Her name is Sarai, and for the past three weeks, she and I have been spending a lot of time together. It's not that we necessarily want to, at least I didn't. I've been happily focused on writing my third novel, getting back on track after a month break to heal tennis elbow and a dislocated thumb. However, just as I started writing again, she showed up... big... the same way that Harlie showed up eight years ago. The dreams were stunningly vivid, her story amazingly complex yet incredibly simple. Her life played out in front of me every night for nearly three weeks.
There were a few things in her world which stood out.
First, for those who have read "Midnight to Morning," she's from the time James and Rick warn about.
Second, she had a very clear warning for what our future could hold if we keep on our current path. Honestly, I can see it happening... easily. Her story picks up just a hundred years from now. What I saw was this:
Earth went past its tipping point during a series of global wars. It was already teetering on the edge and showing it through wild weather, increased pests and illnesses and such. Now, it is actively eliminating the cause. There are plagues which wipe out tens of millions, natural disasters of epic proportions are almost commonplace, infrastructure has been devastated, and farms long poisoned in the name of prosperity are no longer able to support even the reduced number of people.
Christianity is practically lost, and it is their own fault that it happened. First was the breaking into two distinct factions, the "Radicals" with their hatred and twisting of the scriptures to defend it and the crooked politicians who supposedly were God-fearing, and then those who tried to live the way Christ taught, the actual "Christians.". One was not strong enough or outspoken enough to overpower the other. People saw the bad and more turned to atheism and other religions and started actively attacking all Christians, regardless of if they were out helping the poor, loving everyone, supporting everyone because we all are sinners after all. All are lost without God. Laws started to turn against them. Churches fell after losing legal support. What was left went underground, their decades of whining that they were being persecuted actually turning into true persecution. Those who had been doing good in the world continued trying while remaining hidden. Sarai's parents are two of them.
Society as we know it has broken down due to major political changes and those wars. It is now broken up into four segments: The Wilds- lawless remnants of towns and cities. The Camps - where the poorest are trying to scrape out a living in slums. Some basic needs are provided for somewhat but not enough. Resources are too tight. The Compounds - a lower to middle class structured area where everyone has access to housing, simple meals, and clothing basics and receive a stipend based off of their job and how well they do. The goal is to save or do well enough to get into better housing or better jobs with better stipends. Then there are the Barons - the few upper class who have taken over vast swaths of land, be it decimated cities and towns or farmland. Most set their domain up with a center of large houses and fancy properties and surround it with the Compounds, which they run and profit off of, and finally the Camps. There were many more details, but those will be in the book.
It was all incredibly vivid, and I can tell where my mind was taking current events and playing them on fast forward to a possible outcome. It wasn't that way with Harlie's story. These clearly rang of warnings to the point I've felt this blog needed to be written about what I saw versus waiting until this book was written and published. That will happen after I wrap up the Midnight to Morning trilogy this Spring. I'm not sure what anyone else will think of it... but there it is, Sarai's warnings.
