Whispers
Despite having slept in longer than usual, Evan found himself with little desire to get out of bed the next morning. If he stayed there, he reasoned, he was safe and wouldn’t be thrown out of reality by visions of ghosts running around making everyone else’s life better but his. Then again, if he stayed in, he’d probably start seeing white shadows on the wall. He got up.
As he went through his morning routine and started feeling more awake, he wondered where he’d gotten the notion that the stranger was actually improving people’s lives. Of all the people he’d observed the man whispering to that Saturday night, the only one he’d been able to follow up on was Richard Cade, and so far it seemed as if he was being moved in the wrong direction. Perhaps this stranger’s goal was to upset lives, albeit subtly. He’d certainly accomplished that with Evan’s.
If Richard had indeed been praying, and was so “in the zone” that he wouldn’t have noticed a man’s arm draped over his shoulder, then it’s entirely possible that the stranger’s voice could easily have been mistaken for the answer he’d been seeking. Richard could, in fact, be making the biggest mistake of his life.
On the other hand, if God did indeed want Richard in this new position, Evan knew he was asking for trouble if he tried to keep him from getting it. The decision wouldn’t be entirely his, but he had enough influence to see Richard hired if he really wanted to. What he needed to do, he decided, was to talk to the pastor about this and see what he suggested.
Evan grabbed his keys and bus change, then made a quick, final pass through the apartment to see if there was anything else he needed to take with him. He found a disposable camera in his bedroom that only had a couple exposures left, so he grabbed it and headed for the front door. On his way out, he glanced at the wall of frames. Finding nothing amiss, he left.
As he stepped onto the sidewalk, he looked to his right and saw the bus he needed coming up the street. He checked the other way for safety’s sake, then crossed the street quickly, casually snapping the last two pictures in the camera as he went. He arrived at the bus stop just in time to board. The mall was closer, so he’d head there first. After that, the church.