Leavesly

by Reni Huang

  “If they want our help, we’re here for them. If not, there’s nothing we can do.”

  “But God could do something, right? I mean, He’s powerful enough to do something.”

  “Of course He is. And He’s proven that over and over again throughout the Bible. And He proved it ultimately through Christ dying on the cross. The blood Jesus shed on the cross not over overcame death but sin. His blood has the power to transform us. And it’s available to everyone.”

  “So why doesn’t He just make us believe in Him, make us transformed?”

  “For those of us who recognize our own shortcomings, our flaws, our sin, He does readily. But most people don’t realize they have a need for Christ. They don’t see themselves as needing forgiveness or needing to be saved. They think they already have everything under control. They’re self-sufficient.”

  “Even people who live on the streets?”

  “Pride runs deep, it can be blinding to the truth. And unfortunately many people would rather blame God for the hardships they encounter, rather than to run to Him for help.”

  Julia nodded. She knew she also fell too often under this category.

  “Thanks, so much for taking time out to talk with me, Barb. I think what you and Kent are doing is so amazing.”

  Barb smiled as she stood up. “We’re just God’s tools. He works through us.”

  Later that evening, as Julia sat in front of her computer typing out her assignment, she thought about what Barb had shared with her. She remembered her conversation with Wynn back at the coffee shop when they admitted to being afraid to completely surrender themselves to God’s will. It was scary, that feeling of taking on a task greater than herself. But if she truly trusted in God, trusted that His will for her life was the best, she should make that leap of faith. She knew she no longer wanted to just “play church.” If she wanted to make a commitment, she wanted to be all in. She wanted a relationship with God like Barb.

  God, show me what it means to completely entrust my life over to You. I want to know what it is to live according to Your higher calling.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “I still say this was an unfairly difficult test,” Suzy complained as she walked with Julia after their Marine Biology class. They had received their midterm exam scores and neither girl did very well. Although Julia enjoyed the lectures and lab time, she knew she hadn’t put in the amount of time studying for this test as she did previous ones.

  “What is up with this weather?” Suzy grumbled, unzipping her cardigan and scrounging around her book bag for something to hold her hair back. Triumphantly pulling out an opaque amber colored claw clip, she expertly twisted up her long hair and secured the clip into place.

  Julia looked up at the clear blue sky, not a trace of the morning fog or a single cloud remained. Ever since her talk with Wynn she’d been noticing little things that were “proof” that God existed: the sun that faithfully rose and set everyday, the Biology lectures on the intricacy of nature and life, it was as if all around her His creation was calling out to her as evidence.

  She knew this amazing life-breathed world did not appear out of chaos. Someone must have created it, and with each passing day, she knew irrefutably He was constant and unchanging like Wynn had said.

  Yet as much as she wanted to move forward and grow, that deep rooted fear lingered. I want to trust you, God. Please don’t let me down.

  Julia was pulled out of her deep thoughts when Suzy leaned over and whispered, “Uh, oh, drama alert.” She looked up to see Geoff and Wynn walking towards them.

  Catching sight of the girls, Geoff raised his arm and hollered, “Hey, Julia, Suzy.” Wynn glanced up in surprise, his smile a little slower in coming. “What’s up, freshies?” Geoff teased as they stopped in front of each other.

  Suzy held out her low test score with a melodramatic grimace and sighed, “Suffering the tyranny of unjust torture.”

  Geoff laughed, “That bad, huh?”

  “No,” Julia said, smiling at Suzy’s antics. “Anyways, our professor is giving extra credit to those who complete an exploration report at Helm’s Island, kind of like a hands-on learning experience of what we’ve been reading about.”

  “I did that, it was cool,” Wynn said.

  Geoff asked, “So are you guys planning on doing it? ‘Cuz Wynn and I can be your tour guides. We’ve made many excursions over to Helm’s Island in the past.”

  Suzy’s eyes lit up. “We have to get the assignment in before finals week to receive the extra credit points.”

  Wynn stared off into the distance, noncommittally.

  “Just let us know which Saturday you’re free,” Geoff continued. He looked at Wynn, who absentmindedly nodded back to him. “Alright, then,” Geoff said, giving Julia a teasing look, “It’s a date.”

  * * *

  Elliott was sprawled out on the common area’s couch playing a video game on his laptop, his long legs dangling from the armrest, when Julia arrived back at her dorm.

  “Hey,” he greeted her, glancing up before turning back to his game. “Want some Cheetos?” he offered, motioning to the bag wedged between him and the flat cushions.

  A deep racking cough could be heard from down the short hallway.

  “Is Lexi ok? That cough sounds pretty bad.”

  “She has a little cold.”

  At that moment Lexi poked her head out from their doorway and said hoarsely, “Hey, there you are. We’re right about to head over to Rob’s, want to come with us?”

  “Lex, are you sure you’re ok? You look kind of feverish.”

  Elliott sat up to give her a closer look.

  Lexi waved her hand dismissively and disappeared back into their room. She reappeared a moment later with a bright purple scarf wrapped around her neck and her backpack slung across her shoulders. “All set?”

  “Lexi,” Julia said, taking a step closer to place the back of her hand against Lexi’s forehead. “You’re burning up. Have you taken any medicine yet? I really think you should go to bed and rest.”

  “No, she hasn’t,” Elliott answered for her, getting up to check her temperature for himself. “Yeah, I think you should stay home.”

  “But we already told Rob what we wanted on our pizza. What if he already called in the order? I’m the only one who wanted artichokes as a topping.”

  “He’ll understand,” Julia reassured her, gently pushing her back into their room. “I’m going to get some Tylenol for you.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Elliott said from where he stood leaning against the door frame. “Hang tight, Lexi, we’ll be right back.” Flicking off the light, he closed the door behind them and they headed down to the campus Mom & Pop Shop. The store was located across the lawn of Julia’s dormitory building. The front was a convenience store, and the back was a small game room with two arcade booths, a small foosball table, and a fold up ping pong table that could be rolled out into the adjacent outdoor patio area.

  “So what have you been up to?” Elliott asked conversationally as they walked down the first aisle, searching the shelves for the medicine section. It was such a strange question coming from Elliott that Julia stopped to stare at him. “What?”

  “Nothing, just weird hearing you say that. Usually we’re always together that for a minute it felt as if you were a stranger.”

  They stopped in front of a row of labeled boxes. “Cold, sinus, flu, fever, cough, isn’t this all the same thing? Which one should we get?” He pulled one box out and turned it around to read the instructions on the back.

  “Um, Ellie, that’s for children.”

  “It is? How did you know that?”

  Julia flipped the box back around and pointed to the picture of the young child drawn on the front and the words “for children” written clearly across the top.

  “Oh,” he said. “Well, is this going by the weight of a person? Lexi is pretty small. And why are they selling this here anyways, are there little child ge
niuses living on campus?” He mumbled to himself and shoved the medicine back on to the shelf and reach for another box.

  Settling on one they thought was most descriptive of Lexi’s symptoms, Julia paid for the medicine with her campus meal card. Elliott also picked out a can of chicken noodle soup that he thought Lexi would like and they headed back outside.

  “So, everything is good with you,” Elliott said as they began to cross the lawn.

  She gave him a strange look. “Yes, everything is great.”

  “’Cuz you know running away from one thing by trying to replace it with another isn’t going to necessarily make things better,” Elliott said cryptically. Julia wondered if he even knew what he was trying to say.

  “Ellie, if you want to say something, just come out and say it.”

  “You know God’s not the same as guys.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I know guys have betrayed your trust in the past, but God’s not going to do that to you,” Elliott said. “I’m sure there’s a better way of saying it. I’m not good with the ‘girl talk’ stuff, but you don’t have to date Geoff just to get over Wynn.”

  “I’m not, don’t worry.”

  “I just don’t want to see you get jaded.”

  She turned to give him a smile. “Thanks, Ellie.”

  * * *

  The weeks passed and soon it was once again time to study for finals. Making the most of the sunny weather, Julia found an empty bench on the edge of campus that overlooked the ocean. A few minutes later she was settled in and deep into reviewing her lecture notes. Her concentration was broken when her cell phone beeped, and she glanced down to see that Geoff had texted her. A moment later her cell phone rang and Geoff’s name flashed across the caller ID.

  “Hey, Julia,” his teasing voice greeted her, as she clicked the phone to speaker mode. “I tried to be considerate and text you in case you were in the middle of class, but my fingers got tired.”

  Julia laughed and balanced the cell phone on top of her knapsack on the bench next to her. She could already tell this was going to be a long conversation.

  “Are you free this Saturday?”

  “Um,” her mind scrambled as she tried to figure out her exam schedule. She was pretty sure she was going to be studying all of Saturday.

  “’Cuz, I was thinking, if you need a study break, we could head out to Helm’s Island. You know, you, me, Suzy and Wynn… for your extra credit.”

  Julia stopped fiddling with her lecture notes and stared at the phone.

  “This Saturday sounds good.”

  “Awesome.”

  “Let me call Suzy, and I’ll get back to you.”

  “Cool.”

  “Thanks, Geoff.”

  * * *

  Early Saturday morning, Julia was down the hall in the bathroom brushing her teeth, when her cell phone rang. Hastily rinsing her mouth, she ran back to her dorm room and saw that Geoff had left a voice message. A second later he texted: “Fever. Call me back.”

  Dialing his number, Julia asked, “Geoff, you ok?” the second he picked up.

  “Hey, Julia, sorry, did I wake you?”

  Her stomach dropped. He sounded awful.

  “It’s ok, I was already up. But how are you?”

  “I think I have the flu or something. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling ... well, I won’t give you the gory details.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  “I won’t be able to bring you to Helm’s Island today.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Take care of yourself, Geoff.”

  “Thanks, I’m going back to bed.”

  “Ok. Bye.”

  Despondently, Julia texted Suzy: “Geoff’s sick. Helm’s Island called off.” Suddenly feeling tired, Julia walked to the window and stared out unseeing. Maybe she should just change back into her pajamas. Her cell phone rang again. Assuming it was Suzy returning her message, Julia glanced down at her phone and her whole body jumped at the sight of the name flashing at the top.

  Wynn.

  “Hi!”

  “Hey. So I guess you heard about Geoff.”

  “Yeah, this crazy weather seems to be making everyone sick.”

  “Yeah,” he paused. Then he said, “So I’ll pick you up in like twenty minutes? The first boat leaves dock at seven.”

  Her pulse jumped.

  “Yes, sounds great.”

  “Ok, see you.”

  “See you.”

  Julia managed to pull herself together enough to suppress her squeal of delight. But she could not contain her excitement enough and started to do a little dance around the room.

  “Suzy,” she said, stepping out of the room and quietly pulling the door shut behind her. “It’s back on.”

  “He’s not sick anymore? Wow, he must really like you.”

  Julia chose to ignore that comment. Instead she said, “Geoff’s still not coming. But Wynn is. He’s going to pick us up in twenty minutes.”

  “I guess this means I better get out of bed then.”

  “Suzy!”

  She laughed. “I’m coming, I’m coming.”

  Julia was rounding the corner of her dorm building, when she looked up to see Wynn walking slowly towards her.

  “Hi!”

  “Were you going somewhere?”

  “Oh, I was headed over to Suzy’s.”

  “I’ll walk with you,” Wynn offered.

  “I can just call her from here.”

  They stood looking away from each other, uncertain.

  “Or we can walk while I call her,” Julia said flustered, feeling a bit disheartened at the awkwardness. “Suzy,” she said into the phone after a couple rings.

  “I’m out of bed, I promise.”

  “Actually, Wynn’s here. We’re headed over to pick you up at your place.”

  “He’s early, huh? Someone’s a little anxious.”

  Julia glanced at Wynn, and tried to inconspicuously lower the phone’s volume.

  “So anyways,” she said, switching the phone over to her other ear, away from Wynn. “Just wanted to let you know we’re walking over to your place right now.”

  “Ok.” But before she hung up, Suzy suddenly said very loudly. “Actually, Julia, don’t come up to my room.”

  “Huh?”

  “Yeah, I’m, uh,” Suzy paused to let out a series of overly dramatic coughs. “I think I’m getting sick.”

  “What?”

  “You know that flu virus that’s going around?”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Sorry,” Suzy said smugly.

  “Ok,” Julia said slowly. “Bye.”

  She stopped walking and looked at Wynn. They were less than five feet away from Suzy’s building.

  “Suzy says she’s sick too. She won’t be able to go.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yup.”

  “So,” Wynn paused. “I guess we should just head back.”

  “Ok.”

  Horrible, foul weather making everyone sick, Julia thought bitterly.

  “I parked my car in the lot behind your building,” Wynn continued.

  She turned her head to stare at him. They were still going?

  “Oh, ok.”

  Wonderful, unpredictable weather, thank you, thank you, thank you.

  She climbed into Wynn’s car just as her phone beeped. Julia pulled it out of her knapsack and read the message Suzy texted her.

  “You owe me.”

  * * *

  The hour long boat ride out to Helm’s Island was fairly quiet. They sat under the shaded outdoor patio at the front of the ferry. The breeze was cool and salty. The choppy waters crashed its white foaming waves against the sides of the boat as it sped towards the small island known for its ocean life rehabilitation facilities and aquarium, and sugarcane and pineapple farm further inland.

  Upon arrival, they spent the first hour and a half locating all the sea creatures
and marine life along the shore and the shallow tide pools. They worked through the list her professor had handed out for the extra credit assignment. Using Julia’s digital camera, Wynn took photos of everything from sand crabs scuttling along the wet sand, to mussels and starfishes attached to a coral reef formed along the edge of a low wall running along the beach. Everywhere they looked, they have life in full activity. The seagulls and pigeons scavenged for food nearby, and in the distance Wynn pointed out a whale blowing up a spray of water. Julia busily tried to keep up, jotting down as many observations and descriptions as she could in her notebook.

  “What’s that sound?” she asked. She flipped her notebook closed and straightened back up from her crouched position along the rocky wall above the clear waters.

  Wynn was standing a couple feet away, staring out into the ocean. He cocked his head, and listened to the wind carried the sound of a low moan again. This time it resembling more of a roaring bark.

  Wynn smiled and answered, “Elephant seals. Want to see them?”

  “Sure!”

  They followed the curve of the stone wall until they came to another stretch of sand, only this beach was full of large rocks and boulders. The noise was almost deafening now. It took a moment before Julia realized that some of the rocks were moving. At closer scrutiny she realized they were alive.

  “Oh my goodness!” she gasped and Wynn laughed at her reaction.

  “Pretty amazing, huh?”

  They were so close to the elephant seals, their large blubbery bodies glistening in the sun as they lazily sunbathed on the warm rocks.

  “Can we touch them?” Julia asked tentatively.

  “I wouldn’t recommend it. They’re a lot faster than they look,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Why does that sound like you’re speaking from experience?”

  Wynn laughed again. “Ever wondered how Mudd got his nickname?”

  “That’s his nickname? I just assumed that was his real name.”

  He smiled and shook his head. “Freshmen year a bunch of us took this class together. I think Professor Neiland rigs his midterm so that everyone will end up having to take this field trip out to Helm’s Island for extra credit.”

  So Suzy was right, Julia mused.

  “Anyways, I was here with Geoff and Matsuo,” he paused with a smirk to see if she was following along. “We heard the sound too, and went searching to find out what was making that noise. When we came upon this beach, Geoff said the rocks were moving. Matsuo thought he was just trying to prank him again. So…”