Apocalypse 6pm: What just happened…???
Updated: 3 days ago
TIME
18:00
ah.
18:01
yep.
18:02
— like a tidal wave.
18:03
Yeah. Watched my screen go — blip!
18:04
Mine too! Pleased to meet you by the way. I'm Ed. This is Bill.
18:05
Yes. Hi, hello. I'm a techie called Stan. Seems like an EMP.
18:07
Ahh. Haha... techie? Lot of good you are now! Wiped. Lol.
18:08
I know. Funny. I can do the whole routine: "Try turning it off and on again…"
18:09
It half worked.
18:10
Knocked the grid out. That's not coming back.
18:11
Right. So. Three of us. And the world needs help…
[one hour later]
19:12
…which is why I never should have bothered with an iPhone 18…
19:13
Hello. Sorry to intrude. I'm Bill, a pastor. Here's Stan, and Ed.
19:14
Bill, hey! Stan. Hi! I'm Jo, the theologian. Ed? What do you do?
19:15
Me? Oh, these days. About as much as Stan here, lol. Unemployed.
19:16
And who's this, Jenny?
19:17
Sorry, yes, this my friend Lola. Lola's an architect. Also a dentist.
19:18
Interesting mix. Never know when that might come in handy.
19:19
haha... said the techie with the theatre skills after the EMP.
19:20
Ed, you say a lot for an unemployed person!
19:21
oh! I was just—
19:22
I know, sorry Ed. Sorry everyone. Bit stressed. Hungry too…
[one hour later]
20:23
ahh, I have to say. Violet and Barry! Your sandwiches… Yum!
20:24
Thanks. We pride ourselves. After all. Everyone needs to eat, even when —
20:25
Yep, even when we have no power and the world is all kinds of…
20:26
Totally. I vote Violet and Barry. Our new leaders.
20:27
Great! Oh. Looks like it's raining. Anyone got a tarpaulin…?
[one hour later]
21:28
Thank you for building us such a nice shelter, Rachel. Wow. Nice.
21:29
You're welcome. Couldn't have done it without Lola though.
21:30
She's right. I am good at that. And just wait until you have toothache…
21:31
Okay. Now I'm going to call everyone together for a meeting.
21:32
"Everyone listen! Bill's calling meeting! Bill's in charge."
21:33
Thanks Barry. Hi everyone. Glad you could join us!
21:34
Join you? It's the apocalypse isn't it? Not a bring and share.
21:35
Okay, yes, badly phrased. Glad you're here. To bring. And share!
21:36
Always the peacemaker. Good save, Bill. What's next?
21:37
Well, we should plan. So. Food? Check. Shelter? Check. More ideas?
21:38
We could form a government?
21:39
We could rig up a sewage system?
21:40
We could pray?
21:41
We could have an art exhibition?
21:42
We could build a prison?
21:43
Lovely, wonderful. All great ideas. Keep them coming!
21:44
We could try and get the old systems back. Only take a decade.
21:45
We could build something new? Five years? Fifty?
21:46
Nothing's new under the sun. Ecclesiastes.
21:47
Shut up! You'll be saying we could build a church next…
21:48
We could build a —
21:49
That's it. Bill's no longer in charge.
21:50
Isn't it time to eat again? Rachel, can you build a table.…
[one hour later]
22:51
Dum de dum…
22:52
Bored?
22:53
Well, I'm just wondering. About life. Now, I mean…
22:54
I know. Hmm.
22:55
What was the point of it all? What IS the POINT?
22:56
At least we have each other.
22:57
Shut up Bill.
[one hour later]
23:58
Seriously guys. Who's in charge? And what IS this crisis, really??
23:59
…
I've toyed with several last lines. Shut up Bill! was the Radio 4 comedy one. As a kind of conventional thinking point I listed alternatives of real/imaginary, tragic/absurd, existential/ordinary.
You're welcome to suggest your own.
What was actually in my head when I thought about this idea was how our framing and view point absolutely seem to change the apparent truth of the thing, even while the actual Truth of the thing seems unchanging, somehow.
Hmm…
