Rapture

[vaneramos]

The jack-o-lantern I carved at mathan and scottybear's carving party yesterday afternoon. Check mathan's LJ for a link to a gallery of his photos.


It started in London at sunset and moved west: Madrid, all the centres of South America, Boston, New York. The righteous simply vanished, ten per cent of urban populations. Jets crash-landed. Empty cars spun out of control.

God lacked technology to handle dispersed communities, so small cities and rural areas were spared. Fifteen cities were destroyed. It hit Toronto and Chicago before He realized Heaven had filled in 1999 and all the righteous dead had suffocated. Those arising from the Rapture had passed through a wormhole into another universe. He stopped and attempted to close it, but got sucked through.

Then the hole sealed forever.

Those millions remaining in the cities became restless and deathless, ambling aimlessly through shattered streets, destroying anything they encountered. Had they formed any purpose, we couldn't have resisted their force, but they had lost their minds and showed no inclination to leave their cities. We encircled the suburbs with razor wire to contain stray zombies. It slowed them down long enough for patrols to deal with them. Physical assault didn't kill them; it only reduced their bodies to hazardous, slithering protoplasm.

Fire seemed to destroy them. Unfortunately we didn't have time to study the smoke.

Comments

[missprune.livejournal.com]

Ha! You force a wicked grin upon my features.
I've always felt (since I heard of the odd belief) that the Rapture is a very unkind idea. I like your send-up of it.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

The Rapture was one of those things my former evangelical friends liked to argue about: for instance, whether it would happen before or after the Apocalypse. Silly people. We really imagined things like this. Silly people. I'm feeling irreverent today.

[bigfootcub.livejournal.com]

it was very nice to meet you yesterday and scott and iains. hope to see you again when I come up over american thanx!

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

A pleasure meeting you. I have a couple other commitments that weekend, but I'll try to work around them.

[bigfootcub.livejournal.com]

no prob...i plan to goto toronto when i can...so no rush

HUGS

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Let me know what days you're going to be around.

[bigfootcub.livejournal.com]

Will do! ;-)

[leafshimmer.livejournal.com]

Van, this image is simply GORGEOUS. I am in awe.

Is the text the start/blurb for your new novel?

I'm baffled by the massive hold the whole "Rapture" mythos seems to have on people in our society. It is one of the many things that makes me feel like a "stranger in a strange land" at times.

hugs, Shimmer

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

No, horror (even cheesy horror) is not my genre. I just wanted to have a little Hallowe'en fun today. The Rapture is certainly one of the more bizarre beliefs Christians carry around. A little frightening, too, when considered as part of the whole devaluation of Earth and Life.

And I'm glad you like my pumpkin, because I thought of you when I was carving it.