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a new way of looking at... writings >> joe dobzynski jr. >> 1999 - 1 |
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He had been driving for a while now, going cross-country since the announcement came from parts unknown to the many people of the world. Those who didn't hear about it through the electronic media learned of it via newspaper or town meeting just days after. Proclamations of the end of the world and religious mania spread like wildfire when the message came. No one knew if it was a sick joke by some eccentric billionaire or if it really was the word of God, or Allah, or Set, or whatever religion people practiced. No one knew, but everyone cared. September 23, 1999 It happened with a precision unheard of in today's society. The timing seemed supernatural, but it really was amazing how punctual the message came. People were at work, or asleep, or making love, or any of the acts humans performed in their day-to-day lives. It was exactly 100 days until the New Year, new century, new millennium. All the conversation ceased for a moment as the news came through every media possible with today's technology. Phones, faxes, e-mail, television, web sites, and radio all around the world received the message. It was short and to the point. A gift is coming. Many of the computer people got it first, checking their e-mail when signaled, salivating over the new message that came through the electronic wire. Many were befuddled by the message, writing it off as one of the many viruses that were being spread over the Internet. It wasn't until people's radios and televisions were taken over that people began to wonder. Then came the countdown. All the computers of the world, all the televisions and radios, began the countdown. It wasn't just a virus. It was a message from somewhere, something that was haunting the world. The countdown started backwards from 100 days Greenwich Median Time. It was in the lower left hand of television sets, on every channel. It was on everyone's computer, a constantly running clock ticking backwards toward the millennium. It was over the radio, allowing normal broadcast, but with a mechanical voice softly, as if over the shoulder of the broadcaster, a silent countdown, second by second. The first bouts of religious mania hit about three days later, proclaiming the coming of the Son of God, whether for the first time or the second. It aroused doomsday cults around the world to finally reach their little piece of Nirvana while the rest of the world just sat and wait. Agnostics and atheists wrote it off as a horrible joke, and tried to live their lives among the ensuing chaos. |