Page 35 - Gilbert & Me_Neat

Eventually, I realize that I need to stop rereading the draft elements of as yet incomplete chapters
and start from almost scratch, because that’s the only way to make the story of Jason and his
family work, in the context of the final destination of the book. I delete twelve incomplete pages,
and start a new storyline, but first I have to rethink some of the characters – not the main ones –
but others that were really only half-formed. I came up with a plan – I’m going to write new
characters based on people I have come to know in more recent times.

With revived enthusiasm, I got to work on creating new characters and revising the story of
“Consejo Shores”. Several hours later, I have seven brand new characters and a completely new
storyline, based on some real-day events involving corruption and maladministration in some
Government departments. So, it’s a real-life story then, with made-up characters (well, mostly
based on some real characters that I’m personally associated with, but they’re not corrupt or
anything like that. Just rugby players).

There’s a commotion outside. Sounds like a preacher has joined the queue to get into the
grocery store round the corner. Usually, I wouldn’t even know, for sure, that the store was open
– you can’t see the actual entrance from my balcony, because its way round the corner, but now
because people have to queue, said queue winds its way onto my street and ends somewhere just
below my balcony today. I stop my two – sometimes three – finger typing and take a look
outside.

There he is. An older gentleman, white beard, scruffy t shirt and off-white shorts, standing there
kinda in the queue and kinda not, holding a transistor radio. Yes, an old red and grey radio
which, at this moment in time is tuned into a very serious sounding announcer who is intent on
scaring the living daylights out of everybody within range. He’s reading something – doesn’t
sound like the bible, I have to say, but it could be from one of those obscure books that weren’t
included in the Nicean version - telling us all that, according to Chapter 29 of whatever book, we
have all sinned against the glory of God, and that “the God of Ismail, Abraham and Isaiah shall
smite the earth to rid it of the scourge of evil and evil people. Fire and brimstone shall cause the
wrath of God to destroy the evil that has infected God’s creation; that the children of Adam and
Eve have strayed so far off the righteous path, that God Himself shall bring about the destruction
of man, unless men repent now and forever be bound by the word, the righteous word, of God,
that God Himself gave unto man carved by his finger upon the stone tablets, curved under the
command of Him that created all things and given unto Moses upon the Mount.”

It’s scary stuff. Nobody is really listening.

I’m transfixed with the scene: this man is standing there half in and half out of the queue, not
wearing a face mask unlike everybody else. He appears, for all the world, to be attempting to
convince the people waiting patiently in line that they are sinners and God’s going to destroy
them all. I wonder what he’s hoping to achieve – that these sinners to panic and scurry off home
leaving him to advance to the head of the queue, or is he demonstrating that he, above all others,
because he is carrying this radio spouting fourth the word of God, that he doesn’t need to wear a
face mask because he alone among all others is protected? It’s truly bizarre.