Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: FRESH START (01/05/17)
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TITLE: Mammon's Fallout | Previous Challenge Entry
By Gary Ritter
01/10/17 -
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Near the time of the end, even the teenagers who came to hang out and buy expensive items with their parent’s money had dwindled. In their place came a different crowd intent on creating mischief. Flash mobs became the norm. They descended on stores with items that had caught their eye and emptied the shelves like packs of piranha attacking hapless animals that had wandered into their waters.
He wished he’d heeded the handwriting so evident to some. Harrison read the financial newspapers and had long heard that shopping malls were a dying breed because of online sites like Amazon, but he was smarter than other mall owners—losers all—and he knew the malls he owned wouldn’t be affected. Except that he was wrong and became a loser just like the others. His privately-owned empire of mall properties was about to go bankrupt. He kicked at one of the millions of dust bunnies and trudged to his office.
While he sat in a morose funk, he turned on the radio. His favorite talk show host told a brief story that set Harrison to thinking. The man had been in England over the holidays with his teenage daughter who wanted to go to the “zombie mall.†It turned out that the same phenomenon that had emptied Harrison’s mall was, of course, replicated in the UK. However, the owners had apparently been more innovative than Harrison. Maybe not everyone else in his business was such a loser after all.
At home that night, he thought and strategized. He could do this and succeed! Within days he made the necessary contacts, brought in the specialized paraphernalia, contracted with construction firms, and plowed ahead with his ambitious dream. He advertised, announced the grand opening, and held his breath.
From the very first moment the doors opened on his new enterprise, the kids came in droves. And not just teens; huge numbers of twenty-something young men beat down his doors. The money poured in. His creditors gave him a reprieve. His walks through the mall during its off hours witnessed a brisker, more confidant pace.
The mall at it busiest was a sight to behold. He’d turned the abandoned anchor stores into zombie enclaves. Niche stores became hidden warrens where zombies popped up and attacked the unwary. His customers roamed the corridors with paint guns on the lookout for the zombie apocalypse, and found it in unsuspected places. Harrison laughed at the thought that his mall had become a money-making war zone. Because this location was his trial run with success beyond his wildest imagination, he couldn’t wait to duplicate this retail marketing winner to his other malls and pocket the proceeds. Talk about a fresh start for his flagging empire; this was the greatest.
The glitch in his plans came at church one Sunday. The pastor spoke about the moral depravity of the nation’s youth, and the corrupting influences in the culture. It was the last thing Harrison wanted to hear, but it put a stone in his shoe, and he limped home with the thought that he might be a contributing factor to the problem. That stone, that nagging thought, ate at him, and left him conflicted.
It made him question why he’d gone to church. He wasn’t the most faithful of attendees, but believed in God and figured that was enough. Sure, the pastor spoke about Jesus like he could have a personal relationship with Him. Or something. But he figured that was for the super religious. Regardless, this message bothered him.
He dusted off his Bible and came across Matthew 18:6. The words made him drop to his knees. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.†No, it was unlikely most of his customers believed in Jesus, but the implication was clear. Harrison was guilty. His sin would destroy him.
On Monday morning, he locked the zombie mall doors and never reopened them.
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