Reading Online Novel

The Sixth Station(103)



“These children,” Ving continued, “had been introduced on day one of the Demiel ben Yusef tribunal by the prosecution and identified as victims of the terror bombing of the Ingreja Matriz Church in Manaus, Brazil. The unforgettable sight of the children, whose injuries included third-degree burns, blindness, spinal-cord injuries, and massive brain damage, are, of course, now etched into the human consciousness around the world.

“But that all apparently changed yesterday after they were touched, so to speak, by Demiel ben Yusef. It began right after the courtroom disruption broke out, which caused Justice Bagayoko to unexpectedly call a halt to the day’s proceedings. The children had been sitting outside the courtroom in anticipation of being called as witnesses. UN security had not had a chance to move them to a different location before they hustled the defendant, Demiel ben Yusef, out of the courtroom. As they moved him out, he passed directly in front of the children.

“We are told that despite being shackled hand and foot, the accused terrorist was able to stop short and shout a brief prayer in a language not understood—and not recorded, since reporters are forbidden in that area of the United Nations. Sources also told CNN that, inexplicably, security cameras were also not working.

“However, later in the afternoon, at approximately five P.M. Eastern Standard Time, as the children were sitting in the United Nations dining hall for their evening meal, unnamed eyewitnesses say that first a blind boy, name and age unknown at this point, jumped up from his seat, claiming that he could see.

“Then the quadriplegic girl in the motorized wheelchair started to wiggle her arms and legs, then the brain-damaged children, who no longer had speech, began calling for their mothers, as each child in turn seemingly was made whole again.

“One eyewitness told CNN off the record that even the horribly burned child was restored to a perfect, unblemished state.

“At seven P.M. Chief Judge Fatoumata Bagayoko came out to address reporters regarding the incident.”

Footage of Bagayoko standing somewhere inside the United Nations, in a red wool suit and matching pillbox hat perched jauntily atop her braids, appeared on the screen as she addressed the reporters, who looked, if possible, even more rabid than they had on the first day. The judge was literally grinning from ear to ear.

“It is my great, great, great pleasure to confirm to you this day that I have indeed seen all of the smallest victims of the Ingreja Matriz Church bombings—yes, those very children who appeared before the court on the opening day of the trial.

“We all saw those children and the horrific damage inflicted upon each and every one. Well, I just saw those same children, and I am here, as God is my witness…”—she was openly fighting back tears now—“to tell you that the blind can see, the brain-damaged are now speaking at age-appropriate levels, the quadriplegic child, Laudenize Vasconcelos, is not just out of her wheelchair but joyously skipping about the room! And, yes, the burn victims are restored to perfection.”

The reporters started screaming for footage, but the chief judge responded by saying that until United Nations security, along with the officials from Brazil, had made a determination of the facts, and also to protect the privacy of the children, no footage or photos would be released.

Then, in true media-hound fashion, Bagayoko said, “And now it is my supreme privilege to go back and visit with my children!” With that, she waved and was rushed back inside by her adoring minions.

Ving came back on-screen and reported, “While we have no official video or photographs, this grainy image was leaked onto YouTube earlier today, the authenticity of which, I must remind you, has not been verified.”

The video showed a bunch of little children, wheelchairs in the background, running, laughing, jumping, yelling, and playing happily with each other.

“Calling the so-called miracle of Demiel ben Yusef a ruse, however, is the Reverend Bill Teddy Smythe of the worldwide Light of God Tabernacles.”

The video feed showed Bill Teddy in a wheelchair giving a press conference outside the UN. Raising his fist to the heavens, white hair nearly lighting up the air around him, Bill Teddy attempted to rise up, but plopped back down.

He must have forgotten how easily he rose up on opening day!

“What is being perpetrated upon the unsuspecting world is a lie, a scam, and a sham regarding the so-called miracle,” he declared, his grimace truly frightening. “These children can no more rise from their wheelchairs than I can.”

What?

“And if they could, it wouldn’t be because of the miraculous healing powers of a filthy radical desert rat who is the spawn of the devil himself! Such a thing can only be performed by Jesus Christ Almighty—and this, this, this filthy terrorist scum is evil incarnate!