They were an ordinary group of people.
Nothing stood out
to make you think there was anything different
or odd about
them—except for what took place. No need to tell
you where
it happened—what country or town. That's not
important
and has no bearing on the matter. They were mostly men
with a few women among them.
One of the men said,
“Did you hear the news, God is dead.”
Another man said,
“What? What news? You mean someone
told you that?” The first
man said, “It was on television,
on the news. They announced
it. They said that God is dead.”
“That's ridiculous.” the
second guy said. “They wouldn't
announce such a thing.” Yet
another man said, “Of course
they wouldn't. How would anyone
know such a thing anyway?
It's absurd.” The first man said,
“Well I was wide awake
and I wasn't drunk and I know what I
heard. The TV guy said
'God is dead.'
The group
tightened. Everyone seemed suddenly interested.
They had never
talked about such a disturbing thing as this before.
This had
nothing to do with the weather or how someone got
ripped off at
some store or how someone wasn't talking to
someone or other
topics that protected them from deep think.
A woman
said, “Don't pay any attention to him. He's just trying
to
annoy everyone. You know how he is.” The first man said,
“What
did you mean by that? You think I have nothing better to do
than
make up things like this? I'm telling you it was announced
on TV.
He said 'God is dead.'
I should at least tell you they
were at a park with a very large
pond full of geese and ducks. It
was a beautiful summer day.
You need to know this because while
they were talking the
sky abruptly changed. It just went from
sunny and clear to
dark, windy, and scary—the geese and ducks
took off all at once
as though they all had the same thought
simultaneously.
Someone said, “What the hell's going on?”
Another said, “Jesus!”
They headed for a couple of
picnic tables under some trees.
A woman said, “It's just a
passing thunder storm. It'll be over
as fast as it started.” A
man asked, “Anyway, how can anyone prove
that God is dead?”
Someone said, “The same way you can prove
that He's alive.” A
woman said, “That's crazy!” They all fell silent.
The
storm passed and the sun came out but for some reason the
geese
and ducks didn't return. A woman said, “I have to go.”
She
headed for her car. A man said, “Yeah.” Another man said,
“I'm
tired.” They all got up from the picnic tables and left.
Copyright 2012 Robert D. McKinley
All rights reserved