The State of the Universe Reviewed Again(Martin Green) 2024GOD (Approx. 350 wds)


The State of the Universe Reviewed Again

Michael, God’s right-hand man, pardon me, right-hand angel, was giving his review of the state of the universe. As usual he touched on only the highlights, such as the discovery of the wheel on the planet Ogg, good, and the spread of reality TV on the planet Britney, not so good. Also as usual he left his news about that pesky minor planet Earth until last.
“I regret to inform you,” Michael said, “that baseball great Willie Mays has passed away.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said God. “He was one of my favorites. But what’s the really bad news? I suppose the war in the Mideast is still going on?”
“I’m afraid so. The same is true of the conflict in Ukraine. The more concerning news is that there is a greater partnership between the dictatorships of Russia and North Korea. Also, Iran is getting still closer to having a nuclear weapon. I’m afraid that the Earth is becoming a more dangerous place than since the end of the second world war.”
God frowned. “What about the United States. What’s going on there?”
“Unfortunately, the United States has become a divided country. They’re now in the midst of a presidential campaign that promises to be very acrimonious. There’ll be a debate soon.” He named the date and the city.
“Well, who are the candidates?”
“Er, I’m not sure you want to know.”
“Tell me.”
Michael whispered two names.
“What? How did that happen?”
“I’m not sure I can explain that; perhaps nobody can.”
“Well, maybe I should unleash some thunderbolts and take care of both of them.”
“You said you’d only resort to that in case of the most extreme emergency.”
“So I did. Well. I’ll have to give it some thought. I’m off to the heavenly golf course.”
God made a long putt on the 18th hole of the heavenly golf course and this always improved his mood. However, on the date of the presidential debate an unexpected thunderstorm engulfed the designated city, so severe that all events, including the debate, had to be called off.
(To be cont’d.)

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