Give Peace A Chance-An Excerpt from Gathering Storms-MNIDC Book 2

July 7, 20..

On The Seventh Day

Give Peace a Chance

 

 

 

I was staring at the Kodak sign immediately above the Marriott Marquis like I had many times before on my trips to NYC. This time was different though, not just because I was standing next to God, but because I was standing in the future. I didn’t know how far in the future; because although I could see the day and time clearly on numerous signs I could not make out the year. God had used some kind of trick so everything read 20…and in every sign I could sort of make out the images but none of the words. I spun around the Square over and over again. It was overflowing with people. I could tell one of the signs was for “Mamma Mia”, another one was for the Knicks, and of course red “TKTS” sign was there in the middle of it all.  I could make out the colors of the TGI Friday’s sign, the big “W” above the W hotel and the bright yellow of the Golden Arches. There was a UFC something or other sign but being that I am not an MMA fan and suck at Roman numerals I had no idea what all the X’s, V’s, and I’s added up to. Finally, my eyes rested on the towering American Eagle Outfitters sign next to the red, white, and blue one emblazoned with Bank of America and I thought for a moment when I saw the 2 and 0 that I’d be able to see the year but again God only showed what he wanted me to see.

The only reason I knew for sure that it was the future was the ticker running along the bottom of the Kodak sign. I had to look at it twice because I didn’t believe my eyes. The sign looked like one of those workman’s comp signs you’d see in a shop detailing when the last accident had happened. It read “The world has been at peace for five years, seven months, three days, and thirty-two seconds.”

“We’re in the future.”

“Yes David, we are.”

“Can’t we mess things up by being in the future?

“That’s being in the past where you can screw things up and it’s not like we came here in a DeLorean that someone can steal so no we’re fine. You relate everything to movies don’t you?”

“I do. So, I don’t imagine you’re going to tell me when we are even though I know where we are?”

“When we are isn’t as important as how the world gets here; to this point in time.”

“Okay, so how did the world get…”I started to say, and then I realized who I was talking to and finished with “you’re not going to tell me are you?”

“It would be impossible to tell you the billions upon billions of decisions that will be made by the people on this planet that will bring the world to this point but the reason I brought you here is to show that it can happen.”

“It can happen or it will happen?” I replied.

“That I can’t tell you because Doc Brown was right about one thing if I tell you too much it will affect the future,” God said with a smile.

“Okay…but if we’re standing here that is possible,” I said pointing to the ticker.

“It is but it isn’t going to be easy and this isn’t the only possible future for mankind,” God replied as he motioned me to move towards the TKTS booth.

It looked nothing like the one I remembered from my many visits to the city. The temporary booth had been replaced with an enormous bank of numbered windows covered by a roof made up of a shiny red staircase with twenty-seven steps running up to the top.

I followed God past the red steps and around to the front of the booth. It was closed but there was one light on in window number three. I walked slowly up to it and pressed the intercom button. A panel slid up and a small screen appeared. God wasn’t going to show me how the world came together but he did show me how it could fall apart.

Images began to flash across the screen.

People in London looting and burning down buildings.

A flash mob poring over the shelves of a convenience store like scarab beetles over a corpse.

Thousands of children sitting in a desert starving.

A tsunami wave destroying a village.

A mushroom cloud rising up over a jungle.

The city of Los Angeles being shaken to rubble by an earthquake.

The Eiffel Tower falling.

The Great Pyramids tumbling to the ground in a cloud of smoke.

Hundreds of people leaping off the top of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I turned to God to ask him a question but he just pointed towards the stairs.

I slowly made my way up the twenty-seven stairs not sure if I really wanted to see what I would find at the top. I reached the top and looked around. For a moment I took in the beautiful vista of a world that had finally figured out how to stop killing each other. I reached my hand out and felt the wall of water. I knew what I was to do next and stepped off the end of the stairs into thin air. When my foot landed I was standing on the top stair again but my view was much different.

It was still night-time as it was in the other reality but there were no bright lights in the Big Apple now; there were only what appeared to be flashlights in some of the windows. They were all illuminating handwritten signs. It was eerily silent.

I read them from right to left.

“THE END OF OUR LIVES”

“YES”

“SLEEP WITH ME”

“FEED ME”

“WHERE IS GOD?”

“LOVE”

“DEATH”

“WHY?”

“THE PALE HORSE COMETH”

“CHRIST WILL COME AGAIN”

“ALLAH HAS JUDGED US”

“THE END OF DAYS”

As I read the last sign “HELL IS EARTH” I heard what I could only describe as the howling of tortured souls. I looked all around the Square but I couldn’t see anyone. The throngs of people I had seen moments earlier in the other reality were nowhere to be seen.

I whipped my head around again but saw nothing. Then…just as I was coming around to face forward again I saw it. There was the tiniest tear in space. I could see what seemed like thousands upon thousands of red eyes. They all locked on to me at once and the howling became so loud I had to hold my hands over my ears to try and block it out.

I felt God’s hand on my shoulder.

“What are they?”

“They’re howler demons.”

“Why are they trapped in there?”

“They’re stuck between the real world and the world they come from beyond the light. You call it hell.”

“Is that why they’re making that howling sound?”

“No, that’s just their voice. In hell they howl to let each other know where they are in the darkness.”

“How did they get stuck?”

“In this reality the wall between the world you live in and theirs broke down for a brief time so they tried to come through. When they did the wall went back up again and they were trapped in between.”

“Don’t demons travel back and forth by blinking in and out?”

“Some can travel that way but others were waiting for the wall to come down to make their move.”

“Why did they want to cross over to this reality?”

“They don’t care if the world is destroyed. They just want bodies to inhabit.”

“For what? There can’t be much for them to do here.”

“There are still plenty of souls here for them to torment; in fact that’s why you don’t see anyone outside. They’re all holed up inside their houses because anyone that wanders outside is bound to be possessed.”

At that moment I saw two shadows move across my line of sight.

“Those are hunters,” God said before I could ask the question. “They’re on the prowl for anyone that made the mistake of venturing out.”

“Why would anyone dare to venture out?”

“Not everyone knows about them. Groups of people live far apart. There’s no TV, no newspaper, no phones, no post office.  People usually learn things based on their own experiences. Because they rarely bump into other people, if they were lucky enough to make it out at night and not get attacked, they may go out again.”

“What reason would anyone have to go out? It doesn’t look like there are any stores or restaurants for anyone to go to.”

“There are some businesses, you just can’t see them in the dark but that’s not why people go out.”

“Why do they go out then?”

“They venture out, because as dangerous as it is in the dark it’s more dangerous to travel in the light. The sun only comes out for four hours a day and it’s so hot here that it melts human flesh no matter what clothing a person wears. So, even if people do know about the hunters they eventually have to travel out to get food.”

“What do people eat here? They must not be able to grow food with so little sunlight.”

“There’s no natural way to grow things but some people have figured out how to grow food under artificial light; not many, but some. There are also a few who grow food and give it away for free. Some people sell food and deliver it but it’s very expensive. Most can’t afford it.”

“How do people buy food?”

“There is no more money, no real industry, but people trade things for food; their possessions, drugs, sex.”

“What about disabled people, the elderly, shut-ins? Do their friends help them?”

“There aren’t any more. They were all killed in the war.”

“Are there any children?”

“There are some but only those that have been born since the end of the war. The rest were taken during the war.”

“Taken?”

“It’s better if you don’t know right now. You just need to ensure this reality doesn’t happen.”

My mind started racing, thinking why the hell don’t you ensure this reality doesn’t happen? You created the world, for Christ sakes. Part of me wanted him to say something as I knew he could read my thoughts but he just waited. Finally, my mind focused in on the howling again which seemed to have grown louder. I turned back to look at the multitude of red eyes.

“Are they all looking at me?” I asked.

“Yes, they are hoping you can free them.”

“Shouldn’t they be hoping you’ll do that?”

“I’m not their savior,” God replied.

“Well I’m not either…am I?”

“You could be.”

“How?”

“If you and the other guardians are successful in doing what I have asked from you then the light of the world you just saw will merge with the darkness of this one and all those red eyes you see will return to being the pure souls they were before they turned away from me.”

I wanted to ask him why it was up to us. It didn’t make me angry, it just made me confused. Why God would leave the saving of the world up to me and a handful of other men and women made no sense to me.

God placed his hand on my shoulder again and said “I need to go.”

“When will I see you again?” I asked.

“That’s up to you and the other guardians,” God replied.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that’s up to you and the other guardians,” God said once more as he disappeared in a flash of light.

There I stood, all alone, looking at an Earth I didn’t want to see, riddled with unanswered questions. I’d wanted to ask God why the being that created the entire universe couldn’t just snap their fingers and make things better but I knew he wouldn’t answer.

Whether I understood it or not, whether I was ready for it or not, it was time to save the world.