The doctor opened the door and waved him into the room. Skylar proceeded into the room and quickly recognized Julie seated by the wall. Another man was seated next to her with a notepad in his lap.
“Don’t mind them. We need to start a new file on you and your experience. One is here for medical notes and the other is here to offer technical and scientific input,” the doctor stated, “Have a seat by my desk.”
Skylar nodded a greeting to Julie then sat down in the comfortable chair.
“You mentioned not wanting to be left alone anymore,” the doctor said, situating himself at his desk and setting his glasses down, “Did you ever have fears of being left alone before you went on this trip?”
“When I arrived at… at my destination,” Skylar started to say, “Do I need to use those obscure terms also or can I just say what really happened?”
“You’re free to talk however you want to talk in this room,” he replied with a chuckle.
“Well then, I programmed the machine to send me to 2110. Through some flaw in my programming or in the machine itself, I ended up arriving in 3110. The world that I arrived in was cold and dead. I spent almost 14 years alone,” Skylar said, hearing someone clear their throat at the back of the room, “I was on the verge of literally losing my mind. Don’t make me be alone anymore. No matter what comes of this investigation or whatever punishment you inflict on me, don’t leave me alone. I served my punishment already.”
The doctor set he pen down and looked up at Skylar.
“There was no one at all to talk to or to associate with?” he asked.
“I found a computer. It was almost a form of artificial intelligence to keep me company for part of the time, but it just wasn’t the same. Every single being on Earth was dead – humans, animals, you name it,” Skylar stated.
“Excuse me,” the man interrupted from the sofa behind him, “You said 3110, right? How do you know this was the year?”
“I saw the numbers in my field of vision when I was transported. Also, I found multiple journals and net entries to support the approximation of that year at least.”
“That’s only about 1100 years in the future. Were you able to identify why everyone had died?” he asked.
Skylar nodded then looked up at the doctor.
“Yes, but I don’t really want to answer that. Fourteen years in solitary confinement can really mess someone up. However, I remained clear-headed enough to discern what was real and what wasn’t,” Skylar said, “If I told you what all happened, you’d write it off as the hallucinations of a madman.”
The doctor scribbled something onto his notebook and then glanced at Skylar again.
“You seem to be aware of who you are, where you are at, and the date today. You apparently know where you’ve been and how much time has passed. If I turned in my evaluation right now, I’d say you’ve got a pretty good handle on things,” the doctor stated, “So why don’t you tell us what happened? How come everybody was dead?”
Skylar turned and looked at the two people seated behind him. Then he glanced back at the doctor. He leaned toward the doctor and gestured him closer. The doctor leaned forward and cocked his ear to Skylar.
“Do you have a Bible handy?”
8
Four months later
Skylar shivered as he picked up the gallon of milk and checked the date. He then glanced at the jug that was behind it and realized that it offered him three more days. He grabbed the other jug and placed it into his cart next to the bananas. Then he returned the other gallon.
He didn’t come dressed for the grocery store today. It didn’t matter that it was eighty degrees outside. It was a known fact that if you wanted to shop at The Big Saver, you needed to bring a jacket. He shivered again as he started up the frozen foods.
He raced halfway down the aisle before he located the pizzas. He quickly opened the glass door and snatched up two of the thin-crust pepperoni pizzas. He then tossed them into his cart and darted down the aisle in an attempt to leave as quickly as possible.
Skylar steered sharply at the donut display and almost immediately plowed into another cart. He stopped quickly and held firmly to the handle, nearly screeching to a halt.
“Pardon me…” he began.
The woman startled him. His eyes shot open and he felt his heart suddenly race in fear. He thought he had been rid of the apparitions.
“Tiara?” he whispered.
“I’m sorry?” she said, unsure of what he just called her.
“Are you… are you real?” he asked.
She offered him an apologetic smile then steered her cart away.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. You looked familiar to me. I… I lost someone…” he said, rushing up to her.
She stopped finally and watched him pull up beside her.
“I’m sorry. No, my name isn’t Tiara,” she said, still appearing anxious to get away.
“But, I’m sure we’ve met. I…” he started to say, “Please don’t run away from me. Please?”
“I’m not running. But I’ve got to admit that you are kind of scaring me. Where do you work?” she asked, “Maybe we met at a Christmas party or something.”
“I’m sort of unemployed now. I was in the military and… let’s just say that I’ve been laid off,” he said, searching for something to keep her from leaving, “You’re a Christian.”
She stepped back and chuckled.
“Well, yes I am. Do you go to my church?” she asked.
He finally smiled and stuck out his hand to shake hers. She looked down at his hand and then shook it.
“No, I don’t go to your church, but I’d like to. I have quite a story I’d like to tell you if you would please go to lunch with me. I know this great place down on Main Street. If you say no, I will fall down onto the ground and start sobbing loudly. I’ll roll around and throw a tantrum like you’ve-”
“I’ll go,” she interjected with another chuckle, “But you’ll have to tell me the story of why you are so persistent.”
“That’s the exact story I was going to tell you,” he said as they started walking toward the checkout lanes, “My name is Skylar Rains.”
“Hello Skylar. My name is Sierra. That’s why it caught me off guard when you called me Tiara,” she replied.
“Can I ask you a crazy question?”
“As if you haven’t already?”
“Would you introduce me to Jesus before we get to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb?”
“Now that really is a crazy question,” she said with a laugh.
She turned to him and smiled. His expression revealed a childlike sincerity to his question.
“Yes. Yes, I’d be glad to,” she replied.
The End
Matthew 22:11 – 14
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend’, he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.
“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Isaiah 65:17 - up
“Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.
“Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days
of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are speaking I will hear.
Isaiah 60:19
The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever.
Try these 99-cent
Kindle Books by Scott McElhaney:
One Crazy Summer
Saving Brooksie
Daylight in Blossom
Scott McElhaney is the winner of the 2008 Christian Choice Book Award for his first novel “Mommy’s Choice” published under his pseudonym Scott Curtis. He recently started submitting his books to Amazon for Kindle publication so they would be available at a more reasonable price and to distinguish these, he published them under his real name.
Event Horizon Page 22
