THE FALL Copyright © George John Kingsnorth 2008. All Rights Reserved.
CHAPTER TWO
____ Summer 2007, the unusual weather fronts meant week after week of torrential downpours. Many attributed this to climatic change and global warming. The ice caps were melting, sea levels were rising, rivers were not being dredged and river defenses were not being maintained.
In the early part of June, Yorkshire was hit with flash floods due to the intense rain. People were even being airlifted from the roof tops of their work. As July arrived, southern England got their share. The Thames broke its banks, Oxford saw floods then Gloucester was under water especially around Eversham.
____ Meanwhile, in Europe many countries were witnessing a soar in temperatures. Five hundred people died in Hungary from the unusual heat-waves followed by over thirty more deaths in Romania. Serbia lost more than thirty percent of its agricultural harvest while in Bulgaria temperatures rose to forty five degrees centigrade. Former Yugoslavian government bodies recommended that those who worked outdoors cease after 11.00am to prevent sunstroke or heat exhaustion. In Macedonia, a fierce battle was being fought as a raging forest fire threatened Bitola, the second largest city.
____ Some considered this was a lead up to the end of the world. Christianity also seemed to have lost its way. Some priests, ministers and vicars were being arrested and shamefully found guilty of being pedophiles. No-one wanted to spend their lives as celibate or in the service of non-catholic denominations.
____ The news during July occasionally concerned protesters who had tried to prevent a sacred bullock from being slaughtered after the Welsh Assembly ordered the destruction of Shambo when he tested positive with bovine tuberculosis. A Hindu educationalist criticised the way the media had hyped a local story, making thousands feel their religious beliefs were under threat.
____ The war in Iraq was creating more problems associated with terrorism, fuelling the problem instead of swaying things. Muslims felt the American were giving them no other options, their lifestyle was being threatened by the West’s attempts to impose the American way.
____ So as Wednesday morning spun into being in the first week of August, those racing to work were more concerned with whether they had recharged their mobile phone batteries or if they had remembered to put enough money in the bank to cover all the bills going out that month or whether the bank would unload a stream of more penalty payments. Material things clouded minds. Most were trying to keep up to date with technology in order to keep their jobs, regardless of whether they wanted to or not. Most occupations were no longer permanent, only temporary contracts. Homes were costing sometimes five or six times the average monthly incomes causing many to remain in the same houses for years. The young could not afford to buy, or even rent. Television programmes made them feel discontent, making everyone want to sell up and move on to better things. Most were over stretched and there was an increase in repossessions. Car insurance was so high that teenagers resorted to breaking the law to get mobile. Many young men turned to suicide, as they saw no future for themselves. College fees restricted progression from school into higher education.
____ The rain, the constant rain, pummeled the crowded streets, further adding to their depression. They could not lift their heads to see what was around them, to get away from their inner thoughts, to see beyond their own small lives.
____ Yet, unnoticed, high above in the stratosphere another storm was brewing, not of metrological pressures of low and highs but of something more sinister. Shafts of light splintered across the dark globe from the rising sun. Then came the speed. Falling, falling, falling. Whistling winds pierced ears. Falling, falling, falling. Puncturing clouds, descending towards the ground, still thousands of feet below. A dark shape, from a dot, grew closer. It too was in the same trajectory. More clouds. A jumbo jet was barely missed, as unaware, passengers ate their in-flight meal. Falling, falling, falling. The dark shape now took on form, a demon. Dark wings folded back to increase its speed. It turned to see its pursuer. Panic. Nearly tumbling out of control then regaining composure, it darted away in another direction, heading towards the darkness of night.
As the demon streaked across the sky, a light punctured the clouds rapidly drawing closer. The demon, petrified by its inability to gain any more distance from its pursuer, sought refuge amongst the rain clouds of a nearby city.
____ At a large corporate building the concierge opened the double doors for a man in his forties. “Goodnight, Mister Peterson.”
____ “Goodnight, Harold.”
____ Peterson walked into the rain and began struggling to open his umbrella. He ran out to the side of the kerb.
____ “Taxi, taxi!”
____ One came up close, straight through a puddle, drenching him in a cascade of water.
____ “Bastard!”
____ A second taxi did the same. Looking skyward through nail-like rain drops, Peterson cursed more profoundly. The words rose, reaching the demon’s ears as it battled with the being of light. Each strike of the sword sent streaks of lighting in every direction. Eager to escape the onslaught of the angel’s blade, the demon desperately searched for the man who uttered the curse. Spotting him, the demon disengaged from battle and, free falling toward earth, plummeted straight into Peterson’s body. He crumbled to the ground but no-one noticed. Nobody stepped aside from their own problems to give him aid. He may as well not have been there. No recognition was given to the businessman’s existence. No one cared. Only when Peterson bounced onto his feet like a puppet, did anyone begin to take notice. There was something odd and those around the drenched businessman sensed there maybe a threat to their pointless lives.
____ “Get out of my way, drunk!” screamed a young female executive. A fat man poked Peterson with a brolly.
____ “Get away, go on. You can’t stay there! Be off with you.”
____ A young mother pushing a pram, nervously made her way over to a couple of police men. The two officers approached Peterson who seemed intoxicated.
____ “Come on, sir. This is no time to be walking around under the influence of alcohol. You can’t stay here! Someone will get hurt!”
____ When the two policemen grabbed Peterson by his arms, one was suddenly flung across the street. The second was grabbed by the throat. Peterson’s face took on the demonic form of his possessor.
____ “Too right but I imagine you didn’t expect it to be you, did yah?”
____ Blood began to run down the side of Peterson’s fingers as the policeman’s eyes rolled upwards. Peterson looked up into the sky and laughed at the angel. The angel plummeted earthwards.
____ Peterson threw the policeman into the road. A taxi tried to avoid the body and steered into oncoming traffic. The crunch of metal and cars catapulting over one another sent the crowd screaming. Peterson looked about him and began to violently slaughter those in his way. More cars crashed into each other as they tried to avoid the mad man rampaging from one side of the street to the other.
____ The angel bounded across wreaked vehicles and plunged his sword into Peterson, piercing the demon within. The mortal looked at the angel in sheer surprise and terror, then dropped to the ground while the demon burnt and was vaporised leaving a pungent stench of sulphur in the air. Several people on the sidewalk vomited in the gutter. The angel sheathed his blade and folded away his wings. Unnoticed, his brilliance dimmed to a point where the angel was indistinguishable from any other human trudging through the rain. With his job done the angel strode into the shadows, while those around him raced to help others less fortunate.
THE FALL Copyright © George John Kingsnorth 2008. All Rights Reserved.
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