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Nora
Nora had read Psalm 136 so many times she’d lost count. She remembered now that her father’s favorite verse had been 23. God remembered his people in their low estate. If ever there was a low estate, she was in it now.
How she missed her father. He hadn’t been a perfect man, but he would know what to say right now. He would know how to make her feel better. She looked down at the psalm. This is what he would say. The words were right in front of her. He would tell her that God’s mercy was everywhere and forever, and that Levi was being gifted with it right now.
Wait. The chapter was clear that God’s mercy was forever. But was it everywhere as well? Where had she gotten that idea? Certainly not every human was granted mercy every day. She witnessed this every single day in her job. She witnessed the suffering, the lack of mercy. So what made her think that this eternal mercy would find its way to Levi?
What was God’s mercy? She’d established that he had it, that he had it forever, but did she understand what it even was? She looked at the notes on the bottom of the Bible page, and they sent her to other verses. A lot of verses. Apparently the Bible had lots to say about mercy. Did this mean that God had lots of it to give? She hoped so.
She read through them, one by one, trying to understand, but it wasn’t easy. Why did the Bible have to be so complicated? Then she got to Psalm 86:5, which wasn’t complicated. This verse told her that God gave plenty of mercy to those who call upon him. She stopped reading and cried out to God again. Again she asked him to save her son, but this time she added a new request.
She asked that Levi himself would call upon God, so that he might receive that heavenly mercy. Then she paraphrased the very next verse, “Please, God. Hear my prayer. Please do what I’m begging you to do.”
This last prayer gave her some peace, and she closed her eyes to rest in it, half expecting that critic to pipe up again, but it didn’t. It had been silenced. Thank God.
Some minutes later Nora opened her eyes in a dark, cold, damp place. She looked around wildly, not knowing where she was. “Hello? Is anyone there?”
“Right here, Mom.”
Joy and relief overwhelmed her, and her eyes flooded with tears. “Oh, thank God.” She reached both arms out into the darkness. “Where are you?”
“I’m right here.”
She couldn’t feel anything.
“Where is here?”
“Right here.” His voice sounded farther away now. Or was that her imagination?
“I don’t know where right here is. Can you come to me?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t. Mom, I love you.”
“I love you too, honey. Where are you? Can you see anything?” She couldn’t see a thing.
“Not right now, no.”
Fear swept her joy away so abruptly it was hard to imagine it had ever been there. “Where are we? Where are you?”
He didn’t answer.
“Levi? Where are you?”
Still nothing. She started to sob. “Levi?” she cried out louder. “Levi, can you hear me?”
“I’m all right, Mom.”
Oh, thank God. “Honey, you need to hang in there. We are looking for you. We’re going to find you.”
“I know. Gamp told me.”
Gamp? Her heart sank. Gamp was in heaven. What did this mean? Was Levi dead? “Honey?” She was scared to ask the question.
“Yes, Mom?” He sounded young. Younger than he really was. Too young.
“Are you still alive?”
He laughed, and it sounded like the same laugh he’d had yesterday. So he hadn’t gotten younger. This was a relief. “Of course I’m still alive. But you need to hurry.”
“Okay, I will,” she said quickly. “But can you come to me? I can’t see you.”
He hesitated. “I’m sorry, Mom.” He sounded genuinely sorry. “I can’t move. It’s all my fault.”
“No, it’s okay. Because God’s mercy is forever. You just need to ask for it.”
Her phone rang. She ignored it. “Levi?”
No answer.
“Levi? Are you there?”
Still no answer.
The phone kept ringing.
Grudgingly, she opened her eyes to see that daylight was dawning. She picked up her phone. “Hello?”
“Sorry to wake you. This is Carl.”
He hadn’t needed to identify himself. She’d recognized Officer Pettiford’s voice. “That’s okay. Did you find him?”
“Not yet, but I wanted to let you know that we found prints on his phone belonging to Shane Defel. We’re looking for him now but wanted to ask you about your son’s relationship with Shane. We know they went to school together. Did they know each other well?”
“Yes. Shane is Levi’s best friend. What do you mean looking for him? Is Shane missing too?”
“We don’t think so. He’s been seen recently, but we can’t find him right now. We have reason to think he’s avoiding us.”
This wasn’t good. “Then you need to find him.”
“Yes, ma’am. We will. I’ll call you when I know more.”
