Short Stories

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Then
two men
will be in the field;
one will be taken
and the other
left.
Two women
will be grinding
at the mill;
one will be taken
and the other
left.
[Matthew 24:40-41]
***********************
(Knock! KNOCK!)
(Loud, muffled voice
from other side of
the door.)
"HEY, AL!
AL! YOU IN THERE?"

(Beth whispers,
with alarm in her voice.)
"Who's,
THAT?"

(Alan shrugs,
and shakes his head,
laughing.)
"You're being too
SPOOKY, Beth!
No.......it's just LEVY;
I told him, I'd be
over here, this afternoon.
Hey! CALM DOWN..
will YOU? Calm down!
I'll get up; you just
sit here, OKAY?"

(Beth sighs, with relief.
She was expecting some
POLICEMAN, or something;
for the past 5 days, there
had been a strict curfew,
and even during the day
police, and firemen were
going from house to house,
taking a general census of
whom was left....in each
household.)
"Oh.
That's good.
Listen, Alan? While you're
in the livingroom....could you
get that big pad of paper,
you found,
next to her CLOTHES and SNEAKERS?"

"Yeah.....yeah."
(Snort with laughter!)
"Unless......maybe...
the ALIENS took it."
(Laugh!)

"Don't be FUNNY,
ALAN! This is SERIOUS!"

(Alan gets up from the
cold tiled floor, groaning.
His forty-some-year-old
legs were protesting, and
he was longing for a cold
beer. Maybe, Levy had
thought ahead, and had
brought a six-pack.)
"Yeah; yeah.
I'll get your precious PAD."
(Grunt.)
(Curse!)

"Alan.....it's IMPORTANT!"

(Alan's voice can be heard,
from the outer hallway.)
"YEAH!
YEAH!
WhatEVER!"
(Mumble.)

"And.....GET ME A CIGARETTE!"

(Shout from hallway.)
"You're NOT SUPPOSED
TO SMOKE, IN BED!"

"BULL! THAT'S ONLY
IF YOU'RE FALLING
ASLEEP! I'M WIDE
AWAKE! GET ME ONE,
OKAY?"

(Mumble from the livingroom.)
"Yeah. Yeah..."

(Beth laughs, and lays her
head back on the big blue
body pillow. She and Alan
were really more like brother
and sister, than first cousins.
She was relieved,
that Alan hadn't been one of those
who had so suddenly 'disappeared'.)
"And....TELL LEVY, to try
to fix your..CELL PHONE!
OKAY? HE'S A GENIOUS!"

(Mumble.)
"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah."

(Beth smiles; she's
getting sleepy, just lying
here with her head on the
huge pillow. It was oddly
comfortable, and even
peaceful....being here, in
her younger cousin's empty
bedroom. It was as if this
little house had escaped all
the sudden turmoil, and horror,
of the past week; as if, time
had simply stopped here,
and everything was the same
as it had been, just five
days before. Beth wondered,
eyes closing, if Marty would
mind if she stayed here,
over night. He was, afterall,
busy with his folks, and sister's family:
all three of his sister's children,
all under the age of twelve,
had vanished, too. Beth moaned,
her eyes still closed. It was
just all too CREEPY.....for ANY
of them...)

(A loud, whiny, very sarcastic
male voice interrupts Beth's
dozing off.)
"What's a MATTER?
Are YOU OKAY?"
(Loud whiny voice.)
"HEY, ALAN?
'YOUR COUSIN.. ALRIGHT?
SHE LOOKS LIKE SHE
NEEDS TO GO TO THE
DOCTOR!"

(Beth groans;
Levy's voice had thundered,
right by her left eardrum.)
"Hey, LEVY!
WILL YOU SHUT UP!
I'M RESTING!"

"Hey, yeah.
Sure."

(Something big and flat
drops, carelessly, onto Beth's stomach.)

"Here. Alan told me to
GIVE YOU, this."

"Oy!
THANKS, LEVY!
WHEN ARE YOU GOING
TO GET SOME MANNERS,
anyway?"
(Beth shakes her head.
Levy was one of their
friends, from childhood.
His first name was 'Steve',
but Alan, at quite a
young age, had started
calling him 'Levy', and
it just stuck. He was
basically a good guy, but
his cynical humor, coupled
with his brilliant mind,
took some getting used to.)

(Snorty laugh!)
(Whiny male voice.)
"Yeah; yeah.
Alan told me to tell you,
he's walkin' over to the
Safeway, to pick up some
stuff for dinner. I'll be
in the livingroom....watchin'
the game. OKAY? Let me
know if ya need anything....
HOW'S your ARM?"

(Beth's eyes are still closed.)
"Feels like SHIT.
Get me a cigarette...."

(Laugh!)
"Yeah. Well.....next time,
don't be in the middle of
the worst car crash....
since, ya know....like,
WHENEVER. Seriously,
though....you were lucky."
(Then, remembering her
last statement.)
"Hell, NO.
Wait, till you're sitting up..,
at LEAST...
and what the hell, are ya
still SMOKIN' those things for,
anyway? Haven't you been
smoking...since, you had
your first BOYFRIEND..
at the age of FIFTEEN?"

(Beth sighs. She would
have dearly loved to just
fall asleep, without all these
interruptions.)
"Yeah....yeah.
Whatever..."

"Hey, I'll be in the livingroom,
if ya need anything. Okay."

(Beth feels herself drifting
off. Her arm is aching,
terribly.)
"Yeah. Sure.
Thanks."

"Ya want an ASPIRIN?
You look BEAT."

"Yeah.
Thanks.
I got some stronger stuff,
in my purse. You can go and
get it, if you want."

(Nasal, strong whiny voice.)
"Sure. Wait here."

(Beth has already fallen
into a short dream stage.)
__________________
(Two hours later,
she awoke. The ache
in her arm felt better,
and her cousin's empty
room was very silent, and dark.
From the living room,
Beth could hear some
quiet talking, probably
between her cousin and
Levy. In the background
was a football game: prabably,
Penn State.)
"Hey, GUYS? Can
YOU TURN THE LIGHT
ON....IN HERE? I CAN'T
REACH IT! THIS DAMN
ARM'S A REAL PAIN IN
THE ASS."

(The door of bedroom opens.)
"Sure, Beth. How ya doin'."
(Alan walks in quietly;
he goes over to the ceramic
lamp, on the side of his
sister's little end table,
and, searching for a minute
for the switch, flips it on.)
(Alan is holding a can of
soda.)
"Here."

"Uh, uh. I don't drink
that stuff: too much SUGAR."

"Eh.....come ON.
You need to take your
PAIN pill, BETH."

(Beth shook her head,
again.)
"No! I'm NOT going to
TAKE it, right NOW. Uh, uh.
I just woke UP. I don't want
to get so SLEEPY, again....right now.
I'll wait, till I get home.."

(Shrug.)
"Well......one little can 'a
coke isn't gonna hurt ya.
Here."
(Alan sets the can of soda
down, on the little wooden
table top.)
"I'll just set it, right here.
Okay?"

"ALAN!
You're making a SPOT,
there! You're going to
RUIN IT!"

"Who CARES?
The whole WORLD's
turned upside DOWN,
right NOW! I don't
think my sister would
CARE, anyway! She'd
want you to have the
soda...."

(Beth sighed, and sat up
slowly, holding the
heavy white cast with
her good hand, carefully.)
(Alan picked up the can,
and patiently held it until
his cousin could take it,
with her good hand.)
(Sip.)
"So.....what's you guys...?"

"Watchin' the game."

"Which ONE?"

(Shrug.)
"It's an OLD one;
Penn State's winning."
(Chuckle.)
One of the sports channels
is having 24 hours a day,
of old college games. It's
a good idea, right now."
(Nod.)

(Deep sigh.)
"Yeah.....I GUESS."
(Take another sip.)
(She suddenly feels much
more awake; she isn't used
to drinking caffeine.)
"Hey, Alan? Where did
I put that big PAD?"

"Oh.....DAMN!
Are you gonna START up,
with THAT, AGAIN,
BETH? Just FORGET
about IT, WILL YA?
It's no good, to THINK
about that STUFF! It
doesn't do ANY GOOD.
Not NOW. Just FORGET
about it.......!"
(Irritable, impatient sigh.)

"Where IS it? I wanna
SEE IT, Alan! It's been
REALLY BOTHERING ME.
I even had a DREAM,
ABOUT IT."

"Oh, shhh...t!
You aren't gonna start
turning into a NUT,
NOW....ARE YOU?
There's ENOUGH
CRAZINESS goin'
ON....right NOW."

(Firm, determined voice.)
"Alan, I promise you;
I'm perfectly sane.
Now, give me the PAD.
And....where did I put
that little ...BOOKLET.....?"

"Oh....shhhh...t!"
(Bend over, to pick up
the big pad of paper,
that had fallen to the
floor, as Beth was sleeping.)
"HERE it IS."
(Exasperated sigh.)
"And..."
(Nod toward the bed.)
"That booklet-thing..
is over by your pillow...
UNDERNEATH...."

(Beth rubs her eyes,
irritably.)
"DAMNIT! I FORGOT!
My CONTACTS!
Shhh...t! I SHOULD
have taken them, OUT."
DAMNIT!"

"You want some water,
for th'um? Do you have
your contact lens CASE?"

(Muttering, Beth leans
back against her cousin's
big blue body pillow.)
"Neah.....JESUS!
What a PAIN....in the ASS!"

"I'm sure, there must
some of that stuff,
in Julie's bathroom...."
(Chuckle!)
"She was BLINDER,
than ALL of US...!"

"Oh, YEAH!
That's RIGHT!
Yeah....could ya go...
and take a LOOK,
Alan? Yeah.....I hadn't
even THOUGHT a' that!"

(Alan's voice can be heard,
from the small, accompanying
bathroom.)
"Yeah......"
(Chuckle.)
"If she didn't take her
CLOTHES....or...SNEAKERS...
then, she certainly wouldn't
a' had TIME, to PACK UP
her CONTACT lense..STUFF."
(Noises of opening cabinets,
and drawers, can be heard
from the bathroom.)
"Here.
I FOUND some!
She LEFT everything....
just right HERE."
(Alan comes out of the
small bathroom doorway,
carrying some articles in
his hand.)
"It's LIKE....she meant to
come BACK, at some TIME...
to come GET EVERYTHING."
(Shake balding head,
in clueless wonder.)

"HEY!
We don't know ANYTHING,
right now...ALAN! Just,
don't THINK about it.."
(Beth takes slowly takes
one object from her cousin's
hand, and then, the other.
She is beginning to learn how
to manuver everything, with
her one good hand. Still,
it's becoming rather tiresome.)

(Levy's tall, gangly figure
appears in the open doorway.)
"What's goin' on.
I heard you guys ARGUING...
from the other ROOM."

(Alan replies, in a bland voice.)
"My cousin's going CRAZY."

(Levy shrugs.)
"Well, 'can't blame her.
That's probably the most
SANE thing...ya can DO..
at THIS point..."

(Short, hard laugh!)
"YEAH."
(Laugh!)
"I GUESS so.
YEP.
Guess, you're RIGHT."

(Beth can't help, laughing.)
(These two guys were about
the best ones to have,
around, at a time like this.
It was like having two
stand-up-comedians, at
one's disposal.)
"Hey, you GUYS!
COME ON!
Gimme a.....BREAK!"
(Laughing!)

(Alan stares at his cousin,
for a moment, and then
frowns. He's standing
there, with both hands
in his jeans' pockets.)
"WHY do you WANT
to LOOK...at that
religious stuff....ANYWAY?
It's...STUPID!"

"What religious STUFF."
(Levy, feeling too tall
for the small bedroom,
looks behind him, for
a place to sit. He grabs
one arm of the rocking chair,
and pulls it over, towards
the bed.)
"You takin' a Hebrew class,
or somethin', BETH? I
don't think....RIGHT NOW....
would be the most PERFECT
TIME....for you and Marty..
to take a VACATION trip....
to ISRAEL."
(Sits down.)
(Chuckle.)

"NO!
NO!
It's nothing, LIKE THAT,
Levy!"
(Sigh.)
(Pulls the big pad of paper
towards her, while holding
onto the little booklet,
with the same good hand.
All this physical manuvering
was really getting to be a
pain in the ass.)
"LOOK! Just....LOOK,
Levy! I need your BRAIN, right NOW
....YOU try to explain THIS."
(Beth flips one page,
after another, of the
big pad of paper....until,
she finds the one that
her cousin had been working
on, that day....of the....
the...accident.)

(Levy gazes down
at the big white page;
the pad resembles that
of an artist's pad.)
(Noncommital shrug.)
"Yeah.
So.
What IS it."

"An egg!"

"Yeah...so, what..
..was she...taking some
kind 'a ART lessons.."

"NO!
NO!
LOOK!"

(Closer, though still
not very interested look.)
(Shrug.)
"Yeah.....so, what WAS it..
how do you know,
it was supposed to be an EGG..?"
(Look up, at Beth's anxious
face.)
(Bland gaze, mixed with
a bit of cynicism.)
"I don't understand;
what was the big deal?"

"Well.....LOOK at this
PICTURE....in the BOOK!
JUST LOOK, Levy!"

(Levy pulls up the wooden
rocking chair, just a bit
closer to the side of the
bed. Beth, afterall, can't
move very well, without
disturbing her arm cast.)
(He takes the small pamphlet,
from Beth's fingers Her
good hand still has beautiful
nail tips and red polish. The
other has broken ones,
and all the polish had been
taken off, probably at the
hospital.)
"Yeah.....so.....what's this:
some sort of...
Jehovah WITNESS pamphlet?"
(Disinterested shrug.)
"So....what. Big deal.
Those guys are all crazy."

(Beth points her good
forefinger at the booklet,
in Levy's hand.)
"Look, Levy: at page 22."

(Squint, slightly, as he
flips through, a little..
until he gets to the right
page.)
"Yeah....so......oh.
Oh, yeah.
I see.
I see, what you mean."
(Silently reading.)
"Hm.
Yeah.
I see.
I see, Beth.
Hm."

(Alan, frowning with
impatience, sighs and
sits down, carefully,
on one corner of the bed.
He doesn't want to make
any movement that will
nudge his cousin's painful
arm.)
"WHAT do you SEE?
I don't see...NOTHIN.
Ech...it's all a bunch 'a
crap!"

(Levy, the more intelligent
of the two friends, continues
to read on; he was always
somebody capable of great
insight, in spite of his
cynicism and generally
arrogant personlity.)
"I don't know...
it IS interesting, that
your sister was trying to
draw a picture of something..
that, she also drew a picture
of, some time ago....in this
pamphlet......obviously, it
was something very..."
(Shrug.)
"....IMPORTANT...to her.
That's all...."
(Look, once more, at the
little picture drawn,
on page 22 of the booklet.)
"Well.....if you look...
HERE.. the egg is more
detailed, than the one she
was trying to draw for BETH.
Either.....she meant to FINISH
the other one....or, she just
never GOT to FINISH it...."
(Look up at Beth's drawn face.
The shadows, under her pretty
eyes, are visibly deep: with
both physical and emotional
pain.)
"WHY didn't she FINISH
it, for you?"

(Beth sighs, and lays her
head back down, on the
blue body pillow.)
"BECAUSE......."
(Sigh!)
"I wouldn't LET her.
I was annoyed, and impatient,
and totally into MYSELF,
that afternoon, Levy! I was in a
rush to get to a ....(Grimmace!)
....WAXING appointment...!"

(Quickly nod, with immediate
understanding of the situation.)
"Except...you..
never GOT there."

(Painful whisper.)
(Eyes gazing, unseeingly,
at that street, of 5 days
ago, strewn with bloody
bodies, and people screaming.)
"No.
Of course, not."

(Sigh.)
(Reach out to touch his
friend's casted fingers,
briefly. Two of the finger
nails had been totally ripped
off; it must still be very
painful.)
"I'm sorry....
I'm sorry, Beth..."
(Nodding.)
(Glance up at her cousin's
face, for a moment. Their
eyes meet.)

(Few minutes of silence.)

(Levy, eager to bring
his friend back to the
present moment, sighs,
loudly.)
"WELL!"
(Look of intense study,
and questioning on his
intelligent face.)
(Pulls, a bit, on his short,
black, beard.)
"These two things are
OBVIOUSLY....VERY
related. I mean, it's
just too...obvious....
not to be a COINCIDENCE."
(Frown!)
"I just don't get it, though;
I mean....she was JEWISH.
Why would she be LOOKIN'
at this stuff.......
ANYWAY?"

(Beth murmurs.)
"I don't know.....well;
I don't want to get
gossipy or anything,
but....well, she did tell
me she had become...."
(Sigh.)
".....a born-again, CHRISTIAN."

(Nothing ever seemed to
shock Levy. As usual,
he had the same bland,
though deeply intelligent
look on his bearded face.)
"Huh. Well, THAT'S weird;
Although....Joach was always
sort of a DREAMY kind'a
PERSON...you know?"

(Alan and Beth both nodded,
absentmindedly.)
(Both looked, once more,
at the smaller drawing,
on the little pamphlet page.
Then, they simultaneously
stared at Levy: both shaking
their heads,
uncomprehendingly.)

(A little while later,
Alan reached up to turn
out the light, as the
three of them walked
back into the his cousin's
empty livingroom. Alan
had picked up a bunch of
frozen pizzas, at Safeway,
along with a couple of
beers. He had found some
things for making a salad,
in his sister's refridgerator,
though some of the stuff
would have to be thrown out.
There wasn't any use in getting
in the one available car,
and going out to dinner;
everything was all closed.
And, in 30 mintues
or so, the curfew was going to
start.)

On the middle of the
bed lay the wrinkled, dusty
little booklet. It was still
open to page 22. On one
side was a drawing of an egg
shape. Three parallel lines
had been drawn, inside the
egg. Inside the first space,
was written in a scrawled
handwriting, 'God, the Father';
in the next space was written,
with in even small cursive letters,
'Jesus, the Savior'.
Inside the third, hollow space
was written, again with a messy
scrawl, 'the Holy Spirit.'.

**************************
Surely
I am
coming
quickly.
[Revelation 22:20]


_______________
To my sister.

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