by RJ Pritchett
I never knew that Vivian murdered a guy. To tell you the truth, I didn’t know how to react when she told me. It’s a weird feeling. Same reason I didn’t know how to react when Sonia told me what she did. That almost snapped me out of it... I’m not saying that I’m going to forgive them, or not forgive them, because who the hell am I for people to come begging for my forgiveness about a situation that doesn’t involve me specifically?
I sat down and spoke with Sonia in private shortly after arriving at the sanctuary and I told her that she’s still welcome at the guild. Some people might not like this, but what Sonia did is going to stay between us for now. I’d expect tensions would be very high towards Sonia if they found out -especially after hearing about what Patricia went through. To lie about rape is a very serious offense and I don’t mean to seem like I’m looking past it, I’m not. I just… can see how she would go through great lengths just for revenge. Shit, I’m planning on building a second Heaven just to get revenge on God for leaving me out of its Heaven. I planned on obliterating Orion just because he gave Faye closure about her life. Vivian murdered a guy for revenge… more so heartbreak. But anyways, revenge makes people do some crazy things. It’s like… if I can’t look past what Sonia did, then why should I look past what Vivian did, and I’ve known Vivian ever since I came into this world. She’s helped me out tremendously. Especially by helping us escape from Orion.
The members of Vivian’s secret society will burn their costumes in the next bonfire. Vivian thinks it will be some sort of cool initiation thing, but I’m not stopping them. I hated those damn masks anyway because those masks are associated with Faye being taken to- you know the story.
I would like to address my soulmate in this next moment… Faye, you have been the beacon of light that I needed in this world. You have stuck by my side from the very beginning and although, I crushed on you during our time together in Orion’s group, you didn’t know until that first kiss we shared in the middle of the forest. That moment will forever be embedded in my mind as my favorite moment. I love you more than anything, Faye. While I sat under the willow tree, I thought about a bunch of things. One thought I had was finding a way into Heaven, just so I can break you out. Funny, right? I am now being faced with a reality that I tried to postpone for as long as possible. I have to build this world without you by my side and it angers me the way you left this world. I thought that we were supposed to get a better ending than that… but over the years I’ve been in this world hearing the stories of the people I’ve encountered, I have to come to the realization that life doesn’t give out happy endings all that much. Closure is rare. Nobody gets to choose how it all ends, and that’s the scariest part of life. You never know when it’s over for you, or the people around you. You don’t know what’s waiting for you on the other side… but it gives me comfort to know that when my time is up in this world, I have you waiting for me in that next world. I can’t wait to see your smile again. I can’t wait to hold you in my arms again. I can’t wait to just get a glimpse of you again. I’ll be here every day, preparing myself for the day I see you again. I’ll have plenty of stories to tell you, and I’m sure you’ll have plenty of stories to tell me. I won’t rest until I make you proud of what I’m trying to accomplish. I love you, Faye. I’ll love you forever… you are dearly missed, but our vision still remains the same… it’s what you would’ve wanted.
This world isn’t much different than Earth. Faye has already been dead, but it feels like we should hold a memorial service for her. It’s strange. This world is similar to Earth, but it’s not like Earth.
When I take a look to see what’s happening on Earth, I see destruction. I see the burning buildings, collapsing churches, and destroyed prisons (the prison system has been broken since its inception anyway). I see the ground caving in, fire everywhere, and the surrounding waters look to be drying up completely. No, I see water somewhere in the distance… it’s in the form of a tsunami wave that’s going to put an end to all the chaos in the near future. I see people recording the fire and explosions on their cell phones and posting it to social media. I can both see and hear the president reading from a teleprompter, telling the people watching on TV that everything is fine. I shake my head because I can see the spaceship right behind the white house, ready to take off to the next planet as soon as the president puts the citizen’s terrified minds at ease. I see people dancing, I see people crying, I see… an animated corpse? I see a hooded Klansman hanging from the edge of the hole that was left when the ground caved in. He’s reaching out to a black man for help in his time of need. I wonder if he’ll save him. I see looters, guns and bombs everywhere, I see -oh wow. Is that a slave ship? It’s broken, but it looks like a couple of people have started working on rebuilding it. One of the people working on it is dressed up like the pope.
The black man has indeed pulled the Klansman from the hole. I guess his conscience wouldn’t allow him to watch another human suffer no matter what that other person thinks of him.
I see a pastor running out of the collapsing church, leaving his congregation to die. He’s got their money so it’s not like he needs them anymore, right? I see another pastor refusing to let his followers into the safety of that giant church he’s built with their money. His followers are begging and pleading with him to allow them to seek refuge in the church with the giant tsunami approaching, but he still refuses to open the doors.
I can feel the heat from where I stand, so I know the people down there are burning up. I look down and see two dead men, one holding a Bible, the other holding a bag of money. I don’t know which one will be more lost if they were to enter my world.
I see police cars being overturned and getting their windows broken, same old song. I see police officers and the fire department, hosing down protestors instead of the wildfires around them. I see those wildfires destroying homes for humans and animals alike.
I see heavy winds and dark clouds when I look up. It’s funny how even with all the destruction that’s going on down there, I look up to see a glimmer of light shining bright in the sky. It must be God watching all of this chaos, just as I’m watching it, but we’re in two completely different worlds.
The tsunami grows near, and I can sense the fear of the people down there. The storm is fast approaching, and people are scrambling to get out of dodge. The president and the other fortunate people have already boarded the spaceship and were well on their way to their new home… a bolt of lightning strikes the spaceship as it ascends behind the clouds. More bolts strike it until it catches fire on one of its exterior parts. The spaceship shakes and then starts to fall. I can hear the screams of the spaceship as it plummets back to the dying planet. As it falls, money flies out of the spaceship. Some of the dollar bills are burning as they fall, whether it’s from the fire of the burning ship, or the heat of the atmosphere, I can’t say.
People are vanishing just as the tsunami hits the city, and the unfortunate souls that are left ends up drowning when the violent wave crashes down on top of them. It’s hard to watch, but my eyes don’t budge. What caused that tsunami? Does this have a connection to a war with an outside country ran by one of those dictators that will also face God’s wrath one day? Is it nature fighting back against the humans that tampered with it for too long? Is it the water from the melted ice caps that global warming caused? Or are the spirits of the African slaves that this country once held prisoner fighting back in the form of a tsunami wave after they’ve been murdered at sea? If so, this is a case of America’s past coming back to haunt it, just like we do when we sleep in the world that I’m in.
I see that slave ship was rebuilt just in time before the wave hit. It’s floating out in the distance. Could this be the second coming of Noah and his Ark? Nope. I watch as it hits something and breaks apart. I can hear the panicked screams from the unlucky bastards aboard the ship and the slaves they bonded with chains as the bow sinks into the water. History repeating itself? Wait… I see somethin
g else. Wow. Yup, that might support the theory of the former slaves fighting back against the nation that imprisoned them for generations.
My mom once told me that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words, but a mural is worth a million.’ It’s crazy because, I can’t even seem to describe this mural in a thousand words. There must be more to it. More must’ve happened before and after this mural took place. The history and future of this mural must make up a million words if that’s the truth. Or maybe there’s just more to this still image that my eyes are seeing… It’s aggravating trying to come up with a million words just by looking at this mural.
It’s been a long time since I stared at this mural that was painted on the side of the sanctuary, but it’s interesting to look at. I really can’t believe someone took their time to depict this… fate for the world we left behind. It’s like beautiful chaos. It’s like a moving picture that starts with controlled chaos and ends in devastation. If that’s a depiction of humanity’s Armageddon, then I’m conflicted. I’m happy that I don’t have to deal with that… but still… there are people who will deal with it and one day, I’ll be listening to the story of a person who went through all of that.
When I was alive, I felt guilty for being in a safe place while the outside world was in turmoil, but for some reason, I don’t feel bad anymore. Probably because I know what awaits the good people down there. Either Heaven, or… the world I’m in. Most likely the world I’m in. The weird thing about seeing the Earth like that, America in particular? The weird thing is that all of that could be averted… if everybody were on the same page… I mean, if we all loved each other and the Earth, we wouldn’t have this problem. If we all come together as humans and stop letting social classes, race and religion divide us, then all of this will be avoided… Yeah, who am I kidding? That’s impossible. I guess humanity is screwed. I don’t care anymore because I tried to help. I’m still trying, but no one looks at the bigger picture in the land of the greed, but you know that already.
Okay, let me go back inside. There’s a guild meeting that we had planned, and this time, everyone in the guild will be in attendance. Our meetings aren’t mandatory so not a lot of people show up. We are almost at one hundred guild members which is incredible by my standards. We’re slowly getting there, Faye. I started from one person who believed in me and now more and more people are beside me. It’s a great feeling to see how far you’ve come. But I won’t let that great feeling distract me. I still have a lot more to do, and I still want to go even farther than this.
In this meeting, we are supposed to be discussing plans for an expansion. We want more buildings to be built, fences, roads (somehow), we also want there to be a playground over by the river. That’s just all speculation as of right now, we haven’t started prepping for any of that yet. We’re just throwing out ideas and I’m sure more will come as the meeting goes on.
Recently, we have been discussing a name for this utopian society we plan on building here. For some reason, I never considered putting a name on this world because the world we’re in doesn’t really have a name, and I don’t want to feel like I’m colonizing. I know we pretty much are, but I don’t want to feel like we’re doing it.
Tobias almost got laughed out of the room when he suggested that we call it ‘America 2’. How ridiculous is that? I’m usually one of the first people to defend Tobias, but I couldn’t even pretend to get behind that.
Quentin’s suggestion of calling it ‘Neveah’ wasn’t as bad as what Tobias came up with, but it was still pretty corny.
Devonte suggested we call it The United States of Rebellia, but that just seems to self-centered for my liking, and plus this isn’t a group of states united under a single banner… this is just a community. Vivian pointed out the potential irony, but I continued to contest that name. Orion already has been trying to paint me as an ego-maniac, so I shook my head at the suggestion. This world isn’t about me or any one specific person. While I argued against it, everybody pretty much told me to shut the hell up and embrace the name of our new world. So I finally caved. There you have it. A pretty cool name that was suggested by an eight-year-old.
This isn’t the end for us though. There are plenty more stories to tell, and plenty more lessons to learn. We have to go deeper into the rabbit hole of the problems that happens on Earth because this is the hole that we dug ourselves into. There are more world problems that we have to be aware of. My story hasn’t even begun being told, so I want to assure anyone who is reading this journal entry that this isn’t the last you’re seeing of me or the people around me. This isn’t the end. If anything… God willing, this is only our genesis.
The United States of Rebellia
By RJ Pritchett
About the Author
Roy Jason Pritchett (born and raised in Brooklyn, New York on September 22nd, 1993) has been writing stories as a hobby since elementary school. Writing gave him joy, writing allowed him to express his vivid imagination, and get his thoughts out on paper. He loved writing just as much as he enjoyed reading. During middle school, Roy has drifted away from writing, but his love and desire for reading never ceased. The Harry Potter series has always been his favorite books growing up (no surprise there).
At the age of nineteen when he sat down and thought about possible career paths. In this moment, he asked himself “What would you want to do for the rest of your life?” his answer was simple. He thought back on the days of innocence when he always talked about being a famous author one day. He thought about how awesome it would be to at least attempt to make his childhood dream a reality. At this point, he hasn’t written in about seven years, but he didn’t care. He told himself, “I want to be an author. I want to create stories that will inspire the generation after me. I want to show the world that a young black man growing up in the projects doesn’t only have to play sports or make music to be successful.” As he said that, he was determined. He sat down with a pen and an empty composition notebook on December 26th, 2012 and started working on his new career path. Exactly six years to the date, RJ Pritchett has self-published his debut novel to Amazon.
Special Thanks
Special thanks to God first and foremost. Secondly, I would like to thank my family. I know I kept my writing a secret from y’all, but thanks for supporting me as soon as I opened up about it.
Special thanks to my maternal grandmother Shirley, my great aunt Olivia (Sis), my great uncle James (Trixie) and uncle Robert (Chico) Pritchett; Edith, Robert, and Leonard Frazier, Darryl Alsbrook; my paternal grandparents Portia Adams and Larry Alexander, Sr. May you all rest in peace and I’ll see you on the other side when my time is up in this world. Thanks for lending me inspiration even after you left. I know for a fact you all would be proud of me. Also, Rest in Peace to Taquan Crandell, Luis Villot, Donaven Frazier and Joshua Martino, four young men who lost their earthly lives to gun violence. You all are dearly missed too, and you will never be forgotten as long as I live.
Special thanks to Amazon for embracing self-publishing and making it easy to do so, giving all of us authors a platform to share our stories with the world. I’m forever grateful for your help in allowing me to share my book with anyone willing to read it.
I would also like to thank Wattpad for giving me a place to jot down a few short stories leading up to the release of this book. It really helped me gain confidence in my stories when I saw the positive reactions of the readers.
Thanks to my elementary school teachers for encouraging me to write stories from a very young age. Without you, I probably wouldn’t have even thought about writing a book later on in life. I’m forever grateful. Rest in Peace to Mr. Mallory; he was the greatest. Thanks for constantly sharing your words of wisdom to the youth so we could attempt to be just as great as you were.
My support system is amazing, and that's why family is everything to me. So again, special thanks to my supportive family members and friends that I will not name specifically because I would be sittin
g here typing for about two hours straight and still miss a few names. I also don't want to deal with some of y'all coming at me, wondering why I didn't write your names down. The people that have supported me know who they are already. Me writing it down won't validate anything they've done for me.
I can't even begin to describe how much my mother and my aunts meant to me during this whole writing process, and through life in general. I love my family more than anything, and I'm blessed to have been born into such a great one. This one's for y'all.
Special thanks to Karine Makartichan for concept art and illustrations prior to the novel’s release.
As I stated before on the dedication page, thank you to everyone who supported me on this writing journey directly and indirectly. That includes you, the person reading this right now. Thanks for reading the story I wrote. I greatly appreciate it.
Last note
A message to my daughters,
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry that you’ll have to wake up and realize that I’m gone, but I have to go. These past few years have been tough for me mentally and physically and I’ve finally reached the point where I can’t take it anymore. I tried my hardest to be the best mother I can be for you girls, but I just can’t be the person I want to be. I can’t see myself being the person that you girls need me to be. Not right now. You deserve better than me. You girls deserve the world. Sadly, I can’t give you that. You girls might not understand what I’m going through, and you will probably hate me for the rest of your lives. Trust me- this hurts me more than anything. It hurts to know that I have failed as a mother to three beautiful girls. It hurts me a lot to know that I wasn’t strong enough to fight my demons while taking care of you. These are real tears dripping down from my eyes onto this piece of paper. I’m sorry, girls. I’m a danger to myself and more importantly, I’m a danger to you. I have to go. But don’t worry, Babies. I’m leaving you in the care of your aunt Shea. She’s in a much better position to take care of you than I am. The hardest thing a mother ever has to do in life is let go of her babies. I don’t want to let you go, but I’d rather lose you for a short period of time than to lose myself forever. I’ll be back, but for now, you’re going to stay with Shea in Victory Valley. You’ll each have your own rooms and everything. It should be fun, and I know you’re in great hands. Victory Valley is a great place. Behave while your aunt is being nice enough to take you in while I check myself in… Even though we won’t be together, we won’t be too far apart. Once again, behave yourselves… especially you, Rayula. Make sure to listen to whatever your aunt tells you. She’s the boss. Remember that. I love you girls… goodbye.