Excerpt: JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT: A Novel of Redemption

MIDNIGHT: A Church in Los Angeles

The doors of the church were never closed. The congragants were allowed to come and go at will. Sometimes the sanctuary was full. Other times no one entered. On this particular night in winter, there was a single soul seated in the front pew. Candles flickered on the altar. A bird flew overhead, lighting on the rafter just above the cross on which a wreath and white linen shroud rested.
The woman shifted her weight and revealed a belly swollen with child. She began to speak in a low mournful tone. The words were directly from 1Timothy 3:11, ...The law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers, fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God. She repeated the verse three times as she wept. Each successive repetition caused her moans and weeping to increase. When she reached the final "the blessed God", her shoulders heaved and she hunched forward and bowed until her head almost touched the floor. The only thing preventing it was the enormity of her belly.