This is the second part of the series “Cult princess”. It could be read alone, but it is advised to find the first part “Cult princess – book one” on my profile.
We were now children of Paradise. It was a hard change from the life that I had before. I missed my clothes. I missed the TV and Netflix. I missed my phone. I missed feeling part of a big world. Paradise was cut off from the rest of the world. We had electricity for lights and cooking. There were no TVs, radios or internet. We had to wear these victorian clothes. It was as if we were living in some historic play.
People here did not mind. They seemed extremely happy. They always smiled and praised the prophet and God. If something did go wrong, they would say it was a test from God. If something went right, it was a blessing. The fact was that we should have been content at all times, as we were the chosen ones! When the end of the world came, we would be saved and allowed to live in a heavenly world. We just had to do as the prophet said.
The prophet had few rules. Everything that we own was now owned by the community. Even the clothes we had on our bodies were not ours. They were the property of Paradise. We were to live simple lives in which we would work hard to keep healthy and listen to the teachings of the prophet which was studied and followed. We were to realize that we were the lucky ones. We were chosen to be with the prophet.
The Prophet decided everything. He decided what work we did, where we lived. He even decided when people got married and where people got married. There were no courts in Paradise. The prophet was God's best friend, so he knew if we were bad or good. If we committed a crime against Paradise, we could be punished. He did have the police force, which was like secret police or something like that.
This was a strange world to move in. The more I heard the more questions that I had. When I asked, I would just be told to open my heart and not be so critical. I was told again to forget the world I lived in and to solely concentrate on Paradise.
My family was happy when we moved here. I must admit that at the start, I loved the new experience. Dad was often home and we were together. Mom and Dad would tell stories and we would talk. There was no phone or TV, so we had to do something. This meant that we spent the time as a family. I really liked this and it is one of my fondest memories.
Dad quickly was told what he was supposed to do. His experience of working in a bank was used and he was responsible for the finances of Paradise. In fact, he was the only one besides the prophet that had a computer. Dad was happy about this job. He considered it much better than working in a field in the hot sun. Most people were in the fields or the farm, including my mother.
Mom was a different woman. It was like she was always on some pink cloud. She has never been so happy as she was now. The image of mom being an independent woman who was respected, she was now becoming more and more like a Robot. She surrendered all she had to the prophet. He now controlled her body, mind, and soul. I still loved her, but it was like she changed so much, that I had to get to know a new woman. I missed the way mom was, and often could not understand how obsessed she was at something.
As for me, I went to school. It was very different from the school I was used to. The girls were not in the same class as the boys. We were educated in another way. We studied the teachings of the prophet, learned how to be good wives and how to make our husbands happy. While the boys were learning what school usually teaches, I was being taught how to sew and how to cook. This was extremely hard and frustrating. I was used to a modern school with modern values. I was taught that girls were equal to boys and we could achieve what we wanted with life. We could run a huge business or we could even be the president. Now I was being forced to forget that all. In paradise, women were there to make men happy. This was being taught day after day. My worse fear was that I would soon believe it.
I had some good friends and they were quite different than what my old friends were. It was as if they were more childish. They did not care that they were wearing dull dresses that were worn 150 years ago. They never talked about boys or music. They had no ambitions. They talked about chores and what the prophet was teaching us.
After school, we would walk to the fields where I would find mom. Most adults toiled in the fields all day, as Paradise only ate the food that we could produce. There were often shortages of food because the weather or the crops didn't grow as they should. The prophet would explain that food shortages were a test from God. We had to work harder and pray harder. Even when a lot of food was produced, it was strictly rationed. There were no fat people at Paradise.
I hated working in the fields. It would either be too cold, too wet, or too warm. I was lucky though as I helped with the animals. Paradise had cows, pigs, sheep and chickens, and hens. They were like friends to me and helped me adjust to being at Paradise. I loved especially when they were born. I would help nurse them.
I don't think mom or dad knew how hard it was for me to live as part of this cult. To be honest, it was not hard getting used to the clothes and after a bit, I did not miss my phone or things like TV. In a way, it was a relief I could still be a little girl and did not have to worry if I was popular enough or had to use makeup. The hardest was how the cult was changing my family and I was afraid that it would change me. I did not want to be brainwashed into believing everything the prophet said was true. I did not want to become submissive and believe my only role in life was to make men happy.
It was not very often we saw the prophet. He lived in a huge house at the edge of town with his family. There was a huge wall around his house. I always thought this was strange. He usually put what messages he had on a tape that was played during prayers. Then every family got the message in writing where they could read again and again when they were home.
Soon after we moved to Paradise, the prophet showed up at prayers and said that God told him that the world will soon end. It would be in 4 years time. The prophet was yelling and screaming that this gave us some time to repent and become closer to God and himself. We needed to pray harder. We needed to work harder. We need to study the writings of the prophet harder. We had 4 years to prepare!
Mom was in a great mood when she heard this. She said we were the chosen ones to be with saved when the world ended. I seemed to be the only one that was terrified. I imagined the end of the world as something that was like living in atomic war. There would be suffering that was never seen or experienced before.
The next time we have seen the prophet was when he got married to a woman that was 21. The prophet was nearly 3 times her age. This wedding seemed strange and it was the first time I heard people criticize the prophet or even ask critical questions. The reason was that the prophet was already married and had a few children. How could he have 2 wives? Everyone thought this was strange. The whole marriage divided the cult. Even mom and dad fought about it. Mom thought the prophet knew what God wanted and she had no problem with it. Dad reminded her that cult leaders through history had more rights than the people they lead. How could the prophet lead by example?
The prophet finally appeared and explained that a man only had one wife. However. God spoke with him and was so proud of Paradise. God recognized that this was because of the prophet's hard work. God knew that the prophet loved this young woman and still, the prophet denied himself this love because monogamy was the law. God then allowed the prophet to marry this girl and have 2 wives as a reward.
It was strange that everyone believed this and the disagreements were over. The only person that questioned it was Dad when he was confused as to why the prophet was the only one to get this reward? Everyone at Paradise worked so hard, Of course, Dad did not say this too loud.
I was now 14, and have been at Paradise for 3 years. I was not a full believer, but I kept all the doubts to myself. I would get in trouble at school if I talked about my former life before the cult. I would be told that the outside world was controlled by the Devil. I needed to accept this embrace the teachings of the prophet. Mom did, but as I said, she was not the mom I knew. She was so brainwashed that she was more like a puppet. Even Dad changed. He now looked so old and never smiled anymore.
The prophet came from a rich family and had a great childhood. This ended when the family lost their fortune during a financial crisis. This made the prophet work and have to earn his living. He worked as a teacher and got married. He still had a good life and had many blessings. However, he was never happy and missed the family fortune. When the prophet was so depressed, he heard the voice of God. He did what God wanted and this was to create a paradise on earth with true believers of God.
Now the prophet was our leader. He was in control of everything. Soon after I turned 14, I asked mom about boys as I thought that one boy was very cute. It was then that Mom told me that the prophet would choose a husband for me. This was not the best thing to say to a teenager that was starting to notice boys. I got mad and shouted that I wanted to choose who I would love and marry. I begged my mother to understand. I asked her if she did not trust my judgment in finding a husband. Mom looked back at me and said that she trusted the prophet.
The boy's name was Julian and he did like me. We ended up being a boyfriend and girlfriend in secret. We decided if the world was about to end soon, we would try and feel what love was like. It was difficult keeping our relationship a secret, as I wanted the world to know how much I loved Julian. We met in a secret place and just held hands. We never even kissed. We just talked about normal things.
All good things come to an end. Someone told the prophet that we were seeing each other in secret. Things happened very fast then. Julian was expelled from Paradise. He was only my own age and was kicked out. He would live with his relations that he never met. I was not kicked out, but everyone looked at me as if I committed the worse sin in the world. Mom even called me a Jezebel. I was punished by being on house arrest for a month. I was not allowed to speak. I was to pray for forgiveness. I spent most of the time crying and missing Julian. He was now in the normal world. I consoled myself by thinking that he was free.
To be continued
ns 172.69.7.27da2
and then Add to home screen.