INNEREAL ADVENTURES - ONE

THE SEVENTH GATE

THE SEVENTH GATE

   From Narrie’s vantage point on the other side of the crack, she was the only one who could see that Byron and Ajobis had actually fallen into one of the bliss gates. All of the creatures assumed that they had just fallen to their deaths down into the huge crack. And, while they were sad that Byron had fallen, that sadness was easily replaced by the joy that they felt over the end of their enemy and the return of their orbs.

   When Narrie looked out over the room below her from the cracked platform, the sight was quite shocking. All of the creatures were in the process of reverting back to who they were before they gave away their orbs to Ajobis. They were part scrawny gaunt emaciated ugly creatures, and part… 

   [“What does emace-atated mean, Daddy?” “Emaciated… and it just means that they were all sick and shriveled up and starved looking,” said the one in the seat next to mine. “Keep going, Dad.”]

   Narrie made her way down to the creatures, who each were now starting to become a combination of creature and boy or girl. It was an amazing sight and Narrie was quite taken and overwhelmed by it all. There was so much going on because the transformation from creature to boy or girl was in various stages. Some were almost completely restored and others had just begun. There were shouts of joy here and there and many were in the process of re-acquainting themselves with the powers of their obs. Some were flying around the room. Some were turning into puffs of smoke. Some were bouncing around like rubber balls. It was a truly amazing sight.

   Narrie felt as though she were a nurse in a large room full of soldiers wounded in a battle. She was moving from one person to another trying to help them in any way that she could. It was interesting to her because she felt quite at home in doing so. To her, it was like a special calling and not burdensome at all. Instead, it was invigorating. She felt energized and completely at home.

   As Narrie and the transforming creatures made their way back through other parts of the building, they noticed that it also was being transformed. Much of the ugliness and darkness was being replaced by beauty – much like when the Crusher was being replaced by the Lighthouse.

   The guard creatures were experiencing the worst of it. Narrie learned from some of the boys and girls that the guard creatures were actually boys and girls who didn’t even want their orbs in the first place. They had no interest in them and gladly gave them to Ajobis. They also gladly served him in his greedy and cruel endeavors to get orbs away from other boys and girls. Narrie was warned to be wary of them and to keep her distance.

   Narrie found that concept quite difficult to process. She could not even imagine not being interested in her orb. It was a part of her. It gave her great joy. It gave her purpose. And, the more she thought about it, the more determined she became to help the guard creatures see the beauty of their orbs. (One of the guards, Cotler, was a particularly difficult and interesting case, but we don’t have time here to go into his story.)

+ + + + + + +

   Byron opened his eyes. He was flat on his back. Above him, he saw a deep blue sky punctuated by twinkling stars. Then, he sat up and saw a fire burning a short distance away from him. It looked like a campfire to him, so he got all the way up and started to walk over to it. The fire was encircled by a low bench, and as he got closer, he saw that the area all around the fire seemed to be lit by a spotlight above it, but when he looked up, there was no light to be seen. Rather, it was as if the light was coming up from the ground and then streaming upward as if it were the shining of a big powerful searchlight. On the other side of the circular bench sat Ajobis motionless and staring quietly into the fire.

   “How long have I… ” but then Byron stopped speaking, having remembered that time seemed to be calculated entirely differently in his innereal world.

   Byron was strangely at peace in his enemy’s presence. He considered the fact that he had obviously been lying there unconscious on the ground at least long enough for Ajobis to hurt him, or even kill him, if that were his intent. And also, Ajobis had a rather peaceful and contemplative look on his face, as if he had been sitting there staring at the fire for a long long time.

   “These are called Circouncilars,” said Ajobis, quietly. “I have never sat in on one before, but I have witnessed a few that my father sat in on, when I was young.”

   Byron sat down on the bench and Ajobis looked over at him. “This one is for you and I,” he said. “You would not have been able to sit, if it were not. Only those who have deep issues to resolve between them are able to sit at a Circouncilar.”

   Byron then noticed that the fire really wasn’t a fire at all. It was more like a glowing. It was shaped like a fire and flickered like a fire, but it didn’t look like it was consuming anything, like wood.

   “Are you hungry?” offered Ajobis.

   “Actually, yes, now that you mention it, I am famished,” answered Byron.

   Ajobis broke a flat piece of bread in half and handed a half to Byron. When Byron ate it, he was amazed at how delicious and satisfying it was.

   “I have been such a fool, Byron. A terrible terrible foolish fellow,” said Ajobis, quietly. “I must first ask for your forgiveness for the absolutely horrible way that I treated you. I am so very very sorry for what I have done to you.”

   Byron had seen Ajobis lie before and he knew that he was good at it, but there was no doubt in his mind now that Ajobis was telling the truth. His entire countenance was different. He almost looked like an entirely different person.

   “You are only a boy, but you are already a much better man than I, Byron,” said Ajobis. “You handled yourself courageously and honorably. I greatly admire you.”

   “I wanted to be like you. When I started down this path, I thought I was like you, but I was not. And the more I realized that I was not, the more I hated myself. I worked so diligently at deceiving myself into thinking that it was going to work. I worked tirelessly to make it work, even though I knew deep down inside of me that, eventually, it was not going to work at all.”

   “Byron, I have been pushing and pushing and pushing against a wall, and finally, the wall has come crashing down on me. It is over. I am done. I am through pushing. It is no good. I am broken. I am bankrupt. I am dust.”

   Byron felt like he should say something, but no words came to his mind.

   “The path before me is fairly clear, Byron,” continued Ajobis. “I must ask forgiveness from all whom I have hurt, and endeavor to make amends.”

   “And, I must return to my father and do the same with him.” Ajobis paused and sighed deeply. “I hurt him deeply when we parted ways. I insulted him. I disgraced him. I robbed him of some of his prized possessions. I… ”

   Then, Ajobis began to weep.

   Byron felt a great sense of compassion well up inside of him and he moved over next to Ajobis and put his right arm around his shoulders. The orb in his right hand began to glow a bit.

   “Well, I suppose you can begin with me,” said Byron, tenderly. “I forgive you, Ajobis.”

   Then, the fire in the center started to diminish and a swirling bliss gate began to appear in the center of it. The fire remained burning in its diminished capacity while the gate took form in the midst of it.

   “I have two more of these to go through,” said Byron, as he rubbed his chest. “And, I’m pretty sure that you are supposed to go through this one with me.”

   Byron stood up and grabbed the third orb and held out his right hand to Ajobis. “Shall we?” he invited.