Here is the first half of Chapter Four, part 4. The second half will appear sometime tomorrow. Try to remember that this is a book of fiction, therefore some biblical references may challenge your own beliefs. Thanks for your never-ending patience. :) Chapter Four Revelations 4. It was a strange sight to be sure. A nine-year-old boy greeting them at the door while his father sat at the kitchen table sipping hot cocoa. “When had the animals taken control of the zoo?” Sheriff Tucker wondered in his head. Bobby winked at Tucker, almost as if he could hear what the man was thinking, and that was almost enough to send the Sheriff back pedaling to his truck screaming like a madman, “It’s only a dream, it’s only a dream!!!” But it wasn’t, and as Bobby led both men into the kitchen to join his father at the table, it was apparent to the Sheriff and the Reverend that someone was glaringly missing. All three men looked at each other in silence with a certain amount of uneasiness when the silence was finally broken by Tucker. “Where’s Lisa?” “He took her,” said Bobby’s father. “Took her where?” “I don’t know. I came into the bedroom and saw what I thought was her standing by the window in her robe. Only it wasn’t her, but that thing, or man, or whatever the hell you want to call it!” Stephen was starting to get upset again, with tears welling up in his eyes he turned to his son who had just placed his hand on the man’s shoulder. There was another uncomfortable moment of silence until finally Bobby spoke. “Reverend, tell me what you know about the book of Revelations.” “Well,” he started, a little confused that a young boy was asking him about a book in the Bible. “It’s believed that the book of Revelations was written by John the Apostle, at least by early theologians. But as the book has been studied more closely it is more likely that it was written by John of Patmos. Now John of Patmos, John the Apostle and John the Evangelist are more than likely three separate individuals. John of Patmos was a devout Jew and some say mystic who was exiled to the island of Patmos, which would be in today’s world, off the coast of Greece. Depending upon your outlook, Revelations is either a preview of how the world will someday end, the way the world is currently unfolding, or quite simply a history of the way the author’s own life ended.” Reverend Mike stopped, then turned to Bobby, “Would it be possible for me to have a glass of water? I’m pretty parched.” “Oh I’m sorry, sure. Would you like something too Sheriff?” “No thanks. I’m good, but I would like to know what any of this has to do with everything that’s gone on in the past two days.” “Patience Sheriff, patience,” replied Bobby as he placed a glass of water in front of the Reverend. “Thanks Bobby.” Reverend Mike took a big gulp from the glass, let out a sigh of satisfaction then placed the glass on the table and turned back to Bobby. “How deep do you want me to go with this?” Bobby grinned then looking at the Sheriff said, “If you wouldn’t mind simplifying it Reverend, I don’t want Sheriff Tucker to get too bored.” He smiled at the Sheriff, then turned back to the Reverend, “Please continue.” “Well, in a nutshell, and as simple as I can possibly explain it, some interpret it to be a history of the fall of Rome, some believe it to be a forecast of the apocalyptic future while others believe it is a symbol of the never ending battle between good and evil. With the evil comes the verse from Revelations that states, Here is wisdom, Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. In other words six, six, six is meant to be the number of Satan or the antichrist, who shall one day come to war with God over the fate of mankind.” He stopped, then scanned the faces of those sitting around the table with him and finished. “Believe me when I say that the book of Revelations is much more complex than what I have told you, with many, many different interpretations and quite frankly in my opinion it’s all a matter of faith as to what you choose to believe, or not believe.” Reverend Mike took another sip of water and waited, waited for a comment of any kind, but none came and no one moved and no one’s expression had changed. It was impossible to read on their faces what they were thinking until finally Sheriff Tucker spoke up, sounding quite irritated. “Great, now what does any of this have to do with what’s going on here?” “Just the facts maam, just the facts. Isn’t that all you want to hear Sheriff?” Bobby looked straight at Tucker as he said it, then sat down between his father and the Reverend and turned to each of the men as he spoke. “It’s important that you listen to me now and listen carefully, because while what I’m about to tell you may be hard to believe, it is the truth, and unless you believe it the events of the last 24 hours are just a sampling of what’s to take place.” “The book of Revelations is not a true book of the Bible and it was not written by any of the men that Reverend Mike has mentioned. Satan however, has taken parts of that book and instilled it in the minds of those with weak souls in an effort to make it seem real to them, especially the part about the markings of the beast. They in turn, having turned their backs on God made it their purpose to spread those words, thereby making Satan stronger. It is said that if you believe in God, then you must believe in the devil and good versus evil. Good and evil most certainly do exist as all of you have experienced in the last two days. But in that also comes the difference between what is right and what is wrong. I know that each of you have known and done wrong in your lives.” At that, each of the three men sitting at the table raised their heads, looking concerned that some deep dark secret of their lives was about to be exposed. “Wait a minute,” interrupted the Sheriff. “Ever since we met some time ago I been trying to keep a level head about your finding the missing Warren girl. I figured maybe it was a fluke, or you heard or seen something that told you where that girl was, and I let it slide. Then yesterday you get hit by a car, in a freaking October snowstorm and you pretty much walk away without even a scratch. This morning your mother gets taken, taken where we don’t know, or how, and you been as calm as a cucumber the whole time we been here. Before the Reverend and I come here we found the County Coroner dead, bent up like a pretzel in the front seat of a blue and green station wagon, the same station wagon that I’m betting was the one that run you over yesterday morning. Now, instead of giving us a history lesson about a some book in the Bible, that I really couldn’t give a rat’s behind about, how about telling us who you are, and how you fit into all of this, cause kid, I don’t care how young or old you are, you’re neck deep in this crap with the rest of us!” The expression on Bobby’s face never changed as he waited for the Sheriff to finish his rant, and then began to speak……..
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 19:37:48 +0000
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