Write a story about a date (social encounter), set in a cemetery, beginning “On my 100th birthday…” and containing the phrase ‘bullet hole.’
Approx 1,094 words
On my one hundredth birthday, I was only half listening to the sermon by Brother Nelson. I was at that age of adolescence where my seniors knew little (Brother Nelson is nearly five hundred years old!) and I knew all the answers. Why is it oldsters expect the young to accept superstition with blind obedience and without question?
“…and if you don’t take God into your heart, you will surely be without His love and His mercy and this world will become your cemetery. He has said a fire next time, and not a flood. The time of redemption is near, my children, and you must open your heart to him lest ye be denied salvation.”
I wouldn’t even listen to his drivel had not my parents insisted. I believe as persons get older they tend to believe more strongly, despite the total lack of scientific evidence.
Our best scientists estimate the age of the Earth to be four billion years plus. Yet we are asked to believe God created the Earth in six days and then He rested.
“But God’s time-scale is not the same as ours,” the believers say. Okay, if I accept that, and divide four billion years by six, then one God-scale day equals 700 million years, right?
Biblical texts lead a scholarly believer to estimate the age of the Earth to be much less than six-thousand years, despite geological and archeological evidence dating back more than a thousand times that. “You can’t go by scientific evidence, child, for scientists are not believers and they are prone to mistakes.” Okay, so I’m left to conclude God is a practical joker and created the Earth not as a new born babe, but more like a wrinkled old man with a couple billion years history built in.
“…and created Man in his own image.” That’s why we are led to believe God looks like us, and not like a fish, a bird, or some terrible demon.
The fallacy behind that statement is that every culture has a word for their race and, in their language, it means ‘the people’ or ‘mankind.’ By that line of reasoning, it would be quite natural for a bird to accept the appearance of God to be like another bird. And so would a fish or a horrible demon.
“He gave his only son to die for our sins…” Well, that also depends upon which religion you are brought up with. Some tribes refuse to consider a savior has been born and still await his coming. Others tribes claim the Son of God has been born unto a woman and God, in His mercy, allowed his only Son to die for our sins that we might know the true depth of his love. A great story, designed to coax the unbelievers to yearn for repentance and accept God as their salvation, despite the fact that we have no evidence to support either belief. They can’t both be true, can they?
“There are signs in the heavens, and God’s judgment day is near, brothers and sisters, ye must take God into your heart at this very moment and accept his eternal salvation!” Judgment Day is near? What, another 700 million-year day?
Priests and shamans are always seeing signs in the heavens, aren’t they? Still, I have to admit; Brother Nelson really believes what he is saying and is one of the finest orators I have ever heard speak. He frequently gestures at you with one arm, the bony talons of his fingers and claws riveting your attention upon him as his piercing eyes strike a bullet-hole right through you and his immense tail strikes the ground for emphasis. The power of his tail can set trees and rocks vibrating for a great distance around the congregation while the bellowing of his huge lungs deafens you with his words. He is a powerful Tyrannosaurus and only a foolish Raptor would challenge the old patriarch.
Unlike the slow and plodding Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Diplodocus, everyone understands what sets us above all others and why God requires us to exercise a benevolent dominion over all the other creatures of the Earth. One could almost believe Brother Nelson’s sermons if they had any facts behind them.
After four hours I began to fidget and tire of listening to the service. I wanted another meal, and soon. Blessedly the prayer meeting was over and the congregation began to drift away from the meeting place. A few of the adults paused to say a good word to Brother Nelson as they departed, each anxious to receive a blessing from the great man.
I slunk away, as quickly and unobtrusively as possible, not wanting to call attention to myself. Yesterday I had seen a dozen or so Parasaurolophus just over the near ridge. I was sure I could run down one of the younger animals and make my dinner. Eagerly I hurried up the ridge in hope of getting to the herd before one of the others of our tribe spoiled the hunting for me.
When I reached the top of the ridge, the trees and vegetation opened wide and I could see the clear blue sky. If I hadn’t been at that point on the ridge at that precise moment, I would not have seen what happened.
A huge glowing ball of fire was at that moment streaking from very high up on the western horizon, across the hemisphere until it struck the ground far off to the east. The impact was blinding in intensity and must have been beyond belief if anyone were nearby! I could see huge clouds of earth and steam thrown many miles into the sky and suddenly I believed Brother Nelson. Without a doubt, this had to be the wrath of God destroying our wicked world and all the evil we had done so He could create a new race of man.
How could I have been so wrong? How could all our finest minds have failed to understand the truth of Brother Nelson’s words?
I threw myself to the ground and prostrated myself as I awaited the shockwave I knew would be coming. As I lay there, I decided it was time to accept God as my savior. Although I had never been a God-fearing Tyrannosaurus, I still remembered a childhood prayer, and my parents coaching me every night in our nest. I began to recite it now.
“Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep…”