Chapter Eighteen. The Tree.

Alfred Warbling continued to explain his awakening~



"Tio's head had been buried for three weeks and reports came from as far away as Riobamba that sprouts of the Jatoba tree were pushing through the jungle carpet of leaves and humus.



While new growth of Jatoba was establishing itself, my awareness of knowledgelessness was also taking root. What do I mean by knowledgelessness? That which comes before knowledge and swallows it joyfully.



Derby, there is a reason for everything but not how religions explain it. Not like predestination or right and wrong. The reason things happen for a reason is because there is nothing like logic except in your head. Everything is connected and everyone gets to where they're going. SPIRIT only moves in one direction. Everything pushes up. There is no collapse. Brick on brick. There is constantly a new sum total.



Does this mean all mystery is known? Heavens no my boy! If the final mystery was known there would be no art. Have you ever thought about that? Just let one question remain. That's it. Only one. As long as there is one unanswered question, there will be beauty. But if all was known, there would only be bland colors and no flavor to delight in. Sleep on that tonight and savor your next meal after fasting."



Alfred went away from me and a cascading waterfall crashed through my being. I shook as I wept uncontrollably. Mechanically, I started packing a small bag. Still moving like a robot as the undulating knowledgelessness shrieked and pulsed through me. Shadows flashed on my occipital monitors. My ego thoughts created phantom visions of devils and men in business suits, naked zombies and women of ill-repute, dismembered children and sick animals. There were also feelings of pleasure and thoughts of vast riches, luxurious dinners and extravagant liesure.



But the basis for this violent, tumultous uproar in me was an energy that was revamping and restructuring my essence!



As I spoke the instructions, "Requiem City" to the navigator module and felt the lurch of the electron propulsion system, I remembered why I had to visit. Though the pine forest had long ago vanished, there remained the "One Pine" which was cared for as a museum in a huge parking lot, to accomodate visitors who craved communion with the most beautiful tree in the USASSR.

Laying back in the photon cruiser I watched this energy within me. Similar in feeling to witnessing storming rain and an electrical light show from behind a glass storm window, the sparks and flashes resonated at familiar octaves. The grief and fear and worry and anger and self judgement were being replaced with hope and courage and strength of conviction.

"So when you approach a tree," I remembered the voice of a traveler who was explaining the interconnectedness of all life, "first ask for permission to touch it. Would you like it if someone came up to you and started rubbing your leg as if you were a lump of coal?"

Rarely had I followed through with my lesson. There were still groves of trees, I have them comfortably tucked away in my memory, when I was a boy. They were there for climbing and for shade but I could not for the life of me remember ever honoring them for their ancient SPIRIT.

"They are aware of you but they're cautious of the human." The traveler was 1/16 Cherokee Indian. His ancestors were from the pre-ancient time. "They patiently have watched our progress and our transgressions. But they accept SPIRIT on a one-to-one basis. If you honor them, they will honor you.

So as I sped through hyper-space, the vision of a new world swirled in my mind. The flood of PIS information was calmed to a trickling stream. I imagined Keya talking to us with a wet cloth on her forehead, from a rickety bed with a lumpy down mattress.



"And you were there, and you were there."

Zol, the indomitable wizard was transmuting into a metaphor!

"Requiem City..." the voice of the photon cruiser announced my arrival and the pod door opened with a smooth gliding motion.


"Hello Duchess," I greeted the pine. Tall and straight and majestic and beautiful beyond description in so many inexplicable ways. Though abandoned and taken for granted, she was still home to a teaming life of family and species far too many to name. I realised as I kneeled at her side that I'd always cherished her unborn wisdom. This was a love before time. An unending love.





"We'll have each other forever Derby," said the most beautiful tree that has ever lived. The vibration of her voice rippled across my tendons and flowed lava like across my skin. This was the first time "Duchess" had talked back to me! And I knew that the story was about to radically change for the better.