Broken Man of the Cloth

143

 

Ralph Oxner has achieved an outlaw, rock star status.  But it's gone far beyond that!  Now he's more like a deity! -- America Today [article excerpt]

Ralph Oxner's meteoric rise to superstardom is nothing short of astounding! -- The Continental Chronicle [article excerpt]

Ralph Oxner's prestige is growing by leaps and bounds! -- Pacific Horizon [article excerpt]

 

Wisest elders of great ages knew not

That living secret within the grand design

Still bound in the human cell it stirs

Though now in mind discovered and code recorded

Set for release

To liberate your soul

        What a strange poem!" Mr. Briggs murmured to himself, after he wrote it with closed eyes and a blank mind.  Although perplexed, he was faithfully confident that his Lord and Savior would reveal the meaning to him in due time.  It marked his twentieth piece of automatic writing since God's emotionally liberating consolation: Feel no guilt!  It was not your fault! guided his right hand.

        Life was looking bright for the young man.  Three days ago he received an acceptance letter from Southeastern Institute of Theology.  Working at Golatto Auto with Marcus Watson was fun, but he didn't want to sell cars for the rest of his life.  No, he felt he had a higher calling, and envisioned it in the form of "Pastor Briggs" on a pulpit spewing forth exhilarating sermons.  Not one to procrastinate, he'd already begun putting his chattel in cardboard boxes because he planned to move to Lake Forest, North Carolina as soon as possible.  He wanted to get settled in and familiar with the seminary's campus a few weeks before the start of classes.  But first off, he wanted to say goodbye to his estranged pastor, John Talley, and attempt to lay a dark, unexplained chapter of the past to rest.  Their unmentionable encounters with otherworldly characters had caused a major rift between them.  It was that extremely tense psychological gulf which necessitated Richard's departure from Apostle's Chapel.  It was almost as if a spell of alienation had been cast on them by the sinister strangers.  Those beings--whatever they were and wherever they came from--seemingly had unlimited supernatural powers at their disposal.  Richard knew that the visitation would be mutually uncomfortable, if not unbearable, but, nevertheless, he felt strongly that it was something he had to do before leaving Fort Lauderdale.

 

144

        Richard pushed the house's doorbell and then took a deep breath in a vain attempt to release some nervous energy.  The preacher's wife was the one who opened the door.  She looked rather surprised when she saw him, which made Richard feel even more awkward and unwelcomed -- almost as if he was trespassing.  He greeted her appropriately and requested permission to see her husband.  At that instant, the good lady stepped outside and shut the door.  Her hasty, non-verbal action made Richard wonder if there was some sort of a problem.  Then, he perceived an unmistakable distressed expression on her countenance as she stood in front of him on the doormat.  Now Richard KNEW that something was wrong!

        "Richard..." she began, obviously experiencing emotional hardship broaching a forthcoming sensitive subject matter.  Her head dropped.  "Richard, John is..." she halted her sentence once again.

        Richard cut in, trying to spit the words out of her mouth for her: "He doesn't want to have anything to do with me, does he?!"  This was Richard's natural assumption, based on the fact that he had let the Milifen agents inside his apartment, thus causing some of Reverend Talley's Holy Corpus writings to be stolen.

        "No, Richard.  It's not that John doesn't want to see you.  He... CAN'T see you!"

        "What???  What are you talking about, Mrs. Talley??" he fervently inquired, in a state of bewilderment.

        She raised her hand up over her mouth, and her soft brown eyes looked on the verge of tears.  At that point, Richard not only knew that something was wrong; he knew that something was exceedingly wrong!!  He already regretted the visit.  But still, he wanted desperately to be informed of the issue.

        "Please, Mrs. Talley, tell me what the problem is," he urged.  "Maybe I can help."

        She looked up at him and said, "Come in and see for yourself."  Her voice was a tad calmer sounding.  It denoted an attitude of mild acceptance of a situation involving a negative reality which can't be changed by human effort.  She opened the door and walked back inside with Richard following.  He didn't have a clue what to expect, and feared the revelation he'd soon be faced with as he crossed the threshold.  Walking into that house felt like entering an Egyptian catacomb.

        Nicolette led her surprised guest up the staircase.  The unfamiliarity factor of the second-story territory served to heighten his sense of foreboding.  Indeed, he felt as if he was approaching a dark, mysterious tomb full of ancient, unearthed secrets.  They entered the master bedroom.  The good reverend sat motionless in a chair.  He had on a beige bathrobe.  An unkempt mustache and beard had grown on his historically clean-shaven face.  Graying and thinning hair, sallow, wrinkled skin, as well as emaciation were other visible signs of swift internal deterioration.  The poor man had aged about twenty years within a time span of only a few months!  And, most disturbingly, he looked as if he was staring straight into nothingness.

        His faithful wife walked up to him.  "John, Richard Briggs came by to see you," she announced in a compassionate tone.  Her long, drawn out enunciation sounded as if she was addressing a young child.  Then she placed her hand on his shoulder and rubbed it affectionately.  Oddly, he neither spoke nor moved any part of his body, not even his head.  "Wouldn't you like to say 'Hi' to Richard," sweet Nicolette adjured, while continuously caressing his shoulder.  He remained silent and stock-still, staring straight ahead, failing to make eye-contact with his wife. 

        Richard slowly, timorously approached to get a closer look as if he was creeping up on a rattlesnake.  He bent down like an eye-doctor examining a patient, and closely inspecting his countenance.

        He was obviously in a dismal condition, to say the least!  The man was a cadaverous shell of his former effervescent self.  He was, indeed, a tragic soul -- seemingly beyond redemption. 

 

145

What Richard beheld was a haggard carcass -- a pathetically faint image of the vibrant John Talley whose luminous brown eyes blazed with enthusiastic intensity, arms flung, fists shook, and voice roared every Sunday morning atop the pulpit.  That robust, energetic body was now frail and static, vocal chords inactive, and those beaming eyes were now glazed and vacant.  Furthermore, they didn't even blink when Richard test-waived his hand up-and-down, up-and-down in front of them.  He was completely unresponsive to anything in the exterior world.  It seemed as if he was hopelessly lost in his own far-off world.  That zombie-like mien coupled with his decrepit, spirit-drained, lifeless appearance caused Richard to feel totally freaked-out!

        "He's always staring blankly at the wall.  He never says a word," Nicolette gloomily informed Richard.

        "How long has he been like this," queried Richard, sounding and looking just like a physician as he glanced up at the stress-weary housewife.

        "Soon after your last visit to our home, he started showing signs of emotional instability.  I was really surprised by the change in his behavior because he'd always been so well-balanced.  He just kept on declining until he got to this stage.  Look at him; he's like a zombie!"

        "So all this didn't happen overnight?  It was a gradual process, you say?"

        "Yes.  At first, he was just acting sort of quirky.  As time went on, he seemed to grow wan.  Day by day, he began to look more and more fatigued and gaunt.  He was also getting withdrawn.  Then, the nightmares began.  He told me about strange dreams of shadowy figures following him around, trying to drive him crazy.  He believed they were real beings, invading his sleep."

        Again, Richard waived his hand up-and-down in front of his pastor's face.  And again, his eyes failed to blink.  Richard grimaced and shook his head while staring down at him intently.

        Nicolette continued.  "Several weeks after the nightmares commenced, he began hallucinating.  I'd overhear him when he was all alone, engaged in an imaginary conversation.  It was very bizarre and scary.  He'd say things like, "I agree with you, comrade.  I also sense their foul presence.  They stole the Holy Corpus and now they're after our life force.  Let's bow our heads and close our eyes.  Please form a spiritual bulwark to ward off their dark, occult onslaught, O' Great One we pray.'  I got that on tape, which is why I remember it verbatim.  I replayed it over and over.  It was SO weird!!!  His voice sounded really creepy, as well.  Incidentally, a 'whooshing' type sound was caught on the tape.  I'll play it for you later.  Eventually, he got to the point where he would sit up beside me in bed mumbling incoherently.  He wasn't even aware of my presence.  I'd ask him whom he was talking to, but he wouldn't respond.  He just kept muttering nonsense while his eyes looked as if they were gazing into another dimension.  That's the best way I can describe it.  It seemed like he was making contact with another realm.  It was so spooky!!!  At about this time, he began to deteriorate more drastically on the physical level.  It has been so devastating to witness!  I'm always praying for him to recover from whatever it is that afflicts him."

        "Have you sought medical assistance for his condition, Mrs. Talley?"

        "No, I haven't--because I'm afraid they'd have him committed to a psychiatric facility, and I know that he wouldn't be helped there!!!  They wouldn't even try to help him!  If anything, they'd just experiment on him and make him worse.  I saw Aaron Hughes on Celebrity Interview talking about shrinks.  They're devils!"

        "Well, I sure as heck wouldn't trust that crowd either, Mrs. Talley.  I made that mistake once, and it cost a man his life," Richard bitterly reminisced.

       

146

        "If only there was some way we could snap him out of it," Nicolette proposed.

        "Like shock therapy to jolt him back to his senses?" asked Richard, seeking verification of what she meant.

        "Exactly!" confirmed Nicolette.

        Richard rubbed his chin and asked the fundamental follow-up question, "How would we do it?"

        Nicolette furrowed her brow and pondered his intellectual challenge.  Then she excitedly exclaimed, "I've got an idea!  It's based on the principle of rage resulting from jealousy.  Maybe we could try to stimulate his emotions to such a high degree that his mind returns back to normal."

        "Please be more specific," Richard urged.  He was intrigued by the abstract sounding nature of the psychological strategy, but didn't quite understand what she was getting at.

        "Well, it's somewhat of an embarrasing plan, but if it has even a ghost of a chance of bringing my husband back to me, I'm willing to give it a try... if you're willing to cooperate.  Would you pretend like you're making out with me?"

        "Umm... yeah.  Sure," Richard agreed.  He was taken aback by the proposition.

        "Thank you, Richard!  We'll stand right in front of him and act like we're kissing -- just make smooching sounds and make it look like our lips are touching.  Let's also say how much we love each other, and wish to spend the rest of our lives together.  Ready to give it a try, Richard???"

        "I'm as ready as I'll ever be!" he complied, unaware of the thread of ambiguity in his statement.

        Tentatively, the duo reached for one another.  Richard's manly nature impelled him to pull Nicolette closer toward him.  The simple act of feigned intimacy ignited awkward emotions in Nicolette's sensitive psyche.  She nervously giggled like an abashed school girl preparing for her first-ever kiss.  Richard smiled at her reaction and whispered in her ear: "Remember, this was your idea, not mine!  So don't blame me if you're feeling uncomfortable!"

        Their cheeks brushed.  Nicolette liked the faint sensation.  Fake kisses and sweet talk followed.  "You're my dream-come-true, Richard.  I'm so lucky to be in your arms, honey."

        "No, I'm the lucky one, Mrs. Talley."

        "Please, call me Nicolette."

        "How about if I call you 'Sugar Pie?' "

        "That's even better, Honey Buns," Nicolette playfully sanctioned, loosening up a bit. 

        Richard thought she was doing an incredibly good job of "pretending" to be infatuated with him.  Even her voice sounded sincere and passionate.

        "You should've been an actress," he whispered in her ear.

        "Thank you.  I just hope I'm doing a good enough job to make John jealous," she whispered back.  They had strategically positioned themselves directly in front of the good reverend's face.  He had a front row seat in the theatre of his own home, and, whatsmore, he didn't even have to purchase tickets for the play.  Thus far, he was apparently unaffected by his wife's imitation infidelity.  But would his traumatized brain eventually process the simulated adulterous love scene that was transpiring right before his unfocused eyes???  That was their official objective.

        The amateur actors were getting absorbed in their self-appointed roles, as their self-consciousness and inhibition began to dissolve.  The mock kissing continued when, all of a sudden, something purportedly accidental happened--their lips met.  Nicolette let out an "Oops!" and raised her hand to her mouth.

        "Please excuse me, sir," she said.

        Richard countered, "It was most likely my fault, ma'am."

        "Well, young man, now that we've inadvertently united our lips, I suppose there's no reason not to do it again.  After all, it'd be much easier than trying so hard to avoid oral contact.  What do you say, Honey Buns?"

        "That sounds very logical, Sugar Pie!  Let's go for it!" (Now Richard was beginning to feel like a most-welcomed houseguest!)

 

147

        Initially, their kisses were relatively conservative.  But, then, another "accident" occurred.  "Did my tongue just slip inside your mouth," Nicolette sprightly inquired.

        "Yes, it did," Richard frankly replied.

        "Oh my!  I'm sorry.  It was unintentional, of course," said Nicolette, coyly.

        "Of course!" Richard reiterated.

        More kissing ensued, and then they resumed their dialogue.  "Oops!" blurted Richard.  "Did my hands grab a hold of your butt cheeks?"

        "Yes, they did," said Nicolette, her words coming after--and combining with--that cute, little, shy giggle of hers.

        "I apologize.  That was surely not my intent.  I can be very clumsy at times with my big hands.  Sometimes they go where I don't want them to go and squeeze things I don't want them to squeeze," he explained.

        "Oh, I understand," forgave Nicolette with a chuckle.

        Their kissing progressed in style and escalated in intensity, as their roaming hands covered each others' bodies more thoroughly than a standardized police pat-down.

        Suddenly, a bright, albeit risque, idea popped into Nicolette's head.  "You know what I think might get John's attention?" she said in a lively, upbeat manner.

        "What?" asked Richard, curiously.

        "If he saw us together in our underwear," she submitted, then watched for her playmate's reaction--his eyebrows lifted up and his face lit up at the thought of it.  "I think we should take off our clothes," she firmly and confidently suggested, with a smile.

        "Hey, that sounds like a great idea," agreed Richard in robust tone.  "It's definitely worth a shot.  Let's do it!" he excitedly exclaimed, smiling too.

        Nicolette giggled carefreely and joyously this time, instead of nervously.  First, she pulled out the band which held her hair in a bun.  The wavy brown locks descended to her shoulders.  She tossed her head back and smiled broadly.  Richard found the aggregate visual effect of the band's release--hair cascade, head motion, and rapturous grin--a most beautiful and meaningful sight.  Obviously, the middle-aged lady had just subconsciously expressed her brave decision to crossover from a boring, repressive lifestyle to one filled with excitement, pleasure, and adventure.  For her, it was akin to living in a 'black-and-white' world her entire life and suddenly seeing vivid colors for the very first time!  Richard marveled at the naughty, lively, free-spirited gleam in her soft, brown eyes.  Then he combed his fingers all through the long, flowing, extricated strands, which he perceived as symbolic of Nicolette's spiritual rebirth into liberation.

        Richard proceeded to pull his dresshirt up over his head, followed by his undershirt.  Nicolette feasted her eyes on his muscular arms, hard chest, and tight abdomen.  He was obviously a physical fitness enthusiast, she thought.  His upper body appealed to her so much, due in part because she'd always fancied beefy men, and also because it was a welcomed contrast to her puny, flabby, now disabled, husband.  So she was getting a nice, new (not to mention "young") piece of eye-candy.

        "Just for fun, why don't you undress me," Nicolette seductively recommended--half speaking, half whispering in his ear, which turned him on all the more.

        "Your wish is my command," Richard hotly stated.

        They shared one more long, passionate kiss before Richard went to task on Nicolette's pink blouse.  He started at the top, and his busy fingers worked each pesky, little button until the soft, silk garment was finally ready to be shed.  His excited blue eyes beheld a flat tummy and a well-filled, white bra.

        "I hate to do it," Richard lamented, while beginning to breathe deep breaths of passion.  "But I'm determined to make your husband jealous, so it looks like I'll have to go a little farther and expose your breasts."

        "Do what you must," consented Nicolette with a sigh.

        Richard eagerly reached around her back and unfastened the strap, letting the bra fall to the floor.  A pair of ample breasts emerged.

 

148

        "Well, well, well... Look at what you've been concealing from the congregation," joked Richard, while visually feasting.  Nicolette let out a seductive chuckle and looked at him with the devil in her eyes, while licking round the outer portions of her lips.

        After Richard's boob trance subsided, he got refocused on the business at hand.  "We've come a long way, but I still have some more work to do on you, ma'am.  In case you failed to notice, your waist down is obscured by that awfully long skirt."

        "Oh my, I see what you mean, kind sir.  That was very observant of you!"

        Enjoying the naughty little game as much as Nicolette, and wanting to savor it, Richard took his time pulling down the white skirt.  Now pink panties and tan sandals were the only articles of clothing that remained on her trim, curvaceous body.  With one knee on the red carpet, like a medieval knight courting a fair damsel, Richard helped her little feet slip out of the shoes.  Then, he rose up and gazed into Nicolette's sultry, brown eyes.

        "Guess what comes next," he said with a grin.

        "Well, only one thing is left, so it's an easy guess... My panties need to go, don't they?" said Nicolette, purposefully making her voice sound innocent and child-like, all part of the game.

        "Yes, they do!" Richard confirmed, wallowing in the pleasure of the moment.

        Unhurriedly, savoring every second, he proceeded to lower the one remaining garment in extra-slow motion.  Tugging ever so slightly, eventually he got the panties all the way down to her ankles, and she lifted her feet up, out of the holes.  They were both relishing the erotic foreplay immensely.

        Richard looked the lady over--front and back--admiring her completely nude body, especially her newly revealed, cute, little rear end.  "That butt of yours looks even better than I imagined," he complimented.

        "Thank you," Nicolette appreciatively replied.

        Then Richard bent down and took off his shoes and socks.  Straightening up, and coming face-to-face with Nicolette again, she said, "Have you noticed that your britches are still on, young man?"  An akimbo pose and a sexually mischievous facial expression added spice to that seductively enunciated vocalization.

        "Oh, they are, aren't they?!  Thank you for bringing that fact to my attention, Mrs. Talley!"

        "Would you please allow me to remove them so I may check out your lower half, as well?  There's something in particular that I'm eager to inspect."

        "Hmm.  I wonder what that might be!" Richard playfully pondered.

        "Well, I'll give you a hint.  The informal name for it also applies to a male bird."

        "Hmm.  I'm clueless," he said, casting a puzzled look on his face, in keeping with the act.

        "Well then, I'll give you another hint.  It rhymes with 'rock.' "

        "Hmm.  I'm afraid I still don't know what you're talking about, ma'am."

        "One final clue.  Under stimulating conditions it expands and stiffens."

        Richard rubbed his chin and said, "These are definitely stimulating conditions and a certain part of my body has expanded and stiffened... Could the thing you're referring to be located right below my stomach?"

        "Congratulations!  You guessed right!  Now, how about taking that belt off, big guy," she suggested.

        Richard did as he was directed, and Nicolette took care of the rest; she unbuttoned and unzipped his khakis and then worked those pants down, just as he had painstakingly handled her skirt.  A huge bulge stretched out his boxer shorts.  Nicolette smirked and licked her lips at the enticing sight.

        "I can't wait to see what's hiding in there for me!"  Her voice sounded like that of a horny She-Devil instead of a prudish pastor's wife.  Like an excited kid unwrapping a Christmas gift left by Santa Claus under the pine tree, Nicolette pulled the underwear down.

        Her "present" turned out to be a long, chunky, juicy-looking piece of meat.  Its impressive size prompted a womanly gasp, and, concurrently, a raised hand on her chest, over her heart.

 

149

        "You're so much bigger than..."  She stopped herself out of deference for her nearby husband.

        But Richard wanted to hear her say it.  "Than the gentleman sitting over there in the chair?" he prodded.

        "Yes!" she conceded.

        "Well, Mrs. Talley, what would you like to do, now that there is nothing left for us to take off?" he asked.

        "I'm thinking of something that rhymes with duck," she wittily replied.

        The liberated pastor's wife took her virile, young guest by the hand and led him to the bed, just a few yards away.  Her initial objective of trying to help her stricken husband was the farthest thing from her lustful mind.