VI

The Corpses

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Dimas followed all Uries advised for him. He trailed the roads where no one walked through, and after three days of walking, he arrived in Cedron’s creek and entered Priest’s City through the Judiciary door and continued to the lower side of Jerusalem. This is where he bought his dagger with the promise to pay.

On that day, the owner was busy in his store. He happened to be doing some works for his merchandise, the knives. He is embedding, shaping the blade of one of his daggers. He is sharpening the blade’s end point, and thoughtless of somebody he knows is on the way, Dimas is thinking about the store owner, to give him an amazing day. The person who owed money from that store owner is on his way to pay his debt.

—“May the peace of Almighty God be with you!” Dimas entered the store.

The worker held his head up while continuously working his right feet rotating the whetstone; then he stared at this young man standing in front of him, smiling. The owner was looking at this young man without any concern of who could this be?

—“Don’t you recognize me?” Dimas asked.

—“I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere.” The attendee replied.

—“It’s been fifteen days now that in this place you gave me your affection, a compassion. You gave me your favor, a chance for a credit. You let me keep the knife I bought from you and allowed a promise to pay. So I am here to pay my debt.” Dimas stated.

—“OH!” The store owner shouted aloud! It all came back to him; he remembered this young man, he perceived and understood.

—“Yes! I am that young man you trusted, you trusted me to keep the knife and trusted my word to promise to pay.” Dimas explained. —“It was priced for two shekels, but I promised to pay more than your asking price.”

—“I now remembered.” The store owner cried. —“And you promised to pay me.”

—“With twenty ounces of Romanian silver.” Dimas interfered, then draw out silver coins for the price he promised to pay. He put the coins on the table next to the grindstone. The coins made some noise as he dashed it to the table. It clanged.

The sound of the silver coins was music to the Jew’s ears. He was so pleased, and he smiled. His face came to life, bright and lively.

—“I am thunderstruck! I can’t believe that you fulfilled your promise to me.” The old man was gratified.

—“You trusted me, and I kept my promise. I am glad that you did not lose hope in me.” Dimas was thrilled.

—“You’re right! God is my witness, and I am overjoyed that it’s that so because this only means that you became successful and benefited to some work.” The old man replied.

—“Not much, but I am on my way to achieve my goal to become wealthy.” Dimas said.

—“Did you inherit some wealth from a relative?” The Jew asked.

—“No.” Dimas replied.

—-“You must have found some treasures from Solomon’s Palace.” The Jew made a jest.

—-“That’s far off statement.” Dimas countered.

—“Then……………..what is it?” The old man was curious.

—“I can’t reveal to you where my wealth came from.” Dimas responded. —“You probably don’t remember my name anymore, you will understand someday. My name is Dimas, embed that on your forehead, the complete letters, that five letters that complete my name D-I-M-A-S.” Dimas directed.

—“God of Reasoning!” cried the Jew. —“You are the one who killed that Pharisee Isaac; that selfish and greedy old man. Perhaps his soul is burning in hell now!” The Jew blurted out.

—“True, I killed him, and he deserved to die. I used that dagger you let me keep. I thank you in my father’s name, and to your benefit, I paid you twenty ounces of Romanian silver.” Dimas stated.

And again, Dimas did not wait for the store owner to utter more words to reply. He left the store and went his way. The store owner was shocked and could not believe what had just happened. He was left behind in the store with his jaw dropped, amazed.

Dimas, then went to the gravediggers to direct him to where his father’s remains was. After his father’s corpse was preyed on by some street dogs, the remains were thrown into a garbage dump, where the lepers dead bodies were thrown too. He still had some silver coins left from his pouch, two thousand obols. He strongly desired and avowed to give his father a meaningful momentous, at least, a burial. The respect he deserved, a father who he owes his life.

He is in a quest to find some remains from his father’s corpse. In this garbage dump, he slowly searched one at a time any familiar to his eyes, pieces of clothing, some body parts, or perhaps bones that can be recognized. He was considering that birds could’ve eaten it, their strong beaks that can break bones, those crows that fly around in that disgusting place.

Two rounded tears welled in his eyes, then slowly rolled down his cheeks. As he managed to hold his head up high in heaven; he first honored the Temple of Sion and whispered the following words.

—“Oh! My father! you are in heaven now. You were good to me when you were here! I admired you and imitated your good manners when I was with you. You can see your son’s burdens now. Please let me know and let me recognize your remains, and so I can collect them all together and give you a burial you deserved.” Dimas cried.

Dimas can’t hold his tears any longer, and he bursts out crying; he can’t stop his tears, he is weeping uncontrollably. He wept for a while until it is all out, emotionally drained; he dried his tears then gave a long, heartrending sighed like he was relieved from a heavy burdens. Once again, he faced this heartbreaking scene and tried to find his father’s bones; with his dagger, he turned and dug the remains, scouring, turning bones one at a time, searching all over until it’s all piled up to his feet.

He was so determined to find his father’s remains, every single bones is of importance like it’s a precious stone, worth a treasure. He has so much love for his father; the only thing he could think of is to find any remains that are familiar to his eyes, he paid no attention to his surroundings. The intense heat of the sun and his burning skin is not of concerned, he is sweating, perspiring heavily. And every drop of his perspirations are dripping down the ground while digging the muddy swamp.

Like the locusts head consumed by what he’s doing, every part of the human body he dug up gives him hope. Could it be the one? Will he ever find at least one? But instead of finding his father’s face, he finds some faces that are unknown to him. This makes him go away for a little while, get some fresh air, and relieved his sick stomach. He would cry and wept bitterly, then turned around again to continue and dug up more.

Every time he cried is a relief from his broken heart. He grieved from the reality that he can never find any remains from his father’s corpse. A grudge that can never escape, the truth for failing, that even a small bit of his father’s body part if found could be worth a burial.

Deep tired and out of breath, Dimas helplessly sat down under the tree, absolutely overshadowed from being hopeless to find any of his father’s remains. Then, a gruesome idea came to mind.

—“Yes!” Dimas said to himself. —“That’s it! This night, I’ll go to Josafat Valley and look for the grave of that old arrogant Pharisee, that old man who scorned and mocked my father’s corpse. I’ll pull the slab tile from out of his grave’s cover and drag his perfumed corpse out from the grave, that swindler, and I’ll take it here in this garbage dump. I’ll trash it to this dirty place, exposed it to this preying animals, and be eaten by these predators. His accursed corpse will be torn apart, and his flesh will be scattered all over.”

A dark thought came to mind; a horrifying idea, a ghastly rage out of control. Then Dimas stood up and shook his head, ready to put his idea into action. An indication that something terrible is about to happen. His rage that can burn his head into ashes, a fury that came out from hell. His gnashing teeth, the fuming and sunken eyes, the growling expression from his face gave him the form of a well built body. A gorgeous built of a warrior ready for war. A frightening appearance from hell. A ferocious emergence prepared to battle.

—“I am a good person.” Dimas said to himself. —“But I was pushed to the edged. A sea of blood in front of me and an accursed life. I will be punished to die on the cross, and my body will be thrown and be exposed on the streets, torn apart into pieces and be scattered all over. This is all your fault greedy old man! You have a heart of stone, and I damned cursed you! Be accursed like a misused woman, a devalued woman, and I place a curse unto your tenth generation, that I will finish them all and be vanished from the face of the earth! While I am still young and strong, that I hold this knife for my revenge.” Dimas is intensified.

Dimas has too much anger, exhausted out of rage, he sat down, drooped down his head then covered his face with his two hands. He was in that position in a long time. The afternoon breeze, the wind blew it’s air in those trees, but Dimas is still in the same position. The night came, and the cold wind blows it’s howling sounds in the woods, and Dimas is like, still not moving from that same position.

From the sky, the moon is shining it’s shy light, cool in the eyes, it’s demure light is gleaming towards the high and sculpted Tower of David. The Stork birds are coming out and hop-hopping, and settled to those tall and slender towers of Jerusalem, the unusual Stork birds that’s giving it’s sad noise, a disturbing sounds that attracts attention. Then the night birds started to come out giving it’s hooting sounds, one hop and settled in a tree where Dimas was. Dimas was helplessly prostrated at the foot of this tree. Those night birds, their soft sad sounds ushered it’s hooting, carried by the cold wind, down to Dimas’s ears that abruptly woke him up; he arose and immediately looked around in his surroundings like he came out from a deep sleep.

The ferocious face he had earlier was gone and is now replaced by grief. His eyes that are still wet from grieving, those fiery tears he had a while ago, had vanished and are now replaced by the sweet and a meek face. A long sighed of a painful emotion was released from his chest to relieved his sad feelings.

—“Never!……………………..in any way!……………..never!” He said to himself. —“Never in my life will I ever disrespect corpses. Never will it happen that I will not help children and old people, especially the elders.”

Dimas took an oath to respect the dead, to respect the innocence of young children. He made a promise to himself, a commitment to carry out this promise unto his next life.

—“Forgive me, my father! I took an avenged for you and end a life, but let me respect those corpses that the worms eat underground for their food and for them to live.” Dimas whispered to himself while crying.

From all those hours, Dimas’s calm composure at that foot’s tree was a powerful time for him. He felt so bad, emotionally absorbed from battling the desire to take revenge. But at last! Darkness came to light! His desire to do evil was replaced to do good. He sobbed, a forgiving heart, true to his feelings. Behold! a loving heart, with all it’s painful trials in life, at his young age, had chosen to forgave, the forgiveness that’s coming from his heart was achieved, and LOVE triumphed once again!

He rejected the very first abominable plan he made; the horrifying idea that came to mind. And now the only one left to choose is the Mountain of Samaria. He turned around and started to walk, to return, back to the castle. It was late afternoon when he reached the mountain, the afternoon was turning into dusk. It was the fourth day when he gets near the camp. He continued to walk, ahead of him is the tower built in a strong foundation, the castle where the bandits dwell. He traced the road he used with Uries, the underground tunnel, then Dimas used the entryway he had known, the same entrance he used when he left. He gets inside the castle, it was empty, there’s no one there, he went straight to the kitchen. The kitchen was cold and dark; he sat down and laid to the floor and wait.

Dimas is a young man, a teenager. In this stage, where it’s hormonal development and sleep is insufficient, and from a long journey, Dimas could not hold on to stay awoke, and he finally fell into deep sleep. He sleeps in comfort like when he was still in his father’s house. Midnight came, and Dimas is still fast asleep, he did not sense the arrival of the bandits; he was not alerted by their coming, he was in a deep sleep. The esoteric stairs’ descending sound from that square entryway came down, and the noise of the bandit’s laughter and conversing voices did not woke Dimas up.

They came with plenty of loots, and with their ferocious faces, portrayed a delightful and a merriment day. The room was dark, and they are all busy discussing and checking their ravages. They did not notice the young man Dimas fast asleep in the corner of the room. The leader commands his members to light up their torches. The darkened rooms, the walls, the dark corners, brightened up as they light up the torches, and to their surprise, Dimas, fast asleep in the corner of that cold and hardwood floor of that kitchen.

—“He kept his promise to me!” Abaddon exclaimed. He was amazed by this young man’s word of trust! —“We can benefit from this young man.”

to be continued………………………………………………