Billy B. reflected on his life and thought of the many surreal events that had transpired in it. He recalled what the abrupt change that moving from Chicago to Eldorad had felt like and the different world that he suddenly found himself in. He remembered his Chicago friends; Steve and Susie and Danny and Pauly. Steve was a Master Puppeteer and put on elaborate performances of his many and varied Marionette Puppets. The puppets were so lifelike that Billy B. almost forgot that they were not real. In the darkness of Steve and Susies’ living room with the spotlight shining on Bozo The Clown and Punch and Judy…reality often became suspended. Susie had a crush on Billy B. and he liked it. She hugged him every time that she saw him…and he did not protest. Ivy smoked one Salem cigarette after another and never ceased talking while her husband, Bob, never said a word and smoked Pall Malls. Ivy, Steve and Susie’s mom, was Billy B.s’ moms’ best friend. Ivy often opened Billy Bs’ front door and called out, ‘June,’ and proceeded into their house for chit-chat and gossip. Then there was George and Ethyl on the other side of their house and they enjoyed barbecues with them in their backyard while his dad did the grilling and his mom and Ethyl played Badminton and George lay in the sun with his shirt off and tanned.

Eldorado was Grandma Askews’ town. She attended church at each event that the church doors were opened for… at the Gospel Assembly Church and she felt that each member of her family should do so, as well. She studied the book of Revelation and she believed that the prophesied events were imminent. She took it upon herself to teach Billy B. some of the key points of the Eschatology of the Last Days…and it made a lifelong impression on him… Billy B. and Chet and Jane and Daryl became friends in the New Town. Billy B. began school in 1962 and the Cuban Missel Crisis happened that October. With the Bomb drills in school…’Duck and Cover’…and the homemade bomb shelters…and the palpable fear that he saw in the eyes of the adults…he wondered if this might be what his Grandma was telling him about. The Bomb Drills and the ‘Duck and Cover’ method of safety were a long way from his Chicago Backyard Barbecues and Steves’ Marionette Shows.

Billy B. listened as the hissing sound of the bombs flew overhead…and he had taken a photo with his new Big Swinger Camera that he got early for his birthday in October 1962…of a cloud that looked like a Mushroom…and then all went…black…

‘Wake up Billy B.,’ Neva J. intoned. ‘I swear that I have never seen a boy that enjoyed a nap so much.’ she said. It is time for us to go to Town and Country Days…’You know how much that you and Chet have been looking forward to it.’ There was Chet at his bedroom door with a big grin on his face. Chet asked Billy B. if he was having a nightmare? Billy B. said, ‘It seemed so real.’ Chet replied, ‘That they always do…until you awaken…’

Putin says, ‘Release the bombs,’…and the poor called on God…and the rich sought to withdraw their riches…and some laughed and winked…and Billy B. woke up again to see that everything had been made new…and it was Spring…and peace had prevailed…