A Heart of Faith – Chapter One
Time. Some think it’s something of which they have lots. But we never can know how much we do have, until it becomes jeopardized. That’s a lesson the Meltsner learnt the hard way, when just that happens to Eugene Meltsner.
All of a sudden, time seems to be slipping away for him, quicker than anyone could have expected. Will the situation be able to be turned around before time is completely gone for good? Only time and faith will reveal what God could possibly have planned for them—of what use the situation could be. And maybe, as the saying goes, “One man’s loss, is another man’s gain.”
Although the events prove to be a fright for the family, and even their close friends, they are all able to find that they can have Hearts of Faith that God will take care of them and their every need.
(See end of chapter for a quick note from Maple!)
The sun was shining bright upon the town of Odyssey, as it made its slow ascent into the sky that morning. Today was just like any other regular day for the Meltsners, with Katrina Meltsner in the kitchen cooking breakfast for the rest of her family.
Flipping one of the pancakes over in the pan, Katrina took a glance down to the floor, where Sparky—the family dog—was sitting at her feet. He was acting all calm and well behaved, hoping for any scraps of the delicious smelling food his mistress was making. Katrina shook her head at the sight. “These pancakes aren’t for you. Go lie down, Sparky.” The dog quietly huffed, before wandering off to his bed like he’d been told.
As she brought her attention back to the pancakes, Katrina heard someone enter the kitchen—greeting her with a, “Mornin’, mom!” Smiling, the blonde glanced over her shoulder to see her adoptive son joining her in the kitchen. “Good morning, Buck. Did you sleep well?”
“‘Slept great.” Buck answered with a nod. “Glad to hear.” She said, as Buck was about to hang his backpack on the back of the chair he was going to sit in. Before he could, Katrina gestured to the fridge with a nod. “Could you get the maple syrup from the fridge please, Buck?”
“Yes, ma’am.” The teen answered with a nod, walking around the kitchen table to get to the fridge. He pulled the fridge door open, took out the bottle of maple syrup, then closed the door. Buck sat down as he set the bottle on the table—Katrina thanking him as he did.
With the pancakes now cooked, and stacked on a small serving plate, Katrina went to put them on the table. To finish the table setting, she added the dish of butter. The blonde nodded to herself, sitting down next to her son at the table. Buck gave her a curious look. It was then Katrina realized that someone was missing at the table. She glanced down the hall, and called out with, “Eugene! Breakfast’s ready, dear!”
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While Katrina was still making breakfast, just down the hall, Eugene stood in front of the bathroom mirror, combing his bed-hair to finish making himself more presentable. Once finished, he set the comb down on the countertop. Then, he took a cloth to clean off the lenses of his iconically round, silver rimmed glasses. After wiping off any smudges from the flawlessly clear lenses, (a sign of good care, naturally), Eugene put his glasses on.
Taking a moment, Eugene took in his appearance once more. He proceeded to roll up the sleeves of his white, button-up shirt halfway, before adjusting his turquoise vest to ensure it was resting evenly. He hummed to himself, satisfied with his appearance.
Turning away from the mirror, Eugene took a step towards the bathroom door with every intention of leaving the small room. He was stopped when a sudden wave of dizziness came over him—consequently resulting in his vision to blur. Eugene refrained from taking another step, and instead reached a hand out for the edge of the bathroom counter.
While waiting for this odd dizzy spell to subside, he then felt difficulty in taking in a breath of air. It felt as though he were having trouble breathing. Unsure what else to do, Eugene tried to focus on steadying his uneven pattern of breathing—waiting to see if whatever this was would stop. And it did, after several seconds. However, to Eugene, those seconds felt like many minutes.
Taking in a deep breath, as his vision cleared up, the “certified genius” was a bit confounded by what had just happened. His brow furrowed in confusion, trying to think of some sensible explanation for this odd “episode” he’d just experienced. He could hardly think of one at that moment.
Eugene’s thoughts were interrupted, when he felt something soft and wet lightly pressing against the side of his leg. Blinking a few times, he looked down and spotted Sparky looking back up at him curiously—tail wagging rhythmically. He gave the dog a brief pet on the head.
Then, from the kitchen, Eugene heard his wife call out. “Eugene! Breakfast’s ready, dear!” Instead of standing around and keeping his family waiting, Eugene opted to brush this aside for the time being. “I’ll be joining you post-haste!” With one more subconscious adjustment of his vest, Eugene turned off the bathroom lights and finally left the room to join his family for breakfast—Sparky trailing behind him.
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Note: So I’ve decided to share an old fic I initially wrote in 2019, but rewrote in 2022. I hope you all enjoy the story, (and the illustrations to come in a few chapters)! Happy reading!
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