A couple of months ago, one of our priests, Father Andrew, a young, fairly new priest, announced that he was being transferred. It was very unexpected and in fact, he only had one more week with us.

This is very unusual because the general practice is that the new priests are ordained in May and around the end of that month, hew assignments are announced. Priests, as I understand it, are asked by the bishop every year if they are willing to move. It has been my experience that older priests tend to stay where they are for a good length of time. For instance, when we lived in Illinois and we became Catholic, the priest of that church had been there nine years and was still there when we left five years later. On the other hand, probably half a dozen or so associate pastors came and went in that time.

Father Andrew had only been with us a year when he was asked to take another parish and it wasn’t during the normal assignment rotations.

What he announced set my imagination and that of my husband whirling in our heads.

Father Andrew said that he was being transferred so quickly was that in this small parish in a little town I never heard of one of the priests took a leave of absence and the other had a nervous breakdown.

Well, as a fantasy author, and the writer of a Catholic vampire short story that has yet to find a home, I have to wonder.

What’s going on in that parish and why are we sending beloved Father Andrew into it? What will happen to him??

I have a theory. It might be bunnies!