It was January. Bu. said, "Th. is approaching."

"What? Where?" said Sa.

"Look, over there," Bu. said.

Sa. looked where he was pointing. There was indeed something there, and it did seem to be getting closer.

Sa. shook his head. "But is it Th.?"

"Who knows?"

By February most people agreed that Th. was in town, although it was not clear to anyone exactly what Th. was:

• a very wealthy person, or
• a beggar, or
• a philosophy, or
• a religion, or
• a product of technology, or
• an acquired taste, or
• all of the above, or
• something else.

In any case Th. was clearly very influential. Th. affected everything--the government, big and small businesses, the weather, children, pets, and so on. For example:

Gi.: Th.'s in town.
Im.: How can we know?
Gi.: Well, for instance, is your remote control working the way it used to?
Im.: Yes.
Gi.: Are you sure?
Im.: Absolutely.
Gi.: Well, there you go.

Early one morning in mid-March police discovered the incinerated shell of a car right in the middle of a downtown street. Its occupants were burnt beyond recognition. (They were later identified by dental records as a plumber and his wife.) After investigating thoroughly, detectives concluded that the plumber had probably backed out right in front of Th. Since nobody knew anything about Th., they couldn't explain exactly why this would have led to such a grisly result, but they concluded that it was probably just an accident--so they didn't have to put out any warrants for Th.'s arrest.

April came. Ha. was struck by tragedy; the roof fell in on his wife and children, killing them instantly. He blamed it on Th. A PR firm that claimed to represent Th. responded that Ha.'s charges were unjustified. A foundation that claimed to have been set up by Th. offered Ha. several million dollars in compensation. The Self-Styled Priests of Th. claimed that it was the work of the Anti-Th.

Ha. was not moved by any of this, and began a campaign against Th. He garnered support from a thousand townspeople, and they held daily marches calling for the city to put Th. on trial for crimes against humanity.

One day Ha. exploded. The movement quickly disbanded.

In May nothing much happened.

Pr., a philosophy student at a nearby University, came to town in June to do some field research. He wanted to answer questions like

• Does Th. really exist?
• What or who is Th.?
• Is Th. good, evil, or neither?

No one was willing to talk to him about Th., though, and he couldn't find any written references to Th. from before Th.'s alleged arrival--except possibly for a badly damaged fragment of an ancient book he found in the library, which read:

"Seek Th"

By July nobody was talking about Th. anymore, not even the Self-Styled Priests of Th., although Th. was constantly on everyone's mind. The only person who mentioned Th. in July was C., a homeless woman, whose favorite slogan was:

"Th. is as Th. does."

August was very hot; everyone had their air conditioners on full blast, except for the Self-Styled Priests of Th., who prayed that Th. would directly lower their body temperatures.

Ab. and his girlfriend Po. were strolling in the city park when they were approached by two strangers wearing all black. "Aren't you hot under all that black?" Po. said. The strangers said nothing, but pulled out guns, forcing Ab. and Po. to exchange clothing with them. Then the strangers gave their guns to Ab. and Po. and left.

By the end of the day everyone in the city had worn the uncomfortably thick black clothing at least once, except the Self-Styled Priests of Th., who claimed to be incorruptible. However, they never reported as to whether Th. ended up directly lowering their body temperatures.

Trees started to shed in September, but the town, somewhat demoralized that month, paid little attention. The sound of crunching leaves was ubiquitous--under cars, under people, under animals. No one bothered to sweep.

It was around this time that Th. made Th.'s First Public Statement. Th. did not actually make this statement in view of anyone, of course, but it managed to get reported in all the newspapers the next day anyway. The Statement ran like this:

"A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y 12."

October started tragically as the mayor of the city died of a heart attack. His deputy mayor, who had always been a pragmatic and objective woman, launched a vigorous print and television campaign claiming that the heart attack had absolutely nothing to do with Th., that it was just a normal ending to a normal life, that Th. was just a figment of the town's peculiar imagination, etc. Not a single townsperson was convinced, and speculations about Th.'s role went on as expected.

Thanksgiving was peculiar this year--Th. had never been in town before. Many people dedicated their turkeys and condiments to Th., while others steadfastly courted the Anti-Th. Secretly, both parties hoped that Th. wouldn't leave in December, and thought that Th., whatever Th. was, might hear their goings-on and decide to stay.

Unfortunately:

Everyone speaks of the Calamity,
but here is all I saw:
A devil wind swept over the town,
carrying something of everyone with it.
I was unmoved in body and mind.
"There goes Th.," I said.

"Report on the Passing of Th."
by Va.