Fiction

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The gentle waves lapping at Jason Tenney’s feet did little to calm his racing thoughts. With the sun about to set behind him as he gazed out on the waters of the Atlantic, visibility heightened in the moment between daylight and dusk. He hadn’t paid much attention to the tranquil view to that point. The conflict in his mind and heart had troubled him far too much for the panorama to lure him. He swiped at the screen of his iPad to turn the page of the book that was the source of his troubles and looked up to consider what he’d read.

In the distance a freighter headed toward the Jersey ports appeared to have stopped. The clear view from the atmospheric conditions allowed him to see men running away from something on the deck and an instant later an explosion. What could only have been a missile streaked skyward even as the huge ship burst into flames.

Jason stood, his eyes torn between the shiny object racing higher and the fire that had engulfed the boat. He had almost lost sight of the missile when it transformed into a fireball, even at that distance lighting the now darkening sky. From the corner of his eye he noticed the lights on the boardwalk behind him had winked out. Not only that, but every other light of every business in the area. He scanned the shore. Not a one. The only thing Jason could figure was a massive power outage had knocked everything offline.

Another glance at the freighter and he knew all was lost. Maybe one of the web news outlets had some information. He tapped at his tablet computer to bring it back to life. It didn’t respond. He could have sworn it was fully charged.

Jason shouldered his backpack and trudged toward the steps leading from the beach. The number of people standing around on the boardwalk was more than usual. With no lights they must have streamed out of restaurants and stores. He was about to wade into the crowd when he heard what he later thought must have been the sound of a trumpet. In that split second some of the people around him vanished. He had been ready to push by someone when the woman simply wasn’t there anymore. Her clothing settled at his feet.

Someone screamed. Jason’s mouth opened. Little mounds of clothing from other people littered the space in his vicinity. The crowd had thinned in the twinkling of an eye.

Jason’s mind reflected back on what he’d been reading earlier, the source of his deep discomfort. A friend had challenged Jason’s unbelief. He said, “Read the Bible. Ask God to reveal Himself to you.” Grudgingly he’d agreed, but had only done the first part. Despite that, much of what he read contradicted his worldview. It bothered him. He wanted to make fun of the preposterous notion that God – whatever that was – would airlift Christians out of the world as those passages in Thessalonians implied. But deep within him something spoke truth in what he read.

He began to run. Cars in the streets had stopped dead. The only thing moving was people, and fewer of them at that. Sweat poured from him and he knew it wasn’t from exertion. He had also read in Matthew where Jesus spoke of great turmoil in the world. Much had been written in certain postings on the Internet about the danger America was in from a rogue enemy who might launch a missile that in exploding would shut down the electrical grid and every device dependent on electricity. Had he seen that very attack tonight? Could this be the beginning of what Jesus had prophesied?

In the gathering dusk he passed wild-eyed men and women. Teenagers with puzzled faces stood on street corners and wildly gesticulated, their voices rising and lowering as emotion swept over them.

Jason kept running, his stamina almost inexhaustible. It took him an hour of dodging abandoned vehicles and milling crowds, skirting piles of forsaken clothing. Finally he reached the apartment of his friend who had confronted him about his beliefs.

He took the stairs two at a time to the third floor and pounded on the door. No answer. Desperate, he heaved his shoulder into solid wood. Panting, he tried the knob. It turned! He burst into the darkened room. Near the stereo was that little pile he’d come to dread.

Jason covered his face and sobbed.

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