ProphetstownA Story by Meagan LeighThe life cycle of a townThe
elders of the town will tell you that as soon the prophet mill arrived
everything went to Hell. Before the process was streamlined, prophets used to
be grown organically in the community. They popped up only where the ground was
tilled and a prayer was planted. They came only when they were Called. The mill
came and squashed these small honest men. They were shoved right out of town
and replaced with sharp smiles, slick hair and smooth voices. These new men of
God marched out of Prophetstown and spread across the nation spewing prepaid
messages. Prophetstown
is now a Midwestern Mecca. The mill runs tours for school children. They take
them to the assembly line. See how you can mix and match hair color with
different skin tones and iris shades. Should we give him a passionate drawl or
a no-nonsense attitude? Someday
soon the prophet market will crash. Demand will plummet and layoffs will sweep
Prophetstown. The mill will close. They will pile the scrap outside their
warehouse, half formed prophets who stagger away confusedly, their perfect
teeth askew. They will scatter, pulling at people’s sleeves on subways and
regurgitating scrambled sermons. Some will still form followings, lead their
ragtag congregations to live on communes in Canada. There will be a Tilapia
grilling cult and a sock darning church. But
mostly the prophets will break down. Jibbering on the side of the road, rocking
in the alleys. A collection agency will form with its own army of prophet
elimination trucks. And a prophet elimination plant will grow on the site of
the old mill. The
town will forget how prophets were originally grown or later, manufactured.
People will only know the screaming scraps, the trucks and the incinerator. © 2012 Meagan Leigh |
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2 Reviews Added on January 12, 2012 Last Updated on January 12, 2012 AuthorMeagan LeighGalesburg, ILAboutI'm a senior in college and a creative writing major. I wanted to explore an online writing community to see what I could see, read what I could read, and write what I could write. more..Writing
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