Guardians Of Atlanta 74
(A Day In The Life Of A Freakshow)

Peanut butter crackers?
He’d be eating well.
Today was the 75th day
Since Marlynn had cast a spell.
And it had been 12 years since
Those horrible events
That put him on the run,
And into madness sent.

But God was blessing him.
He could feel it.
And while he wasn’t completely happy,
Today he could deal with it.

He handed the pack of snacks
To the man behind bullet-proof glass.
The dirty old gas station’s attendant,
Rang them up and handed them back.
Marlynn put them in his pocket,
And headed out the door.
Into the concrete jungle
He’d traversed so many times before.
Hell’s Kitchen, some called it.
This dark and lonely place.
With millions of people
But without a trace
Of humanity or real life.
This seemed to always be so.
The perfect little home
To hide Marlynn the Freakshow.

The one spell that Marlynn maintained
 were his clothes.
A rippling shadow of solid anti-light.
He’d fashion it into a hoodie or cloak.
Anything to hide from sight.

So except for the fact that he weighed so little,
Yet stood almost seven feet,
He barely stood out in the thousands of people
Who crowded New York’s many streets.
As he arrived at his home, he took a look up
At the bell tower that stood ominously there.
The stained glass windows had been spray-painted,
Busted, and broken without repair.
The old cathedral had been a house of God
Years before he was born.
And though it was rough, he was thankful for it.
To help keep him safe and warm.

He headed inside and sat down
At the ancient laptop, he’d found.
And then he looked at the wires connecting it,
and slowly began to frown.
One day he’d make enough not steal electricity,
and buy the deed to this place.
But there seemed no other way to make money
Without showing his face.

He pulled up an article he’d been working on,
while on the crackers he munched.
But after a few moments of staring at the screen,
He slowly got up and hunched.
He walked to the crucifix hanging on the wall,
And bowed himself low beneath it.
Then he began quietly to pray.

Marlynn: “Lord help me to believe it.
Help me to believe your word.
And please send me something.
I do not know what Lord.
Without you, I am dying.
I am helpless as can be.
Please open these burnt 
and broken eyes.
So that I might see.
Bless my freelance writing work,
And bless me among men.
This all I pray dear Lord,
In Jesus name-“

Another Voice: “Amen.”

Marlynn jumped back in extreme surprise
At hearing another sound.
It came from a space a few feet from him.
And when he jumped he fell to the ground.
He turned on a light, and stared up at a girl.
Who cocked her head to one side.
Her hair was dark, her skin was fair,
And her slender form he eyed.

Marlynn: “Who are you?”

He said in surprise.

Girl: “You’re an Angel on the rise.”