Lost Sheep

While grazing out in the lush green fields with my brothers and sisters, a soft voice spoke in my mind, lifting my head from the grass and egging me towards a fresh patch of bloomed flowers. I let out a soft whine, blinking and trying to ease my thoughts of the voice, but I could not seem to escape it.

The flowers are good for you, little sheep... the voice spoke, cooing into my tender ears. Probably better than the grass your master gives.

My ears flicked on top of my head, a light shake of my wooly body coming as I listen to the aid of the voice. I stomp my small hooved foot, prancing over to the flower patch and ignoring the calls of the other sheep. 

I roll my head, smacking my jowls as I lean down to eat, chomping away at the flowers. As I stood and ate, more and more flowers seemed to be created, all moving and appearing just for me. I ate contentedly, often watching as the sky transformed to a deep shade of violet and the twinkling lights of stars appeared above my shaggy head.

--In the Barn--

"Ninety-four, ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine... huh?"

The shepherd looked about at his lines of sheep, each one laying on a coarse bed of straw. A bead of sweat appeared on his forehead, dripping down and splashing against the dirt of the floor.

He had ninety-nine of his sheep, but he could not find his last one. 

"Little sheep!" the shepherd called, hurriedly placing his cloak around his body and reaching out for his shepherd's crook. He lit a lantern, wishing safety on his other sheep as he closed the door of the barn. "Where are you?"

--In the Wilds--

I pranced along, giddily eating up all of the fresh grass and drinking up the cool stream water. The voice in my head disappeared, leaving me to happily be on my lonesome.

As I bent down to take yet another blade of grass by its root, I felt the air shift, an uncomfortable sound leaving my throat. I glanced up through half-lidded eyes, my jaws slacking to see a big, black wolf looming above me, his gums soaked with saliva and his golden teeth gleaming in the moon light.

I let out a frightened yelp, backing away from the wolf in fear.

*Why are you scared, little sheep?* the wolf asked, his voice mirroring that of the voice in my head prior to my escape from the flock. *You did not seem afraid when I told you of this new grazing ground. Come, follow me, and I'll let you eat all the grass you desire.*

I shook my head, my little legs buckling underneath me in my moment of cowardice. 

"A-Away with you, Wolf!" I cry, stumbling back into a bush of thorns. "My master will come and he will send you away!"

The wolf barked out a cold laugh, snapping his snout as he eased closer to my side.

*You believe that your master can defeat me?* the wolf mocked, howling in amusement. *I doubt it, little sheep. He is human, and he will cower before me!*

The wolf stomped towards my trapped form, his jaws opening larger and larger as he approached me. His mouth was almost all the way around my head when I heard a voice, loud as a lion's roar, echoing through the night.

In an instant, the wolf was on the ground, howling in pain as blood trickled down from his snout. The shepherd was in front of me, wincing as he looked down to the two bite marks in his ankle.

"Arrogant Wolf," the shepherd growled, swinging at the wolf with his crook. "You may cause my sheep to stray from my flock, but you have no rights to impede on her beliefs in me. I am her Shepherd, and I shall not be taken down as easily as you."

The shepherd struck the wolf in the center of his forehead, shattering the skull of the wolf before turning to me. 

"Little sheep," he whispered softly, placing down his crook and grabbing my leg, pulling it out from the brush. I rejoiced, leaping forwards and nuzzling against the shepherd's palm. "Come, little sheep. I will carry you back to the flock."

--In the Barn--

The shepherd carried in his lost sheep like a father would handle an infant, laying the sheep down and tending to her wounded leg. With a smile unlike any other, he allowed the sheep to stay where she was, then standing and looking out at his other sheep.

"My beautiful flock!" he shouted, smiling. "I have found my lost sheep! I have returned your lost sister to this group, and now we will celebrate!"

The shepherd, in his happy state, passed around peanuts and different grains, giving special care to the sheep whom he lost. 

"I am not angered at all towards you, Little Sheep," the shepherd murmured giddily, hugging the sheep close and kissing her nose. "You are precious and beautiful, and I am happy to have you back in my arms."

~~~

LUKE 15: 3-7

"So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."

MATTHEW 18: 12-14

"What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish."