Into The Valley

The pain was at it its worst in the middle of the day when the bright rays of the desert sun shone through his tent. In the cool, dark of night he got some respite.

The pain was caused by a bleeding tumour which sat on his pituitary gland.

This same tumour, which was now blinding him, had also caused his massive size.

At the age of twelve he was taller than his father. By the age of thirteen he was recruited into the army.

In the late afternoon they came to put on his armour.

He got up from his bed. The bed was ten foot in length.

He knelt as two men fitted an enormous coat of bronze scale armour. He stood as they fitted the bronze greaves to his legs. And he felt the weight of all that armour.

He rested his head against the central post of his tent. And he remembered his father carrying him across a river when he was a little boy. He offered up a prayer to him.

His shield-bearer walked in front of him, out into the open valley. He desperately wanted to rest his hands on the man’s shoulders, but it would show weakness to the enemy.

His shield-bearer moved out of his field of vision. He couldn’t see him.

For the first time in his life he felt real fear. Despite this, his voice boomed in the dry river bed.

“Who of you is brave enough to face Goliath?”