The Priest

Formerly known as Bob (part 11)

The Dim and Distant Past

Long before the collapse was the news of the day (about 7 years ago) There was this world that had been cobbled together out of the parts of a bunch of different broken systems, cleaned up, given a fresh coat of paint, and then called normal. You could see this thing clanking down the highways and byways of this country spreading the gospel of everything is okay, kind of like Johnny Appleseed if he was powered by diesel fuel.

The thing was noisy, dirty, spewed noxious fumes and left bits of junk lying in the road, like a car from the 1970s, and it made its way into the hearts and minds of America.

It was surprising that something so hideous and obviously wrong could come to be accepted as a representation of reality.

So many people wanted so desperately to believe that the concept of a normal life was still possible that they were willing to accept almost anything, no matter how bad, just so they wouldn’t have to change things.

There were, of course, those of us who recognized this aberration for what it was. We realized that this was a last gasping attempt to salvage an unsalvageable wreck.

It was hard to live in those times.

Even harder, I think, than living in the post-apocalyptic times.

After the crash, things were more black and white. There were only two options, do anything you could to…