In the Belly of the whale

Everything had to be perfect for Brother Jonas. The women were dressed in the most demure of demure attire, their sobre and unpretentious handbags heavy with magazines and bibles, their faces alight with righteous glory. The men were pillars of leadership, taking their holy role as head of the family with utmost gravity. Their benevolence and good-naturedness was exemplary. Backhanded slaps and tight pinches for the ill-behaved child would be given later in the hidden spaces of tall grass, or in the safe corner of some wall. There would hardly be any need for this though as the children, sauf Kahdee, were on their best behaviour, smiling bashfully, their timid stances a mirror to the unassuming and pure nature of their hearts. Their small book bags laden with tracts and bibles was a true testament to the upstanding spiritual education given by parents who had, without doubt, inculcated their offspring with holy teachings and had equipped them to go out and save the world from prophesied doom.