The Disappearance of a Pied Piper

New Normal

From his bed in the choir loft, Chief Bud Best woke up at sunrise on the day after the great escape from the tidal wave, that decimated two-thirds of Nevermore Island. Following his morning ritual of a cup of coffee from the supply in the church's kitchen, Bud walked around the property, which was still above the water line, grateful that the church building and the parsonage are the apex of a hill, which is about 75 feet above the rest of the plateau.

Pine trees peeking above the Atlantic Ocean were an eerie sight, even for the seasoned lawman.

In the two buildings, folks began to wake up to the fact, that the events of the last three were intensely real, and the "new normal" was nothing they had ever lived before. The Freshly's muscle memory kicked in as they rummaged through the new food supplies, making the best breakfast, they could figure out how to make for the community of refugees.

The four support officers, two in the church and two in the parsonage for added security as might be needed, had slept in shifts and were all beginning to be awake as a unit, at the ready for what lay ahead of them this day.

Back at the door of the church, Bud thought, How am I going to help the community to rebuild their lives on this small plot of ground?

Has something happened to turn our world into a homogenized unit? The World Tech representatives mentioned something about disappearances all over the world, and they logged our 22 missing citizens for their records. They, also, told me that the information on the disappearances was classified. So, I know little more than I did, except the fact, that our experiences aren't unique. "What do I do about that?" he processed out loud.

"What do you do about what, Chief?" Stan was the first officer to sidle up to his leader on the front porch of the church.

"What do I do about the information, that we all heard from the World Tech employees," Bed said. "They said, that there were disappearances all over the world, but they left without giving me much more than that. Then, the meteor demolished their ship, I have no contact information, and they're no longer around to tell me anything on their scheduled return trip.

"We are a bit out of the loop right now," said Stan. "We're not exactly cast away on a deserted island with no provisions, but the provisions we do have are limited. Who knows when we'll be able to flag down some passing ship to be able to resupply our stock?"

"Thanks for the reminder, Stan," Bud said, "Be in charge of the foragers teams. Have them to start early this morning, looking for anything edible in the wild."

"Will do, Chief," Stan said. "I'm on it."

Three officers approached their Chief as Stan left with assigned duties.

"Gentlemen, I'm glad you're here," Bud said. "I have new shift assignments for the three of you. Stan is already headed out to oversee the foragers. However, for you, I need both practical and informational help. The World Tech reps told us, yesterday, that people had been disappearing all over the world, but since it was classified information, I still have a Why and a How that need to be answered."

"Where do we start, Chief?" Jerome asked.

"I have a hunch," Bud said. "Before he left us, the preacher was constantly asking me to be saved, but in the midst of all of his apparent rantings, he said a few things, that are starting to make some sense. First of all, 'If I disappear, and can't tell you why, please look in the big Bible in the church. I'll leave some directions there. Your clue is in the Bible. Since he's right that the Bible is a big Book, I want you three to help me search through the Bible for two hours at a time. I've already started looking there. I'm in the book of Ruth, so please leave my bookmark in place, but using the Table of Contents help me to scour the Bible for the answers we need. I know. I know. It may or may not be a Holy book, but somebody wrote it, and that somebody had ideas about life, and about how to live it. I want to hear those ideas, and I want you men to suggest how we can apply those thoughts to our desperate situation on this little island. Clear enough?"

They all shook their heads, "Yes."

"Very clear, Sir," George spoke up.

"What order do you want us to go in?" asked Rich.

"Jerome, you go first," Bud ordered. "As I recall, you went to church as a child, and your church had three-hour-long services. Surely you learned something in all the Sundays in church. Put your knowledge to good use. Where would you go to find information about the 'last days'?"

"Daniel, and Revelation, Sir," Jerome said.

"It's nearly 8:00. Work on it, 'til 10:00. Then, George, you take over, 'til noon. Rich you take noon 'til 2:00 PM, starting the rotation over, again," Bud said. "When you finish your two-hour shift reading the Bible, I want you to take a two-hour nap because mental work requires sleep for recovery. The third position in the rotation is walking a security beat around the perimeter of the island and through the church and parsonage, talking to people as you go. Help where you can, and do your best to encourage the citizens."

"Sir, Jerome has his starting point in the rotation, but where do you want Rich and me to start?" George asked.

"Good point, George," Bud said. "You take the nap, first, but since you just finished your night's sleep, then feel free to take this time as a break. Hang out with people, where you feel most comfortable and talk with them. Rich, that means that walk the security beat, first. Again, talk with people on the way. Remember, our job is 'to serve and to protect.'"

Bleary eyes started walking out into the daylight, stretching limbs broadly, and yawning widely. The slightly more alert Myrtle walked up to the Chief on the church's front porch. "Thank you for the quick thinking, yesterday, Bud," she said. "If you hadn't used the megaphone to get some families up here on the plateau, most of the town would have perished in the wave."

"You're welcome, Mrs. Myrtle," Bud said, "but I can't help thinking about all the citizens under my care, that I couldn't reach. At last count, there seemed to be just as many people living around the shoreline as lived in the town. There wasn't enough time. I couldn't save any of the shore dwellers. How can I live with that?"

"It wasn't your fault, Bud," Myrtle said, "You did the best you had the time to do."

"Right. I get it," he said," but what about the people in town, that I couldn't reach or who couldn't get loaded into their cars and trucks fast enough? Some of the cars did try, and weren't fast enough to outrun the wave."

"Last count, we have about 30 to 40 people up here on the plateau, Bud," Myrtle said. "Let's focus on the ones you did save, not on the ones you didn't."

"Not care about the lost?" Bud boiled.

"I didn't say that. You've got other problems here, like food, that won't last forever, and no real way to replenish our stores. We've got to focus on keeping these people alive. When we're out-of-the-woods, then we can grieve the lost."

You're right, Mrs. Myrtle," Bud said, "I'm starting to feel the weight of responsibility. All these people are counting on me."

"For sure, they count on you, Bud," she said, "but they're all adults, too. They really can take care of themselves. Besides, you're not going to do them any good, if you burn out, and fall over in a faint."

"You've always been the voice of reason for me, Mrs. Myrtle," Bud said. "Mom chose her friends well, especially you."

"Thank you, but enough of that, Son. It's getting thick up here," she poked. "How can I help you take some of the burden off your shoulders?"

"I need help finding the answers we need from that compendium, called the Bible," he said. "Right now, I'm reading in the book of Ruth, and I think you can help, especially since your family background in Jewish. Do you know much about the story of Ruth?"

"I know that a Jewish family many years ago faced starvation, and tried to get some help, only to have the father and his two sons die in a foreign country," she said.

"If we don't find a consistent source of food, we're going to face starvation, too," Bud said. "Do you think you could help me understand the Jewish culture better, and maybe find a solution for this community, too?"

"Sure I can," she enthused. "Know where I can find a Bible?"

"Yeah, but Jerome is studying the one, I was reading," he said. "Would you be willing to search through the church and the parsonage to find more copies of the Bible? Surely as resourceful as this preacher was, he left copies of the Bible for us to find."

"I have no doubt of that," Myrtle said, "I'll go puttering around the auditorium right now. Maybe more of the people would like to help you with the search. I'm sure it will help. Good idea, Bud. See? You are a great leader."

Bud spent the next two hours, reviewing everything, that had transpired over the past three days, listing the facts, remembering their current levels of resources, and making a mental inventory of the skills represented by the survivors of the rogue wave.

22 citizens missing the first day - Cause unknown.
37 citizens missing yesterday - Rogue wave.
5 police officers consistently on duty - one Chief
Two buildings for shelter - the church building and the parsonage
One small tool shed - boat and tools at the ready
One big Bible in the church auditorium - a potential resource for plans of action
Quilts for warmth - 30 in the church building, 20 in the parsonage
Pantries of foodstuffs in the church and the parsonage
Seeds, worms, apples, nuts, and potential fish - foragers are finding more each day

"Chief! Chief! We've got great news!" Stan ran up to Bud, barely able to tell his errand. "The preacher really was a survivalist. Pace found his stash of vacuum-sealed 25-year meals in a bunker behind the tool shed. There are ten big plastic containers of meals, enough to last us for at least six months."

"Oh, that is great news!" Bud shouted. "Take every one of those tubs to Grady in the church house. I seem to recall putting him in charge of our stores of goods."

"Will do, Chief," Stan said, "Will keep looking. Just thought you would like to know about this great find."

"I do, indeed. Great work, Stan!" Bud said. Shouting across the clearing, "Great work, Pace! Onward & Upward!"

At that moment, Myrtle came moving rather quickly for a woman his mother's age, "Bud, I have 50 Bibles in three storage rooms around the church, and I have yet to search the parsonage. I think we have the situation covered."

"I would agree with that whole-heartedly," Bud smiled. "I think it would be good to have a community meeting in the kitchen/dining room in the back of the church at noon. Would you start passing the word around?"

"Of course," she said. "Good news, I hope."

"Very good news," Bud said, "and a new plan of action."

I'm starting to think, that God might exist, and that He has had this planned all along, Bud thought. Let's add to that list. Ten containers of vacuum-sealed meals - enough for six months for the current populace. 50 Bibles in the church - enough for every person to read, and find information to help us survive. 37 people who survived the rogue wave - They love me and each other. Committed to survival. We have much to be grateful for. We'll keep searching, but I believe Someone has been seeking us already. (Luke 19:10, KJV)