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Volume I
The Encounter On a tranquil August afternoon, in the undisclosed future, Mános and his wife Penélope arrived from New York City for their annual weeklong vacation at the Panoramic View Hotel, high in the Green Mountains near Dorset, Vermont. They received the same comfortable suite as the previous year; it boasted a terrace for late afternoon reading, as well as a view of the lush forest on the adjacent mountain that rose steeply about a hundred yards away. After checking in, they unpacked most of their things, but in sheer delight at being alone together, they made ardent love on top of the embroidered, blue satin comforter, as the soft breeze wafted over their bodies, and the distant songbirds echoed their love whisperings. After their lovemaking, Penélope drifted into a peaceful sleep, like a baby in her mother’s embrace. She sighed and breathed ever so softly, with her head resting on her husband’s chest. His right arm cradled her lean, naked body, and caressed her lower back. Her long, shining black hair lay loosely on her side, covering part of her breast. Amused by the reflection of the dancing shadows on the ceiling, Mános remained awake. His thoughts traveled back to the time they first met. Those memories brought a contented smile to his face. So many wonderful years an amazing life, full of beautiful memories. He turned and glanced down at the Grecian beauty curled up on his chest. Perfectly groomed eyebrows framed her large almond-shaped eyes, complementing her high cheekbones. Her straight Grecian nose and full lips made this Aphrodite desirable to every man who saw her. Mános never took for granted this gift that nature bestowed upon him. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I love you, darling. I love you as much as Ulysses loved his Penélope.” Suddenly drops of sweat appeared on his brow as a strange sound entered his being: a breathtaking melody of female voices. The heavenly choir resounded inside his head. His eyes widened, first in wonder and then in shock. His mouth fell open and he held his breath, in order to focus on the incredible melody. He trembled as his body resonated with the extraordinary harmonies and his mind tried to recognize and pinpoint the source. What an unearthly sound! I have never heard anything like it before; yet it seems so perfect, beautiful and melodious. He murmured. He scanned the room to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming or that the haunting sounds weren’t emanating from an adjacent room. Penélope and he were music lovers, especially classical music, and patrons of the symphony and the opera; but this melody was spine tingling, beyond anything he had ever heard. He closed his eyes to enjoy it further, when an incredible panoramic vision appeared to him. Oh, my God! Can this be real?He saw a huge lake surrounded by giant trees, and majestic, multi-colored mountains. He opened his eyes and looked around the room. No! I'm not dreaming! I'm awake.He saw his reflection and that of Penélope in the large mirror hanging across the room. He shook his head sideways and froze for a second or two, his mouth agape. Penélope was still peacefully sleeping. He closed his eyes once more and there were the mountains, soaring higher than Mount Everest, but with no snow on their summits. How odd! He thought. Astounded, he opened his eyes trying to regain his senses. How can I possibly see this while I'm awake? What is happening to me? Anxiously, he looked outside the porch window and saw the waving branches, blown by the summer breeze. He tried to catch his breath. It was as if he had seen a ghost. There, before him, lay a magnificent vista, a Utopia. He leaned over and whispered to his sleeping wife, “Penélope? Penélope, are you awake?” She stirred gently but didn’t answer. He tried to sort it out. He knew instinctively that the vision would vanish the moment he opened his eyes. The female chorus would probably fade away as well. Strange and wonderful! His heart raced, as he experienced the unknown. Curiosity overtook him. He had to see the vision and hear the melody again. There! There it is! Is this a hallucination? What is this place? His head sank backward onto the pillow. Mános saw the lake turn to a turquoise-green, and colors of autumn foliage adorned the mountains, just like in Vermont. He was awestruck. How beautiful! He could now see behind the mist mammoth waterfalls, larger than Victoria Falls, tumbling from the distant mountains painted with the colorful mist reaching high into the sky to form a breathtaking rainbow. He murmured to himself, “Look at those rays from the giant red star! No, this cannot be Earth! That star is huge, many times the size of our sun.” The way it reflected on the lake, its huge radiating arms of energy reached millions of miles out into space. This was not Earth, of that he was sure. But being so close to such a huge star, why was this place not an inferno? The planet had two stars. Above the horizon, was a smaller star. Mános remembered seeing the flames of solar energy from his own sun through a powerful telescope years earlier. They were impressive, but minuscule in comparison to these tongues of fire. The trees, taller than the redwoods in California, stood around the lake, their lengthy branches reaching down to stroke the crystal waters, with the gracefulness of ballerinas. They then soared back to their full height, shaking off the water to form a soft rain with scattered raindrops sparkling like brilliant jewels. The branches swayed in rhythm to the melody. A melody that might have been created by our greatest composers. They’re alive! Mános shook his head in disbelief, his eyes still closed. God in Heaven, what am I looking at? What are you showing me? The branches began to release their ripe fruits high in the air and at the same time, huge flying creatures descended from the golden sky. They looked like green-eyed eagles and storks, except they wore red, yellow, and blue-green feathers with wings more than thirty feet across. They seized the ripe fruits in the air and soared back up into the rainbow-painted sky. There were more than forty of them, circling high above, like African vultures. How beautiful! The tall trees were moving as if they were choreographed to the melody. He thought he was viewing a prehistoric planet, wondering to himself if any of the creatures of that Age like dinosaurs or Tyrannosaurus Rex would soon appear. Then, to his amazement, he saw a human male form on the hill, who turned and gave him a serene look. “Oh God! That looks like me! — It is I! What’s happening? How is this possible? This is not just a vision, I am there!” His frantic whispers should’ve awakened Penélope, but apparently, she was meant to stay asleep. Mános wondered how he could be there and in his room at the same time. He was standing on a small hill blanketed with purple grass and surrounded by orchid-colored trees. Had he been abducted, was he hallucinating or just having a crazy daydream? When he opened his eyes, he was still in his hotel room. He was ecstatic with what was happening, but at the same time, he did not want to lose that vision for an instant. He wanted to prolong its adventure, just so he could see the outcome. He closed his eyes and once more saw himself among the fruit trees that covered the hills. Some resembled earth’s fruit-bearing trees and others were alien. Large, conical shrubs with bright red leaves surrounded him. He felt the need to touch them and smell the fragrance of their lovely flowers, like giant roses with exotic, beautiful buds. The whole place exuded a haunting fragrance of roses and gardenias. As Mános strolled through his vision, he slowly turned to share a glance with Mános in the hotel room. It was as if his double, was smiling at him. Suddenly, a few of the flying creatures began to glide ever so gracefully near to where he was standing. He expressed no fear in spite their size. On the contrary, he eagerly reached upward trying to greet them. “How beautiful you are with your emerald-green eyes and your serene expressions. I can feel the breeze of your graceful wings on my face,” he whispered all the while, forgetting that Penélope was still sleeping with her head on his chest. If there had been a witness to this scene, they would have been convinced that Mános was having a drug-induced hallucination. He smiled at the feeling of joy that overwhelmed him. With his head bent over the flowers, he wondered if there might be other creatures much larger than these lurking about, since everything else in this place was of super proportions. But in his conscious mind, he knew that this was just a vision; he was not really there. Then suddenly, instead of large dinosaur-like creatures thundering toward the tropical garden, he heard the humming of a large chorus. It came from beyond the surrounding hills, and it harmonized with the melody of the trees while the female voices faded away, yet another surprise for him to cope with. Coming toward him by the hundreds were handsome male and female creatures, from every direction, congregating by the fruit trees and the flowers. They were all similar to humans, with extraordinary figures crowned with long, golden and brown tresses. Tall males and females, extremely handsome, and all of middle age. How strange, I don’t see any infants or young among them. Lord! Who are these creatures? What are you doing to me? Do they see me? They must. They look friendly like the birds. Look at their incredible faces. Mános continued musing to himself. He wouldn’t dare open his eyes. He feared that he might not see them again. They were approaching him. Oh! Yes, perhaps I might talk to them. But what would I say? Would they understand me? I know this is not earth. I'm sure of it. His curiosity, at its peak, now mixed with anxiety. He shook his head in amazement. He saw them slowly congregate all around him. They were all wearing the same golden-red and white garments as his, similar to the togas of the ancient Greeks. He saw the branches, leaning down for them to reach the fruits. The trees, the trees are alive! They’re feeding them. He turned to see a group leaning over to smell the perfume of the flowers, and the leaves, the large leaves, were embracing them. The serenade, it took his whole being. It was far greater than Borodin's Polovetskian Dances. The melody and chorus haunted him, filling his entire being with joy! Mános sensed another thing. I feel it, they’re communicating among themselves and the trees in silence, I see it. Oh God, nobody would believe this. Mános was blissful, enthralled; only in someone’s fantastic dream would an image like this appear. And yet he was awake in the midst of his dreaming; at the same time, both reality and fantasy coexisted on the same earthly plane, inside and outside his mind. The female creatures tossed him a friendly glance to put him at ease. A party of six moved directly toward him from the right side. “Oh, what beauty you behold, you’re incredible, stunning, I must touch you.” He turned and extended his arms with palms facing outward in the position of someone wanting to make contact. They all stopped in front of him and placed their palms on his. Each one reached and touched his hand to feel its warmth; they were of a different dimension, a transparent one. Mános, with a content expression, felt the tingle all over his body. They’re different, they are not solid flesh. After they toasted him with warm smiles, they walked down the hill to congregate by the lake, clear from the tall trees. He stood there watching them, his face painted with incredible sensation. He murmured, “Oh, If only Penélope could see this.” For whatever reason, Penélope remained in a deep sleep, completely oblivious to Mános’ whispers. He stood there looking up at the flying creatures, gliding in and out of the falling crystal raindrops, formed by the tall branches. They seized the fruits in the air as before and ever so gracefully landed near the humanlike creatures that cuddled them. Mános was now certain that he was placed in another world. This is surely Heaven, a paradise, a place of such serenity and beauty; it has to be. God? What is this all about? What does it mean? Why are you showing me this? As if this were not enough, all the creatures turned in his direction and lifted their hands in front of them as if in a greeting or farewell. At the same time, the haunting melody swelled into a crescendo of magnificent sound. He slowly lifted his hands in the same manner they did, and then brought them under his chin, nodding. From a party of five near the bottom of the hill, a female took a couple of steps forward. She first placed her hands on her forehead and then stretched them out, looking at him with the most loving of expressions. Who is she? She’s so beautiful! Mános mimicked her greeting and stared at her for a fleeting moment. The melody from the trees began to fade away, and another one, just as melodious, started to emerge from the distance, near the mega falls. All the creatures, including the female, slowly turned toward the new melody and began to ascend over the lake and the trees, floating toward the horizon. The flying creatures descended from high above to join the procession. It was as if new pastures were calling them. “They’re flying! My God! They’re flying over the lake, and the trees like the birds!”He was talking aloud. The last one to ascend was the stunning female.
Copyright © 2002-2009, Marko Lampas. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
