Christian - Thriller - Suspense

Jamaican sunrise on mountaintop

Author: AIZ12bjlz

The Prodigal Daughter, Part 1

Relief of the Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus,  1264–88, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access
Relief of the Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus, 1264–88, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access

I’d like to share my personal story from being an unsaved Christian child to a saved Christian woman.

This is part one of a four-part story.

Sunday Service

As a kid, I didn’t like going to church, but I went with my family. I passed the time by reading books, only feeling good when sunshine poured through the stained-glass windows. I felt even better when I checked my watch and realised that the service would be over soon.

Year after year, I went to church each Sunday and sat through the service with so many doubts. Quietly I questioned what I heard, shooting down evidence of God in my mind. I didn’t seek answers, so I didn’t realise that I was drifting away from Christianity, but I think my parents noticed. It’s probably why they asked if I really wanted to be confirmed. Of course I did! I didn’t know why they even asked.

Walking Away From God

After being confirmed, I kept spiralling down the wrong path.

I can’t remember why, it was possibly due to being sick, but I stayed home one Sunday. It was fun sleeping in for a change. I didn’t have to put on my fancy church clothes and shoes. I got to chill out by the TV. Unfortunately, over time the whole family started to stay home.

At age 16, I admitted to being an atheist on Facebook. It was nerve-racking to admit it. Nowadays, people don’t bat an eyelid when someone comes out as an atheist, but back then it was different.

Once, someone came knocking at the door to preach the gospel. I said I was an atheist. The man said, “You’re brave to believe in nothing” and hurried off. I was slightly offended by his comment. “Of course I believe in something!” I said to myself.

A few years later, I switched from atheist to agnostic-atheist, and then agnostic. Now I didn’t know or care if there was a God. As far as I was concerned, His existence made no difference to my life.

My conversion story will continue in part two.

Silent Screams, a Poem

Jamaican sunrise on mountaintop
Jamaican Sunrise, Zahra Brown (1989-), a blue tint applied

Silent Screams

Searching for the light

He fell into darkness

His screams were not heard

– Zahra Brown


The Story Behind Silent Screams

I wrote Silent Screams when I was around 13 years old, and I still love this poem over twenty years later.

On Friday, our English teacher said we were entering a children’s poetry competition for students. Most of the class, including me, didn’t want to do it, but we had no choice. We were given one weekend to write a poem for submission.

The next day, I wrote Silent Screams. It was a Haiku, a Japanese-style poem. Haikus are usually based on a certain number of syllables per line, so it was hard trying to meet such a narrow criteria, but it turned out pretty well!

Being published in a poetry anthology for kids was the competition’s prize, so submissions came from many schools. My poem was chosen! It was my first time being published since I started writing. Ordering copies of the book and seeing my poem was so exciting! I didn’t see my work in print again for ten years, which is when I started self-publishing.

To learn more about my publishing journey, click here to see how I went from four pen names to two. One of those names is Zuni Blue, a children’s pen name. If you have kids who enjoy mysteries, adventure, action, non-fiction and, starting this year, Christian stories, please check out my children’s books here.

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