"He directed Himself to the heaven… and He knows all things.” [Qur'an 2:29]

I saw something reborn today. Turning away from the smoldering remains of religion and knowledge, I regarded the monolith. Neglecting the faithful and the ignorant, the giant protector had allowed the unthinkable to occur. Thirteen floors high, the only defense from eternal damnation had abandoned its city, and its reasons were clear to no one but me:

The tower itself had been abandoned.

Not by the human filth who inhabited it, defiling the walls with grime and its beds with copulation. No, they remained, and would remain until eviction by their own demise. This crumbling fortress now lacked its Lord. Exiled or executed, He was gone and there would be no second coming.

I approached the edifice.

Throwing open the flimsy doors, I stepped into the empty lobby, pushing through the gathering crowd floating towards the exit. When the doors to my chariot slid open, I entered and pressed the button for the very top. With the ringing of a bell, I began my ascent.

In that moment I realized who I was not anymore.

I was not the dying man afraid of the sky. Not the guilty offender who gets out early for good behavior. I was not an insignificant looking for someone to come to my rescue. I did not need to be rescued. I was not confined to the sidewalks.

In that moment I realized who I am now.

I am the King in the Tower, the beekeeper. I grant unto the sun. I drive the bus. I am the fallible judge whose every word is law. I burned the seat of the one I followed, and now I am more than Him. I am the watcher, the instigator who remains far off. I am the almighty blinding light, the Almighty.

I am God.

From the penthouse apartment, I gaze down upon my kingdom: frozen, just as I had left it. To thaw it, I have begun a third fire. In the early morning, my followers on the ground are gathering around the smoldering building, waiting. I can see the paramedics pulling a lifeless woman from the rubble.

As the ambulance pulls away silently, cars resume their travel. The world spins again.