QUOTE : Religious fervor whipped the churches into a frenzy, and I often heard people talking in hushed whispers about the end of days when I slipped into the chapel to pray in the evening. My piety was a sporadic, haalf-feral thing, sometimes lashing out at God with teeth baed, other times nuzzling against His loving providence like a kitten, but prayer steadied me. Whether I was talking to myself or something more, it brought me peace. The world we had all known, it seemed, was drawing to a close.