SIMPLE

EPISODE 2  

The train hisses to a stop at a busy London station. Rachav Rai steps onto the platform, suitcase in hand, and glances around with quiet wonder.

“Goodness, the county has changed a lot in just a few years,” she murmurs to herself.

As she prepares to cross the road, an impatient motorcyclist roars straight toward her.

“Clear off, you twig!” the rider yells.

Rachav swiftly takes two steps back, watching the motorcycle speed away. With a bright grin, she raises her hand in the air. “May the LORD bless you, my dear brother!”

Her attention is drawn to a young woman struggling to help her grandmother, who had been startled by the speeding bike.

“Go and get your head sorted, you prat!” the lady shouts after the vanished rider. “Gran, are you alright?”

“Stella, I’ve told you not to be hurling insults at people,” the elderly woman says, struggling to stand.

“It wasn’t an insult, it was a piece of advice,” Stella retorts.

The blare of impatient car horns fills the air. “Please bear with us!” Stella calls out.

As she tries her best to support her grandmother, an extra hand joins hers.

“May I be of some help?” Rachav asks gently.

---

Moments later.

Upon entering her new apartment, Rachav collapses tiredly onto the couch.

“Oof, today was rather taxing. Thank you, Almighty Father, for today,” she says, a yawn escaping her. “I feel so sleepy… Wait!”

Her eyes scan the living room. {I just came in to drop my suitcase at noon and hurried off to the church.}

Rachav rises to her feet and begins to inspect the apartment. She steps into the bedroom. {Hmm, quite pleasant.} She walks over to the wardrobe area. {Although a home can never be complete without…} she thinks, opening the door, {…a proper wardrobe 🤩!}

Tying up her hair and slipping on a dust mask, she prepares to do some housekeeping.

---

An hour before midnight, in the Reverend Mother’s study back in Oxfordshire, the old touch-tone telephone rings. The Reverend Mother answers it.

“I have finally got a break from that fidgety girl. Is it now your turn to trouble me?” she asks, her tone stern. The caller laughs on the other end. “She will be an evangelical disciple for the time being and…” The caller speaks. “Working at a care centre?” The caller speaks again. “When is she to start her main work?” The caller speaks. “Fine, I shall let her know tomorrow.” The caller speaks. “Mr Priest, I am trusting you on this. Do not let any harm come near my Rachav, or else…” The caller speaks again 😅 and immediately cuts the call.

---

The next evening, a team of evangelists preaches in a lively corner of the City of London. They move in small groups of five, and Rachav’s group is assigned to the area of bars and restaurants. As instructed, Rachav, still only a disciple, must observe how the evangelists preach with the fruit of the Holy Spirit clear in both their words and actions. Though they face persecution, they do not give up. A few unbelievers, impressed by their pure manner, seem to give Christianity a second thought.

At one point, a heated argument erupts between a woman from a bar and her boyfriend.

“No, don’t you dare give me that rubbish!” the woman exclaims.

“Clara, I don’t need this right now,” her boyfriend says, trying to walk away, but she blocks his path.

“Oh, now you don’t need me? You cheat on me with my cousin and you have the cheek to tell me that rot? You’re utter scum, man!”

“Lower your voice or else…!”

“Or else what?! You’re lower than a rat.”

“Shut up!” he yells, thoroughly vexed.

The bottle in his hand swings toward the woman. However, to everyone’s surprise, it stops in mid-air. A male evangelist has caught the aggressive boyfriend’s wrist.

“It is a wicked thing for a man to lay his hand on a woman,” the evangelist says calmly. “I would strongly advise you to avoid doing something you will live to regret.”

The boyfriend yanks his arm free in disgust. “Shove off, preacher.” He turns back to Clara. “As for you, if you ever get on my nerves again,” he says, smashing the bottle on the road and pointing at the shards, “you’ll end up like this shattered glass.”

He storms away.

“Are you alright, miss?” the evangelist asks Clara gently.

Clara snaps back to reality. “So what now? You think I can’t look after myself?”

The evangelist stretches a hand toward her. “Oh, that is not the case… It’s just…”

“Get off!” she cries, slapping his hand away with teary eyes. “You’re all the same!” She hurries off into the night.

“She’s been cheated on,” the second evangelist notes. “Trying to encourage her now won’t work.”

The first evangelist sighs. “I know. Moreover… I have this feeling she is very special.”

---

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***