welcome to the apocolypse

  I had read many post Apocolyptic peices of science fiction, but the Armageddon was different. For one thing it was a lot more fun.

  There was no super virus, or giant asteroid, there wasn't even four horsemen or giant sea monsters and horn blowing. There was just peace and quiet. All those televangelists and people knocking on my door early in the morning on a saturday when I was sleeping in; were finally gone. Since the churches were empty there was no reason to have the bells go off Sunday morning, so I could sleep in.

It wasn't untill I finally turned on the tv that I even noticed that the Armageddon had happened... and it really wasn't that bad. The vatican city was empty, allong with the middle east, and Tibet, and mexico and whole swaths of the midwest and the deep south. They were gone, but all of there material possessions were intact, their clothes left empty, no rotting corpses to dirty the streets.

First thing I did after the Armageddon was move. My appartment was tiny and after a bit of looking I found a nice house that was empty. After removing the crosses and pitching their small library of religious and self help books I moved in.

The next step was getting a new job, my boss had been quite metaphysical and he had dissapeared allong with the other loons. Luckily there were many jobs to choose from, and I got one on the city council right away. Politics were easy and now wide open for anyone not just the elite rich religious guys.

Politics were different too, for instance the state government seemed to take over, and we heard a lot less out of washington, The state finally passed all those laws that we had been fighting the religious zelots over for years. For instance we decriminalized drugs, made suicide legal with a liscence issued after a descent waiting period, and got rid of guns on the streets. Without illegal drugs and with so much to go around crime virtually dissapeared, and people finally calmed down and let others live.

Wich brings us to the changes on the global level, Since most of the governments that were at war were in religious nations suddenly the world got a lot more peaceful. Israel and Palestine were no more, and frankly no one wanted to step into their place. The land without the religious component was worthless. Korea was still there, but now that there were so many empty countries, the south Koreans just all picked up and moved, leaving the whole area to the communists who rejoiced for a while, untill they realized that the rest of the world had no use for them, and without the negotiating chip of harrassing their enemies they had nothing to barter with.

So for once there was world peace, mankind was entering a golden age, people helped their fellow man, not so they could get into heaven or win brownie points with the scary guy in the clouds, but just because there was plenty to go around now that the huge families were gone (suddenly we noticed how many children the adverage athiest had compared to the religious ones).

Life was so good in fact that it got Gods attention. Apparently he looked down and saw what a big improvement it was in the world without the dogma. God looked down and he was supprised and pleased, He saw people getting allong, sharing what they had now that there was plenty, taking care of the enviroment now that the status quo and the old men with the power were gone and scientists and liberals had control of things, and God noticed how the governments for the most part started to take care of their peoples, and gave health care and fixed the schools now that they werent subsadizing religions and everyone had a even tax rate.

Swallowing Darkness

  The drive home was short, but I felt myself slipping into a dark depression, the closer I got to home the deeper I sank. I sat in the car for what was probably only a few minutes, collecting myself, bracing for the inevitable battle that was to come. It felt like hours I sat there, fidgiting, tweeking my clothes, brushing invisible lint, brushing my hair, brushing off invisible dandruff, straitening my purse, searching for gum.... before I opened the car door and finally set my jaw and stepped up and out and squaring my shoulders I marched into my own home.

 The screaming began before the front door was even closed. His voice had that deep resonant growl wich he affected to proove to me that he was filled with (self) ritcheous wrath.

Where have I been? Who have I been talking to? Why was I so late?

Ive been at work, the only people I was talking to were my co-workers (all of wich are female), and I only got off work about ten minutes ago.

I whent to my room and closed the door. Removing my coat I hung it on the hook. Removing my shoes and making sure to line them up on the peices of tape on the floor, I put my keys on the peg and took my laptop out of its case and plugged it in, took my phone out of my belt pouch and plugged in its charger. I then turned, squared my shoulders again, took a look around to make sure that everything was in its place and whent back through the bedroom door.

Head ducked down to avoid eye contact I lunged into the kitchen and checked the fridge for ingredients for dinner. There was a pizza box on the oven half eaten, so I knew I was cooking for one. I popped a microwave meal in to cook and darted for the bathroom, but when I walked down the hall and passed his room his bellow called me to task.

Was I making another gad damn mess for him to have to clean? He was sick of the bullshit, I diddnt do enough around here and he was sick and tired of cleaning up after my arse.

No I will get it, dont worry, I have it all under control and you dont have to worry, would you like anything?

He already took care of himself, I never was home on time to provide, I diddnt cook what he liked, I spent too much on grocieries for things that he couldent eat etc.

After washing my hands and straitening the bathroom I whent back to stop the microwave before it beeped, he hated the damn beeping.

Life was becoming a endless cycle of work and ducking the gloom and doom that pervaded the house. I had my own room and he had his, the communal space he rarely walked through and when he did it was to stomp from one side of the house to the other while on a tirade about how filthy it was, how lazy I was, how miserable I made him.

I never whent into his room any more. He had projects he was working on, things I was not supposed to see.

I remember when I bought this house. I had been single, and had thought that I would use the larger back room for my bed since it had the attatched bath, and I would use the smaller front bedroom for a office. Once I adopted my (to) soon to be husband the living arrangements altered without my consultation. The futon in my office became my bed, and the back half of the house became off limits.

I diddnt know what he was working on, sometimes he would come out covered in dust wich looked like sawdust but it felt more like plastic grit between the fingers. Other times he appeared to be covered in paste, or fabric lint, or paint etc. The sounds from the room were unusual as well. There were machine noises, loud hammering, metalic whines, throbbing musical notes, and the occasional expletive shouted out at seeming random moments day and night.