Episode 45 - A Thing of Beauty

Story: "A Thing of Beauty" by Carole McDonnell
Genre: Supernatural, Strange
Rating: PG-13

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A corrupt Catholic priest is unexpectedly offered the chance of redemption in the antebellum South.

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When Father James McLaren opened his eyes from the grand sleep of death, it was not upon the heavenly throne room. His was not the celestial vision of the enthroned Deity, but a bag of hay seeds and a pile of manure. He rose from the wheelbarrow in which his body rested and took the measure of his situation.

The first observation was that he was not in hospital garb. Instead he was wearing his clerical collar and all the accoutrement of his calling. His right pocket even contained a bottle of anointing oil and a small cross.

The second observation was that he was in no pain whatsoever and he could breathe like a kid of sixteen. All of this was remarkable because the last thing he knew of himself was that some ten minutes earlier —and for about eight years—he had been killing himself with alcohol and cigarettes. But now, the cirrhosis and the lung cancer were apparently gone.

His thoughts turned from himself to his surroundings. He was obviously in a shed or a barn. He had awakened to find a horse’s rear end in his face and had been thrown onto a pile of manure in a wheelbarrow.

Obviously, the Almighty had a sense of humor.

Credits:
"A Thing of Beauty" by Carole McDonnell
Carole McDonnell
Dark Parables

Works by Carole McDonnell:
The Constant Tower
My Life As An Onion
Wind Follower
Spirit Fruit: Collected Speculative Fiction

"A Thing of Beauty" will appear in the upcoming Flight and Other Stories of the Fae anthology by Carole McDonnell (January 2016)

Sound Effects Attribution: kineticturtle