'Ordinary Miracles for a Good Christian Boy' by James Montgomery

Perhaps it was the parade, how it glittered, with its floats, floating? Or the cheers of the rainbow-clad crowds, who raised their flags and placards, reviving your downtrodden spirit? Perhaps it was when Mother Mary, in transcendent wig and rhinestone-studded robe, read your mind: ‘First time, kid?’ Or the candlelit vigil, its communal healing? Maybe the angel you encountered in the queue for Heaven, sporting an open leather vest and star-spangled wings? Or how the tide of people parted, each strobe becoming a spotlight, and you felt, for the first time, seen? Or the bartender with the handlebar moustache—oh, glorious!—who turned your wine into water, with the kindest curl of a grin? Or the faithful, bathed in laser blue and neon pink, moving in reverence to the radiant beat, moving you too, until you found salvation in the arms of another, before finally his lips? Or, after numbers were swapped, how you hailed a cab and gazed out the window, contemplating the cosmos in that jewelled night sky, and when raindrops began streaking the glass, it was as if the heavens freed their secrets, spilling their spell? Or perhaps, perhaps it was this: lying beneath your quilt, cocooned in its calm quiet, you knew there was something divine in all this. The simple act of being. Breathing. The gentle rise and fall of your chest. And you reflect on those who raised you; taught all your life that God is love, and how you wish you could teach them, yes, God is. And as you drift into sleep, safe in the peace of softer nights and brighter dawns, would you ever have believed you could feel so weightless? So lifted? So blessed?

 

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James Montgomery is a flash fiction writer based in Staffordshire, UK. He has won the Pokrass Prize and Retreat West’s best micro fiction prize, and been highly commended in the Bath Flash Fiction Award. James’ stories have been published in various anthologies and literary magazines, and nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions and Best of the Net. Find him at www.jamesmontgomerywrites.com