A long prologue for a short story

Prologue

     Imagine with me, for a moment, a sixth-grade girl.  Give her straight brown hair, a serious face, and height somewhat taller than you'd normally associate with someone her age.  I'll tell you from experience that her face is not always pensive, but it should be right now.  Why?  Because she's a Bible quizzer, and she's studying the book of Acts.  Contrary to the beliefs of some of her teammates, she does actually put effort into this.
     Okay, do you see her?  Good.  Now, let's peek over her shoulder at the little book she's reading.  It looks like she's working on Acts 5.
     There's a certain passage she's puzzling over.  She furrows her eyebrows.
     Let's look at it with her.

"When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.  But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while.  Then he addressed them:  'Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.  Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him.  He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.  After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt.  He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.  Therefore, in the present case I advise you:  Leave these me alone!  Let them go!  For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."

~Acts 5:33-39

     She likes the speech.  It is logical, organized, and her side of the argument wins.  Unconsciously, she wishes her life was like that.

     The problem isn't the speech.

     No, despite what her actions often imply, she does think about this stuff once in a while.  She's puzzling over verse 34:

   

"But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while."

~Acts 5:34

     "That's funny." she thinks.  "Luke definitely wasn't a part of the Sanhedrin, and they just sent the Christians out of the room.  So how does he know what Gamaliel said?"

     All right, now fast forward in time.  The sixth-grade girl looks like the one on the sidebar.  She's sitting in church, and the pastor is reading from Acts.  Her facial expression is serious, but she's smiling inside.  As someone who loves re-reading books, she's finding this to her liking.  In fact, since she spent so much time with it in sixth grade, it feels much like meeting up with an old friend.

     The pastor comes to the passage discussed above, and somehow she reaches back and answers a question she'd forgotten she'd even asked.

     Her head starts buzzing with ideas for a story. 

     On Thursday, she's gonna share it with you.