Thursday, September 22nd, 11:31 A.M.
The third branch of The Church of the Holy God is
housed in this grand ethereal building with many archways, beautiful stained
glass window displays, and more granite than you'd likely find in an entire
mountainside. The third branch of The
Church of the Holy God has a tremendous resonance quality to it. You can hear every word that is said at the altar
of the church from pretty much anywhere in the building. You can also hear anything else anyone says,
as well as any large noises, including footsteps. The resonance quality of the church is meant
to foster an environment of reverence, mostly due to the fact that when
everyone can hear every little thing that you say you tent to talk less. It also alerts the Father of the church when
somebody enters his church because he can hear even the lightest of his
worshiper's footsteps.
When I entered the third branch church house, I
became aware of how much the sound of my footsteps carried. What I was not aware of was the man, who was
following the sound of my footsteps, walking up behind me. I was approaching the alter, efforting to
quiet my footsteps, when somebody placed a heavy hand on my shoulder. "Hello, my son." I swung around, ready to deliver a blow to
the person behind me. When I saw the man
I intended to attack, I immediately stopped myself. That's just the reaction I have to a tall,
older, opfer gentleman with a big smile on his face. The man looked into my eyes and read me like
a book. "Something is troubling
you, my son."
I looked around the spacious church, to see if we
were alone, before I said, "Are we safe here?"
The man looked perplexed by this. "Excuse me?"
"Are we safe here, because I saw those
uniformed verbrecher mobs with body armor and machine guns, and if we're not
safe here, we need to leave because those people can turn-"
The man placed his hands on my shoulders as a way to
get me to stop my frantic speech.
"Relax, my son, you are safe here.
Come, let's get you something to eat.
I find that a nice turkey sandwich brings peace to my mind."
The man took me back to the church's kitchen where I
could get a bite to eat and talk without everyone in the entire church hearing
what I was saying. After I got situated
and the man put some things together, the man slid a plate with a nice ham and
cheese sandwich over to me and said, "Now, tell me why you're so worried
about the people you saw carrying guns."
I tried saying, "It's not the guns, it's the
verbrechers! Do you now know what
they're doing-" Then the man
stopped me.
"Child, I can't understand what you're saying
with all that food in your mouth. Finish
what you're eating then introduce yourself.
My name is Eugene Ayah, but most people call me The Father."
I spent some time chewing, swallowed, and said,
"Hato. Hato Shurtleff."
"Good.
What brings you here, Hato?"
My reason for being here served as a good point to
tell The Father what had just happened to me, my family, and all the opfers in
Moenia Prima. The Father didn't
interrupt me as I spoke. He just let me
vent and vent and vent untill I could vent no more. Once I was done, The Father began doing what
came naturally to him. He began to give
me comfort.
"Hato, my son, I understand your
apprehension. Let me assure you, you are
safe here. Not just here in this church,
but in the grand city of Dha Chathair."
I was not assured.
"But what about-"
"Those men, with their uniforms and assault
weapons, are police officers, nothing more.
Those men carry those weapons as a crime deterrent, not to elevate one
class of people at the expense of another."
"But they're verbrecher! How am I supposed to trust them after what
they did."
"You need to let that go, my son."
"Let what go?"
"That mindset you just expressed. The way you blame all verbrechers for the
acts of a minority of them."
"But nobody stopped them!"
"Was that because they agree with them, or
because they fear them?"
I took a second to contemplate what The Father has
just said. "You have a point there,
Father."
"Hato, if there's anything I've learned about
people, it's that they're all different.
No two people think the same way, interpret things the same way, come to
the same conclusion in any situation for the same reason. To think that about people is ignorant and
prevents you from doing as the scriptures instruct us to do. To love all of our fellow men, equally and
without question."
The Father's words gave me something to think
about. Doing so only added to the good
feelings I got from my belly being filled with sandwich meat. "Yeah.
I think I do need to work more on loving my fellow man."
"As do we all, my son. What else do you plan to work on?"
"Well, I've been kind of slacking on
maintaining my osher skills. I can feel
my calf muscles starting to atrophy."
The Father smiled at me as he shook his head. "No, I mean work as in job, your role in
society, your purpose."
"The first thing I want to do is get to
Amcan."
"In Velas?"
"Yes."
"Why, my son?"
"To get in contact with the Velas Broadcast
News Service. To tell them, and then the
world, about what I experienced in Moenia Prima."
"Hmmm.
Intriguing. So, what else?"
"Huh?"
"Do you want to go about informing the world as
a side project to your main goal?"
With a tone of determination, I said, "No,
getting to Amcan is all I want to do."
The Father looked boldly into my eyes, as if he was
testing me. "Even if you sacrifice
everything to do so?"
"What else do I have to sacrifice? My family was taken from me, my friends also
taken, I left my home to save myself, the only think I have left is my
life."
"And if it comes to that?"
The weight of the possibility The Father was
bringing up hit me but did not knock me down.
"I pray it doesn't come to that, but my journey, my purpose, is
more important than me."
The Father broke his serious gaze and began fishing
around in my pocket. "I think I can
help you with that." The Father
pulled from his pocket a cell phone.
"Now, we can't send you straight to Amcan, we don't have an airport
and the roads aren't exactly ideal.
However, I do know a man who can direct you on to a contact I have in
Trebyer." The Father found the
address he was looking for and was about to write it down before I took out my
Hipster and put it in my contacts list.
I also found the best walking route to get to this contact, Samuel
Nongbu. When he saw my Hipster, The
Father offered to fill the battery on my device, which he did as I continued to
fill my belly.
My experience with The Father, upon reflection, is
kind of odd. The way that I quickly
trusted him is something I've never really done before. Perhaps what happened in Moenia Prima had
made me vulnerable. Perhaps I was
grasping at the only opportunity I saw to complete my journey. Perhaps I saw my father in The Father, due to
both men being older and calling me son.
Whatever it is, at least now I'm moving forward in my journey, the
journey I must finish if only so I'll have a purpose in life.
Later.
Hato Shurtleff
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