JIM
Abandoned In Tall Grass
by
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Disorder reigned the day in the Morris wagons as it did in most wagons. The children pushed and shoved constantly. They argued over space and toys that would occupy their time. They sought the prime seating positions that allowed for a glimpse of distant sights although generally barely visible through the dust of the caravan, the stark glare of the sun, or the torrent of the torrential rainfalls.
While Jay Simms Morris dozed, slept, and played in the warm sunlight that cascaded over the tall green Nebraska grass, normal confusion ruled the day in the Morris Conestoga wagons.
Everyone in the Morris family thought Jay was with another person, namely the one assigned his or her duty that day, whoever had the lot or whoever forgot to assign the lot, whichever. It had happened before with other children. Unfortunately, a female sister forgot, thinking her duty-day assignment was tomorrow-hence, not the current moment.
Wheels screeched, thumped, and rolled methodically giving a mesmerizing trance to those driving and a dozing sleep to those watching. The Morris’ were underway, once again moving toward their dream. The wheels of their wagons grinded steadily forward while silence reigned where Jay lay asleep in the tall grass miles away.
Their adventure of faith entertained the macabre in the darkness of that infamous day that greeted the twilight and turned to night, suddenly. A search for Jay began, amid lantern lights and screaming of his name. The family searched and scurried about in the crevices of companion wagons but Jay remained lost and alone unaware of the distant tears and wails of his mother.
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About the Book
Dr. Weagley tells tales of times past. Academic degrees, business experiences, a military career, a devoted wife, and four wonderful children mix with his imagination to produce saga segues rooted in truth and faith.
Some of Dr. Weagley’s stories are published and available: SEASCAPE, TRIBE ARPEGGIOS, WALLACE, and JED, each uniquely portraying justice and hope for the foolish, oppressed, and downtrodden.
JIM is a continuation of Dr. Weagley’s efforts to appreciate those who unnecessarily suffer hardships in life, as if voice for the silenced.
Jim, an innocent 20th century protagonist, bounced against fates door, repeatedly. A loving family accidentally abandoned him while an infant barely capable of walking without a stagger. Rogue Apache rescued him from his plight in the 1890 Nebraska tall grass. His rescuers ushered a long march toward perdition salved by Grace administered by the Great Spirit. Jim avoided death, converted precarious situations into opportunities, and stood ultimately before a merciful God in order to receive a deserved blessing for a job well done.
Time and circumstance met patience and faith in Jim’s life, allowing Dr. Weagley to release his latent desire to tell character stories of the strong, gallant, diligent, and the fabled survivors who thrived in the face of distinct adversities.
Good and evil still reside side-by-side and only the dreamer can speculate with wonders that capture truth in the shadow shade of a Saving Grace.
About the Author
The sanctity of truth frequently evades when the flame fades to the darkness as if bowing to the will-o'-the-wisp corpse torch, a ghostly light term for a fantasy phantom sometimes seen at night or at twilight over bogs, swamps, and marshes.
During his life, the Reverend Doctor Ronald Lee Weagley donned many titles, not only son, grandson, nephew, boy, Ronnie, Private, Specialist, Lieutenant, Captain, Padre, Mister, Pastor, father, husband, Assistant to the Bishop, and “hey-you,” but also a few of the more colorful adjectives unprintable at this writing,. He lays claim to all and to none of the aforementioned, preferring additional more tranquil options: lover, husband, soul mate, dad, or friend. Our egos know our lists. Occasionally remorse delivers a taint tart’s bite of lemon for our palate as we wish we were more deserving of the privilege titles flashing in ones recall; but we are often know for what we do and not who we are actually.
Dr. Weagley was born Ronnie for some reason known only to his departed mother and father. His maternal grandfather Roy Franklin Hahn, who read the bible regularly, prayed incessantly, and invoked the deity at random, occasionally as a blessing and occasionally in wrath, contributed significantly to Dr. Weagley’s value system until later in life when congruity touched him in a religious environment.
A tour in Africa with the United States Army Security Agency as an enlisted Morse code operator /Traffic Analyst trailed with a business career as branch manager with a national loan company and over ten years in the United States Navy Reserve as a Chaplain. In addition, several years as a trucking company president’s staff member coupled with two academic degrees, two professional degrees and a myriad of continuing education experiences in homiletics, organization development, business management, pastoral ministry, and related areas, served him well in his vocation. Each contributed as if a straw in the flame of the wisp tale that declares light in darkness.
Dr. Weagley and his wife of fifty-three years, with four children, thirteen grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren, retired to retreat to a slower pace in service. Illness struck, pointing a new path. The paralytic virus Guillain-Barre Syndrome morphed his mode of operation from a stand-up robed preacher into a seated keyboard author telling tales, spinning yarns, and pontificating lucidly. His favorite phrase, “Seek and you shall find,” best captures as well as elaborates his life and his dreams while his sermons, services, and sincerity scream from the pages of his creative fiction works, rooted in reality, SEASCAPE, TRIBE ARPEGGIOS, WALLACE, JED, and JIM.