The Duck & The Crow - Part 7

Part Seven - The Being

44.

Al and Ernie wasted no time in deciding on what to do.  Ernie pointed, and Al jumped in.  Ernie followed.  The two of them swam down a few feet through the water and entered onto the other side with the shack and the fire.  No more water.  Just an old shack and a roaring fire.  The two of them looked around, but there was nothing else.  They decided to approach the door of the shack.  On the door, they noticed a piece of tattered paper.  On it was the following:

Become a vegetable of motion

eliminating all thoughts

focusing all energy

into the moment

watching life unfold

in front of your eyes

manifesting itself

into impulses

of feeling, sound, touch, sight, smell

brain being, never doing

rest until the sun falls

sleep until the rains sing

moving with the flow

flowing with the move

one and all in the same action

release and be free

What a strange yet deep piece of writing thought Ernie and Al.  Who was this strange Being who wrote it?  They decided to find out.  Ernie reached out and pushed the door open.  Inside, they found a simple place with nothing but a bed and a desk.  There were some interesting paintings hung carefully on the tired walls.  At the desk, they saw the Being the Lion spoke of.  The Being turned around slowly to look at his new visitors.  He looked like an old wise man from the East, dressed in the same garb of that philosophical era.  He spoke clearly and deliberately.

Being - Hello there.  I will get to the point quickly.  Ask me any question now, for I will soon be flooding you with wisdom that can’t be interrupted.  What would you like to know?

Al and Ernie wondered in their minds why this Being looked just like them - Human. The Lion said no other Humans had made it this far into the Void.  In an instant, their questions were all answered.

Being - I am not human like you.  My energy just chose to take this form in order for you to process all of this easier.  I am nothing but pure energy, vibrating on a level you have yet to attain.  I have slowed my energy down to create this place and this form.  Physical existence is created on a plane where the vibrational waves of the source’s energy are much slower than itself. The waves become slow as matter becomes dense creating a four-dimensional plane.  Three dimensions of space and one dimension of time.  The slower the vibration, the faster time seems to go - and the more real time seems.  At the higher vibrations, there is no time and there is no space.  The only thing that exists at these levels is pure energy, pure Consciousness.

          Let me tell you a bit more.  When I existed on the material plane many vibrations ago, I was lost in a sea of confusion.  So much was expected of me, but I did not seem to understand why.  I did not understand true reality. Then one day, I met two odd beings - a Duck and a Crow - and my life suddenly changed.  Just as your life has changed from the meeting of their curious minds.  After meeting them and learning from them, I began to think of what was truly happening in the world and came to some profound understanding.  Thus becoming enlightened. 

          One day, I was sitting, looking out my window into the eyes of my fellow race which encompassed nothing but male and female - every white, black, brown, red, yellow, blue, orange and green one of them - each either man or woman, tall or short, fat or skinny, boy or girl, youngster or elder, child or adult, everything or nothing.  And as I gazed deep into their souls through the eyes, I saw negative energy manifesting itself as simple fear and confusion in every single, individual’s brain, while as a race we grasped at the existence we mistakenly conceived as our reality.  I asked my self why we are so confused about what this physical journey means to our souls, why we have routinely gone on in acceptance of the social games we are forced to play day after day, and why fear and hatred have overtaken our minds as negativity consumes our entire race?

          In that momentary fleeting fancy of the mind, I captured a fluttering in my sight and a visual vision of what a “bang” feels like in an insect’s world. A tired wasp hit his flying head on the wall above where I sat.  I looked graciously down on him, glaring at the unformed stripes on his back, the angel-like translucence of his wings, and the complete simplicity of his soul as he stood stunned for an instant.  He shook the crash off, looked casually up at me, and smiled in his insectual way.  In a normal relative response of a human psyche, my physical body should have tossed its hands up into the air, flailed at everything and anything, and run to the other side of the room in order to hide from this voracious beast.  Instead, I decided to sit and confront a fear that exists only in the material mind but not in the conscious soul.

          The wasp wandered about his way, getting closer to my hands, as I felt nothing but complete simplicity in the existence of another being.  And deep down, in my natural mind, I knew he would not sting me in this infinite moment of time and space of which we both shared.  He silently stepped onto my pinkie as I held perfectly still, accepting that this existing being on my hand is in search of nothing but itself and would only hurt a fly if that was the meal of the day.  I questioned where his traveling spirit was going and what endless path he might be on.  But realize, in simple clarity, that we are both truly one with nothing but peace between us, and we both know where each of us is eventually heading.  Fear has disappeared in my thoughtless mind, and the wasp can not smell me except in understanding that Consciousness is a simple existence confused by the negativity of the world in order to keep individuals from realizing this simplicity themselves; all the while, Humanity is continually used as a robot for society’s paranoid wisdom and a vehicle for the maddening game of deceit and destruction.

          I continued to sit, silently looking on, soaking in the entirety of the moment through the nature of my bare-boned being, quietly resting in the understanding of the mind, and asked if there is a chance the rest of the world will see its insane follies and the compassion that rests within every living thing.  As I glanced back down, to the wasp on my material hand, he conferred to me I was correct in my manner of thinking - as he too is continually dreaming his own days away in the magical moments of wonder contained in the Here & Now; however, he is momentarily asking himself why I, as a traditional human, am not habitually afraid and jumping crazily at his mythical presence.  He curiously looks me up and down, planting his antennas in my curbed knuckles in an energetic search for an ounce of confusion or fear, then moves along with his day, flying into the glass of my window, only to crash one more time.  Such a simple being, with a simple mind, not capable of grasping the concept of a window, and only stinging when negativity arises.

          Think about it.  If you two have ever meditated, which I know you must have if you are in my presence; you know what simplicity does to our thinking minds.  Resting at peace within the mind - perfectly unclouded - it’s as if the world stops revolving on its revolutionary axis and time finally catches up with itself.  There is nothing quite like the simplified, human experience of being consciously aware of everything around you as your senses teach your body and your mind rests thoughtlessly within itself.  That is the true nature of our mind and our physical existence.  In all honesty, while in this state of essence, there is no physical existence as we know it, but rather there is an emergence of consciousness into the maddening hum of the momentary Here & Now.

          Humanity, unfortunately, has lost its simplicity by creating a society in which rest and interior thought do not exist.  Instead, we fill our days with menial, frivolous, and maniacal concepts of reality based on the sole goal of gaining material attachments.  We forget the only real existence we have is the Here & Now - the single, ever-present moment.  And instead of filling these moments of reality with peace and compassion while continuously working for a better world, we destroy, compete and struggle to survive.  To me this mode of thinking makes no rational sense.  Everyone knows everything around us is consisted of and constituted from energy.  We are energy wrapped up in a material form from which we are intended to learn about our true essence. However, we focus our energy in countless pursuits of happiness we feel exists in the material world we perceive.  Happiness, on the other hand, resides simply in the soul.  

          Most of Humanity, however, is afraid to take the tireless time to contemplate and learn what makes them who they are.  Human have forgotten how to figure out the true meaning behind their existence.  Individuals are too frightened of what they will find inside when they take the time to look since most will not like the reality of their current state of affairs!  So, instead, to avoid the positive process of self-introspection and Consciousness, they habitually go from thing to thing, object to object, activity to activity, material to material, and fill their days with countless negative pursuits manifested in the material realm.  

          Not once does Humanity take time out of the day to figure out where they come from and where they shall go when their physical energy is exhausted.  Rather, they try to “fill” the empty space within by attaching themselves incessantly to the material world without ever realizing that exact “empty” space can only be filled by the simple search of what their infinite being is.  And each being is Consciousness in a material form!

          Anyone who looks at the caste system of the material world can see there are only a few at the top controlling the masses every day in search of nothing but material pursuits, as the rest of humanity’s animalistic race can do nothing except follow blindly in the Do-ers’ wake.  It seems Man is stuck on this social path, going thought the motions in an every day, continual pursuit of what?  Man has lost control of his basic freedom and wanders around more confused than ever.  The only real resource Man has left is to look within himself - but, then, when he does contemplate his existence, he understands that none of this materiality matters anyway.  It scares him to his core to come to this rationalization.  

          So, Man continuously walks down the path of self-destruction and negative consumption.  Once an individual looks deep into one’s silent, conscious mind, the realization of what existence truly consists of comes into complete focus.  The dream begins to unfold, and a pursuit of a different path begins at this step.  Introspection takes control as the individual searches for nothing but his or her own essence.  And this essence releases the power of the ever-present moment and the capture it has over each person’s life.  The paradox that results is that those who do understand the reality of the Here & Now can’t quite comprehend why the rest of the world can not see the simplicity contained within our Consciousness nor understand the fact their energy goes on forever.

          I just hope, in due time, the conscious spirit will manifest itself through the material plane while Human culture shifts towards the realization of the Here & Now and the understanding that each individual’s Consciousness transcends both time and space.  Once Man has figured out this concept and begins to practice the moral implications of the conscious way, he must remember to live his moments in constant acceptance of the possibility he could pass on to the next phase of existence at any moment without a hint of warning.  

          Consequently, Man must continuously ask if his simplified mind I peaceful enough to continue on to the next phase of immaterial existence.  If Man’s mind is not, his actions need to manifest from the positive energy contained within the conscious source and not continually generate the physically manifested negative ones his material form craves.  The physical form simply serves the purpose of teaching Man’s Consciousness that, in order to transcend this sensory perceived material plane, negativity must be eliminated - thus allowing his soul to get our of the constant cycle of physical attachment and back to the source of positive energy, or unconditional love.

          Therefore, the ultimate question I pose to the two of you, Al and Ernie, is - Are you ready for your Consciousness to leave the material reality and head into the immaterial unknown without and ounce of fear for what is to come and without the negative grasping of attachment for your physical existence?  If you cannot answer “Yes” to this question, then I hope one day you will be able to.  However, if you can answer positively to this honest question, then I bid you farewell in your travels, and I’ll truly see you on the other side . . .

With that, the Being, the shack and the fire disappeared as Ernie and Al were thrown back to the intersection of Vinci Drive and Leo Lane.  It was 2:58 P.M., and there was no one around.  Ginotia Main was unusually quiet.

The sun hit its afternoon, 3 P.M. peak in the sky, but there was no sign of the Duck and the Crow.  Al and Ernie wondered if they would ever see the two of them again. The ride with those two little creatures was definitely a strange one thought Al.  The ride with those two little beings was definitely a knowledgeable one thought Ernie.

Then, from the corner of their eyes, Ernie and Al saw one little form materialize on the street corner.

Duck - I have come back for only a moment to thank the two of you for completing the Crow and my cycle.  This is the last you will see of me, and the journey ahead of you is still a long one.  Once again, I want to thank you.

The Duck disappeared.  Al and Ernie had tears welling up in their eyes.  They could not imagine the future without the Duck being present.  And where was the Crow?

At that moment, they saw another form materialize on the street corner.  It was the Crow!

Crow - Hello there, fellow beings.  Do not worry about the future without the two of us.  Instead, immerse yourselves within the moment and live completely Here & Now.  Do not forget what the others you met in the Void have told you, and begin to teach through your actions.  Simply pass on your knowledge to those who seem receptive to understanding or else the two of you might face the same cycle of coming and going that the Duck and I have existed in for quite some time.  I want to thank you for releasing us from our cycle.  There will be no more coming and going from one plane to the next.  Now, however, it is time for the two of you to live out your lives freely and completely without the delusion of this material reality.  You must complete the circle by existing in the positive.  Through the positive you get back to the source.  Remember to complete the circle.  Don’t repeat the cycle.  Once again, thank you.

The Crow de-materialized.  The Duck and the Crow were never to be seen again by Ernie or Al.  As a matter of fact, the Duck and the Crow were never to be seen by anyone ever again.  Their energy had completed its circle and moved on to higher vibrations . . .

As for Al and Ernie, they began to live their lives with a newfound purpose.  They had learned so much over the past two years on this odd little intersection of Vinci Drive and Leo Lane.  So much that it could never be forgotten . . .

THE END

The Duck & The Crow - Part 6

Part Six - The Lion

38.

When Ernie and Al woke, they were back in the desert looking at the setting sun - but there was no Duck or Crow.  That didn’t seem to bother them much since they were back in the Void anyhow.  So, they followed the Turtle’s advice and walked towards the setting of the sun.

The Void opened up in front of them every step of the way.  It showed them odd animals, strange land formations, and exotic creatures they knew only existed in other worlds.  The sights were a ballet dance for the eyes.  Everything existed for the sole reason of existing.  Nothing else mattered.  No motivation other than existence.  Al and Ernie cried while they walked as they realized this simple concept deep into their hearts and their souls.

39.

Ernie and Al walked through the evening heat wishing they would come across a water hole, stream or river.  Something in which to provide for their thirst. The sun was setting even farther over the horizon, and they knew their thirst would not be quenched.  As the moon began to rise on the opposite horizon, the temperature began to drop.  And drop rapidly it did.  Al and Ernie became more tired the colder it got, so they decided to call it a night and go to sleep.

40.

Al woke up to pecking on his right foot while Ernie woke to pecking on his left foot. The two of them looked down and saw the Duck and the Crow.

Duck - Long time no see, you silly fools.

Crow - Yeah, you two sure are some silly fools.

Duck - Okay, Crow, no need to rub it in.

Crow - True, though they are fools (laughing).

Duck - Anyway, don’t mind him.  It’s nice to see you.  How long were you gone?  Four months?  Five months?  Long time, huh?

Ernie and Al nodded their heads in unison.

Crow - Should have come back here sooner.

Duck - They tried, Mr. Crow, but were unable to, right?

Al and Ernie nodded their heads again.

Crow - Well, why could they not?

Duck - They forget what we told them before and what others over here told them as well.

Crow - How could they forget?  Never mind, they are humans now aren’t they?  Too much truth for them to handle?

Duck - Maybe so, but the world they knew so well began to crumble in front of their eyes.  It was probably hard to see past all the horror and destruction that was taking place.

Crow - Maybe so, but we do need to continue on.  You know who is waiting, and time is running out - for lack of a better saying.

Duck - True dear Crow, let’s get going.  Al, Ernie, please follow us.  It is not far.

Ernie and Al followed.  And the Duck was right - It was not far at all.

41.

The four of them headed over a few sand dunes, and as soon as they began to descend the opposite side there was a humongous roar.

Lion - ROAR!  I SAY, ROAR!

The Duck and the Crow jumped back behind Al and Ernie.  Ernie and Al just stood there stiff as boards.

Lion - Hello there.  I don’t mean to scare you.  I just needed to let you know I was here before you stepped on my tail.

Directly next to them, they saw a huge Lion rise up out of the shadows of the dunes.  The Lion was right.  One more step and they would have been standing on him.

Lion – Hello, Duck.  Hello, Crow.  Long time since you two have been here.  These beings must be the two I told you to bring with you the next time I saw you.

Duck - Yes, they are, Sir.

Crow - Yep, they certainly are, Sir.

Lion - I guess they must be pretty worthy to get this far.  Never seen any humans here before.  Special these two beings, huh?

Duck - Yes, Sir!  They, well we hoped, were the two you were looking for.

Crow - Yeah, we hoped they would be the two to get us out of this cycle you put us in.

Duck - Crow, shut up!

Crow - But it is true!

Lion - Well, I must say.  If they understand the rest of the Void and universe of which I have to explain then you two might be in luck and off the hook.  It is strange that you chose humans to represent you here.  Was there any particular reason for this?

Duck - Yes, actually the Crow thought they would be able to handle and understand it all.  It seems he was correct so far.

Crow - Yeah, something innate in them.  Besides, the other animals are not in any sort of position to change anything over there anyway - too far down on the food and power chains.  Humanity is in control, and for a paradigm shift of existence to occur, I figured we would need a couple of them on our side who understood all of this.

Lion - Good thinking, Crow.

Al and Ernie stood there looking at their companions speak of them in the third person.  It was okay to them since they were still absorbing the scene in through their senses.  They stared at the Lion.  He was the largest male Lion they had ever seen.  He looked a bit old, but he had the vigor of a newborn cub and the strength of a young adult.  His mane was large and scraggly as a Lion’s should be.  His coat was golden brown with speck of gold intertwined.  His chest was robust, and it seemed he could jump one thousand feet in a single leap and run faster than the wind.  The Lion seemed to embody existence as if he was the epitome of everything and the ether-thing.

Lion - I am what you see and what you are thinking.  I am the protector of the Void.  I keep it from being destroyed and save those who wish to be saved.  I am everything and much, much more; yet everything is me.

42.

Lion - I can tell you two know much about what is happening here.  You must have been a little spooked and sometimes scared along your strange journey.  The Bear, the Elf, and the Turtle must have taught you many things that should never be forgotten.  As for me, I have not only more to explain, but I might be able to put it all into perspective once and for all.  But that depends on you two (looking at Ernie and Al).  By now, you must realize the significance between a Be’ers and a Do’ers lifestyle.  Be’ers soak in information through the senses.  Do’ers analyze information through the brain. Be’ers exist solely to exist.  Do’ers exist for the sake of getting things done. You two must understand this by now, don’t you?

Ernie and Al nodded their heads.

Lion - Good.  One simple understanding is complete.  From the Bear you were told that you are everywhere.  Do you understand what he meant?

By looking at Al and Ernie, the Lion could see a bit of confusion behind their cloudy minds.

Lion - Confusion - Damn it!  Think about it!  How can you be everywhere if you are only where you are at any given moment?  Can you understand that?

Confusion still radiated from Ernie and Al’s eyes.

Lion - Well, to be anywhere you have to be everywhere.  It is all relative to how you perceive things.  Think of it this way.  Everything that manifests itself in the physical realm you typically exist in comes from energy sent from the Void.  Energy comes from the source of creation.  This energy then is sent through and creates forms and figures in the physical, material, four-dimensional plane.  The Void sends the energy through as it combines to form those everyday scenes you perceive with your eyes, taste with your mouth, hear with your ears, feel with your skin, and smell with your nose.  Everything is energy - wood is energy - metal is energy - stars are energy - people are energy.  Everything is energy!  Each object, however, is energy in different vibrational forms.  Everything you see is a series of vibrational points and waves of energy vibrating at a slower speed than from where it came - the Void.  The slower the vibrational speed of energy, the denser the object becomes.  Do you understand what I mean?

Al and Ernie nodded in unison.  Their nod seemed a bit hesitant, and the Lion noticed.

Lion - How in heaven’s name did you get this far if you don’t even understand these simple concepts?  Let me go at it from a different angle.  Energy comes from the source of creation.  Energy is either positive or negative.  Positive energy makes a being feel good.  Negative energy makes a being feel bad.  Simple enough?  I hope so.  All energy is sent from the source is pulled out from the source’s positive energy.  When it hits the physical realm, it is drawn towards its opposite, negative energy.  Physical existence is pulled towards the negative energy of existence.  Destruction, bombs, war, hate, anger, racism, prejudism, killing, disease, and anything else you can think of that makes your spine quiver at the thought of it is negative.  

          People seem to be heading down this path of negative consumption and energy destruction.  What Man forgets, however, is that he is supposed to realize the powerful pull towards negativity and walk a straight line through positivity.  A straight line of Be-ing in a positive mind state completes the circle of existence.  It brings the soul back to the source.  The positive meets the positive and the dream unfolds before your eyes.  Once Man begins to completely absorb himself within the positive attributes of existence - such as love, compassion, creation, freedom, friendship, peace, laughter, purity, integrity, morality, etc. - he is able to take off those blinders put on him at birth and see the true nature of reality.  Energy is never created or lost.  It is always here.  What everyone does with the energy is completely up to him or her.

          You know what, this probably makes no rational sense to anyone except a few others who have been here for a long time.  I’ve been around so long sometimes even I think I don’t make sense anymore.  When I look out at the worlds that are created every day, there seems, at times, to be no hope for all of energy to understand this.  I don’t know how to explain myself any better other than hoping you understand that everything is energy.  The physical realm is pulled out of the positive source towards negative energy as the energy vibration level decreases and matter becomes denser.  The objective is to eliminate the bad (negative) energy so the good energy can have free reign of the world.  If good energy was all that was left, imagine what type of system there would be.   

           Imagine what king of life each individual would have.  Imagine the premise existence would be based on!  As for everything being energy, the objective is to see it everywhere and realize you are nothing but energy at the simplest understanding.  And as energy, you are everywhere!  And as energy, you will exist forever.  You will always BE!  There is no dying, only the shedding of the form in which you live.  The shedding away of the way your energy (soul) perceives existence.  And, I must tell you; there is an infinite amount of ways to perceive existence.  
          The material, four-dimensional plane is just one way of allowing you soul to obtain the information contained within that type of existence.  The way to the source is living in the moment.  The way to the source is absorbing experience through the senses.  The way to the source is radiating the positive.  The way to the source is obtaining as much knowledge as you can.  The way to the source is enlightenment.  If you can keep that understanding then it is easier to realize that the objective is to stay focused on the positive rather than dwell on the negative.  When one sees the positive rather than letting the negative take over - as you two did during those horrible months of bees, killings and disease in Ginotia Main - then one feels the pull of their soul across the limits of space and time.  
          And, once again, I must say, the dream unfolds right in front of your eyes.  A dream you must be saying?  Yes, a dream I say!  You see, reality is a physical dream of consciousness immersed completely within the here and now.

Duck - Lion, Sir, I hate to interrupt, but can I talk to you for a second?

Lion - Sure.

The Lion picked up the Duck in one swift swoop of his giant paw and brought the Duck up close to his face.

Duck - I hate to tell you, but I don’t think they are getting any of this.  Is there another way to explain what you are trying to say?  The Crow and I understand, since we were here before in your majestical presence, but these two don’t seem to completely comprehend what you are trying to say.  Is it possible to explain it from a new perspective all-together?

Lion - (whispering) I was just about to do so kind creature.

And he put the Duck back down beside the Crow.

Lion - Okay.  Your friend, the Duck, is concerned about you two.  Sit down on the dune over there and let me try to explain it even better and simpler.

Ernie and Al sat down on the dune and began to absorb it all in instead of simply listening to the words the Lion had to say.

Lion - Reality is a physical dream of consciousness immersed completely within the here and now.  It’s as simple as that!  Humanity lives in a world that is not in harmony with the way of things.  Humanity is not in harmony with Nature.  This is where the spiral downward begins.  Man thinks there really is an existence of past and future.  Man tries to analyze the past in order to anticipate the future.  Man never truly exists here and now.  Man is too caught up in “doing” things that create a mind state of analyzation.  There is no sensation in that way of living.  

           If there is something to “do” then there is a premise of past and future.  A past where one must remember something, and a future in which one must accomplish something.  In the here and now, where there is only moment to moment, there is no place you have to be - and you do not have to be everywhere in order to get things done.  You already are everywhere.  Within the single moment, you are everything you ever need to be and you are everywhere you ever need to go.  When there is only the ever present moment where the Void materializes in front of you without your choice and out of your control, you simply are what you are - A self-sufficient, existing being of energy.

          Unfortunately, Man is also caught up in another false truth - the analyzation of how one acts in the company of one’s fellow social beings.  Am I acting the right way?  Am I doing the right thing?  How am I supposed to behave in this scenario?  There is a cultural list of norms that are not written down but norm in which one must still comply.  There is too much “doing” and analyzation that Man fills his time with.  There is not enough “Be-ing.”  There is not enough Be-ing in Man to show how Man truly is - an animal just like the Bear, the Turtle, the Duck, the Crow and me, the Lion.  

          If there was not so much analyzation in the Human mind where thoughts bounce from skull to skull, over and over, traveling it seems at the speed of light, there would be peace.  Too much thought and what to do.  Never enough calm and be-ing.  Humans are conscious beings.  B-E-I-N-G-S.  C-O-N-S-C-I-O-U-S = they are aware of themselves and that they exist.  The think so highly of their abilities, but what they don’t realize is they are only a minute part of Consciousness pulls out for the sole reason of exploring the universe on a four-dimensional plane.  There are other planes and other dimensions.  The Void controls them all.  The Void is the starting point of existence.  It is simplicity.  It is here right in front of you!

          Look, over there, beyond that small dune.  Do you see the watering hole over there?

Al and Ernie looked but saw nothing.  They looked back to the Lion.

Lion - Look again, and look closer.  Do you see it?

Ernie and Al took another glance in the direction the Lion was talking about.  And, as usual, what was not there a moment ago was now there in full force. The watering hole was exactly where the Lion had mentioned, yet had not been there a minute ago!  Al and Ernie were not bothered by the coming and going of things anymore.  Hell, they were actually getting kind of used to not seeing something one moment and then seeing it the next in the exact spot where it was not previously.  It was getting easier to them to deal with it, but it still is a bit confusing as I try to explain it all.  All of this was a bit confusing, yet the Lion kept pushing on, explaining more and more about the Void and the unknown.

Lion - Okay, you see the watering hole finally - Let’s go over to it.  It is in the water where you must see.  It is in the water where you will be able to choose the outcome.  Well, not choose, but decide which one might be in the best interest of life.  Which direction you might want to head out towards.

  

43.

Ernie and Al strolled over to the watering hole.  The Lion was already there.

Lion - Look in.  What do you see?

Al and Ernie looking into the water.  They saw the strangest thing of all.  Behind the water, or under the water, but to them it seemed as if it was behind the water, was a tiny shack made of sticks.  They could barely make out the image as the squinted to absorb as much as they could.  Outside the shack, there was a glowing fire burning.  At this point, Ernie looked straight up into the sky to see if this was a reflection of another scene.  Hell, in the Void, he thought, anything was possible.  There was no material scene from which a reflection could result.  He looked back in to the water.

Lion - Well, men.  This is where I must leave you.  To tell you the truth, the Duck and the Crow must leave you now as well.  You will see them again, but you must now go on your own.  The Being in the shack will complete all of this for you.  Goodbye.

The Lion disappeared.  A solemn smile emanated from the Duck and the Crow as they disappeared a few seconds later.  Ernie and Al were alone, and they had a choice to make.

The Duck & The Crow - Part 5

Part Five - Bees, Disease & Other Things

30.

Towards the setting sun the four of them went.  Al and Ernie seemed to have a new vigor about their step as the caravan proceeded.  The Duck and the Crow lagged behind watching the two humans and their newfound passion.  And, once again, they had smiles on their faces.  Shit eating grins to be exact.

31.

Those shit eating grins did not last very long, unfortunately, for thunder rang out again in Ginotia Main.  As usual, the four of them were sent back.  You see, it was already May of 1998 at this time.  Hell, the whole turtle interaction was a five-month journey in man’s time frame, but was just one short jaunt through the Void.  It seemed, no matter how you looked at it, it all happened.  And it happened in the simplest was it could possibly happen.  In the Void, it just was what it was.  But in the material world of doing, it took them five months to accomplish.  Kind of strange how it matters depending on which “time-frame” you are in.

Never the less, thunder struck.  It struck long and it struck hard.  No matter where anyone tried to hide their heads, it struck near them.  No one seemed safe.  It was as if the end of the world was on its way.  Armageddon had arrived, the locals thought.  They hid in their basements.  They hid in their storm shelter.  They hid everywhere they could for fear of lightning taking them out of their worlds.

Now, if you asked Ernie and Al, they really didn’t care if lightning struck them.  They had begun to realize it would take them if it wanted.  No use worrying about it.  Besides, they knew they were better off than the others of the world.  They weren’t cheating.  They weren’t lying.  They weren’t doing things behind others backs.  They were simply existing, and existing for life’s sake only.  The typical problems one runs across in ever day social living mattered not to them.  They could care less if their hair was a little off.  They could care less if they weren’t “doing” the right thing.  They could care less if their antics were a tad strange to everyone.  And they could care less what anyone thought about them.

What they did care about, however, was the fact that no matter how hard they tried, they were unable to find the Duck and the Crow anywhere.  They kind of figured that those two would no longer be showing up on the street corner of Vinci Drive and Leo Lane.  They knew the Duck and the Crow would be in the Void waiting for them to return.  But no matter how hard they tried to find their thoughtless minds and meditate on getting back, it was no use.  It seemed they were stuck in Ginotia Main forever and would never see the Duck and the Crow again.

32.

Al and Ernie did not like the fact that they seemed stuck where they were.  They did not like the fact that the Duck and the Crow seemed to leave them in Ginotia Main without completing the cycle.  They did not like that they were so close to figuring all of it out yet realized they would be unable to do so on their own.  For a while, as they went to the street corner day after day, they cursed the Duck and the Crow for not showing up to finish the process.  No matter how hard they tried, they were still unable to get back.

Over the next few months, Ernie and Al began to see more and more strange occurrences take place in their little hometown.  They saw meteors fly through the sky and hit the far hills.  They saw ships fly overhead without any trace as they left a few seconds later.  They saw odd things crawl out from under the rocks and even odder thing fly through the dark night.  No one knew what was going on.  No one knew what was happening.  No one knew anything, and it was worse than when Ginotia Main had been a dark, depressed place.

People were frightened more than they ever had been.  Fear gripped them all by the throats.  No one stepped foot outside of their homes, apartments, or tiny shacks.  They simply stopped everything.  The streets were bare.  The town was lost.

33.

I know many comments have been made as to how the world seemed strange on various days to those concerned here.  Al and Ernie, well, these two were so damn close to seeing it all.  However, they were just not quite prepared to enter into the final phase where the Duck and the Crow waited for them.  They still had to observe their physical world a bit closer and realize the insane habits their fellow men existed for.

It was by no fault of their own, but neither Ernie nor Al knew exactly how to get back to the other side.  Al and Ernie waited impatiently while the Duck and the Crow waited patiently.  As the Elf had said, “Existence has a weird way of working itself out.”

Existence in Ginotia Main, to those who lived within the town, seemed to have no way of working itself out.  You see, for months - August to November of 1998 - a different ailment ailed the Ginotia Main’ers.  August brought a crazy swarm of stinging bees.  No one could open his or her door.  No one could step foot outside.  If they did, they were not only harassed but also chased by more bees than you could possibly fathom.  The sky looked darker than the night when the bees were on your trail.

One brave soul - stupid soul if you ask me - dared to take the bees on.  He decided it was more important to get to the liquor store and back rather than hide out.  His thirst was getting the better of him since he’d been drinking since the age of fourteen.  The personal stash he had tucked away for just such an occasion had run out from all the drinking he had done during his depressed state months back.  This time, he could not go without alcohol if he was going to be locked up inside having to think about how his life had turned out.  Sober self-introspection was more than he could handle.

As a result, he braved the bees.  He thought he had a grand plan.  He checked the locale of the swarm on the news broadcast from the local television station.  The bees were clear across town, and the liquor store was just four blocks away.  Now was his chance!  He didn’t quite care if the owner was at the store or not.  He had written a not telling the owner what he would take and when he would pay him back. His plan was about to get running!

Quickly, he grabbed the keys to his old truck, opened his front door, ran to the truck, started the ignition, and drove away - laughing a silent laugh, as he knew his plan would succeed.  What he did not expect was the unexpected.

Two blocks from his home, his trusty truck blew a tire.  Either he had to risk wasting time fixing and changing the tire, or he had to run the rest of the way - either home or to the store.  He chose to run - to the store!  He made it all the way to the store, broke in, slammed the door, and smiled.  Liquor was everywhere.  He grabbed the essentials he listed in his note to the owner, as the owner was at home safe with his family.  This man, however, decided to take a few nips from the bottle before he took off back home to ease his anxiety.  He took his swigs and was off.  He made it three blocks towards his home before he ran into trouble.  He only had one more block to go to his house when he saw them.  They came around the corner in a sudden swarm and surprised the hell out of him.  He turned the corner to head through the back roads to avoid them.  But bees do not know the difference between front roads and back roads.  He actually made it to his back door when he reached into his pocket for his keys.  They weren’t there!  He had left them in the ignition of his truck.  The bees were on their way towards him.

To make a long, sad story short, when the coroner found him a couple of weeks later, after the bees disappeared, it went down on his death certificate as a heart attack; but everyone knew what gave him the heart attack.  The bees scared the shit out of him, and the liquor helped to aid the weakening of his heart.  Shame.  Oh what a shame.  He should have stayed home and jumped off the wagon.  But he didn’t, and the wagon ended up falling on top of him!

34.

Another freakish incident happened the next month that came along with an even freakier situation that began to run rampant through the town.  It just so happened that when the bees finally left other strange and twisted things began to happen.  People realized they had gone without for a month.  Some even ran out of food and water.  At a time when people needed their basic necessities - food, clothes, and shelter - they were unable to provide for themselves for lack of money from not working the past few months.  When the shops reopened their doors, there was a bout of stealing and swiping those goods that provided everyone with their basic needs.  The police had more on their hands than they could handle, just as they do in all parts of the world, because, as I said earlier, Ginotia Main is no different than anywhere else.

As a result of this madness and rioting, a bunch of groups called by various names began to rise out of the crazy scene.  Some people call them the mob, others call them gangs, and still others call them misled beings with no sense of home.  The “gangs” began to take over the underground causing havoc and trouble everywhere they went.  They fought each other for the sole sake of fighting.  They wore different colors and had different signs.  They hated each other because it was easier than liking each other.  Not only did they hate each other, but they also hated everyone who was not part of their sub-culture.  And they would do anything - ANYTHING -to stay on top of the pile and come out on top.

It seemed they had begun to take the American Dream to a new extreme.  Take until you can take no more - or until you are wiped off the face of the Earth.  Ginotia Main was falling prey to these groups.  Ernie and Al were ashamed at what was happening; yet they still could not get back to the Duck and the Crow.

One day, while Al and Ernie were walking towards the intersection of Vinci and Leo, they heard a noise they had not heard in years.  They heard gunshots!  Gunfire in Ginotia Main!  Gunshots were worse than hearing the thunder in their ears, because they knew what followed the thunder.  They were unaware, however, what scene might ensue from gunshots.  And not one event in their life after gunshots was a positive experience.  They ran to see what happened.

When they rounded the corner, they found an elderly lady howling out her fears and tears as she held a young child in her arms.  Blood poured into the sewer, as the young body lay motionless.  The woman was in obvious pain, and it took a while until she would explain what happened.  When she regained her composure, she told Ernie and Al that her son and she had just walked out of the pharmacy from getting the medications her son needed to keep his disease in check.  Then all of a sudden, this group of hoodlums jumped out of a car each with a gun.  The “gang” asked the two of them for their money and their drugs.  Both the lady and her son knew to give them what they wanted in order to avoid more of a problem and keep from provoking a larger incident.  They gave them what they wanted - his wallet, her purse, and the medication.  The lady said she could see the remorse in her son’s eyes as he handed it all over to them.  She also said she could see the anger and hatred in the eyes of those robbing them.  No sooner had the “gang” gotten what they wanted and reentered their car to get away than all hell broke loose.  The man in the passenger seat rolled down his window and let out a large wail exclaiming, “The flames are the only true gang!”  He then pulled out his gun and fired three times into the chest of her son.  There was no reason for him to do so except from the pure desensitization and madness he gets from the world he was growing up in.  It was simply an inhumane act.

The ambulance came and took both the old woman and her young son.  Al and Ernie walked off ashamed to be associated with a shameful species such as their own.  How could all of this be happening they asked themselves?  Where were the Duck and the Crow, and how come they could not get back to find them?  Ernie and Al were getting more and more frustrated with the world they were seeing, and they knew there had to be more to it than all of the craziness they experienced.  They were becoming angry at the world, and even angrier at the Duck and the Crow.

35.

It didn’t stop there.  There was a slew of shootings that lasted two months.  Needless killing for needless ways.  Man had begun to turn on himself and his brethren.  But what happened next was even more disturbing.

You see, dear reader, a lot of strange things happen that have some viable and logical explanation behind them.  The next month’s events, however, did not seem to have either of these; but some people suspected where it came from.

November 1998 was a month no one will ever forget in Ginotia Main.

It was a cool, fall evening (since in Ginotia Main, every few years the winters are very mild).  It was an evening when a lot of folks took a relaxing stroll through the woods in order to check out the beautiful colors contained within the changing of the leaves.  The leaves were Nature’s canvas during these past few months.  They ranged from orange to yellow to green to red to all of the various shades in between.  Even the greatest painters would be in awe and amazed at the varying shades of each color contained in the forests.  Colors they never even knew existed and tried painstakingly to mix with their feeble hands and humble paints.

Needless to say, it was an amazing sight to see and experience.  And most people did it experience it on these last, colorful evenings.  Even more people seemed to go out this imparticular November evening after the killings and the bees.  Everyone was hoping the insanity was coming to a close.  They were, unfortunately, mistaken.

This imparticular evening, well - I must add in here that Al and Ernie were getting even more and more upset each day for the ineptitudes of not being able to get back to the Void.  Their minds became cluttered and full of anger, and all they wanted to do was hide out and escape the world.  On this evening, it was out of pure dumb luck that the two of them were brooding over their anger at Ernie’s and escaped the falling of the sky.

For the rest of those concerned - those souls who simply wanted to take a natural stroll through god’s country - it was a dire time indeed.

36.

Some people still claim it was some kind of devilish experiment from the higher ups who run the country.  Others say it was a freak accident of Nature.  And still others claim alien beings had something to do with it.  Me, I believe all three because all three are definitely possible.  Besides, who am I to say who gets the distinct honor of this upcoming madness?

I know, you want to know what happened and me to shut up.  Well, I will, and this is what ensued . . .

On the fateful evening of November 5, 1998, while Ernie and Al sat solemnly trying to figure out why they were unable to return, the majority of Ginotia Main was out walking themselves, their children and their dogs.  Most people were laughing, talking and enjoying Nature’s splendor when the sky began to fall.  Well, the sky did not really fall, but something definitely fell from the sky.

Those walking through the streets noticed it first.  It fell like globs of glue. Blobs of mush.  Globs of silly putty.  Globs of bacteria.  Actually, no one knew it was bacteria until the doctors and scientists figured it out later.  As for those walking through the trees, they saw it hit the limbs and leaves, bounce off and smack the leaf-riddled ground.  It was curious to everyone who saw it.  Little kids ran up to it and poked it.  Parents wondered what it was and put it in jars to have it examined.  Dogs went up to it and stuck their noses in it.  The worse thing of it all was that everyone who came into contact with it got sick and got sick fast.

It was not even twenty-four hours after the incident that the Hospital Emergency room was being flooded by those involved in the previous night’s stroll.  The doctors were baffled at the amount of those entering their wards.  Everyone seemed to have flu-like symptoms as well as nausea and vomiting every twenty to thirty minutes.  Their skin began to break out in horrible rashes, and their sight began to diminish.  A few went into comas, but it came to be that those were the people who came into contact with the globs first.  The rest who entered with the flu-like symptom eventually went into comas as well.  Everyone was perplexed.  Even the dogs had the same process and symptoms happen to them.  No one knew what was going on!

Al and Ernie heard about all of this through the radio and television news.  They were perplexed as well.  How could all of this be happening?  Did it have something to do with the Void?  How could it?  They saw nothing while they were there to predict this!  They did know that everything that materialized in Ginotia Main did have direct correlation with the Void; so, maybe that was part of it.  Either way, all they knew was that a greater part of the population was dropping like flies, and they were running out of time.  At this rate, they would be wiped out soon enough as well.

37.

Ernie and Al were lost.  Not only lost in Ginotia Main, but lost in their minds and spirit.  It had been months since they saw the Duck and the Crow.  They had seen some horrible events take place in Ginotia Main.  And they were confused more than ever as to why it was all materializing like this.  They had begun to lose faith in all they had learned previously and started to think that it was one crazy delusion and messed up trip.  Yet, they knew, from the feeling they had inside, that it had to of all happened.  Or did it?

They started to think about everything that had happened to them recently.  They first met the Duck and the Crow almost two years ago, and ever since then weird shit had been going down.  It took them to gain trust and faith within themselves to be able to sense, feel and suspend all judgment to continue their process.  They had to eliminate all negativity out of their psyche to get to the last stage they had been at - well, what they had thought was the last stage.  Because, for some odd reason, they knew there had to be more to all of this than what they had just previously experienced. There were a few bits and pieces they were missing, but they did not know what those pieces were.  They realized the make up of the universe and found silence within their meditations, but there still seemed to be more.  As of late, they felt frustration and anger accompanied by hopelessness because of their inability to get back to the other side.  They also felt the frustration, anger and hopelessness because they were unable to stop all of this insanity from invading Ginotia Main.

After rehashing these ideas back and forth for days and days, Al and Ernie collapsed from fatigue and went into two very deep sleeps.  It was in their sleep, wrapped up in their dream, where they realized what was holding them back!  And what was holding them back was their struggle of identifying and understanding their known worlds.  They had been wrapped up with emotions so much that they had forgotten to let go of everything and accept everything.  They had begun to analyze rather than sense everything.  They had been labeling things and events as good and bad rather than seeing them exactly as they were - Events of moments!

How stupid of them!  They had known it all along, yet forgot the simple process that was taught to them such a short time ago.  It made them realize that a Do’ers world of analyzation and continual “doing” really is hard to get out of.  A Do’ers type of lifestyle is its own curse as well as its own destruction of human consciousness.