This is part of a middle-grade fiction series about a group church-camp teenagers who experience a mystical phenomenon. It’s a silly and light-hearted series, but your middle-grader might also find themselves better inspired to practice the fruits of the spirit. If you’d like to read all the chapters, visit here.
Tamar saw light and was confused. It wasn’t so bright as she thought God’s light must be, but it didn’t belong in the depths of darkness either. She knew that this was what it would be like to die. You start seeing things. It made sense.
“Quick!” A familiar voice said. “She’s falling.”
Someone flew into the darkness and wrapped strong arms around her. Then they flew out of the hole toward flat, solid ground.
Except the ground wasn’t solid. It still shook. Ariel was there… as were four other people shrouded in little spots of colors.
“This way,” a female voice directed. “We’ll get you guys out.”
Were these angels? The one had flown, she was certain of it.
The noises of the cave enraptured her, and it crumbled and folded in on itself. Water sprayed up out of various cracks and splashed over them.
“Build a wall around them,” someone shouted.
The little droplets of water raised away from Tamar and Ariel and formed into a clear wall globed over Ariel and Tamar. Tamar reached out… her fingers went through only a quarter of an inch before the power of the water stopped her. It was thick and determined and alive.
A masculine voice said, “I see a path. But we’ll need to blast a way through this rock.”
“No problem,” a softer voice answered. A light sparked at the mound of stones where the cave had been. It was hard to see through the wall of water, but Tamar soon realized the light was fire coming from one of the women, and it was melting a hole through the cave wall. Another woman lifted fallen pieces of rocks—more like boulders—and threw them away. No ordinary man or woman could have lifted those.
Tamar watched in awe.
Ariel said, “It’s the Tapiocans. I’ve heard rumors about them, but never thought they were real.”
“The what?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
Tamar thought that was probably a good idea.
Sunlight pierced through the hole the—angels? super heroes? Tapiocans?—made. The strong woman and the man who could fly picked up Tamar and Ariel and carried them through. For some reason the woman talked the entire time, telling the man exactly where to go.
Strange.
But then all of this was strange. Tamar was still too freaked out to care much or doubt… she was mostly just shocked to still be alive. And if she wasn’t alive, this was too cool.
The rest of the strange people followed after them.
The cave seemed to be done breaking apart, but there was no way they were going to return the way they’d come.
“Can you both walk? Are you hurt?” The man who flew asked.
Even though they were in broad daylight, Tamar still couldn’t see any of the people’s faces. They were covered in clouds of tapioca… was it actually tapioca?
Tamar looked over herself. Her elbows and knees were scraped up and there was a tear in her skirt. But she felt fine.
Ariel said, “I’m all good. Who are you?”
“You wouldn’t believe us,” one of them said.
“Try me.” Ariel crossed her arms.
Instead the Tapiocans said, “There’s a deer trail just right there. Follow that and it should take you back to your group.”
Water and fire rose around the group of strangers, and brought them up into a blended swirl of color high into the air. It fell to the ground, extinguished moments later and there was no one left.
“Wow,” Tamar said.
“Wow is right,” Ariel agreed.
They were rooted to the spot, unable to break away from looking at the place where their saviors had evaporated. They shook themselves and searched for the trail. Neither of them spoke on the descent to camp. To still be alive after resigning oneself to the impossibility of seeing another hour felt surreal. She pondered the intricacy of specks of dirt sticking to her knuckles, and the wavering bushes and branches around the trail, and her own calming pulse. Mostly she was curious about who and what those people had been.
The girls tumbled out of the woods into a large clearing filled with campers. Ariel ran straight to her father, who was surrounded by people, praying and weeping.
Tamar searched and found her own family. She swallowed a lump in her throat. God had given her a second chance. How was she going to use this time now? Tamar followed Ariel.
Mom was ugly crying and hysterically shaking. Even Grandpa’s face was streaked with dirty tears. Her brothers just looked scared and a little awkward … they were unusually still, except for spinning around, looking for answers… or her?
Several of them saw her. They didn’t move.
Ariel placed a hand on her father’s shoulder. His bowed head shot up and he stared at her for one long moment before his arms flung around her. Ariel gasped. “Not too tight, Dad.”
Everyone stopped praying as soon as Ariel spoke. First they saw her, and then the eyes shifted toward Tamar, too.
“Thank God!” An older woman murmured.
Mom ran over to Tamar and grabbed her shoulders. “Are you alright? How did you get out?”
Tamar went weak and fell against her mom, sobbing. “I’m so sorry I’ve been so moody this week.”
Mrs. Geil’s arms wrapped around her. “Shh. I understand. It’s hard being a teenager.”
“I almost died,” Tamar choked out. “But there were these… angels that saved us.”
“Angels?” Several adults perked up.
Ariel, free from her father’s embrace, said, “I don’t think they were angels.”
A disappointed sigh oozed out of the campers. Just when they thought God had done a miraculous work for them, they were to be told it was some ordinary act.
Ariel continued, “They reminded me of the legendary Tapiocans.”
No-one seemed interested now. A few humorous chuckles broke the tense air left over from the wailing. The girls were hugged, and no more explanations were asked after.
“Come. Let’s thank God for their return,” Ariel’s dad said.
The campers pulled the two girls to the middle, and laid hands on them, then lifted their voices in prayers of thankfulness.
It was tight and cramped, with too many people too close. But Tamar was truly thankful to be alive, so she would bear with the discomforts of this moment. She, too, bowed her head, and thanked God for whoever it was that He sent to save them.
Because angels or not, Tamar was convinced they had been from God.
After every tear was spent and dried, and every voice hoarse, and the sunlight dimned, people pulled apart and decided it was time to go to the cafeteria.
Mr Garrison sent one last prayer of thanks to heaven, then announced, “We’ll go back to camp in the same way we came. Everyone follows me, and Mr. Cowell will take up the rear.”
At the mention of Mr. Cowell, Tamar looked for him and the rest of the youth. They were just behind her, and had probably been a part of the many arms and hands hugging and touching her. She’d been so out of it and unaware, though, she couldn’t be sure.
Mr. Cowell smiled at Tamar when he saw her looking. Rayne mouthed, “Glad you’re okay.” And the others all waved or smiled.
Tamar was happy to see that they were okay, too.
The group made their way back to the vehicles. Tamar was tempted to see if her mother would allow her to ride with the youth now but she really didn’t feel like testing her luck or her mother.
Besides, she should spend a little time with her family.
A noise caught Tamar’s attention. It sounded like someone was hurt. She looked toward Ariel first, but Ariel was smiling, walking instep with her father.
The noise was coming from the woods from where Ariel and Tamar had emerged. She squinted. A young man tumbled out, falling over himself onto the ground.
“Someone’s hurt!” Tamar shouted, pointing.
At once the crowd stopped, and several men approached the stranger.
They brought him closer. The man was knocked up pretty bad, but there were no signs of blood. What stood out to her the most was that she’d never seen him before.
He wasn’t from camp.
The man wasn’t old, maybe just a few years older than Declan. Of course that was still ancient to Tamar.
The man groaned, “I’ll be alright. I just got knocked around from the earthquake.”
The man tried to pull away, but he was held onto tightly by Mr. Garrison and Declan. “You aren’t going anywhere in your state. Come back to camp with us. We’ll take care of you.”
The man looked like he wanted to protest. Tamar saw his knees buckle, and that seemed to show the man that he needed to just go along with them.
“What’s your name, son?” Mr Garrison asked.
The man opened his mouth, then shut it, considering. Was he contemplating whether or not to answer, or was he too dizzy up to answer the question promptly? “Jason Anderson,” he said.
Mr. Garrison nodded, “Jason. Do you have anything laying around that we need to go back for? A car?”
The man shook his head.
They brought Jason to the youth van and maneuvered him into the front passenger seat. Tamar wished now more than ever to be allowed to travel with the youth. The man seemed to have fallen right of the sky… or woods. And she’d miss so much about him on the way back to camp.
Tamar returned to her own van without protest, and seatbelted herself between her piles of brothers.
Back at camp, dinner was ready, but Tamar didn’t see any more of Jason.
Ariel said, “Dad’s taken him to his cabin, and he’s resting on a bunk. I guess he’s not really hurt that much. He said he was close to another entrance in the cave and almost squashed.”
“Wow,” Tamar said. Both of the girls were in line, getting food. It was as if the accident happened ages ago. Already she felt like herself, and was famished. Tamar’s family had gone ahead and were seated. Her old problems resurfaced. Tamar was trying to decide who to go sit with as Ariel chattered. Well, deciding if she ought to ask her mother if it was fine to sit with her friends.
“Yeah, I didn’t even know there was another entrance,” Ariel said. “That guy definitely has to show it to us. Once he’s better of course.”
Tamar shuffled her feet on the floor. She looked and saw the rest of the youth group walk in, Declan at the lead.
“He’s so handsome, don’t you think?”
Tamar started. “Who?”
“The new guy.”
Tamar scrunched her nose together. “Ugh. He’s old.”
“Nah, not really. He’s probably not even thirty. Even so…”
“That’s twice our age,” Tamar interjected.
Ariel shrugged and grabbed a plate and handed it back to Tamar, before grabbing her own.
How could Ariel already be so bouncy, as if they hadn’t nearly died? At the same time she was envious of Ariel’s total lack of fear… as if she embraced death and life with equal faith. If only she could trust God that much and not fear death so much. Tamar heaped her plate with food, hoping this experience wouldn’t turn her into a wimp.
Tamar decided she wanted to be more like Ariel than anyone she’d ever met. And it wasn’t just Ariel’s complete freedom her parents seemed to give her that Tamar envied. It was the way Ariel viewed life, and had just bounced back into her vibrancy.
“Ariel,” Tamar said.
“Yeah?”
“I’m so glad we’re friends, and that we’re still alive.”
“ME TOO!”
Tamar’s grandpa was scheduled to preach that evening after the worship songs were sung. He was very emotional as he preached, and Tamar found herself wiping at a stream of tears. She listened to him tell the story of the shepherd who left his flock to find a lost sheep. Her skin was goose-bumped. God had really done that for her, somehow, surely, through those mysterious beings.
After the sermon was done, Raye, Faye, and Gretchen hurried over to where Tamar and Ariel sat. So odd, Tamar thought. Normally they disappeared in the evening and she wouldn’t see them again until morning.
“We were thinking,” Gretchen said. “That it would be fun if the five of us girls practice a hymn together to sing on Sabbath. What do you two say?”
Tamar said, “I want to!”
“Sure,” Ariel said.
“Great.” Then the three girls were gone, and Tamar and Ariel stared after them.
“They are truly so odd,” Ariel commented. “Let’s go get some dessert from the cafeteria.”
The next installment will be published on the first Monday of next month.
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I finally caught up! It went in such a different direction than I expected, and I can’t wait for the next installment!!