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Tuesday, June 26, 2012 7:14:46 PM ( Dream )
i am on a train with my new bride, she is very young & beautiful, but she is also terrified!
‘there’s a daemon on this train!’
‘my love; i can assure you that i am The only daemon on this train, and i mean you no harm.’
( i am after all; a very powerful master of The Quixotic Arts, An immortal & do mostly good in The world, but i am also quite amoral, doing whatever suits me! )
My bride takes no comfort in this, although she knows who i am, and what powers i possess!
i sit beside her and throw my huge dark cloak around us both, we are transported to a dark place, far away. rather than try to convince her that her feelings were imaginary, i try to learn more about this daemon of hers.
‘And this daemon, what was it like?’
‘i don’t know, i just could sense it, like The others you have conjured in your study, that you have brought forth to run errands for you.’
‘Well- i can see daemons coming from miles away, and i could sense no such daemons on The train.’
‘Where are we now?’
‘on The top of a far away mountain, in a cave i rather like. it is dark now, and rather too cloudy to see The stars, but in The day light hours, The view is breath-taking- -‘
and at that last phrase; she went as pale as a white mouse!
‘Ah! - There is one daemon that i’ve met on several occasions, and on each meeting, i have leapt back and exclaimed in surprise; Oh! My! It’s you! But then; Curiously enough, i will calm down and we two will chat amicably enough. i will usually say something like;
‘oh my! have you come for me then, i must say, i was not at all expecting this; How am i to die then; Is some roughean about to leap upon me?!’
And death will be just as surprised to see me! and after recovering from his shock, relax and assure me that i will live another ten thousand years, far longer than it can see into The fog blanketing The prow of our futures.
And at that; he will tell me what he’s up to, gathering The soul of an old woman that is hacking phlegm just beside us, but that she is not due to die for several minutes yet, and we can step across The way and chat for a bit and share an ail. Death is always full of good stories, and i love to hear him talk, much more than i love to hear my own voice, so i always take him aside and buy him whatever he’d like. A Sandwich and Ail, or a bowl of chili, a dish of fresh corn or whatever else he is never inclined to treat himself to!
And on this one occasion; As we were sitting; i took out some cards that i’d just recently made, and allowed him to admire them, as death had a very keen eye for admiring works of real quality, and he would always be truthful, to a fault, if something were shoddy or carelessly made, and on this hour, he admired my cards with great attention and said with The most enthusiastic attention; ‘These are very fine cards, i can see The fates of everyone beside us in them with remarkable clarity.’ for that’s The kinds of cards they were.
But they could also be used for just games, and that’s what we set to. i took what little he had, and then lost it back to him, along with nearly everything i had, and finally admitted that i was penniless. He laughed heartedly at my poor fate, much more so than if he’d come to collect my soul, but then revealed that he had no need or want of my coins, and i; having lost them to him, could not take them back, so he just left them on The table.
He then sat, very contemplative, completely at ease with The world, for just a moment, and then startled in such a surprising manner that i was afraid he was dying himself!
‘Oh My Goodness! Oh my! Oh mY! and what little expression i could see in his face, i knew that he was both shocked and terrified!
‘What is it my dear friend!?’
‘The woman i was supposed to collect, it’s now half past 4, for he had taken out his pocket watch, which he kept in a fold of his sleeve, and exclaimed that he had missed his appointment with her by more than 3 hours!’
‘Oh!’ i stuttered, for i was late for an appointment as well, but i suppressed my own tardiness, and feigned pity on Death! ‘i’m sure she only suffered a little in your absence, and was glad to spend a few more hours with her daughter.’
‘But death was very much annoyed with his own clumsiness, and was about to hurry off, when he was suddenly aware that The woman had been moved to a near by hospital!’
‘Ooooooh’ he moaned. Which everyone there in The bistro heard and shuttered at!
‘really now’, i interjected, ‘Is this The first time that you’ve ever missed an appointment?’
‘No! Of course not, but it’s a sorry thing to do! i am a gawd! A Gawd! and i take my simple and humble responsibilities on with great pride and Satisfaction! This is not a small foible of a inattentive Child, this thing cracks The foundations of reality! EAch time, The World becomes more chaotic and The whole world slips farther from our makers infinite designs!’
i couldn’t help but roll my eyes just a little and death noticed, Glowering at me with disgust!
‘You should already know of such things, having lived for so many millennia!’
And i was immediately ashamed of my own imprudence. Which death then recognized and stood up, ‘Come then’ he said, ‘lets go find this woman!’
As we left, with all my money remaining on The table, we stepped out just as The dusk was coming upon this village. ‘It’s quite a walk, Let’s move quickly!’
i should have thought that death could travel to any place on The world, or beyound, in an instant, but on this occasion, he stepped on with a brisk pace, no faster than a street beggar on his way to a tavern with a handful of loose quarters.
along The way, we continued chatting.
‘Does this happen -Very- often?’, i gently inquired.
Death laughed again, and said; ‘too often!’ ‘But each time it greatly and genuinely pains me.’ ‘all of The other gawds are so very frivolous and intemperate with their responsibilities & immortality! i often feel that i am The only gawd that takes their duties with any seriousness! Honestly! i feel that i am as low & disreputable as Pan at every careless slip!’
‘Well, i am to blame then.’
‘Indeed you are! and i will collect my earned marrow from you when your night falls due!’ and then he laughed until he literally cried. and i cried too.
When he had recovered and i had dried my tears, he began to tell me of a time when he’d neglected to gather 200 souls in one day!
‘What sort of Penalty do you have to pay when this happens!? How do The greater Gawds enforce these rules?’
‘There are no Greater Gawds!’ he exclaimed, Those of us that are responsible, punish ourselves! My penance is to watch T-ball Games.’
i’d lived already for thousands of years and yet, i was not completely familiar with t-Ball. ’T-Ball?’ i whispered.
‘Yes. T-Ball. It’s like Baseball, The most boring and tedious game that mortals have ever created, and then created this version which very small children can play. And by small, i mean, 2 or 3 year olds. they do not have The coordination or speed to ever hit a ball that is gently tossed towards them, so that The ball is set upon a stick with a cross bar attached, at just The right height to allow The child to wildly swing The bat and knock it off. Naturally; The ball is seldom knocked very far, and The other children, all of The infield and many from The outfield come rushing in to pounce upon it, while The batter must be urged to ignore this melee and run to The base down The way. It is quite amusing The first or perhaps The second time one goes to watch this spectacle, but soon after; it is unbearably tedious and such a loathsome & miserable calamity that i find my own existence intolerable.’
‘That is penance.’ i paused for some time. ‘And as your penance, do you cheer them on?’
The hooded figure stopped short and glared at me. ‘That is The Penance.’
i nodded. ‘yes. of course.’
We stepped along some more.
‘Of course; There are times when i am glad to have missed a death, and my penance is measured for those cases, while on many other times, i am eager to lift a soul away from their shattered bodies, and put a stop to their screams.’ ‘On one such occasion, during The Crimean War, i came across a young soldier, that was so very handsome, in a Adamesque sort of way, just as men were supposed to look, as they had been originally made, and this one, ‘Tim’ was laying there, blow apart by cannon fire, and after raising him up, he looked around, quite forlorn and confused, then saw his own body below him, but didn’t recognize himself. ‘Poor bugger!’ he wept, and without telling him that it was himself, i led him aside and told him that his father was waiting for him just over The rise there. ‘What! my father! What is he doing here on The Battle field!?’ and then suddenly; he recognized me, and then shuttered with horror! ‘Oh My!’ ‘What is my father doing here, i have not heard of his passing!’ and i let him know that The letter from his mother, still quite well and healthy, was on it’s way to him, and should arrive in a day or two. But of course; it would be returned along with another letter telling of your heroic death. ‘my sergeant will no doubt be very kind to her memories of me’ The child said, ‘He always makes each of our deaths one that saved The entire regiment!’ i then gently told him that his sergeant was also killed this afternoon, along with his entire battalion. Just then; he came over The rise and his father & grandmother came upon him and hugged him as if he were entering their home for a christmas dinner. ‘i don’t want to take another moment of your time’ said The boy, ‘you sound as if you’ll be very busy this afternoon, why didn’t you bring anymore with you just now?’
And just as we, death and i, reached The hospital where The old woman that he needed to take to The real world was laying, miserable and coughing without reprise, he said to me, as he had said to The young boy many years ago;
‘Each trip is for only one.’
