Member-only story
God’s Witness: Flash Fiction
by Debbie L. Miller
Buddy Waycupp stands on the narrow sidewalk, back against the railing, as traffic whizzes past. He holds hands with the others as they form a chain a quarter-mile long.
Lake of the Ozarks, Bagnell Dam. They meet every Saturday morning to give testimonials to anyone who’ll listen, 45 regulars who show up every week, Bibles in hand.
Buddy closes his eyes as the group chants “Jesus is my savior, I’d die for him, like he did for me.” They chant 10 minutes without a break and their chants get louder with every passing minute.
If Buddy’s psychiatrist knew about this, he’d have a fit; Buddy had told Dr. Greenwald he’d quit this Bible group. Greenwald told him the group’s activities amounted to brainwashing. Buddy knew Greenwald was probably right, but at this very moment, while he chants in unison with his fellow devotees, he feels like everything has fallen into place and all is right in the universe.
He’d been off opiates for two months; his sobriety was intact. He was seeing Jocelyn (the young woman to his right) and they were abstaining from sexual activity. And, best of all, Buddy felt a newfound inspiration from Jesus Christ; an inspiration he knew was real and true. That morning Buddy had decided he no longer needed psychological counseling and planned to tell…
