[Communicate, Information]
Right after I yelled, the plaza came alive, people moving in each and every direction. I'm close to the street that I know granddad turns down. Frida has three lives and she was pretty good with the NES version of the game that we practiced on yesterday. I coached her on how to use the warp zones, but also if something happens to me she’ll need to beat the arcade game without using the warps to open a portal home.
Nyx is also here, she should be able to portal everyone back to Tregaron if needed. Granddad should be coming along any second now. And there he was.
“Henry Holland, Colonel, it’s me Jaq.”
He looked at me but some other of the ‘film people’ was in between us, I saw him mouth the word no, but I had no plan on touching anyone other than him. Finally the person in the way had moved on. I stepped in and touched him and I think granddad said temple then suddenly I was portaled. I was standing in a desert, completely alone.
I was at the base of a dune, so I started climbing it, hoping to get my bearings and a clue in exactly what direction I was to go. My knapsack full of supplies was in the plaza leaning up against the arcade machine.
So once again I was in the tower with no food or water, nor path showing me the direction I should proceed in. When I reached the top of the dune, I searched three hundred and sixty degrees for some features. Nothing but sand in every direction, I could decide randomly, but that seemed like an excellent chance of dying. I looked for shade and there was a small patch on the far side of the dune I was standing on.
I walked down to the small patch of shade, and sat down. When the sun went down, I’d head back up the dune and look for light, other than that cast by the stars and moon. I had my pocket compass, box of matches, my clothes which were much more suited that my last trip, and the pith helmet.
So I’d walked into a trap, I touched what I thought was granddad, but was instead some living moving portal. But if the tower was trying to teach me something, what was it? At least I didn’t drag the rest of my friends to their deaths, they were back in the plaza and Frida had to beat the arcade game without any warp zones.
The sun moved across the sky and I got up and climbed to the top of the dune. Again I looked all around and the sky seemed a tiny bit brighter, to the west. It wasn’t much of a clue, there is a slight possibility that there is life in that small amount of light. The darker it got the lighter that light spot should appear compared to the pitch black of the desert.
I took a compass bearing on it and it was just about due west. So I started out heading west. Groucho the monkey king should be here, maybe I was following the path Sun Wukong and his companions walked. Is that what I’m searching for one of the sutras?
I walked all night, the light never appeared any brighter. Each time I’d get to the top of a dune, I check the compass and continue on into the west. Once the sun is fully up. I look around and see nothing in any direction. The only clue I had in which direction to go was an impression the night sky to the west was a little lighter.
I tried to stay in the dunes shade as much as possible but at noon there was no shade. I dozed off and on then before the sun had fully set I set off for the west. Still checking as I topped a dune, that I was on course. When it was fully dark I again scanned the horizon in every direction hoping for light. The western sky near the horizon looked a little less dark then the other three directions. I was really starting to get thirsty.
I probably had one more day to find water, then I’d be dead. I wish I had a plate of those awful smelling peas, at least they had some moisture in them. Unfortunately the western sky looked no brighter after my second night of walking. Once the sun was fully up, I searched the horizon for anything. But there was nothing in view. I was exhausted and demoralized when I settled down in the shade to sleep. I dreamt of geese flying in a v formation.
I woke up and I hadn’t been dreaming geese were flying in formation low to the ground. It’s possible that they were headed to water. It's also possible that they were headed away from water, it’s also possible that this is a fever dream. I took a compass bearing south west. I started moving after them, I didn’t wait for the sun to go down, I might walk past a small body of water in the dark.
Each dune I crested I hoped to see an oasis, with dancing girls would be extra nice. But at this point I’d settle just for the water. It started to get dark. I was afraid if I stopped I might never be able to get up and start again. So I kept going, when it was almost fully dark, I thought I heard geese honking ahead and just to my left.
I course corrected slightly, I thought I smelled water. I didn’t. I think I actually smelled vegetation. Soon I was standing at the edge of a pond, I dropped to my knees and made myself to drink slowly, after my first trip into the tower I was an old hand with dehydration.
After drinking a little bit, I forced myself to go sit under a tree, where I swiftly fell asleep. Early in the morning I heard snorting sounds followed by a weird bleating sound. Like from a very large sheep. I got up and headed in the direction the sound had come from.
I heard more snorting and walked out of the undergrowth right into a camp, five or six tents were set up. Men, women, boys and girls were moving around the camp. I walked up to a woman.
“Can you please help me?”
She looked at me as if I was from Mars.
“Do you speak English? French?”
“She yelled something I couldn’t understand.”
A young man came over.
“Where did you come from?”
I pointed back behind me at the desert.
“Are you all alone?”
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“Yes, I am. I was lost in the desert, I thought I was going to die and I saw the geese come this way, so I followed them. I found the pond last night. I’m looking for a temple, I think. Do you have any food, please, I haven’t eaten in days.”
His name was Khan, the only person in the tribe who spoke English. He brought me tea, figs and flatbread. After I devoured it he brought me more.
“Thank you for the food Khan, I was starving.”
He smiled, “I could tell.”
“Is there a temple anywhere around here?”
“Yes, Jaq, that’s where we are coming from, we bring supplies to the temple once a month.”
“You didn’t happen to see an old white man did you?”
“Yes, he’s one of the brothers, he’s been there for years.”
“Could you tell me how to get there? I think he’s my granddad and I’ve been searching for him.”
Khan drew me a map, gave me a shoulder bag full of food and water and walked me a mile toward the temple, pointing out signs in the sand that the caravan makes, giving me a route to follow. I thanked him profusely and said goodbye.
I had a ten mile hike through a very hot desert but I had food and water which I drank sparingly just in case I got lost. After six hours or so I could see the temple in the distance, so I wasn’t so stingy with the water, I even ate a few figs to help give me the energy to reach the temple.
Two hours later I stood at a white marble road way, a monk in orange robes bowed low. I bowed back.
“Welcome to the Temple of the Lotus Flower.”
“Thank you, I’m searching for my grandfather Henry Holland.”
“You must be Jaq. Please follow me.”
So I did. He brought me to a marble room, pools of Lotus Flowers made the room feel cool and smell fragrant. I sat crossed leg staring at a flower and just naturally started to meditate. Those thirty days at the monastery had made an impact.
Just as I was getting really settled, I heard footsteps approaching.
“Jaq. You made it.”
“Granddad, I’ve been searching for you, we are all so worried. I don’t know how but will you come home with me if we can find a way.”
“Slow down honey, you must take a bath, have something to eat, don’t worry I know the way home. But you just rest and relax.”
“I’ll come see you tomorrow morning at dawn, but I will send a sister to see to your needs in the meantime. I love you Jaq, I’m so glad that you made it.”
With that he was gone. In just a little while a sister entered.
She bowed and said “I’m Sister Lin Yang, please call me Lin. If you’ll follow me I’ll show you to the baths and have your clothes cleaned.”
“Thank you Sister Lin.”
She showed me the baths, gave me a set of orange robes to wear while my clothes were cleaned, then left me to the bliss of a hot bath, dissolving all the dried sweat from the desert. Granddad knew the way home, I only hoped we wouldn’t have to walk through a desert to get to a portal.
After soaking for as long as I wanted to, I got out, dried off and put on the robe. Just a short time later Sister Lin arrived and brought me to my bedroom. The bedroom had a small terrace off of it. The terrace had a round table and two chairs. A pool of floating Lotus Flowers was just to the right of the terrace.
The table was loaded with fruit, tea, rice and a vege stir fry. The sun was setting as I finished eating. I was exhausted suddenly. The sun, the walking, the warm bath, the tasty supper.
I went in and fell into a deep sleep. I started to dream. I was walking from Lotus Flower pool to pool, it was laid out in the same pattern as the hedge maze. No that’s wrong, the hedge maze is set in the same pattern as the lotus flower pools. I find the center, sitting naked in the Lotus position, is Aya.
She has a third eye in the center of her forehead, that one eye is open and it stares at me. It sees me even though I know that I’m in a dream. Then I heard a conversation Aya and I were having.
“So desire even for good is bad?”
“You desire to get your grandfather out of the tower, even if he wants to remain in the tower, Yes?”
“Yes I suppose I do.”
“So you would impose your will over his will, yes I say that is bad.
No, I don't like this dream anymore, I want to wake up. I’m back in the deserted city I watch as granddad turns toward me, he mouths the word no. Wake up, get out of this dream, I worked so hard to bring him home. He has to come, he just has to. What will I say to Grandmother?
