The Lost Soldier 4b3y15

THE LOST OLDIER

by R. C. Burch

Copyright © 2016 R. C. Burch.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-6270-9 (sc) ISBN: 978-1-5127-6271-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016918382

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/10/2016

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of [this] life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

2 Timothy 2:3-4 KJV

O nce upon a

time, there was a little toy soldier who lived on a high shelf in a large department store. Every day the store would fill with lots of people shopping and looking for new things to buy, and every night he slept along with the other toys and dreamed that he would be bought and go to a nice home and be played with and loved. One day the little soldier realized something, there were baby dolls, cars, teddy bears, dinosaurs and lots more other toys, but he was the only toy soldier. Sometimes the other toys would whisper to themselves. He could make out words like “misfit” and “not worth much”. This made the little soldier very lonely and sad. “There has to be others that are like me. ” He thought to himself. He decided that he would go and search.

He walked to the edge of the shelf to find out how high up he was. Suddenly he tripped and tumbled off the shelf. AAAAHHH! Crack!! The soldier got up and realized that the fall had broken his arm. Horrified, he ran out of the busy store. Once outside the little soldier examined his arm and looked around for someone who might fix him. The little soldier walked for a while before meeting a man, “Please sir, can you fix me?” he pleaded. “Of course I can, I can fix anything” the man replied boastfully. He then picked him up and took him to his shop. Before long the man had welded and fashioned him a metal arm, But when he tried to stand up with his new arm it weighed so heavy on his shoulder that he nearly couldn’t. “I don’t like this arm! I don’t want it!” He said finally making it to his feet. This made the man very angry “WHAT!? You don’t like my work!? Get out then you worthless piece of junk!!!!” The poor little soldier grabbed his old arm and ran out of the shop and down the street as fast as his legs would carry him.

Once he was safely away, he sat down on the sidewalk. The metal arm made his shoulder ache and it was cold as ice on his wooden side. He didn’t feel like the same soldier that sat in the department store just this morning. His little uniform was torn and dirty from the welder’s shop and the new arm made him feel like a monster. He sat there for a long time in despair, when a little girl came running up to him. “What’s wrong, little soldier?” she said. “No one wants me, ” he replied sadly. The little girl picked him up and roughly stuffed him into her little purse. “I’ll take care of you and love you” she said, giving him a ray of hope.

She took him home and tried to wash his uniform in the sink. The little girl didn’t understand how to wash clothes, so she used what was there, (dirty dish water) This only faded the once rich colors. Then she tried sewing the tears; (she didn’t sew very good either) so the stitches were very loose and big and the uniform looked like it would fall to pieces if he moved very much. After he was “fixed” she took him up to her room. “There you go, my dear little soldier.” She said, plopping down beside a pile of stuffed animals on the bed. “I gotta go to dinner now, but I’ll come back up later to play with you” and she ran out. The little soldier started to feel happy for the first time since he left the store. “SNIFF” BOO-HOO!! Was that crying? WAAAAA!!!! Yes, someone WAS crying. But who? The little soldier crawled to the edge of the bed and saw a teddy bear laying on the floor with his head torn from his body. “What happen Mr. Bear? Why are you crying?” The soldier inquired “Can’t you see why? “ The bear sniffled. “Because I’m broken.” “Not to worry, Mr. Bear. The little girl will fix you!” the soldier stated. “SHE’S THE ONE WHO BROKE ME!!” the poor teddy bear wailed. Could it be? The soldier wondered. He didn’t want to believe it. “And when she does try to fix me, I won’t be the same as before.”

The little soldier looked up to see a sad doll sitting on the dresser. She had a huge crack that looked like a lightning bolt shooting down her lovely face. All the toys seemed to have ugly scars too big to hide. The soldier looked down at his uniform and noticed just how faded and ugly it had become. Was the price of this rough love worth it? Was this what he was looking for? Judging by the huge pile of discarded toys, this love didn’t even last very long. “You look quite fragile!” the doll called over to him. “Once you’re broken, she will just throw you away. She gets bored with things like you quite easily, unlike me ” she said boastfully. “I am worth a lot of money even with my scar. Plus, I am so beautiful, she would never throw me away. You are just an old soldier toy. Just look at you!!” She gestured at his frail body. “Your uniform is filthy and your arm is disgusting!!!!.” she finished, turning up her nose and prancing away. “You’ll be going to the trash in pieces in no time, ” she called over her shoulder. “NO!” the little soldier gasped. He couldn’t imagine how horrible that would be. He had to escape. He quickly jumped off the bed and ran down the stairs and out the front door.

The poor little soldier was in such a hurry to get away that he didn’t watch where he was going. “OH!” he tripped and fell hard breaking a piece of his leg off. He tried to get up, but he couldn’t. “HELP!” he called. “SOMEONE HELP ME!!” But no one came. For hours he laid there. “I’ll never find other soldiers like me, ” he finally said. “No one will ever love me ” He started to cry. He rolled over and closed his eyes. “I’m going to die here, ” he whispered just before falling asleep. While the soldier was asleep a man came by and saw him lying there in the dirt. He picked him up with his strong, comionate hands and took him home.

The next morning the little soldier woke up feeling very strange. He looked down at his uniform. “What’s this? Oh my!” he said with excitement. His uniform was brand new! The rich colors and beautiful golden buttons were shining in the morning sun. And….. His arm!! The wooden arm was back on his shoulder and there was no scars or pain. How could this have happened?? As the soldier marveled at his newness, the man walked in. “You fixed up quite nicely.” The man said. The soldier turned and looked up into the most kind and loving eyes he’d ever seen. Who was this man? “You fixed me? But why? I was a broken mess!” The man looked into the soldiers pleading eyes. “Well, when I saw you lying there broken and lost, I immediately recognized you. Your uniform, your beautiful hand carved face. You see little soldier, you’re one of mine. I made you and I loved you from the very moment I finished crafting your beautiful body and uniform. See, I am a carpenter. I make toys for the local orphaned children because the orphanage can not afford to buy toys for all of the children and I have someone in mind that you would be perfect for.” The soldier hadn’t noticed the little boy standing just behind the man. The little soldiers’ eyes welled up with thankful tears as a wave of relief washed over him. The little boy walked up to the table where the soldier stood and gently picked him up and gave him a loving, gentle hug. The soldier wasn’t sure how to react to this kind of love. He had never felt it before. It felt good. It felt true. The little soldier hugged him back. He was finally home. Finally, someone loved him.

Author’s note

It is hard to understand why bad things happen to us. We wonder if God loved us, why does he let these things happen to us? Well in 2nd Timothy, it says that he suffered in life and endured it without complaining and was rewarded. If we follow his example, we too shall be rewarded as a soldier in God’s army. In the story, the lost soldier pushed and pushed to find others like him, but he suffered a lot of pain and hardship along the way. When he was ready to give up and it defeat, that when his creator found him and helped him achieve his goal. God loves his soldiers and has a special plan for them, if we do not give up and keep our trust in him.

Jesus never failsR. C. Burch

About the Author

R. C. Burch is a writer, artist, and works in child development. She lives in Kentucky with her family and her rabbit (Stuart). She is currently studying English and History and plans to continue writing for the children.