NOTE: This is a fictional retelling of a Bible story. See the footnote at the bottom of the narrative for
the scripture passage that inspired this modern version of the biblical account.
In the past, Zach had been called a midget, a
dwarf, and even an elf. He liked the terminology of a small person. Most of Zach’s
childhood and adulthood, he’d been told just how cute he was. Now as a grown
man with a wife and children, he wanted to be taken seriously in his career as
an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Agent. He didn’t want to be an embarrassment to
his family. With all the popular shows on cable these days about small people,
he’d become somewhat of a celebrity at work, and an object of interest around
town.
It was amazing some of the stupid things
people would ask Zach. People tended to put him in a different class than a
regular man. He shaved like a normal man, dressed like one, and had the food
appetite of one. There were a few differences. Clothing was a challenge for
him. Pants had to be altered. He used step stools quite a bit to get to places
too high for him to reach. One of their two family cars had to also be altered
for his use.
It was lunch time at work, and Zach planned
on taking extra long one thanks to all the leave he’d earned. Zach was good at
climbing trees. He always had been even as a child. He had shimmied up a small
one at the park as he ate his packed lunch. The female mayor of Ladeesville (Syca
Moore) was having his reelection rally. Zach loved politics, and didn’t want to
miss a minute of the festivities.
Before Zach realized it, the mayor had called
his name.
“Zach Heus, come down here. Call your wife of
yours on your cell phone. Tell her I would love to come to your house tonight
for supper.”
Zach was shocked as he came down from the
tree, and stood before the mayor. He had no idea the mayor even knew him or his
family. Zach asked, “Why exactly do you want to come to my house?”
The mayor laughed and confidentially
answered, “This is your lucky day. I have a wonderful volunteer opportunity I want
to tell you and your wife all about.”
Zach quickly called his wife at home as the
mayor had instructed. His wife wasn’t thrilled with the idea of fixing a nice
meal for anyone but her own husband and children.
Melissa Heus discovered that by the end of the
day her three small children had wore her out.
In addition to a good dinner, all she wanted was intelligent adult
conversation with her husband. If the mayor knew her family as Zach stated, she
would do her best to fix something tasty for the all of them.
Maybe Melissa needed to pack up the kids in
the minivan, and go to the grocery store for tonight’s supper. There was
nothing presentable at home for such an important visitor.
“The man they hated most was Zacchaeus
because not only did he collect taxes for the Romans, but he also overcharged
people and made money for himself, too.” (Anonymous)[i]
[i] Adapted from: All for One: The Towns of Ohio
Completer Trilogy by Robert Kinker, Book Two: Chapter Six ”Up a Tree”
and Luke 19:1-6
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