Choices and Revelations

Choices and Revelations- Finale

       Fahrenheit 451 Series



Montag...Montag...Listen! The unsympathetic voice of the portable, reticular, teleportation devise calls out. The queer, talking walls let out an order of their own. 'Burn that book! Burn that book! Burn that book! “These voices are but faint wisps of wind and air through Montag’s ears as he intensely stares at the book that lay in his palms. He turns the paper bound cover, releasing a crisp, fresh odor into the musty atmosphere. His lips began to move and embodied the ink fixed upon the parchment. 'In the beginning God created the sun the moon and the Heavens.' Montag's heart leapt into his throat as the mechanical voice shrieked in despair. 'Burn that book! Burn that book!' Montag's throat burned as flames of heat leapt and danced throughout his head, as perspiration dripped from his face onto the page. 'Choices...Montag whispered to himself...Choices. “He closed the book swiftly,immediatly leaving his home and the talking walls to bicker amongst themselves.


Entering the crisp, fall air, he heads toward the subway station, his fingers gently grasping the book which lay beneath his jacket, quickly glancing at the ashen trees surrounding him. A chill within Montag's body informed him that he was prey and his predator was on the prowl. The Mechanical Hound must have picked up his scent, allowing him and impossible amount of time to search and conceive answers.
The train arrives with an icy gust of air and Montag steps aboard, securing a seat in back, in solitude, next to the window. He takes one last, searching glance out the window for the Mechanical Hound and finding it safe, he gingerly pulls the book out from beneath its safe haven. Flipping the pages at random Montag stops on a chapter and begins to read aloud. “And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof? And no one in Heaven, or in earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.Montag’s eyes floated upward to meet the perplexed stares of his fellow passengers. “Don’t you see Montag?” echoed a soft voice within his head. “No one in Heaven nor earth could open that book. What is this book you have been given godly permission to open when it has been forbidden?”Montag glanced down and read the title of the chapter aloud softly, “Revelations.” Montag’s eyes lit up like fire as his mind finally grasped what was truly happening. In a world of virtual reality and endless sleep he had finally awoken and the only way to save that earth and all that lives upon it was to put a stop to the maddening sleep.


Montag stood up, firmly and without falter. The passengers and even talking walls seemed perplexed and fearful of why he was not moving at the speed of sound along with the train. “Listen”,Montag shouted earnestly the passengers. “Who has read this book?”, he asked proudly holding it above his head. The passengers began to look at each other with fearful eyes and began to whisper. Some continued to stare intently at Montag. “Do you remember, he continued, the man of this book, when you once read this ages ago?” “Do you remember you may have spoken to Him once or may have even personally known Him? “As Montag surveyed the passengers around him, several began to weep, not because of despair, but due to the fear of remembering what Montag said may have been true. Some passengers appeared completely immovable. The talking walls aboard the train began to chatter incessantly,heyena like. “Montag,Montag”,they shouted, you are wrong.” “You are but a lifeless machine”,Montag proclaimed. And with this statement the talking walls appeared to have disappeared into a black abyss. A hush fell among the passengers.Montag was startled when he heard a long, drowned out scream that seemed to emit from every direction.


He tuned toward the front cab thinking the sound originated from the brakes of train, however, as soon as he turned forward he was faced with the cold, lifeless stare of the Mechanical Hound. Some passengers began to scream, only mistakenly drawing the attention of the hound. “Do not fear it”, shouted Montag. “It is only a machine, if you are a machine you will be less or equal to it, however if you are a man you shall be more powerful and will not be harmed. “What do you think you are?”, he asked in a hushed tone. Many passengers began to declare their humanity; however, some passengers continued to tremble with fear and began climbing at the train walls as the Hound nipped at their heels. “You are lifeless”,Montag said, and with that the Mechanical Hound began to collapse within itself, giving one last yelp before falling into a heap of metallic junk onto the floor. “Do you want to restore this world?”,Montag asked his surveyors ,looking at their eyes, still filled with tears and fear. “Help me, he shouted, Help me! “Several passengers began to murmur an almost incoherent, “yes”, several more began to join as the slowing growing confirmation turned into a deafening roar. As the train continued to move at the speed of sound,Montag began to look out the window, noticing a faint green glow. The glow turned from various shades of green to rich blue, yellows and reds. One passenger proclaimed, “They’re flowers!” “No, another said, its water!” “I think I saw a bird”, another one chimed in.Montag stood there silently gazing out the window, feeling the warmth of the vibrant colors project across his face. As he swayed side to side with the train he began to feel something strangely familiar, but long forgotten. Suddenly, he could feel the corners of his lips part and they floated upward to spread joy across his cheeks.