Dave Casler
PO Box 98
Ridgway, Colorado 81432
Young Adult Novels by Dave Casler...
I've been told by publisher after publisher that there's no market for Young Adult novels. I think they're wrong! So I'm putting my novels on-line for you. Forget the publisher! Read to your heart's content--it's free! And, I'd like to hear from you, too! Contact Page.
You're reading About Dan. Be sure to check out About Phillip here.
Dan is a normal kid who loves his soccer. Except everything goes wrong. Everything.
About Series Home
About the About Series
Index to All Chapters
Here are all the chapters, disguised as asterisks. Hover your mouse over an asterisk to see the title of the chapter. Click on the asterisk to go straight to that chapter.
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(About Dan Home) (Last) (Next)
What to Do?
"Yes," said Bishop Parker. " Quite well. You enjoy telling the story."
Dan smiled wanly. "Yes, I guess I do." He paused. "The name of the guy I stabbed is Ernesto Morales. He came to see me in the hospital. He's talked with me a couple times. I guess he was just trying to screw up his courage; he finally called me on Halloween to spit it out." He stopped.
Bishop Parker looked intently at Dan.
Dan choked up. Tears streamed from both eyes. He fidgeted with his hands. He wiped the tears with the back of his hands and then wiped his hands on his pants.
"He called me to tell me," Dan said quietly, "that he has AIDS. He thinks I might get it too."
The bishop sat back and stared at Dan, frozen under the painting of the benevolent Christ coming to redeem his flock.
"Bishop, why is all this stuff happening to me?" Dan put his hands on the edge of the desk and then lowered his head onto his hands. His body shook slightly as he sobbed silently. The only sound in the room was Dan's cast gently banging against the desk in rhythm with his heaving chest.
Bishop Parker moved around the desk and pulled up a chair next to Dan's. He placed his hand on Dan's arm. Dan looked up, his eyes puffy and his cheeks red. His lips trembled.
"Dan, when I gave you a blessing in the hospital, I thought you would have a rough time. But I thought it would be with your knee."
Dan was silent. He stared at the floor.
Bishop Parker broke the silence. "What does the Lord say, Dan?"
"I don't know," he choked out. "I don't get any answer. It's like no one's there." He looked up. "Bishop, is there really a God? How could he let this happen?"
Dan was feeling strange in his chest again. Why get heartburn now, at all times? He hadn't had any more of those leftover M&Ms.
Bishop Parker smiled wanly and patted Dan's hand. "Dan, do you remember the part about enduring to the end?"
"Yes, but I thought that just meant we're supposed to keep going to church."
"Dan, why did we come to earth?"
He was puzzled. This was Sunday School stuff.
"To get a body."
"Yes, why else."
Dan was on shaky ground. "Uh, to get married. To learn the gospel."
"Keep going."
"To be tested and tried to see if we will keep the commandments."
"Yes. And how hard is that test?"
Dan thought. The bishop was trying to teach him something.
"Does it really have to be this hard?"
Bishop Parker thought for a moment. " Sometimes," he said. "It's different for everyone."
Dan looked doubtful. "But doesn't Heavenly Father already know how we'll do?" he asked.
"Don't forget, Dan, that Heavenly Father gave us our agency. He put us here on earth to see what we'd do with it. Sometimes the tests are severe."
"I don't like it."
Bishop Parker smiled. "No one does. Now, look, you have three issues here. Your father first. Do you have any ideas?"
"No," said Dan in a small voice.
"Would your father agree to a paternity test?"
"A what?"
"It's a DNA test to see if he's really your father."
"I'll ask him."
"And your mother?"
"I don't know what to do. It doesn't seem like there is anything I can do."
"You can support her. Maybe that's all you can do."
"Ok, I'll try."
"And the HIV?"
Dan looked up at the bishop. "My dad said he'd pick me up after school on Wednesday. He's taking me to an AIDS clinic down in Denver where they don't ask any questions."
The bishop smiled. "Dan, that's all you can do."
"I feel lost."
Bishop Parker pulled his scriptures from his desk and flipped them open with casual ease. The page must be a favorite, Dan thought; it’s really smudged. Bishop Parker pointed to a passage underlined in red pencil and circled. "Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good" he read. "Alma said that. Do you know what that means, Dan?"
Dan wasn't sure. "Pray a lot?" he ventured.
Bishop Parker continued. "'Counsel' means discuss. 'With' means two-way. It means you need to have a conversation with the Lord, rather than just talk at him."
"Ok." He wasn't sure.
"Dan, I don't want you to feel like I'm minimizing your issues. But the point I want to get across is that the church is here to help you deal with exactly this kind of thing. We're not left here alone."
"But I thought all things were supposed to work together for our good if we’re faithful."
Bishop Parker chuckled. "Just remember that the term 'good' is in the eyes of the Lord. Dan, I really think you'll come out of this a stronger person."
"Yeah, maybe. If I don't get AIDS," he muttered.
The bishop smiled, but asked seriously. "Dan, do you want a blessing?"
There's that heartburn, again, thought Dan. He made a mental note to ask Dr. Jones. Perhaps it was a reaction to the anti-inflammatory.
"Uh, sure."
Bishop Parker came around behind Dan and put his hands on his head. He had to ask Dan's full name again.
When it was over, Dan got up and grabbed his crutches. He and the bishop hugged. Then he hobbled out the door.
Phillip was there to give Dan more detail about his training program.