Prophecy

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Jillian yawned.
She shifted her
coffee mug to the
other hand, and
and leaned against
the cold steelness
of the elevator wall.
_________________________
(PING!)

"MORNING!"
(The young nurse, who
stepped into the elevator,
was obviously new; her
I.D. tag was still glossy,
as if she had just posed
for the incredibly
bad picture.
Her short, curly hair
was glossy too, and her
smile was way too bright,
for this time of the day.)

"Morning."
(Jillian mumbled back,
and sighing,
leaned in closer
against the coolness
of the elevator:
cradling her coffee mug
in one hand. It was 4:30 am.
Her shift started at 5;
usually, at this hour
she was alone,
on the trip upstairs.
She didn't feel like
socializing,
and even resented this
minor intrusion.)

(Smile!)
"My name's...BECKY!
I just got switched to
PEDIATRICS! I've been
working here, since I
graduated, this past
DECEMBER! How long,
have YOU been working
here......"
(Lean forward.)
(Squint, slightly.)
"....JILLIAN?"

(Nod.)
(Shrug.)
"Couple years."

"Do you....LIKE it,
here?"

(Nod.)
(Shrug.)
"Yeah."

(Smile!)
"I'm so EXCITED!
I've been DREAMING
of this....my whole LIFE!"

(Jillian lets her
sleepy eyes wander
over to the lit buttons,
on the left side
of the steel wall.)
"Uh, huh."

"Are you GOING..,
after your SHIFT?"

(Jillian's curiosity breaks
through her feelings of
annoyance. The elevators
in this older part of the
building were awful. But,
usually, she didn't mind.)
"Huh?
Where?"

"To CHURCH:
the EASTER service!"

"Oh.
No."
(Jillian shakes her head.
She laughs, slightly.)
"Sorry, I'm Jewish.
Hell, I can hardly
remember when the
PASSOVER is....."
(Rueful smile.)
"I got bat'mitzvah'd,
as a kid...but,
after that,
that was about IT."

"Oh."
(The younger girl
looks suddenly sad.)
"But......Jillian?
Don't you know,
that JESUS came
to save ALL of us?"

(Shrug.)
(Mumble.)
(Another surreptitious
glance, at the lighted
buttons boxed in,
by the left corner
of the elevator.)

(Silence.)

(Becky begins talking,
again. But this time,
she seems alarmed.)
"What was THAT?
Did YOU just HEAR......?"

(Jillian, carefully taking
a sip of her bitterly
strong coffee,
continues facing the
screeching doors
of the elevator.
For just a second
the dimmed lights,
of a hospital
elevator at night,
flickered on and
off, over their
heads: then,
on again.)
"Uh, uh. Don't worry about
it; these elevators are like
old ARMY tanks."

(Silence.)

(Jillian breathes a sigh
of relief, and rolls her
eyes; at least, the airhead
had stopped TALKING.
Thank GOD; they were
almost to her floor.)

(Silence.)

(The rumbling elevator
stops, and slowly grinds
to a stomach-churning halt.
The big metal doors open.)
"Well....SEE ya."

(Silence.)

(Jillian, on her way
out through the huge,
old pitted doors,
turns her head
just for a moment.)

No one is there.

A big, glossy picture I.D.,
showing the fresh, smiling
face of Becky, is lying
on the floor of the elevator.

Jillian drops her coffee
mug, onto the old and
scratched tiled floor.
It smashes; the hot
liquid spills against
her baggy, cotton
scrub pants.

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

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