John Frum The Reluctant Messiah

Answers From Elvis At The Smithsonian

They arrived in DC just in time to join the lunch time crush clogging the sidewalks. It was noisy, filled with the sound of cars, conversations, accelerating buses and distant horns. It was the welcome sound of life being lived. It was a beautiful, sunny day and like most public spaces, there was no shortage of tourists, street entertainers and vendors scattered about. 

As the trio made their way up the steps of the Smithsonian, Em veered off, her attention drawn to one odd character in particular. Ethan and John stopped, choosing to watch from behind. 

As best they could tell, this street urchin had combined three popular panhandling themes. An end-of-the-world preacher, a guitar-playing Elvis impersonator and a Three Card Monty magician.From the looks of things, his sad, ill-fitting costume had probably lived its long life having never seen the inside of a dry cleaners. 

"Best keep our distance. Not sure he's had all his shots," John joked. 

"That's what I like about you John. Your infinite well of compassion,"Ethan chided him, shaking his head. 

"And upon his return he will find a greaaaat evil," he proclaimed loudly. "He will need to put on the whole armor of the Almighty. But especially the shield of faith. It is through that great faith that he shall close the door on evil incarnate!!" 

He proceeded to strike an iconic Elvis pose and held it. He turned, looked directly at Em and sneered asking, "Card trick? You there, pretty lady! Come forward." 

As Em made her way forward through the modest crowd, he played walking music on his beat up Silvertone guitar. 

"Pick a card! But first," he showed the deck to his audience,"someone examine the deck- you!"

 He handed the deck to a sweaty tourist who was in a losing race with his melting ice cream cone. He nodded, confirming the deck was legit. 

"Alright then, go ahead, pick a card don't show me! Show everybody else."

Em picked a card, showed it to the crowd and held it against her chest. It was the ten of hearts. Elvis then held the deck to his   began to make proclamations.

"You seek answers, yes?" he asked. 

"Don't we all?" Em responded with a smile. John and Ethan made their way forward to collect Em. 

"You seek someone of great stature." Elvis still had the deck pressed against his forehead. 

"Well, it's not this guy," said Ethan pointing at John. 

"He holds a great secret, yes?" 

Em continued to nod at Elvis's comments but there was a hint of suspicion beginning to form in her eyes. 

Elvis continued, "Hidden for a long time this.... article you seek?" 

Ethan leaned over and quietly said to John, "Am I the only one that just got a whiff of Yoda there?" 

"And yet it has been in plain sight. Maybe the answer lies in these cards," he said as he lowered the deck from his forehead. Elvis then had someone from the crowd shuffle his deck and then asked another person to draw a card and show it to the onlookers. It was the ten of hearts. He then asked Em to show her card to the crowd. It was no longer the ten of hearts but rather the card simply read, Luke 6:45. The crowd reacted with both amazement and confusion. 

"Well, that's not right," said Elvis. He took his well-worn bible,quickly turned to the passage, and began reading out loud in his better than average Elvis voice."A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks..."

He then asked the man in the crowd to fan the cards out and show the crowd. The entire deck was now the ten of hearts. 

"An abundance of hearts, get it?" he said while displaying his Elvis curled lip smile. "Show 'em your card again lil' darlin." 

Em slowly revealed her card and her mouth dropped open. She turned it around and showed the crowd the ten of hearts. 

"Elvis has left the building!" He announced and he vanished in a great flash and giant puff of white smoke. 

The crowd's reaction was what one would expect- total shock and amazement. Everyone broke into applause. John and Em however exchanged a knowing look. This was no ordinary street entertainer who 'happened' to be there. For that matter, this was no ordinary magic either.

 "There's a note," Em said as she stepped forward to the spot where Elvis had vanished. 

"What's it say?" asked John. 

"They will reveal the timetable by speaking to you from beyond the grave. For I have etched it upon his heart." 

Lastly a series of numbers was written- "15230."

"You don't think he means.... literally, do you?" John queried. 

"Manuscripts," Em stated. "Often times notes to loved ones, property lists, and such would be placed in the most sacred of places of the dead. The heart. I never got the chance to examine his heart because-"

 "Dapper Dan with the delivery van showed up early," Ethan interjected. 

"Yes!!" Em exclaimed. 

"So, what we're looking for is in..."John hesitated. 

"The big dude's heart!" Ethan said. 

"Ughh! how are we gonna get that?" John grimaced.

"Leave that to me," Em said. "I'm the girl with skills and a bag full of tools," she shook her backpack. It sounded like someone had stolen all the silverware from last night's dinner. "You guys just have to get me in there." 

They decided the best course of action was to go inside the main lobby and Ethan would check the coordinates that his flip phone had been pumping out ever since it had been placed inside the crate. It was programmed to send coordinates every 3 minutes only when it was on the move and to conserve power, cease sending if it remained in the same position for more than 30 minutes. The last send was over an hour and 40 minutes ago which meant, more than likely it had reached its final destination. 

Inside, the three did their best to blend in with the tourists and day visitors. It was a cavernous, marble lined interior, three stories high with soaring arched windows at the very top. The lobby was nearly empty of exhibits except for an enormous elephant mounted on a pedestal made to look like something right out of his natural habitat in the center in the room. 

"Well?" John asked with his eyes. Ethan held up a finger as he squinted in concentration, studying his phone's screen. He looked up and then around with a puzzled look on his face.

 "That's odd..." he said. 

"What's odd? John asked. 

"Well, according to this... it should be..." Ethan looked around and behind him, "right here," he said pointing towards the massive elephant. 

"Well, look who it is," Em said. "I knew it!" 

The delivery driver who insisted on taking the crates early was walking towards the center of the room but now dressed very differently. He was in an expensive, bespoke suit, carrying a leather valise and was directing some of the museum staff. Em started towards him intent on confronting him only to have John grab her arm and reign her in. 

"Whoa! Easy killer. No need to tip our hand just yet." 

"That briefcase," Ethan said. "My dad had the very same one. Stupid expensive. Guarantee, that's one of the guys we saw in the alley outside of the Witch!" 

John stared at the floor trying to make sense of it. Way too many coincidences to be coincidences. There were connections everywhere and he had somehow fallen into each and every one of them. Where was it all leading? Wouldn't it be a lot easier just to forget everything and go back to being regular, student guy John? But in his heart of hearts, even if he wanted to, he knew that was no longer an option.