“al-ice! al-ice! al-ice!” the crowd began chanting.
joe’s new friends johnny and mary clapped their hands and joined the chant, but joe thought there was something not entirely convincing about their enthusiasm.
of course joe was too polite to say so.
the chanting and clapping died down, and alice cartwright devine began speaking.
“thank you all and good evening,” she began, ” i have a very important announcement to make, so please listen carefully.”
the crowd grew quiet.
“as you know, we embarked on this great adventure - of starting a new religion which would transform the world and human consciousness - a little over two years ago.”
some scattered applause in the crowd.
“we were particularly inspired to do so by the need to counteract the insidious teachings and preachings of the sworn enemy of humankind and the earth, mister william jennings bryan.”
“boo! boo! boo! down with bryan!” some of the crowd chanted, a little more loudly, joe thought, than they had cheered alice herself.
“and it has been a long, wonderful two years that we have worked and prayed together and i thank you with all my heart.”
joe still had no idea what she was talking about, but did not say so to johnny and mary.
“starting a new religion,” alice continued, “is not for the faint of heart.”
“true that!” a few members of the crowd shouted.
“but i have come to the conclusion” said alice, “that i no longer have what it takes to try to change the hearts of people raised on countless millennia of lies and falsehoods, so i have decided to step down from my position as head of the path to tomorrow, and to take up a new life. i wish you all the best, and i hope that you respect my decision and will not be too disappointed. anyone who wishes to continue the ministry of the path to tomorrow is of course free and more than welcome to do so.”
“no! no!” cried a few feeble voices from the crowd, which had already begun to drift away,
“it won’t be the same without you, alice!” a lonely voice floated over the crowd.
and another, even lonelier voice added, “you were the path to tomorrow!”
“in conclusion,” said alice, “i would like to thank my two most devoted followers, johnny jones and mary brown, for all their efforts. the path to tomorrow would never have gotten past the first ten feet without them. now please enjoy this last stirring rendition of “the road to the road is the road to the road” by the path to tomorrow brass band. thank you.”
alice stepped away from the microphone. most of the crowd had already dispersed.
“damn!” said johnny jones. “i was not expecting that. how about you?” he asked mary brown.
mary shrugged. “i had a few suspicions. but i didn’t want to say anything because i was not sure.”
“so what do we do now?” johnny asked. “any ideas?”
johnny and mary both turned and looked at joe.
“how about this guy?” asked mary.
“what do you say, big guy?” johnny looked joe in the eye. “how would you like to start a new religion, a brand new religion?”
“um - it is not something i ever thought about ,” said joe.
“i know, i know,” said johnny ,”you want to be a homicide detective or a lone avenger.”
“those things are not as easy to become as you might think,” mary told joe. “there is a lot of competiton - a lot of competition.”
joe hesitated. he did not want to hurt their feelings.
“i tell you what,” said johnny. “why don’t you come home with us tonight, and we will talk about it in the morning?”
joe had begun to wonder where he was going to sleep that night, so he said, “all right.”
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