In Those Days

By Myra Jo Golden

In Those Days is a novel of history, prophecy, and romance. The Bible says But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be (Matthew 24:37). In other words, the last days will be like the days of Noah. If you take that literally, then they were a society like us, an advanced society. Is it possible they were smarter than us and perhaps more advanced? Did they try to improve us, and are some of the genetic problems we see today because of that improvement?

This is a love story from those days. Sharon met Shamie when she was still a young girl. She liked him immediately, and he liked her. Years later, when he asked her to come to the project and marry him, she was torn. She had planned all her life to become a reporter, like her parents, and she just wasnt ready to give that up.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Oct 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449771331

Myra Jo Golden

Myra Jo Golden is a retired software engineer. This book was started in 1980. She and her husband were home missionaries with the Southern Baptist’s NAMB for over ten years, working with local churches and rest-home ministries. Myra now writes and teaches AWANAS in Texas.

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Copyright © 2012 Myra Jo Golden

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7133-1 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7134-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7135-5 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012918973

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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WestBow Press rev. date: 10/10/2012

Contents

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1,       THE TEMPLE PEOPLE

CHAPTER 2,       THE TRIP

CHAPTER 3,       HOME AGAIN

CHAPTER 4,       THE RIGHT PLACE

CHAPTER 5,       THE FIRE

CHAPTER 6,       THE HOSPITAL

CHAPTER 7,       A VISIT TO THE PROJECT

CHAPTER 8,       ROMANCE GONE WRONG

CHAPTER 9,       A JOURNALIST AT LAST

CHAPTER 10,       MAKING ENEMIES

CHAPTER 11,       THE PALACE

CHAPTER 12,       DECISIONS

CHAPTER 13,       REGRETS

CHAPTER 14,       SECRETS

CHAPTER 15,       SLOW CHANGES

CHAPTER 16,       CHRONICLES

CHAPTER 17,       COMPLICATIONS

CHAPTER 18,       A LADY CHANGES HER MIND

CHAPTER 19,       ARGUMENTS

CHAPTER 20,       A TRIP TO THE COUNTRY

CHAPTER 21,       A LONG NIGHT

CHAPTER 22,       CHOICES

CHAPTER 23,       HOME AT LAST

CHAPTER 24,       MORNING STAR

CHAPTER 25,       DR. IMBROGLIO

CHAPTER 26,       SEALED FATE

CHAPTER 27,       CHOSEN FATE

CHAPTER 28,       FLOATING

CHAPTER 29,       A NEW WORLD

CHAPTER 30,       CURSED

BIBLE REFERENCES (NKJ)

I want to thank all the people who have read, edited, and typed on this book over the years. I’m sorry I cannot remember everyone’s name, but I do remember Penny, Sharon, and Patty and my sweet daughter Lori.

I dedicate this book to my father, George Golden, gone but not forgotten. He was a writer and a poet and my inspiration. He was a Thoreau type. We lived in a shack and he wrote poetry.

PREFACE

I first started this book because I thought I could think of a better story than evolution and I think I have.

This book is a book of history. It isn’t meant to be true, but to present some ideas of what might have happened.

This book is a parody on today.

This book is a book of prophecy.

We assume we are the most intelligent, knowledgeable group of people ever on the earth, but we don’t know that for a fact. There is some compelling evidence that that is not the case. The oldest book, the Bible, indicates that there was another group of people that lived much longer. Consequently, this group of people had many more years to learn and were probably noticeably smarter than the present generation. These people were our ancestors. We see evidence of their existence, but we so want to hold on to the belief that we are this world’s best, that we prefer to believe that aliens must have come from another planet. What society really doesn’t want to believe is that there is a God, a God who is going to bring judgment on our world.

The world this advanced people lived in was a much more balanced and consistent world which didn’t have storms or earthquakes, but as is with us today, humans never seem to be happy with near perfect. We always want better, or at least different, we get bored with perfect. We talk about how bad our world is, how a good God would not let these things happen, and yet, the worse a situation is, the more we want to know about it, watch it, read about it, and if something really good happens, we tend to pay little attention. We invent games that get people hurt or killed, either in fact or in virtual reality.

In those days the average life span of a human was approximately 750 years. Not only did people live longer, they developed longer, which caused their learning years to be much longer. A girl at 18 was equivalent to our preteens. It makes sense that they were able to accumulate an incredible amount of knowledge. When a person got tired of what they were doing, they could simply go back to school and start a new career. These people probably would have planned for and studied at least three professions and kept up with all three. College most likely started about age twenty-five and lasted about twenty years.

What happened to those people? They became us. In spite of our technical toys, we have not evolved up, we have evolved down.

Did they try to improve us and are some of the genetic problems we see today because of that improvement?

*******

But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Matthew 24:37 (NKJ)

CHAPTER 1,

THE TEMPLE PEOPLE

She thought they’d never leave. Maybe Rose was right, maybe it wasn’t worth it. But then Rose never saw anyone, or let anyone see her. Rose’s parents seemed to think everyone would stare at her; in fact, they were absolutely paranoid about it.

Well, anyway, I have it now, Sharon thought to herself.

She didn’t know whether to eat it all now or save some for later. It would be nice to give Rose a small piece, but Rose hadn’t gone through what she did to get it. Grandma had made it very clear that she didn’t want any part of it.

She looked down at the bright orange peel. It smelled so good. She broke the peel and pulled off just a little. The juice ran down her fingers and she licked it off, it was so good. Sharon thought to herself, I can’t imagine what it was like when everyone had all the oranges they wanted. She sat there for a moment fantasizing about a world where orange groves grew and where fruit trees grew scatter around in families’ yards. Sharon could see herself dancing through the fruit trees picking all she wanted. How wonderful it must have been in those days.

At the time that Sharon lived, the orange trees and all the fruit trees grew in special gardens where massive man-made lights provided enough light for the trees to produce fruit, and the soil had been cleaned to remove the poison. There were fruit trees still around outside the special gardens, but most of them had become barren. Of those that did produce fruit, the fruit wasn’t safe to eat; even the peach and apple trees in Sharon’s family’s garden were toxic.

Sharon was sitting in the roof room. It had been turned into a garden although even there nothing grew well anymore. She looked up at the haze filled sky. At one time you could see the sun clearly, at least clearly through a thin layer of mist, Sharon’s grandma could barely remember, but her mother had told her. That must have been at least fifteen hundred years ago. She looked down at her dog, Guardian; the dog was beginning to settle down now. Guardian had thrown such a fit when the people from the temple came that Grandma had to lock her in Sharon’s bedroom.

Sharon touched the lamb necklace she wore that had been a gift from her mother. She had held it so tightly while the temple people were there that her hand was still sore and imprinted. The lamb lay in the position of a sacrifice. It was the religious symbol of her day for those who believed in God, but for Sharon it represented her mother’s love. Sharon missed her mother and father so much.

It was Sharon’s eighteenth birthday and she was all grown up now. Grandma didn’t think so because she hadn’t started the cycles of a woman yet, that could still be years away. The people from the temple sure thought she was grown-up. They thought she should get married, but Sharon’s idea of marriage was one woman to one man. They wanted her to marry many men. That whole concept wasn’t really clear to Sharon, but she knew that Grandma was probably right about it not being a good thing.

When Sharon applied to college, she sent in a paper on what she wanted in life. She talked about how she absolutely wanted to be a reporter, like her parents, but she also talked about a husband and children and wanting to do something good with her life, something important.

The man from the temple had said, Why would you want to have only one husband when you can have hundreds? They will shower you with gifts. You can have anything you want: fruit from the garden, beautiful clothes, lots of girlfriends, and a glamorous apartment. Your husbands will reverently love and appreciate you, and all you have to do is show love and affection in return. Now wouldn’t you like having all those gifts, and the love, of course, and affection? The man was very handsome but Sharon noticed he was stumbling for words about love. The man’s face didn’t have any laugh lines and he kept looking in the mirror and fixing his hair. That alone made Sharon wonder about what kind of man he was.

Yes, of course, Sharon had said, and then she pointed out that some people still thought you should have only one husband and you certainly should not marry before you were forty years old, and that was young.

He had replied, Yes, in the olden days that was true, but now the men can share wives, and wives can share husbands. Everyone’s happier this way. Why limit yourself? Life can be a blast, one party after another. In the olden days people married to have children, but today you don’t have to go through carrying a child for all those months. Now there’s no pain and it’s much more convenient. Everyone has to pass a medical test, so the temple is completely safe. I mean, what more could a pretty young lady want? Only someone really stupid would turn this down, and I don’t believe for a moment that you’re stupid. You’re obviously a very smart girl, too smart to turn this offer down.

Sharon wasn’t sure what he meant when he was talking about having babies, but she was sure it didn’t sound right. Sharon had her heart set on loving one man, being just his wife, and having his children in the old-fashioned normal way. She had read all the books her mother had left for her about falling in love and being faithful, and about strong, loving families. Sharon could see her guy in her imagination, not clearly, kind of at a distance. She was absolutely sure that he was cute, gentle, strong, and everything he should be, she just knew it. The books she read, the ones from her mother, that Grandma encouraged her to read, talked about one love, one man, marriage, and children. Some of the books were about real people. It had been long ago when love and family were the most important things in the world, a different world it seemed.

The man brought Sharon from her thoughts with the rustle of silk. He held a beautiful dress.

Go try this on, he said.

Sharon ran her fingers across the soft material; she had never before touched anything so luxurious. She was beginning to develop and she would need a bra soon. She knew she would look very pretty in that dress, but she drew back her hand. No, thank you. I have a new dress, she said as she turned away. She had wondered if they had sent the dress. It had been delivered to her door with only a note that had said Happy Birthday.

Sharon had known their arguments would be good. Some of her older friends had gone to the temple. Sharon’s friend Mary had promised to write, but she never did. Somehow that had made Sharon a little suspicious. Sharon just couldn’t believe that her friend was too busy to write her just a little note. It just wasn’t like her.

The man brought out some pictures. Look at these, he said. They were pictures of the temple. It was a beautiful place. She and a roommate would have their own area with a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and a beautiful bath with lots of nice things and plants to make it look pretty. Sharon liked plants, though she suspected the ones in the pictures weren’t real. He was saying Sharon could have all the clothes, make-up, and perfume she wanted. Someone would fix her hair every day. There was even a maid to clean up after her so she would never have to do any house work, at least that’s what the man assured her.

Among the pictures were many of girls Sharon’s age. They had beautiful little rooms with stuffed animals of all kinds and sizes. There were some dolls and other toys as well. Sharon still played with her dolls and toys on occasion. The little girls in these pictures looked genuinely happy.

In one picture was one of Sharon’s older friends. Well she was actually a friend of Sharon’s brother. She used to brush Sharon’s hair and pay attention to her. Sharon remembered her friend’s laughing eyes. In fact she had nicknamed her Laughing Eyes. The girl had always been so much fun, but now she looked different. She was so beautiful and older, but not sad or happy, kind of indifferent, like she didn’t feel anything anymore. Sharon thought she looked like she wouldn’t be fun anymore. Sharon began to look closer and it was the same with all the older girls and women in the pictures. They were smiling, but it was a posed smile, no laughing eyes. Sharon didn’t know what it was, but something was wrong with the way they looked. Something deep inside Sharon cringed, warning her to be careful, that it wasn’t as nice as it appeared.

Sharon stood up straight and tall. Thank you, but I think I’ll stay at home.

How can you turn this down? the man asked. It’s as close to the paradise as you’ll ever find. I mean, it’s perfect. What’s wrong with you? You’ve answered every question I’ve asked by saying that you like what we offer. You liked the clothes, the apartment, the way the girls look, and you’d love having your hair and nails done. You said you want to help people. And now you say that you want to stay home? I just don’t understand.

I’ve made up my mind, Sharon said.

Could you please explain to me why you would turn something so perfect down? How could you say no? This is a perfect deal.

Sharon was beginning to feel tears start to come. Now she was feeling guilty.

The man was becoming angry, though he tried to hide it. You just wanted the orange, he scowled at her. You let us come all this way and you never intended to go. You have taken advantage of us. Do you know what it costs the state for us to come out here? If you had any sense of decency, you would go with us, you’re just too selfish to go, you don’t care how many people you hurt, do you? You owe it to us, to our wonderful country.

Oh, no I don’t, Sharon said, getting angry, You know that I couldn’t take my college courses if I hadn’t let you come. You offered the orange to any eighteen year old girl who would listen to your sales pitch, and I listened, now give me my orange and leave. The tears welling up in Sharon’s eyes even more.

A woman had come with the man and had been standing silently by the door all the time. She came over to Sharon, put her arm around her and gently said, Don’t mind him; I’m the one you would be with. I know your mother is dead, and I want to be a mother to you. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you, ever, and we could talk anytime you wanted. I have always wanted a daughter like you. The first thing we would do is go shopping and buy you lots of new clothes and anything your heart desires. Won’t you please come and stay with me, just for a while; if you don’t love it there you can come back.

Sharon knew no one ever came back. No thank you, she said. I still have my grandma.

The government would be glad to take care of your grandmother, a girl your age shouldn’t have to worry about an old person. That’s why they have programs where old people can be useful to society and their children can be free to live their lives. Don’t let your grandmother stand in the way of your happiness.

I love my grandma; I don’t want to leave her. She takes care of me.

The woman walked back to the bag she had left by the door and took out a needle. You are going to give blood for our research, aren’t you?

A cold chill ran up Sharon’s back. No, I am not, she heard herself say. Will you please leave, now?

As soon as we get a little blood, you know it’s required that I get blood and I find it hard to believe you could be so selfish as to stand in the way of medical progress. Some child might die because of your selfishness.

Sharon was shaking all over with anger and fear. She hadn’t expected to be so tempted and she certainly hadn’t expected to feel guilty.

Grandma walked into the room. She was shaking her cane at the couple in a threatening way. You get out of here, now. Trying to tell this child lies, it is not required that she give blood. I don’t know what you want it for, but I’m sure it’s for no good. Do I have to call for help?

The woman shook her head and motioned for the man to come on. It’s not worth it, she said. She has her mind made up and I don’t want any problems. We knew this would be a difficult situation when we came. You know who she is. When they care about their family and are happy at home, it’s hard to get them, anyway. They picked up their things and left.

Outside a pair of pink eyes watched, white hands trembling. Was she with them? No, he didn’t see her, she wasn’t with them. He sighed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, She wouldn’t have gone anyway, I would have seen to that.

Grandma came over and put her arms around Sharon. I’ve been praying for you. They have good arguments, but their reasons are evil. The very idea, you’d be married to all those men. You’d be a prostitute, just a plain prostitute, that’s what you’d be. All they have to do is sign a card saying they are married to all the girls at the temple, and when no one wants you anymore, you become a maid, well, really a slave, or like that woman who was here. It was the ruin of this country when they made prostitution legal. It was a tragedy when they made prostitution an act of worship. Worship of the devil is what it is. Why do they start so young, eighteen years old, you’re still a baby. Your mother investigated that temple once, she wouldn’t tell me any of the details, but she was angry about it. She said the conditions were horrible.

I know, Grandma, you’ve told me over and over.

Grandma started to cry. Sharon put her arms around her grandma and gently patted her back and held her for a moment. Grandma shook her head, This world is so evil, there’s nothing good left, and you can’t even go outside anymore without fearing for your life.

I didn’t go, Grandma, Sharon said.

I know, Grandma said. You’re one of the few good girls left in the world. We must trust God to send you a good husband, someone or someway to take care of you when I’m gone. I hope God has someone left, I’m really not sure there are any decent people left.

Grandma, I can take care of myself.

I’m not sure anyone can take care of themselves alone in this world. Grandma gently took Sharon’s face in her shaky hands and kissed Sharon’s forehead. I’m going to get down on my knees and thank God for you right now.

Grandma, what did she mean by ‘You know who she is?

I’m not sure. Perhaps she was talking about who your parents were. Some people still remember them; they were the best reporters the Big Paper ever had.

That’s probably what she meant. I’m going to go eat my orange, Sharon said opening her bedroom door to let her dog Guardian out.

Sharon went up to their roof garden with her orange as her dog jumped and licked her as if she hadn’t seen her in days. She wasn’t afraid at all on the roof. There was a rock wall taller than the roof around the house which had an electric fence and broken glass on top to keep intruders out and it was fairly safe anywhere inside the wall. And of course there were the dogs. The dogs were very well trained. They knew who could come into the yard and who shouldn’t be there. No stranger could intrude without first dealing with the dogs. It was somewhat strange that the dogs had just shown up one day and acted as if they knew Sharon and Grandma. They seemed to be very well trained, too. Sharon had always wondered about it. Grandma had said they should just thank God and not worry about how or why. Besides Guardian, there were the two big dogs that stayed in the shadows, one quiet and one who barked. Guardian had gone straight to Sharon. She refused to leave Sharon alone. Guardian would wait outside by the door if Sharon went into a room without her and close the door. Sharon named her Guardian because she reminded Sharon of a guardian angel, always with her, always protecting her.

The humidity stayed close to 100% most of the time so that it was always sticky, but the constant 72 degrees made it bearable. The humidity had once been constant, but in the last few years it sometimes dropped drastically.

The roof garden overlooked the outside garden. In the outside yard the once lush green ferns grew many feet over Sharon’s head. It was still a beautiful place even though the green had faded to a pale, sick color. Sharon loved the plants. There was one place in the center of the roof garden where a few special plants grew that still had tiny flowers. They kept lights on them for a short time every day. Grandma said they were really just colored leaves, but that didn’t make any difference to Sharon, it was as close to flowers as Sharon had seen besides in a book or on her computer.

Sharon’s parents had refused to put poison on their property long before the consequences of doing so were known and as a result, the green had not faded appreciably from the older plants yet. The poison had of course slowly seeped into their ground just as it had covered the rest of the world.

As she walked around the roof garden and ate her orange, she thought about what had happened. She had not known that they would ask for blood or about the horrible feeling she would have, like nothing ever before, like a very great evil had been close. Yet getting blood for research shouldn’t be bad, it should be a good thing.

Sharon gave some of the orange peel to her pigeons which were in a cage that covered a lot of the roof outside of the room that had been her parents. She smiled as they ate the peel and begged for more.

Sharon had so many questions, and someday she was going to get some answers. Grandma always said that curiosity would kill and she didn’t know how Sharon had made it this long. Sharon searched the computer links for hours, but it seemed like every time she got close to an answer, the link would go away or the system would shut down, and she could never find the information again.

Sharon sat leaning back in a chair feeling calmer and more satisfied with herself all the time. It’s over now and I can forget it she reassured herself, but the face of her friend who had been in the picture kept popping back into her mind. Laughing Eyes, she said to herself, someday I’m going to find out why you don’t laugh anymore.

Grandma walked into the roof garden to interrupt Sharon’s comfortable and thoughtful world, Come and get ready for a trip. Grandma said, We’re going to be gone for a few days.

Sharon jumped up very surprised. In those days and with the danger outside, one did not go out of one’s house except when it was absolutely necessary, and especially, one did not go to spend the night anywhere. Since they had no other family, except her brother Doug, who no longer came around, and only a few friends who all lived inside their compound, Sharon could not imagine where they could be going.

What do you mean, Grandma? Sharon asked.

We must go offer a sacrifice to the Lord.

Offer a sacrifice, that’s crazy, Grandma, no one offers sacrifices anymore. It hasn’t been done in probably hundreds of years.

We must go, Child, it’s what God would have us do, it is His command. I’ve let other people and fear keep me from doing it for all these years, but I’m not going to let that stop me anymore. We’re going. We will have to slip out in the middle of the night, well before dawn, but if that’s what we have to do, then that’s what we have to do. We’re going. Get what you need together.

But Grandma, we could be killed out there, or worse, you know how dangerous it is. You just said you couldn’t go outside without fearing for your life." Sharon was filled with foreboding.

I do know the danger, but we must go. It seems like God is talking to me, telling me it’s the right thing to do. God will protect us. Sharon, I’ve thought about this a lot, there comes a time when you have to forget logic and do what you know is right and I know this is right. We must have faith. Trust God and trust me, Child, we have to do this.

Grandma, what are we going to sacrifice? That’s so cruel.

We don’t have a lamb, so we’ll use two of the doves. God will understand.

I’ll only have six doves left. Grandma, do we have too?

Yes, Child, we do have too.

Everyone will think we’re crazy.

It doesn’t matter what people think, it only matters what God says. Besides, we don’t know that many people anymore.

But Grandma, I don’t want to.

Do as your grandma says, Sharon, you know I’d only do what I think is best for you.

Well, all right, I guess, but Grandma, I think it’s crazy, not to mention really, well, really crazy. Sharon let out a sigh. She loved her grandma and if Grandma had her mind made up; Sharon knew she couldn’t change it. If she refused to go, Grandma might try to go alone and Sharon really didn’t want that. Grandma was getting old, over 750 years, and she sure didn’t need to be out alone. Sharon didn’t want to be left at home alone either. There was also a part of Sharon that wanted to see outside of her house and block. When she was very little, before her parents were killed, she had gone many places, but that was only a very hazy memory now.

You’re such a good child, Grandma said, so very different from your brother. Grandma sighed, I shouldn’t talk about him like that. I’ve prayed so many prayers for him, but I need to pray more. You need to pray for him, too. I believe someday God will turn him around. She looked toward the heavens for a moment then she turned to Sharon, We’ll start our trip very early, so get some sleep.

Sharon looked up at the soft lavender sky. The heavens were singing to her and she felt sleepy. She followed her grandmother into the house with Guardian at her feet.

Sharon had heard of the place of sacrifice before, it was kind of a historical marker. She thought she might have gone there with her parents, but she couldn’t remember for sure. These days no one took it seriously. Well, no one took it seriously except for Grandma. It was across the island on a hill, nearly fifty miles away. They would have to walk. There had once been many vehicles for travel, but not anymore. Except for a few main roads, the roads were no longer very useable because of cracks and holes. There were the hover vehicles, but they were very expensive and few people could afford them. The world was so dangerous; no one would travel at night even in a vehicle.

Grandma called once a week and had groceries delivered, enough for them and Rose’s family. The groceries were delivered in a big hover type armored truck with several guards. Sharon never questioned the groceries coming. For the last few years it had just been that way.

Sharon grumbled to herself as she put a change of clothes in a bag. This is dumb. This is crazy, we’ll be killed for sure. Guardian whimpered, like she knew something was wrong.

Sharon went into the back room where Grandma was placing her backpack by the door to be picked up as they left. Grandma, we don’t even have a gun, she complained.

God will protect us. Grandma assured her. Did you pack your toothbrush?

I need to take my toothbrush?

Those teeth have to last over a hundred years before a new set has time to develop. You need to take care of them. People who don’t take care of their teeth have to have false teeth until their new set is ready to come in.

Okay, Okay, I’ll take my toothbrush. I’ll probably miss something important in school.

You’re way ahead of where you need to be and you’ve missed so little, a few days now won’t hurt. Anyway, you have plenty of time to make it up.

Sharon was ahead in her schoolwork. She had long since passed the internet classes for her grade and now was a good year, almost two, ahead of where she needed to be. She had been somewhat hung-up on calculus or she would have been even further ahead. At the rate she was going she would graduate at least two or three years ahead of when she should.

Sharon looked at her grandmother, What about the neighbors? They’ll see us leave. Sharon was thinking of the big man next door with the sick looking white skin and the piercing pink eyes. He was always watching her, in fact, that’s all he seemed to do. He was always there, always in his big glassed-in porch, always watching her. When he had first started his vigil years before, Sharon had been very afraid of him, but over the years she had come to think of him as a protector. He always smiled at her and Sharon now thought of him fondly, even giving him a nickname, Pinky. Somehow, Sharon felt safe with Pinky there watching out for her.

We’ll leave early in the morning, before they expect us to even be up. We won’t turn the lights on. Grandma smiled her mischievous smile, I think we can out smart that bunch.

What about Guardian?

When we get up I’ll give her a treat with some sleeping powder in it. It’ll be quite safe and she will sleep long past the time we need to get away.

Can’t we take her with us, she’ll protect us.

No, she would bark and they would find us, or if they didn’t find us, they might just take her. Dogs are very valuable, you know.

I suppose you’re right, it’s best not to take her. Grandma, it almost sounds like we’re committing a crime.

Yes, it does, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not a crime. We have every right to go out for a walk.

A walk, Grandma?

A walk, perhaps a long walk, but a walk.

In spite of all the misgivings and fears Sharon had, she was beginning to get excited about the trip. She had a king size curiosity and sense of adventure which would cause her problems all her life, both for herself and for those around her.

The future seemed so bleak to Sharon. She and Rose had talked about it many times. Where would they go, what would they do, or who could they meet? Sharon was determined to become a reporter like her mother and father, even though she didn’t know where or how. Maybe this trip was a chance to answer some of these questions. Rose’s parents and Sharon’s grandmother had both always been so animate about not leaving their houses.

Sharon went to her room to finish packing her few things, including her tooth brush. Grandma came in and repacked for her. Sharon left her lamb necklace around her neck when she got ready for bed. Somehow the outline of the lamb lying down as a sacrifice seemed appropriate for this trip. Grandma had a gold necklace that had very detailed features of the lamb. Sharon noticed that Grandma was wearing her necklace. Grandma took Sharon’s backpack and set it next to hers by the back door.

Sharon turned on her computer. She started searching for God and sacrifice, but she couldn’t find either. She found jewelry like hers and Grandma’s, but it was just labeled as religious jewelry.

Sharon had a couple of on-line friends that she chatted with, one every day and one every few days, depending on when they happened to be on-line. Grandma was sure they were really killers somewhere just waiting to get Sharon, but Sharon was sure Grandma was wrong. Sharon tried to talk to her friends, but neither was on-line. She left a message for her friend Good Guy, the one she talked to every day, telling him she would be busy for a couple of days and would talk to him later.

Sharon was very sleepy by now, so she turned off her computer and went to sleep with Guardian at her feet. It was comfortable and safe in her protected world, but that was about to change in a way that would define the rest of Sharon’s life.

Now in those days it didn’t rain. There was a very high layer of mist around the earth such that the earth was protected from direct sunrays and the temperature of the earth was fairly constant. Water came up through holes in the earth’s surface, these fountains watered the earth. There were large caverns of water deep in the earth which were heated by the earth’s core. The heat caused the water pressure to rise and the water escaped through the conduits to the surface. The water was cooled as it passed thru the conduits on the way up so that when it reached the surface it was barely warm. Naturally the water filtered back down to the caverns allowing a perfectly balanced system. Because the system allowed heat and pressure release, there were no volcanoes and because of the stable environment, no storms, floods or earth quakes.

The earth’s surface was fairly even from the deepest sea to the highest mountains, no tall mountain peaks and no deep ocean valleys.

People lived in houses many of which didn’t have glass in their windows because there was no weather to necessitate them; they needed just enough protection to keep the heavy dew out, and of course, certain people. The houses were made of material that didn’t have to be very waterproof, since it never rained. Most houses had been built long ago with partial roofs so that people could sleep in rooms with no cover because they liked to look at the stars, although now no one could see the stars anymore anyway. In Sharon’s day, most houses had bars on the windows and doors. Now there were big walls around whole properties and also around whole neighborhoods.

The fountains only took up a few square yards, but watered several hundred square yards. When the fountains were on, which was about 5 minutes out of every hour, the humidity in the area was at 100%. The humidity caused dew to form which covered a much larger ground area.

The environment was comfortable for people and animals. When people were sleeping or resting, they needed light cover or jackets, but if they were working they could wear light clothing.

In the early years each family could grow all they needed in plants and animals to provide for themselves, but as time passed and the population grew,