{"id":1582,"date":"2019-10-27T01:02:55","date_gmt":"2019-10-27T01:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/?p=1582"},"modified":"2019-10-08T01:15:08","modified_gmt":"2019-10-08T01:15:08","slug":"a-whale-of-a-tale-by-sylvia-melvin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/2019\/10\/27\/a-whale-of-a-tale-by-sylvia-melvin\/","title":{"rendered":"A Whale of a Tale by Sylvia Melvin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sylvia Melvin is a retired elementary school teacher, married with one son and twin grandsons. Born and raised in Ontario, Canada, she now lives in Milton, Florida. She’s involved with church activities, a writing group and enjoys entertaining guests for dinner. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Whale of a Tale<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SETTING: 780 B.C. in a small Jewish home<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AT RISE:   Levi hears\na knock at the door and opens it to find his friend Jonah standing outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Levi throws his arms\nup in the air in surprise and then embraces Jonah.)<\/em> Shalom, Jonah, my dear\nfriend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shalom, Levi. It\u2019s so good to see you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come in; come in. I want to hear all about your trip. There\nwas a rumor going around the synagogue that you were on vacation. Where did you\ngo? Corinth, Athens, Ephesus? I know an innkeeper in Corinth who could have\ngiven you a good deal, had I known before you left. (Levi jabs Jonah in the ribs and chuckles.<\/em>) We Jews help each other\nout, eh?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(JONAH shakes his\nhead.<\/em>) No vacation, Levi. Business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What kind of business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Looking perplexed<\/em>.)\nGod\u2019s business, Jonah? You heard from God? Like our forefathers Noah, Abraham,\nand Moses? How did he speak to you? Another burning bush? A clap of thunder? Or\nmaybe one of your sheep spoke the words of Jehovah? (LEVI is smiling now.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see you don\u2019t believe me Levi, but I jest not. Day and\nnight the words of the Lord swirled about in my head. I tried to ignore them,\nbut they were even in my dreams. The word GO would not disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Looking more\ninquisitive<\/em>.) Go where Jonah?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Nineveh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(LEVI gasps and\nmotions for JONAH to sit at a table as he collapses into a chair<\/em>.) Nineveh!\nWhy Nineveh? The Assyrians are our enemies, Jonah. They hate the Jewish people\nand I don\u2019t mind saying I don\u2019t much care for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My sentiments too. That’s why I changed the trip itinerary a\nlittle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t follow you, my friend. How did you change it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went in another direction; bought passage on a ship to\nTarshish, Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spain! Jonah, that\u2019s one-hundred and eighty degrees opposite\nNineveh. Were you taking the scenic route? (LEVI\nscratches his head in bewilderment<\/em>.) If God told you to go one place, why\ndid you go another? And for heaven\u2019s sake why did He want you to go at all?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To tell the people to repent. He\u2019s fed up with their wicked\nways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you don\u2019t care about them; you said so yourself. Why\nyou?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beats me; that\u2019s why I turned and ran. I felt they deserved\nthe wrath of God. Let someone else save them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, you didn\u2019t go?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, I went alright. When the Lord calls you to do something,\nI found out the hard way you\u2019d better obey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you were on a ship headed for Spain, so how did you get\nthere?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By whale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(LEVI places his hand\non JONAH\u2019s forehead<\/em>.) Friend, are you feeling alright? Has the sun gotten\nto your head, or did you fall on your way over here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Levi, I know this is going to sound very strange to you, but I swear I\u2019m telling the truth. While I was on the ship bound for Spain, a terrible storm came out of nowhere. I was below sleeping until the sailors cast lots to see who was responsible for this unfortunate change in weather. My name came up. I knew right then and there that I was the culprit. The spirit of the Lord told me I was disobeying His command to go to Nineveh. Those sailors can be mean, so I confessed and figured it\u2019d be better to drown then to let them settle the matter.\u00a0 I begged to be thrown overboard. Not one of them disagreed, so over I went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Jonah, you don\u2019t know how to swim. You were always\nafraid of the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still am, but I wasn\u2019t hardly wet before a whale came along\nand swallowed me up. Spent three days in his belly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Stunned, LEVI looks\nat JONAH and shakes his head<\/em>.) It\u2019s that cheap wine you\u2019re drinking again,\nisn\u2019t it, Jonah? Tell me you\u2019ve been stomping the grapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(JONAH lets out a deep\nsigh) <\/em>Levi, <\/em>I would never lie to\nyou; you\u2019re my best friend. That\u2019s why I came to see you. I have to tell my\nstory. It was dark inside that whale, but somehow, I knew God had not deserted\nme as I had Him. I prayed for forgiveness, and I made a promise to go to Nineveh. Apparently, the whale knew\nthe way because on the third day he\u2019d had enough of me bouncing around in his\nbelly and he spit me out right on the shores of my mission field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what did you do then?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Took off telling everyone I saw that if they didn\u2019t change\ntheir ways, the day of wrath was coming. From the things I saw, I didn\u2019t have\nmuch hope they\u2019d take me seriously, so I went out of the city and waited for doom to fall on them.\nI waited and waited but nothing happened. Doubt began to haunt me, and I\nwondered if I\u2019d failed my mission until I heard sounds of weeping and folks\nwearing sackcloth repenting to God. This  made me angry. I couldn\u2019t believe He would\nshow them compassion. Can you believe it? The Assyrians. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Got to agree with you, friend, but you know our God works in\nmysterious ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Believe me, I let my feelings be known the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(LEVI looks at JONAH\nwith surprise.<\/em>) You argued with GOD?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONAH<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sort of…it went like this. He grew this vine to cover me\nfrom the scorching heat while I waited for the city to fall. But the next\nmorning a worm ate the stem and there went my relief. I ranted and raved but\nGod saw through my anger. He told me it wasn’t the plant I was concerned about,\nbut the fact that He had saved thousands of people through me. I couldn’t deny\nit, Levi. They may be our enemies, but in the end, they are God’s people too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LEVI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(LEVI stands and looks\nat Jonah<\/em>.) C’mon my friend. We’re going to visit the Rabbi; your story is\ngoing to be a hard sell, but maybe someday it will be written in the Scriptures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BLACKOUT<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sylvia Melvin is a retired elementary school teacher, married with one son and twin grandsons. Born and raised in Ontario, Canada, she now lives in Milton, Florida. She’s involved with church activities, a writing group and enjoys entertaining guests for dinner. Whale of a Tale SETTING: 780 B.C. in a small Jewish home AT RISE:   … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dramatic-writing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa867U-pw","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1582"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1586,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1582\/revisions\/1586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}