Sunrise Service

by Douglas J. Eboch

Hear the story read by the author.


In the town of Normal, Pennsylvania, there’s a little church at the corner of Wilson and Elm. Every year on Easter morning they hold a sunrise service in the courtyard. This year, Easter fell on an unusually early date and happened to coincide with a late winter freeze. When Pastor Henry O’Donnell awoke at 5:00 AM the thermometer outside read a chilly twenty-five degrees.

Henry took a quick, hot shower to wake himself up, then put on a pair of colorful boxers with pictures of Easter eggs and bunnies he’d bought in honor of the holiday. He tried to rouse his wife Jennifer.

“Leave me alone,” Jennifer grumbled at him, her face buried in the pillow.

“But honey, it’s almost time to go to the sunrise service.”

“You go ahead without me.”

“Did you see what I’m wearing?”

Jennifer lifter her head and looked at him through narrowed eyes. He modeled the boxers. “Cute,” she said and pulled the covers over her head. She had not been as amused as he thought she would.

“Come on, get up,” Henry pleaded. “I’ve got a present for you. For Easter.”

“Can it wait ’til later?” she asked.

“I suppose…” Henry said.

“Good. Katie and I will meet you for the 9:00 service.”

Jennifer was still annoyed at Henry for repeatedly violating the diet they had both agreed to go on over Lent. She was even more annoyed that despite his transgressions he’d lost three more pounds than she had. So she was not in the mood to get up early and head out into the cold darkness just to play the part of dutiful pastor’s wife.

Henry arrived at the church at about six, half an hour before the service was scheduled to begin. He found church secretary Tammy Billings already in the office. Tammy had given up coffee for Lent and now that it was Easter she had gotten to church early so she could make a big pot to break her fast. But after nearly six weeks without coffee, the caffeine was having a much greater impact than she was used to. She bounced around the office, vibrating with nervous energy.

“Good morning!” She yelled, then without pausing for a response, continued, “The pathways in the courtyard are really icy so Ralph is putting salt on them and then he’ll need your help to roll the piano out of the lounge for Walter so do you want a cup of coffee before then because I made a whole pot and I‘ve already had two cups.”

“Okay,” said Henry. He could use a little bit of that kind of energy.

“Great!” shouted Tammy. “I’ll get it.”

However, when Tammy was rushing back with Henry’s coffee her caffeine heightened enthusiasm led her to stumble and spill the cup of fresh, hot java all over the back of Henry’s suit pants.

Caught off guard by the sudden scalding of the back of his legs, Henry let out a scream that woke four people and six dogs in the surrounding community.

“I’m so sorry,” Tammy gasped. “Are you alright?”

Henry was in fact not badly burned. It was more the sudden shock that had elicited the yell. After reassuring Tammy that he did not need to be rushed to the emergency room, he went to the bathroom and rinsed out his pants in the sink, shivering in his Easter boxers.

Dressed again, he went to help Tammy’s husband Ralph and Walter Tibble, the organist, roll the battered old upright piano from the lounge out into the courtyard. This particular piano didn’t have the greatest tone but it was a sturdy old instrument that could take the abuse. Moving it into the courtyard was a tricky bit of business on the freshly salted but still icy cement paths. They just managed to get it positioned in time for the first arrivals, Del and Karen Winslow.

As it turned out Del and Karen were not only the first but the last worshipers to arrive for the sunrise service. It seemed most of the congregation was not inclined to attend an outdoor service in below freezing weather. Karen Winslow’s family had always gone to Easter sunrise services when she was a little girl and she determinedly kept the tradition alive out of nostalgia no matter what the weather. Del was simply a tough old guy who didn’t let a little thing like cold stop him from making his wife happy.

So the service started, Del and Karen sitting in the middle of the neatly arranged rows of metal folding chairs Tammy had set out. Pastor O’Donnell led an opening prayer, then Tammy led them in a hymn and Ralph read an extended passage from the bible.

As Ralph was reading, Henry heard a strange rhythmic rumbling coming from over by the piano. He realized the noise was emanating from Walter. Walter was not really a morning person and it seemed he had fallen asleep. As his snores grew louder, Henry and everyone else just tried to politely ignore them.

However, as Walter fell deeper into sleep he began to lean forward. His head came to rest against the piano. The salt still had not completely melted the ice from the cement below and the piano began to slide.

It slid out from under Walter, who fell forward. His forehead struck the piano keys, eliciting a jangled, atonal chord from the instrument and a jangled, atonal yelp from Walter.

The piano kept going. It spun slowly toward the two person congregation. Del and Karen scrambled to get out of its path.

Pastor O’Donnell leapt to his feet to help - and heard a ripping sound behind him.

Unbeknownst to him, his wet slacks had frozen to the folding chair which in turn had frozen to the cement. When Pastor O’Donnell jumped up, long strips of cloth had torn away from each pant leg leaving his Easter boxers and a good amount of his burn-reddened thighs exposed.

Ralph had arrested the progress of the piano before it reached the Winslows. “Disaster averted,” he said. But then Tammy started to laugh. She was the only one who could see what had happened to the Pastor at that point. Henry was flustered and turned in a circle, trying to assess the damage and unintentionally exposing himself to everyone else. Soon they were all cackling uncontrollably.

Henry had never been so grateful to see the sun rise as he was when it finally peaked over the steeple a few minutes later. He plowed through his sermon as fast as he could, his teeth chattering from the icy breeze now blowing up his backside.

Nobody complained about the truncated service. They were all happy to get inside and enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee. Henry, meanwhile, had to run home to change his pants.

When he walked into his kitchen, he discovered Jennifer awake and much more chipper than she had been earlier. She got a good laugh out of Henry’s story of the runaway piano and his frozen pants. Then she asked, “did you say something about a present earlier?”

Henry took her out to the garage and presented her with two bicycles. “I thought maybe when the weather got better we could start riding bikes. You know, to get some exercise and spend more time together.”

Jennifer was delighted. She gave Henry a big hug. Henry beamed knowing that he was finally out of the dog house for his recent dietary slips. And he had already planned the route of their first ride. One that would coincidentally take them right by Norm’s Normal Burger stand.

It was turning out not to be such a bad Easter after all for Pastor O’Donnell.

(c) 2008 Douglas J. Eboch