to Colter

LOVE YA BACK, JACK!

James Hill stared at the card in his hand, not quite sure what to make of it. In fact, it took him several minutes to figure out if it was really meant for him.

"Jimmy, what'd you get?" his mom inquired after opening and discarding a few pieces of junk mail.

"I got a love letter?"

"Oh, who's it from? One of the girls in your class? I bet it's from Molly. Is it from her?"

"I think it's from God."

James put the letter on the counter in front of his mother. It had all the hallmarks of being a love letter - red, white, & pink coloring, shaped like a heart, frilly edges, and all that jazz. His mom inspected it for a moment.

"And where's the envelope? Is there a return address?" The envelope was dutifully produced - interestingly, it had neither address nor return address, just 'James Hill' neatly embossed in gold leaf. His mother flipped both envelope and card over and back several times. She paused, stumped for a minute.

"What is it, Mom?" James finally broke the silence.

"Well, this is much too nice to be someone playing a joke on you or to be one of the people in your class. Who did you think is was from again?"

"I think it's from God."

"And why do you think that?"

"Well, I wrote him a Valentines Day card saying I loved him."

"First up, young man, God could be a woman, so be careful with this 'him' business. Second, why would you write a valentine to God?"

"Miss Harmon had us make cards and I didn't want to write one for anyone in class, so I wrote one to God and I put it in the collection basket just yesterday."

"Is that so?" James' mom had a look very similar to the look she gave when James totally didn't eat all the cookies or when James definitely cleaned his room and made his bed.

"Well, I've never heard of God writing anyone love notes before, so I think there's a better explanation out there." James' mom surveyed the room. "I suppose it doesn't really matter anyway - even if it's a prank, it's harmless. Now, while I get dinner ready I want you to sweep up a bit and straighten up around the front door. Okay?"

"Okay Mom!"

With that, James got the broom and the dustpan from the closet and got to work picking up shoes and sweeping and making sure coats were neatly on hooks instead of thrown in a pile. It took him a few mnutes, but it was an easy chore to do - not the big kind like cleaning the bathroom. Once all the shoes were on the rack and all the coats were on the hooks and all the dust & dirt was collected, he stepped outside to throw the dust out.

A thought struck James as he shook out the broom and dustpan. He looked up to the sky and cheerfully said "Thank you God!"

He took a step before looking and tripped. Luckily he was able to catch himself as he fell and didn't get hurt. His hands were placed square on the mat in front of the door. He looked down at the letters in the same typeface as those in the card: WELCOME