Solomon ducked his head, his round cheeks flushing a bright red. “I wouldn’t do that,” he mumbled.
“Well, my mommy said that your family is spoiled anyway,” Rebecca Maycamp chimed in. “And she doesn’t want me playing with the son of an adult-er-er.”
A tear slipped over Solomon’s cheek and he dragged his pudgy fist across his face. “My daddy said he’s sorry,” he said in a futile attempt to reassure his classmates. “He said God—” He stopped, hiccupping. “—forgave him.”
But Anna and Rebecca simply rolled their eyes and ran off to resume their game of catch. Their minds were made up about Solomon and his daddy, for their mothers had assured them that no good could come from a boy born of adultery and murder, even if Solomon and the other children had no idea what these words meant. And the parents had warned their innocent children to stay away from Solomon, lest some of his father’s wrongdoing rub off on their spotless little children.
That night, Solomon lay in bed crying, muffling his sobs against his straw-stuffed pillow. There was a soft thump at his door, and he lifted his head.
“Solomon?” His father, David, stood in the doorway, candlelight from the marbled hallway leaking over his shoulders and around his sides. “Are you alright?”
Solomon sniffed and pushed himself up so that he could see his father’s face. Heavy lines ran across the king's broad forehead, and a thick graying beard softened his square jaw. David’s face was strong, and his presence demanded the attention of a crowded room—but Solomon noticed the slight twinkle in his father’s large, brown eyes. He always listened to him, and he was kind. Why did his friends think he was so bad?
“They said you were a bad man, Daddy,” Solomon whined. “They said you did mean things and they don’t want me to play with them in case I do bad things, too.”
David sighed and sunk into the bed next to his son, straw rustling beneath the soft cloth. “Little Man,” he said. “I did do some bad things. I did terrible, terrible things.” He dragged his hand over his face and gazed into the hallway, thinking. “But I’m sorry for what I did, and I don’t ever want to do something like that again. God forgave me.”
Solomon sniffed. “How do you know He forgave you?”
“He told me so. And...Out of the terrible mess I made, He brought me you.” David poked his son’s chest. “And that is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.”
Solomon smiled. “But what about the kids at school? Why don’t they forgive you?” Why won’t they play with me? He thought.
“Don’t worry about them,” David said. “You just be the best Little Man you can be, and they’ll see it doesn’t matter what your daddy did. And if they don’t… well, then that’s their loss. God still loves you.”
Solomon sighed. It wasn’t exactly the answer he was hoping for. He felt dirty, somehow, and angry that everyone seemed to see the mud of his father’s past when they looked at him. He wanted to be a great king like his father (for he still thought his father was a great man, no matter what other people said), but how could he become something great when no one would give him the chance?
“Hey—” David lifted his son’s jaw toward him. “Chin up, Little Man. Our God is bigger. And He has great plans for you.”
As his father spoke, a soft light flickered in the corner of the room. A man in glowing white stood behind the king, so tall, his head nearly touched the ceiling. Solomon froze in fear.
David squinted at his son. He followed his gaze to the corner of the room and turned back to Solomon.
“What do you see, Solomon?”
The boy just stared. Then the man in the corner smiled, and Solomon relaxed a little. A strange peace flooded his body, and he smiled, too.
“Solomon?”
He looked at his father. “I think I see what you mean, Daddy.”
That night, Solomon dreamed that God had made him king, and people came from all around to seek his help. And Solomon would speak to God, and he didn't care what people thought, because he knew the greatest King loved him.
I based my story on the story of Bathsheba from 2 Samuel (some time around 960 B.C.) a woman King David saw bathing on a rooftop. David called for her, and they slept together while Bathsheba's husband Uriah was away at war (on behalf of David's kingdom). Bathsheba got pregnant, David panicked, and sent Uriah to the front lines so he would die. David's plan worked, and he took Bathsheba as his wife. Then a prophet came to David and said, "Because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the LORD, the son born to you will die." And he did. However, David and Bathsheba had a second child, whom "The Lord loved." This child grew up to be the famous and wise King Solomon.
I've always loved (and wondered at) the story in 2 Samuel, because David made a huge mistake. Like, colossal. But the Bible still refers to David as "a man after God's own heart," and he was one of the greatest kings who ever lived, proving you aren't defined by your mistakes. Anyway, this time, I thought about how funny it was that the wisest, richest king was born of such a seemingly rotten and hopeless situation. And I wondered what that looked like from his point of view.
Hi Chandler,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved your version of the story of Bathsheba and King David. I grew up in a Christian faith-based home so I've read this story many times and have heard it preached on. However, this is a new perspective to me! I had never really thought about how King David's actions would affect his son and the entire family's reputation. Developing King David's character as a father really added another dimension of the story to me and made it that much more realistic. I think also putting King Soloman in a common-day situation really helped me relate to the story. I think we all can remember times when we were playing on the playground at school and either personally experienced or saw another child get excluded from the games.
I also enjoyed your writing style and how you simplified a biblical story with common language. I was impressed with how much obvious thought and creativity went into your writing. I really struggle sometimes with thinking out of the box, so this was a great inspiration to me! Keep up the good work and have a great week :)
What a great story! I liked the new perspective you put on this classic biblical story. The story of King David and Bathsheba is one I know well, and so it was really interesting to see you go beyond that incidence to focus on the consequences for his son... Very clever thinking! I really like your writing style. All the visual details, how people spoke, etc, made it really vivid to read. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your version of the story. It was a good choice to focus on how David's past mistakes had an affect on his son. It's not easy living in someone else's shadow, good or bad. You are great with the details. I really felt bad for little Solomon. You did a wonderful job of bringing out the emotion of the situation for your readers to feel.
ReplyDeleteProject Feedback:
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job writing this story, from description of characters to the narrative between all of the characters; it was all extremely well written and put together. I liked how you integrated the story from Bathsheba , but were able to take out pieces of that stories and integrate your own. It was well put together, in a way that we were able to see a different perspective, which is the way you wrote the story. I enjoyed how you kept building the story during each paragraph, it allowed me to stay interested in the story all the through it. I think the best thing about your story was the narrative between characters, which was, in my opinion, the highlight of your story. It really drove the story and allowed me, as the reader, to get a better understanding of the story because the narrative was really good.