Our Baptism

Honestly, it didn’t take long. I remember a time when we all thought it was so far off, that nothing like this could happen in our fragile lifetimes. Looking back, it’s almost laughable.

I’ve been spending my last few days watching videos of how things were; I found a box of DVDs with permanent marker written on them. I have no idea who the people in the videos are, but they were filled with recordings of celebrations. Birthdays, Christmas, New Years; there was even one in the pile labeled ‘Family Reunion’. It’s a bit strange to see that someone out there still put videos on DVDs, it’s such an old way of doing things, but, if nothing else, I’m grateful. It’s been a pleasant escape from existence.

Of course the nostalgia has been putting some strange thoughts in my head. How did we end up where we are? How did get forced into this situation? Sure, these thoughts are fruitless, but I’ve never been one for fruit, so I decided to entertain them.

I feel like most people would say that we were apathetic, and that’s what brought us here. At least that’s what they would say, if they weren’t mostly dead, and maybe they’d be right. It’s not hard to get wrapped up in your own life, uncaring of how everyone else is living. Why should I care if my neighbor 2 doors down the way had a bad day and decided to drunkenly take it out on his wife; not really my problem.

Some would probably also push that it was caused by politics; the never-ending squabbling between opposite ends of the same spectrum. More like two sides of the same coin, but I don’t think it would have made a difference. Sure, the people voted for their leaders, others voted for who they wanted. Sitting here today, it doesn’t really feel like the end of everything was partisan. Death is indiscriminate, it doesn’t care who you voted for, it doesn’t care what you considered wrong or right. Ironically, so are bombs, missiles, bullets… they all just kind of do their own thing.

Now, if you were to ask me, I think it was ignorance. We did all we could to steer the country, the world, in the ‘right direction’, we were charitable to some extent. There was even a brief moment when everything was set into motion where we loved our fellow man. Again, laughable. The sirens wailed, the skies lit up, the cities burned, and we wanted to help each other? By then it was too late, everything had been set into motion. The steps chosen to start anew were already being followed, and with those three simple words, we would all meet our end. With those three simple words, we would get what we deserved; our penance for our apathy, our fighting, the wars, the murder, everything our species had ever done.

It was then that we were Baptized By Fire.

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