"Tribulation"

(This is as close to a "Horror" story as I've 'ever' written.)

 "BBC,...Bulletin,...07-31-16..."

"THE SACRED CITIES OF MECCA, JERUSALEM, ROME, LHASA, KYOTO, BANARAS, AND MACHU PICCHU HAVE VANISHED".

"THERE ARE UNCONFIRMED REPORTS OF OTHER SITES SACRED TO HUMANITY HAVING INEXPLICABLY DISAPPEARED".

"THERE HAS BEEN MASS HYSTERIA, AND VIOLENCE IN THE AREA’S SURROUNDING THE AFFECTED ZONES. ARMED FORCES, AND LOCAL MILITIA ARE TRYING TO RESTORE ORDER".

"IN WHAT IS PRESUMED TO BE A RELATED PHENOMENA. BOTH NASA, AND THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY HAVE REPORTED THAT THE REFLECTED LIGHT OF THE MOON IS CHANGING COLOR".

"IT IS SLOWLY FADING FROM WHITE TO YELLOW. A U.S.GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL DISCLOSED, "OFF THE RECORD",THAT NASA SPECIALISTS EXPECTED THE MOON TO SHIFT TO RED BEFORE THE WEEKS END".

"MOONLIGHT IS REFLECTED SUNLIGHT. NEITHER SPACE AGENCY HAS OBSERVED ANY SOLAR UPHEAVALS THAT MIGHT ACCOUNT FOR THIS ONGOING EVENT".

"THERE ARE NOW REPORTS COMING IN FROM THE NIGHT-SIDE OF THE EARTH THAT THE STARS ARE BEGINNING TO “WINK” OUT".

"THERE HAS YET TO BE CONFIRMATION FROM OFFICIAL SOURCES IN THE EAST."

"HOWEVER LONG DISTANCE PHONE CALLERS, SHORTWAVE BROADCASTS, AND INTERNET BLOGGERS ARE REPORTING BOTH THE DARKENING OF THE SKY, AND THE APPEARANCE OF WINGED BEINGS ABOVE........................."

New York City, East 12th Street...,

I turned the radio off.
He was awake again, the man with the terrible wounds. Blinking through red slits he "looked" up at me. With a tattered rasp he said,..."Agony, and I have become intimate friends." His voice was like wind over broken glass.

"We share the same body, the same nightmares."

The man,...the Angel? ..coughed molten gold from his ruined lips.

"Demons", "Pain Wraiths" did this to me."

"Those wretched children of Hades that rejoice in their dominion over your world." "For idle amusement they plucked out my eyes, and tore off my wings." "For spites sake they infected my soul with doubt, and so severed my umbilical to Paradise."

After these words the wounded man/Angel mercifully drifted again into sleep. The only sound that
cruel scrape of thin breath over sharp glass. At midnight there was a distant thunder,.. he stirred again.

He opened empty sockets smiled sadly and said,..."Silly Rabbit." "You have not escaped the fire." "You watched your calendar's, held your breath ,..then went back to sleep.

"But G-d's time is G-d's time."

"She will light Her candles, and burn Her worlds when she pleases."

The man/Angel gently touched my arm, and said..."These are the Days foretold you!" "Your Tribulation 'has' come." With a weary resignation he said..."Go to the window, and look at the sky."

I did.

I looked. It was gone.

There was no sky. No day, no night, no moon, nor clouds, nor stars. Just void. Void. A great silent Nothing.

"As it was in the beginning." Whispered the Angel." "Is now, and shall be forever-more."

I gazed into Heavens empty Chalice. Here at last was an answer to Faith. A "Sign", and most Terrible Wonder.

                                                          " A great silent Nothing."