47 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
47 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
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Comments and helpful criticizms are always welcome. Please send them via
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email to nm0w@andrew.cmu.edu. Enjoy!
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Nanci
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2/20/93
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Sunday
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Whap! An arm shot out of the bed and soundly smacked the off
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button on the alarm. Sunday, again. The covers seemed to take on a life
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of their own as a disheveled head reluctantly burrowed it's way out into
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the morning sun. Groan. Another Sunday. Time for church. Why can't they
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do this in the evening, or at least in the afternoon or something?
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Mornings are horrible, and Sunday is definitely the worst.
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Thunk. Out of bed and onto the floor. Making progress. Grumble.
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It's Sunday. A haggard-looking form slowly crawled toward the open door
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that was the bathroom. Ugh, Sunday. Got to get going!
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An hour later, a cleaner, prettier, and much more coherent woman
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quietly left the small apartment. At least it was warm and sunny out,
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but unfortunately, there was no time to enjoy the weather. Walking
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quickly, the woman approached the big cathedral on the corner with a sense
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of resolution and duty. It meant nothing to her, but then, lifetime habits
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weren't that easy to break.
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So she solemnly followed all of the other worshippers through the
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giant doors with vague thoughts of herded sheep. The sound of those doors
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closing a minute later had an almost deafening finality. Nothing could get
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in or out now.
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The music tried to majestically fill the huge sanctuary, but barely
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managed to drift weakly back to where she was sitting. Hymns, prayers,
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kneeling, standing, preaching, chanting. A chorus of robots mechanically
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went through the motions of the service in unison. She looked around her
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and imagined she could see the consciousness, the life, of these poor people
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struggling to get out, only to be stifled and buried alive under a ton of
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sterility and boredom. Time seemed to creep ever so slowly. Tick tock
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tick tock. Would it never end?
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Then there was one word. "Amen." It seemed to create a stirring,
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an awakening. A tidal wave swept through the congregation taking with it
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all the stuffiness and tension. In an instant, the robotic sheep became a
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sea of humanity, rushing to get out and far far away. When it was empty,
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the woman shook her head and slowly turned to go. Never again, she
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promised, never again.
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