We the People Are Good to Eat
17. "Welcome to Paradise"

17

Pastor Luzak had driven Dave, Karen,his brother Henry and niece Charlene to a small cove on the shore of LakeWallenpaupak. At this point, the Lake was about a mile across. Farout on the water, several boats glided slowly with their sails hanginglimp. Fishing lines trolled behind the vessels.

Domnick had parked outside a smallrefreshment stand, with a sign on the roof, identifying the place as"Natalino's Landing". There were two other hovercars in theparking lot. A narrow pathway ran from the parking lot down to theshoreline, where a wooden dock stretched out into the water. The fivefrom Zabelton were now fishing from the dock.

Henry had shown the two kids fromthe City Building how to bait their hooks, and cast their lines. He'dalso warned them to be careful with the hooks, and make sure they looked overtheir shoulders before casting.

Karen had been squeamish at thesight of the worms. "You don't actually eat these things, doyou?"

"No." The Motelproprietor had chuckled. Then he patiently explained, "We use themto bait the hooks. Then the fish bite them. Then we eat the fish,after we cook them."

"Good." She'd said,"They don't look like any kind of meat that I'd want to eat, even after they'dbeen cooked."

Henry had also warned them to makesure that their lines didn't overlap with anyone else's.

Now Dave and Karen sat together onthe dock, not too far from the thickly wooded shoreline. Their red andwhite bobbers floated undisturbed on the quiet water where they'd beencast. Their fishing lines lay a good distance apart, across the top ofthe ripples. Under the warm morning sun, there was no breeze. Theoccasional call of a bird sounded in the distance, and the lapping of the wateragainst the dock were the only sounds they noticed.

Domnick, Henry and Charlene hadmoved to the far end of the dock, where they were now fishing, a few hundredfeet away from Dave and Karen.

"Charlene and her father keeplooking at us." Karen told Dave. "I know the Pastor's anokay guy. He wants to give us a chance. I don't know about anybodyelse around here."

"We just have to go along withthem Karen. Obey their laws, and...and I don't know what. Forgetabout the City Building?"

"Forget?" She asked,"How can we forget? The City of Manhattan Building is ourhome. That's where we belong. Not here. As beautiful as thisall is, we don't belong here."

"If there were other peoplefrom the City Building out here, it would be a lot easier."

"If our friends were out hereDave, we'd be able to enjoy it. I wish we could welcome them to come outhere."

"We can't." He toldher, "It's just you and me Karen."

She sighed, "Why did you haveto pray for me Dave?"

"Let's not get back to thatagain, please."

Karen sighed once more. Shegave the reel on her fishing rod a few cranks, bringing her bobber in a littlecloser. Then she sighed again.

Dave said, "The Pastor's comingover."

Domnick had left his gear besideHenry and Charlene. He moved along the dock in Dave and Karen’sdirection. Then he came over and stood beside them.

He said, "I've been thinkingover what you told me before, and what I saw in that photo you showed me."

"In the City Building,"Karen told him, "pictures like that aren't considered obscene. Itshows me involved in what we call 'sadistic recreation', and we are sadisticpeople, and we consider it a virtue."

Now the man said, "That's notwhat I want to discuss. Karen. You said the Lord brought you back,after Dave prayed for you. Now you're here. This is a sign from theLord that something of great importance is occurring."

"That's what we've beenthinking too." Dave told him, "We and our friends have beentrying to figure it out, but up 'til now we've just been guessing."

"This is what I've figuredout." The man told Karen, "What isn't a guess is this. You told me that the Lord spoke to you. What he said to you, are the samewords that are found in Deuteronomy chapter 30. They were originallyspoken by Moses to the Israelites, after they'd left their captivity in Egyptand were about to enter the Promised Land.

"That isn’t aguess." He went on, "What is a guess, is that your receiving ofthis message, your reviving, and your leaving the City Building, might be asign, that the same thing is about to happen again."

"The same thing?" Dave asked "'Freedom from captivity'?"

"Yes Dave, Karen. It maybe that after 1,322 years, the time for the unsealing of the City of ManhattanBuilding has come. The Lord might have sent you to us as a warning."

Karen repeated, "Warning?"

"That your 'virtuouslysadistic' people, might be about to enter our land."

Then Dave said, "Karen."

He pointed out toward thewater. "I think you've got something."

She looked where he waspointing. "Where's the bobber?"

Domnick said, "A fish has takenthe bait. Now reel it in slowly."

She lifted up her fishing rod, andfelt a tug on the line. She put her fingers on the crank, and beganreeling in the line, feeling an even stronger tug on the other end. Sheraised the rod higher, and it bent forward toward the water.

Domnick said, "You've got himnow. Reel him in quick."

She did as he said, and beganrapidly cranking the reel. Then the approaching bobber again appearedabove the waves, followed by an eight inch long black fish, with a wide roundhead, that had appendages sticking out from around its wide mouth.

"It's a bullhead." The Pastor told her.

She reeled it in right up to theedge of the dock, and lifted the thrashing creature high, while the rodremained bent forward by the weight of the catch.

"It's a bullhead." Domnickrepeated. "Larger ones are called 'catfish'."

As the bullhead thrashed around,with its tail bending sideways, up and down, Karen told it, "Welcome toParadise."

Dave also said, "Welcome toParadise."

She swayed the rod, bringing thebullhead in over the dock, where Domnick helped her remove the hook. Thenhe tossed the catch into a bucket at her side that had been filled with waterfrom the Lake.

Then he asked, "Why did youboth welcome the fish to Paradise?"

Dave told him, "We're supposedto say that to everybody who gets killed or who we kill ourselves."

Karen added, "And with the waythat fish was squirming around, like some cheerleader who's getting hanged, itwas just the right thing to say."

Across the parking lot from therefreshment stand, a picnic area was set up with tables and benches, and openbarbecue pits made from stone, with metal grills across the top. Around11:30, the Luzaks, Dave and Karen carried their morning catches of fish up fromthe dock, and into the picnic area.

Domnick carried the fish that he,Henry and Charlene had caught, on a line with hooks through their gills.

Dave told Karen, "Like a lineof hanged cheerleaders."

She called out, "Welcome toParadise, fishes!"

The fish were put down atop onetable, where they were cut open, and seasoned for cooking. While theothers prepared the meal, Henry brought a bag of charcoal over from the trunkof the hovercar. He loaded the briquettes into one barbecue pit, tossingthem under its metal grill. Then he set the briquettes on fire.

Once the fish were cleaned, theywere tossed on the grill, along with potatoes and carrots that the Luzakshad brought with them from Zabelton. The aroma of barbecuing fish,carrots and potatoes soon filled the air throughout all of Natalino's Landing.

When the grilling was done, everyonesat at one of the tables, on the long wooden benches. The Luzaks sat onone side of the table, while Dave and Karen sat across from them. Justbefore they began eating the barbecued fish, potatoes and carrots, that were onpaper plates in front of them, Pastor Luzak spoke.

"Would you like to say grace,Dave?"

They all bowed their heads, whilethe young fellow from the City Building spoke.

"Thank you Lord for this foodthat we are about to receive, and thank you for receiving these fish that weare about to eat, into Paradise with you. In Jesus Name. Amen."

The three Luzaks looked puzzled, asDave and Karen began to eat.

The Pastor asked Dave, "Youthanked the Lord, for receiving fish into Paradise?"

"That's how we say grace in theCity Building. Except there we say 'for receiving these people who we areabout to eat'."

He and Karen continued eating, whileDomnick, Henry and Charlene had no idea what to say.

Then Charlene asked, "What doyou think Uncle Domnick? Do animals go to Heaven?"

"I'm really notsure." He told her, "Somebody asked me that once. I toldhim that I couldn't think of any reason why they wouldn't.

"Then he told me, 'That meansthat Heaven is full of flies.'”

The others laughed.

Domnick went on, "Yes. Heaven is full of flies; and mosquitoes, gnats and hornets and big hairyspiders. There are snakes and scorpions, and alligators, along withlions, and tigers and bears."

"Oh my." said Charlene.

Henry added, "And don't forgetabout all those giant dinosaurs."

Domnick went on, "Along withall those thieves and harlots."

His niece repeated, "Thievesand harlots?"

"Yes. Jesus did say thatthey would be the first to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, because they were thefirst to repent at His teaching."

"Right." Henrynodded. "There will be thieves and harlots in Heaven."

Domnick added, "Along with allthose warrior guys and girls, and cheerleaders from inside the City ofManhattan Building, who've accepted Christ as Savior."

Then Karen said, "Amen."

The Pastor told them, "Heavenshould be a very interesting and exciting place."

Then Karen said, "Oh everythinghere is just so wonderful. We wish that it was possible for us to inviteour friends to come out here and it enjoys it with us.

"I'm sorry Karen." Henry said, "We are all doing our best to help you both feelwelcomed. Unfortunately, we can't do the same for your friends. It's like we've been saying. If they learned about the way things are outhere, people would come pouring out of the City Building by the millions, andthe world would be turned into total chaos."

"Mr. Luzak." Dave toldHenry, "Karen and I are not the only ones who know it. Right afterwe came outside the City Building, I was able to call someone on mycellphone. We told her that we were out here, and that there was life inabundance out here. By now the word's sure to have gotten around to a lotof people."

The Luzaks all looked troubled.

Charlene said, "Millions ofcannibals from Hell, are gonna start pouring out?"

"Calm downCharlene!" Domnick spoke firmly. "There is no reason foralarm. Just because a few people have found out, it doesn't mean thatmillions of them are gonna begin pouring out three days later. There maybe a small trickle at first, but it's going to take a good amount of time andplanning, before any groups of any considerable size, begin to emerge.

"This is something that hasalways been expected to happen eventually, and plans have been made inpreparation for it."

Henry asked, "Do you have anyideas what those plans are, Dom?"

"Well, to begin with," thePastor told them, "I'll have to go down to Scranton tomorrow. I'llgo to Congressman Salinski's Office, and talk to somebody there. WhatI've heard about the plans is that a delegation will be appointed and sent tothe City Building, where they will speak Government officials. They willhopefully agree to work with us, so that when City People do begin to emerge inlarge numbers, the whole thing will be managed in an orderly way. Thatwill prevent chaos."

Henry said, "That soundsreasonable."

Charlene nodded in agreement.

"Pastor Luzak?" Daveasked, "Are you going to enter the City Building yourself?"

"I probably would be appointedas a member of the Delegation, David." The Pastor smiled, "Andsince no member of the Delegation, would know a thing about what's what insidethe City Building, we'll need people to guide us, and those people wouldobviously be the two of you. The Lord is with you Dave, and he is alsowith you Karen. He will be bringing you home."

"It's not that easyPastor." The high school boy told everyone there. "Wewere able to get out of the City Building with no trouble at all; but theairlock can only be opened from the inside. It can't be opened from theoutside."

"You're forgettingsomething." Henry said, "You told us you were able to speak tosomeone on the inside, over your cellphone."

"That's right. She was mygirlfriend."

"Then you could go back to thesame place where you called her from, just outside the City Building. Then you can call her again, and ask her to go down to the airlock and open itfor you, and let the Delegation in."

"Wait a minute!" Charlene spoke sharply. "You said that the girl you called was your'girlfriend'? What about Karen?"

"Karen's my formergirlfriend. The girl I called is my present one. It's kind ofcomplicated."

Domnick and Henry both chuckled.

Now Charlene gasped. "Youmean you're not betrothed? You're both sleeping in the same room thatwe've rented you, and you're not even betrothed?"

Karen told them all, "In theCity of Manhattan Building, people our age just don't get 'betrothed'. Noone is permitted to get married or have children, until he or she reaches 21years of age. Dave and I won't even discuss marriage or childrenseriously, until we reach 21."

"You mean your relationshipisn't 'serious'? And you're staying in the room we've rented you? That the Church is paying for?"

"Back inside the CityBuilding," Karen said, "our relationship wouldn't be more thantemporary, but as long as we're living out here, it would be right to call us'betrothed'."

Dave asked, "It would be?"

"Yes Dave." Karentold him firmly, "You and I arebetrothed!"