Rebecca's Story:
It was midday, and the sky was pitch black. The sun had become a dark, floating mass over the earth after a great earthquake that shook the entire globe. Cities had been reduced to nothing but large piles of rubble, and most of mankind had gone and died out. The few that remained sought shelter underground. They dug tunnels underneath the earth, and they were all too frightened to go back onto the surface.
A girl and her old grandfather sat in a small room beneath the earth. It was lit only by a small oil lamp. At least there was still oil in this world. This girl could not have been more than five or six years old. She held on tightly to her grandfather, who was stricken ill a long time ago, and was now trembling and weeping. He shakily spoke nonsense to the ceilings and the walls that protected them. The little girl gave his hand a squeeze, concerned for his life.
The old man did not notice the little girl's concern, and he only continued to mumble, watching the ceiling carefully. "Fall on us… Hide us from he who sits on the throne… and hide us from the wrath of the Lamb. The great day of His wrath… has come… and who will be able to stand…?"
The little girl shook her head. "Grandpa?" She crawled up on top of him. "Grandpa… what are you talking about, Grandpa?"
He shakily lolled his head to look at her. "When you are grown, I wish for you to read that nice book I gave you. It is His word… and it is the very essence of our existence and life after death… Sweet Rebecca… will you read it when you can?"
Her eyes were glossy, watching her only surviving relative struggle so much to simply talk. She was young, but she knew he was in pain, and she knew he wouldn't last long. "Yes… I will Grandpa."
The old man only smiled, and he turned his head to the ceiling again. He watched it for a moment and closed his eyes. "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him… that sitteth on the throne, …and from the wrath of the Lamb. …For the great day of his wrath is come; …and who… shall be able to stand?" With that, he closed his eyes and let out his last breath.
Rebecca, the small, blonde-haired blue-eyed beauty, stared, amazed… She sat in silence, and she waited for the man to wake up, but he would not wake up again.