The Calling

by Beth Griggs

     I’m pretty sure that I can recite the Bible to you. My favorite book in the Bible is Revelations. I don’t know why it’s my favorite. I guess it’s because it speaks of everyone’s destiny.

     The days were growing hotter in our small historic town. It had been a week and a half since the sun engulfed the planet Mercury. Venus’s nonexistence was quickly approaching and the Earth had a month, tops, before it’d be sucked into the fiery stomach of the sun. 

     Some people were running here, there and everywhere trying to stalk up on food and water. Some people were simply sun tanning naked on the tops of their roofs. My family and I were part of the sun tanning group. We knew there was no way we’d be able to survive the end of the world.

     My brother and I were playing our guitars outside the day before the world ended. I was teaching him to play because his dream was to be a rock star. We were working on the chords C, D and G when all of a sudden he started playing chords and tabs I’d never heard before.

     It was the most beautiful and complicated tune I’d ever heard. His eyes were glazed over and he was humming a gorgeous melody to the guitar part he was playing. I recognized the melody he was humming. My great grandmother hummed the same exact tune to me when I was little.

     My great grandmother and my little brother never met so I couldn’t figure out how he knew the captivating melody. While I was pondering this thought the beautiful guitar part stopped and went back to C, D and G. I stared down at him and he stared back up at me innocently. He stopped humming the melody.

      I asked him where he learned to play the infatuating song. He just looked up at me and said, “It plays over and over and over in my mind. Isn’t Papa’s song beautiful?” I stared down at him and replied, “yes, yes it is.”

     Shortly after the song incident we decided to go buy some candy. While we were walking to the store we saw an unfamiliar man standing on the corner of the street with a guitar. He was playing Papa’s song while glancing at people as if he were looking for someone.

     All of a sudden, my brother and a small girl with a Dora the Explorer blanket started playing and dancing in the street to the tune. They acted as though they were the best of friends but they’d never met before.

     The man stared at the little girl and my brother. With a thin smile, he turned around and walked away. My brother and the little girl ran after the man as though the man was pulling them by a string. I chased after them but a car swerved in front of me and nearly hit me. I fell over backwards and as I sat back up I saw my brother and the little girl disappear around the corner.

     I was frozen in shock as I noticed my surroundings. People were turning on each other. Kicking, fighting and killing was all I could see around me. Stores were broken into and a million tiny pieces of broken glass covered the ground. The sky was a burnt orange color and the heat was almost unbearable.

     A man came up behind me with a broken beer bottle in his hand and a crazed look on his face. I hopped up onto my feet and started running after me determined to catch up. I tripped over a child’s car seat and as the man approached his eyes grew wide and his body froze mid-stride. He collapsed in front of me and didn’t move again. I pushed myself up onto my feet and slowly backed away from the dead body in front of me. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

     I turned around and quickly strode away. I needed to find my brother before he was attacked by some mad man. I started running in the direction I last saw my brother. I ran around the corner and looked down the street. It was deserted of anything living. Dead bodies were everywhere. Some people hung themselves off of their fire escapes. Some peoples’ bodies were crumpled up and mingled. It looked as if a tornado from the pits of hell swept over the entire town.

     I could feel my skin burning as I sprinted to the park. That was the only place in town I hadn’t checked yet. I had been running all over town for what seemed like hours and I still hadn’t found my brother. When I approached the park I didn’t see anyone and my heart sank. As I was losing all hope I spotted a little Dora the Explorer blanket next to the river. I sprinted towards it as fast as I could. I was shocked at the sight I saw. In the middle of the river a man was baptizing my little brother while three other men played Papa’s song. When my brother was done being baptized he came and held my hand. The little girl went down to the river and went through the same process my brother just went through.

     When she was done being baptized my little brother looked up at me and said, “They want me to go now sissy. They say I’m special because I can hear the lord’s call. I love you so much. I’ll see you again someday soon.” With that said he turned around and walked down the river holding hands with the little girl. They faded out of view at the mouth of the river.

      I was frozen in place. I wanted to go grab him but I couldn’t. I wanted to yell out to him but I couldn’t. I couldn’t figure out what was holding me back.

     All of a sudden the sky turned blood and my mind was filled with regrets and memories. I remembered my grandmother and my brother humming the tune. I remembered building a snow man with my brother in the winter. I regretted not asking my great grandmother what the tune was. I remembered that. I regretted this.

     There was a flash of white light and I was standing in front of Jesus. He looked down at me with kind eyes and asked, “Do you believe in the father, the son and the holy spirit?”

     My alarm went off and I quickly hit the snooze button. That was the worst dream I’d ever had. I sat up, stretched and reached for the TV remote. I flicked on the television and there was breaking news. My eyes grew wide with fear as I listened to the reporters. The sun had just engulfed the planet Mercury.