EVERYONE WINS in the Rabble Preorder Campaign & Giveaway

Receive the first 13 chapters of Rabble (book 2 of the Cosmic Conspiracy) AND a 50% off coupon for Babble (book 1) just for entering. When you enter the giveaway, you’ll automatically receive the option to download the excerpt and start reading right away. You’ll also be entered in a drawing for a Rabble t-shirt, mug, and autographed copy of the book.

 

 

But no need to wait. Here is the next installment of Babble

One young boy is the key to the universe.

Babble is the story of Bobbie Cagle — a teenage misdiagnosed autistic boy who is the first human to leap into a brave new world of consciousness — an evolutionary leap as great as the first fish that crawled from the sea onto land.

But unfortunately, everyone wants Bobbie for their own purposes.

Installment #4

Angie watched as Pendra started her climb upward before turning her attention on her own escape route. She handed Bobbie the pack that was mostly filled with the various knick knacks he’d collected over the last few weeks that hadn’t gone into his latest tower, cushioned by a few of his clothes. She hoisted the other pack on her shoulder before picking up the duffel bag. Before starting down, she gazed over the edge to see if she could detect if anyone was waiting below for them. As far as she could tell, the alleyway was vacant. With a deep breath and a glance back to the small room that had been their home, she pointed toward the rickety steps.

“Careful, sweetheart, there’s no telling the last time these steps were used.” Bobbie appeared to ignore her words at first as he continued to eat the last few bites of the sandwich, a few crumbs and a smear of jelly clinging to his lips. After a slight pause, he started down the steps closely behind his mom. They made their way down the three flights of metal steps, Angie glancing back frequently to be sure Bobbie was following and praying that no one else appeared. How many times over the past decade-plus had they been forced to move? She’d lost count.

“Everyone come to the dining room. We’re about to bring Bobbie’s cake to him,” Angie shouted above the crowd noise as she placed the second candle onto the chocolate fudge cake.

Elder Jacobs leaned over to Pastor John and chuckled, “Hard to believe Babbling Bobbie has been with us two years already.”

“What did you just call him?” Pastor John asked with a scowl of disapproval. He was a large man, made to look even larger and more menacing by the black shirt buttoned to the top despite the heat and matching pants that were his hallmark. “I sure wouldn’t let Angie or Brian hear you refer to their blessed son in that way.”

“Sorry, Pastor, of course not,” Jacobs stammered, his face reddening from embarrassment. “Let’s go get a slice of that cake. Angie makes the best desserts in the whole community.” He quickly walked off to get away from Pastor John’s wrath.

Everyone filed into the spacious dining room. Despite its large size, there wasn’t enough room to accommodate everyone in attendance. The overflow crowded around the entranceway in an effort to get a glance of the cake and the young boy who’d made such an impression on their community since his arrival.

Rumors of Bobbie’s gift had spread beyond their community as well. In fact, in the last year the size of Pastor John’s congregation had grown by over fifty percent which was one reason the aging pastor felt protective of this young miracle.

“Here it comes,” someone shouted. The kitchen door separated to let Angie through with the over-sized cake with two large candles burning on top.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…” everyone began to sing. Bobbie’s eyes grew larger. The brown of his irises perfectly matched the dark chocolate icing. He waved his arm in time to the beat of the song.

“He’s such a dear…look at him…what a smile…” everyone cooed. But as the song ended and Angie placed the cake in front of her son, something changed, first on Bobbie’s face and then radiating out to the crowd like the vibratory wave moving out from the epicenter of an earthquake.

As Bobbie stared at the flames of the two candles, his facial expression changed from the innocent glee of a young boy to the thoughtful demeanor of an intelligence far beyond his years. Bobbie closed his eyes for a moment as his breath became slow and shallow. When he opened his eyes, Bobbie was gone and something else had taken his place. Then erupted the voice from the small boy that the members of the Charismatic Christian Church had grown to know and respect; though with some trepidation. It was the voice that had attracted attention from dozens of other charismatic churches in the southeast.

It was hard to imagine how such a deeply bass voice could come from such a small boy, or that his vocal cords could even produce such a range of sounds, but that was just part of the miracle that consistently silenced the crowd. Angie and Brian instinctively made their way to their son, standing behind his chair. They each reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder—an angelic look of peace on Brian’s face; a look of troubled worry on Angie’s.

As Bobbie spoke in tongues, his eyelids opened to reveal a stark whiteness.

“He’s with God, for sure,” Elder Jacobs whispered leaning over to the person standing next to him. When he realized he was once more talking to Pastor John, he cleared his throat and shuffled off, placing a couple of other congregants between him and the pastor.

The unintelligible babbling continued to pour from Bobbie for close to three minutes. Finally, he stopped talking and his eyes rolled back to their normal position. Without glancing around, he climbed out of the dining room chair that had served as his throne for the last several minutes and waddled into the living room where he went immediately to the pile of new toys he’d received for his birthday.

One of his most popular presents this year was building blocks, having received three different sets from three families with young children. Sitting down on the plushly carpeted floor, Bobbie pulled the blocks closer to him and began to build.

After a few minutes, the crowd that had gathered around him began to mumble.

“Amazing…what is it?”

“Is that what I think it is?”

“It’s a tower.”

How is he able to do that at his age?”

“How’s he able to do it at any age?”

“My God…it’s…it’s…”

Pastor John stepped forward. “It’s a tower…a tower of Babel. Let us pray.”

Obediently, everyone bowed their heads. “Our Father, who art in heaven…”

Pastor John’s clear deep voice rang out over the gathering of his congregants. By the time the Lord’s Prayer was finished, Bobbie’s tower had grown taller than he was, making it necessary for him to stand on the hassock of his mother’s chair to continue the building process.

In less than twenty minutes the structure had grown to almost five feet. Bobbie had reached out beyond his pile of toys and brought in a number of other objects to complete his work of art, including Scotch tape from the den, two sets of pickup sticks, several books from Brian’s library and an assortment of kitchen utensils.

Bobbie reached out to his dad with a final object in his hand.

“Pick him up, Brian,” Pastor John whispered. “He needs your help to complete the tower.”

Brian did as instructed. As he held his son out toward the tower, Bobbie reached over and placed the yellow star that came from one of his toy puzzles on the pinnacle. As he did so, he shuddered vigorously and shook his head. By the time his dad had set him down on the floor, Baby Bobbie had returned.

Stay tuned for part #4 next Friday or jump ahead by joining the Rabble Preorder & Giveaway.

EVERYONE WINS in the Rabble Preorder Campaign & Giveaway

Receive the first 13 chapters of Rabble (book 2 of the Cosmic Conspiracy) AND a 50% off coupon for Babble (book 1) just for entering. When you enter the giveaway, you’ll automatically receive the option to download the excerpt and start reading right away. You’ll also be entered in a drawing for a Rabble t-shirt, mug, and autographed copy of the book.