Curse Of Man - Rob Astor (books to read this summer .txt) 📗

“Today’s informal Thursday.”
Brian shook his head. “Well, you know everything, right?”
“Here’s a little secret. Not exactly everything. I didn’t really make it all. Just people. And trees. Oh, and birds.” He smirked. “Ever wonder why a bird flies over right after you wash your car?” He pointed his thumbs at himself, grinning. “Anyway, other gods made other stuff.”
“Other gods? I thought there was only one.”
“Where did you get an idea like that?”
“Religion.”
“Curious.” He wrinkled his brow at Brian. “Why would I say, ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before me’?” He touched an index finger to his lip. “You can’t have a rule like that without having more gods.” Brian rubbed his forehead. What kind of a Supreme Being was he dealing with?
“That’s the trouble with monotheism. Everybody had these itty-bitty attention spans. They over simplified everything.”
Brian was baffled, dumbfounded.
“You know what I mean, Mr. Buckley. Books kept getting shorter. Movies, television shows, music. Even conversations. No one had time for anything. Every activity was reduced to the simplest common denominator.”
Brian pursed his lips. Skylar stood at his side. Raising a brow to God, “What’s your name?” he asked.
“You can’t pronounce it.”
“Try me.”
“You simply can’t.”
“Must be a whopper. Something all the gods teased you about, right?” He winked, grinning.
The figure drew himself up. “Andrew.”
“Andrew? God’s name is Andrew?”
“I told you you couldn’t pronounce it.”
“I just did, Andrew.”
“You’re saying it all wrong,” Andrew mumbled.
Brian blew out a quick breath. “Look, just tell me what happened to everyone.”
“It’s difficult to explain.”
“Try.”
“We got bored with this simulation. We’re re-setting the game parameters.”
Brian shook his head. “What?”
“I won the pool,” Andrew chuckled. “No one thought you’d last twenty years. Well, it hasn’t been twenty years for me, of course. It took a few weeks to figure out how to get me into this simulation so I could talk to you in person. You have no idea what it takes to send someone into a whole new medium. But, it wasn’t twenty years.” Andrew paused to take a breath. “I tend to ramble sometimes.”
Brian remained silent
“You’ve done well for yourself. The garden’s a refreshing touch.”
“You want something to eat?”
“No. Food and water is food and water to you. There’s nothing here I can use as food. It’d be like you trying to eat a bunch of electric computer information. I’ll grab a cheeseburger when I go back.”
Brian’s mouth watered. His stash of meats had run out years ago. “Can I have one?”
Andrew considered the question with arms folded over his chest. “I guess we can call it a final request.”
Brian held his hands out. A plump cheeseburger appeared out of thin air. He took a big bite, succulent meat filling his mouth with flavors he forgot exited. Skylar sat, focused and hopeful. “You said you’re resetting the simulation.” Brian’s lips smacked. Andrew nodded. “What happens when we die?”
“I don’t know. I suppose your energy’s recycled back into the system. Like reincarnation.”
“Where is everybody?”
“I turned them into trees. You can’t have enough trees.”
“All seven billion?”
Andrew nodded. “They’ll help repair the damage to this world.”
“When you reset the program…?”
“A new intelligent species evolves.”
“Do you know what?”
“Puppy dogs.”
“Dogs?”
Andrew nodded. “Until we get bored with them.”
Brian paused. “Why create this if it gets boring?” Brian let his hands fall to his side and Skylar helped himself to the remainder of the cheeseburger.
Andrew shrugged. “Pass the time. People did that, didn’t they? Created worlds with predetermined sets of events.”
“We were created in your image for sick, sadistic, twisted, perverse pleasure?”
“You should have seen that thing we dropped on the dinosaurs!” Andrew chuckled.
“You’re evil.”
Andrew’s expression sobered. “Careful. I’ll turn you into a pricker bush.”
“No matter how much power you have, I won’t be thankful I’m a tree. You can’t force me to love you.”
“This isn’t about love.”
“You feared us. Feared what we could become.”
“Mr. Buckley--”
“That’s why you stayed in ‘Heaven’.”
“Mr. Buckley! That’s quite enough.”
“Did you come to validate yourself, Andrew? You got tired of sitting in your lonely cubicle and watching me all the time? I didn’t have to validate myself. I had self-awareness. Twenty long years of it!” Skylar lay on crossed paws as Brian paced. “Since you weren’t part of my awareness until a few minutes ago, this proves something. God needs man’s validation to exist.”
“Are you finished?”
“You won’t escape the consequences.”
“You? You’re going to impose consequences on God?” Andrew laughed.
“Yes! I’m laying a curse on you. I’ll make sure dogs know all about this little game.”
“It doesn’t work that way. Creation doesn’t get to destroy its creator. That’s impossible. The sum of the whole cannot exceed its parts.” Andrew turned away and vanished.
Brian rooted to the ground. He pulled on elongated feet, coiling through rich soil. Brian’s raised arms froze solid. He tried to shout. There was no air in his lungs. He couldn’t pull in a breath. Panic set in. His arms stretched for the sky. Fingers became leaves. Sunlight warmed them. Atmosphere filtered into him. Brian felt the tingle of photosynthesis. Sensory breakdown enveloped him. At the edge of consciousness, whispers filled whatever qualified for a brain. There was a multitude of voices; the collective voice of every other transformed person, asking what happened. With great effort, Brian related his story.
Without seeing Skylar, Brian sensed his animal friend nearby. He sent soft words, carried up by his leaves, across the breeze. Skylar’s head tilted from side-to-side. The dog stood, easing over to Brian’s notebook. Skylar angled his paw, carefully opening the cover. Canine eyes studied written words. Pages were turned with soft, gentle paw pads.
Carefully closing the book, Skylar delicately wrapped his jaws around the spine. He trotted toward home. Imprint

Publication Date: 04-09-2011

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