For the Lord Dwells in Zion Part Two

I

         “Mary Ellen, is breakfast ready?” ah asked as ah walked out of the bedroom.
         “Yes, dear.” She ran a plate over to the table. Ah sat down in mah chair and looked down at mah food. Toast and eggs. Again. Same as every day. Ah glanced around at the house. Everything was clean and in order. There wasn’t a speck of dust. Mah painting was still on the wall, where it had been staring at me from for the last ten or so years.
         Ah crunched into the toast and mah mind filled with all of those familiar thoughts of hatred. Every night, ah lie in bed, thinking about mah hatred for toast. It’s bland. Crumbs everywhere. Gets stuck in your teeth. It’s horrible. Ah’ve come to realize that over the course of these last seventeen years. Seventeen years of lying in bed thinking of how ah hate toast and seventeen years of getting up every morning and realizing that it’s still as bad as always.
         Ah looked to Mary Ellen, who was now seated. She was staring at her food whilst shuffling it about her plate. “What do you have planned for today?” ah asked.
         “I don’t know. I might do into town and get some shopping done.”
         “It’s Sunday. Everything’s closed.”
         “Oh, well then, I guess I’ll be going to church.”
         “Ah don’t understand why you go to that. Doesn’t it bother you to have to see Morrow every week?”
         “Yes, but it’s how I was raised. I was raised to go to church.”
         “Alright. Ah’ll see you in a few hours then. Ah got up from the table and left. Whenever ah began thinking about Philo’s decline, ah did this.

The Ponderings of Elijah Wells

         When ah look around, ah see nothing of worth in out society. We go about our boring, repetitive lives, pretending everything is all right. Am ah really the only one that sees this? And worst of all, not one person is making the slightest effort to change things. Ah’m just as much to blame as the rest of them. Ah blame this shithole town. Morton has never brought a bit of good to anyone. If it were completely destroyed, it wouldn’t have the slightest impact on the rest of the world.
         Ah usually only see feelings like this when the children are in their teen years, but in mah case the feelings have only grown stronger over the years. Ah guess ah’ll never outgrow them.
         Ah see mahself leaving one day. Ah don’t know when, but it’ll be one of these days.

II

         Mary Ellen cleared off the table and washed the dishes. She went to the bedroom and got her sweater and then was out the door.
         It was a pretty day. Just like Preacher Morrow says “Every day will be a good day when you come to church.” She arrived a little late and wasn’t able to get her seat, so she was stuck in the back. The back wasn’t such a bad thing. At least back there her chances of making eye contact with Preacher Morrow were lower.
         He was already at the front, eyes on the floor, and pacing back and forth. He mumbled something inaudible and the entire congregation fell silent. “I’ve been doing this for a long time now. Eighteen years, seven months, last time I checked. I’ve had the pleasure of watching you change and grow. Seeing the births. Seeing the deaths. Quite a few deaths I’ve seen. I’ve even been involved in one. I’m sure you all know about the time when the good Lord worked through me to fight back against an evil.
         Last night, I had a dream, a vision. I could see the world for what it really is: a tar pit sucking everything in and a few lone souls struggling and doing everything in their might to break free. I talked to God. I asked ‘Why are we doomed to suffer in this stinking pit?’ He said nothing. Then I asked ‘What are we to do?’ Again, I got no response. Finally, I asked ‘Do you have anything that you would like for me to know, Lord?’ And in a voice so sweet, he said “You are cleansed, Philo. You are the clean one in this cesspool. It is your duty to lead to salvation.’
         The lord, your God, had made me a prophet. I know what must be done. To star, I will begin a baptismal service and will be taking confessions.
         Can you smell that? That stink of sin? Sin everywhere. It’s time to clear the air.

III

         Ah came home from my walk to fine Mary Ellen had beat me there. “You’re home early.”
         “His sermons keep getting shorter and shorter.”
         “That’s strange.”
         Then we sat there. She read a book and ah watched her. Ah wonder if she can tell what ah was thinking. Maybe she could sense the contempt ah felt for her. Maybe she knew that ah blamed her for this mundane life ah live.
         Ah watched her until it was night time. We went to bed and ah lied there staring at the ceiling. Ah wasn’t happy and ah wanted out. Ah wanted something new. Ah was sick of coming here ever day and staring at the same planks while listening to her breath.
         The next morning ah woke up to the sound of her vomiting. It’s really a pleasant way to start the day. When we sat down to eat, ah noticed a change in her. Her breasts were larger.
         “How long have you been pregnant? ah asked.
         “At least three months. That’s the last time we…”
         “Yeah.” It got quiet after that. Ah was busy in mah head. Ah was excited. Kids are fun. They get me. Ah like playing with them. Ah though about holding the warm little bundle in mah arms and teaching it how to walk and talk and read and mah name becoming Dad. And ah smiled.
         “Does that smile mean you actually want to have this baby?”
         “It does.” Ah may have been happy to be with mah wife too. Ah may have.

IV

         Philo stopped his pacing in order to get a good view of the crowd. He looked out at almost the entirety of the town. He scanned up and down until the one he was searching for appeared.
         “Let me begin today by thanking you all for being here. It’s always good to come to church, but today, today I have something important to talk about.
         Last night, I was praying to our heavenly father and I asked him about the future. I asked about what lay in store for us. And as if He sent a spirit to inhabit my body and control my actions, I began to write.
         When I was done, I examined what I had just transcribed. It was a description of the end of times. It said death was soon upon us. And it said only I can stop it from happening.”
         A balding man jumped to his feet and shouted “How are you going to do it?”
         “I’m fixing this town. Go in peace.” Preacher Morrow left. He walked out the door and waited to say good bye to everyone. The all passed, one by one, until Mrs. Wells went by. He grabbed her by the arm and said “I’d like to talk with you.”
         He walked her inside and slammed the door. Philo sat her down in a pew and he sat on the back of one, facing her.
         “How have you been, Mary Ellen?”
         “Just fine, Philo.”
         “That’s good. I’ve been hoping we could patch things up. I feel like we should put things behind us.”
         “Maybe you’re right.”
         “How are things with Elijah?”
         “Fine, Philo.”
         “Tell me about it.”
         “Well, we’re having a baby.”
         “Wonderful! I’m happy for you. But I meant tell me about your relationship."
         “Fine, but I’m telling you this in confidence.”
         “I won’t tell a soul. Who can you trust if you can’t trust a man of God?”
         “Things have been rocky. We rarely talk. We don’t spend time together. He doesn’t even want to touch me.”
         “I’m so sorry, Mary Ellen.” Philo sat down next to Mar Ellen and put his arm around her. “I really am. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done.”
         “Thank you, Philo. That really means a lot to me.”
         “There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for some time now. I’ve never stopped loving you.”
         There was a long silence and then Mary Ellen said “I’m sorry, but I’m married.”
         “Haven’t you ever wondered what would have happened?”
         “I guess so, a long time ago.”
         “Wouldn’t you like to find out?” Philo leaned forward and they kissed. They kissed a long and passionate kiss. Mary Ellen broke it off.
         “I cannot.”
         “You can.”
         “I cannot! I am a married woman! A married woman with child! This is adultery!”
         Philo reached out and placed his hand on her forehead and said “I forgive you, my child. It is adultery no more.”
         “How could a “man of God” abuse his powers like this?”
         “How could God abuse me by keeping us apart? I have worked so hard to unite this community under God. The least He could do is give me a wife as loving and as beautiful as you.”
         “No! I will not be a part of this!”
         “Fine, you snake of a woman. You will wish you had never gone against me. You will wish you had taken my offer. You will wish the Lord would save you. Get out.” The angered Preacher Morrow stormed off to his office in the back of the church and Mary Ellen headed home.

         She opened the door to find her husband waiting for her. “Hello, dear. How’s mah son?”
         “Son? How do you know it is a boy?”
         “Ah just know it will be. How was that damned fool’s sermon today?”
         “Very short. It couldn’t have been more than ten minutes.”
         “Ten minutes? You’ve been gone much longer than that.”
         “I… I went for a walk. I needed a bit of fresh air. If you’ll excuse me, I will get started on dinner.”

V

         Even with Preacher Morrow’s increasingly short sermons, the church was fuller usual. More and more people came to see him. Standing in the face of death and being filled with fear, they require something to calm their nerves and lead them through the darkness and they seemed to have found that in Philo Morrow.
         He appeared from his office, ready to go. “Hello, my fellow Mortonites.”
         Good days and good morning’s echoed throughout the building.
         “I know how to save this town. We must eliminate the scum plaguing us. Every heathen, addict, adulterer, rapist, and harlot. We will not sink with them. I will not burn with them.
         As I look around this room, I see many good and faithful citizens. You do good things, you come to church, and then you do more good. You will be rewarded. But I see one that will not. I see someone that would like to see the downfall of our civilization. I see a whore.
         A woman that sleeps around on her husband. She makes advances on other good, married men. She is worse than a prostitute because she gives it to anyone, whether they ask or not. She fouls up out town with her harlotry. She has even tempted me. Satan’s slut propositioning a man of God! She sits before us.” A long finger stretched out and directed the attention of the congregation to Mrs. Mary Ellen Wells. “Kill her."

VI

         Mary Ellen hasn’t yet returned from church. Ah’m going to find her. Ah followed her path to the hill on which Morrow Church stood. At the base there, ah smelled something foul. A stink so awful that it could only belong to a great sin.
         Ah climbed to the top to find what was left of a woman. The remains of mah wife. She was bound to the gate. Her hair had been cut. She still had small patches, but not many. Ah could see scalp. Ah could see bloody scalp. Her hair lay in a pile below her feet. Blood and bruises covered her naked flesh. There were cuts all over her. In her chest, someone carved the letters W-H-O-R-E. And her stomach, pregnant no more, was slashed open. The trail of blood across the ground led right to mah son, no bigger than mah thumb. Mah only god damn child was murdered before he was even born.
         Ah threw open the gate and went in the church. Ah intended to pray to God. Ah wanted to know why the hell mah son had been taken from me. Ah found something else though. There was Philo Morrow, sucking down peel liquor.
         “Morrow! What the hell happened out there?”
         “Out where?”
         “Maybe the place with mah dead son!”
         “Oh, yes. Oh, yes. The whore. As a prophet, I must lead this town in eliminating people like her. It’s a message to the others, so they know I’m coming for them.”
         “Are you telling me you did this?”
         “It’s been a while, Elijah. I’ve missed you.”
         “Answer the question.”
         “Why didn’t you talk to me?”
         “Why do you think?”
         “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you were a horrible friend. I’m a little drunk now, so I can’t know for sure.”
         “Did you kill them?”
         “With the help of the others. They tied her and beat her. I sliced her open.”
         Ah walked over to him and snatched away his bottle. Ah smashed it on his face. The bottle shattered and glass embedded in his face. Ah pried open his mouth and shoved the broken neck down his throat. Ah listened to the blood gurgling while he grabbed at his throat. Ah sat down on the pew and watched as he drowned on his own blood.
         Mah head bowed and ah prayed. “You’ve done nothing for me. Ah have nothing. Ah blame you for the loss of mah son. Ah blame you for it all. And ah hope your ‘prophet’ is burning for what he did. Amen”
         Ah walked home and came back with 8 feet of rope. Ah dragged Prophet Morrow up the stairs and to the roof. Ah knotted it around his neck and dangled him above the front door of the church, for everyone else to see. Then ah left.
Ah looked up to the heavens and it started to rain.