Characters:
Bob
The Body

(Bob is seated in a bedroom. From behind the bed, stick a pair of legs. The pants and shoes match those of Bob.)

Bob: Hi, my name’s Bob. Thanks for coming over, sorry about the smell,but I’ll get to that in a minute. Wow, I haven’t had anyone over for months, not
since the weather turned warm anyway!

It all started last January, when I got saved. I’d never been to church before, but I wasn’t that bad of a person. I did a little drinking, just socially; no drugs or anything like that. Heck, I didn’t even speed.

I was a pretty decent guy; I just didn’t know God.

What’s that?

Oh, sorry. Just a sec…

(Bob goes to dresser and takes a can of Lysol. He sprays it over the body, and then a little on himself, then returns to his seat.)

Bob: The Lysol helps a little. I’d open the windows, but the neighbors complain. You know how it is! Anyway, where was I..? Oh yeah. Anyway, my brother got saved. He came over one night talking about how great it was and how God changed his whole life. My life wasn’t so great right then, so I thought I’d give this church a try and see what happened. I was really surprised. The people we so nice, and I really felt the presence of God for the first time. It was great! I knew right then I wanted to be a Christian.

(Phone rings.)

Bob: Just a minute…Yes?

Oh…Hi, Wendy! Yeah, I’ve missed you, too. What’s that? Um…no, this really isn’t a good time. No, the house is kind of a…mess…Huh? Well no, I’m really not feeling very well…Ummm, yeah; and I’ve got a lot of homework to catch up on, too… Yeah, maybe another time. This Sunday? Well, yeah; I’ll try to be there if…I’m feeling better. Yeah, I miss you, too…Bye.

Bob: That was Wendy. I met her at church. She’s really nice.

Anyway, everything was great for the first few weeks. Everyone was so supportive. Even reading my Bible was exciting.

Then one day the pastor spoke about letting your old self die, about burying the person you were and becoming a new man in Christ. I thought this was a really great idea, so I prayed the Lord would let my old man die and make me new. Boy, I didn’t know what I was asking!

I came home and found this! I thought that when the my old self died, the Lord would take care of the body! But no, it was just lying here in jeans and my favorite jacket! Well, I would have buried it right then, but with work and school, plus the ministries I had joined at church, I was really busy. I just didn’t have time to deal with it, digging a hole and dragging it outside. I figured I’d get around to it as soon as I had time.

Besides it didn’t take up that much room, and as long as the weather stayed cool, everything was fine…Well, I did have to move the Monday night Bible
study out of my room. I mean, it would be a little embarrassing to have my new Christian friends walk in and see this!

(Sound of fly buzzing. Bob picks up a flyswatter and without even looking swats the fly. Buzzing stops.)

Bob: Yeah, after a couple of months of practice, you get pretty good at that. Well, things kinds went downhill from there. I could ignore it for a while, but it was taking up a lot of my closet space. I don’t know what it was. Maybe we had just been together for so long I thought I’d miss having him around. I mean, we went through a lot together, after all. Finally, I decided to just do it, to bury my old self in the back yard once and for all!

But then I tried to lift it — talk about dead weight (pause). Sorry, no pun intended! I couldn’t even lift it, much less carry it out back. I guess I should have started that diet BEFORE I got saved!

At first, I considered calling a couple of my new friends, but I was afraid of what they would think if they knew I had this body decomposing in my closet. After all, everyone looked up to me and all. Shoot, I’d even been mentioned in a sermon or two. I couldn’t let people know I hadn’t gotten around to burying my old self yet.

Pretty soon, I had to cancel the Bible study. The weather had warmed, and well…I’ll save you the details, but needless to say there was a distinct aroma about the house. I closed all the windows and shades so people couldn’t see in. Sure I missed the sunlight, but I had a reputation to uphold. It wasn’t that big of a deal; we just moved the Bible study somewhere else.

It was a shame. I used to have people over here all the time, reading the Bible or praying, or just talking. Oh well!

Anyway, one night, I was sitting here, wondering what I could do about my old self, and I realized it really was wearing my favorite jacket. I knew I probably shouldn’t touch it, but I really liked that jacket. Well, I got it off and cleaned it up, but the next day I noticed people at school looking at me funny, and nobody wanted to sit next to me at lunch. Then I realized I was so used to the smell, I didn’t even notice it was on me now, too!

Well, I tried everything: new clothes, showers; I practically bathed in cologne, but nothing helped! It was so embarrassing, some of my Christian friends tried to be polite and casual about it. Before I knew it, I was lying about what was causing that smell.

Now I really couldn’t ask for their help, ’cause then they’d find out I’d been lying to them, too. I started missing church, and even school and work ’cause I was afraid someone might notice the smell while I was gone and bust in here and find my old self. Worst of all, the smell keeps me awake. I can’t sleep at  night, and I can’t concentrate during the day.

It started out as no big deal, and now I can’t think of anything else. It completely controls my life. I just don’t know what I’m going to do…

(Pause.)

Bob: What’s that? Oh, yeah…I understand. It’s pretty bad, but thanks for stopping by. You’re the only person I can trust to tell this to. Yeah…bye…come back soon…

(Lights fade.)

[[[The End]]]

Perry Perkins is a Christian novelist, blogger, and award-winning travel writer, who also is a stay-at-home dad living in the Pacific Northwest with his wife Victoria and their daughter Grace. He has written for numerous Christian magazines and anthologies, such as Echoes of White, Children’s Writer Magazine, New Man Magazine, REV Magazine, New Christian Voices, Marriage Partnership Magazine, Metro Parent, Seek Magazine, Drama Ministry, Contemporary Drama Service, National Drama Service, Encore Performance Publishing, Word Drama, Foursquare Advance Magazine and Bible Advocate. His inspirational stories have been included in 11 Chicken Soup anthologies, as well.