The Second Coming, page 24
The flames in the lobby reach the ceiling as Eric and Shawn race across the street and dive into the van. Lathan floors the gas pedal and drives off at top speed. Shawn and the others stare back as flames engulf the ETG building.
The image of a giant Antichrist materializes in the fire, cackling with an evil hiss. As the fire rapidly spreads to other buildings, the image of the Antichrist begins diminishing and whistling composer Bernard Herrmann’s “Twisted Nerve.”
CHAPTER 15
Bright Morning Star
In Hong Kong, as in the rest of the world, everyone suffers through never-ending days of complete darkness; the sun has been fully eclipsed by the smoke of wildfires, ash from active volcanoes, and dark clouds that fill the skies.
The little Chinese girl is fast asleep under a blanket, lying on a straw bed next to her father as a warm campfire burns in their isolated cave. An enormous circular stone door covers the rounded entrance.
As the little girl sleeps, a bright light moves across her face, and she slowly awakens. She looks toward the cave entrance; the massive stone has somehow moved while they slept, revealing the long-awaited light.
The girl anxiously shakes her father to wake him up. Her father, still in a groggy state, says, (Please, Yīnuò, go back to sleep.)
Yīnuò persistently shakes her father and points toward the light, shouting, (Papa, the light; see the light! Wake up, Papa!)
Her father, now wide awake, notices the light as well. They both stand in amazement and recognize that the light is coming from a distance far behind the wooden crucifix they set days before, which towers outside the entrance of the cave for protection against evil.
Yīnuò reaches for her father’s left index finger, squeezing tight as they somberly walk toward the light, eventually joining a gathering group of people journeying toward the same destination.
•••
Alyson is asleep in her bed when a bright light fills her room. She wakes up and rubs her eyes, wondering if she’s dreaming. She runs out excitedly to tell her mom and dad when she realizes that she isn’t. “The sun is back! We have sunlight!”
Shawn rushes to the window, Sylvia close on his heels. He gazes out the window, speechless.
“Shawn,” Sylvia asks as she places her hand on his shoulder, “what is it?”
A warm smile appears on Shawn’s face, and he says, “It’s not the sun. It’s the bright Morning Star, the sign for everyone to present themselves before the throne.”
Shawn looks at his family, wraps his arms around Sylvia and Alyson’s shoulders, and they all gaze out in awe. “It’s time we meet our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s Judgment Day. Sylvia. Can you wake up our house guests? I have one more thing I need to do,” Shawn says. Sylvia doesn’t waste time in waking everyone in the house.
A short while later, Shawn is typing away on a typewriter at his desk. He stops and pulls out the single sheet of paper from the typewriter, reviews it, then places it at the bottom of a stack entitled The Second Coming Manuscript: Book Version. He inserts the complete manuscript inside an unlabeled nine-by-twelve-inch manila envelope, seals it, and lays it smack in the middle of his otherwise empty desktop.
He rises from his chair, leaving the manuscript behind, and hurriedly joins everyone patiently waiting for him at the door. They emerge into the light and walk toward the bright Morning Star.
Shawn’s group is accompanied by hundreds of people, of all different nationalities, many holding hands with their loved ones, slowly moving toward the source of light.
Most everyone’s clothes are dirty and torn, smudged from head to toe. Many have been living on the streets, with no access to clean water and subjected to ash and dirt from the fallout. Many are on their last legs, desperate for change. Now they walk with joy and contentment.
Karen is holding a white Labrador puppy and walking with Coach Brown, followed by Karen’s mother and brother with his now eight-month-pregnant wife, who wears a modest silver wedding band.
Further down the line are the three girls, Sasha, Kimmie, and Ana, who wanted Karen’s autograph, walking with their families.
Shawn walks with his wife and daughter. Behind them is Mercedes, with an obvious look of regret on her face. She walks with an anxiously smiling Melody, who rests a comforting arm around her shoulders.
Alyson glances at Mercedes’s gloomy face and takes the glowing water jug out of her backpack. She hands it to Mercedes with a warm smile.
Mercedes smiles back, tears up, and gently accepts the jug from Alyson, mouthing, “Thank you” as she tightly holds it to her chest.
Mercedes glances around and notices the friends she helped escape from the clutches of ETG. She sees Wanda Lloyd, Kevin Spencer, Lily Graham, and Megan Shannon, along with several other people she recognizes who were able to escape ETG before midnight.
Richard is there with some of the Book Club members, as is the battered, French-speaking slave woman and her daughter who were separated on the auction block. Further behind is the teenage Creole actress who played the part of Marie Louise. Clarence Monet is also there with his walking cane, appearing optimistic.
Eric and Ronnie walk with their families, including Eric’s mom and younger sister, together with Samuel’s grandmother, Ruth, who now wears a bright-white, flowered dress, holding hands with her husband, Phillip. These were Shawn’s house guests before ETG’s destruction. Lathan Turner is also in the group, clean and shaven, proudly walking with his son, awaiting the opportunity to see his beloved wife, Rachel.
The group grows bigger. The bright light spreads far and wide, reaching everyone across the globe, in different cities, states, countries, and continents. Gatherings spread across freeways, highways, boulevards, streets, roads, fields, essentially everywhere. Hundreds of thousands of people arrive from all directions, aiming for one destination.
Samuel asks, “Ronnie, if you had one single, solitary question for Jesus, what would it be?”
Ronnie stares at Samuel with a wrinkled brow and asks, “What do you mean? And why are you weirding out on me right now?”
Shawn lightly chuckles. Samuel smiles and replies, “I’m serious, and I’m not weirding out, bro; just answer the question. If you had only one question to ask Jesus Christ, what would it be?”
Ronnie thinks for a moment and then confidently blurts out, “I would ask him who killed Biggie and Tupac.”
Samuel bursts into laughter, along with Eric, as Ronnie asks, “What . . . what’s so funny? Should I ask him instead if Eric is going be a ballerina in heaven?”
Eric laughs, but his mom looks on and shakes her head with disapproval.
Eric pushes Ronnie. Ronnie pushes him back, and then Samuel steps in between them to stop the scuffle. Soon after, all three boys pause, look at one another, and begin laughing, joined by their family and friends nearby.
THE END
* * *
The original Everything Goes Book of Decrees, enacted in 538 AD
APPENDIX
THE EVERYTHING GOES BOOK OF DECREES
STATUTES ENACTED IN 538 AD
Everyone permitted in the Past, Present, and Future doors within Everything Goes are all voluntary subjects, alive or among the dearly departed, from the earth to heaven and hell, entering on their own accord.
No person entering alone is aware of another’s creational activities therein, only that of their own, except visitors from heaven and hell.
Upon admittance, the Everything Goes public are made to believe in the illusory creations within with the help of a colored mist that contains an ultra-high-level hallucinogen. Presence in Everything Goes is for an individual’s sole benefit, and not to benefit any collective body.
The mind-altering effects of the hallucinogen last as long as you keep eating the abundantly supplied, irresistible, and addictive apples that soothe everyone, uniquely and quite differently. This effect was well known to Adam and Eve, initial samplers of the forbidden fruit.
The only two antidotes by which the state is eventually lifted are within one’s own mind—either by flat out refusing to recognize or accept in their hearts the power, the belief, and love of God, or secondly, by undertaking the exact opposite of the aforementioned.
After recognizing and/or declaring the intentions and full beliefs of their being, one either remains in Everything Goes, repeatedly exiting and entering, or one departs and never returns. If one chooses neither, the subject will stay in an interminable circle of Everything Goes life until such time as they choose one of the spiritual antidotes, or unto the commencement of their imminent Day of Judgment. Rev. 1632
•••
This text, established in 538 AD and then only once revised in 1632, set the original guidelines for the Everything Goes community.
Before becoming a well-known public phenomenon, Everything Goes was a centuries-old, strictly private, invitation-only secret society. It had been featured exclusively right here on earth.
This clandestine society originated with Theophilus of Adana, back in 538 AD, when he was a mere cleric in the Roman Catholic Church. Feeling betrayed by the church for not allowing him the arch-deacon position, which controlled all the donation money, he agreed to denounce Jesus and the Virgin Mary if Satan would help him become bishop.
During these early times, subjects signed a contract with the enemy in their own blood. This practice was largely abandoned during the sixth century. The use of tainted apples—more discreet and harmless—soon followed, and this practice continues today to assist in capturing hordes of participants. Signing with one’s own blood is now utilized only by a select few.
Theophilus of Adana went on to become bishop. However, he later felt a strong sense of guilt and regret about his short-sighted decision, similar to that experienced by Melody and other visitors to Everything Goes. He confessed to another priest and showed him the blood contract. The priest advised that it should be burned immediately. Theophilus agreed, burned it, and then asked for God’s forgiveness. He looked up to the sky in contentment, believing God had forgiven him, but soon afterward, he collapsed and died.
Within the same year, The Everything Goes Book of Decrees was enacted, along with the evolution of the Past, Present, and Future doors.
However, it’s an essential and notable fact, which should be cautionary to us all, that no Everything Goes location restricted their guests to life inside ETG before or after entering the now defunct Everything Goes corridors.
Imagine never suspecting that all along, your next-door neighbor, your favorite athlete, a billionaire CEO, or a famous recording artist is an ETG creation, living out his or her pipe dream, and that they may or may not have been aware of their somnifacient state. Everything and everyone is not always what it appears to be.
All inhabitants of ETG—Mercedes, Richard, Melody, and the others—were under the same operational premise. However, their dreams and lifestyles weren’t always about fame and fortune. For example, being a team’s general manager within a major sports league or a savvy, high-profile sports agent trying to get her client the best deal may have been more about achieving excellence.
Then you have an award-winning, Black teen actress playing an abolitionist of Creole descent in a future motion picture, with award-winning musicians under a colorful shade tree. Each had dreams of becoming more than they thought they could be in ordinary life.
Many of us may find it hard to comprehend why people would go to such lengths or extremes to create a living dream. Why would a single mother, based on her desire to experience being a slave, subject her daughter to being permanently taken away? Why would anyone want to live out being an abusive and dominating slave master? Perhaps they desire to hold power over others and be perceived as powerful among their peers.
In current times, mothers and fathers are aborting their babies, sending them into slavery through trafficking, or committing plain old child abuse. Secret bondage and fetish clubs where they simulate slavery and human bondage are growing rapidly in popularity around the world. You don’t have to go into ETG to find just about any horrific activity you could imagine—and more than a few you couldn’t even imagine. For some of the ETG attendees, perhaps this was just how they lived their normal lives.
Shows like Survivor, Naked and Afraid, Alone, and docudramas originated making entertainment out of pushing the boundaries of human survival. People volunteered to enter these environments and were fully aware of the risks but often didn’t expect the true cost of the final outcome. For many, ETG was the ultimate experience. Everyone won the grand prize of their dreams behind door number one, two, or three. However, the jackpot came with a heavy trade-off, which some participants were unaware of until it was too late.
Some readers may wonder how Everything Goes got its name. Many first believed it was derived from George Meredith’s 1879 novel, The Egoist. Others believed that it should have been named Anything Goes. However, the true meaning is precise as articulated since 538 AD, indicative of anyone who remains in ETG after the Tribunal of Penance.
Everything Goes, all together, was a masterful attempt at deception that Satan inflicted upon all of creation. He invariably tries to duplicate God’s success at creating life in heaven and here on earth. Unfortunately for Satan, failure looms inevitable, in the future as it has in the past.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The Second Coming novel, as previously noted, was adapted from an original screenplay. As a consequence, during the journey of trying to find a place to call home for the script, we had a few bumps along the way that I feel you, the reader, should be aware of.
I personally delivered a copy of the screenplay to a six-time Emmy Award winner, comedian, radio host, television personality, and author during one of his in-person book signings in Hollywood. However, I’m not sure if he read it or expressed any interest. Maybe he thought I was asking for a bit too much. I never heard back from him and left well enough alone, primarily because he was a kind, generous, humorous, and honorable man, on and off air.
I also sent a copy to a Golden Globe and Emmy Award–winning actress, choreographer, and film producer, and received an expeditious reply. The response was very positive; however, she said they were just a boutique production company and felt the story was best suited for a much larger studio.
Happily, we did receive accolades from a major Hollywood studio—basically a good-news/bad-news scenario. The historic studio complimented the script as a very good read, but they felt the primary subject matter made it suitable for a smaller niche audience, mainly the Christian community.
Respectfully, in disagreement, we decided to prove them wrong by creating this novel and getting the word out to the public—believers and nonbelievers worldwide. It’s up to us now to decide if these types of stories are best suited for a small niche audience or worthy of a large-scale audience, comparable to the likes of Star Wars or Harry Potter, with a cult following.
I ask that you spread the news to your family, friends, everyone you know, and those you don’t know.
I welcome all the nonbelievers in the world—those who bear guilt for unforgivable acts and those who harbor deep regret and anguish for their transgressions; I extend the same invitation to the innocent and vulnerable, those who feel they’ve been treated unjustly, who have been witnesses and/or subjected directly to heinous acts, and the ones who believe they have no voice.
I urge you all to keep an open mind on the theological subject of life before and after death. Seek out answers to your fact-based inquiries and confide only in those who speak the truth and practice the same when no one else is looking.
You aren’t outcasts, nor forsaken. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, destined to act collectively for the betterment of all our lives, in the here and now and in the hereafter. Do not be fooled by the enemy.
Although this story is fictional, God is very real, as is Satan, and so it is with heaven and hell, whether you believe it or not.
A NOTE TO THE READER
The Book Club Foundation
Whenever you find yourself, your family, and/or friends facing a potentially severe setback related to a disaster or catastrophe that results in no electricity, no food, no access to clean water or shelter, and other serious threats to survival, from this day forward, always have your copy of the Holy Bible, and a copy of The Second Coming, with you at all times. We want to do our part to help those who have been displaced with food, water, and other vital resources, to ease some of the suffering.
The Book Club Foundation aims to establish regional US and international chapters to quickly reach those that need help now. It’s never too early to plan and prepare for the inevitable.
If you would like to help, please send your donations and charitable gifts to the Book Club Foundation today. You can use our scan code below, or text “777” to 1-855-706-3052.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
E. L. Smith was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana, USA, to hard-working middle-class parents who are retired from healthcare and industrial plant professions.
After attending college at Indiana University, Bloomington, Smith precariously drove to Los Angeles in hopes of igniting a career in music, sleeping in the car along the way, with less than three hundred dollars in his pocket and zero job prospects.
As a gifted, self-taught musician skilled at playing five different instruments, Smith struggled with the degree of competition already in Hollywood. Ultimately, he befriended and worked with a multiplatinum music producer and many other talented musicians, but it became very much apparent that the secular music industry hype was not all it was cracked up to be.
