290 DAYS

by David Harrington

Come and see the terrible sights through the eyes of the visionary.

***

It was Fall Equinox and I was headed for lower ground when looking up, I saw a great gull circling above. And leading me down the face of the mountain, I was drawn like a magnet to the sea. And being about the second hour of the day, I could hear the surf pounding gently against the rocks as I stood by the water's edge with my feet planted firmly in the sand.

Clutched tightly in the gull's beak I saw a long rope with both its ends dangling in space. And a full moon rose in the Eastern sky above the ocean. And I watched in fascination as an angel took up one end of the rope and looped it around the moon like a noose. And with the other end of the rope still grasped snugly in her bill, the gull soared across the horizon. And flew straight into the sun with the moon towing behind her.

And I watched as the sun was swallowed up by the moon. And the earth was plummeted into total darkness seven minutes. And the stars and planets appeared aligned in a bizarre configuration.

And up from out of the waves came millions of giant salamanders. One by one they crawled until the beach was covered in slime.

And looking up, I again saw the sea gull fly across the horizon tugging the moon behind her. And as the veil of darkness lifted and daylight returned to the earth, I saw the giant amphibians that were caught by the mighty undertow and dragged back out to sea.

Time was virtually swept away as the days, months and years were shortened. There were no more seasons and Dusk and Dawn could not be found. And those grand monuments and towering pillars of stone that the ancient astrologers built came crashing to the ground, one great column upon another. And I saw those who stood by with their sundials fall backward on their heels and flee.

And those that navigate the high seas with compasses and chart their destiny by the stars were blown off course and vanished along with their ships. And all about the face of the deep magnetic storms raged and many more were lost at sea and perished.

And the rotation of the earth was quickened. And the windmills and water wheels of the world were hurled into orbit like spinning tops. And the tides roared furiously as the lunar cycles grew more frequent and the gravitational pull of the moon increased in strength. And I saw those mammoths of the deep that were driven ashore by the hundreds and crushed themselves to death.

Falling flat on my face in the sand, I prayed to God that in His mercy He might spare His servant from harm. And I heard the angel answer and say, "Fear not: For one cycle has passed and a new one is begun! From here on in each year shall consist of two hundred and ninety days. Each month twenty-four days, and each day twenty-one hours. Night and day shall be equally divided in that there will be ten and a half hours of darkness and ten and a half hours of daylight."

And when I had picked myself up, I peered into heaven as would one looking through a seven-dimensional kaleidoscope, and lo and behold, above the wind and weathering there appeared a dazzling phenomena in space: A blazing disk of fire spiraling toward the earth like an enormous dial.

And I saw seven spectacular points of light like the colors of the rainbow shooting forth from out of the wheel like flaming arrows. And upon each of these mysterious crowns were written in glory the seven virtues of faith which come down freely from God to a troubled world.