Jesus in Hell: Day 1, Part 14: Reunion

 

Start at the Beginning

Previous Chapter: Day 1, Part 13

"Alright, stop right there!" says the kid, after you have battled some more Girgashite zombies and worms, levelling up again in the process.

"Now, close your eyes!  All of you!  I see you peeking, Gestas.  Keep them closed.  Now spin around 10 times!  That's right!  Keep spinning!  Okay, now keep them closed, and hold our hands.  We'll lead you... over this way... good, keep coming, walk this way, okay, good, okay, great.  Now sit down, keep your eyes closed, and now count down from 100!  I'll be right back!"

You open your eyes to reveal another dugong - even bigger than the one you fought before.  The kids are nowhere to be found.  This time, though, you're ready, and considerably stronger than you were the first time you had to fight a dugong.  You and Gestas finish him off with little difficulty, and at the end you have a super-sized dugong tusk for a new weapon, and a large dugong pelt which looks like it might come in handy.

Just then -  

"Dismas!" 

"Joanna!" 

The kids have brought her to you.  You and your sister run toward each other and hug.

"Um, you know... Gestas," Dismas says in an awkward, ambiguous mumble, re-introducing him.

"Hello, Mr. Gestas," Joanna curtsies formally, her head bowed.  "And who is this?" she says, walking up to the donkey.  

Dismas replies, "It's a... donkey."  His tone seems to say, "Duh.  Don't make such a big deal of it."

"Well, what's his name?"  She trepidatiously offers her hand for the donkey to smell- his nostril expanding comically, as he cocks an eyebrow and sniffs her as if sampling the bouquet of a fine wine- and cautiously, she pets him on the neck.  "Such a pretty donkey!" she cries in a somewhat babytalk singsong.  He immediately nuzzles up against her.  "And friendly, too!"

"Well, thank you, Ma'am!" replies the donkey. 

Joanna is gobsmacked.  "You talk?!?!"

"Well, I can keep quiet if you don't want me to." 

"No!  I... well, I don't know what to say!  How did you learn to talk?"

"Oh, I think all animals talk," says the donkey.  "At least down here.  Most of them are too shy to talk around humans, though."

"Well, I never!  So, what's your name?"

"Name?  I don't think I ever had a name.  My master never named me."  Suddenly he looks sad.

"No name?"  Joanna turns to Dismas.  "You never named your donkey?  What's the matter with you?"

Dismas shrugs.

"Well, we can fix that.  Let's see... hm.  Your... name... is...." she scrunches up her nose, and purses her lips to the side, deep in thought.  "Dinke!"

"Dinky?" says the donkey.

"Dinky?" says Dismas.

"Dinky?" says Gestas, clearly skeptical.

"Dinky!" says the donkey, looking pleased.

"Dinke," says Joanna.  "A nice Hebrew name.  Dalet - Yod - Nun - Kuf - He.  It means something like, a sweet little child who was judged, vindicated and found righteous.  It's perfect for you."

"Dinky!  I'm Dinky!"  says Dinky, looking very pleased and starting to dance around.  

"It's pronounced more like Dinke," says Joanna, trying to be helpful.

"Dinky Dinky Dinky Dinky Dinky!" says Dinky, running around in a circle.

"Joanna," says Dismas, choking back a tear and embracing her again.  "I'm just so glad to see that you're okay."

"Yeah!  Well, I am dead.  There is that.  But other than that, I'm doing okay.  And you... look like you're... doing...." she drifts off.

"Take a look at that sword!" says Gestas, interrupting, and grabbing it from Joanna.  "Those kids called you a pirate.  Is it true?"

"It's a... long story," says Joanna.

"Hey, let me see that," says Dismas, and Gestas hands it to him. "With this, we can beat those bears!"

"Give that back! It's mine!" protests Joanna.  She reaches out to grab it, but Dismas pulls it out of her grasp easily.

"Alright, that's it!  This is where we leave you," says the oldest boy.

"But... we don't even know where we are.  How do we get back to Jesus?" Gestas calls after them as they scamper away. 

"I know the way.  Follow me!" says Dinky.

"Thanks, Dinky!" says Joanna. 

"What?  Are we really going to follow this donkey?" you say.  

Gestas shrugs and says, "What choice do we have?" And so you're off.

But before you can even take a step, you are suddenly surrounded.  Zombies!

 

Stay tuned for the next chapter: Day 1, Part 15

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