The Resurrection

The world hardly took note when an unknown man stepped forward and announced on a local radio station that, “He is coming back and the world will change with His return!!”

No major news networks or national newspapers reported on Mr. Howard Peter Lavell’s claim that there would be a number of signs that would herald the return on December 21, 2012. What few people did hear Mr. Lavell’s announcement listened, shook their heads, and went about their daily lives that spring of 2012.

But when CNN reported that Iran’s nuclear program had gone up in a terrible ‘accident’, killing several hundred thousand-just as Mr. Lavell had predicted, suddenly the world took notice of the preacher from southeastern Virginia. From a local television station, he was interviewed and heard around the world.

Mr. Lavell did not hesitate, “My friends, He is coming back and the world will change forever. Do not worry, do not change what you are doing, fear not for He has watched from afar and will set things right for all eternity.” The reporters clamored for attention-how did he know about the accident, what other signs would be seen, what exactly did he want from the people-the questions were as rapid fire as bullets from a gun.

Mr. Lavell, who insisted on being called ‘Brother’, raised his hands, “The signs came to me in a dream. I saw the destruction of the weapons in the desert and He told me that it was His work. He told me that there would signs of destruction of false idols. He also instructed me to tell the world that when He returns, that the people should wait for His arrival with anticipation.” With that, Brother Lavell left the studio to the shouts of reporters and those waiting to see the man himself.

Within weeks, the signs that Brother Lavell predicted started to take shape: a massive Cat 5 hurricane swept over the island of Cuba, destroying everything in its path; an earthquake in Rome destroyed the Vatican; a people’s revolution in China, North Korea and Vietnam swept the communist regimes out of power-though the death tolls were in the millions.

All through this, Brother Lavell’s following grew as more and more people started to believe in his words. Every news outlet had updates on what he had to say. His picture was on every magazine, every newspaper. The internet was filled with stories about his life, his habits, but most important his message.

“At dawn on December 21, 2012, all people should gather at the shore of the Atlantic to prepare for His return. There will be one more sign, and then His reign over the earth will begin. And a new world, a new future for all of us will take place.”

*****

It was an usually cold morning on December 21, 2012. Brother Lavell, along with thousands of believers, reporters, and the curious, was standing at Cape Hatteras watching the ocean on that cold, grey morning. He turned to the crowd and shouted, “Now, the final sign will appear!!”
All eyes turned to the cold Atlantic. At first, nothing happened. Then someone shouted, “Look out there!!”

There was a tumultuous splashing about fifty yards offshore. The fish were jumping wildly, along with whales, porpoises, and sharks in a mad dash to the shore. Without hesitation, all the creatures of the ocean threw themselves on the sandy shore to their deaths. The people gathered started to murmur to themselves, but Brother Lavell raised his hands, “Fear not, brothers and sisters, for it is TIME!!! HE HAD RETURNED!!!” Brother Lavell turned to the ocean and started to speak softly; those standing around him said it was a prayer, but it was in a language that they had never heard before.

All eyes turned to the ocean. Without warning, the ocean turned a dark, angry color. The waves increased their intensity until the people were driven back in terror. The clouds parted and the sun turned blood-red. Brother Lavell kept on with his quiet prayer. Then he threw up his arms in triumph and shouted, “Behold!!! He is risen!!!”

The ocean exploded as if a volcano had erupted just under the surface of the water. A monstrous apparition rose from the dark water-terrible and colossal. It had the body of a man, but the skin was a sickly green, with pulsating veins running over its body. The head was misshapen-part man, part elephant with tentacles writhing around its head. Its eyes were as black as onyx, without any emotion in them at all.

The monstrosity rose into the air, dwarfing everything around it. It through back its head and roared at the heavens in the same language that Brother Lavell spoke. The sky tore asunder, as if a claw had been dragged across a piece of tissue. The jagged opening was full of stars-and other monstrosities like the demi-god standing in the ocean. The others started moving through the opening towards their kin.

The people watching in horror stood still only momentary, and then bedlam took over. People were crushed as they tried to run from the horror that rose from the sea. But the terror was soon replaced by a new horror-some of the people started to change. Some of those present started to mutate, turning into smaller, but just as frightening, version of the horror in the ocean. These new creatures turned on those not affected and began to slaughter them as a butcher would slaughter sheep.

A woman, her face covered in blood as her scalp had been ripped from her head, grasped at Brother Lavell’s coat and screamed, “But this isn’t how God was supposed to return to His people!!!!”

Brother Lavell turned around, his eyes now as black as the giant from the depths, smiled a madman’s smile and said quietly:

“I never said it was GOD coming back, now did I?"