1 of 12 - track one - Help me

[KB.]

Go look up "American V" - Johnny Cash. You've got twelve stories coming. I will start each one with a song from that album as my muse, and end each one with an introduction to the next song on the album. The first song is "Help Me". You can google the lyrics, but reading does not do what his voice does to the words.



Help Me

Jonas was looking at the floor of his bedroom, his knees hurt from the hard wood that he had used to replace the soft carpet a few years back. Jonas never was one to pray for himself; he would offer up his prayers for those he loved and the ones that they loved, but he figured it selfish to ask for much as far as he was concerned. This night he was changing old habits. He prayed with as humble a heart as he could muster; he was more begging than praying. He asked for the strength to walk one more mile, he asked that he not have to walk it alone. His feet were so very tired in a metaphorical sense; they hurt regardless, but that wasn’t what the prayer was for. He needed that one more mile to not be a trip made in solitude.

Jonas asked God to help him smile one more smile. Smiles were something that didn’t come so often; he wasn’t one to fake a smile just to be polite. He would smile when something was seen or heard that qualified that opposite action he was so used to. Jonas figured it was going to take a miracle to reverse his face these days. The lines were starting to show from the years of upside down happiness he wore like a bank robber wears a mask. He felt like he was stealing something when he did force a smile. Lord help me smile one more smile he prayed as his knees ached.

Jonas had always felt he could make it on his own. These days he felt like his own was on a different planet; might as well have been lost in that big red spot on Jupiter. He needed the touch of a tender hand, he needed someone to step down from up above and lead him back to the overgrown path before he walked too far down this paved highway. The road to Hell was paved.

He had hung his head for so long this night and when he finally raised it back up he couldn’t see; so he bowed once again and asked for one more thing. Jonas asked for the chains of darkness to be cut away, to let him see once again the way to wander. Let him see the stumbling blocks before he tripped. He needed help in seeing through the haze of the too big world; he couldn’t see with clarity what the plan was.

Jonas had never thought he needed help before, he always thought he could get by – by himself. He stood up slow from that hard wooden floor, and winced as his knee straightened once again.

Jonas had said his prayers for a friend he was worried about. He had thought he could manage the task by himself, but damned if he was going to be Sisyphus any longer. That boulder had gotten far too heavy and was laying waste to the mountainside as it rolled downwards towards its own oblivion. Sisyphus had retired; and was looking for a place to play shuffleboard and drink Pina Coladas with gray haired old men who stared too long at middle aged waitresses wishing for younger and easier days. Jonas would remain around as long as he could suffer it, but he had done the only thing left to be done; he had laid it in the hands of a far more patient power.

Jonas looked out his bedroom window and watched as the clouds moved to cover the moon, it was almost midnight; the rider would soon be running. He tried to smile; it just wouldn’t happen. He looked down at that hard floor and almost thought about bending his knee once again. He took off his shirt, threw it across the room towards the closest and laid down to try and sleep. Thoughts of long tongued Liars, Midnight Riders, Ramblers, Gamblers, and Backbiters ran through his head for a long time.

KB

[RedGlitter]

KB, just letting you know that I will be reading tonight when things have settled down and I have fewer distractions. This Johnny Cash premise is a good one. Where do you come up with these ideas?

[KB.]

RedGlitter;650761 wrote: KB, just letting you know that I will be reading tonight when things have settled down and I have fewer distractions. This Johnny Cash premise is a good one. Where do you come up with these ideas?


My media player has about 5 thousand songs on it. It is where I turn when the stumbling block gets tripped over. That and a woman who brings me down and raises me up.

[RedGlitter]

He looked down at that hard floor and almost thought about bending his knee once again.

I like the inference of this. Going off to the next one.....

[KB.]

almostfamous;652217 wrote:


Oh lord, your make me all weepy. Thanks for putting that there, I wish I could damn sing. Talk about a story teller, Mr. Cash is a muse in his own right.

[KB.]

Just wait on them, and you can add them in a comment, I like it better that way. I am going to out them in the stories when I revise and put them on my page.