Beautiful to Me
by Coneflower Adams
Note: Some words from the song "Beautiful to Me" by Don Francisco were used in one part of this story. Also, I didn't name the narrator of this story because I wanted it to be more of a symbolic thing. You can choose which ever newsie you want to be the narrator; I chose Skittery for some reason.
***
The day had been slow for us newsies. My three friends and I walked to our favorite restaurant together to catch a bite to eat. Two of them joked about the day being so boring, church would have been more fun than that day. I thought I knew my friends pretty well…I was wrong. So wrong about one of them.
Not even five minutes after we sat down, the bell on the door rang and a young woman walked in, hesitantly. From the sight of her, I knew what kind of woman she was. Her clothes were gaudy, colorful, and low-cut. Her wavy black hair hung freely on her shoulders. The stench of her fragrance could be smelled across the room. No doubt about it, this young woman was a whore.
We watched, nonchalantly, as she walked up to the manager of the restaurant. I listened as she asked him for a job or even some food. I glanced up to see her on her knees, begging. The manager just shook his head firmly, and said whores weren't allowed in his restaurant.
The young woman's eyes glistened as she stood up to leave. I knew I shouldn't of done it, but I said it anyway. "Get out of here, whore. We don't want you around" I called at her as she passed our table.
What happened next changed everything though. I didn't realize who had appeared by her side till I saw the familiar face encircled in black hair. It was Bumlets. He spoke to her in a murmured voice to where we couldn't hear what he was saying. By now, the whole restaurant's attention was caught. I wondered what he was telling her and why she was nodding. My anger grew as I thought my friend was asking a "favor" from her.
But, my assumption died when she began to cry. A presence I never felt before became known in the room. Bumlets wrapped an arm around her, letting her sob on his shoulder. I had to know what was going on. I stood, approaching them.
"What are you doing touching her? Don't you know this kind of woman is the kind they buy and sell?"
Bumlets looked straight into my eyes, and said with a tone I had never heard from him before, "See this woman. She came here and humbled herself to a person of higher authority, but he turned her away. She wants to change. I told her how."
That was the question. How could someone change after they bore so much flagrant sin and sowed so much wickedness? I asked, "How?"
He clinched the small, weather-worn cross around his neck and answered, "Just open your heart and you'll know." Then he turned to the young woman, who was still weeping. He told her, "Your sins were red as scarlet but now they're washed away. The love and faith you've shown is all the price you have to pay. For the depth of God's forgiveness, it's deeper than the sea. And no matter what the world may think, you're beautiful to me."
I thought my inside would fuel from disbelief and anger that my friend would even think of speaking to this whore, let alone say that God has forgiven her. But, all I did was stand there in amazement.
Bumlets embraced the young woman and said these words, "Walk in peace" before she left the restaurant.
No one there, especially me, would be the same after that day. The intense feeling I felt when my friend spoke those words. I could see more clearly and felt more alive when I asked the Lord to forgive me of all the sins I had sown and come into my life.
From that day on, I walked in peace.
by Coneflower Adams
Note: Some words from the song "Beautiful to Me" by Don Francisco were used in one part of this story. Also, I didn't name the narrator of this story because I wanted it to be more of a symbolic thing. You can choose which ever newsie you want to be the narrator; I chose Skittery for some reason.
***
The day had been slow for us newsies. My three friends and I walked to our favorite restaurant together to catch a bite to eat. Two of them joked about the day being so boring, church would have been more fun than that day. I thought I knew my friends pretty well…I was wrong. So wrong about one of them.
Not even five minutes after we sat down, the bell on the door rang and a young woman walked in, hesitantly. From the sight of her, I knew what kind of woman she was. Her clothes were gaudy, colorful, and low-cut. Her wavy black hair hung freely on her shoulders. The stench of her fragrance could be smelled across the room. No doubt about it, this young woman was a whore.
We watched, nonchalantly, as she walked up to the manager of the restaurant. I listened as she asked him for a job or even some food. I glanced up to see her on her knees, begging. The manager just shook his head firmly, and said whores weren't allowed in his restaurant.
The young woman's eyes glistened as she stood up to leave. I knew I shouldn't of done it, but I said it anyway. "Get out of here, whore. We don't want you around" I called at her as she passed our table.
What happened next changed everything though. I didn't realize who had appeared by her side till I saw the familiar face encircled in black hair. It was Bumlets. He spoke to her in a murmured voice to where we couldn't hear what he was saying. By now, the whole restaurant's attention was caught. I wondered what he was telling her and why she was nodding. My anger grew as I thought my friend was asking a "favor" from her.
But, my assumption died when she began to cry. A presence I never felt before became known in the room. Bumlets wrapped an arm around her, letting her sob on his shoulder. I had to know what was going on. I stood, approaching them.
"What are you doing touching her? Don't you know this kind of woman is the kind they buy and sell?"
Bumlets looked straight into my eyes, and said with a tone I had never heard from him before, "See this woman. She came here and humbled herself to a person of higher authority, but he turned her away. She wants to change. I told her how."
That was the question. How could someone change after they bore so much flagrant sin and sowed so much wickedness? I asked, "How?"
He clinched the small, weather-worn cross around his neck and answered, "Just open your heart and you'll know." Then he turned to the young woman, who was still weeping. He told her, "Your sins were red as scarlet but now they're washed away. The love and faith you've shown is all the price you have to pay. For the depth of God's forgiveness, it's deeper than the sea. And no matter what the world may think, you're beautiful to me."
I thought my inside would fuel from disbelief and anger that my friend would even think of speaking to this whore, let alone say that God has forgiven her. But, all I did was stand there in amazement.
Bumlets embraced the young woman and said these words, "Walk in peace" before she left the restaurant.
No one there, especially me, would be the same after that day. The intense feeling I felt when my friend spoke those words. I could see more clearly and felt more alive when I asked the Lord to forgive me of all the sins I had sown and come into my life.
From that day on, I walked in peace.