bright

when the flood comes, little jordan will be able to divide all his farm animals into respective kingdom affiliations, stack his blocks meticulously to the sky, lead his pack up the block stairs, and find refuge on a cloud. when the flood runs dry, he will climb back down with his animals and wait for the next one.

his parents are evangelical christians; they don't believe in autism. when he doesn't look at them during tantrums or screams at the top of his lungs for hours on end, it was the devil trying to find a way to destroy their christian sanctuary. they don't believe in adoption, so jordan's parents live at the ultimate crossroad.

at the age of 9 months, he first heard the story of noah's ark. every night thereafter, he asked to hear it again. his parents in awe with his capacity to speak so young, sought advice from their local pastor. "the child is a gift from god," he said. "perhaps a messenger. watch him closely, I advise you, he must never leave your sight."

what a gift for this small town farm family, generations of devout christians honored with a messenger from god. they watched his progress closely, every night laying him to rest with the story of noah's ark. he became obsessed with the story, collecting toy animals, obsessively herding them. transitioning out of play time and to dinner at the family table soon became a nightmare for jordan's parents. he kicked and screamed incessantly. the pastor, convinced jordan had a message to deliver, concluded the tantrums were part of the message. something about the animals maybe. maybe an impending flood.

the parents abandoned any advice from the pastor after he was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor. their son was now just a portal to down there as far as they were concerned. dad was balding rapidly and mom developed a tremor due to weekly exorcisms. jordan stopped speaking the little he did. was this hell?

jordan's room amassed somewhere near 10,000 toy farm animals aligned in a matrix only he knew. rain season came. he spent hours with his nose pressed against the window, waiting. rain season went. the matrix of animal formations spilled into the hall and every room in the house except the kitchen. summer approached, and in the middle of july, the rains fell to earth with no mercy. escape was not an option, there was no higher ground than the roof. the parents grabbed jordan and took him to the roof. instead of flailing, he calmed under the rain and over the rising waters. clutching a giraffe, he eagerly waited for the water to rise to the roof. he dropped the giraffe down the chimney, and it came to life, breathing life into every other creature it came into contact with through domino effect. the animals pumped water out of the home and blocked all gaping holes to the water world engulfing the town.

jordan slipped from his parents' arms and summoned them to the sky lights. he showed them the tiny, live animals working tirelessly to create sanctuary in the home. the parents dropped back into the house in awe. would the family really survive such a horrible flood? jordan nodded and grinned as his parents reached up for him. the animals assembled the blocks out of the home and to the cloud where jordan sought refuge for the rest of his life. he climbed while his parents flailed and screamed for hours. every now and then, he'll send a thundering rain to his parents' home so they don't feel like failures who lost sight of their gift from god. the truth is, jordan is more of a gift than just any earthly home can hold.