by Jill Eileen Smith based on 2 Kings 13:20-21

Joshua kicked a stone from the dusty path outside his village and watched a little brown bird burst from the underbrush into the cloudy sky.

It would be nice to be a bird, he thought. Birds can fly away.

He glanced at the crowd of people ahead of him. Near the front, where he should’ve been with his mama and sisters, four men carried a wooden stretcher. Joshua didn’t want to be near the stretcher where his father’s body lay still.

“Aren’t you scared, Josh?”

Sarah’s voice startled him. She gripped his arm and tugged him back a pace, forcing him to look into her worry-filled eyes.

“Of course I’m not scared.”

He shook off her hand and stomped away. He was sad, even angry maybe, but he wasn’t scared.

Sarah scooted after him. “But I heard the other kids talking about . . . the cave.”

Joshua stopped. His gaze leapt down the winding path to two dark openings in the limestone hills.

Sarah touched his shoulder and leaned close to his ear. “I heard them say the prophet’s spirit roams these hills at night to scare away the raiders.”

Joshua swallowed hard. “You mean a ghost?”

“Shhh . . .”

Joshua studied her face. Twelve-year-old Sarah was his best friend and a year older than him. She wouldn’t lie.

A low rumble caught Joshua’s attention. He looked at the darkening sky and froze. Was that a shadow moving along the wall?

The men shoved aside the heavy stone that covered the cave entrance. A sudden, eerie silence hushed the weeping crowd.

In the distance, thundering hooves shook the ground. < I>Enemy raiders!

The sound grew louder. Joshua glanced at Sarah. A wild look filled her eyes as she jerked her head to look at the road below.

Puffy clouds of gray dust filled the air just past the bend.

“Run!” one of the men called.

Sarah ran after the crowd racing down the hill. But Joshua couldn’t move. His feet felt like tree roots stuck to the earth. The men holding his father’s stretcher still stood near the cave.

“Get rid of the body!”

The four men rushed into the burial cave and tossed his father’s stretcher. Joshua ran in after them, ducking into a shadowy corner.

Before Joshua knew what was happening, all four men fled the cave. He scrambled to his feet and ran after them. He wondered, What if there really is a ghost in here?

When he poked his head out of the cave entrance, he stopped. The raiders were climbing the hill, chasing the men. Joshua quickly ducked back into the cave and shivered. He was scared to leave the cave, but even more scared to stay with a ghost!

He stepped forward. Something wispy brushed against his cheek. A flutter of wings swooshed past his head lifting a few strands of his hair.

Aaaaahhh!

Joshua clamped both hands over his mouth to stifle a scream. His heart pounded.

A bat! A black bat clung to a root in the cave wall. Joshua sighed with relief.

Suddenly there were voices outside the cave entrance.

“Please God, help!” he whispered. Joshua heard the crunch of heavy boots and hugged his arms to his chest.

“Go check the cave,” came a deep, raspy voice.

“It’s a burial cave,” replied another voice. “They’re already dead in there.”

Joshua held his breath. Soon the rumble of horses’ hooves faded. Keeping his back to the dead bodies, he started walking out of the cave.

“He . . lp,” came a creaky, muffled voice.

Joshua spun around, looking frantically from side to side. A tall white shape lurched toward him. No, not a shape. A man wrapped in grave clothes trying to unwind them! Joshua stood, trembling.

The linen wrappings looked fresh, like the ones Mama had used on Abba. The man stood tugging on the cloth that covered his face. Joshua’s mouth moved, but no sounds came out. The face cloth fell to the dirt.

“Abba!”

“Please . . . help me, Son.”

Joshua flew toward the wrapped body.

“Unwind the rest, Joshua.”

“Abba, you’re alive!” Tears spilled down his cheeks. “But you were dead.”

Joshua watched his father’s dark eyes search the cave. He looked down at the mix of fraying linen and decayed bones near his feet.

“These are the bones of the prophet Elisha.”

Joshua stared in disbelief. “The men dropped you on top of Elisha?”

The last of the grave clothes fell to the dirt, and Abba scooped Joshua into his strong arms. Joshua hugged his abba’s neck.

“I thought you were a ghost!”

His father chuckled and pulled him closer, kissing his cheek. “God doesn’t send people back as ghosts.”

Joshua looked up into Abba’s loving eyes and laughed.

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