Apple Novel

By Refried Bean

Apple Novel is the fourth book in the Imaginary mice series, originally meant to be the third book of a trilogy. It is a book about a presbyterian mice church in a food pantry and a river attacked by snakes. Mice children have to hide in bushels of apples after being scared of the story from Genesis. This book contains excerpts from the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Refried Bean
• Release date: Sep 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005814397

Refried Bean

Refried Bean is from Greenville, SC. Refried worked in a bookstore for twelve years and has an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Refried now lives in the Bronx near a Stop and Shop.

Book preview

Introduction

Well everyone, I hope you are having a good day, and I hope you like this novel. It was what I had in mind to be the third novel in the Imaginary Mice series, but I wrote Pizza Novel during the Covid pandemic because I thought I might die. That book is more like a journal with fiction mixed in, so I knew I needed to eventually write this book about snakes and apples. So I am so excited to have just finished writing it. And today is the last day of Rosh Hashana, which is a Jewish holiday that has to do with honey and apples. I had about a third of the book written, up until this past weekend, and I carried a burden to finish it for many months until I finally sat down and started writing again. So it is like a Rosh Hashanah miracle, and perfect for a story that takes place in the fall, and includes apples, caramel, and real life Hallow's Eve with snakes.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and it is a more Christian holiday than many people realize. It is supposed to be a celebration of defeating evil, and a mockery and lightness of scary things. That is what a lot of horror movies actually do. It is a way for people to have fun scaring themselves. If people choose to mix real evil with the spookiness, then I suspect they will pay for it like normal.

My word count fell a little bit short with this book, but I was excited to have room to include an excerpt from the Westminster Shorter Catechism, which is a foundational document of the Presbyterian Church, and quite a resource that should not be taken for granted.

I have recently been thinking about my life experience as it relates to things listed in the catechism, and I have to say that sometimes I wonder if the word glory, is cheapened so often, even by good intentions, that it is better to occasionally think of the chief end of man as being something more specific, and could have something to do more with whatever actually happens. Like what is the chief end of man? Well whatever I am doing that is right or made right later by God is the chief end of man. The chief end of man is to go to the grocery store or not go to the grocery store. Or to write a book or not write a book. In other words, the chief end of man is the chief end of man. I am sure some strict people would not be happy to hear those ideas from me, but I do think that at some point, people's faith is destined to become part of reality for them, and they are better off chewing on whatever chicken is before them. Do you guys know what I mean? I know what I mean. It has to do with things being what they are whether they are labeled or not.

I also think that emphasizing God's total planning power instead of total improv control creates a bias towards type A people. It makes it sound like God already knows what is going to happen, but what if in some way he knows he won’t drop anyone no matter what happens? People have to live like that every day, and yet we won’t say God does, and it often translates into problems like insurance and not being able to logically sit on a bench.

Another possible oversight in the list of fundamentals for presbyterians and similar believers could be the line that says the Bible is the only known rule for discerning God's will and decree. And while I of course know by now that it is truly the most special of revelations, trustworthy in ways that no other text ever will be, I think we can see that God communicates through his whole creation and even referenced that himself in the Bible when he says things like Consider the ant.. or look at the birds of the air. That is quite some direct permission to perceive some truth at least from nature, of which humans are also a part themselves. So even the most secular trends of social strife might also have some sacred clues within. This kind of talk might make people scared, but that fear could be a good sign that we want to get it right. We care what God thinks, and fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom. I suspect the love of God must be the end of the beginning, then.

Anyway, I like how my book turned out. It has some sections that I think get a little boring, but I am thankful to be boring sometimes, because I truly do have some very severe mental illness to manage, and it is a sign of good health to be boring in some ways. I am still a sinner and a saint, just like every person trusting in God and still living in this world, but I have had a lot of help with my religion problems by now and am sharing something reliable in these chapters. I wake up sometimes and it takes me a second to know where I am. But I had enough sanity to finally deliver on this task that had been delayed, and I am so thankful to be able to finish the actual intended trilogy of mice books so far.

Like times before, I took quite some liberties with using people's likenesses and even names without permission, but I am glad to express my gratitude for real people who have helped me stay alive and feel a sense of community. In a way, what they have done for me is even more dramatic that what is imagined in this odd and funny book.

One other thing to mention is that at the time of writing this novel, I still don't know who my person is. I am talking about like a spouse type person. People have been tricking me, sometimes helping me, managing my social work case, keeping me safe from legal sharks and loneliness, and I just don't know what is true. I won't get into the details, but I will remind everyone that life is hard, and sometimes it is nice to have an innocent valentine until more official family life is possible.

Thanks everyone who has been nice to me in any community. I don't always come through for people like they have for me, but God will, and has before since the beginning and end of time.

1

We pray thee thank you, said Pastor Nicey, a presbyterian mouse minister sitting at dinner with his mice family in the corner of an old train station near some woods.

We pray thee thank you, said Herbert, his oldest son, bowing his head.

We pray thee thank you, said Herbert’s younger brother named Cooper, who then looked to see that his family all had their eyes closed and then took a bite of cheese from his plate of cheese and bread.

Cooper, I have not said thank ye yet, said Mommy mouse, looking over with a pause and a questioning but knowing look.

I apologize.

We pray thee thank you, said Mommy mouse, praying and then looking up to see if Pastor Nicey was going to say something to Cooper.

Cooper, if you want to pray a prayer inside your mind and sneak a bit of bite bit then who’s to say the Lord doesn’t mind? said Pastor Nicey.

Thank ye father, said Cooper. It was like my own secret supper.

Indeed but we gather for a reason, do we not?

Yes father, but I skipped lunch today.

And why is that? said Pastor Nicey.

To see the bird landing. Some mice traveled on the birds to get here from New York. There is going to be a new people food place at the train station, and their mice support arrived today.

Well, yes, we have been preparing to welcome them for a while. Our church should do something for the birds before they leave.

Pastor Nicey knew that the New York mice would probably consider him and his church to be country mice, but he had always thought of themselves as creek and river mice, living in the old train station along a paved trail that led to the edge of Greenville, a town in South Carolina, close to the mountains but mostly surrounded by woods and old neighborhoods of small houses near the downtown section of renovated stores and churches.

Nicey, let’s empty the storage rations and have a welcome event, said Nicette, the mouse mommy. For birds and mice together. Let’s spend it all and start over as a new community with all of the mice. We have enough grains in the fields and we know that the food pantry plan will bring more food for us all.

That’s a fine idea, Nicette. Do we still have sugar for sugar crumbles? I think the mice children would sure appreciate that.

Father, I ate some of the sugar crumbles that ye had been saving, said Cooper.

I did, too, father, said Herbert.

Nicey sat there quietly, thinking.

I will talk to the council and see if a bird could do an extra round to fetch more for our event. But we need to discuss as a family how much we need the other mice to be able to trust us. I don’t mean to add an extra burden to ye, but I dare say the other church mice would probably like their share of crumbles too.

Father, we shared with the other mice, said Herbert. We served the grape juice too and the mice children said they would count it as their first communion.

Nicey was surprised and a little bit concerned, but he said. "Sugar crumbles as communion… It is