Antioch: Step Eight

Zepp's mouth went dry at the thought. He stood motionless for a moment, trying to form the words. A crowd had gathered so that, by this point, he was surrounded by locals. They waited with bated breath, each of them, every busybody in town, hanging on the potential of what he might say. What could he say? The words terrified him as they ran through his head, refusing to meet his tongue.

Walden was right, this could ruin their people. Then again, it could be the very salvation they needed. A leaf, scented with sugar, fallen from the heavens. It was hope, wasn't it? Hope of something greater, something beyond all this, as Walden had called their humble world. A world of scavenging and scraping together resources to survive. Oh it wasn't all that bad or desperate, but the chance of something better was welcomed.

Zepp determined in his heart then to deliver the truth, though he couldn't even speak. He remembered Zechariah, who managed his message despite muteness, and so would he now! But how? Who knows how much time passed as the funny, nervous runt debated these things within himself, but everyone waited and he finally gave his answer. In silence, he lifted his eyes to the blackness above. Every eye followed in awe. Saint Wire understood and patted the boy's shoulder, where his hand still rested.