#2 Johnny: Confusion the Day After

Johnny, The Day After, is a flash short story series. Join Johnny in his degenerate journey into the mystic world of the new global Chancellor. Experience his loneliness, pain, sorrow, and rebellion as he adjusts to being one of many who are left behind after the Rapture.

Now with confusion passing and resentment taking its place, Johnny found himself glued to the cable news network, watching each television host, unable to grasp and report the magnitude of what happened the day before.

Some were saying the Christian Rapture because they had heard through the grapevines of the church or read about it in a book. One newscaster mentioned a documentary he watched on The End Times. Others attempted to explain it scientifically, as in a massive UFO abduction, while others blamed it on a secret weapon the Russians had developed to vaporize people. However, Johnny noticed all of them needed to work on their inadequacies to explain what happened. 

Johnny was bewildered but not stupid. The only reliable source to discover what happened is the Bible, which his parents called God’s Holy Word. He remembered well his parents talking about the day that millions of authentic Christians would vanish from the earth as Jesus and His disciples predicted some two-thousand years earlier. As hard as it was for Johnny to admit, this was no longer a mystery but a past-tense fact—a fact once an inexplicable mystery is now a fulfilled Biblical prophecy. Johnny’s resentment toward his parents turned toward himself. He knew his rebellion toward his parents opened the door to facing the reality of knowing the Rapture took the world completely by surprise; it was an event anticipated and expected by Bible-believing Christians like his parents. Johnny’s eyes were wide awake to the probability that this was the beginning of the end. 

In the wake of Johnny’s discovery of what happened, his mind was undoubtedly flooded with questions about the future of humanity, his future. He began obsessing over what this Rapture was and what it was for. He started recording his questions. Questions like, Why did it happen? Why were so many people left behind? Where did all the people go? Is it too late for those left behind? Is there any hope? His biggest question was – Who is this Jesus? Johnny began to sob, so much so his sober mind slipped into ambivalence. His mind felt paralyzed. Anger quickly added to his ambivalence as he threw his parent's Bible across the room. He fell to the floor, concluding he was doomed and one of those who did not endure to the end. In his exhaustion, he drifted into a deep sleep.    

Within moments, Johnny found himself in a mysterious dream. A voice shouted out, Johnny, you have missed the expression & manifestation of the ecstasy & passion of being carried away by the supposed Son of God. Don’t worry. I will be His replacement. Follow me, and I will deliver you from the obsession of being left behind.  A dark cloud fell over Johnny as he wrestled with the dark presence of this voice. The darkness possessed his body and awakened his mind to another voice whispering - your rebellion is our delight. Our leader needs your tortured heart to build an empire of self-pleasure, self-love, and self-guidance. His love for you is filled with peace. He desires to give you the desires of your heart. Awaken and serve him! Johnny jumped up from the floor with a newfound purpose amid his troubled soul.   

As he stood in his empty living room, his attention was directed toward the cable news channel. An emergency broadcast overrode the local newscasters. A man, a well-groomed handsome man, began to speak to the world. He began with the words; You have a dream of a more perfect world. A world filled with peace & self-reliance. A world where hate, bitterness, and chaos exist no more. A world managed by a leader who fulfills your every dream. I am the new Chancellor of that world. I will bring peace and rest to what troubles your hearts. As fast as this news blurb popped onto the screen, it popped off.

Johnny stood there staring at the screen. While trying to get his bearings, thoughts began flooding his mind. Within moments, he started “preaching” to his empty room.

Behold, I will tell the world that the mystery has been resolved. We, the left behind, shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed at this moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the sounding trumpet of our new Chancellor. For he has sounded, those of us that remain shall be changed into his likeness. His incorruptible plans to bring peace on earth shall usher in a new age that will end all corruptible flesh. We must not be ignorant concerning these things. We must not sleep. We must stand with him. We must do our part, our best, to sustain and support our new Christ.

He thought, my rebellion now has a purpose. Johnny felt energized weirdly. He immediately ran to his neighbor's house and banged on the door as his fear-stricken new friend opened the door. With more confidence than ever, he related his dream to his neighbor, Angra Mainyu. To Johnny’s surprise, Angra said he had the same dream. 

Coming up next: POSSESSION OF THE LEFT BEHIND