The Search
We walk through the wilderness that is strangely enchanting and foreboding at the same time. Its time to say our goodbyes and go our separate ways and hope to meet again, vain that hope may be. Weary travellers who fate chose to bring together and fate now chose to separate in one strange search.
Moving through the thickets I let them know that I am there. I make no attempt to mask my presence knowing fully well that stealth isnt what you need here. This is their territory, used to be mine too in another day. I follow the trail that I know has long gone cold. I no longer frequent these places like I used to. I make the odd foray from time to time when required. I wonder how my friends are doing in the other realms and not for the first time wish I would make that first trip to those places. I reach what is presumably the end. A clearing is all that exists where the dwelling once did.
I light a fire and settle down near it and wait for them. The years might have passed but the code seldom changes. After a while I see them emerge into the light from the fire, the guardians of this kingdom. The faces behind the mask and the people behind the clothing might change with unnerving regularity but the values remain the same. You can make out the newbies in their zealous pursuit to assert themselves while the old ones communicate in the confident assured manner that only they can. Their leader asks me who I am and what I am doing here. A few minutes later, convinced, he directs me to the place I need to go. As I leave to continue the search I can picture her, shaking her head disapprovingly at this and sporting that piercing look which could stop anyone in their tracks.
At the best of times there is an uneasy relationship that exists between this world and the other. There is knowledge and skill here that is unmatched and for the most part unheard of. Embedded deep in these woods is information that is potentially explosive. This is the breeding ground of the new and the novel. Strangely it mirrors the other world while being totally different. A completely different set of rules run this place. But rules nevertheless and that doesnt sit well with me. It might be a parallel administration, might even be a better administration but an administration invariably.
A thousand thoughts run through my mind, each with its own separate thread of consciousness and associated images. A walk through these places has a way of doing this to you. I remember a line that once went something like this, "Once infected by our alien thought virus, you will never be quite 'normal' again... You will begin to mutate, morphing up to a higher level, our level, beings whose abilities cross universes, transcend cultures, break free. Finally understanding the true beauty of sharing. Or you may sink down into insanity... Dare YOU take that risk ?" I took exception to the concept of a higher level but liked the rest. I tell myself this isnt the time to be thinking of thought-viruses(memes).
Soon I reach the place I was told of. As I enter the swanky building I realise that the leader was not off the mark. I had been sceptical when I had first seen the place. Gone were the days of ramshackle makeshift encampments that dotted the landscape, it would seem. Entering it I hear familiar voices and languages. This is indeed where I needed to be.
Moving through the thickets I let them know that I am there. I make no attempt to mask my presence knowing fully well that stealth isnt what you need here. This is their territory, used to be mine too in another day. I follow the trail that I know has long gone cold. I no longer frequent these places like I used to. I make the odd foray from time to time when required. I wonder how my friends are doing in the other realms and not for the first time wish I would make that first trip to those places. I reach what is presumably the end. A clearing is all that exists where the dwelling once did.
I light a fire and settle down near it and wait for them. The years might have passed but the code seldom changes. After a while I see them emerge into the light from the fire, the guardians of this kingdom. The faces behind the mask and the people behind the clothing might change with unnerving regularity but the values remain the same. You can make out the newbies in their zealous pursuit to assert themselves while the old ones communicate in the confident assured manner that only they can. Their leader asks me who I am and what I am doing here. A few minutes later, convinced, he directs me to the place I need to go. As I leave to continue the search I can picture her, shaking her head disapprovingly at this and sporting that piercing look which could stop anyone in their tracks.
At the best of times there is an uneasy relationship that exists between this world and the other. There is knowledge and skill here that is unmatched and for the most part unheard of. Embedded deep in these woods is information that is potentially explosive. This is the breeding ground of the new and the novel. Strangely it mirrors the other world while being totally different. A completely different set of rules run this place. But rules nevertheless and that doesnt sit well with me. It might be a parallel administration, might even be a better administration but an administration invariably.
A thousand thoughts run through my mind, each with its own separate thread of consciousness and associated images. A walk through these places has a way of doing this to you. I remember a line that once went something like this, "Once infected by our alien thought virus, you will never be quite 'normal' again... You will begin to mutate, morphing up to a higher level, our level, beings whose abilities cross universes, transcend cultures, break free. Finally understanding the true beauty of sharing. Or you may sink down into insanity... Dare YOU take that risk ?" I took exception to the concept of a higher level but liked the rest. I tell myself this isnt the time to be thinking of thought-viruses(memes).
Soon I reach the place I was told of. As I enter the swanky building I realise that the leader was not off the mark. I had been sceptical when I had first seen the place. Gone were the days of ramshackle makeshift encampments that dotted the landscape, it would seem. Entering it I hear familiar voices and languages. This is indeed where I needed to be.
3 Comments:
good stuff buddy... i wish you could build this up into a longer short story :-)
thanks soray ...;) It was actually written to be a part of a story... made a few changes to what I had written a few years ago..
@vikram -- thanks for the compliment.. i avent spent too much time on ur blog yet.. coz of time constraints.. end of the semesters are always insane.. but from what I've read (the one on navigation) u urself are a very good exponent of the written word.. keep writing.. :)
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