Left Alone
by David Boswell

Dirk Ripcord was giving me a lecture about the missile defense shield when all of a sudden he vanished. I was so shocked by what had just happened that it took me a few seconds to see that our golf cart was heading directly toward a well-groomed sand trap.

Without a moment to spare, I slid into the driver's seat, yanked the steering wheel to the right and stepped on the brakes. As the hum of the electric motor came to a stop, I realized that I was now safe. Shaken and scared, but safe.

All around me though others weren't as lucky as I had been. Driverless golf carts were slowly crashing into each other, into trees, and into the walls of the 19th Hole Bar and Grill. If there was this much chaos out here, I could only imagine what might be happening in the pro shop or on the driving range.

Determined to figure out what was going on, I climbed out of the golf cart and headed for the club house. I left Dirk's clubs sitting in the back and started walking.

On the way I saw a few other dazed people walking in the same direction.

"What just happened," I asked the first person I came across.

He told me a story eerily similar to my own. The golf cart, a conversation about stem cell research, his friend's disappearance, and a nasty collision with a caddy.

By the time he was finished telling me what had happened to him, we had reached the club. We walked in and found the place empty. There was a TV playing over the bar that was usually filled with thirsty golfers. A small collection of glasses were sitting on coasters and sweating in the heat.

We turned our attention to the television to try to find out more about these disappearances. A local news program was showing scenes of destruction from all over the city. I found the remote and flipped around some. It was the same on each station.

As I watched, the room slowly started to fill up with more people.

No one on the news knew what was going on, they just kept showing different scenes of confusion and turmoil in the area.

I turned away from the screen to see who had survived and made it to the club house. A few people I knew were here, but several of my friends seemed to be missing. Through the window I could see a few cart-wounded golfers limping closer. How many more were there going to be behind them?

I checked the news again to see if there were any updates. While I watched, I started listening to the conversations going on around me.

"I always thought spontaneous combustion was an urban legend..."

"I thought I was hallucinating..."

"I'm trying to remember what Scully said about people vanishing in that X-Files episode where..."

"I should have listened to my Sunday school teacher..."

What was that about Sunday school? I sort of remembered something about a day of judgment when true believers would be carried away. I had never paid much attention when I did go to church, so the details were a little fuzzy to me. It seemed like it could explain things though. What other options were there anyway? It was either that or UFOs running around beaming people up to who knows where.

It must be God then, I thought. He swooped down and picked up his followers.

The shock of the disappearances slowly started to fade once I had a reason for what happened. Things still felt very far from normal, but I could begin to think about what life would be like from now on. As I went over everything in my mind, I realized that this might not be the end of the world after all.

I realized that I would never have to have another painful debate about creationism or trickle down economic theory. Would never again have to attempt to come up with a rational argument for why the Secretary-General of the United Nations is not the Anti-Christ. Wouldn't have to explain why the separation of church and state isn't such a crazy idea.

A smile spread across my lips. It was a gift from heaven. We had been left alone.

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