The Tens, Vanessa Jones [i like reading books .TXT] 📗

the pit of her stomach as she watched everyone in the shed eat up Clive’s words. They all looked hungry and weak, for something that wasn't food.

'And we must forgive these people that think ill of us. For they haven't been blessed with the visions of The New Way. The very same people that will one day come to rely on us or perish. And we will welcome them and forgive them with the heart of elephants. Will we not? For who here has received welcoming and forgiveness at a time when they needed it the most?' The circle erupted into applause and cheers.

'Let's hear your story one more time Jesse? Tell us of your salvation and forgiveness to remind us that everything can change for us quickly, if we allow it.'

Jesse skipped up to the steps. 'Most of you know my story. Have heard it many times. But there's never a dip in joy when I tell it again. Some of you have said that you get a lot out of hearing it again. So here goes.' Jesse awkwardly pulled the sleeves over his hands and blew into his cupped hands, whilst dancing from barefoot to barefoot.

'A few years ago... I think two now?' Jesse looked to Clive for confirmation, which he nodded back. 'I was plagued by these horrendous nightmares. No matter what I would do— smoke weed, drink, stay awake, meditation, exercise like a fiend— they would roll through me every night. I couldn't shake them. They seemed to have come out of nowhere and when they took hold they just wouldn't let me go. I think I even tried drinking nothing by apple juice for five days straight cos I read somewhere... you get the idea.’ He rolled his eyes at himself. ‘These horrid nightmares always featured my skin peeling off. It would just kinda fall off. Not in chunks but pretty much in one or two big sheets, starting at the face. I would see these sheets of skin lying in front of me, the colour of bloody puss. I never knew what to do about the sheets of skin or how to be without skin. I couldn't bear to look at myself in case I was just blood and muscles.' He shuddered. 'Ohhh. I still feel sick thinking about them. I know that reoccurring nightmares are pretty common, right?' He looked around at the faces before him and nodded back at a few sharp 'yeps' from his audience.

Sophie may not have been entirely comfortable at this unusual dinner party but at least she could relate to the agony of unrelenting nightmares.

'So anyway. One day I got talking to our man Clive here in the bookstore, of all places. It wasn't so much what Clive said to me but the way he said it and, mainly, the way I felt when I looked at him. I saw something that the nightmares had been clouding. I saw hope and faith. I lost hope and I had lost faith and without those two ingredients, I was eating a shit pie... if you like.' He sniggered at his own joke. Sophie was surprised that others found it funny.

A sweet young woman, who Sophie heard Everley call Abigail earlier, perched up higher than the others on a chair a little outside the circle. Her back was straight and she had a cream bonnet tied underneath her chin, that looked positively antique. If it wasn't for the signature jumper she wore, Sophie would swear she had escaped from the past or from an Amish settlement. Abigail paid attention to every word spoken, listening intently, but did not engage. She did not laugh when others did nor nod in agreement. Sophie found consolation in her insubordinate stillness.

Jesse continued. 'Although a bit shy at first— understandably of course since I was just a stranger who worked in a bookstore and didn't know what he was doing with his life— Clive eventually was gracious enough to let me know about The New Way. And I was never more ready than I was when I came here and met you all. You welcomed me like I had never been welcomed in my life. I finally felt at home and like I had something that was guiding me. And everything that had happened in my life, everything that I had done or not done, had finally made sense. Like there was a reason for all of it. And I felt like I finally had a purpose and that I was not a rudderless boat on a fast stream anymore. I had arrived. And of course, the very first night I came here, my nightmares ceased and I haven't had one since.' Jesse paused, triumphantly, and beamed at everyone, including Sophie. Most people, except Sophie, burst into applause. Even Abigail tapped one pale hand on her thigh insipidly as a token gesture.

'Thank you,' Jesse held a hand to his heart and used the other hand to tuck his shoulder-length tatty hair behind his ears. He looked like a smug rat in the light of the fire, his beady eyes pleased at the attention and his nose pointy enough to be used as an exclamation point on his speech.

Clive retook his position on the stage and embraced Jesse in a long hug. From the way their fingers pressed into each others' backs, Sophie could tell the men were gripping each other hard. To Sophie, it looked uncomfortably hard.

'Isn't that just one of our favourite stories?’

'Yeah!' Again, Abigail barely move her lips.

'Now, it's that time! The time we have all been waiting for. Let's get to it, shall we?'

Everley, who sat the closest to the stage clapped her hands with childlike glee.

'You all know the rules, try not to ask the same question over and over again, wait your turn, your question will be answered whether you ask it or not. And so on. And goodnight...!'

Clive stood completely still,