DRIFTER #15: Preacher
The entity abandons the boy to infiltrate a riverbank revival, only to discover a preacher whose mind it cannot penetrate.
DRIFTER is a series that follows a microscopic alien entity on Earth, learning about life by inhabiting the bodies of live animals, one host at a time.
Begrudgingly, the entity left the boy and floated on the molecules in the air over to the crowd to hear directly from the preacher. It weighed up which form it wanted to take. A young woman sat close to the preacher on a sand bank, with her knees up to her chest. She was riveted to every word. The entity wanted to know her thoughts. It wanted to know what effect this man’s words were having on her.
From above, the entity watched the preacher himself. An unkempt man, drab in appearance. Loose clothing made from whatever materials were available. Long hair and beard. The entity knew enough to wonder about appearances and the premium these humans placed on such decisions. Here was a man who gave no heed to these vanities, and yet he could command armies of people, all eager to hear every word out of his mouth.
The decision was made. The entity descended through the molecules into the ear canal of the preacher.
Something was different. There was a barrier that stopped access to the cortex. The entity could not latch on, could not get a sense of the consciousness of this man. Something else was here with them. Something else was in communion with this man. The entity was forced out, unable to take hold, unable to take nutrients. The entity had to leave. The situation was dangerous for it.
The girl would have to do.
The entity rose into the air molecules and descended down to the young woman and into her ear canal, attaching itself.
Her name was Sophie. She was a local, the daughter of a baker. She was here to listen to the word, as spoken by this man, John. The man who would baptise you.
“Peace is not luxury. Peace is a right. Every single one of us here is born with the right to peace. What belief in the kingdom gives us is that fundamental right made true. You have to believe. You simply have to. There is no either or. There only ‘is’, because if you know in your heart that you are deserving of peace, because you are, because it is a fundamental right, then you believe in the kingdom. Because the kingdom is what gives us our peace. I know. I have seen it. It is true. My eyes do not lie. Join me, sisters and brothers.”
The entity watched as scores of the crowd broke off to be with this man, John, in the river. The entity read the thoughts of Sophie, who wanted to be there with her fellow believers, but she was afraid of what her parents might think.
What is this belief? the entity thought.
It searched the thoughts of Sophie, who was struggling to identify with the concept, yet was nevertheless drawn to the idea, to the promise of peace.
“Why are you drawn to this?” it asked her.
She did not respond. She was listening to the Baptist.
“I will purify you with this water, making you fit for the kingdom. But this is mere symbolism. I tell you, brothers and sisters, I am but a symbol of what is to come. I put water over your head, but the one who comes after me, he will baptise you with fire. That is the true messenger. The one who walks amongst us, sent from the heavens. That is the one who will truly shed light on what it means to find peace,” the baptiser yelled.
“Another? What is this other?” Sophie thought.
The entity was sceptical. The minds of these people were weak for believing in the ragged misfits of the local idiot, it thought.