The Harbinger (3 page)

“‘You’re very mystical, you know.’

“‘Or maybe,’ he said, ‘you’re about to receive one.’

“‘What do you mean?’

“‘A message of great importance,’ he replied. His left hand had been resting on his lap for the entire length of the conversation…closed. That’s when he opened it. In the middle of his palm was a seal.”

“No!” said Ana, now leaning forward in her chair. “How could he have?”

“But he did.”

“…a seal like yours?”

“Like mine, except with different markings.”

“But how did he…?”

“Exactly. That’s what
I
wanted to know.”

I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t process it. My heart was pounding, and my voice grew tense. “What’s that?” I asked. I knew what it was, but I didn’t know how else to say it.

“A seal,” he replied.

“What I meant was, what are you doing with a seal?”

“What am
I
doing with a seal? The question is, ‘What are
you
doing with a seal?’”

“How did you get that?” I countered.

“I told you, it’s my hobby. I collect them.”

“You collect seals?”

“Yes.”

“
You’re
the one!” I said, my voice filled with tension and rising. “You’re the one behind it. You’re the one who sent it to me. What is this all about?”

“It’s all about finding out what it’s all about.”

“How did you do this? How did you manage to…You’ve been following me?”

“Following
you
? I was the one sitting on the bench.
You’re
the one who came after. Are you sure
you
weren’t following
me
?”

“I don’t even know you.”

“Nevertheless, you were the one who came after.”

He was right, of course. He couldn’t have been following me. He was already there.
I
was the one who sat down next to him. And yet in his hand was a seal just like the one in mine, as if he knew I would come, as if he’d been waiting. But it was a rare thing for me to go there. It wasn’t planned. And
I
was the one who chose to sit down at that particular bench and to take out the seal at that particular moment. I asked him again, “What is this all about?”

“You’ve been given a seal,” he said, “Where there’s a seal, there must be a message. Do you have a message?”

“No,” I replied, almost defensively, “I don’t have any message.”

At that he paused and just stared for a few moments into the distance. Then he turned to me and, looking directly into my eyes, uttered his reply. “But
I
do.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“But I do have a message.”

“What message?”

“I have a message…for you.”

At that point I was almost shaking. I got up from the bench. “I don’t think so,” I said in a voice now tense with anxiety. “I have no idea how you managed to do this, but it has nothing to do with me.”

“It’s the time,” he replied.

I wanted to run, but I couldn’t. I was torn between two impulses—the urge to get as far away from that bench as I could and the need to hear what he had to say. I was frozen. And then he spoke again.

“It’s the time, Nouriel.”

“Nouriel!” I replied almost shouting, “How did you…?”

“How could he have
possibly
known your name?” Ana interjected.

“A good question, but he never answered it. Instead, he turned his gaze back to the distance ahead and continued speaking. ‘It’s the appointed time, but not for an ancient nation. It’s time for the word to be given…for the mystery to be revealed…for the message to go forth. It’s the appointed time—but not for an ancient nation.’”

“This has nothing to do with me,” I said again.

“Then why were you given the seal?” he asked.

“Who
are
you?” I countered.

He didn’t answer that but just looked at me. It was a silence as intense as anything else that took place that day. I couldn’t stay there any longer.

“So you left him?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“And what did he do when you left?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t look back.”

“So how did you make sense of all that?”

“I didn’t. I went home. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it. For days it was almost impossible to sleep. I picked up a Bible to look for anything I could find on the prophets and their messages. Days went by, weeks, and I could hardly think of anything but that encounter. And then I returned.”

“To the bench by the Hudson.”

“Yes, but not exactly
to
the bench, but near it, to where I could see it from a distance.”

“Why?”

“Because I wasn’t sure I wanted to see him again.”

“But you
did
want to see him again.”

“Again, I was torn. I knew that if I didn’t see him again, I’d never know the answer. At the same time I was afraid of what that might mean. And yet, still I was drawn back. I had to return.”

“And…?”

“And he wasn’t there. I returned a second time. And again he wasn’t there. And then a third time.”

“And…?”

“The third time he was there just as he was the first time, sitting on the same bench on the same spot, in the same long dark coat.”

“And…?”

“And then it began.”

Chapter 3

Kingdom’s Eve and the Nine Harbingers

I
WAS STANDING BEHIND
the bench and to the right.

“You returned,” said the prophet, without any movement of his head, but still maintaining his gaze into the distance. He couldn’t possibly have seen me, but he knew I was there. It was something I could never get used to…being with someone you felt could, at any given time, see through you.

“Why?” he asked, still gazing toward the waters. “Why did you return?”

“Because,” I replied, “you’re the only one who can give me the answer.”

“To what?” he asked.

“To the problem.”

“To what problem?”

“To the problem of you.”

“I’m the only one who can answer the problem of me?” he said with a hint of playfulness in his voice. “I don’t know, Nouriel; it sounds like a paradox to me.”

“Am I wrong?” I asked.

“No,” he replied. “You’re not wrong.”

I joined him on the bench. It was only then that he broke his gaze to look at me. “But are you ready?” he asked.

“For…?”

“The answer.”

“I hope so.”

“Then let’s begin. You’re a journalist; did you bring a notepad or a recording device?”

“A recording device.”

“Good,” he said. “I thought you would have. Turn it on.”

I removed the recorder from my coat pocket and pressed
record
. From then on I was even more careful to make sure I never went anywhere without it, just in case.

“So then everything the prophet said, you recorded?” asked Ana.

“Virtually everything.”

“
Recordings of the Prophet
…not a bad title for a book.”

“As soon as I turned it on, he returned his gaze back to the waters and slightly upward, focusing on no particular object as far as I could see. Then he began to speak as if recalling some distant memory.”

“They had no idea what was coming. They thought it would all go on as it always had, as if it would never change. They had no idea what was about to happen or what it was all leading to. Everything they had ever known, up to that point, their entire world, would vanish.”