Editor's Note -- In the past few weeks, I have been watching the deluge of political debates, primaries, and caucuses. The political discourse and rancor has impacted me emotionally and frankly--I am tired of all it. So, in order to cope with all the news I have decided to write my way out of the blues. I have written brief episodic narratives and over next weeks or so I will be posting them.
Part One -- Introduction
I sat in front of my patio heater lamp waiting for the answer. I wanted the answer to be different from the last two times I had asked. Maybe the third time would be the charm and finally I would get the answer that I had sought for all my life. I know it is not traditional but I had always been a woman that did not believe in tradition.
I remember reading the stories of Amelia Earhart, the legends of Aphrodite, and the legends of Amazonian women. All strong women figures that symbolize independence, good judgement, and power. So I sat waiting for the answer from my man of ten years remembering our many misadventures that had brought us many trials and tribulations together; yet, I sat optimistic.
This time it was different. I felt it in my very bones. I knew with certainty that he had decided to say yes. He had called me on my mobile to let me know that he had a surprise and he could not wait to “show” me what he gotten me. So, I sat. My cat -- Daisy -- jumped in our backyard, the sun’s last light dissipated behind the mountains of the Rockies and final heat of the day slowly dissipated away. The patio heater lamp became even more apparent and the warmth from it intensified on my skin.
My thoughts wandered more contemplating the last 200 hundred years. My man had finally found me out and there were no more secrets between us. He finally knew I was an immortal born in the Ural Mountains of Russia during the time of the Czars. He finally understood my family history and why I shrouded myself in mystery. He finally understood why the secret order that I belong to had cloaked itself behind the many shell corporations. And, he finally understood why I felt the urgent need to insinuate myself in the life of Eve.
Eve the queen of humanity.The mother of civilization was trapped in a dream. Her memory bounded by the curse of Lillith -- the first woman. I was Eve’s protector bounded by the secret orders trust. But, tonight was about me and I sit waiting for an answer that will bring me joy and hope.
Part Two -- Lillith, Adam, Eve, and James
“I know its scary,” I told him, “But the answer is with Adam.” He stared at me as if I had a third eye in the center of my forehead. He wanted to believe. He really did. Unfortunately, what I was telling him was counter to every legend, every religious book, every counter theory that he had ever read. Now, he wondered if he had “hooked up” with some nut from a cult. So he stared.
I could see in his eyes that they were still working out the details of what I said about Eve. He knew I had been holding things back for more than ten years, but he did not know it was this big. The secret order had not wanted me tell him, but I felt that if I had not, my mission to protect Eve would be jeopardized. So we sat on the patio heated by our infra red patio heater. The light of the day had long gone and the twilight of the stars illuminated our backyard.
Our house sat on the edge of the city away from the glaring lights. The backside of the house was eclipsed by darkness -- and the low lights of the hurricane lamps barely lit our faces. James had known that I did not believe in angels or demons, but he did not understand how I could believe however, in beings that were all powerful and had powers of telepathy and telekinetic abilities.I explained to him that these beings were from the evolution of Earth. Eve, Adam, and Lillith were the first generation of immortals. He looked at me again still contemplating what I had said. So we sat in the stillness of the night listening to the crickets chirp....
I had decided that my confession, which had begun at the beginning of the evening, was in my best interest. Eve’s memory was returning despite the curse of Lillith. Eve had found her true love Adam. The found in each in an airplane crash that been caused by Lillith, while they travelled to the New World. They had been sitting next to one another wondering what the other thought. A strange connection seemed to be toying with their sense and Lillith did not want them to figure out their “true identities.”
Lillith had always shadowed Adam and Eve and she was determined to keep the other from knowing the other existed. But, the Universe has a perverse sense of humor -- and after nearly two thousand years with certain son of theirs that had been splayed on a cross -- the Universe had decided to place Adam and Eve on the same plane together. Lillith was furious and she planned to rectify the situation.....
I suddenly felt James warm hand on my back and shoulders. He stood behind and I looked into his eyes and they smiled and I knew that we would be together for years to come ....
Part Three -- My Name is Lillith
It should have been me. Adam should have been my first love not Eve’s. The Universe had placed us together and yet it separated us soon after. The millenniums that followed left me more determined. It was time. The 21st century had finally given me the means to take my revenge. My plans would begin September 11, 2001. I had three weeks to set my plans into motion.
So I sit at my patio table with the yellow and blue furled patio umbrellas blocking out the moon’s light, while the propane outdoor heaters heated the porch. I look over the architecture blueprints of the World Trade Center and engineering schematic of 757 Boeing airplanes. I plot the airplanes courses and ready the plans that my henchmen would follow in detail. They were the perfect patsies and I knew it, whether my henchmen knew did not matter to me.
The 21st century for me was and is the perfect breeding ground for fear and chaos. Barely past the new millennium, the world has become a place where meaningless charlatans can preach the word of a fallen leader. While my followers (my henchmen) are easily influenced by me and the seduction of paradise, it is their fanatical passion that energizes me. I bathe in it. I have not known such passion and fanaticism since the lead up to the “Good War.” I must confess it has been a very long time. For I have existed before recorded time and I am one of the oldest of the first generation immortals.
The propane outdoor heaters crackled and brought my attention back to night surroundings. I am the harbinger of death and my role would be soon defined in the 21st century. I roll the blueprints and the schematics into their proper tubes and ready them to be sent off to the hills of Afghanistan. I sign my communication to my followers as Lillith. It has been a good night of planning. Time to turn in.
Part Four -- The Garden of 1870
My life has been long lived. My husband to be, James, and I will be getting married tomorrow. He knows who I am and what I have done. He also knows that I am immortal. I grew up in the Ural Mountains of Russia during the times of the Czar, but it was far removed for the glamours of the palace and elegance of the royal court. My people numbered in the hundreds of thousands, but were diminished in the “Good War” of the 20th Century.
Now, in the 21st, my man of ten years lies in wait for me to come down the stairs. He sits waiting for me on the patio. Quietly, I work myself to the patio stopping by the kitchen to grab a couple of wine glasses and the bottle of wine I had left chilling in the fridge. I open the glass door to step out on the porch to see James loving eyes on me illuminated by the patio umbrella light.
I sit down. I clasp his hand for a brief moment before I pour the wine into the glasses. He looks at me with his crooked smile and I nearly melt. I am such a school girl around him, but I maintain my composure and finish pouring. I turn my chair so it parallel with James’ chair not wanting to look at him directly into his beautiful hazel eyes. This is also gives me a chance to look out our backyard and our garden.
The garden that we have grown reminds me of another time and another life. It was London 1870 and I had just arrived from Russia to meet my husband that had been arranged for me as a matter of “corporate business.” Essentially, the marriage was an unification of families. My husband at the time was older and did not believe that young woman such as myself was worthy of his time or have any interest of her own. She was to tend to the staff, tend to the garden, and to bare him children -- boys preferably. I tended to two of the three.
We immortals choose when we want to have children. It is an ability of our evolution that allows us to circumvent the fertilization by will. I never loved him. In fact, I put an end to our marriage, when I killed him. In any case, as I look out at the garden I remember the flowers and shrubs that were in my house -- just outside of London. It too had a patio -- a solarium actually -- where the sun’s ray would burn with intensity and warm the entire room.
Part Five -- Darya, Dominika, and a Party
My bachelorette party had been quite eventful. My friends of the 21st century and my remaining family from the Ural Mountains had attended. My backyard had been transformed into a gala type atmosphere.The decorations of white, gold, and silver glistened in the daylight and shimmered in the moonlight. My friends misbehaved badly, while my Grand Aunt Dominika danced the night away with a hunky tanned beefcake named Andre.
Nightfall brought the events to fruition. My friends of the 21st century and my family began to discuss James--and what it meant that he knew who I was and what to do with him if he ever revealed my relationship with the secret order. At various tables, my women friends cackled like old ladies, and some of them were, while the garden patio heaters warm the night air. I told them all I trusted him explicitly and implicitly.
All the women rolled their eyes and shook their heads. My Grand Aunt Dominika, who was more than 450 years old, pulled me aside and looked me in the eyes. Her steely grey eyes studied me--and asked me once, if I was sure, I nodded in the affirmative. I told her that James understood me -- and that if I were to spend my life with a mortal I wanted it to be him.
The party atmosphere escalated as the music from my homeland filled the darkness. And then it happened, Darya -- the Queen of Amazons -- broke the celebratory mood. Her personal guard stood beside her as she called the women to order and dismissed the men entertainers. She simply bellowed, “Attention!” The men scampered out of the room. They knew their place and it was not to be in the presence of the Hellenishians.
Part Six, Darya, My Grand Aunt, & A Man Named Jack
The patio garden heaters tried to push back the cold of the night, yet the fall air turned my backyard garden more cold.The women at the party and my family now huddled around the table patio heaters in order to shove away the chilled air. Darya was now droning on how the Hellenishians must continue to protect Eve -- and how the latest plot to assassinate the President of the United States had failed due to our efforts protect him and the First Lady.
It was the secret duty of the Hellenishians to protect those that evolve the social contract and thwart those who wish to devolve it. At any rate, my backyard garden was filled to the brim with girlfriends and relatives -- and my house, which sits at the edge of the city, away from the glare of the light, was shrouded in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. Darya wrapped up the pep talk and my bachelorette party resumed.
The entertainers returned. Beefcake male strippers, groomed by The Order, shook their assets. My Grand Aunt Dominika re-attached herself to Andre, a tall Nubian male, well muscled, goatee, and shiny bald head. She whooped every time he shook his fanny in her face. l laughed. My friends laughed. My family laughed. It was a sight we all ogled in delight. I had not seen my Grand Aunt enjoy herself in a very long time -- not since I had killed my husband in London.
The night I had took revenge upon my husband in 1892 for the murders and my friend, Mary Ann Nichols, of Whitechapel, London, I had been living in London less than three years. The Hellenisian Order had not put the final piece of the puzzle together until the murder of Mary Jane Kelly. I did not catch up to him, however, until March 15. He smiled at me, when I used the razor blade on his loins, he retorted -- “You did not like my handy work?”
And I responded, “No my dear husband I did not. For you have surely been a murderous Jack!”
Part Seven -- Lillith Stops Time
It had been a long walk. The heat of the day was inviting and the bright sun welcoming. Now, the sun set behind the ridge of the mountains and warmth was gone. The chill of the mountain air greeted me as I opened my patio door. A few nights prior I had decided to change the world and now I wanted to look upon my garden one last time.
It would be two more weeks before September 11, and I wanted, just for a moment, and pause time. I needed it. The centuries flew by at a dizzying pace. The world for me was out of control always spiraling on its axis. Yet, as a first generation immortal I had the ability to stop time -- just for a moment -- and take a breath. Adam was the true guardian of time but he did not know it, because I had cursed his memory. A memory block that could only be broken if he and Eve remembered that they were “true soul mates.” But, I digress.
I stood in the center of porch. I stood there, with my arms stretched out, as if I were splayed on a cross, my feet arched, my skeletal form shadowed against the red-brick of my home, and my raven black hair was fluid in the ice cold wind. I stood there motionless. I absorbed the nature around, The colors of my garden blurred; the greens, the reds, the purples, and the blues blurred. All of the colors of the rainbow atomized into pixels. Down to their base elements.
The world became motionless. It ceased to exist. Reality was no more. The world became a singularity. I “walked” along the string in my non-corporeal form touching all the elements of Earth. The darkness surrounded me. The dark matter of space, time, and the Universe filled my being -- and for a moment -- time stopped. I no longer existed. And, then the Universe rebooted. I became thought, motion returned, and the world returned. I had returned to my garden. I was now in my backyard garden. I am surrounded with flora on my deck from the garden and patio heaters with tables and blue-green patio umbrellas.
It was time to make a call. I felt refreshed. I needed to change forms from time to time. Soon -- the 21st century would be mine.
Part Eight -- The Story James & Anifisa
I had met the love of my life in 1994 after a FedEx 705 had been hijacked. I did not know it then but my life would be forever changed. I had been working for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), when I first laid eyes on her. Her skin was tanned, her legs were long, and her were a floral green that I had never seen before or after. She called herself, Anfisa, she was Russian born in the Ural Mountains.
I would not see her again until after the planes had crashed into the Twin Towers. I did not know this then, but she had been protecting and shadowing me and my partner Eve for nearly seven years. She belonged to a secret order known as the Hellenisians, women who were sworn to protect the queen of civilization and a first generation immortal.
As I recollect this, I am still dumbfounded by the fact that there are immortals amongst the last generation of humanity. When I saw her Anifisa again, clouds of dust were still in the air and tears of grief were running down my face. I had just lost my brother, who was in Tower 1 and deep residing anger began swell in heart and my throat, when I felt her touch me. My skin felt the coolness of her hands and then she clasp my hand and led me away.
She took me away from the destruction. It was a long walk. My life felt surreal. My heat pounded out a hallow tune of remorse. Yet, I followed her and before I knew -- we were in Queens in her backyard and staring out at her garden. We were sitting on the porch at a tempered glass table with patio umbrella shading her eyes. I asked, “Where was I ?”
She replied, “My home,” in her distinctive Russian accent.
I stuttered, “M...m...my n...name is James,” she nodded knowingly and smiled.
Part Nine -- James’ Worldview Changes
The evening sun nestled behind the Rockies. The oranges, purples, and reds of the evening sky dissipated into blackness. The air cooled and I sat alone on my porch. I had just arrived home after spending the day looking for something called the “Market Patio Umbrella.” My fiancee had wanted to new umbrella for her bachelorette party and she had me searching every home and garden shop in town.
Anifisa and her friends wanted everything perfect. From what I understood the queen of the Amazons, a second generation immortal, was to attend. This was all new to me, such as planning a wedding, writing vows, and setting up sitting charts.But, the questions I had the most was, what kind a ring do you get a 450 year old bride. I am still in shock to find out that my future wife was part of some secret sect and no one in the modern world knew about it -- not even the conspiracy theorist. I was still wrapping my brain around that there are immortals.
I am still trying to figure out how the characters of the bible were really alive.How Adam and Eve, the mother and father of civilization, were alive and that Lillith, Adam’s first wife, was trying to kill Eve. All my life I thought the bible had been metaphor and that the social contract was, in part, an allegory for societal behavior. For the first time, however, it made sense of how other cultures around the planet had similar leanings and ideals in terms of the “golden rule.” The fact the teachings were spread by the first generation immortals provided clarity.
I also understood why the secrecy of the sect was so important to my fiancee. She had trusted me to keep the secret and I will until the day I die. Admittedly, it is a bit dramatic of how I speak of immortals, but the fact was my world had been turned upside. So, I sit on the porch studying the garden fiancee and I had tilled together.
I sat in front of my patio heater lamp waiting for the answer. I wanted the answer to be different from the last two times I had asked. Maybe the third time would be the charm and finally I would get the answer that I had sought for all my life. I know it is not traditional but I had always been a woman that did not believe in tradition.
I remember reading the stories of Amelia Earhart, the legends of Aphrodite, and the legends of Amazonian women. All strong women figures that symbolize independence, good judgement, and power. So I sat waiting for the answer from my man of ten years remembering our many misadventures that had brought us many trials and tribulations together; yet, I sat optimistic.
This time it was different. I felt it in my very bones. I knew with certainty that he had decided to say yes. He had called me on my mobile to let me know that he had a surprise and he could not wait to “show” me what he gotten me. So, I sat. My cat -- Daisy -- jumped in our backyard, the sun’s last light dissipated behind the mountains of the Rockies and final heat of the day slowly dissipated away. The patio heater lamp became even more apparent and the warmth from it intensified on my skin.
My thoughts wandered more contemplating the last 200 hundred years. My man had finally found me out and there were no more secrets between us. He finally knew I was an immortal born in the Ural Mountains of Russia during the time of the Czars. He finally understood my family history and why I shrouded myself in mystery. He finally understood why the secret order that I belong to had cloaked itself behind the many shell corporations. And, he finally understood why I felt the urgent need to insinuate myself in the life of Eve.
Eve the queen of humanity.The mother of civilization was trapped in a dream. Her memory bounded by the curse of Lillith -- the first woman. I was Eve’s protector bounded by the secret orders trust. But, tonight was about me and I sit waiting for an answer that will bring me joy and hope.
Part Two -- Lillith, Adam, Eve, and James
“I know its scary,” I told him, “But the answer is with Adam.” He stared at me as if I had a third eye in the center of my forehead. He wanted to believe. He really did. Unfortunately, what I was telling him was counter to every legend, every religious book, every counter theory that he had ever read. Now, he wondered if he had “hooked up” with some nut from a cult. So he stared.
I could see in his eyes that they were still working out the details of what I said about Eve. He knew I had been holding things back for more than ten years, but he did not know it was this big. The secret order had not wanted me tell him, but I felt that if I had not, my mission to protect Eve would be jeopardized. So we sat on the patio heated by our infra red patio heater. The light of the day had long gone and the twilight of the stars illuminated our backyard.
Our house sat on the edge of the city away from the glaring lights. The backside of the house was eclipsed by darkness -- and the low lights of the hurricane lamps barely lit our faces. James had known that I did not believe in angels or demons, but he did not understand how I could believe however, in beings that were all powerful and had powers of telepathy and telekinetic abilities.I explained to him that these beings were from the evolution of Earth. Eve, Adam, and Lillith were the first generation of immortals. He looked at me again still contemplating what I had said. So we sat in the stillness of the night listening to the crickets chirp....
I had decided that my confession, which had begun at the beginning of the evening, was in my best interest. Eve’s memory was returning despite the curse of Lillith. Eve had found her true love Adam. The found in each in an airplane crash that been caused by Lillith, while they travelled to the New World. They had been sitting next to one another wondering what the other thought. A strange connection seemed to be toying with their sense and Lillith did not want them to figure out their “true identities.”
Lillith had always shadowed Adam and Eve and she was determined to keep the other from knowing the other existed. But, the Universe has a perverse sense of humor -- and after nearly two thousand years with certain son of theirs that had been splayed on a cross -- the Universe had decided to place Adam and Eve on the same plane together. Lillith was furious and she planned to rectify the situation.....
I suddenly felt James warm hand on my back and shoulders. He stood behind and I looked into his eyes and they smiled and I knew that we would be together for years to come ....
Part Three -- My Name is Lillith
It should have been me. Adam should have been my first love not Eve’s. The Universe had placed us together and yet it separated us soon after. The millenniums that followed left me more determined. It was time. The 21st century had finally given me the means to take my revenge. My plans would begin September 11, 2001. I had three weeks to set my plans into motion.
So I sit at my patio table with the yellow and blue furled patio umbrellas blocking out the moon’s light, while the propane outdoor heaters heated the porch. I look over the architecture blueprints of the World Trade Center and engineering schematic of 757 Boeing airplanes. I plot the airplanes courses and ready the plans that my henchmen would follow in detail. They were the perfect patsies and I knew it, whether my henchmen knew did not matter to me.
The 21st century for me was and is the perfect breeding ground for fear and chaos. Barely past the new millennium, the world has become a place where meaningless charlatans can preach the word of a fallen leader. While my followers (my henchmen) are easily influenced by me and the seduction of paradise, it is their fanatical passion that energizes me. I bathe in it. I have not known such passion and fanaticism since the lead up to the “Good War.” I must confess it has been a very long time. For I have existed before recorded time and I am one of the oldest of the first generation immortals.
The propane outdoor heaters crackled and brought my attention back to night surroundings. I am the harbinger of death and my role would be soon defined in the 21st century. I roll the blueprints and the schematics into their proper tubes and ready them to be sent off to the hills of Afghanistan. I sign my communication to my followers as Lillith. It has been a good night of planning. Time to turn in.
Part Four -- The Garden of 1870
My life has been long lived. My husband to be, James, and I will be getting married tomorrow. He knows who I am and what I have done. He also knows that I am immortal. I grew up in the Ural Mountains of Russia during the times of the Czar, but it was far removed for the glamours of the palace and elegance of the royal court. My people numbered in the hundreds of thousands, but were diminished in the “Good War” of the 20th Century.
Now, in the 21st, my man of ten years lies in wait for me to come down the stairs. He sits waiting for me on the patio. Quietly, I work myself to the patio stopping by the kitchen to grab a couple of wine glasses and the bottle of wine I had left chilling in the fridge. I open the glass door to step out on the porch to see James loving eyes on me illuminated by the patio umbrella light.
I sit down. I clasp his hand for a brief moment before I pour the wine into the glasses. He looks at me with his crooked smile and I nearly melt. I am such a school girl around him, but I maintain my composure and finish pouring. I turn my chair so it parallel with James’ chair not wanting to look at him directly into his beautiful hazel eyes. This is also gives me a chance to look out our backyard and our garden.
The garden that we have grown reminds me of another time and another life. It was London 1870 and I had just arrived from Russia to meet my husband that had been arranged for me as a matter of “corporate business.” Essentially, the marriage was an unification of families. My husband at the time was older and did not believe that young woman such as myself was worthy of his time or have any interest of her own. She was to tend to the staff, tend to the garden, and to bare him children -- boys preferably. I tended to two of the three.
We immortals choose when we want to have children. It is an ability of our evolution that allows us to circumvent the fertilization by will. I never loved him. In fact, I put an end to our marriage, when I killed him. In any case, as I look out at the garden I remember the flowers and shrubs that were in my house -- just outside of London. It too had a patio -- a solarium actually -- where the sun’s ray would burn with intensity and warm the entire room.
Part Five -- Darya, Dominika, and a Party
My bachelorette party had been quite eventful. My friends of the 21st century and my remaining family from the Ural Mountains had attended. My backyard had been transformed into a gala type atmosphere.The decorations of white, gold, and silver glistened in the daylight and shimmered in the moonlight. My friends misbehaved badly, while my Grand Aunt Dominika danced the night away with a hunky tanned beefcake named Andre.
Nightfall brought the events to fruition. My friends of the 21st century and my family began to discuss James--and what it meant that he knew who I was and what to do with him if he ever revealed my relationship with the secret order. At various tables, my women friends cackled like old ladies, and some of them were, while the garden patio heaters warm the night air. I told them all I trusted him explicitly and implicitly.
All the women rolled their eyes and shook their heads. My Grand Aunt Dominika, who was more than 450 years old, pulled me aside and looked me in the eyes. Her steely grey eyes studied me--and asked me once, if I was sure, I nodded in the affirmative. I told her that James understood me -- and that if I were to spend my life with a mortal I wanted it to be him.
The party atmosphere escalated as the music from my homeland filled the darkness. And then it happened, Darya -- the Queen of Amazons -- broke the celebratory mood. Her personal guard stood beside her as she called the women to order and dismissed the men entertainers. She simply bellowed, “Attention!” The men scampered out of the room. They knew their place and it was not to be in the presence of the Hellenishians.
Part Six, Darya, My Grand Aunt, & A Man Named Jack
The patio garden heaters tried to push back the cold of the night, yet the fall air turned my backyard garden more cold.The women at the party and my family now huddled around the table patio heaters in order to shove away the chilled air. Darya was now droning on how the Hellenishians must continue to protect Eve -- and how the latest plot to assassinate the President of the United States had failed due to our efforts protect him and the First Lady.
It was the secret duty of the Hellenishians to protect those that evolve the social contract and thwart those who wish to devolve it. At any rate, my backyard garden was filled to the brim with girlfriends and relatives -- and my house, which sits at the edge of the city, away from the glare of the light, was shrouded in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. Darya wrapped up the pep talk and my bachelorette party resumed.
The entertainers returned. Beefcake male strippers, groomed by The Order, shook their assets. My Grand Aunt Dominika re-attached herself to Andre, a tall Nubian male, well muscled, goatee, and shiny bald head. She whooped every time he shook his fanny in her face. l laughed. My friends laughed. My family laughed. It was a sight we all ogled in delight. I had not seen my Grand Aunt enjoy herself in a very long time -- not since I had killed my husband in London.
The night I had took revenge upon my husband in 1892 for the murders and my friend, Mary Ann Nichols, of Whitechapel, London, I had been living in London less than three years. The Hellenisian Order had not put the final piece of the puzzle together until the murder of Mary Jane Kelly. I did not catch up to him, however, until March 15. He smiled at me, when I used the razor blade on his loins, he retorted -- “You did not like my handy work?”
And I responded, “No my dear husband I did not. For you have surely been a murderous Jack!”
Part Seven -- Lillith Stops Time
It had been a long walk. The heat of the day was inviting and the bright sun welcoming. Now, the sun set behind the ridge of the mountains and warmth was gone. The chill of the mountain air greeted me as I opened my patio door. A few nights prior I had decided to change the world and now I wanted to look upon my garden one last time.
It would be two more weeks before September 11, and I wanted, just for a moment, and pause time. I needed it. The centuries flew by at a dizzying pace. The world for me was out of control always spiraling on its axis. Yet, as a first generation immortal I had the ability to stop time -- just for a moment -- and take a breath. Adam was the true guardian of time but he did not know it, because I had cursed his memory. A memory block that could only be broken if he and Eve remembered that they were “true soul mates.” But, I digress.
I stood in the center of porch. I stood there, with my arms stretched out, as if I were splayed on a cross, my feet arched, my skeletal form shadowed against the red-brick of my home, and my raven black hair was fluid in the ice cold wind. I stood there motionless. I absorbed the nature around, The colors of my garden blurred; the greens, the reds, the purples, and the blues blurred. All of the colors of the rainbow atomized into pixels. Down to their base elements.
The world became motionless. It ceased to exist. Reality was no more. The world became a singularity. I “walked” along the string in my non-corporeal form touching all the elements of Earth. The darkness surrounded me. The dark matter of space, time, and the Universe filled my being -- and for a moment -- time stopped. I no longer existed. And, then the Universe rebooted. I became thought, motion returned, and the world returned. I had returned to my garden. I was now in my backyard garden. I am surrounded with flora on my deck from the garden and patio heaters with tables and blue-green patio umbrellas.
It was time to make a call. I felt refreshed. I needed to change forms from time to time. Soon -- the 21st century would be mine.
Part Eight -- The Story James & Anifisa
I had met the love of my life in 1994 after a FedEx 705 had been hijacked. I did not know it then but my life would be forever changed. I had been working for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), when I first laid eyes on her. Her skin was tanned, her legs were long, and her were a floral green that I had never seen before or after. She called herself, Anfisa, she was Russian born in the Ural Mountains.
I would not see her again until after the planes had crashed into the Twin Towers. I did not know this then, but she had been protecting and shadowing me and my partner Eve for nearly seven years. She belonged to a secret order known as the Hellenisians, women who were sworn to protect the queen of civilization and a first generation immortal.
As I recollect this, I am still dumbfounded by the fact that there are immortals amongst the last generation of humanity. When I saw her Anifisa again, clouds of dust were still in the air and tears of grief were running down my face. I had just lost my brother, who was in Tower 1 and deep residing anger began swell in heart and my throat, when I felt her touch me. My skin felt the coolness of her hands and then she clasp my hand and led me away.
She took me away from the destruction. It was a long walk. My life felt surreal. My heat pounded out a hallow tune of remorse. Yet, I followed her and before I knew -- we were in Queens in her backyard and staring out at her garden. We were sitting on the porch at a tempered glass table with patio umbrella shading her eyes. I asked, “Where was I ?”
She replied, “My home,” in her distinctive Russian accent.
I stuttered, “M...m...my n...name is James,” she nodded knowingly and smiled.
Part Nine -- James’ Worldview Changes
The evening sun nestled behind the Rockies. The oranges, purples, and reds of the evening sky dissipated into blackness. The air cooled and I sat alone on my porch. I had just arrived home after spending the day looking for something called the “Market Patio Umbrella.” My fiancee had wanted to new umbrella for her bachelorette party and she had me searching every home and garden shop in town.
Anifisa and her friends wanted everything perfect. From what I understood the queen of the Amazons, a second generation immortal, was to attend. This was all new to me, such as planning a wedding, writing vows, and setting up sitting charts.But, the questions I had the most was, what kind a ring do you get a 450 year old bride. I am still in shock to find out that my future wife was part of some secret sect and no one in the modern world knew about it -- not even the conspiracy theorist. I was still wrapping my brain around that there are immortals.
I am still trying to figure out how the characters of the bible were really alive.How Adam and Eve, the mother and father of civilization, were alive and that Lillith, Adam’s first wife, was trying to kill Eve. All my life I thought the bible had been metaphor and that the social contract was, in part, an allegory for societal behavior. For the first time, however, it made sense of how other cultures around the planet had similar leanings and ideals in terms of the “golden rule.” The fact the teachings were spread by the first generation immortals provided clarity.
I also understood why the secrecy of the sect was so important to my fiancee. She had trusted me to keep the secret and I will until the day I die. Admittedly, it is a bit dramatic of how I speak of immortals, but the fact was my world had been turned upside. So, I sit on the porch studying the garden fiancee and I had tilled together.
Part 10 - My Life Before James
The idea of democracy was foreign to me and my sisters in arms. We have always been ruled through a warrior matriarchal caste system and power coalitions which asserts themselves in terms of loyalty, mission, and coercion. Our power relies on our ability to assimilate and adaptation. We learned long ago, because our numbers are few, and the fact we are a warrior women -- the last of the Amazon women in fact -- to infiltrate a society and a community. Our immigration after the Great War was a necessary step to protect the Mother of Civilization--Eve. The United States of America will be the place of our future gatherings, because she is here, and because we understand the sacrifices that need to be made to help our sacred order.
The afternoon sun lowers as I watch the children play various games in the backyard. Kahlee and Jolene are playing horseshoes in the northwest part of the yard, while the others -- Britt, Tonya, Dary, and Allia are playing doubles badminton. I take notice that the ‘adults’ are all watching the girls play and are aligned along the circumference of the porch from my right and to my left.
My sense of community envelopes me watching the activity in my yard. I am feeling embraced and loved because my clan has shown me their support. My transition to the United States has been educational in terms of culture and community. My husband, my assimilation beard, has truly no idea of who I am, but with my new suburban home and my golden labarador named “Goldie” I see many possible future.
Goldie breaks up my reverie with her playful barking as she dashes back and forth between kids and the adults. Some of the adults have food on their laps -- barbecue pork ribs, egg salad, and hot-links -- teasing Goldie with small morsels of meat from their plates. I go to the kitchen, return to the porch with a bowl of ziwipeak natural dog food, and call Goldie over to eat. My dog jumps up and down and vicariously prances over to me as I sit the bowl down in front of her next to the base of the patio.
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