Rapture in Reverse

A Short Story in Serial, Day 1

September 25th, 2029

We set sail today from Barcelona. While it won’t be a long journey, we’ve come so far already, I’ve decided to write it all down in hopes of sharing it with what is left of the World. I like to joke that I’m the Darwin of our trip, a joke not everyone seems to find funny, considering what we have all been through in these last few years.

We are on a research vessel, 60 of us. It is called the Bold Adventure. It’s an old ship, but it has what we need to get where we are going. The scientists are all gone now, they disappeared on the first day. Don’t get me wrong, there were lots of scientists left, but they were the scientists who put the Bible first in their beliefs.

We do have scientists on board, but the majority of us are missionaries working to bring the final peace to our world. We also have the captain and his crew – all believers – as well as a small orchestra made up of missionaries. It helps us pass the time and we thought it might “soothe the savage beast” as was once said.

It didn’t happen exactly the way we all thought it would happen; the rapture, that is. There was an expectation that the day would come and we would be lifted into the clouds to meet Jesus.

That’s not what happened.

We woke up the morning of Ascension Day; September 23, 2025. Almost exactly 4 years ago. It was a Tuesday and somewhere around seventy percent of the world’s population was just gone.

It wasn’t random though.

There were church communities entirely intact (missing a few teenagers and the occasional spouse) with other parts of the world being completely empty.

The Middle East, much of India, and Northern Africa saw an almost complete disappearances of their people. The United States lost less, somewhat half of its population was gone, with cities often dramatically affected and rural areas often untouched.

Jesus didn’t arrive, or if he has, we don’t know how or when. We’ve come to believe that we still must bring the remaining few to him. In the time that has passed, we’ve come to learn that those who are left are specifically of the Christian faith, and deeply devout.

There was another population left, they were the indecisive. They hadn’t decided on one path, one belief, or another. We’ve come to believe that we must convert them, and only then will Christ come and begin his 1,000-year reign.

When the rapture first happened, communication, the internet, travel, all halted. There just weren’t enough people to manage the systems. However, churches around the world were quickly able to communicate and there has been a new peace among denominations and ideologies. Many of the larger churches had private jets and pilots who were not taken and a system of trade and organization began.

There were still enough people in major industries to bring technology and commerce back online. We have the aviation industry working, although it takes much longer to get from place to place. Because of the population decline, aviation has created a system of short hops. Flights across the ocean are few and far between.

The air, however, has cleared since the world’s population has declined. There are no longer traffic jams and animals walk the streets in the more deserted areas. There is plenty of oil and the world governments, at least at this moment, are all still willing to share; probably because the oil-rich nations are mostly deserted.

Because those of us who are left are predominately Christian, the Bible has taken a central focus of all governments. We know that these are the End Times, we just have to figure out the final bit.

We all lost someone.

Some of us lost many.

Some lost everyone they knew.

Well, I’m going to go meet the others for dinner. I haven’t even gotten to the reason for our journey. I must have patience.

What to read what happens next, find Day 2 here: