Flux

keypad on the wall.
    Trusty Bible in hand, Iain paused to look around before following the signs to the exit. He was thinking about what to do with his new-found freedom. There was no rush to phone work, he’d be better off relaxing and enjoying himself for a while, giving his brain plenty of opportunity to heal.
    He found himself on the steps outside the main hospital foyer and nodding at the magpie which seemed to be watching intently, made his way to the bus stop.
    Despite it being a journey he’d made many times over the preceding months, Iain found he couldn’t remember the number of the bus which would carry him home. He tried to concentrate but it continued to elude him. His thoughts were vague and he struggled even to bring forth recollection of the street name where he lived. Maybe freedom wasn’t going to be as easy as he’d initially thought. He realised that while in hospital there had been no requirement on him to think for himself; no urgency to remember or do anything.
    Finally, after consulting a timetable, waiting for the bus, successfully remembering where to get off and finding the correct door key, Iain was home once again. Entering the small hallway he saw that yet again, a large pile of letters awaited him on the small cupboard by the stairs. Not in the mood to be sifting through them, he ignored the letters and went directly up the stairs to his flat.
    No smell of rot and decay assaulted his nostrils this time; everything appeared as it should. Of course the milk in the fridge was off and there were a couple of mouldy oranges on the counter, but nothing that couldn’t easily be dealt with. Iain swore at himself for not remembering to buy fresh milk but had no intention of leaving the flat again for the rest of the day. So, sitting in his favourite chair with black coffee, he turned on the television.
    It was on the hour and the news was about to start. Iain realised how cut off from the outside world he’d been and how out of touch with world events he’d become. Even though current affairs wasn’t his strongest interest, he liked to know what was going on around him.
    The bulletin seemed to reel off one disaster after another; earthquakes, tsunamis and even nuclear meltdown. Trouble was brewing in the Middle East, the Holy Land, with governments overthrown and civilians being shot in the street. He thought to himself as he watched, about how catastrophes seemed a lot more common nowadays; about how they touched every continent. Even sleepy, quiet England was not immune with devastating floods each year. At least they weren’t on the same scale as elsewhere in the world.
    Volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, violence, disease and pestilence all seemed on the increase. It felt to him as if all events were building towards something bigger, something altogether more devastating: He just required the clarity of mind to be able to envisage the greater picture; a clarity of mind as elusive as scotch mist.
    Turning off the television, he went to bed but his dulled mind refused to stop working; trying to connect the dots: But what have world events got to do with me? He knew they did, deep down somewhere within himself he just knew.
    The night was warm and muggy and the breeze coming through the window did little to alleviate his discomfort. Then it struck him; And the dead shall walk the Earth. He’d seen them with his own two eyes. What if all the events of biblical proportion were just that: biblical? The concept struck Iain like a hammer blow; he felt privileged, chosen even. Now wide awake, he got to thinking about his visions; surely they must be connected with God’s plan; all the doctors had succeeded in doing was to retard his ability, his capacity to act upon his gift: But what kind of action? Iain didn’t know.
    He needed time to think; a bit of quiet time to process his thoughts, thoughts which slipped from his grasp like a freshly caught eel. Now wide awake, Iain rose from his bed back into the living room where he spent the remainder of the night drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, and alternating between sitting on the sofa and pacing the room until the rising sun came shining in through the window.
    With the coming of dawn, Iain pulled on his shoes and took himself for an early morning walk across the common. The air was fresh and dew lay thickly on the grass, glistening in the strengthening rays of the early morning sun while a plethora of birds sang out a dawn