The Fleecing

ROB (11) cringes when he overhears his father, DAN (40), screaming at his younger brother, SAM (5), who is not feeling well. DAN (40), an abusive father, insists that Sam is just trying to worm his way out of going to church. Their mother, MARY (30), tries to buffer the tension and by convincing Sam that he will be fine. In church, PREACHER LIONEL (30s) reads the passage where Gideon requires God to prove his existence by placing wool fleece in an open field. Rob is intrigued by the reading, which is interrupted when Sam gets ill, which causes their father to feel embarrassed and livid. At home, that night, Dan beats Sam in the bathroom until Mary breaks it up and puts herself in harm’s way. Rob steals wool from his mother’s basket and places it in the middle of the field, asking God to answer his prayers the same way he did Gideon’s in the Bible. At their next church attendance, Dan suddenly passes away, and Rob is left wondering if this is the answer to his prayers.