Day Eight Hundred Fifty Nine #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

We no longer had the road to ourselves. People passed us by in both directions. With the desert behind, small clumps of civilization were huddled around wells and their denizens were going about their business from place to place.

No adults paid us any attention. Only the children in the villages threw themselves in our path. But turned away when they saw we had nothing to give them.

We also had to watch out for vehicles. The best walking was on the paved road, but not when they came by. Especially the tanker trucks delivering water to out of the way places. We never saw them in villages with wells.

We were both silent preparing ourselves for the ordeal ahead.

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Crumb Crunchers

Crumb crunchers
So dear to me
Thumb suckers
Cling to my knee

Who knows
What I’ll find
In my pockets?
While guarding
Their fingers
From power sockets

I am the
Tickle monster
Who ekes out
Giggles galore
When up-turned faces
Beg for more

I toddle among
These
Knuckle gummers
Whose mouths
Have a date
Across the summers
Here and there
They osmose
Through their tongues

Tis the age and
Time to whet
Their palates
So they’ll know
The uniqueness
Of Your Word
Through the sweetness
Of the honeycomb

So that in time
To come
They shall not depart
From Him.

RWOz2

Day Six Hundred Fifteen #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

The stamp of feet no longer reverberates throughout the house. The last soldier column passed our crossroads around midnight during my watch.

The silence was welcome.

After my turn on guard I slept and actually got some rest.

Upon rising, Elijah was just returning from some time apart on the causeway. He reported more strangeness.

The farmers were on the roads again, but instead of being bound for the city, they were headed towards the army camp.

We decided to postpone our departure for today. Instead we dispatched the Captain into the city to reconnoiter.

The news he brought back was disconcerting. Not a single man of military age remains in the city, only women or children or old men.

Day Four Hundred Seventeen #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

The council at Elijah’s urging has made the decision to depart the plain. I had seen this coming and was glad for my expedition of the day before. I made a recommendation that we set out along the stream eastwards for as long as feasible.

After we dispersed out of the meeting we scattered to set the command in motion. Elijah and I returned to the Purser’s tent and assisted his family in their preparations for the move.

The Purser joined us after he had gotten the word out to his surrounding neighbors. He then asked me to remain with Mary and the children while he and Elijah traversed to the west side of the camp to lead the advance.

Day Three Hundred Ninety #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

We slipped out of the city in the middle of the night. Elijah, the Purser’s family and myself. Not through either gate. But over the wall via the rooftop of an adjoining building.

Elijah and I have some valuable experience in this regard from our first days together.

We stumbled about a good deal until we discovered at last the road leading to the interior. From there on it was an easy march for all.

We halted at the same place that Mary, the children and I stopped four days ago.  

Neither Elijah nor I know which direction we should go next. The Purser is all for striking out straight ahead. But we all agreed to await the Spirit’s leading.

Day Three Hundred Eighty Seven evening #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Enoch writes:

I had expected the children to be stirring well before the adults, but the mountain at our back has kept us in its shadow, lengthening the night.

With our late start, our walk which began under the heat of the sun, ended long after it had gone down. Elijah and the Purser ran out to greet us. The children love their papa.

Day Three Hundred Eighty Five evening #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Enoch writes:

The children are our paramount consideration. We looked at each route down from the escarpment and discarded them one by one as too difficult for their small statures.

We swung around to the inland side, keeping the city in view in the distance. There is a road from the city that would appear to intersect somewhere to the south.

Day Three Hundred Eighty Three late morning #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Elijah writes:

Almost time to go on shore again. Last time, though I found the sign of the fish in several places in the vicinity of the docks, I did not come across any followers of Hamashiach.

I have asked the Captain for permission to take the Purser with me. He knows the city beyond and desires to look for his wife and children.

I hope to see Enoch soon.

Day Three Hundred Seventy Eight evening #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Enoch writes:

We are on our way.

Much earlier than planned, as we no longer believe that Elijah will be returning to the country home with the Purser.

The children are helpful, eager in fact, to shoulder their small portion of our belongings.

Mary looks back at the burning sky behind us and worries. I assure her in the strongest terms that her husband and Elijah are safe and most likely at sea. I can feel it in my bones.

Day Three Hundred Seventy Six Evening #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Enoch writes:

Passed a sunny day down by the lake. Mary’s two children, the boy Mawuli and the girl Retha took me to all their favorite spots.

Such pleasant companions.