Writing an allegory...

Enjoy chapter one of a creation!

These are tough days. These are the end days. It’s cold and dark. There’s shadows lurking in corners and, at any given moment, someone who you thought was a trusted friend or family member could turn on you. Then you’re left only to find out they‘re playing along with some kind of script just to get you to do what they want. Altruism is rare, and when it does occur, people are suspicious.

The only ones who were left from the house of Seth were Colin and I. We knew we could trust each other because we were one of the few who remained astonished at how humanity had turned. Remaining astonished was the key to survival. We weren’t trying to judge or anything; we needed a way to stay human. We needed not to give into evil. It was so easy to do. It wasn’t until one day when I met Justice. I couldn’t wait to tell Colin about it; but it took a bit of convincing…

“Can he be trusted?” Colin looked at me intently.

“ Yes, he can,” I said confidently. He’s on the inside. He knows all the information before anyone else does. 

How do you know this for sure?

Because he told me.

“And you believed him?” Colin’s voice trembled in bewilderment.

“Yeah, how could I not? He had done so much for me already. I could tell he really wanted to help me. And he did,” I said confidently and full of conviction.

“Well, what did he do? How do you know he wasn’t trying to trick you?” Colin’s green eyes looked startled yet alive. I worried he wouldn’t believe me; that he would think I had turned myself to Legion.

“He - saved my life”, I got out.

Colin drew in closer. Wait, that never happens. That’s an amazing act! We can’t speak of this in public- you must tell me the details in a place where it’s safe.

No, I want to tell everyone… But… you’re right; we need to be smart about this information. They could want to kill him and I don’t want anything to happen to him.

You mean he’s still in town?

I think so. He didn’t tell me much because he’s on a secret mission. Everything will be revealed, he assured me.

Revealed? Okay, this guy sounds like a whack job,” Colin said definitively.

I know what it looks like. No one talks like they know anything anymore. They just act in response to Legion.

Yeah, everyone is so scared of being captured they just do anything to please Legion, but they don’t realize they’re under Legion’s influence. They’re mistaking true freedom. Hmmm… (big pause) I just looked at Colin more intently now. His wide eyes revealed a thought process that I was grateful to be around. “ Justice could be up to something we could be a part of. But we must be sure. I need to be sure.  “ That’s the thing. He thinks a lot. Sometimes too much, but it helps him make up his mind. When his mind is made up, that’s it for him. He’s convinced and there’s no turning back. We agreed in that moment to prove Justice was genuine. The only problem was- where had he gone?

One phrase that kept ringing in my ear from my interaction with Justice was “I am coming back”. He kept saying it like an assurance of some kind. As if I would be worried that he wouldn’t come back. So he must be somewhere, I thought. Where did I begin to search?

I could hear our feet crunching into the snow. We were silent as we walked with no particular destination. Somewhere to talk freely? Somewhere to find Justice? Colin couldn’t wait anymore. He nudged me with the tone of his voice, the painful urgency of knowing. His eyes grew big and the green in his eyes became deeper. He needed to know. Everything. He finally blurted out, “So you never told me…how…? You know!” I stared at him blankly. I knew what he meant, but why did he need to be so secretive about it? Well, I knew why. He didn’t want to draw attention on himself. People had started to disappear. They were people who professed a faith. The one I was beginning to discover. Colin was convinced the government of Legion was taking them because whoever didn’t agree with Legion was taken out. I didn’t care anymore. I just said it. “You mean when he saved my life?”

“Shhhh!!!” Colin said with desperation. Suddenly, I felt a presence. I can’t quite describe it except it was full of peace. So I said it again in a faint whisper, but this time as if Justice were there with me. “You saved my life.” Then I sensed Justice there even more and I felt him smile. It was like my heart could see it but my eyes knew it was not directly in front of me, live. Then, like a movie, I saw Justice’s face in front of me, but I knew he wasn’t really there. And I could see him tell me, “I am in your heart, but one day you will see me like this, face to face. Just endure a bit longer”. “But I’ve endured!” I said aloud. I could feel Colin’s eyes on me as I stared down at the snow. Tears started to stream down my face with no sobbing at all; just the release of pain from over the years. I finally received an answer, but not the one I wanted or expected. “I thought you would take away the pain,” I continued in dialogue with Justice in my heart. Colin just stood there, silent. I wasn’t looking at him, I couldn’t or I would lose this connection. But I knew his mouth gaped open and he was ready to write me off as a “whack job” as well. I felt so inadequate in front of Justice, even if he wasn’t physically in front of me. I picked up my eyes to the snow-covered, white hills. “Remember,” he said, “I did take the pain. The pain you feel is not my doing. Legion has some dominion but not all. He’s on the losing side and wants to make the winning side; my side, lose as many potential points as possible. But he doesn’t see the whole picture. He can’t.  You can. I chose you. I saw you before you were created, and I had a say in how you would come to be.” I knew what the white hills meant. I am pure. I could not believe it at first. I knew I had messed up too much in my life. Yes, I endured through difficulties, but I was just “paying my way”, my right to be on this earth. “That’s not how it is,” Justice clarified.” I am Justice. You cannot be right without me. You cannot be righteous without me. “

Colin knew I was experiencing a deep encounter. He broke up the dialogue, as he saw me frozen like a statue, only hearing my side of the conversation. He could sense it wasn’t meant to be a monologue and for a moment, he was open to the idea of someone being at the other end of my voice. He asked, “Jordan, what is happening?” I turned to look at him. His green eyes were wide in that moment. “Justice is here, but we can only see him through our hearts”. Colin opened his mouth to say something but couldn’t form the words, so I continued. “Justice is more powerful than Legion”. Colin’s face soured like a lemon. “Then where has he been all this time?” he said angrily. “He’s been here; he just hasn’t separated the bad from good yet”.

“Why? Doesn’t he see our pain and misery?” Colin’s voice began to crack and I could see his anger building up.

I know, I said in a calm tone in hopes to relax his. “We gotta trust he knows more than us. He knows what he’s doing. Can we trust him?”

Colin smirked. “Well, I guess that’s the whole point, isn’t it? Can he be trusted?”