The Peculiar Point of View

Mary Johnson

Description

Everyone has a point of view. For some, it is a thought or an opinion for a while and can change. For some, it becomes a chosen path for life. Thoughts although unseen can be powerful. Some thoughts evolve into creative dreams and achievements. Depending on a personal point of view, a dream can foster an aspiration. A dream is most often thought to be an image or an emotion occurring during sleep. Some believe dreams are formed by the psych. Still, others feel that dreams can be warnings and even predict future events. Dreams can be pleasant or sad. Regardless of how one might view dreams—everybody has them.
The main character in this story, Walt Norman, wants to become an architect. In his point of view, his dream of being one can be accomplished by the path, he alone chooses to take. He believes in God and reads the word. He prays and seeks direction and answers. Yet he is reluctantly influenced by a recurring night vision. His Christian belief causes him to develop what seems to others to be a peculiar point of view.
Walt is a genius when it comes to architectural design but fails to understand the blueprint of the master designer. He also misinterprets the term peculiar people introduced in 1 Peter 2:9, KJV. Can he fulfill his life-long dream? There are different obstacles that come to block him from reaching his goal. The story has some twists and turns but makes for eye-opening reading.

Sujets

• Mary Johnson
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 30 avril 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669872900
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

The Peculiar Point Of View
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
MARY JOHNSON
 
Copyright © 2023 by Mary Johnson.
Library of Congress Control Number:
2023906447
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-6698-7292-4

Softcover
978-1-6698-7291-7

eBook
978-1-6698-7290-0
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rev. date: 04/13/2023
 
 
 
 
Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
852021
CONTENTS
Prelude
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
PRELUDE
E veryone has a point of view. For some, it is a thought or an opinion for a while and can change. For some, it becomes a chosen path for life.
Thoughts although unseen can be powerful. Some thoughts evolve into creative dreams and achievements. Depending on a personal point of view, a dream can foster an aspiration. A dream is most often thought to be an image or an emotion occurring during sleep. Some believe dreams are formed by the psych. Still, others feel that dreams can be warnings and even predict future events. Dreams can be pleasant or sad.
Regardless of how one might view dreams, everybody has them.
The main character in this story, Walt Norman, wants to become an architect. In his point of view, his dream of being one can be accomplished by the path, he alone chooses to take. He believes in God and reads the Word. He prays and seeks direction and answers, yet he is reluctantly influenced by a recurring night vision. His Christian belief causes him to develop what seems to others to be a peculiar point of view.
Walt is a genius when it comes to architectural design but fails to understand the blueprint of the master designer. He also misinterprets the term peculiar people introduced in 1 Peter 2:9 (KJV). Can he fulfill his lifelong dream? There are different obstacles that come to block him from reaching his goal. The story has some twists and turns but makes for eye-opening reading.

CHAPTER 1

I t was late evening, and the park near a housing project was starting to grow dark. Only sporadic beams of daylight defied the increasing darkness and occasionally showed through the dense, treetops of the wooded area. This was a normal scene for the park in the evening. Still, to an unwary traveler, the atmosphere became a little spooky, and traveling through the area in increasing darkness was a little unsettling.
High weeds and ground cover grew on each side of an old, graveled walkway that was slowly disappearing. High weeds can hide a number of things including ones that could leap out from the darkness and frighten someone just passing by. The determined weeds pushed their way up through that graveled dirt, fighting to take back their right to grow there. The battle between invisible sources to create the visible scene was ongoing.
A lone traveler, a young man, was hurrying along the pathway. Total darkness was not a proper setting for anyone to experience in the park alone. Presently, he was successfully finding his way. At times, he appeared to lose his sense of direction. He stopped several times and looked around, as though confused. He started in one direction and then turned back and stubbornly moved forward as though once again, certain of the path ahead. The walkway in front of him was deserted. A parking lot should be only a short distance away.
All at once, the path under his feet sloped, curved, and headed in a different direction. A large tree suddenly appeared right in front of him, blocking his way. Where did it come from?
It was not there only moments before! He couldn’t see around it. So he couldn’t tell if the path continued on the other side of it or not.
The path once again changed and became even more alien. Still, he pressed on, hoping the former path was still there and his imagination was playing tricks on him. Confused and needing to consider his options, he stopped walking and just stood still. The scene once again changed, all but that tree.
The layout of the whole park was now different. How could someone, or something, redesign the whole area right in front of him? His thoughts raced as his mind sought answers.
As he stood there, the leaves of the tree began to rustle as if blown by the wind. The whole tree began to sway and make creaking sounds. The sounds were like those made by a tree being chopped down and beginning to fall. Yet he could see no one wielding an axe. The tree leaned toward him. Was it going to fall and crush him? “Lord, save me!” he cried shutting his eyes. Time seemed to stand still. He suddenly became aware of another sound, somewhere in the distance. The noise grew insistently louder! He struggled with his eyelids.
Groping through semi-consciousness, he reached out and his hand struck something—the source of the noise. It was his alarm clock. He pressed the off button and began to collect his thoughts. “That crazy dream, again!” he said to himself. It was a recurring dream that started when he was about thirteen. The dream did not come every night, but it came often enough to be annoying. “Lord, what does it mean, and why does it keep coming to me?” he asked as he flung his long legs over the side of the bed and sat up. The question was one he asked over and over, but no interpretation seemed to be forthcoming.
At least not one he understood. So he resolved to let the dream be just a dream. He then bowed to say his morning prayer. The young man, Walt Norman, yawned, stretched, and began combating the remaining cobwebs of sleepiness by rubbing his eyes and forcing himself into a standing position. He grabbed his shirt and khaki pants from the chair beside his bed. Putting them on, he headed down the stairs to the kitchen.
His mother was making breakfast. He could smell bacon frying. “Mom must be up to something. Bacon and eggs are my favorites for a morning meal,” he said to himself.
“It’s about time, Sleepyhead.” The sound of his mother’s voice came from the kitchen. “Your alarm clock has been ringing for the past three minutes.”
In the kitchen, Walt reached for a chair and sat down at the table. “Oh, no you don’t! Go back upstairs and wash, brush your teeth, and change that shirt. Two days in the same shirt is long enough. I was asked to work a double today. Someone called off. I’ll be at work until late. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to look after the kids,” his mother said. “There it is—the reason for my favorite breakfast,” he mumbled .
Walt stared at his mother who seemed to be aging right in front of him. Her visage was beginning to look a little gaunt and he was concerned about her. She was still a young woman, but she had no social life. All she did was work. “I know we are Christians and according to the Bible, we are a peculiar people, but even Jesus had a social life. He attended the wedding of a relative in the city of Cana. I know Mom loves us, but she’s overly protective of us, and it’s causing her to neglect her needs in favor of ours,” he thought.
“Mom, I had plans for the day. Besides you work too hard!” Walt said.
“I know, son, but we need the money,” his mother sighed.
Kate Norman, Walt’s mother, was an attractive woman in her late thirties. She worked mornings at a local hospital in the housekeeping department and some evenings for an independent, senior care service. Her two jobs both low-paying were necessary because she was raising three kids, and there was no foreseeable chance of collecting child support.
Her husband was not around. Of course, she was not the only woman who had ever been abandoned to raise children alone. The family lived in a low-income, housing project.
Walt was Kate’s oldest son from a previous marriage. Her first husband was deceased and she had been a widow for two years, prior to marrying again. Walt was now eighteen and could soon be out on his own. But after graduating from high school a few weeks earlier, he had chosen to stay at home and help his mother.
Since Kate was the family breadwinner, and Walt was still living with her, he was expected to babysit. This meant that he would not be able to work a full-time job or really look for one. Being a young man, Walt often found his situation frustrating, and his growing responsibilities overwhelming. Yet according to his way of thinking, everything happened for a reason. Each moment of life and each situation encountered had a meaning and a purpose for him. They merely had to be viewed correctly.
While heading back upstairs, Walt reluctantly recalled the dream a