At first, I thought the man walking up the driveway was McAvoy Layne.
“Mr. Layne,” I shouted as I stood, wondering why he was visiting me.
He guffawed more than laughed, “Gotta place for an old man to sit and visit a spell?”
“Sure,” I said, showing him the rocking chair I had been seated in.
Upon closer inspection, I could tell this was not the man I thought it was. He was much older than Layne, and the frown on my face must have told him I was questioning who he was.
“Sam Clemens, my good man,” he said.
“You do know that you’re dead, right.”
“Then a door knob.”
“Then how’s this possible?”
“You’re asleep, and I’m in your dream.”
“Do you want a couple shots of whiskey, while you’re resting?”
“No, thank you, it’s tea nowadays for me.”
“You sure? That doesn’t sound like the Sam Clemens I learned about.”
“Totally.”
Oh, I got it — a play on words ‘tea’ and ‘totally — a teetotaler.”
“That obvious, huh?”
“Only to the person that thinks.”
“But anyway, tea and whiskey and word puzzles isn’t why I want to chat with you.”
“Okay, why do you want to chat with me?”
“‘Cuz I’m here to relieve you of one of your concerns.”
“Which one? There’s many.”
“The one about the lion and the lamb.”
“You mean the wolf and the lamb, right?”
“Well, yes and no. You see, I struck a deal with the Lord to pen one more quaint, and I pointed out that He could use it to show who does and does not know the Gospel.”
“I’m not understanding.”
“You see, I was allowed to change the wording of Isaiah 11:6 for fun. And it’s been a hoot ‘cuz now we get to see whose been paying attention and who hasn’t.”
“So what does this have to do with me?”
“You’re trying to figure it out – and there’s no figuring needed. It’s all an elaborate joke, and God’s in on it.”
“I get it, now. He has under control, so I need to stop fretting over it.”
“Yup, it’s my best quaint yet, and you didn’t fall for it.”
“So, what am I supposed to do now?”
“Look for something else to worry about, naturally. I got that on High Authority.”
“Okay.”
“And now that I’m well rested, I best skiddattle. Things are happening in the Universe, and I don’t want to miss any of it,” Sam said. “Take care of Virginia.”
He stood, straightened his white suit, smiled at me, and returned to the sidewalk, where he disappeared around the corner.
The Old Blog in the Desert 