Miss BayLeaf
The ground is shaking. It is shaking with such fury that the convulsions vibrate through the mind and the belief. Smoke covers the baby blue skies with gloom, the fumes play tricks on your mind. The red sun glazes through the day despite the prayers of many. The cries of the forgotten are short of filling the ears of the indifferent.
Trees break from the stems that gave them life, the ground tears apart just like the holy book torn between two different scholars. Lives sandwiched between the layer of dust they once called home.
Did Israfil blow the trumpet of doom or is it the constant ringing in my ears? Did you see Azrael sitting atop the hill or is it another spirit who entered through the crack freshly formed in the ground from the land of the dead spirits, wide enough to fit a skeleton?
The chief and the mystic man of the Northern Shamans believe this the call from the gods: the world is about to end. He is pretty sure it is not a warning of their insufficient faith. This is unfortunate just as people could make time to question, now they have to spend that time worrying.
On that faithful Tuesday of December 19th the chief had the opportunity to have a casual chat with the gods. Their lack of hospitality, they didn’t even offer him any appetizers; at least they were kind enough to allow him some of the offerings which he delightfully devoured in his personal time. From what I remember, they were discussing the end of the world. I believe they should have made up their minds before they sent their message through the shaking, this is not a children’s game.
Thursday, the world is officially ending on Thursday. Why not a Sunday, when everyone is available?
Preparations started the moment the news spread, considering it spread like wildfire they had enough time. People are freaking out. Why would you be intimidated by the thought of the afterlife, didn’t you already spend your life preparing?
It all starts with completing a shortened bucket list, doing all the cliché stuff people think will differentiate their life from the “normal”. Next is going to put on weight, or trying new dishes as some people like to call it. It’s plain stupid, what if I don’t like the food? I wouldn’t wanna bear the aftertaste for the whole eternity.
The neighboring tribe is packing for the long trip too. I thought they didn’t agree with our gods. The non believers started praying too, I still remember when they would swear up and down how they needed no god, guess they didn’t need them back then when the world was still rotating. With the workload of the deniers added, I wonder how the gods keep up with such a busy prayer season.
I am a minimalist, have been for a while, so I didn’t have much to pack other than my values and ideologies while some people had a lot of guilt and fault, while others had a lot of oppression that would last for eternity, maybe they had prepared it for this very occasion.
Tomorrow’s the end of the world. Chaos is too settled when you think tomorrow you won’t be. People are searching for the best deal for a 2+1 house in Heaven. The prices have increased due to high demand. Maybe I should open a real estate agency, they say it brings good money, I can even find myself a little bungalow in the forest of the gap realm; though I suppose I won’t be allowed the money I earn in the afterlife. I could ask the mystic man what he is planning on doing. Maybe there is a secure bank with a Heaven and Hell department he could offer me.
I went out to have one last walk on my street, I sure wished it would be a calm last walk but the buzzing of people wouldn’t let me be. At every corner you would see people giving the homeless, who have been living on the street for the past decade, food and money. I guess the shaking cleared the mists in their eyes that they can now see the ones who had once been invisible to them. Yet this only lasted until someone else came and stole it all, food is scarce when there are no stops on the way to Hell.
I soon decided to return home for one last time. I told people I wanted to rest before the trip, but the real reason was the herbs they were burning in the town center, shocking that the fumes didn’t bring the end closer. It is said to repel the demons. They shouldn’t bother, they are probably waiting for us up in the skies, it’s our turn to pay them a visit. Normally turmeric and saffron repel evil and wash you off your sins until you bathe to wash off the nasty smell. Though it’s rare that these two are burned probably due to abundance, they must have paid a hefty amount. It didn’t matter since it is common belief that they weren’t going to take their money with them, they would’ve known the truth if they had asked the chief. Oh well, they might as well feast.
Murder rates increased though not at an appalling rate, only a couple times the normal amount. The blood feuds have raged, both sides wanted the upper hand, maybe to show off to the gods their god given strength, or they just didn’t wanna risk having to wait in the same line at the gates of heaven, for it would never open.
During all this chaos nobody even realized they had forgotten to say their goodbyes. They probably didn’t mind since they would meet again in the afterlife. Or maybe they didn’t mind not seeing each other for eternity.
The day has arrived. Tonight, it all turns into mere darkness. Their obsolete skeletons in the clouds with the angels impatiently waiting for new pieces in their collections. Everyone is returned to their own omnipotent creator. Soon enough the query will begin, I wonder if the questions will be on topics they had studied. Furthermore, I hope at least a couple will pass, you wouldn’t want Hell to be overpopulated, that would make it even hotter.
Everyone took their seats after sunset as they waited for the dark night to swallow their finite souls altogether. You don’t have to dream of paradise any longer, nor do you have to keep waiting. Aren’t these the people who had already placed people in the afterlife like chess pieces? Categorized them on the gods’ judgement according to their judgement? Why do I see them biting their lips and nails? Those are habits the gods don’t like. What if this changes their placement? Aren’t they worried?
With the winds blowing hard from the north, the stars marked the start of doom, only a couple hours till there is no more. Fasten your seatbelts, only a precaution although the ground only shakes for the sinners.
People keep waiting, the impatience grows and people start to feel anxious. Don’t fear, Heaven is a beautiful paradise. Such an inconvenience for the atheists, they should’ve fought and spilled blood in the name of the gods, entered the sacrificial rituals when the red moon was still in the sky.
Minutes turned into hours. They waited but the lack of clocks made it hard to mark midnight but it is apparent that something is wrong.
The children’s flesh didn’t melt off their fresh faces. This is horrifying. The prophecy isn’t completing itself. The sky was clear of any smoke, shining enough for one to count every star, not a bad idea because that’s all you can do while you wait for the world to end.
The mystic man didn’t scratch his beard because he didn’t have one nor did he have messy hair. That’s why I believe he was, all along, a fake. I know others would agree but people don’t like to take chances when the end is close.
The gods had forgotten to set their alarm, which explains why this winter night was longer than any other, and slept in. Apocalypse is postponed till next time. Poverty arises among sinners. Now the mystics have to find something to do with all the money.
Exaggerated to fit the future.
IG: @miss_bayleaf_
Featured Photo by Vladislav Nahorny (Pexels)
