Where Things Come Back Chapter 2 Summary

Mysterious Kids with Shovels

  • Let's switch gears—we're now on a tale about a missionary named Benton Sage going all the way to Ethiopia to convert the heathens, or whatever.
  • Benton, who's only eighteen and is on his first mission, is having a really hard go of it, even after he meets a friend named Rameel; it seems the people he's trying to convert are more into getting food, water, and medical attention than accepting Jesus into their hearts.
  • Benton has a sign from God: He sees a boy standing in the rain and knows that he's the angel Gabriel. Then a bird lands on the boy's shoulder. What could be more clear?
  • The next morning, he wakes up to see a bunch of kids carrying shovels and walking along the dirt road. When he asks Rameel about it, he's told that they're going to dig more graves.
  • Well, that's grim.