On a mild summer day that felt like middle Tennessee I took over my new home on the edge of a small village. The main road sloped up to my house and outbuildings and then disappeared around a bend into the countryside. As I walked about the garage and the workshop I heard airsoft bbs whistling through the air around me.
I paused and looked across the road down into the meadow behind the homes below me. There were a lot of places for someone to take cover. Was I the intended target or were these stray shots?
It was a lovely day, the air was warm, the breeze was gentle, I felt good. On the ground I saw a small package of airsoft ammo, mostly empty, just a few rounds rolling around in the bottom of the plastic container – and one larger plastic ball that reminded me of a replica of the metal ball on a mace.
Again I heard several rounds whistle past. I walked over to the oak tree between the garage and the road. I scanned the countryside below. Fairly certain now that even if there was another battle unfolding I was the intended target. I still couldn’t see anyone, but I sensed that someone was hiding behind a briar patch a few houses down. Were they hoping to get to know me?
Under the oak I found two more containers. Again, just a few rounds rolling around the bottom, but each had a little spiked plastic ball. With three little balls in my hand I again surveyed the field below. Whoever had been behind the briars was not there now. I took cover behind the oak and waited. Sensing some motion on the road in front of the house I ran across the road in a circle so as to come up behind them.
She looked to be about twelve years old, sandy blond hair. She was on the ground taking cover and pointing her airsoft gun at the garage where I had been earlier. I threw one plastic ball and hit her squarely on the back. She turned quickly – she saw the ball rolling on the ground and looked at me.
I stepped closer, her expression said that I had won and she was surprised but not scared. Neither of us spoke as I knelt on the ground next to her. I reached over and brushed some loose sand off her forehead from where she’d been hiding earlier. She opened her mouth to speak –
My wife’s alarm clock went off and I woke up in my own bed. Now I’m halfway through my day and I am still wondering, had I made a friend or was I intruding on a neighborhood game?
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
When deep sleep falls upon men,
While slumbering on their beds…
-Job 33:15