The Book of Ishmael

Ishmael and Ezekiel hoped nobody would find them, but no one ever did. They were in the rafters of Ishmael's dad's barn, naked as the day they were born. Ezekiel would often pull Ishmael into doing chores that ensured that they would be alone and in private, and it always ended up with both of them naked and Ezekiel on top of Ishmael. But there they were, with their clothes on the ground. They were in the trusses, and the mad bull could smell the boys in the rafters. They'd been getting away with this for years; it seemed like bad karma coming back that they'd finally get caught.

Ishmael and Ezekiel could finally climb down once Ishmael's dad ran the bull off. As they stood there putting their clothes back on, Ezekiel tried to come up with a story that could excuse their nakedness, but Ishmael told his father the truth. The boys are immediately separated. Ezekiel is forced away from the community because he is considered an adult who violated a child. His father punishes Ishmael for his part. Ezekiel is told never to return to the community, and Ishmael spends the next two years wondering if he will ever see Ezekiel again. Ishmael's punishment was harsh, but he felt he deserved it somehow, so he accepted the discipline with grace.

Eventually, it was time for Ishmael's Rumspringa. He left the community and went to the nearest city, where he began searching for Ezekiel. He didn't know much about life in the city, so it took him a long time to get his bearings. When he didn't know where he could even start to look, he went to the local bar and began drinking. A cute guy came up and began to talk to Ishmael.

"Hello there, I'm John. I couldn't help but notice you when you came in. You're the hottest guy I've seen in a long time."

"Thanks, I'm Ishmael."

John laughs. "Like the whaler from that really old book?"

"Who?"

"Ya know, what's the name of that book? It had dick in the title."

"I have no idea." Ishmael began to get annoyed.

John was silent for a moment looking at his phone, and then shouted. "Moby Dick!"

"What's that now?"

"The story. With the guy named Ishmael."

"No, what's that thing you have that told you that? Can it tell you anything?"

"Oh." John didn't know how to react to the idea that someone didn't know something so basic. "It's a cell phone. You use it to make calls and so much more."

"Can it find people? Can it find a person and call him?"

"Theoretically. Do you not know what a phone is?"

"I was raised in an Amish community. Can that phone find my friend Ezekiel? He left the community two years ago, and I want to find him."

"Sure, you can use my phone. So you were raised Amish? What was that like?"

"I don't know how to answer that question because I didn't know any other way of living until very recently. Can you show me how to use this thing?"

Ishmael spent the next hour and a half learning how to use a cell phone and talking about his upbringing in the Amish community. John was shocked when the truth of why Ezekiel was banished from the community came out. He consoled Ishmael and told him that he didn't deserve any of what had happened to him. Ishmael didn't know how to react to the sympathy of another person on what he considered a normal upbringing, but he appreciated the sentiment. He left the bar to get a cell phone and begin his search earnestly for Ezekiel.

Ishmael spent the next six months scouring the internet for any sign of Ezekiel but came up empty. He consulted John often, and eventually, the two fell in love. Soon Ishmael began to forget Ezekiel because he was so happy with his new boyfriend. But nothing could completely erase the memories of Ezekiel and the good times they had had as teenagers. One day a letter arrived at Ishmael's house, saying that his mother was dying and that if he wanted to see her alive again, he should return to the community as soon as possible.

John begged Ishmael not to go, but he felt he had no choice. Ishmael packed some luggage and headed out in his car. When he arrived, his father greeted and took him to see his mother. She was frail but regained some strength when she saw her son. Ishmael's mother told his father to leave, and when they were alone, his mother began to weep with grief at how Ishmael had been treated in those two years. She told him that she was sorry for her part and that despite his father's objections, she had saved all the letters Ezekiel had sent him over the years.

Ishmael got angry at his mother for not sharing the letters sooner. Ezekiel had gone into the city to wait for Ishmael and met a farmer boy there. He began dating the farmer and moved onto his farm outside the city. Later letters revealed that after Ishmael hadn't found him, Ezekiel had married the farmer boy and was living happily a few miles away from where Ishmael lived. Ishmael thought about all he'd been through to get here and how he was bitter at his parents. He left the following day and drove to Ezekiel's farm but stopped at the end of the driveway and turned around.

After all these years, could they even make it work? Could they drop everything they had built for themselves and start rebuilding what had been destroyed by their parents? Ishmael was too scared to know the answer, so he turned around and drove back to his house and John and the stability of what he knew. But he never stopped thinking about Ezekiel and what could have been. Ishmael never really got over Ezekiel, though; to this day, he pined for the rafters of his dad's barn and wished that stupid bull hadn't been so nosey.