Holy Scripture tells us…

“God is light and in him

there is no darkness at all."

These same ontic writings declare

that in the beginning, God said…

“Let us make man in our image.”

So… What went wrong?

PROLOGUE

MISSING

Kidnapping the image of God

“Everyone is missing and it appears that little evidence remains hinting that a great civilization was ever here… What could have caused this?”

His companion did not answer immediately but instead, knelt down and scooped up a handful of the deep-red soil, then straightened up and perused the barren surroundings.

After a few moments of reflection, he opened his fist and allowed the bone-dry dust to fall to the ground.

“An unthinkable act has occurred here. Most have fled the planet; however, a few stay behind. Their bodies have been swallowed up by the land, yet their shed blood remains splattered across this shallow soil.” Linden lowered his head and his body immediately fell softly to the battlefield. Quinta, knowing what this indicated, quietly sat down and waited for his friend to return.

Six days passed and on the evening of the seventh day, an eerie wind heralding the planet's imminent reproductive extinction rose up and hovered above the ice-capped Northern pole. Suddenly, without warning, the harbinger broke into violent waves of chilling air that wildly careened down upon the once fertile plain. Quinta, rising to his feet, struggled the short distance across the desolate terrain to where Linden’s body laid. After reaching him, he circled several times around the lifeless remains of his trusted friend, all the while pondering deeply on the impossible magnitude of what unexpectedly occurred here.

Three more days passed and then early on the morning of the eleventh rising, Linden returned. Quinta, sensing his companion's presence, awoke from his sleep to see Linden standing over him, “Rise up…We have been asked to go and find them!”

Quinta, his eyes firmly affixed to the concern resting on Linden’s face, slowly rose to his feet. After a few moments of silence, he turned his attention towards the distant rugged mountains and asked, “Before we leave, do we need to destroy any of the monuments they made to themselves… especially that one?”

Linden looked in the direction of his companions pointed finger and stared intently at the cragged plateau ahead. After some thought, a faint yet satisfying smile accompanied his answer, “We will destroy the others, but that one… we will leave to the future.”

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