honorable thief, what says you in the matter of this thing we call love?”
Based on his reply, one might have come to the conclusion that my good friend Fel had little knowledge regarding the subject of love, but I, on the other hand, knew better.
“It’s brought countries to war…it’s brought men to their knees…it’s a word that’s compared to the birds and the bees. It’s a battle unwinnable, so enough if you please, I have no patience for feelings that are felt in degrees,” proudly exclaimed felonious while at the same time he waved off the voice with a gesture which clearly stated that he had had enough of this foolishness.
After witnessing Fel’s outburst, I became quite concerned that we may have angered the gods again, but to the contrary, the voice’s guttural laughter rang threw the night like one of Court’s audiences clapping their approval.
“You’ve handled yourselves like kings among thieves, but heed what I say, for there are no tricks up my sleeves. It’s timeless, it’s ageless, it rises and falls, so remember my friends that love conquers all. And now as I send you to find what you seek, listen up closely to the words that I speak.” cried the voice in a tone that bordered on delirious.
“Go gently my friends, into the night, and follow the beam until it reaches the light. Illusions are not always what at first glance they might seem, so go gently my friends and follow your dreams. Go gently my friends, and always stand tall, follow the flame until it reaches the rectangular ball. Your searching souls sent you wandering, and now a new road awaits you, so follow your heart to wherever it takes you. If love’s what you seek, then always be open, and follow the call to wherever it’s spoken. But until that fine day, I pray you stay humble and mild…for in the mind of a child, on the tip of a finger, a world within a world is where you will linger,” instructed the voice, and with that, the celestial organ music began to reprise its otherworldly orchestral symphony.
The music was so loud that we couldn’t even think straight and our pleas to the voice for further instructions were to no avail; the din of the piper’s tune made it impossible to even hear our own voices, never mind the voice from above.
We were once again crippled with fear and confusion and we held onto each other for dear life. “Now what are we to do?” I thought to myself, and just when it seemed that the madness would be too much for us to bear, the organ music reached a thunderous crescendo which was followed by the gentle plucking of a harpsichord.
Although the question of how we were to proceed still remained, the second movement of this symphonic performance of the gods was more to our liking and it left me feeling all fuzzy inside. The purity of the sweet music was so strong that it made me feel good to be alive, and it was at that very moment that I somehow knew we would live to see the light of New Earth’s rectangular sun once more.
Of course, there may have been more to my positive energy than meets the eye, because as we stood there in the light of the beam, pleading to the heavens for a clue, the darkness seemed to lift ever so slightly…and slowly but surely the beam began to move.
We looked at each other in amazement and then, as if aided by a force which was beyond my power to control, I recalled the voice’s council so I repeated his instructions to my friends.
“Follow the beam until it reaches the light!”
We had no idea where the beam would take us, but we followed nonetheless. At some point the beam began to pick up speed and as we scurried to keep pace, Court suddenly remembered that the voice had left a key question unanswered, and so up to the sky he shouted, “and who are you, pray tell…pray tell?”
The voice had gone into a state of purposely measured silence after he had bestowed his final instructions upon us, but apparently he found the jester’s inquiry to be amusing because he broke into a demented laughter and he didn’t let up for some time.
When the laughter finally subsided, the voice broke into verse again, ostensibly in answer to the jester’s transcendental question. But this time, the sound of his words, as follows, seemed distant as they echoed into the night.
I am the searcher of the mind and the heart
I know where you’ve been, right from the start
I know where you’re going, the day that you die
I am the searcher who lives in the sky
I am the searcher…I am the SEARCH-ER
I am the searcher of without and within
I know of your pain and I know of your sin
I know all the answers to the questions you ask
So don’t try to hide, I can see through your mask
I am the searcher…I am the SEARCH-ER
I am the searcher of the good and the bad
I am the searcher of the happy and sad
I am the searcher of the rich and the poor
I am the searcher who stands guarding the door
I am the searcher…I am the SEARCH-ER
At the conclusion of the song, the voice repeated the last line “I am the searcher…I am the SEARCH-ER” over and over again until it sounded like a chorus of a million people wailing in the night, and all the while the beam led us along like puppets on a string, but to where we had not a clue.
The skies began to brighten more and more as we wandered along through the forest aided by the chorus of voices, which seemed to be setting the pace for our march as it moved in lockstep with the beam.
The journey had sapped us of our strength and we were literally gasping for breath when the beam finally came to a stop at the bottom of a mountainous hill. I looked up, and although I was nearly blinded, I could clearly see that at the top of the hill stood the brilliant rectangular sun of New Earth in all its purple glory, brighter than I had ever seen it before in my life.
My friends and I exchanged smiles all around as without hesitation we began to run frantically up the hill. How we were able to muster the strength to charge up that slope I’ll never know, but we reached the top in record time, and when we got there, the sun seemed so close that we could almost touch it.
Something told me that this was no ordinary hilltop and so instinctively we all stopped just short of the summit. I turned briefly towards my loyal companions, who were now wide-eyed and incapacitated with a combination of fear and excitement, and then I slowly inched forward until I was able to peak over the mountainous knoll. With some trepidation I forced myself to look down, but what I saw was not the other side of the hill. No, what I saw was that I was standing on the edge of a never-ending cliff. I thought to myself that this must be the place where all worlds end and where the heavens begin, and I wondered what to do next as I swung around to look back at my friends who were now huddled in a shaky embrace. Somehow they still seemed confused, even after all we had been through, while at the same time a vision struck me, illuminated by the voice’s instructions; all of a sudden I was quite sure of what had to be done in the here and now, and I was equally sure that it couldn’t wait another minute longer. The answer was all so obvious to me now; become one with the sun and let it take us where it may.
I waved for Court and Fel to step forward and follow me, but their fear had left them paralyzed, and so, without looking back again, I lunged towards the great rectangular sun of the New Earth.
As soon as I left my feet I could feel myself floating and I was blinded by the purple rays of light which simultaneously bathed me in an ultraviolet warmth, the likes of which I had never felt before in my short life. I floated for what seemed like days until suddenly I landed in a soft hay-filled bed, and I immediately fell into a state of disbelief when I realized that I had been deposited back into the comfortable confines of my cozy little tree dwelling, while all around me I sensed the dawning of another world materializing before my very eyes; a rebirth so to speak.
It was as if I had opened my eyes for the first time only to discover a strangely familiar world dangling out in the nothingness of the universe. Maybe I was but a snowflake on the tip of an iceberg, or, as the voice
had suggested, perhaps I was but a spark of imagination in the curious mind of a sightless and speechless child. But regardless of whatever and wherever I was, I was certain that my destiny was intertwined with that of every other creature that had ever lived, and with every star that had ever lit up the night like so many specks of dust. In short, I was certain that life had meaning.
And with my certainness came a peace of mind which told me that all things, good and bad, happen for a reason, here, there, and everywhere throughout the four majestic continents of this New Earth; a place where courageous heroes, mounted on magnificent stallions, are always on the ready to ride off into battle against the foul villains who live only to upset the proverbial applecart in this regal land of ours. And with my certainness came the hope for a brighter future, contrasted against the truth of our turbulent past, in this fabled land of love; a place where my life is destined to one day end in a war to end all wars. And with my certainness came a lethargic tranquility which left me in a state of quixotic semi-consciousness; a place where my deepest dreams and my worst nightmares converge when I least expect it to battle for the possession of my very soul.
And with my certainness came an awareness that I had not been to sleep for days on end, and so with one final yawn I rolled over and fought not as