"What are you going to do with Aaron and Swift once they get here?"
"I don't know but let's hope Swift is not back for round two. Can you compose yourself if Aaron walks through that door first?"
"We're about to find out. Voices are headed this way."
"How many?"
"Hard to tell but I'm picking up only….one!!"
"One? Who?"
"Shh. Here they come."
My dad picked up his steak knife and I instincetevly did the same.
"Hello brother! Did you miss me?"
"Where's Swift?"
"Ooo. Straight to the point with you. No; it's nice to see you again or how have you been; nothing like that. I like it."
"Where's Swift? Hopper said he killed both of you so he's gotta be here somewhere."
"I...I just can't take you seriously with that expression.Everytime you try to be serious, little brother you just...can't. I do wish however that your face could be frozen in time. Would make a great picture to put on a postcard. Speaking of Swift I know not of his whereabouts although Swift didn't die with me. Swift died a while back. Thought you were there for that old man. Guess it's true that your memory is fading like the setting sun. That's ok because we are in need of your seriousness no longer. You're relieved from your past brother."
"Now hold on just a…..Swift! You can come out now."
Out of the back he came from the shadows until he and Aaron stood opposite sides of us almost boxing us in like animals .
"Hello my most dearest of comrades."
"Hopper, back to back."
"But I wanted to...back to back! You take Swift and I'll take Aaron."
"Huh. Two V two. Imagine that. Too bad we're all stuck in here together and our fates are in Croaks hands. Until we're reunited with our bodies you cannot lay a hand on me but…"
"You can do anything to the world around him but a hand on him you shall not lay."
"Haa! Do you think I came here to seek your permission Hopper?"
"Croak is no Job and Job is no wanderer. Do you even know what wanderer means? A Waderer means one who skips from religion to religion never settling on just one. They stick to a religion for a few years but once it starts to get hard, teaches something they don't like or does anything small they don't agree with then they simply hop on the train to the next so they're never at a low point."
"All the more reason to test his loyalty. Want to make sure he's your true friend right? Now what plague are we on again? Must've forgotten. Do you remember?"
"Swift, you don't have to do this. What good are you seeking to gain?"
"Gain? Hopper, we are one of the same you and I. We both want the same thing but just are going at it in different ways."
"No, I am nothing like you."
"Oh, but you are. The church is what we both want cleansed but while you talk about cleaning I act upon it. Frankly I wanted to just destroy everything and build again like your God always does but this here is better. We can fight each other all day cause we are both strong in the faith though that would get us nowhere in the long run. To cleanse the church we first have to see if they are willing to be cleansed. Who better to test than a wanderer? Personally they are the best to test in my opinion cause they are already familiar with every religion and know the ins and outs so if they can settle on just one religion others will be more willing to follow behind them."
"Still doesn't give you the right to destroy anything and everything wherever it fits you to do so."
"Oh no. I'm not the one that's destroying anything. Your God is the one that destroys everything. He always has been; is currently and will continue to do so for the end of times. Look at the flood. 'Gods' people started going down the wrong path and it got so bad that He threw in the towel; wiped everything clean and started again. What about the fourty years in the desert? The men of Isreal grumbled and complained so much God yet again threw in the towel and said fine then. If that's how you all want to act to me and Moses after we saved you then you can walk fourty years in the desert until all the original people Moses freed have died. I'll just send your sons and the new generation into the promised land instead of you all. Wasn't even a few years later when the men of Israel angered God again that He once again threw in the towel; opened the mouth of earth up and swallowed over a third of the Isrealites whole."
"What's your point?"
"My point? My point is that although God knew someone was going to sin; when they did sin He treated the person as if He knew nothing at all what that person was going to do. With our combined help we can cleanse the church or cleanse it best we can the right way before God comes in and cleanses it His way. That all starts with knowing if people can be cleansed and that starts with knowing if Croak has what it takes. What do you say? Trust me?"
"Hopper, after all that has happened we can't trust him...or Aaron for that matter. They only seek to destroy, not to make new."
"Pastor, what are you talking about? Our intentions are only good and just. We only want to help better other people without the least bit of hurt but Hopper out of all of us should kow that sometimes there is no way around it. In order to help a lot of people one must get hurt to test whether everybody as a whole can be...….saved."
"Hopper, what did you do?"
"I did what I had too. Everybody; put your weapons down.
"Hopper, what are you doing"
"Swift, I give you my permission to proceed."
"Hopper, you have no right to give permission and trust hi…..dad; it's out of our hands. Swift, take Aaron and do what you must do but remember that you may have won this battle but you haven't won the war."
"We'll see about that. Today let's eat, drink, and be merry....for tomorrow we die."