Volume XI, Issue IX
A Guide to the 2059/2060 Fair
The Sequel to PONTIFUS
By Bob Kirchman
Copyright © 2016, The Kirchman Studio, all rights reserved
Kate, Kris, Kris' daughter and Elizabeth Zimmerman had been looking forward to this reunion for a long time. Their upcoming visit to the Alaska Centennial Exhibition in Fairgate was, they expressed among themselves, somewhat transparent as an excuse. But even with the new rapid speed evacuated tube trains running through Big Diomede on the bridge, the luring of husbands to the ends of the earth required some doing. Kris and Elizabeth had an advantage here as Kris' husband was the pastor of the little church on Big Diomede and Elizabeth's husband was still tied to the work of the great bridge he had engineered.
Elizabeth's Niece, the little girl who inspired Elizabeth's father to embrace life with renewed hope and courage, had by now succeeded him as chief engineer of the great bridge, but Martin O'Malley still kept regular office hours in Wales... mainly overseeing the apprenticeship of younger engineers in the manner of his deceased colleague, Rupert Zimmerman. It was a happy time. The great bridge and her economic vitality were indeed infusing something into the spirit of a hungry world. In centuries past it had been known as the 'Great Awakening.' Jonathan and Kris Greene had unwittingly followed in the footsteps of men like Jonathan Edwards. Indeed it almost seemed like the Divine's patience with mankind was finally paying off. The world in 2060 was a bit different than the prophets of doom had predicted.
There had indeed been wars, and even more rumors of war. The sins of mankind continued to play out on the world stage, and many suffered as a result. In the Northern hemisphere, Elizabeth Zimmerman's geothermal greenhouse farms, populated by refugees of these conflicts, offered a strong alternative! If the truth be known, more people around the world were discovering the 'hope and a future' that Rupert Zimmerman had first tasted over the Greene's macaroni and cheese! Though the news media was not reporting it. In every nation of the world, little 'Priscilla and Aquilla' groups were quietly changing the world.
Indeed, on a lazy Summer afternoon in a garden on Big Diomede, a group of ladies sharing sweet tea and sweet fellowship seemed to profess that all was right with the world. Yet, unlike the fat complacency of ages past, that had led to apathy and forgetfulness, they all shared that delicious feeling of anticipation! It was something like the feeling you have the day before your cherished daughter is given in marriage to a son-in-law who you yourself have come to love!
What could it be? The work in the world was far from finished, yet a new era of peace and prosperity seemed to be coming. With the world looking to the Northern Hemisphere for direction now, the Middle East was attempting to overcome her own convulsions with the establishment of the World Centre for Peace on the outskirts of Baghdad. The project of a young, charismatic visionary from Hungary, this could only help to settle the seemingly unending cycle of world violence...
But today, the light through the now mature trees of the biosphere was so... GOLDEN! so RICH! Not an ordinary day! And what was this? The MEN of these families were returning EARLY from their tour of 'Zimmerman's Folly.' That NEVER happened. The ladies had even put a later time on their reservations at Big Diomede's Asian restaurant for dinner that night, knowing full well that a short tour of the great bridge never was. Yet, the men too seemed to sense the wonder of the sunlight... and the desire to be close to their loved ones. Think of Christmas morning or the day of your wedding... or the last bell before the first day of Summer vacation... none of these can come close to the feeling our little company now shared.
Golden sunlight seemed to fill the little garden now. The hollyhocks had never seemed so brilliant! Each member of the little company breathed it in. Kate wished she could share this moment with her youngest cousin, who was still traveling to join them. There was something special in this moment. The little company seemed to have never felt such wonder before; they ALL felt it... and then they were gone! The brilliant gardens of Big Diomede where suddenly deserted!
(to be continued) [Click to Read]
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Copyright © 2019, The Kirchman Studio, all rights reserved
The Bering Strait Bridge Under the Northern Lights.
Lisburne Space Exploration Pavilion. Construction by A. Bowman.
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