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A Devilish Riddle
by Joseph Hudson A dragon approached me in a dream one night, and I politely stepped aside. He sidestepped too, blocking the way, then looking down, he smiled. "Good day to you," the dragon said as I forced a shaky smile. Before I could speak, he continued with, "Tell me your heart's desire." "I have but one desire," I said, "as I am pressed for time this day: to pass you by unharmed and whole and continue on my way." "Your passage for a riddle," the dragon said as he puffed a ring of smoke. "Solve the riddle and go your way, or I claim as mine your soul." "This riddle of yours, how does it go?" impatiently I asked. "It is not my riddle," he said, "but yours. Set your mind to the task." The dragon sighed, then said: "Many of them stand around, pointing here and there. Some offend, and some do not; they have no thought or care. They offend the careless, the poor of sight and, once, a drunkard's hand. In a circle they stand with bloody spears to disgrace a blameless man." "Who or what," the dragon asked, "are 'they'?" I tried to think but knew inside that I couldn't solve it then. I finally confessed that I did not know, and the dragon slowly grinned. "Say the words," the dragon hissed; I repeated them without fault. I felt the words burn into my brain as I felt some horrible loss. The next few years were a descent into hell as I wandered here and there. The words consumed my life and mind, and I wrote them everywhere. One night, with my starving body near death, I wrote the words again. I scrawled them on the pillar of an overpass and then spoke them in my dreams. The next day, I looked in disbelief because the words were written twice; once last night, once long ago on some other mindless night. Years had obviously passed since then, and the familiar words were faint; fainter still, penciled arrows led around the pillar, past words insane. As my ragged shoes scuffed trash aside, my dirty fingertips caressed each hopeful arrow as they wound around until at last they stopped. I read: "I once was troubled by dragons and such as it appears you are, my friend, and although my riddle was different by far, I triumphed in the end. I roamed this land as you do now until I happened upon a clue that someone had written beside my words. I write these now for you: You will never solve the riddle without God's help. God? I can hear you ask! Do as I did and read His Word from beginning to the last." I thought of a book from my former life, unopened until then. I dug it out of my dirty bag and, through tears, my reading began....The dragon returned in a dream one night and said, "The time is nigh; the answer to the riddle I will require of you soon, or else you surely will die." I woke in a sweat and paced the floor for the answer I had yet to see. Then I read my Bible for hours and prayed and finally returned to sleep....I dreamed of two soldiers at a shameful task as they sat upon the ground. One said something, and the other one laughed as they wove a hateful crown. Then I saw the crown upon His head, the bloody....points....askew. I woke with a shout and gave thanks to God because finally and at last, I knew! I cried for joy as I left that day, and I feared the dragon no more. After dreaming of dragons, I had dreamed again, of my Savior's crown of....thorns. The End Copyright 2001 Joseph Hudson [email protected] Navy veteran, 1974-1981. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |