Slumber Jack
The Works of Mark Edgemon from All-Creatures.org

Mark Edgemon has been writing for 30 years. He writes and publishes short stories, articles, poetry and scripts, as well as, produces audio comedy productions for over 700 radio stations nationwide.

Contact Mark through his website, Creator and the Catalyst.

Slumber Jack

Fred Denton was worried about his son Jack, who slept all the time and would not take responsibility for his actions. When Fred asked his son to be up the next morning to help him mow the grass, Jack would not even set the alarm. It seemed that Jack loved to sleep. It was his way of closing out the world and not facing his obligations in life. It was like he was an alcoholic or a drug addict, but instead of alcohol or drugs, it was sleep he used to block out the world.

Fred was worried that if his son did not break free of this sleep addiction, he would be in trouble later on in life.

One day when Jack came home, he noticed his belongings; even the furniture in his room was missing. His dad told him that while he was gone he had rented him an apartment and moved his things into it. Fred drove his son downtown to a less than attractive environment and escorted him to his room. He told him that his rent was paid for thirty days and if he started looking for a job now, he could have the rent money when it was due. Succeed or fail, he could not move back in with his parents.

Jack had about three hundred dollars saved up, enough for food and supplies. He didn’t have a car, but was close to the bus route and seemed to be set. Well this arrangement was all right with him, because now he could sleep without being disturbed.

Thirty days later, he was out of money and out of time on his rent. The landlord gave him ten days to get out or pay the rent, so Jack went back to bed.

One day, the police showed up at his door and physically took him outside. They took his things and put them on the street. Now he was afraid. He called is father, but the phone number had been changed. He tried to sleep off his fear, but people kept waking him up who were themselves homeless.

Jack made his way to the local soup kitchen, where he got a job serving the homeless. They provided him a cot to sleep on in the back, but it was always busy and he really couldn’t rest well. After six months, they promoted him to manager of the food distribution part of the soup kitchen and he seemed to thrive on the challenge. Eventually, he had re-established himself and finally stood on his own two feet.

His father Fred knew all about his son’s success. He had been following him the entire time praying for him.

Copyright © 2008 Mark Edgemon

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