Part 38
If I say so? thought Adam. I’m not going to respond to that remark. It sounds too much like the other cryptic mysteries that have been surrounding me like wild beasts for the pest few days. I’m up against the present and the past as if in front of a blast furnace and all these guys can do is talk in riddles.
He stood with the glass of wine in his hand staring at nothing. Images were tumbling over in his mind: a crazy archbishop, a wounded dog which was now running around sniffing everything, a fortune hiding in his closet, standing in a river he strangely remember standing in before, bloody boots but no wound, holding a lamb in his arms as if he’d done that before, fish nets…. Wait. Fish nets. Where did that come from. Adam never had anything to do with fish nets and yet he remembered them.
His thoughts were interrupted by Semyon saying “I’ll get some soap and water.” He walked off. Adam heard the voice of children somewhere. Adam liked kids but he seldom saw any. He thought about the fact that he never married and had any of his own. Maybe he would one day.
Richard Tepler came up to him with a bowl of soapy water and a towel. He sat on the ground in from of Adam and said “Put your foot in here” motioning to the bowl. “Why no shoes?”
“I was standing in the river.”
:Oh“ he started to wash Adam’s foot. “Did the dove come by?”
“There was a bird that flew by. I don’t know if it was a dove.”
“Probably. If so there will be another one. They travel in pairs.” He dried off Adam’s foot with the towel and said “Other foot.”
While Dick was washing Adam’s other foot he said “It was very difficult, you know. I mean when we first went out. No one would listen to us or believe us. We wanted to talk to them, but they just wanted tricks.”
“Tricks?”
“Tricks. So Jack made the rains come. Just like you did.”
“I did?”
“Remember? On the mountain with that Gerry person, when the rain poured down and splattered the dusty ground, when the long fingers of water flowed into the furrows and revived the dying crops and when the troughs overflowed as the wretched suffering livestock drank at last.
Those words rang in Adam’s mind. Where did he hear them before?
(To be continued.)
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Savior
Part 37
Adam looked into the glass then at the men milling around each with a glass of the wine. He carefully took a small sip. It was good. He drank more of it. Sy was removing some bread and other things from the baskets. They were getting ready for a picnic.
Adam heard the sound of hoof beats in the distance. He looked over at the forest edge and saw three more horses and riders trotting along after the first horse.
Just then Sammy came up to him and asked “Did you enjoy Califano’s sermon?”
“No” answered Adam, “it was full of death and destruction, fire and brimstone. I think he’s an old fool.”
“You’re right, he is. After you left I became a disciple of his for a while.” Semyon unbuttoned his shirt and opened it to show a chest full of scars. “See. I wore the barbed wire for a time. I believed him about the pain. I tried to be conscious of the agony as a cleansing of my soul. I adhered to the torture. I tried to embrace the pain, to love it. But one day I saw the light. I remembered something you had said about long robes and long prayers. I saw Califano for what he was, a hypocrite, power hungry and mad. He is so dedicated to his asceticism that he has not a single finger in reality.”
“The why, how does he have a congregation?” asked Adam.
“He doesn’t” said Sammy. “He is the archbishop of the diocese and they will never remove him, he has too much power, but the people only put up with him. After he left the church this morning they returned the floors and the pews, covered the dirt and replaced the alter and the regular items of worship.”
“That’s hard to believe” said Adam. “But them everything I’ve been through lately is unbelievable”
Sammy simply said “Yes.”
“But what about that sermon? Are any of the things he said possible, are they going to happen or was he just making stuff up?”
“No, he wasn’t making anything up”
“You mean he was telling the truth?”
“Yes.”
“But is today really the end, Armageddon, the Apocalypse, the end of the world?”
“If you say so.”
(To be continued.)
Adam looked into the glass then at the men milling around each with a glass of the wine. He carefully took a small sip. It was good. He drank more of it. Sy was removing some bread and other things from the baskets. They were getting ready for a picnic.
Adam heard the sound of hoof beats in the distance. He looked over at the forest edge and saw three more horses and riders trotting along after the first horse.
Just then Sammy came up to him and asked “Did you enjoy Califano’s sermon?”
“No” answered Adam, “it was full of death and destruction, fire and brimstone. I think he’s an old fool.”
“You’re right, he is. After you left I became a disciple of his for a while.” Semyon unbuttoned his shirt and opened it to show a chest full of scars. “See. I wore the barbed wire for a time. I believed him about the pain. I tried to be conscious of the agony as a cleansing of my soul. I adhered to the torture. I tried to embrace the pain, to love it. But one day I saw the light. I remembered something you had said about long robes and long prayers. I saw Califano for what he was, a hypocrite, power hungry and mad. He is so dedicated to his asceticism that he has not a single finger in reality.”
“The why, how does he have a congregation?” asked Adam.
“He doesn’t” said Sammy. “He is the archbishop of the diocese and they will never remove him, he has too much power, but the people only put up with him. After he left the church this morning they returned the floors and the pews, covered the dirt and replaced the alter and the regular items of worship.”
“That’s hard to believe” said Adam. “But them everything I’ve been through lately is unbelievable”
Sammy simply said “Yes.”
“But what about that sermon? Are any of the things he said possible, are they going to happen or was he just making stuff up?”
“No, he wasn’t making anything up”
“You mean he was telling the truth?”
“Yes.”
“But is today really the end, Armageddon, the Apocalypse, the end of the world?”
“If you say so.”
(To be continued.)
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Savior
Part 36
Adam watched the bird fly off beyond the trees. He stepped out of the river, retrieved his shoes and socks and started back to where the others were. On the way he saw something move on the ground in front of him. He stopped, looked down and observed a green and yellow snake oozing it’s way across the way. It stopped moving when Adam did. Adam had the urge to pick it up. He did. The snake draped it’s tail gently over Adam’s wrist and turned its head to look at him. They stared at each other for a moment . Then Adam carefully placed it back on the ground and it slid off into the bushes.
Adam stood still and watched it disappear. He thought he had never held a snake before but it seemed quite natural to pick it up. So many unnatural things were becoming natural, or at least, not unusual to him now.
He walked back up to where the men were gathered around in groups talking. There were baskets of food on the table, a few bottles of wine were open and sitting beside the baskets. Ben approached him smiling with a full glass of wine. He handed it to him and said “Here Adam, here’s your poison. Drink up.”
(To be continued.)
Adam watched the bird fly off beyond the trees. He stepped out of the river, retrieved his shoes and socks and started back to where the others were. On the way he saw something move on the ground in front of him. He stopped, looked down and observed a green and yellow snake oozing it’s way across the way. It stopped moving when Adam did. Adam had the urge to pick it up. He did. The snake draped it’s tail gently over Adam’s wrist and turned its head to look at him. They stared at each other for a moment . Then Adam carefully placed it back on the ground and it slid off into the bushes.
Adam stood still and watched it disappear. He thought he had never held a snake before but it seemed quite natural to pick it up. So many unnatural things were becoming natural, or at least, not unusual to him now.
He walked back up to where the men were gathered around in groups talking. There were baskets of food on the table, a few bottles of wine were open and sitting beside the baskets. Ben approached him smiling with a full glass of wine. He handed it to him and said “Here Adam, here’s your poison. Drink up.”
(To be continued.)
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