CHAPTER 0

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed"

― 1 Corinthians 15: 51

"WHAT'S ALL THE COMMOTION?"

"What's happening? Is there something wrong?"

"What's goin' on mama? Why are we here and what happened to the bell?"

These were some of the questions that were being thrown around as the towns people stood in total confusion. An air of tension was now thick around the crowd so that it suffocated and derived oxygen to their brains making them panic and spew out the first thing that came to mind.

"IS THE TOWN ON FIRE?"

"WHERE ARE THE COWS?"

"Is it the end of the world?"

"Where is the reverend? The reverend will help us"

Finally the town's governor greeted the frightened people with an air of diligence and authority. A hush came over the crowd as his piercing gaze looked into each and everyone of their eyes. Convinced he had everyone's attention he began:

"MY FELLOW PEOPLE… It has come to my attention that we have a common problem. It has come to my attention that there is something that you an' I both share upon as a common goal. I as your governor would like you to know I share in your pain and trials. I would like you to know that I am on this problem and won't sleep until we get to the bottom and completely inebriate this common flaw that you and I both share. Until this disaster is uprooted I will not rest an' as your gov'na I will make sure that this is handled with the utmost ca'ya, for you as well as for me"

The people hinging on his every word to find out what he was talking about made him smile to himself as he paused for dramaticism, letting the people ask what it was he and them shared in. What problem they asked and then he changed on them and with the most sentimental eyes and pained look on his face he forced himself to continue:

"IT… has come to my attention that we have a problem with our E-con-o-me. It seems like our prices for this town is a goin' down and with that the chil'ren can't get a good educ-a-shun. The men ca'nt find no work. The women ca'nt find no food ta cook, and I ca'nt serve you as the best damn gov'na if I can't afford to help-you-out"

Panic stricken the people started to look around as they heard the life they had fought so hard to maintain was in jeopardy. They never noticed Elijah making his way down the knoll to get a better view and listen closer to what the "crazy man" was saying. They were now looking towards their elected government official for answers to this serious problem. They were only town folk they didn't know how to run a town, and they sure didn't know how to keep an e- con- o- me going.

"WHAT DO WE DO?"

"WELL, MY FRIENDS! AS IT SO HAPPENS I THINK I HAVE A SOLUTION… an answer to our praya's. There happens to be a riva not but a quata mile from he'ya. I believe that if we were to build a bridge ova that riva we would be able to connect with towns an' even Ca- mea- rse with the otha towns so as ta keep our town runnin' like it should"

The people were relieved to hear that their leader was on top of things. They were all too willing to say yes. Just as the governor was about to go over his plans in depth, the traveler spoke his 2 cents:

"It's a big world out there… how do you know that the neighboring town isn't dangerous?"

The look on everyone's faces as they realized the profound usefulness of this boy's knowledge of the outside was too much for the boy to handle and he giggled at them for a whole minute, giving the governor time to compose himself to the question… which no one saw. When the boy was upright again and the people were back to the question, the governor answered something like this:

"MIGHTY FINE QUESTION MY BOY. The youth now have such a keen perspective on life and that in itself is what you… and I are tryna preserve. We are tryna completely, undeniably, 100 and 10% puttin' an' effort to help the young to keep and maintain our society, our cult'a, our essence itself! AM I RIGHT?"

The speech riled up the town… but the boy was not fooled. He waited until everyone was done so he could speak and ask the question again, but unfortunately the governor was on a roll and soon the boy lost interest and went elsewhere. Elijah never did like public speaking anyway, he would much rather go explore the woods or go to the creek and take a dip in the river. In many ways, he was just a kid that didn't want to admit that he was all alone and so he would immerse himself in his imaginary world to escape the pains of his life, thus making him mischievous. It wasn't really that he wanted to do anything "wrong" it's just life was too damn boring for him not to spicen things up a little bit.

Thus he found himself in this place where he resided now, a creek where he found the only true peace he had ever experienced in his life. The sounds of the water as it went on its path to the spans of forever was just as soothing as him pretending his mother was still around. Surprisingly, this actually did work which perplexed him. He really didn't remember much about his family but when he tried he could almost remember his mother, like a ghost that almost could be seen or a shadow that flared up out the corner of his eye but when he looked it was gone. He supposed this had to do with the fact that he always liked to think his family was watching over him in some way. As he contemplated on this idea, he sat down near the edge of the river and allowed his eyes to close and the river's sounds to soothe him and quite his restless spirit. He didn't know what it was about the river, or water in general, but every time he was around it he could feel at ease. Like his soul itself was some form of liquid calling out to the waters around him. He chuckled again.

"You're that boy everyone says to stay away from ain'tcha?"

Shocked, the boy turned around to see who was talking to him. A small, blonde girl with freckles on her cheeks dressed in a dirty shirt and overalls was found in the direction the voice had been thrown. Somehow, Elijah couldn't help grinning a little bit, she looked to be his age and in the interest of him declaring his manhood, his loins approved, but she didn't need to know that.

"Yeah, I reckon I am that fella, and who might you be pertty darlin?"

"Name's Jessie, and as far as I can see you ain't so bad, new kid", she said with a satisfied nod. Elijah giggled, and after a minute so did Jessie, and that sealed their friendship.

They ran about the wooded area near the river playing hide and seek and watching the frogs croak at them, having a gay old time. As the sun set, Jessie reluctantly set off for home with a promise to come around the same time tomorrow. Elijah wondered around for a while grinning ear to ear as he recalled the face he was smitten by. As he wandered back towards the town he noticed a bright light radiating from the towns direction. It was glowing immensely... without a second thought, Elijah ran towards the burning town. As he neared it he heard whinnying of horses and panicked yells as the town's church fell to the ground.

Elijah, finally in the town square, saw the beloved town turning to embers before his eyes. All the buildings were on fire, many already decimated, and people were running around panic stricken. Horses were bolting anywhere they could, it seemed NO ONE new what to do. Elijah sprang into action. He ran towards the nearest panicking person and grabbed them, "FOLLOW ME! THERE'S A RIVER NEAR BY AND IF WE CAN GET THE TOWN TO USE IT'S WATER WE CAN SAVE WHAT LITTLE IS LEFT TO BE SAVED!" That did the trick it seemed. Word spread quickly and everyone started grabbing pots, pans, jugs, whatever they could get their hands on to fill with water and save their prized town they worked so hard to erect up. After a few hours dawn was approaching with a miserable sight. Most of the town was in cinders, a few still standing, but barely as their charred remains revealed only an exoskeleton of what the former monument was, many horses lost, and many towns people without home. None the less, the fires were for the most part contained, and even in the midst of all of the sacrifice they towns folk had done to erect this town from nothing, they still maintained a sense of pride watching it burned to the ground... or maybe that was reality before it sank in fully. Elijah wasn't sure on much right at that moment.

"ELIJAAAHHH!", it was Jessie. He was glad to see she was alright, but the tears in her eyes spoke volumes. "I can't find my parents Elijah... I don't know where they are!"

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... next chapter: CHAPTER 1 - Allies, Enemies, and Divine Intervention ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...