Upkeep (standard:fantasy, 3354 words)
Author: Joe Edwardson	Added: Feb 24 2002	Views/Reads: 3353/2342	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A futuristic battle of the God's on Earth. A story that shows how "Gods are only Gods and they're not perfect."

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

“Oh, I don’t know.  I’ve tried reasoning with you for the last four
thousand years and it hasn’t worked out very well,” Chester laughs.  
“Harland, what do you think?” 

“What do I think?” a relaxed Harland repeats before answering.  “I think
we all have our ideas.  We all see things we want to change and we all 
have goals we hope to achieve.  The difference between Waldo and I is 
that Waldo whines and cries about not getting his way and I will simply 
make things my way.  If I have a goal, I make it happen, one way or 
another, no matter what anyone else says.” 

“That’s a good take on life,” said Chester. 

“Yeah, too bad you don’t have any goals, Harland.  Those were some nice
strong words though.  Keep practicing for your people during Upkeep,” 
Waldo said. 

“I don’t have any goals?  Yeah, we’ll see,” said Harland as he gets up
and leaves. 

“I wonder what he’s talking about,” asks Chester. 

“Who knows,” Waldo replies. 

Upkeep began as per usual, with Waldo being born to the virgin Matilda,
Chester to the virgin Rachel, and Harland to the virgin Vivian.  All 
Gods, excluding the high God, Isaiah, who reigns supreme over the 
entire planet during Upkeep, proceeded with re-affirmation, which takes 
roughly ten to fifteen years.  Most god’s re-affirmation was a textbook 
case.  The came, they saw, they preached, they gave hope, they cured, 
they died.  Chester’s was just this way.  As you might have expected, 
Waldo’s wasn’t.  And neither was Harland’s. 

When Waldo, in commoner form, was fourteen years old, he met a girl
named Lauren.  You may be able to tell where I’m going with this.  It 
most definitely was not okay nor legal for a god to have the type of 
relationship with a common woman that Waldo desperately yearned to have 
with Lauren.  And unfortunately for Waldo, Isaiah watched him the 
entire way.  When they met, Isaiah was watching, though it wasn’t a big 
thing since it was Waldo’s job to meet many new people and to talk with 
them.  When they started to become good friends, Isaiah was watching.  
When they became constant companions, Isaiah was watching, and he knew 
what was happening. 

Isaiah had already decided Waldo’s punishment before he had even earned
it and by the time he watched them share their first kiss, Waldo was 
sentenced.  Degodification would be his penalty.  All the while he was 
on Bhura, Waldo knew Isaiah would be watching his every action.  He 
knew if he were to try anything with Lauren, it’d be the end of 
everything he’s ever known. 

“And that’s what I want.  The life I’ve always known will be over, but
you and I can start an entirely new, better one,” Waldo tried to 
explain to Lauren, while at lunch outside a café on a sunny summer day. 


“Waldo, I just don’t know what to make of this.  You’ve been telling me
you’re a ‘god’ for the last eight years, since I first met you.  I 
never understood why you continued the joke for so long,” Lauren 
replied. 

“It’s no joke, Lauren.  It’s the honest truth.” 

“I see that.” 

“Will you still marry me?” Waldo hesitantly but with hope, asked. 

“. . .Yes.  Yes, I’ll marry you, Waldo.  I love you so much,” Lauren
answered and they quickly embraced, not letting go until Waldo was late 
for a meeting with his followers. 

They reluctantly parted ways and Waldo met his followers at the usual
place, at the subway station.  From there they would meet more 
followers at the next station, then more, and more, and so on, until 
the entire train was full.  At the final stop they would get out and 
lead a march upon the streets of Waldo’s area’s largest city, Grouay, 
proclaiming the wonders and truth of Isaiah. 

On the way, a few of his followers mentioned rumors of some sort of
revolt in a neighboring country.  Their world is very tightly knit and 
each country is almost completely closed off from the rest.  This was 
one of Isaiah’s plans.  Waldo overheard the talk and asked his 
follower, Jacques, to explain it to him. 

“Word’s just going around that a young leader in Vanul has risen to take
power of their army.  He supposedly has the support of 99% of the 
population.  I even heard. . .,” Jacques trailed off. 

“Heard what?” demanded Waldo. 

“I heard he has powers.  He has the ability to create miracles.  Like
you.” 

“Who did you hear this from?” asked Waldo. 

“Through various people.  They said the leader sent thousands of his. .
.um, followers, to spread his word to neighboring countries,” said 
Jacques. 

“That’s illegal!” yelled Waldo. 

“I know.  He’s completely breaking the Bhurian law by allowing such a
high number of natives to leave their country.” 

“It’s more than that, Jacques,” Waldo sighed. 

“I was afraid of that,” said Jacques.  “There’s more, too.  I hear he’s
planning to. . .to take over.  He wants to take over all of Bhura!” 

You might have guessed the mysterious young leader in question is none
other than Harland.  When he scoffed at the idea of him not having any 
goals and when he told Chester and Waldo that ‘we’ll see’, he most 
definitely had a plan.  And Waldo was about to see up close and 
personal. 

“If there’s going to be a war, my friends, we have no choice but to
fight.  This will be a Holy War in every sense of the word.  I’ve told 
you all about the great Isaiah for many years now, and I can’t allow 
myself to go on in the same manner.  Isaiah and I don’t always see eye 
to eye.  But he is my master and I will not let him down.  The young 
leader who threatens us all, named Harland, might tell all his people 
that Isaiah sent him.  And it’s true.  Isaiah sent him, but he sent me 
too.  Harland isn’t abiding by Isaiah’s plan and I bet you anything 
Isaiah is too preoccupied with other things than to even know about 
Harland’s misdoings, which is why He’s not down here helping us at this 
very moment.  So I ask you all, please, in the name of Isaiah, in the 
name of Waldo, but most importantly, in the name of Bhura, let us fight 
and let us prevail!” Waldo’s speech inspired his followers to give 
their life for him, for Isaiah, and for Bhura if needed.  They would 
fight against Harland.  And fight they did. 

But first, Isaiah himself was making plans.  It was true he had no clue
what was going on with Harland.  He saw no need to check up on him or 
any of the other eighteen god’s except for Waldo.  Isaiah sits high in 
his majestic throne in the upper level of the House of the God’s, 
thinking to himself how he’s going to humiliate and punish Waldo.  “For 
the first time in seven millennia, I, Isaiah, God of gods, will set 
foot on Bhura.  I will disgrace Waldo in front of all his followers and 
proclaim him a false prophet.  We will hold the degodification process 
right there, for the first time, on Bhurian soil.  I hope Waldo enjoys 
the rest of his short fifty years alive as a commoner, ruled by me.” 

Isaiah didn’t even check up on Waldo after his engagement to Lauren.  He
knew he had enough proof already to induce degodification upon Waldo.  
Because of this, he didn’t know a single thing about Harland’s plan to 
take over the world.  But once he took commoner form and set foot on 
Bhura, he would know.  An entire world war was taking place on the 
world he ruled and he had to become a commoner to realize it. 

“It may be Bhurian law to meet with the leaders of the opposing force
before going into battle, but you must remember, I make the laws from 
now on.  All old world laws will be no more.  So don’t you dare try to 
tell me I need to abide by someone else’s law,” Harland sharply 
declared to one of his followers while they march their way toward the 
city of Grouay.  “But I will meet with him.  Waldo and I have some 
catching up to do anyway.” 

Harland’s army roughly knocked on the city door of Grouay.  The doors
flew open and there stood Waldo and his army.  Both armies stretched as 
far east, west, north, and south as the eye could see.  Their meeting 
would take place right here, on the battleground. 

“You’re making a mistake, Harland.  You can’t win.  You’re going against
the will of Isaiah.  You can’t beat him.  But more importantly, you’re 
going against the will of nature and you’re going against the will of 
the people!  You might have one army fooled, but you can’t fool the 
world.  You can’t fool the god’s, Harland.  What are you thinking?  Do 
you think we’ll actually stand for this?” asked Waldo. 

“You have no choice.  You will stand for it, everyone will stand for it,
because I say so!  I’m a God.  I’m a God in the heavens and I’m a God 
here on Bhura.  I will be a God everywhere, forever, ruling above 
everything and everyone, including Isaiah.  He’s no more powerful than 
I am.  He holds an elected position.  If I control the commoners of 
Bhura, I control the Gods of Bhura!  In due time I will control you, I 
will control Isaiah, I will control everything!” Harland sharply 
declared. 

Their meeting didn’t last long.  Fighting broke out not long later and
continued for months.  Word spread in every direction beforehand.  Word 
to the west told of the great Harland, who wanted to unite the world as 
one.  Word to the east told of the great Waldo who wanted to stave off 
Harland’s attempts at world domination.  All commoners were led to 
fight for their side of choice.  The other seventeen god’s on Earth 
followed as well.  Most hoped to make peace and settle before anything 
too drastic occurred.  Some chose sides.  Either way, war could not be 
stopped.  The bloody war raged on for three months; countless battles 
ended countless lives.  The gods argued amongst their selves from 
higher ground.  Harland stepped in to motivate his side, Waldo stepped 
in to motivate his, the other god’s tried to settle things, but all to 
no avail, as rivers of blood drowned Bhura. 

Then Isaiah came.  He sought out after Waldo to hold the degodification
process, but that plan quickly ended as he learned of the horrors that 
fell upon his Bhura.  The center of the war revolved around the now 
long since ravaged city of Grouay, where Isaiah found himself with the 
help of a few Bhurian citizens along the way.  From these citizens he 
heard the horror stories of the war now known as the “War of the 
God’s.”  He heard of the mass graves, the public hangings of prisoner’s 
of war, the landmines, the machine guns, the rivers turned red, and of 
Harland and Waldo’s supposed peace talks.  Isaiah understood the 
problem.  He understood Harland’s fault for being selfish and wanting 
more than he could possibly be allowed to have.  Nobody could be 
allowed to rule the world.  And the man that was supposed to uphold 
that fact, Isaiah himself, was preoccupied with trivial matters. 

“If I had only watched over everyone to make sure they were staying on
task, the Upkeep wouldn’t have turned so bloody and horrible,” Isaiah 
thought to himself many times over as he made his way to the city.  
When he finally made it, he had one of the citizens lead him to the 
bunkers of Harland, Waldo, and the rest of the god’s.  He met Chester 
and told him to get Harland and Waldo together and to bring them to him 
so they could all talk.  Both Harland and Waldo knew sooner or later 
Isaiah would come to Bhura and try to rectify the situation.  For the 
first time, Waldo eagerly anticipated his coming, and Harland dreaded 
it. 

The meeting.  Isaiah decided to conduct the meeting in front of all the
god’s, in a regular large dark banquet room, one of the last still 
remaining in the city.  Harland and Waldo called off fighting for the 
day.  They stood in front of Isaiah and the rest of the god’s circled 
them. 

Isaiah began, “Harland, you have broken the ultimate rule of the god’s. 
You have not upheld the population.  You allowed, by means of war, the 
population to be cut by one half so far.  And it wasn’t just in your 
area either.  You have broken another code.  Your conduct has affected 
other gods’ area’s.  You’ve done something else, Harland, that hasn’t 
even been written in a god rules of conduct book, though it should be.  
Greed.  It’s a sin for almost every other being in the universe and it 
shouldn’t be any different for us.  Harland, you are only a god, and 
you make mistakes.  I forgive you.” 

Murmurs went through the group of god’s.  Waldo just stood in shock, not
believing his ears. 

Isaiah continued, “But despite that, you must be punished.  I hate to do
it to anybody, but it’s my job.  Harland, for the first time in my 
life, I am calling for a vote of degodification.” 

Waldo smiled and wiped the sweat from his brow. 

“Those of you who agree, raise your hand,” said Isaiah to the entire
group of god’s.  Waldo was the first to raise his hand, followed by 
Chester, and the other sixteen remaining god’s.  A unanimous vote of 
degodification was rendered.  Harland showed no emotion.  Some say he 
actually smiled. 

The degodification process wasn’t quite what one would expect.  No
blinding rays of light, no thunder or lightning, just nineteen god’s 
encircling one, pointing, telling Harland he is no longer a god of the 
planet Bhura, just another citizen who will die in roughly fifty years. 


Harland slowly walked toward the door, but stopped to listen to Isaiah
as he continued.  “Waldo, I must apologize for my original intentions 
in coming to Bhura.  As you might have expected, you were going to be 
degodified simply for falling in love with a Bhurian citizen.  Waldo, I 
apologize.  You and I have had many problems and I will admit for the 
first time that I was wrong many times.  I was too hard on you.  I 
didn’t listen to your ideas.” 

“Thanks, Isaiah.  It’s okay,” replied Waldo. 

Isaiah continued, “But that’s not all.  Harland isn’t the only one to
blame for what has occurred over the past months.  Waldo, you are also 
guilty.  You have broken the number one code of the god’s for a second 
time.  You have not upheld the population.  You allowed your followers 
to die in your name and in mine.  I don’t want their blood on my hands 
or yours.  Waldo, for this, you must be punished.  I am calling for 
another vote of degodification.” 

Isaiah’s hand was the first to go up.  The other god’s looked around in
surprise, Chester’s mouth stood hanging open, and the hands started 
going up.  One by one every god voted in favor of degodification, 
Chester being the last.  Waldo was degodified just as Harland had been. 


Waldo’s expression wasn’t what one might have expected either.  Some
might say he smiled as well.  He would only go on to only live for 
another fifty years as opposed to the infinite amount of time he could 
have lived as a god in the heavens.  But he spent those fifty years on 
Bhura happy, with Lauren by his side, a smile never failing to be far 
from his face.


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