PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson
“I have to solve a puzzle if I want to get into Heaven?” Henry was standing next to St. Peter who was really a short, balding Jewish guy named Shimon bar Yonah and told a lot of Dad jokes.
“Not a puzzle,” said Shimon. “A reflection of how you treated Hashem and faith in life. Hey, what kind of shoes do frogs wear?”
“Never mind the jokes, Pet…uh, Shimon. Oh wait.”
“Open-toad sandals.” The gatekeeper started laughing maniacally.
“Traffic going down has priority,” said Henry. “Is that right?
“Got it. Too much traffic going down, not that much going up.”
It’s Wednesday and time again to participate in this week’s edition of Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ Friday Fictioneers. The idea is to use the image at the top as the prompt for crafting a poem or short story no more than 100 words long. My word count is exactly 100.
For some reason, seeing the sign immediately brought up the idea of “Highway to Heaven,” but then I couldn’t figure out the sign. Fortunately, it was Grok to the rescue which was able to decipher it for me. Then all I had to do was plug that information into my concept and it was done. Yes, St. Peter was/is actually Jewish and I had him telling Dad jokes just for fun.
Oh, in Hebrew “Hashem” literally means “The Name” and is is used to avoid misusing or pronouncing God’s sacred four-letter name (YHWH) in vain during casual conversation.
Cover image for my novel “A Wobblegong and His Boy”
To read other stories based on the prompt or to add one of your own, go to inlinkz.
The big news this morning, at least for me, is I’m having eye surgery to repair something called a macular pucker in my left eye. No coffee or water after 6 a.m. so I got up a little early. It should be okay, but I’ll be glad when it’s over and especially after tomorrow when I get my post-surgery exam.
The other big news is my science fiction boy’s adventure novel “A Wobblegong And His Boy” is coming out both on Kindle and in paperback this coming Friday, March 20th. I’ve very excited. It went on pre-order on Friday March 6th and as of this writing, Amazon has it listed as the number one new release in their Children’s Space Exploration category. Overall, it’s number two for all releases for that category and number three in Children’s Alien Books. Wow!
Pre-order the Kindle version NOW at Amazon or wait another two days and buy the paperback.
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Dear James,
Leave it to a short, bald Jewish guy to use a one-liner as entrance to Heaven. 😉 Cute.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thanks, Rochelle.
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Funny
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Thanks, Neil.
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I do wonder if this was an actual sign produced by some traffic management authority. To me it appears likely as a temporary construction guide giving right-of-way to oncoming traffic as two lanes must merge into one for some indeterminate stretch of roadway. It would have to be matched by another such sign for the opposite direction at the other end of the one-lane stretch. In both cases priority would be given to traffic on that one lane to guarantee that it can proceed to the end of that stretch.
Road signs notwithstanding, this one remains me of the image printed on a popular button pin some 60 years ago, showing one straight arrow and another forming a “U” to reverse its course to proceed alongside the straight arrow. This symbology was particularly interesting, as it could be worn with both arrowheads aimed upwards or both aimed downwards. These represented two quite different religious doctrinal positions or assertions vis-a-vis the doctrine of “The Rapture”. One envisioned the returning messiah approaching from above and meeting those rising from below so that both could then continue heavenward. The other envisioned the messiah returning from above and continuing down to earth to establish the millennial kingdom ruled from Jerusalem in accordance with ancient biblical prophecies. The u-turn represented his raptured followers rising to meet him in the air, then returning with him as transformed warriors to fight alongside him to establish that kingdom and serve as his administrators subsequently. The symbology was a bit too pithy to do justice to either doctrinal position, but each individual’s choice about how to wear it initiated some interesting discussions (or more accurately, vehement arguments).
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