dying and when it will happen for us. And we have even dared to conjecture that it could happen here in this butte paradise. We already agreed that we would die here for Your cause when the demon unicorns do come here to finish us off. But, hold on. Your cause does not have to be our death, Lord.
What if Your cause is our lives? Have we four soldiers of Christ forgotten our victories over these
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same two unicorn demons? Have we four yet lost to these two in any of our battles yet? Have we four fled battle? Have not these two fled battle? I do say, O Lord God, that our odds are that we four will win this next battle as we four have already won all of the previous battles. And this time the bad guys will not get away. It is You Who fought our battles with us. ‘…If God be for us, who can be against us?’ Romans 8:31. Forgive us our oversight of You—our Most High. You are our Captain, our Field Martial, our Commander-in-Chief. I pray that You smite the Devil’s two demons with a stroke of God.
I am willing to do my part in Your work as You see fit, O Heavenly Father. Take my eagle beak and use it for Your glory. Take my eagle talons and use them for Your glory. Take my lion claws and use them for Your glory. I give my eagle head and my lion body to You in sanguinary war soon and in comforts of peace to come after. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.”
Then the he-griffin of Lexy prayed next, saying, “Dear Heavenly Father looking down here from the third Heaven above: After hearing my mate pray as she did, I now believe that our next battle against the two demon unicorns shall be the final battle against the two demon unicorns. As I pray unto You in the dark, O Utmost High, I can see in my head a beautiful daylight land with two demonic carcasses lying around. They will be two dead black unicorns, finally slain in battle, never to persecute griffin keepers again. Their dead demon bodies will taint the holy ground of this butte. But You will open up this holy ground, and this holy ground will swallow them up, and you will close back up this holy ground. And any unholiness brought upon this Butte Island will be taken away thereby. I can envision broken-off unicorn horns. I can anticipate broken-up hooves. I can hope for a most sanguinary final battle, all of this blood the blood of Evening and the blood of Night. I can dream of Satan’s greatest defeat happening here on Butte Island tomorrow. I pray that I can do my share of the battle that You would have me to do, O Lord. Take my wings. Take my eyes. Take my whole griffin self. And do with all of me all of what You will for me to do, O Jesus. I am Yours tomorrow as I have been Yours all the days of my life before tomorrow. All this I do pray in the name of Your Son Jesus
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Christ. Amen.”
Next Lexy the harem girl prayed here in the night of Butte Island among this prayer circle: “Dear Father God: I have seen my Black Mare Unicorn pull off many of her tricks with the magic of her unicorn horn. Her black magic has a supernatural power beyond the physical power of my bow and arrows. And her thunderbolts have time and again thrown even my mighty Cyclone for a loop in the middle of battle, O Lord. But I know, O Lord, that you know the future as the God of eternity. You know all of what happened and all of what is happening and all of what will happen. You only, of all, know who for sure will live and who for sure will die when our last battle takes place. You, Who sees all events eternally, know what kind of magic that my Black Mare Unicorn will ‘pull out of the hat’ with a toot on her horn. I pray that You give me and my Cyclone Holy Spirit wisdom to overcome any of Evening’s supernatural tricks that she comes up with in the spur of the moment as we do battle.
I pray also for my boyfriend. He told me that his Black Stallion Unicorn does her magic tricks on him with his unicorn horn and with his passing gales. I pray that You in Your knowledge of the future give my manfriend equal Holy Ghost wisdom to counter any of his Night’s bag of magic that Night brings to battle tomorrow against him and Tornado. If the Black Stallion Unicorn comes after me and Cyclone instead of Flanders and Tornado, keep us two safe in Your arms. If my Black Mare Unicorn comes after Flanders and Tornado instead of myself and Cyclone, keep them two safe in your arms, as well. May I submit to Flanders, as Flanders and I submit to you, O Lord. He shall be my general, and I shall be his obedient soldier. In the name of the Son of God and of God the Son, I do pray this, O Father. Amen,”
And lastly Flanders Nickels prayed his prayer of this most dynamic prayer circle ever seen in this Butte Island. He said to God, “Dear Father, Who art in Heaven due north beyond the farthest star:
I pray that my lady archer can fill her Black Mare Unicorn full of arrows, and that this Evening fall in battle thereby. And I pray that I can fill my Black Stallion Unicorn full of bullets, that he fall in battle
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likewise thus. I am the leader of us four here tonight, O Lord. As Solomon had asked for wisdom to be Your king over Israel in Old Testament days, so do I ask for wisdom to be Your chief captain over us soldiers-of-Christ in our coming day of battle up on this butte. As You gave the Apostle Paul strength to get back up upon his feet after having been stoned in his first missionary journey, so do I pray for supernatural strength for myself to endure and to persevere and to prevail over two of the Devil’s most vicious demons tomorrow. And as You gave Gideon the courage to take on in battle a great host of Midianites with only his own army of three hundred, so I pray that you give me the courage to take on in battle two avenging unicorns bigger and stronger and more clever than our four selves. And as You rewarded Daniel for his faith in the lion’s den, and You shut the mouths of the lions, so I pray that You reward me and the rest of us for our faith in the coming battlefield, and You shut down the magic of the black unicorns. And as the three Hebrew youths took their stand for You, O Lord, and went to the burning fiery furnace, not knowing if they would die for You or live for You, so I avouch unto You, O Lord, that I shall likewise take my stand for you and go to the killing field tomorrow, either to die for You or to live for You, in Your will soon to be known to us four. As Paul the Apostle said in Philippians 1:21 to the church at Philippi, ‘For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.’ so say I now to You, ‘If I live I shall have You, and if I die I shall be with You.’ All of these things and more I do declare and supplicate and intercede before You. In the name of Your only begotten Son I do pray. Amen.”
This prayer meeting in this prayer circle in this night of paradise threatened was now done.
Lexy and Cyclone and Tornado then turned to Flanders, and they asked him, “What do you think that we should do now, Flanders?”
And their leader said, “Only trust God.”
“We can do that,” said Lexy.
Flanders Nickels then went on to say, “Now would be a good time to sing a hymn. I know the
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the right hymn for this right time at this right place. It is ‘Only Trust Him.’ Let us sing this to Jesus and let Jesus fill our hearts with trust.
And this group of four soldiers of Christ sang this hymn from memory here in nighttime of Butte Island:
“1. Come, ev’ry soul by sin oppressed–
There’s mercy with the Lord,
And He will surely give you rest
By trusting in His word.
Only trust Him, only trust Him, Only trust Him now;
He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now.
2. For Jesus shed His precious blood
Rich blessings to bestow;
Plunge now into the crimson flood
That washes white as snow.
Only trust Him, only trust Him, Only trust Him now;
He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now.
3. Yes, Jesus is the Truth, the Way,
That leads you into rest;
Believe in Him without delay
And you are fully blest.
Only trust Him, only trust Him, Only trust Him now;
He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now.”
“I trust fully, Flanders,” said Lexy.
“I do, too,” said Cyclone.
“And I, also, Master,” said Tornado.
“I, as well,” said Flanders.
“Should we do anything else now before the big battle tomorrow, boyfriend?” asked Lexy Nix.
“We need to get a good night’s sleep so we can be at our best in the Lord tomorrow,” said Flanders Nickels.
And to this the four Christian soldiers agreed. And now in complete trust in their Lord and Saviour, whether in imminent death or in imminent survival, the four turned in for the night.
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Reader, it is written in Psalm 18:6-19 the following, penned by David, who trusted God most of all: “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his secret place; his pavilions round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me; for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity; but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.”
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CHAPTER VI
It was now the next morning here at Butte Island for the four sojourners. It was dim of twilight.
And they were refreshed from their sleep and all primed for battle. The lady archer was dressed in her full archery attire. The rifleman had his rifle and his artillery belt with him now. Cyclone stood with his mistress as they both looked toward the west from this midpoint of the island between the ends of the world. Tornado stood with her master right here as well, both looking off toward the east in this refuge of God. The lady archer and the rifleman were back-to-back. And the griffin pets were to the right hand sides of their respective griffin keepers, forming flanks to this line of Christian warriors.
Shadows of strange things did the four see in this time of preparation. Twilight is a time indeed of mysteries and things not there. There were no trees, no bushes, no animals of nature out here where they were keeping watch. Any who were to come would be out in the open and most manifest to the four battle warriors. As divinely quiet as this paradise was in its time of peace, it seemed all the more quiet right now in this calm before the storm. Twilight was fading now, and the shadows of things not there were going away now. And deep red of dawn was coming upon Butte Island. Lexy hugged her bow. Flanders tightened his hold on his rifle. Cyclone cleared his throat. Tornado took a breath in.
Behold, stepping out before Lexy the Black Mare Unicorn.
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Lo, before Flanders the Black Stallion Unicorn presenting herself before him.
“Hello, Lexy,” said the Black Mare Unicorn.
“Hi, Flanders,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn.
“Good morning, Evening,” said Lexy.
“You have come, Night,” said Flanders.
“It is cold here,” said the demon Evening. It was not cold here to the four.
“It is hot here,” said the black unicorn Night. It was not hot here for the four of God.
“Evening, you are out of place in Butte Island,” said Lexy.
“You do not belong in paradise, Night,” said Flanders.
“Your dirty hooves are standing on holy ground,” said Lexy.
“Your foul presence is corrupting this little heaven,” said Flanders.
“Lexy, my dirty hooves shall be standing upon you and your griffin in victory after my business with you two is done,” said the Black Mare Unicorn.
“And my foul presence will corrupt you and that she-griffin with the dust of death when I am done with you two Christian soldiers, O Flanders,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn.
Cyclone spoke and said, “Evil Evening, if my mistress’s arrows do not get you, this cold you feel within will.”
And Tornado said, “Likewise, Night, my master’s bullets; and the heat that makes you hot inside.”
“Evening, prepare to meet your Maker in eternal divine judgment,” declared the lady archer.
“And as for you, Night, your day of reckoning is coming up for you real fast,” said Flanders.
And Lexy and Flanders raised their artillery at the two unicorn demons to shoot them down where they stood.
The Black Mare Unicorn and the Black Stallion Unicorn both tooted their unicorn horns at the
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same time. One toot from one unicorn demon wroughts magic. Two toots from two unicorn horns wroughts great magic. But two simultaneous toots from two unicorn horns wrought magic unlike any that the unicorn demon slayers had seen before. And this was soon to be understood by man and woman alike.
At once, a thunderbolt blasted in the skies above Butte Island, and thick black smoke began to billow out of Evening’s nostrils in a cloud so thick that instantly Evening was hidden from view from both lady archer and he-griffin. It was then that Lexy shot an arrow into this cloud, and the arrow disappeared into the cloud, and she heard Evening mock her, saying, “Behold my pitch, O lady archer. It stops arrows from reaching their target.” As for Flanders, he felt that temporary gale of wind, then saw coming from his Night’s open mouth an exact same phenomenon of impervious black smoke billowing out in a concealing cloud. This dark blackness came out of his mouth. Suddenly neither Flanders nor his comrade could see their enemy in battle. Quickly Flanders fired his bullet into the cloud, hoping to strike down this Night before he could be seen no more. But the bullet missed. And the Black Stallion Unicorn spoke and said, “Look at my pitch, Flanders, and see how it stops bullets.” Apparently bullets could not pass through pitch. And now this pitch completely concealed the male unicorn demon from master and she-griffin.
Tornado looked to Flanders. Lexy looked to Flanders. Cyclone looked to Flanders. And Flanders gave forth battle commands, saying, “My lady archer, fire a volley of your arrows into that cloud—as many as you can—maybe you might get her and take her down if you get lucky. I will do the same with my bullets at Night in his cloud. Maybe I may get him with my rifle, as well, with a little luck.”
And the lady archer used her bow and shot a slew of arrows into that black smoke that protected the Black Mare Unicorn. At long last she quit and wondered. Then she said, “Are you dead in there, O Black Mare Unicorn?”
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From within, there was no reply. Then Lexy dared to say, “I think that I got her, O boyfriend!”
“No, woman,” came that nasty unicorn voice from therein. “You did not get me. Your arrows—every last one of them—missed me. My pitch makes me invincible. It is impenetrable to arrows, milady.”
Flanders himself, after having fired a volley of twenty-two caliber bullets into his foe’s pitch, went on to say to Lexy, “I wonder if I got my Night with any of my artillery.”
“No. You did not, Christian rifleman,” said Night from inside that black dark smoke. “My pitch is stronger than Evening’s pitch. Hers stops arrows, but mine stops bullets.”
This day upon Butte Island was now yellow with light of sunrise. But pitch of blackness lay along this mesa right here to the west and also right here to the east. The one pitch ceased billowing out of the one unicorn’s nostrils, and the other pitch ceased billowing out of the other unicorn’s mouth. These pitches stopped spreading out. They remained there, thick and dark and black. And they made the demons unassailable by artillery thereby.
The three soldiers of Christ looked to Flanders again for battle commands. And Flanders said, “This pitch does not choke or suffocate or harm the unicorn demons. I think that it cannot choke or suffocate or harm griffins and people, either. We four must go into the darkness of pitch and fight the devils in their own blackness.”
Tornado spoke and said, “Master, can a rifleman fight a devil without his rifle?”
Flanders understood that his griffin comrade was saying, “Can a rifleman for God do any good in battle if he cannot use his rifle?”
He paused to pray and then said, “Good Tornado, God gave me a rifle to shoot bullets. He did not give me hands and arms to wrestle with a unicorn. My arms and hands are called of God to shoot demons with my rifle. You are right.”
“Good master,” said Tornado, “allow me my part in the Lord to go into that pitch and fight him
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with my beak and talons and claws which God had given me for war.”
“I consent, Tornado,” said Flanders. “Go into pitch and fight with our Black Stallion Unicorn with your endowed griffin parts for battle,”
At once the she-griffin went and assaulted the Black Stallion Unicorn wherever he was in that cloud of pitch. And the smoke did not hinder or harm the she-griffin.
Then Lexy and Cyclone looked upon their leader in battle. Lexy spoke and said, “You and God do not want me in Evening’s pitch without my bow and arrow.”
“You are a lady, and you are a lady archer,” said Flanders. “I and God do not want you in there taking on a great unicorn with your bare hands, Lexy. You would be thrown to the ground so hard that you may never get up again. Your hands are for archery—not for grappling with a demon physically.”
“I understand, Flanders,” said Lexy. “And I will obey you and God.”
“But myself, Flanders,” said Cyclone. “Are not my griffin parts to be used of God in battles such as this? May I go into Evening’s pitch and find her in there and grapple with her when I do find her?”
“Correct, O good and faithful Cyclone,” said Flanders. “I bid you to charge the Black Mare Unicorn where she does hide herself.”
And at once Cyclone charged into Evening’s pitch and attacked the demoness. The smoke of pitch did not hinder Cyclone in his assault, either.
And as the griffin keepers stood in the open clear air, they heard the noise of fierce battle coming from within the two pitches to both sides of where they were standing.
“This is getting intense, Flanders,” said Lexy.
“We need to help our comrades out,” said Flanders. “We need to get our unicorn demons out into the open and out of their pitch.”
“How can we get them to do that?” asked Lexy Nix.
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“I have an idea, Lexy,” said Flanders. And he went on and gave two more battle commands. To his Tornado off to one side, he called out, “Comrade, drive the Black Stallion Unicorn out of his pitch so I can see him.” And to Cyclone off to the other side, he called out, “Good griffin ally, force the Black Mare Unicorn out of her pitch so that your mistress can see her now, too.”
Of course. Once Night was back out in the open, the rifleman could cut him down with his rifle at once. And once Evening was also outside of her protective pitch, the lady archer could fill her full of arrows right away. And, lo, this battle would be done.
And the griffin keepers looked to their griffins’ respective battle fields concealed by magical pitch and waited and listened and wondered. Behold, Tornado was thrown out of Night’s pitch out into the open, and she fell hard upon her eagle head and sat back up in a daze. Likewise, Cyclone stumbled out of Evening’s pitch, took a few steps out in this open, and landed ungainly upon his lion bottom, and did not get up at once.
For love of their griffin pets, the griffin keepers ran up to their dear ones, and looked upon their wounds, and groaned in dismay at the contusions and the abrasions and the lacerations thereupon.
“I am not done fighting for God, O Mistress,” said intrepid Cyclone.
“And I am just beginning,” said Tornado, valiant.
And the two wounded griffin warriors got back to their feet.
And the two unicorn demons were still in their safety of pitch.
And Flanders looked from his she-griffin before him now and looked over to Lexy’s he-griffin over there. And he commanded in this battle, “Tornado, Cyclone, do not charge.”
Then from one pitch to the other pitch, a black unicorn spoke and said, “Evening, see how well we two work together as a team, tooting a note on our horns at the same time.”
And from the other pitch to the one pitch, a black unicorn spoke and said, “Never before have we done so much against these Christians and their protectors as we have when we made our two
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separate pitches together for our first time, Night.”
“Black unicorn demoness, if we have done such a remarkable black magic as we have, tooting at the same time—myself having wrought my individual pitch, and yourself having wrought your individual pitch, how much greater a magic can we wrought against the cause of God were we to work together to work one magic for the both of us collectively,” said Night.
“An all-encompassing and an all-inclusive conjuration from the both of us in a magic that exceeds even so invincible our pitches,” said Evening.
“Very much a joining of our powers for one grand finale,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn.
“Let it be a temptation that flesh cannot flee from,” said the Black Mare Unicorn.
“We can attack the leader of the four with this temptation.” said Night. “When we get Flanders and take him down with sin, then the other three will be easy pickings for us.”
“What can make mighty Flanders to backslide on his God?” asked Evening.
“A girl,” said Night.
“A woman?” asked Evening.
“A girl who is now a woman,” said Night.
“Well thought of, O Black Stallion Unicorn,” said Evening.
“Sometimes a woman can get a man to do something that the Devil himself cannot make him do,” said Night.
“Is this woman Lexy, O partner?” asked the Black Mare Unicorn.
“No, O fellow demon,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn. “It is a girl who came before Lexy in Flanders’s life.
“Will she do for us in our battle against the Lord?” asked Evening.
“She can tempt the guy even better than we can,” said Night.
“Will she seduce the man?” asked the Black Mare Unicorn.
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“Nay, O she-devil unicorn,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn. “She will do worse things to Flanders for us than that.”
“Let us bring this siren here to meet Flanders, O Night,” said Evening.
“Let us together conjure a girl who can steal Flanders away from Lexy,” said Night.
“Shall we join unicorn horns, O Night?” asked the Black Mare Unicorn. “Shall we toot a note on our unicorn horns at the same time and then touch my horn end to your horn end?”
“You suggest that we two unicorn demons touch our unicorn horns together?” asked Night.
“Our work for the Devil in this battle most of all calls for brand new ideas,” said Evening.
“Even the Devil himself never thought of having one of his demons touch unicorn horns with another of his demons, O brave she-demon,” said Night.
“Are you fearful?” asked Evening.
“I fear nothing,” said Night.
Behold, to Flanders’s left and to his right two demon unicorns leaving the security of their respective pitches and boldly cantering toward each other and meeting in the middle right in front of where the four stood waiting.
Tornado called forth, “You can shoot now, Master.”
And Cyclone said, “If he won’t shoot his rifle, shoot your bow and arrow, Mistress.”
“Flanders!” exclaimed Lexy. “Now is the time.”
And yet Flanders said, “Let us hold our fire. I want to see what these two devils are up to.”
“Master, you and I both know what they are up to. You know who the girl is. Flee your temptation, I beg of you,” said Tornado.
Unabated, Night and Evening stood before each other, tooted one note each, and touched unicorn horn to unicorn horn in a rite never done before among evil unicorn kind of the Devil. A thunderbolt burst in the skies in the midst of a mighty gale wind. The thunderbolt came and went.
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The gale came and went.
Behold, a goddess in a blue one-piece swimsuit suddenly appearing here with the soldiers of
good and with the soldiers of evil.
Lexy cried out, “She’s beautiful!”
Flanders called forth in ardor, “My Allyson.”
The blue one-piece swimsuit goddess called back, “My Flanders.”
Here was the girl of long ago whom Flanders had discovered in her blue one-piece swimsuit at age twelve, but who was now a woman of twenty in an identical blue one-piece swimsuit to fit her taller and more mature young woman’s body.
Tornado said, “Master, we must get out of here! Run away from her! I will bring you to safety!”
Flanders said, “Allyson, you’ve grown up.”
Cyclone said to Lexy, “Mistress, she does look like you.”
“I see the similarity, too, O Cyclone,” said Lexy.
“Flanders, do you want me?” asked the grown up maillot woman.
“I surely do, Allyson,” said Flanders.
“Take her, man,” said the Black Mare Unicorn.
“She wants you, too,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn.
Flanders thought about fornication now for his first time, and he did not like what he was feeling. And with Holy Ghost power he shut down his drive for immorality. No maillot girl come back from the past was worth this. And he turned and looked at Tornado. And he said, “You’re right, girl. I must flee fornication.” Then in his thoughts he remembered how the two unicorn demons had stated that they were not going to tempt Flanders to lose his virginity with this Allyson whom they were going to conjure. And he pondered this for a short while.
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Then fair Allyson spoke and said, “Run away with me, Flanders.”
The Black Mare Unicorn asked, “Surely, man, what is more romantic than running away with a sexy girl?”
And the Black Stallion Unicorn said, “Yeah, and a one-piece swimsuit goddess like this?”
So, thought Flanders, this is why Allyson had been brought here—to steal him from his faithful girlfriend Lexy. He looked at Lexy and saw a stunning woman who was his to treat as a lady. He then looked at Allyson and saw a woman who was prettier than she was the last time he had seen her and a woman not acting at all like a lady. And he said, “Allyson, go away without me.”
If the demon unicorns had thought that by tempting him to leave Lexy and run away with Allyson was the one thing more effective for them than any physical relationship that Flanders might have pursued with Allyson, surely such was not hard for Flanders to resist, Lexy being so beautiful of face and so comely of attire.
Then comely young Allyson put her thumb and her index finger to a shoulder strap and lifted it up above her shoulder and let it snap back upon her shoulder. And she said it: “You want to put this on.”
Whoa! This struck Flanders point-blank in his hormones. This was the temptation of drag.
This blue one-piece swimsuit worn by his first crush was truly a cross dresser’s deep desire. He wanted it. He needed it. He had to have it.
The Black Mare Unicorn said, “Go for it, Flanders. You only live once. Something like this may not come your way again for the rest of your life.”
And the Black Stallion Unicorn said, “Is not drag more fun for you than worship? You fill up on plenty of too much worship. And yet not one time have you ever put on a woman’s one-piece swimsuit. Go after the maillot! She is giving it to you right now. It is all about the feel of the material and the cut of the cloth.”
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Most seductively did Allyson now say to Flanders, “Flanders, if you go and put on my nice maillot, then you will know just exactly how I feel and what I feel as a woman dressed in a one-piece swimsuit.”
Flanders went on to say in a confession of fetish, “Spandex, Nylon, Lycra, Antron, Polyamide, Elastane, Polyester.”
“Flanders, what are such words?” cried out Lexy. Then she said, “Those are one-piece swimsuit fabrics. Aren’t they?”
“I remember when I first saw you playing in the sprinkler, Allyson, with your sister that one day,” said Flanders. He sought the Holy Spirit in his thoughts, and the Holy Spirit sent him warnings.
“I and my sister,” said Allyson. “Yes, my sister.”
“You and your big sister,” said Flanders, heeding divine suspicions and acting upon them.
“I and my big sister, Flanders. Yes,” said Allyson.
“It was you and your little sister,” said Flanders, seeing a ruse of the Devil here in this Allyson.
“Yes. I and my little sister,” said Allyson.
“Your little sister Amber,” said Flanders, rising to the occasion for God.
“Yes. My little sister Amber,” said Allyson.
“It was your little sister Autumn,” said Flanders, catching this Allyson in another lie.
“My little sister Autumn,” said Allyson. “Yes. She.”
“You are not Allyson,” said Flanders in enlightenment. “You are a demon conjured by Night and Evening.”
“My name is ‘Deceit,’” said the demon who had made herself into an alternate Allyson.
Flanders took his rifle, and he came up to Deceit, and he swung the butt end of the rifle in both hands, and he struck the temptress hard right into the side of her head with it. The deceitful demon fell down completely unconscious. And she lay there. Then she was gone, just like that. She must have
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gone back from where she had come.
“Flanders,” called out Lexy as she saw all of this. “How could you tell?”
“The real Allyson was pretty and slim and desirable. But she was no Lexy,” said Flanders. “This false Allyson was a one-piece swimsuit goddess that made my Lexy no Allyson. The real
Allyson could never look so good as the false Allyson. The demon unicorns conjured an Allyson too good to be true. And I as I thought about that, I prayed a quick little silent prayer about that. And the Lord opened my eyes. And I came to no longer believe in this Allyson before me.”
The Black Stallion Unicorn and the Black Mare Unicorn looked upon the rifleman holding his rifle and the lady archer holding her bow and arrow. Night began to backpedal, and he said, “I think that we better get out of here, Evening.”
“I concur, Night,” said Evening, and she backed away in like.
The battle looked about to end with the unicorn demons defenseless before the two Christian soldiers and their avenging griffins.
Suddenly Lexy cried out, “Flanders! Flanders! My quiver is all empty!”
And just then Flanders also called out, “Alas, my artillery belt is all spent and empty, my Lexy!”
“The girl has no more arrows,” said the Black Mare Unicorn. “They are all lost in my pitch.”
“Nor the guy, any more bullets,” said the Black Stallion Unicorn. “He went and shot them all.”
“Woe. Everything has come down to this,” said Flanders.
“We are all as good as dead.” said Lexy.
“Mistress, you can help,” said Cyclone. “Look around your waist and down across your top.”
Tornado said, “Master, your girl has three artillery belts upon her person.”
“Fair and stunning Lexy, may I borrow the artillery belt that you have around your waist?” asked Flanders.
“You can surely do, O boyfriend,” said Lexy Nix.
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And the harem girl took off her ammunition belt from her waist and gave it to the rifleman, and he put this extra artillery belt around his waist. And he loaded his rifle with one of these bullets.
Meanwhile the two griffins saw a phenomenon happening that was making things worse for Night and for Evening. The pitches that the unicorn demons needed desperately now for defense were now dissipating very quickly. And as the griffins watched, the pitches evaporated into clearness. And they were now all gone. Behold, upon the ground where the Black Stallion Unicorn had stood in his former pitch were a few dozen bullets lying around. These were the bullets that the rifleman had fired into the pitch of Night futilely. But, lo, upon the ground where the Black Mare Unicorn had stood in her recent pitch, were a few dozen arrows spread about. These were the arrows that the lady archer had fruitlessly fired into Evening’s pitch. The spent bullets could not be reused. But these spent arrows could be reused.
“Mistress,” called forth Cyclone, “your arrows are back.”
And Tornado said, “The pitches are gone, O Master.”
The two griffin keepers looked and saw everything.
And Lexy sprinted up to these arrows spread about in this little section and filled up her quiver once again. And Flanders said, “Praise the Lord!”
The two demon unicorns needed now most utterly to flee in battle again for the preservation of their lives.
“Tornado said, “I still have fight in my body, Master.”
And Cyclone said, “I shall help to finish them both off, Flanders.”
“Should we get them?” asked Lexy.
“We must finish them off right here and right now,” said Flanders. And he went on to give battle commands, saying, “Girlfriend, good he-griffin, the Black Mare Unicorn is fleeing to the
west side of this butte. Cyclone, carry your mistress in pursuit of the she-demon and cut off Evening
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before she escapes. The cold chill she feels as a demon in paradise may be beginning to take its toll on her. Lexy, if you would, when God feels that the time is right, fill the Black Mare Unicorn with arrows as you ride Cyclone in the air.” Then Flanders Nickels said, “As for myself and you, Tornado, do you see what I see, that our Black Stallion Unicorn is fleeing toward the east of this Butte Island? I will mount you and ride you in the sky as we chase after fleeing Night. We must stop Night from escaping this time for good. If he escapes us now, he will never die in battle at our hands. I believe that the fever that he feels in his whole unicorn body is beginning to overcome him. He has had enough of this heat as a devil in paradise that he is losing strength. And as I ride your back, good she-griffin, and when God tells me to shoot, I will fill his unicorn body with my bullets. Then Night will fall in battle just as Evening will fall in battle.
The three awaited the official command of their leader. And Flanders Nickels commanded, “Charge!” And the four dispersed in groups of two and did charge the two dispersed as individuals.
Upon the western ridges of this Butte Island, the Black Mare Unicorn, her bones and her muscles stiff and painful from this supernatural cold that only she felt in this demesne, was forced to land upon the ground and try to make herself feel better and to catch her breath and to regain warmth.
Upon the eastern ledge of this same Butte Island, the Black Stallion Unicorn, weary and fatigued from this fever in her head and from this hotness in her form, had to light upon solid ground to try to get her senses back and to seek coolness that she would not find, being a demon in God’s holy island butte.
The griffin mistress and Cyclone could now see the Black Mare Unicorn below them not far. Evening was upon her stomach, looking up at them, and still devilish enough to hurl out curses to them. She was five yards away from the edge of the eternal ridge of Butte Island.
Likewise the griffin master and his Tornado could now see the Black Stallion Unicorn below them where they were in the air, and he was not far away from them here, also. He was sitting up on
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haunches, helpless and exhausted. And he cursed the two of the Lord with epithets and maledictions. He was about ten feet away from the end of this Butte Island.
God said to his lady archer now, “Shoot!”
And this same Lord said to his rifleman, “Shoot!”
Evening fled on foot farther west from where she had been lying.
And Night fled on foot farther east from where he had been sitting.
And, sitting upon Cyclone as he hovered above the fleeing Evening, Lexy Nix fired a slew of arrows one at a time down upon the vile black unicorn demon.
In like, as Flanders sat upon his Tornado who hovered in place right above the evil unicorn demon, Flanders began to load and to fire bullets one at a time into the body of the evil black unicorn devil.
The Black Mare Unicorn was stopped from her escape mortally before she could cross the chasm by flight. She stood unsteadily on her hooves just at the very endless edge of Butte Island. And then she fainted away, dead, and she fell over the edge, and she fell forever and ever. Evening was finally slain in battle.
Likewise, the Black Stallion Unicorn was kept from flying away over the chasm as well. Mortally wounded, he stood feebly upon this end of Butte Island for just a short moment. Then he fainted away as well, dying, and he fell off of Butte Island and down into the endless chasm. And he fell for eternity. Night was finally fallen in battle.
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BOOK V—CONCLUSION
CHAPTER I
Lexy Nix Nix stood alone on her southern shores of the Sea of the North. She was dressed no longer in a belly dance girl outfit. She was dressed in a fairy princess bridal gown. And beloved Cyclone was not with her anymore. He had died from wounds in that last battle against the Black Mare Unicorn. It happened on their way back here from Butte Island. He took sick in the long flight. He had external injuries that she could see. But he also had internal injuries which she had not seen. He rallied with supernatural determination and got his mistress back home safe and sound. Then one day not long later he collapsed on the sandy shore. He cried out, “Mistress, I must go the way of all the earth now.”
And she fell down at his sprawled side and cried out, “Cyclone, don’t die. Please don’t die.”
“Perhaps Evening got his Devil’s revenge upon me, O Mistress,” called forth Cyclone. “She must have broken me up inside worse than I thought she did.”
“Are you leaving me, Cyclone?” asked the griffin keeper.
“I must, O Mistress,” said Cyclone. “Job 7:1, my mistress.”
She spoke this verse to her beloved best friend, “Is there not an appointed time to man upon
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earth? Are not his days also like the days of an hireling?”
“As man’s days are numbered, so are your he-griffin’s days numbered, Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“I feel like I am going to cry for the rest of my life,” said Lexy.
“Don’t cry, Mistress. You have Flanders now,” said Cyclone.
“But I had you always,” said Lexy.
“For now on you will have Flanders always. Love him as you love me, but more so,” said Cyclone.
“I cannot do that yet,” she said.
“Do it for the Good Lord, O Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“I shall try,” she said.
“Flanders is a great man of God,” said Cyclone. “It is time now to live your life with Flanders as your only loved one.”
“Have you ever seen a bride weep so close to the day of her wedding, O Cyclone?” she asked.
“I weep inside upon seeing a fairy princess bride weep outside, O Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“I have always been a harem girl until that day that Flanders proposed to me,” said Lexy Nix.
“I remember that harem girl,” said Cyclone. “She was the griffin keeper that I have always known.”
“Do you approve of the new griffin keeper?” asked Lexy.
“I do, O Mistress. You have on a very gorgeous wedding dress,” said Cyclone.
“Pure white silk,” she said incidentally to hide her grief over Cyclone’s soon passing away.
“Mistress,” said Cyclone.
“Yes, Cyclone?” asked Lexy.
“Your good griffin has borrowed twenty years of life from God,” said Cyclone.
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“I understand now,” said the bride in white. “That is the way that I must see all these things happening now.”
“Mistress?” asked Cyclone.
“Yes, Cyclone?” asked Lexy.
“Lexy?” asked Cyclone.
“Yes, Cyclone?” asked Lexy.
“I love you,” said the he-griffin.
“And I love you,” said the griffin keeper.
And Cyclone died there in the arms of the bride Lexy Nix Nix. And the griffin keeper wept over the passing away of her beloved he-griffin. And then she buried her griffin of God.
Here stood Lexy again now, some days after, still in her bridal gown. She and Flanders had not moved to Gryphon Isle yet to be next-door neighbors. They both had agreed to pack up their things at their homes by the Sea of the North and to settle down at Gryphon Isle when the time was right. But between leaving Butte Island and coming back to this Sea of the North, Flanders dared to hint to her as the four were flying through the skies, “I would like to go on walks with my Betrothed of the Millennial Reign and to show her off to everybody who sees us.” Surely, with the rapture so soon, Heaven for the both of them was any day now. And after seven years in Heaven with Jesus, then they would come back with Christ in His Second Coming. And he would establish His Millennial Reign on earth then, and there would be no more trials on earth. And with the coming Thousand-Year Reign of Christ, there would be no trials in a couple’s married life. Christ, ruling on His throne in Jerusalem, would make this Earth just as Heavenly as the Heaven Above. She took great encouragement in her grief now over Cyclone in daydreaming how good it was going to be to become Flanders’s Betrothed of the Millennial Reign. They were going to live together as husband and wife in a perfect marriage in a perfect world ruled by the perfect Jesus. And she said now, “Thank You, God, for my future with
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Flanders.” And then she said, “Thank You, God, for my past with Cyclone.” And then she felt happiness in these days of mourning, and she said,”Thank You, Lord, for my present filled with Your Presence. I thank You for being with me right now. I love You most of all.”
But the bride was not the only one who had lost a loved one. Flanders had lost his she-griffin Tornado to a mortal disease just recently himself. She had come down with a heart condition. And her death was ruled as “death by natural causes.” She was an old griffin who had borrowed thirty years of life from God. Flanders Nickels, dressed in a tuxedo as a groom now, stood upon his northern shores of the Sea of the North, alone without cherished Tornado. He was remembering her last days. He had been here with her as she lay dying. She was sleeping on a warm summer day on the nice sand of the beach of the Sea of the North as he was reading his Bible. Then she began to shake and to tremble and to jerk around. Then she was still, and her eyes opened up with sickness in them, and she looked at him. She told him, “Master, your old she-griffin seems to have pains in her chest.”
“It must be your heart right now, Tornado,” said Flanders, running up to her side at once.
“Something like this happened for my first time in our last battle together,” said Cyclone.
“Precious Tornado, you are having a heart attack!” cried out the griffin keeper.
“Master, I may be leaving you in this life,” said the she-griffin.
“We’ve got to get you to a healing creek, girl!” exclaimed Flanders.
“Alas, Master, this time I have not the strength to take myself there,” said Cyclone.
“Maybe, with a prayer, God can give you that strength,” said Flanders.
“Master, it is written, ‘…: and none can keep alive his own soul.’ Psalm 22:29,” said noble and
wise Tornado.
“Then I shall take you to a healing creek, myself,” said Flanders in desperation.
“I had a part in slaying the Black Stallion Unicorn in battle,” said Tornado. “But the strain had given me a heart attack. He fell in battle that day. Your she-griffin is falling after battle in rest this
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day.”
“I loved you in life as I loved my own soul, girl,” said the griffin keeper.
“We fought battles together, Master,” said the she-griffin. “My tawny lion hide has turned gray. My full eagle feathers have become sparse. My eagle eyes have grown dim. My lion paws have lost strength. My insides hurt. I am an old griffin now. And God is calling your she-griffin home.”
“You were always there for me, Tornado,” said Flanders, accepting the final words of the she-griffin pet.
“And you were always there for me, too, Master,” said Tornado.
“I shall be alone without you here,” said Flanders.
“You shall have your stunning betrothed in Gryphon Isle very soon, O Master,” said Tornado.
“Stunning Lexy, as you know, also lost her griffin pet.” said Flanders.
“One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever,” said the dying Tornado. “Ecclesiastes 1:4.”
Then Tornado began to gasp for breath. It was happening now in its final stages. There was but a fleeting moment to tell each other most final words.
“I love you evermore, dear Tornado,” said Flanders.
“And I love you evermore, too, O Flanders,” said Tornado.
And Flanders leaned down to hug his dying precious griffin. And the she-griffin passed away in Flanders’s arms. He did not cry. His soul was crying, though. And he said to the Lord, “May I love my new bride for now on at least as much I do love my late griffin this moment.”
Then the griffin keeper went and buried his she-griffin in the sands of this northern shore of the Sea of the North. And after that he had a word of prayer. Then he had a Bible-reading. Then he fell into sweet reflections as he came to remember all of the good times that God had blessed him with in his years with Tornado as her griffin keeper and master and best friend and ally. And he thanked God.
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What the griffin keepers knew was that they would never see their beloved griffins again.
Griffins, being animals, and not human beings, did not have souls that Jesus died for. Griffins did not die and go to Heaven. But neither did griffins die and go to Hell. When griffins died they returned to the dust from where they had come. Like dogs and cats and all manner of pets that are animals, griffins simply died and were no more. They glorified the Creator while on Earth and then died and lived no more. Their dead bodies were underground, and only memories in their keepers’ hearts remained of them. And the griffin keepers understood this and accepted this. And in time their grief passed away.
And they mourned no more.
And the griffin keepers grew all the more enamored of each other as fiancé-and-fiancée-in-the-Lord. The Lord told them that now was the time that they move to Gryphon Island. For a reason that only God knew, He told the engaged couple that they were to share Gryphon Island for only a short time. Having great faith in God, they accepted this and moved to the paradise in the middle of the Sea of the North. He lived in a house full of hardwood floors, and she lived in a house full of carpet. And their houses were right next door to each other, just as they had prayed for. Several libraries were nearby. There were very many gryphons everywhere, but Flanders and Lexy both agreed together not to adopt any as pets. And Flanders put on his tuxedo every day all day to commemorate the coming day where he would stand up as her groom. And Lexy gave up her familiar Arab girl outfit for her brand new wedding dress, which she put on daily all the hours of all her days as his future bride at the altar. Flanders and Lexy went walking together dressed thus, so that he could show off his stunning betrothed of the church age. And very quickly Lexy got used to the most formal wedding dress that she put on. And this formal bridal dress became more comfortable for her even than her traditional leisure outfit the harem girl attire. And though she fell in love with this bridal gown at first sight, she gradually began to love it more and more yet as the weeks went by with her walks with Flanders. Often on their walks, gryphons and people passing by praised Lexy for her wedding gown; and
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Flanders got compliments for his black tuxedo. And lots of times she could tell her story of how she got her silk bridal gown. And she always said, “I got my wedding dress the very day that Flanders proposed to me.”
Then she would tell the story of how he proposed to her: He had invented a new weapon to be used in fighting demons that was what he called “the next doomsday machine.” It did the same effective harm to black unicorns as did his rifle, a weapon also that fired twenty-two caliber bullets. But this new artillery piece was to be held in only one hand. He called this futuristic weapon “a revolver.” And he made many revolvers. But, instead of keeping his revolvers to himself, as he had so firmly his one rifle, this time he sold his new weapons to all who fought demons as he had. And he earned one thousand dollars as the inventor of the revolver. And black unicorns everywhere began to fall in battle to other Christian soldiers throughout the world. Flanders himself had retired from his ministry as black unicorn slayer. He still had his rifle. But it was in a museum now. God had told him that no more unicorn demons were to come after him or his betrothed again. With his one thousand dollars, he invited Lexy Nix Nix to go shopping with him at what he called, “a very special store.”
Lexy asked, “What kind of special store are we going to, Flanders?”
He said, “A store with beautiful clothes for a beautiful woman.”
At first she said, “But I want to keep wearing my harem girl outfit.”
And he asked her, “”Would you like a one-thousand-dollar dress to try on just one time?”
“A dress that costs one thousand dollars, Flanders?” she asked.
“You saw the money in my hand, O Lexy,” he said.
“Yeah, Flanders!” she said. “You had ten one-hundred dollar bills that you showed me.”
“I will give it to you if you want to buy the dress that I had in mind for you, Lexy,” he promised her.
“Can any dress cost a thousand bucks?” she asked in glee.
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“This one does,” he said. “I was there. I was shopping around just in case I could take you there later, if you wished.”
“You saw a dress that cost a grand?” she asked in great wonder.
“I did,” he said. “And I want to buy it for you. But only if you want it.”
“I think that I am beginning to want it, Flanders,” she said. She pondered ideas, then said, “Maybe the first thing that I’ll do is to take off my belly dance girl outfit and to put on my brand new and really expensive dress that you want to buy for me,” said Lexy.
“Is that a promise?” he asked.
“I promise,” she said.
“You love your Arab girl outfit,” he said. “But you will love your new dress even more.”
“What is this crazy expensive store called?” she asked.
“It is called ‘Betrothed’s Boutique,’” he revealed to her.
“An engagement dress shop!” she said in great approval.
“Also a bridal dress shop,” he told her.
“You want to buy a former lady archer a wedding dress for which you paid for with sales of the greatest invention of our day?” she asked flattered.
“If that is all right with you,” he asked.
“Are you asking me if we could get married?” she asked.
“If that is all right with you, Lexy.” he said. “Would you marry a former rifleman?”
“I do!” said Lexy Nix Nix. “I surely do, Flanders.”
“There may be trials and temptations that befall us in our marriage here in the church age, Lexy,” he said. “This age of grace is no Millennial Reign yet.”
“No matter, Flanders,” said Lexy. “I love you.”
“And I love you, too, stunning Lexy,” he said to her.
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“Let’s run away and get married,” she said.
“I do. I certainly do, Lexy,” said Flanders Nickels.
History had passed, and the future had come for Flanders and Lexy. It was now the dispensation of the Millennial Reign of Christ. Not long later after he had proposed to Lexy Nix, the rapture took place, and he and Lexy went right to Heaven without having to die. They spent seven blessed years in Heaven with Jesus and all of the saints from the world, while the Earth was going through its seven years of tribulation. Then Flanders and Lexy and all of the saints in Heaven came back to Earth on white horses with Christ Himself. This was the Second Advent. This was the Second Coming. This was the beginning of a good and changed and happy Earth. And Christ the Lord sat down upon His throne in Jerusalem to rule the world for the good of all creation. This was the prophesied Thousand-Year-Reign of Christ. And when Christ came back thus, He put down all evil and all wickedness and all sin. He cast Satan into the bottomless pit and shut him up down there and set a seal upon that pit so that Satan could not get out. In essence, the Devil was in jail for one thousand years. All the black unicorn demons out there that had plagued mankind and griffin kind—stallions and mares—were taken from the Earth. Flanders’s rifle and all of his revolvers were around yet, but no longer used. It is written, “And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Isaiah 2:4. Where the world was once filled with violence, now it was filled with peace. Wars between men of countries stopped. Battles between Christians and demons stopped. Even the predator-prey relationship of nature ceased. The curse on creation was now lifted. And wild animals became tame. And good white unicorns came upon the Earth. And these white unicorns quickly became pets to unicorn keepers throughout the Millennium. And Jesus also filled this Millennium with new griffins who also became pets to caring
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griffin keepers. And man and woman and boy and girl and white unicorn and tawny griffin lived together in peace here in Christ’s Millennium upon Earth. Indeed, with Christ ruling over the world, the world had finally become just like Heaven. And God’s chosen nation—the Jews of Israel—were finally given their due honor and recognition as the people of God, and they were no longer persecuted by Muslim or Gentile or Satan. Further, weeds no longer grew in gardens to choke out crops. And flies and mosquitoes no longer spoiled picnics and outdoor games. Even thorns and thistles no longer pricked walkers as they walked in the countrysides. Rabies was gone from the animal kingdom. And, instead of living for a short while, mankind now lived on for ever. Getting injured was not a part of life in this Millennium. Neither also was getting sick a part of life in this Millennium. And there was no longer this often times “feeling bad,” as there always was before Christ had come back to establish His Kingdom. Here and now there was always only “feeling good.” The Good Lord had taken away trials and temptations and testings and storms and valleys and any other bad thing that made a person feel unhappy. What Flanders and Lexy had come to expect when they became engaged was a future marriage in a world of sin and death. But, behold, now the world was a paradise of perfect justice and perfect righteousness. Now their future marriage was here in the Millennial Reign. One could truly call this “a match made in Heaven.” Behold, a marriage without troubles! And it would be for a thousand years. Then, after that, the two who were betrothed would come into the end of time and to the beginning of eternity. This was when God Almighty would create the New Heaven and the New Earth. And the two who were betrothed would quite literally, as the fairy tales always ended, “live happily ever after.”
Flanders and Lexy had a good talk about where they would live together as husband and wife.
And they both agreed to leave Gryphon Isle to move to Zion, so that they could be close to Jesus. It is written about Zion, “For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be
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therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.” Isaiah 51:3. Also is it written about Zion, “Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” Isaiah 51:11. And when they prayed about this, God said back to them, “Yes, My son and My daughter. Come here to Zion.”
And at once the two betrothed sang a hymn from the hymnbook. It was the song “We’re Marching to Zion”:
“1. Come, we that love the Lord, And let our joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord, Join in a song with sweet accord
And thus surround the throne, And thus surround the throne.
We’re marching to Zion, Beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We’re marching upward to Zion, The beautiful city of God.
2. Let those refuse to sing, Who never knew our God;
But children of the heav’nly King, But children of the heav’nly King.
May speak their joys abroad, May speak their joys abroad.
We’re marching to Zion, Beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We’re marching upward to Zion, The Beautiful city of God.
3. The hill of Zion yields A thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heav’nly fields, Before we reach the heav’nly fields
Or walk the golden streets, Or walk the golden streets.
We’re marching to Zion, Beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We’re marching upward to Zion, The beautiful city of God.
4. Then let our songs abound And ev’ry tear be dry;
We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground, We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground
To fairer worlds on high, To fairer worlds on high.
We’re marching to Zion, Beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We’re marching upward to Zion, The beautiful city of God.”
Then, after fiancé and fiancée finished singing this song to God together, Flanders asked Lexy, “Stunning Lexy Nix Nix, could I go walking with you and show off my stunning Christian girlfriend?”
And she said, “Why, yes, Flanders. Right now.”
Then Flanders Nickels asked Lexy, “Could I go walking with you and show off my stunning fairy princess bride?”
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And Lexy said, “Why yes, Flanders. Once and again.”
And then Flanders Arckery Nickels asked Miss Lexy Nix Nix, “Could I go walking with you and show off my stunning Betrothed of this Millennial Reign?”
And Miss Lexy Nix Nix said, “Why yes, Flanders Arckery Nickels. For a thousand years.”
And he swept her off of her feet and carried her to the altar.
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