BABY KILL
(by Alan P. Hicksey)
There exists a dog with rabies. In fact it would be incorrect to deduce that for all people there exists a dog with rabies. It's the other way around. There exists a dog with rabies for all people. Without any other context, also, there exist a man with rabies.
Prophet had the know-it-all. He had the knowledge, gain, and worth to pull them all through. He became the most respected man in the community. Some dubbed him as infallible. He gained Parker Haites' "Man of the Year" award. It was bestowed upon him because of his community service and because of his preachings, teachings, and scientific observations. He predicted many disasters and because of this, lives were saved. But there was much more to it than that. His new mission was to save the others from the new deterrent, from the new evil. Yes, he had told people about it but this time many believed that the man was getting too old for his time. And he was getting there. He was seventy-four years and still decaying. But he knew he was not senile. He knew the way. He always had this sort of sixth sense about himself ever since he was really young. He was in his final years. He felt it. Nothing was simple anymore. The new threat was bigger than himself.
Two hundred meters away from Prophet on Sunday, March 7 at 3:17 p.m. was Nyree. She dropped off her five year old son at her boyfriend's house and was now meeting her friend, Philip, at the local establishment Chuck's Chicken and Molasses. Death by ash was hanging over Philip's head. Nyree began to realize this. He had been losing weight violently but nothing could be done about it. She watched as he licked the molasses off of his finger.
"It's a Poisson random variable," Philip said.
"I guess so," said Nyree, "but...I don't know, I really hate this. All these years in college and I have nothing to prove them, at all."
"We move through those images, you know," Philip said and pointed at the huge billboard outside.
"I worry about you, Phillip," said Nyree, "you're just not yourself lately. I know it's hard to lose someone like Jen, but it's been three years now. You have to move on. There's no sense in having no direction. There's..."
"Can we not talk about this," said Phillip in the most pitiful voice Nyree has ever heard.
She looked around the fast-food restaurant and pin-pointed her eyes on Prophet, who was blandly drinking his coffee. He looked at her and gave her the evil eye.
"I hate that man," said Nyree.
"Who," said Phillip turning around, "Prophet. You hate the town's most respected and loveable man. That's really interesting."
"I don't know," said Nyree, "but there's something about him that I just don't like. I can't put my finger on it. It seems like he knows I can see through him and he doesn't like that fact... like he's got something to hide, when in reality I know nothing about the man. He always gives me these evil looks whenever I run across from him in town."
She turned and saw Prophet getting up and walking towards her table. She sat up and waited keenly for his arrival. It took him twelve minutes to reach her because of the size and proximity of Chuck's Chicken and Molasses, which was two by two miles in size. It was a huge establishment. He finally arrived and smiled.
"Hello, my man Phillip," said Prophet, "and who is this lovely vision of woman seated opposite from you."
"Oh, this is Nyree," said Phillip, "she's my best friend. She's not from around these parts. She's just visiting."
"Why, hello Ms. Nyree," said Prophet smuggly.
"You can call me Nyree," said Nyree, "I... and you would be Prophet, correct. The most famous and well-respected man in town, right."
"That will be me."
"Have a seat, please," said Nyree. Prophet sat down at the other side of the table right next to Nyree.
"So what's going on, Prophet?" asked Phillip.
"Ahh, nothing much, my dear Phillip. I'm just coming from a neuro-scientific convention about brain-waves and other such delights. Did you know that they are building a computer to simulate brain waves. This will be such a breakthrough in technology and the rewards will be uncountable. Think of what it will do: We can program babies when they're young to be geniuses. Of course there will be opponents to that like there are opponents to everything. Maybe some people will go as far and call such an act baby kill. But they're going to be wrong. I know because I'm always right. I always know the truth. Too bad I won't be around to witness such an act."
"I'm sure you will, Prophet," said Phillip.
"But, Phillip, I am aging rapidly. I feel my time is to come soon to be buried six feet beneath the surface of the Earth. Ahh, you must all keep faith and not give up in yourselves while I'm gone. Why, the first time I laid eyes on you Philip, it was thirty-three years ago when you were a baby. I was at the middle of the mountain, then. Now I'm slowly going down."
"You don't look that old," said Nyree.
"Oh, you are such a great thing. Such words coming from such a beautiful being as yourself. I feel so sad because you said such words. But anyway, you two have joy, I must be departing."
"But you just got here," said Nyree.
"I know," said Prophet, "I... oh no... Oh my God!!"
"What's wrong?!" said Phillip.
"Look...I..." Prophet pointed outside the window. Nyree and Phillip got up from their table and saw a huge crowd of people gathering around at the street corner outside. They cornered something. Some people were shouting madly, and others began screaming. Prophet jumped through the glass-plate window and screamed his last words:
"GET AWAY FROM THE DOG WITH THE RABIES!!!"
With those words he fell to his death. Nyree and Phillip ran over to Prophet who was now lying in a pool of his own blood. The people saw Prophet's position but ignored his death words. They peered closer to the dog with rabies. It was howling and ranting. It jumped up and started attacking the crowd of tired people. Nyree screamed and everything ceased. She was thinking back to the time when her crippled father dove off of the local school's diving board in his wheelchair. She saw the whole thing. His demise. She remembered looking away when it happened and seeing her mother laugh. Perhaps in sadness, there has to be laughter.
Later on that day, the FBI agents scraped up all that was left of the people mauled by the dog with rabies. There was no sight of the dog with the rabies. There was the famous sight, though, of Prophet lying on the pavement with a horrific look on his face. It wasn't so much the look on his face but what he had on his mind at the moment of his death. He was thinking of that show he went to back in Dixie in the old days. He went with his dad. He was a young child. He saw his first circus. One of the first shows in this circus was a feature of old men with female genitalia. Ever since that moment he realized his purpose in life. All actions and non-actions had been consummated at that second, the moment he witnessed those old men with female genitalia. And what was to come, was history...
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