by Mahaloth
Imagine a world without hope, a world in which the chief feeling in the hearts of men was the knowledge that things could only get worse.
This was the world John Hellig created. It was idyllic for him, an entire planet that existed solely for him to rest his wearied mind. It had been his home before, but his modifications to it made it somehow more calm and collected, organized in a way that promoted “peace of mind.”
His memory of his life before he had left here was vague at best. He knew he had been gone long in Earth time, but how long? Years? Decades? Centuries? It didn’t matter. By the time he returned, his home planet had no emotional impact on him; it was but a distant memory, mostly consisting of disease, death, and destruction. He quickly set up his empire there and immediately began to mold the world to his liking.
At first, the people of Earth thought him to be their savior, he who was, “gone for awhile and has now returned to liberate us.” Soon, they learned that he was the threat from which they needed salvation.
As he sat alone in his dining room, his long shiny black hair tied back so as not to interfere with his eating, he meditated on his current situation. The people fear me now, they detest my name. The people hate me now as they hated me then. Earth is a better place for having me here. And so it goes.
He stared at his food with a steady gaze, not moving for hours. And so it goes, and so it goes, and so it goes, in my beautiful world, he thought.
He remained still and by doing so, he kept everything in perfect order.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Elsewhere, a child and her mother walked hand in hand along the street amidst the poverty and dirt.
“Mommy, is John Hellig God?”
There was a silent moment, not only because of the oddity of the question, but also because she had said the name that was not permitted to be said.
Her mother looked down. “Shut up, Katherine. Never say that name again, not even in private.”
“Why?”
“Just don’t. And don’t ask questions about him either.”
“I just wanted to know… He sure seems like God,” she muttered as they walked along.
And so it went.
* * * * * * * * * * *
John’s head attendant, Leif, entered the dining room. Most of his servants were forbidden to ever even see him, let alone talk to him, but Leif was occasionally allowed to make work-related comments. He was shocked to see John still sitting at the table; it had been so long, the servants had come to the conclusion that he had left the table and gone to bed.
“My Lord, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I had no idea you were still here…” Leif sputtered anxiously.
John studied Leif. Was he a pre-existing creature? He was certainly old enough to have been alive before John’s triumphal return. Even so, It was becoming virtually impossible to discern who had been created out of his own mind and who remained here from the before time.
“Leif, do you remember anything from before I came to Earth? Do you remember the before time?” John asked.
Leif paused and a bead of sweat streamed down his cheek. “My Lord, there was nothing before you. You are everything and from you comes all life.”
John nodded slowly and then bowed his head. My beautiful world, my beautiful world, my beautiful world. And so it goes in my beautiful world.
He looked up and said, “You are dismissed.”
Leif raised his eyebrows. “May I take your plate, my Lord? Are you finished?”
John pushed his plate toward the center of the table. “Yes, I am finished.”
* * * * * * * * * * *
Katherine enjoyed dusk, for it was the only time she was permitted to spend any time in leisure. She and her friend Lyle, who was four years older and equally more intelligent, were outside on the porch talking.
Katherine lowered her voice and said, “Lyle, is John Hellig God?”
Lyle remained silent for a moment and then said, “He created us, that is all I know.”
Her eyes opened wide in surprise. “Created us? Then he is God. Then are we real?”
“Well, that depends on what you mean by real. Is anything real that comes from the mind of something else?”
Lyle got up and went back inside, leaving Katherine sitting on the porch by herself. She remained there and contemplated what Lyle had said. Finally, an overwhelming sense of fear, emptiness, and despair arose within her heart and a shiver went through her body as she considered the implications of their conversation. When it was entirely dark, she stood and went back into her home, vowing to herself never to pursue more information about John Hellig.
And so it went.