Pearls before Swine

I'm pleased to announce that my latest story, “Pearls before Swine,” has just appeared in Dali’s LoveChild. If you care to read it, the link is here.

This story concerns the metaphorical fate of a Bible believer. It takes place in a Bible store in the Arizona desert. I have to give my friend Steve credit for the main idea, although the setting was inspired by a trip I once made to Tempe.

Steve was raised in a very religious household. The Bible was a big deal to him growing up. In the bookstores in his hometown and at his college, accessories for Bibles were big business. The book itself was so sacred that you couldn’t put it on the floor or lay other books on top of it.

I wondered what it must’ve been like to have been raised in such an environment. Would you eventually reject what you’d been taught? Would you simply accept it all your life and push on with a meek living in an unsatisfying job?

The two brothers in this story have come to different conclusions on this question. Named after the first two Gospels, Matthew and Mark, the older brother acquiesces. They have a quiet, but mostly stable life. Mark, the younger brother, wants more out of life.

The antagonist, intentionally cliched, is a minister. He convinced the boys’ parents to give him control of their oil-rich property in the name of the church. The boys, in order to inherit, must keep the store open and active.

My friend Steve works in publishing. I didn’t realize until he told me that most leather Bibles are bound in pigskin because it is cheaper than bovine skin. This led to the twist in this story.

Told with a bit of humor, “Pearls before Swine” is a metaphor for learning the truth. Sometimes we think we already know what it all means, only to have an unexpected revelation. Take a look. Dali’s LoveChild is well worth a bit of your time.

Comments

Patterns

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K. Marvin Bruce

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