lost prophet He arrived from a faraway place claiming to be their lost prophet. He had read about their beliefs in a magazine, and was taken with the notion of impersonating the prophet. What he taught them was all very edifying, and they claimed to believe him. They accepted him almost too readily and gradually gave him a "makeover," setting him up with food, shelter, women and fine things. Yet their gentle and spontaneous nature, instead of putting him at ease, only added to his worry, for he disliked deceiving those he had come to love. One day they invited him, their spiritual father, to partake in a trance ceremony so they might share his visions. Sluggish and fat with his own deception, he agreed and ingested the telepathic drug. To his horror, he realized they could see right through him. They knew his vanity, his hollowness and his self-disgust. Their faces were stern masks, their eyes fierce: he felt they would eat him alive. Suddenly he was in tears, begging them to cast him out for a sin he was sure was beyond forgiveness. Yet his reaction was exactly what was demanded of the prophet in their secret myth. He had passed the test!
	location: San Francisco, California date: 1997 average rating: [not rated] your rating (0-10):