BEWARE THE COUNTERFEIT RAPTURE!. Sandra Ghost

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      His next assignment was down in Shenandoah River Estates--the home of Brian and Kelly Norton. The development of about fifty homes and cottages, clustered on the banks of the deep water portion of the Shenandoah River, where the north and south forks met to form the main stem. The development was accessed across a single track railroad crossing to a two-mile dirt road, which wound through several farmer's fields and was interrupted by three cattle guards.

      As Mike's car bumped along the road, dust rolled behind him, turning into red, swirling plumes as it reflected his taillights. He could see Signal Knob Mountain in the distance to the west. He mentally made a note of the route the river traveled from Doc's house. Maybe Doc hadn't gone off his rocker if someone down here saw the thing too. The stars seemed brighter out here. The moon illuminated Apple Mountain in Linden to the east, the Blue Ridge chain to the west. He could see for miles. To the north, the lights of Winchester formed an illuminated blur on the horizon. Overhearing an occasional dispatch from the radio kept him company on the lonely road. It was an umbilical cord of contact to the rest of the county.

      His headlights picked up a group of reflected eyes. A young, black bull moved insolently out of the road, seeming to take his good old time in protest of this rude invasion of his territory.

      Suddenly, the Sheriff's Department car lost all power. The engine died--lights and radio were extinguished. He was surrounded by darkness. His hand automatically went to his .38. And then, a large lighted craft slowly rose over the trees from the direction of the river.

      Mike was terrified. Nothing in any of his training had prepared him for this. The craft seemed to pause momentarily over the Interstate 66 underpass directly in front of him. Then, in a flash it was gone, almost faster than his brain could assimilate what had happened.

      The headlights and engine came back on. His radio was illuminated and crackled slightly. His hand shook as he reached for the mike, then stopped short. His hand stroked his mustache thoughtfully. Every hair seemed to bristle, and he needed a moment to get his mouth in gear, formulate his thoughts, before making a professional report.

      As the car pulled up to the little yellow house on the river, lights showed through all of the casement windows, though it was now shortly after midnight. A red Geo Tracker was parked in the driveway, plus an old Dodge pickup . Brian Norton had told 911, "there is a UFO parked on the river, down toward the dam," Before taking their report, Mike turned on the overhead light and picked up the clipboard. He crossed out the word "unfounded" on Doc's report, and now wrote "GOA"--"gone on arrival".

      The following morning, major newspapers from all over the country reported spotty UFO sightings in Colorado, New Mexico, Mississippi, Virginia, New York, and Louisiana. There were also various similar reports from England, France, Australia and Italy. It would almost seem like a heavily orchestrated display--certainly not coincidence. The phenomenon gave rise to speculation everywhere.

      The local newspaper interviewed Horace--the Editor felt that old Doc Wilson would be a credible source for the local community. For weeks, residents of Front Royal continued to look over their shoulder when outside at night. Brian Norton's interview in the Winchester newspaper, was picked up by the Associated Press. He told of watching the large craft come slowly down the main stem of the river, where it seemed to pause for approximately twenty minutes over the dam, which the Army Corps of Engineers had built. "It pulsated," he was quoted as saying, "hovering like a hummingbird over a flower. Then suddenly, it rose up and sped toward the south in a blur of light." Overnight Brian became a celebrity at the local supermarket where he worked in the produce department. People would stop in front of the celery and parsley to talk about it.

      Brian and Kelly had been married two weeks after graduation from high school. They were very much in love, but fought over finances constantly. She worked as a waitress, but even with both their salaries it was all they could do to manage rent and two car payments. She fretted that Brian hadn't been paid for the interview. Briefly, the buzz in town replaced speculation about the possible coming crises of an attack by North Korea. Large bands of people congregated nightly up on the Drive at the Dickey Ridge Overlook to watch for UFO's. Scarlett was among those excited about getting a chance to see one. Many members of her New Age Church met there on a nightly basis. It resembled a hilarious tailgate party before a football game. People brought charcoal grills cooking hot dogs and steaks, passed out snacks, and extracted beer, and large jugs of wine from coolers in their cars, jeeps and crossovers. Several scanned the sky with binoculars. At times, the night wind carried their shouts and laughter toward Lance's farm down below. He thought back to his telephone conversation with Jesse the same night he had seen the craft come over the Drive. "Do UFO's have anything to do with the biblical signs you told us about?" he had asked.

      "I don't think so...I don't know, but I'll pray about it, bro. Let you know." Jesse had told him.

      Lance was taken aback by the response. The thing that impressed him the most was his older brother's positive assurance that if he prayed and asked, he'd get a definite answer. "That's pretty awesome," he told Demian. "Guess we'll just wait for the answer, boy. Must be nice to have 'connections' that solid."

      Horace, however, didn't want to even think about his encounter anymore. He still belonged to Rotary Club, which met on Friday's for lunch each week. When the local businessmen, who had been his cronies for years, asked for his opinion based on his personal observation, he waved them off abruptly.

      "But, Doc, you saw it...what'ya think it was?" Morey Simpson, the owner of the local hardware store had baited him for two weeks.

      "Probably something they dreamed up at Andrews Air Force Base. I told you I don't want to talk about it." Horace had standardized his answer by now. What he did want to talk about was the stock market's radical fluctuations now. He watched every daily stock return as though through the magnifying eyepiece of a jeweler. "All this far-fetched propaganda's started affecting the market. The Dow's been acting like a yo-yo."

      "Not 'far-fetched', Horace, it's near-fetched...gonna' happen," Harvey the pharmacist announced to the table of Rotarians. "Better circle the wagons. Batten down the hatches, get in provisions." He took another mouthful of beef tips, and let the words sink in with those around the table. "We need to start preparing right now to survive without any outside assistance."

      "That statement just shows your ignorance, Harvey. The government's going to fix this thing." Horace abruptly left the table and stomped out of the restaurant Stop the world I want to get off... Thoughts began to bombard his mind as he drove the large Chevrolet Caprice through traffic. Apparently, Jesse wasn't the only one holding the viewpoint that the country was in jeopardy. Even old conservative Harvey thought it would happen. He stopped for a red light by the stone courthouse. The American flag and royal blue Virginia flag flapped and rippled in the early afternoon breeze. He looked down Main Street. How could this possibly be disrupted? The light changed, and he continued down Royal Avenue passing by Randolph Macon up on the hill. He rubbed his forehead; the thoughts were giving him a headache. Should he buy a generator? No way...he wouldn't be sucked in by all this. Frankly, he thought that Marianne and Jesse's church was going off a cliff trying to relate all this stuff to end time signs.

      Marianne had dragged him to Victory Family Worship Center one time to hear Lee sing. He liked the music, but thought they were all a bunch of fanatics. Had Horace been able to see inside the courthouse as he passed it, however, perhaps his good mood would not have returned so quickly. At that time, a combined emergency meeting of the County Board of Supervisors and Town Council was in session. The subject of discussion was an assessment report by the utility engineers. The report revealed the sewers, pumping stations, СКАЧАТЬ