Under the Dome

by Stephen King

the sin of one, but the many. You are slow to anger, but when it comes, Your anger is like the storms that sweep a field of wheat, laying low not just one stalk or a score but every one. I have sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind, not just for one but for many.’ There were other sins and other sinners in The Mill – he knew that, he was not naïve, they swore and danced and sexed and took drugs he knew far too much about – and they no doubt deserved to be punished, to be scourged, but that was true of every town, surely, and this was the only one that had been singled out for this terrible act of God.

He paused in his scourging (he could feel warm and comforting trickles running down his bare back; several of the rope knots had begun to turn red) and turned his tearstained face up toward the beamed roof. ‘Because these folks need me, Lord. You know they do, now more than ever. So . . . if it’s Your will that this cup should be removed from my lips . . . please give me a sign.’ He waited. And behold, the Lord God said unto Lester Coggins, ‘I will shew you a sign. Goest thou to thy Bible, even as you did as a child after those nasty dreams of yours.’

Joe was wise enough to know that didn’t necessarily matter. Because there were people inside those uniforms, and thinking brains behind at least some of those expressionless faces. The military presence as a whole might constitute The Man, but there would be individuals hiding in the whole,

There was even a picture of Big Jim shaking hands with Tiger Woods, who had seemed like a very nice Negro.

Joe took the phone. ‘What are you, from the Dark Ages?’ ‘Yes!’ Barbie said. ‘When knights were bold and ladies fair went without their underwear.’

The soldiers were clustered on their side of the Dome, watching with interest. Now I know how a fish feels in an aquarium, Barbie thought.

Jim nodded as if to say Be it on your own head. Then he smiled – if, that is, a pulling-back of the lips can be so characterized.

men are great, and some men have greatness thrust upon them, isn’t that so, Jim?’ Julia asked. She was smiling her cool smile.

Rusty sat where he was for a moment of two, drumming his fingers on his thighs.

700 CALORIES A DAY KEEPS HUNGER AT BAY.

That was the year she had made her often vile temper her number one priority. Killing it completely would be killing part of herself, but she thought if she did not make some fundamental changes, an important part of her would remain fifteen for a long, long time.

The rug-merchant wore a yellow tee-shirt that had said DON’T SHOOT ME, I’M ONLY THE PIANO PLAYER. Latif listened to him, nodding. They laughed together. Then the merchant had made a startlingly American jackoff gesture and they laughed even harder.

The guilty man flees where none pursueth,

Meantime, Boxer might be seen on any given day cruising around in his Porsche, with its bumper sticker reading MY OTHER CAR IS ALSO A PORSCHE!

Those who can, do; those who can’t, question the decisions of those who can.

He was another of Barbie’s . . . his . . . what did you call those guys . . . ‘Minions,’ Junior whispered. ‘Just another one of Big Jim Rennie’s filet minions.’ Once you thought about it

‘Boys, he and Lois are eating breakfast in heaven.’ He paused, then burst out laughing. Not very political, but he just couldn’t help it. ‘In the servants’ quarters, I have no doubt.’

He vaguely remembered a joke about bankers marooned on a desert island who’d gotten rich trading each other their clothes, and he uttered a brief yapping laugh even though he couldn’t exactly recall the punchline and had never completely gotten the joke, anyway.

I fucked her with her rightside up, her upside down, and her backside all present and accounted for.

there was finally a modicum of peace in the family after sixteen months of border warfare between the country of Controlling Parents and the smaller but well-fortified principality of Determined Teenager.

‘These trucks is pretty noisy,’ Roger Killian said. ‘What if those guys hear em comin? We’ll lose that whatdoyoucallit, elephant of surprise.’

‘Just think about the roast beef dinner you’ll be eating with Jesus,’ Andy said. ‘Why, three seconds from now you’ll be spreading your napkin.’ The sustained blast from the Kalashnikov rolled Randolph almost all the way to the studio door.

Henry turns his stunned face back to Colonel Cox, who is simultaneously three feet and a million miles away. ‘I’m so sorry, my friend,’ Cox says.

‘Contrary to the beliefs of the secular humanists, the sky is not falling. They can’t help the yellow streak that runs up their backs, son – “the guilty man flees where none pursueth,” you know, Book of Leviticus – but that doesn’t change God’s truth: those who believe on Him shall not tire, but shall mount up with wings as eagles – book of Isaiah. That’s basically smog out there. It’ll just take awhile to clear out.’

‘Ma’am, I lost my drivin license seven years ago. Or maybe it was eight. Too many DUIs. If I got caught behind the wheel of anything bigger’n a go-kart again, they’d put me in County and throw away the key.’ Barbie considered pointing out the fundamental flaw in this, but why bother wasting breath when breath was now so hard to come

Because part of him wasn’t going to really sleep again until this was over or he was dead. That was what the survival instinct was, he guessed: an unsleeping watchman deep in the brain.

Sleepest thou? Jesus is said to have enquired of Peter. Couldst thou not watch one hour?

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