The Man who Ate God

The Man who Ate God
by Ryan Sandagon

written back in 2003

I found it interesting to write about the second coming of Christ. Though this story is a tragedy, I enjoyed writing it.

Reborn
Threshold Laboratory, New Jersey (03.11.07-20:45)

"Where did it come from?" Senator Thomas asked, touching the glass that shields the test tube Baby.

"From the shroud" The young Japanese doctor retort. "Actually, we just found the pattern of the DNA strand in the shroud and we...Can you hold this please?" he said as he handed a fidgeting mechanical object in the senator's hands.

"As I was saying" The Japanese doctor continued. "We duplicated the pattern from an embryo of true human and whoala... In short we fixed the strand to have him"

"So what do we call him? The born-again Messiah?" The senator said, laughing at his own joke. "No." The doctor said, quite disappointed with the senator's remark.

"We'll name him Jesus."

Politics
White House, Washington D.C., (03.12.07-12:34)

"John why don't you eat some of my wife's specialties...it's so good that you could actually forget how she almost ruined my campaign.. Har har" President Robertson said handing some half-cooked eggplant to Senator Thomas.

"No thanks Mister President, but I'm here to discuss the nature of the...uhmm" Paused Senator Thomas, looking directly at the painting at the wall, acting as if being watched.

"Don't worry about the camera John, I asked them to turn it off. I just told them that we're going to talk about my wife...har..har.." said the president with his I'm-a-genius look. The Senator just laughed..."asshole " he thought.

"Mr President...the..uhmm....He...I mean it was born ." Terrified, the senator said.

"Ow. " The president replied, dropping the eggplant on his plate.

The silence was deafening.

"I never thought that we'd become..." Said the president, breaking the silence.

"What sir?"

The president looked directly at the Senator as if terrified and excited at the same time.

"We'd become God!"

Media
CNN tower, New York (03.12.07-13:50)

Sarah Johnson was talking to an important 'mole' on the phone. She would bite her lips once in awhile, stare blankly at the wall, and after a few seconds would take some notes. She would later on call her crew to find Dr. Akinawa in Baltimore. She believed that she's on to something big, although the details are not so clear. She only knew that the government has a project only known as "The Second Son".

Secrets
Baltimore (03.12.07-20:31)

"I'm sorry Sarah but there's no such project" said Dr. Akinawa as he hastily walked away from the reporter. Sarah, being a professional interviewer, walked with the doctor while asking several questions. To the doctor's annoyance, he confronted the reporter by shouting, "IF YOU WANT THE TRUTH THEN GO TO WASHINGTON! The president we'll be having a state-of-the-nation address tomorrow and you'll find what you want. Go and leave me alone"

Revelations
Washington (03.12.08-20:00)

Sarah had a seat reserved at the second row, she was late. Other reporters were quite surprised with the urgent call from the White House. They were assuming that it has got to do with an excuse for the 1st lady's erratic behavior last campaign, which they would later on realize to be wrong.

The president approached excitedly, with his usual smirks and grins. He eyed every individual in the room. This would be one of the historical moments of his career, he thought. He then started with a morning greeting.

"Today would be one of the most historical moments of our life. We have found a cure to our problems, answers to our questions, and better future without famine and wars," he stopped and swallowed for a moment. "Today science and faith united to bring an answer. We have welcomed a birth of a new beginning...The rebirth of Christ."

The room was then filled with murmurs. Sarah knew what the President was talking about, the project was proposed by Senator Thomas about 2 years ago, but was rejected by the majority of the people. She never thought that the president would take the project seriously. After all it would reduce his votes from most of the Christian community. She was occupied by her thoughts but was distracted when the president spoke one more time.

"This project was kept secret to avoid unnecessary violent reactions from most of the Christians. I am a faithful Christian and I too had doubts at the beginning. But imagine the possible goodness it would do to us. Imagine a Christ leading our country, we would doubtlessly be successful in every decision we make. Imagine the world without sickness, without wars, without crimes. Think of the infinite possibilities. You might think that I have lost my sanity, but I feel like John the Baptist, letting the world know about the coming of Christ." The president said excitedly like a mad man. He later talked about how it was made, from what sample the structure of DNA was replicated.

None of it matters to the reporters. The idea of Christ cloned would be enough headlines for years.

Most of the media people started to talk to their cell phones after the speech. Questions were not allowed after the speech, since the Press Secretary was also surprised from the president's behavior. He too thought that the president was losing sanity.

Sarah called for his crew. "Where to?" asked the cameraman. "Dr Akinawa, he's got a lot of explaining to do"

Natural
Baltimore (03.13.07-17:31)

"Dr Akinawa, the people ought to know about this situation. PLEASE LET US IN." said Sarah as she knocked at the door. "Leave me alone, my work at the government is finished," replied by a faint voice inside the apartment. "The president mentioned your name at his speech", then the door opened. "He did?" asked Dr.Akinawa in confusion.

"Actually no, but he mentioned a lot of the details", she replied. "He must have lost his sanity. Being a fanatic to the idea of being a prophet...I heard him once, during his visit to the lab. Though I'm afraid I can't tell you much of the details, and I would not endanger myself. I can only tell you some details which I believe would be given to you by the government later on. You are a friend Sarah, you have presented most of my works to CNN, but I'm still bound to secrecy," he explained.

Sarah responded with a smile. "Now can I come in?"

Headline
Washington (03.13.07-20:00)

"Mr President, I think you should watch this," the president's PA said. The room was now filled with important leaders with different opinions about the issue. But the room was filled with silence as the CNN news broadcasted important news from Sarah Johnson. They knew her as a dangerous reporter because she knows too much.

"...some information about the cloned Christ. We were informed that the Christ was not in normal condition. He grew faster that a usual person, 10 years of growth everyday. He is unable to speak as of this moment and would be improbable to live longer than the president has informed the people. We are not yet sure about the whereabouts of the child but..."

"IS THIS TRUE ROBERT?" asked the president furiously.

"Well,...umm.. it was just a minor problem. We could create another one every 10 days" Sen. Thomas retorted indignantly. "What...to manufacture Christs every 10 days? This was not part of the plan Robert.", then silence.

"How about the part where He could not talk, was that true?" asked the president staring at Sen. Thomas.

The senator slowly walked towards the president then whispered," I thought that He was going to be a puppet leader. That He was to be used to have more..." But before he could finish, the president called his PA and scheduled for another SONA.

"You'll be blamed for this Robert. You and your Jesus"

Suffering
Times Square (03.15.07-10:00)

Sarah was trying to find a place near the stadium but the place was so crowded. Most of the people gathered near the stage, where Sen. Thomas will be hung, were vagabonds. But that's reality she thought, majority of the people are either homeless or dying from famine. That's why they find it amusing to watch a Senator sentenced to die.

If only she had a permit to be on the front row, she thought. Unfortunately she was relieved from work after reporting Dr. Akinawa's information. The president personally called the board of directors of CNN to have her removed from job.

From afar she saw the former Sen. Thomas wearing a prisoner's uniform. Uproar exploded from the people. Some shouted obscenities, others just yelled like animals. Though she was wondering to what purpose the large post in the stage was.

To her surprise, an old man was carrying a large wood against his back. He was bald and was in a deteriorating state. Then she realized what this show was all about.

The president spoke inside a secured glass. He was used to assassinations.

"We were deceived by this leader," pointing at Sen. Thomas. "He made us believe that this man beside him was the reborn of Messiah. Har har har." Most of the crowd laughed with him. "Fortunately I was quite intelligent enough, and have prevented the country from much more famine." Some of the people did not agree and booed him instead. "To their treachery, they will suffer...DEATH!" said the president as if presenting a show in a circus. The crowd wildly roared with delight.

"How would you like Sen. Thomas to die?" he asked the crowd and they responded with "HANG HIM TO DEATH!"

"How about this hoax Jesus?"

To the crowd it was a delightful show. They always wanted someone to blame and the idea of having God being blamed to every misfortunes they have was appealing. They all shouted:

"CRUCIFY HIM!"

Sarah could not believe the things she was seeing. She wanted to blame herself for the reports she made, but she only wanted the truth. She never expected for things to turn out this way. The only thing she could do was to cry.

The hanging of Sen. Thomas was cheered by people, but they were waiting for the main show. The crucifixion of a man named Jesus.

The old man slowly walked in front of the crowd, as two men wearing a coat and tie, probably presidential guards, pushed him.

The cheering was getting louder. The president made some gestures which made the crowd even more ecstatic. "Should we crucify Him, with a large H? harharhar."

"CRUCIFY! CRUCIFY! CRUCIFY" they shouted.

Sarah closed her eyes and prayed. She was crying from guilt of all the people. She was crying for hope. She was crying until the shouting slowly faded.

Murmurs suddenly filled the crowd. The president was surprised with the reactions from the crowd. He then bent forward to look at what most people where pointing at. To his a surprise the old man was now full of beams streaming out from His body. The hand was bit visible and some people even argued that they saw some wounds on it, and then came a whisper to everyone's ear.

"I have given you a chance to live the natural way of goodness. Yet you still followed your own sufferings. " The voice filled the stadium. But unknown to the people inside was that the voice was heard even outside, even in the whole world.

"I will not send you to the lake of fire or to the valley of death. Rather I will give you my last miracle."

Sarah did not understand the silence of the people. All she heard was soft sobs and some soft whispers from crowd, such as "forgive me" or "sorry"...even the president who was crying with tears. She also saw a lot of people like her who was confused with the behavior of most of the crowd.

What confused her more was the blinding light from the stadium, slowly feeding her with happiness. She no longer felt her physical existence but rather the happiness to be with the old man. She walked towards the stadium together with other people like her. People who choose to live the natural way of goodness.

The Miracle Eden, (few days after creation)

God has removed the Tree of Good and Evil from the Eden and has commanded the Snake who guards it to turn into an Angel again. It was no longer needed He said to Himself. He would later on create Adam and Eve. But for the meantime, He will welcome some new souls. Including a girl who used to be Sarah Johnson.