Two, two finger Irish coffees, please." At hotel restaurant table, Ivy placed order, added half moan sigh, hung her head to almost cry, behind dark cascade of hair.
It is 8:15 in the morning." The right hand of old college pal Phebe gently grasped her forearm. She ducked head that her amber eyes look up into the green eyes of Ivy. "One hour from now in that auditorium right thru that window," Phebe pointed across River Avenue, "my favorite motivational speaker is going to encourage thousands of alcoholics to remain sober." Phebe turned to the waitress, "Make that two expresso macchiato, please."
"I hate motivational speaking." Ivy whined.
"What?" Phebe blinked. "You do this for a living."
"You call this living?" Ivy gritted teeth. "You have no idea how I envy you, Phebe. Unlike you, I have no confidence, no assurance, no peace, no faith. I live in Wreckville."
"Where's a motivational speaker, when you need one?" Phebe teased.
"Stop it!" Ivy unsuccessfully fought the upturned curvature of her lips, smiled.
Phebe patted her arm, asked, "You are kidding me, right?"
"Well..." The smile of Ivy whimpered away. She whined, "Envy like Ivy climbs, till over the wall."
"Jesus, please help us get to the other side of River Avenue," Phebe pleaded out loud.
It startled Ivy, that little prayer, that sincerity on Phebe's face, but her calmness, her calmness seemed to radiate light, a light almost contagious. But just a tad later...
...There they stood on the corner of River Avenue, huddled together, gripping coat seams tight in mid-December cold wind chill. Ivy shivered, moaned, "Could it possibly get any worse?"
Phebe chuckled, twisted, swayed lithe figure neath layers of warmth. "Pre-emptive groaning only stirs the gripe pot... ladles up porridge of pain," she warned thru coat collar gap.
After a full twelve minutes in waiting, "The lights are stuck green," Ivy groaned. "No way are we crossing that raging rush hour traffic. Lets go back in and get another cup of coffee." Ivy tugged top of coat tighter together. She searched the face of her suddenly frozen still companion. "Phebe, what's wrong?" Phebe had stopped breathing.
The brisk north wind swirled thru Phebe's short brunette hair. Her eyes closed. Her head subtly tilted back. Her lips parted. She breathed in... more than air. Her amber eyes opened. She breathed out, "Thank you." Her hair ceased swirl.
In fear, Ivy heard it, heard the stone still quiet. She turned head, saw not one car, not one taxi, no bus, nor van.
Phebe took Ivy's hand, said, "Someone up there really loves you and wants you to cross on over to the other side of River Avenue." Phebe smiled...
And as they walked across... Ivy's envy walked not...
Time grows short... and only one way 'crosses'... to the other side of the river of life... Jesus...
John 14:6
Revelation 1:7-8 & 22:1-7
Of crossing over to 'the other side of the river,' many are the scriptures in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Grab a thorough Biblical concordance or plug it in to an internet search engine, read and be awed... Fascinating...
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