Two Witnesses
No More Band
Seth awoke on the couch a little past three in the morning. Some religious infomercial enticed believers on television. “How stupid… I haven’t seen this one before. To bad I won’t see it now either.” He turned it off and started for the bedroom, but a text message rang on his phone in the office.
“At three in the morning? Really?” He shook his head. “I bet someone got a DUI?”
Seth slowly sat down as he read it. The office chair creaked. His face illuminated from the text message Erica sent. “Chapel is closed. Agents in flight. Two down for sure.”
He wiggled the mouse to startup the computer, and navigated to the Watchmen forum. “United States adapts Secular Alliance.” Seth’s jaw dropped open while he read. “In the final stage of maintaining world peace the United States has agreed to enforce Secular Alliance, a global law that the United Nations started enforcing in April, making it illegal for the practice of religious belief in any past human, or spiritual entity. This law started as a small movement within the Green Machine to get people’s focus on what we know about the earth today, and to deal with science over faith. It gained exponential popularity across the globe when other countries recognized it was key to world unification, because it pulled belief off the table, and it came with the promise it would provide the teeth necessary to enforce Green practices.”
Seth rubbed his eyes. “Great, now I have a target on my back.” He scanned down the article, reading the names of the churches, each no longer tax-exempt, and now a target of prosecution. The list was long, but he found Antioch listed as a home church. He closed his eyes for a second, but it would be another couple of hours before he opened them.
The sun broke over the fence, shining into the office where it glared off the granite desktop. Seth started to adjust away from the light when he heard Aizu growling outside. He tried to open his eyes, but could barely see her on the bench outside the window. “What’s up girl? Stop it.”
He rubbed his eyes to get a better view, but before he finished, Aizu let out a bark startling Seth enough to jump back and fall off his chair. Before he could yell at her, she started barking, and charged from the bench toward the fence.
“Now what? Aizu!”
Seth worked his way through the kitchen and garage. Aizu barked steadily, something was in the back yard and she didn’t like it. Seth found her standing on her hind legs in a wine barrel, smashing the plants and leaning against the fence. “Aizu! Get out of there!”
Aizu would not respond.
Seth looked up to the sky to see what bothered her. “Nothing?” He said with disappointment. “Aizu! Get down! Get inside! You… you…”
Aizu jumped before Seth could reach her. She tucked her tail and crept a half-circle away from Seth, looking at him with her ears pulled back in submission.
Seth saw the dirt covering her white legs. “Come!” He pointed to the grass. “Now I have to hose you off.”
Aizu moved slowly toward the gate. When she knew she was out of Seth’s reach, she bolted for the grass.
Megumi came outside. “What’s going on Seth?”
He pointed to the sky. “Aizu saw something and went crazy. She used to bark at the balloons, but a balloon would still be there? Something’s going on.”
“Like how dogs sense an earthquake?”
Seth scratched his head. “She’s must be tapping into something? Who knows? Maybe what she saw left before I got here? Maybe it was only a squirrel on the roof?” He tethered Aizu to the fence. “I’ll get her rinsed. Can you get me a towel?”
“Why is she dirty?” Megumi turned and looked at the planter. “My plants! Look what she did.”
“Don’t worry about that. Hand me the hose.”
Megumi stared at the trampled barrel. “Seth! She ruined my plants. Those were special to me.”
Seth placed both his hands on Megumi’s shoulders. “It’s better this way, instead of them dying of thirst.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We’re leaving today, tonight at the latest.”
“Leaving where? I thought you were waiting…”
“Listen.” Seth looked around. “Last night I got text message from Erica. She told me Alex’s place in Antioch was raided. The government officials took computers, cell phones, and boxes of videos. They took DVDs, CDs, and even cassette tapes. They cleaned them out. It’s only a matter of time before they come here.”
Megumi opened her mouth to speak.
Seth looked toward the east. “It’s time to go back to Whistle Punk and do some camping.”
Megumi put her hands on her side. “Your friends are in jail, and we’re going camping?”
“Yes!” He turned back with a smile. “It is the season written for our time. There is no more next year, or the year after. I think the time is finally here!”
Megumi grabbed him hard enough to break his concentration. “Seth. Don’t do anything stupid, okay? Are we just going to pack up and go? Like that?”
“Like that.” Seth took a deep breath, regaining his smile. “I knew this day would come, and I really looked forward to it, but time sure has a steady pace.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…” Seth thought for a moment. “I mean when we talk about things to come, it seems like the calendar is slow enough to think distant things will never arrive. When the moment does arrive there is so much momentum behind it there is nothing we can do to slow it down or stop it. It pushes forward without regard of what we think. People can argue the past few months in hindsight all they want, the fact is we are entering a time that will be surreal. We are entering the half of an hour there was silence in heaven, and we will push through just as written. It’s true Megumi. We’re seeing it!”
“Why can’t we stay and see it from here?”
Seth shook his head. “There is no more here. If they took Antioch, they will take here. I book marked my website on their computers myself. If we stay here, they will take us. Screw that! I’ve been training all my adult life for this moment.”
Megumi followed Seth to the grass. “What moment?”
Seth stopped and turned. “They are going to start rounding up believers.”
Why you?” Megumi asked. “According to you there are millions of students. Why you?”
Seth replied. “Why? Just because they turn parts of the Internet off doesn’t mean the Internet is gone. They are litigating against what people have posted over the last twenty years, including every web page they ever visited. There are no digital secrets.”
“What about your projects?”
“Yeah, like they were really big? I only worked a few hours here, and a few hours there. That’ll keep us in Napa… I don’t think so. With this stuff going on there is no more work. At least not like that. Now it’s time for our real work to begin.”
Megumi interrupted. “Are you telling me we’re going to Stampede and not coming back?”
Seth calmed himself. “Look. You’re on a two-week break… We’ll go for a week, and if nothing happens, we’ll come home. Think of it as makeup camping for the times we missed. It’s been a long time since we’ve gone to Whistle Punk. Too long.”
“Just one week. And we can’t go today. We can leave early in the morning. I need to get ready.”
Seth nodded. “One week. I promise, but you know as well as I do that when those two guys visited me in the front yard there was something going on. Come on. Malony and Flynn sealed it. Now we are in a specific timeline. We cannot change that clock. That’s what I meant by not being able to slow time.”
A tear welled up in Megumi’s eye. “Why does it have to be time now?”
Seth rubbed her shoulders. “Our roller coaster has made the long slow climb, and now we are over the top. The next couple of months are going to be the craziest ever recorded. You can put your hands up and scream if you want, but we are buckled in. It’s here, okay? We have to deal with it just like Jesus had to deal with Passover. He didn’t let us down, and we’re going to try our best not to let Him down.”
“But I don’t go to church. Why me?”
“Megumi…” Seth waited for eye contact. “You knew I was into this when we married. You’ve seen me study the whole way. I have never changed my course. I only polished and fine-tuned it. You’ve seen enough to know what’s going on. Now it’s game time. I’m ready to play. You’re ready to play. So let’s play!”
Megumi started to cry. “I can’t believe it’s here. Why now? Why us? What about my family?”
Seth held her close. “Your family will be fine. If not here, once we get through to the other side. Don’t worry. We’ll get to see each other again. We’re a family forever. Besides, you’re that much closer to seeing your dad and aunt again.”
“But how’s my family in Japan going to know?”
He wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb. “If this time is true then the upcoming trials are going to go out in every language. Many people are going to testify against this one, and they will hear it in the most native Japanese they have ever heard. They will have a chance. I promise. Every human is here for a reason. Every person is also tested in life Megumi. Now is our chance. We can pass our test, and more.”
“What about me Seth?” Megumi sobbed. “What’s my test?”
“I can’t tell you that.” Seth hugged her. “If you asked me I would say you already passed your test, because you stayed with me for this long. I don’t know what could be much more difficult than that.”
She started to cry. “I’m serious Seth!”
“I know Megumi.” He held her chin up, taking a deep breath. “Me too. I’m going to break up the band. I have to tell them of our next move, Tahoe. The rest of the day I’ll be packing camping supplies, getting gas, and prepping the house for our trip.”
Megumi tried to laugh. “Make sure the automatic fish feeder is full.”
Seth smiled. “Enough for several months.”
“I’ll make jerky, about eight pounds, okay. It will be ready by the time we go. I don’t want to eat fish all the time.”
Seth laughed. “Eight pounds is an awful lot Megumi. There is a Safeway right there in Truckee. We’ll be fine.”
“You said months.”
Seth smiled. “Are you starting to believe me? Ha!”
Megumi shrugged her shoulders. “I always believed you, Seth. I just don’t want it yet.”