Well

    I’m sitting at the wishing well looking at the bottom of it. I’m thinking that the bottom of the well is important. I’m looking at the stones at the bottom of the well. They are different colored stones. Dark stones, grey and brown. The water is clear. I put my foot down on this little bit of rock that juts out just before the water hits. So I’m inside the wishing well at my father’s house. And whoever wants to find me can’t know about this spot. Because it looks like I’d be hopping inside a wishing well. And at the bottom of the wishing well is water and nobody wants to be at the bottom of a wishing well and get wet.
    So I hide and wait for someone to find me. But nobody comes to find me. And I’m left alone in the wishing well. I’m waiting for someone to find me. I pop my little head out of the well and I look around but no one is looking. And it’s like all of my friends stopped looking. Stopped playing hide and seek and disappeared. It’s quiet. So quiet it’s like no one is on the premises and I don’t think any of them are looking for me. I get out of the wishing well feeling sad, like no one wanted to play this game but me. And I wonder where all of my friends have gone.
    I go to the back of the guest house and before I get there I hear them talking. So I know they are back there and they are having a good time. One of my friends is laughing. So I know he is enjoying himself. And then I notice all of them are laughing. And I think, none of them are wondering where I am. I get to the back of the backyard and I say, “What the hell?” And everyone looks at me and they stop smiling. And I say, “Where were you guys? We were playing hide and go seek.” And the truth is I looked very angry but really I felt very alone. I felt really like I was a bother.
    “You guys are so stupid,” I said. I went and I left the back of the guest house. And none of my friends went to go get me. No one came to get me and tell me, “We love you. You are right and we are sorry.”
    Nobody apologized.
    I walked all the way over to my mother’s house, which was next door to my father’s house which is where we all were. I went into my room and I played some video games. I actually enjoyed myself.
    The screen on my television went black. I was having fun. But the screen on the television went black and then a small message appeared where the “Video 1” sign should have been. And it was so small I could hardly read it. I was angry again and I walked up to my television set to see the error message.

“Welcome. Do you want to play?”

    Then an option of Yes or No. I turned my controller to Yes. And that was when a voice in my room said, “Good.” And a giant hand opened up the roof of my home. And the giant hand picked up my tiny little frame. And the giant’s voice said, “I love you Marston.” And the giant placed me on his hand. And the giant said, “I am God and I am here to play a game with you. Now hug me.” And I hugged God’s hand. His hand was so big. I hugged God and I said I wanted to meet Jesus. My Grandma had always talked about Jesus. And how much fun he was because he loved everyone more than anyone possibly could. God said, “Let me get Jesus.” But then he suggested, why don’t I hug his hand a bit longer? He knew I needed some love right then and there. And I hugged his hand for love. I let him love me. And I had him to love me. So I hugged his hand longer.
    Finally the voice said, “Good. That felt good for me too.” And he took his other hand and picked me up by my shirt. He said, “Here. This is Jesus.” And that was when I met Jesus. He was warm and nice and nothing like my friends down on earth. He was kind and he said, “You smell good.” I had just taken a bath that day. I said, “Thanks but I just played a lot of football. I don’t smell good.” I pointed to my knees that had grass stains on them. I pointed to my shorts that had dirt on them. But Jesus said no, he said, “I think you smell good. I also think you’re funny.”


Marston Hefner lives in Los Angeles.