About Darlene
Author
Short Writing Sample
The preacher droned beyond the capacity of the youngest of the congregants to still and upright to receive the full effect of the sermon. The youngest infants cried or fussed themselves to sleep. Bored grown men and boys gazed longingly out the long church windows.
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One boy in particular itched for action. He told his mother he needed to use the necessary.
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She nodded absentmindedly as she was wrapped in the glorious promises the preacher extolled about the afterlife.
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Gus silently slipped off the edge of the hard wooden pew and headed for the exit. On his way out the church, he nodded to a younger black boy who was seated on a stool, by himself at the back of the church. He was an orphan and went where the wind blew him doing odd jobs around town, watering and walking horses, carrying messages, and generally following the routines of the townsfolk. He slept at the livery stable and got meals from whoever felt generous that day. His name was Josef, Joe for short.