Today was a good day in Atlaan because, for the first day, nothing was on fire.

Nothing.

No longer would the people live in fear of the naked pyromaniac, whose reign of terror was now over. The destruction totaled in millions , the deaths in hundreds, and people wanted their own slice of revenge.

During the emergency meeting held that afternoon, the citizens of Atlaan were allowed four minutes to bring up their concerns, the same as any other meeting. This day would not be like any other.

Unlike most board meetings, where they had the political activists, the announcements of yearly budgets and debates of which roads to fix, the bored old biddies, and the one weirdo, now they had the entire town to contend with.

The AC was on full blast, but everyone was loosely dressed, waving their decorative fans, clutching their water bottles close. Packed like sardines, some of them half-sardine, they were protective of their water. Fish- people would grab the bottles whenever they ran out of theirs, not wanting to faint, but serious enough to show up in person.

The boring brown carpeted and cream-colored walled room was loud, thick, and loud, all the plastic chairs were taken, random pieces of furniture being sat on, and whatever room that was left, people would stand.

A small drone was in the corner, live-streaming to the people outside that couldn’t fit, displaying the footage to a holo-screen outside the city hall. The local channel that showed the meeting every month, which regularly had only twenty viewers, now had roughly two hundred thousand.

The board, composed of low-level city politicians, was sweating.

The heat, the cameras, the impending doom, the hot glares, anyone would sweat under the pressure. None of them were dressed professionally, no one thought anyone would come.

No one came to these things, except that one weird guy, of course.

They appeared as if they weren’t taking their jobs seriously and now the thronging mass of fish-people, people, and the rabid tourist that only wanted to be there to join in and throw something at them, had another reason to reinforce their beliefs.

The chairman of the board, Mira, tried her hardest to do her job.

The forty-seven-year-old woman was wearing denim shorts, a pink t-shirt, plenty of sunscreens, and thankfully done her hair and nails the day before, straightened and dyed brown, nails painted a pale blue.

She appeared the most professional out of most of the board members, many of who planned on leaving back to the beaches, parties and parades immediately after and were still in their swimwear.

They all were underdressed because no one came to these things, absolutely no one, except for that one weird guy, of course, and now they seemed as if they weren’t taking their jobs seriously.

Before the meeting, they agreed Mira would speak for all of them because she was the smartest of them all, and she wasn’t up for re-election that year.

She banged her gavel twice, glanced to make sure nails were still fine, and opened her mouth, booming with authority.

“I call into session the emergency meeting concerning the arson incidents over town. We understand this is different, compared to previous emergency meetings-”

“You’re fucking right it is!”

Cheers erupted from the crowd, and Mira waited for them to stop shouting, banging her gavel, flaring her nostrils, telling them to quiet down.

“If anyone has more outbursts, I will kick them out or we will close the public forums for safety issues. I have every right to do that.”

“Fuck you!”

A large, bald, Alterian security guard dragged out the man by his leg with only one hand, his grotesque strength making it child’s play, and he flung him out the side exit like a frisbee.

“This is still a meeting. There are issues we need to discuss to keep this town running, ” Mira hissed.

She pointed her manicured index finger at the crowd, and the crowd booed once it was revealed that they couldn’t complain until after the board had discussed their usual matters, such as sewage lines, school funding, and worst of all, biking lanes.

Once the usual matters were addressed, next came the current issues of the fires.

The board had come to the conclusion that they would post police officers and firefighters at major buildings around the cities and places where people congregate, but this wasn’t enough for the crowd.

They were metaphorical sharks in the water, some of them actual sharks, and someone had to pay!

Mira smiled and tried her hardest to be professional. She pressed her clicker, going through on her holo-screen how they communicated with various insurance agencies that they would help pay, but that was not what they meant.

They wanted blood.

Mira and the other board members couldn’t admit that they had no idea where to find the culprit, that there were reports that he could teleport at will, that they accidentally arrested a man similar to him.

There were various reports over town, calling in sightings of the arsonist, but there were so few police officers left, after they quit or died during the fight at the Triangle Corp. building, it was impossible to keep up with the leads, real or fake.

“We want justice,” the crowd screamed.

“And you will get it! Now that we have laid out our plans you may bring your suggestions to the board. You have four minutes each, we will not bend this rule, ” Mira asserted.

Amazingly, people lined up in an orderly fashion, which was the last regulated event of the afternoon. The complaints started out as rational and soon descended into anarchy.

The first person up was a shrill woman, with curly hair, large golden bangles, and loose bright clothing. Many recognized her as the local news anchor who believed all men were evil and went on strange political diatribes.

Mira prepared herself for the most vacuous speech of her life, and strangely she made several good points and reminded everyone of the giant moth in the sky, which no one had done anything about.

The next person, a young man in a dark green sleeveless shirt and jeans, who planned to come to the hearing three weeks ago, complained about the infestations of lizards all throughout the town. The board started to relax at the mention of real issues , and they agreed, the infestation was disgusting.

Most metropolitan areas dealt with rats, the usual vermin, but the tropical town of Atlaan instead dealt with lizards.

They would sleep in the inner sidewalks meant for the fish-people, nipping at their ankles. Sometimes they would sneak inside buildings that had automatic doors and steal produce, and the larger ones would fight smaller pets throughout town.

For the first time, there was an issue everyone could agree on.

However, if there is an issue everyone can agree is problematic, the problem becomes who has the right answer, and the initial issue is forgotten about.

The mention of lizards however set off that one weird guy, of course.

He was next in line, and all the board members groaned, and then the members in the audience defended him. Everyone had a right to their complaints! It’s wrong to disrespect others, even this hairy and disheveled man.

The disheveled man went by the name of The Prophet, which wasn’t his name, it was what everyone in town jokingly called him because he claimed he had all the answers. Everyone in downtown Atlaan had known about the homeless man for years because he made his bussing spots in the busiest areas.

He was so popular that whenever the police arrested him, he was quickly bailed out by random strangers various times.

He was blind in one eye, wore the same cargo pants with numerous pockets, with pockets inside of pockets, a white stained shirt, and never wore shoes, because he didn’t trust people who wore shoes.

The Prophet had a deep, dark tan from being in the sun for years, long, brown, unkempt hair, and a scraggly beard. He kept clean by showering in the bathrooms showers near the beaches, or sometimes simply walking into the sea.

Today he tried to dress a little better, he wanted everyone to know the word of God, they must know the end is coming. He put his hair up in a ponytail, even wore shoes that some nice woman donated, and wore a nicer shirt.

None of that mattered to the board who was tired of seeing The Prophet at every meeting, but everyone in town noticed he had dressed a little better, and they were quick to come to his defense.

The Prophet stood at the mic at the podium, Mira pressed the timer, and his four minutes started.

He raised his palms upwards in a grandiose fashion, opened his mouth so wide you could see his missing teeth and told everyone the good word.

“I have come with the word of God,” The Prophet screamed, making the mic screech, and everyone in the room groaned.

“Soon, the pale devils and blood drinkers will attack, flying from the skies,” The Prophet screamed. “Their power grows through pain, but ours becomes stronger through joy!”

Everyone in the audience nodded their heads, assuming it was a flamboyant metaphor from a weird man, but the board knew he was not being metaphorical, he was serious.

“We can defeat them through the power of love,” The Prophet whispered into the mic.

The crowd clapped and Mira looked at the other board members, silently mouthing, are you fucking serious.

All common sense had hitched on its pants, put on its hat, checked its pockets for its keys, and walked out the front door.

“I have proof,” The Prophet screamed.

He brought out a wrinkled piece of paper, that the same kind lady who gave him the shoes printed out, and it was a copy of Levi’s email that he sent to various people throughout The Board that somehow made its way online.

“A young man who has the voice of God, speaking things to be, has warned us of the pale devils, ” The Prophet breathed heavily in the mic. “Look!”

The paper was passed around the room, and people shouted, some of them had seen the email themselves. The four minutes were up, Mira told The Prophet to move, and he left.

The woman behind him said she waived her turn to him, and she received a standing ovation and a very long and warm hug from The Prophet. The crowd stood together in solidarity, only the solidarity that the stupid and overly confident could have.

Mira knew it was against the rules, so did the entire board, but she didn’t care to fight it anymore. If she would leave there alive, intact, without having her body torn to shreds by an angry mob, then it would have been a good meeting.

She pounded her gavel again, bringing order to the room, and pleaded for The Prophet to make his point.

“Only together can we defeat the darkness, ” The Prophet hissed into the mic.

Yes! The crowd cheered.

“We must return to our roots, to nature as intended to defeat the unnatural means these blood-drinkers use.”

Preach!

“Together, all of us, Kina, Naki, Kana, immigrants, all of us , we can stop the evil that is among us! The pale devils are here, in our midst!”

Loud cheers came out, whipping everyone into a frenzy, and Mira didn’t flinch.

She had heard the same words repeated from Earthian news outlets, that blood drinkers had taken over some country called Norway?

Corway?

Torway?

Yes, Torway.

A strange rumor and hysterics throwing an entire planet into panic, many Earthian immigrants coming to Paradis, bringing their panic along with them.

She felt nothing but pity for The Prophet, believing he was influenced by a mob mentality, encouraging his sick mind.

“Once we have returned to nature, the lizards will accept us once again, their masters, the lizard people, will join us in defending us from the pale devils!”

Claps started loud and voracious, and then they quickly died out once everyone realized what he said, all that could be heard was someone letting out an audible whut ?

He continued, the rantings of a madman and a lunatic plain as day, netting more online views, television viewers, and creating a bigger crowd outside city hall as people watched on the holo-screen projector.

“The lizards are the messengers! Their masters, the asodbdsfidsfdgvf, have been trying to warn us for some time! That is why their numbers have increased all over town the past few years,” The Prophet explained.

Waving his hands in the air, wiggling his fingers, these did not seem like the words of a sane man.

He wasn’t sane.

Nothing close to it.

The asodbdsfidsfdgvf did not sound like any word, it was a real word, but their C-Chips did not translate it, and The Prophet sounded like he was coughing out a rock from his mouth.

“Our only hope is in the hands of a boy who cannot catch things, a pink woman, a rock called Paul, and two men who want to kill their mother,” The Prophet screeched, shaking his fist in the air.

“They must become god eaters and killers! Trapping them inside rings and gloves isn’t enough!”

“Bailiff, please take this man out of here. The four minutes are long up,” Mira sighed.

The Prophet was dragged away, screaming, yelling that a man with glowing blood would attempt to destroy the seventh realm, everything they know is a lie , and that they would all die.

Mira sighed, brought the mic in close, and with a dead look in her eyes, admonished the crowd.

“That man comes here, every meeting, and has several mental illnesses. Please don’t encourage him any further. If anyone has any real complaints and suggestions, the floor is still open.”

Soft murmurs flowed through the air, a few people left, but many stayed, most with real complaints, and many waiting to see if another crazy man claiming he spoke to God would tell them their fortune.

The Prophet could very well see the future, all endings good and bad.

His mind was so damaged, however, that no one believed him.

His cerebrum was loose, string cheese someone had pulled apart with their fingers, but that never deterred him. The Prophet would try, and try again to warn the world of what was to come, but no one would ever believe him for the rest of his life.

He wasn’t the first tanned man with a beard and long hair who spoke of love, kindness, helping others and claimed God spoke to him, then was promptly ignored.

He wouldn’t be the last and at least this one wasn’t flayed and hung to dry.

The Prophet’s erratic display was the nail in the coffin that ensured no one would believe an invasion was imminent.

Who would believe the words of a crazy, half-blind homeless man that lives on the beach, and believes in the power of love ?

However, the lizard people might be an easy sell on a different day.

The power of love, though ?

Never!

How silly!