You may not have noticed, but there have been other characters present within the story of Flash Meridian’s adventures. They have been here all along, from before the beginning. Like that ghost of a whisper Flash had sensed before meeting Bucket, someone has been lurking in the shadows of every word.
Timo woke one morning with this very thought in his head. Like Flash Meridian, he lay in his comfortable bed. He faded between dreams and a room whose curtains blocked the light of a new day. The drapes were haloed by soft sunlight that seeped in around the edges. It was a friendly light that welcomed him. It was a patient light that allowed him to slip back into dreams, yet offered the possibility of parting the fabric and flooding the room with the full light of day.
Creatures were also present with him, nestled into the bedding, and occasionally making their presence known by shifting positions, or putting their faces so close to Timo’s that he could feel their warm breath on his cheek and nose, or the tickle of their whiskers on his skin.
One of these creatures was white, with black spots that seemed to move independently across his body when he walked, and the other being more eager to communicate, more anxious to play.
Another participant lurked deeper still, a shadow of the shadow beneath the words. While nearly invisible, they were the most important person in this story. Nearly invisible, yet I see you, dear reader, on the other side of the page.
You join with the fishlike aliens, flitting about in the air around me, sometimes sending messages from your table to mine, and I am grateful.
As Princess Aada grew, she looked more and more like her mother. In fact, some people had difficulty telling them apart. She is a piece of me, the queen explained at Aada’s birthday celebration, just as we are all parts of each other. We are all facets cut onto the jewel of the universe. When you see your own reflection, you look into the faces of your ancestors. You are the one they have been waiting for. Like the whales that once swam below the soil, we swim through a sea of each other.
As she said this, the holograms which flooded the state room began to dance and shimmer in the air. A sinuously winding shadow fell across and through the wall, causing flashes of light that sparked and blazed within the serene images. This was unlike the common movement of the whales that circled in a gentle loop. Aada stepped out onto the balcony, followed by her mother and her birthday guests. At first, she saw nothing unusual. Suddenly, a red dragon rose up against the castle wall, just feet from the outdoor platform. Aada’s hair blew back, and she recoiled in the wind and heat from the enormous beast. A familiar cry rang through the air. It was a jubilant yell. When the dragon turned toward them, Aada saw her brother on its back. Birthday blessings to you, sister, he called out. Here’s to many more happy days ahead!
Eeli! The princess shouted after him, come and have some cake!
He was already a speck against the cobalt plateau by this time, and when he doubled back over the crimson plain, his dragon seemed to vanish, camouflaged, as it was the color of rubies.
The slightly disheveled group went back indoors, feeling even more relaxed and unceremonious.
When Eeli returned to his suite in the castle, he found a piece of cake on his pillow. The decoration showed the curling form of a dragon, piped in red frosting.
When Flash thought of his previous life on Earth, he thought of it the way Buffy and Skip thought of their life on Olo before the whales broke free. Theirs had been a dull existence, without vitality. Asking questions was frowned upon, and having fun was forbidden.
I told you a while back, that when Flash orbited Olo on his first descent, he looked for anything unusual, and that it was all unusual. I haven’t told you what he saw on the other side of the planet.
He saw an ocean. Because Olo is so much smaller than the Earth, you might call their ocean a lake. While it was smaller than Earth’s oceans, it was larger than any lake on Earth. Call it what you like, it was a huge body of water that fed the silver rivers and lakes I’ve told you about already.
All of this water was breathable to people like you and me. There were many structures deep below the surface. Like the castle, this how the crystals came together when everything settled. These depths were largely unpopulated, leaving many more wonders to be discovered in time.
I can’t be sure, but I think the water may have once been at Olo’s core before everything was turned inside out. Perhaps the whales lived in this dark subterranean sea beneath the soil, like earth’s blind cave fish. This also might explain their initial white appearance. Your guess is as good as mine. This isn’t a science book. Science was largely rejected in those early days when rules were most important. You get the point. I know you don’t need a brick wall to fall on your head. A stone wall. A wall of jewels. Again, you get the point.
Prince Eeli was one of the more adventurous ones, and he enjoyed being one of the first to explore beneath the waves. He’d originally gone there on whaleback. He found the dragons there, and they quickly became his preferred mode of transportation, being so much faster and more acrobatic than the whales.
He would ride the dragons into the depths where they looked like giant seahorses. The buildings at the bottom of the sea blazed in ribbons of colored light, and danced in the currents, which distorted their forms in a dreamy way. They shone against a dark background, and streams of bubbles rose from them like ropes of diamonds. Figurative statues appeared to move, and Eeli was sure they were communicating an urgent, but secret message in a yet uninterpreted sign language. They were colossal, yet inviting, arresting the prince in a quiet and respectful gaze.
After the royal guests departed Olo, all of the gems they had swallowed were retrieved from the chamber pots in their suites. Not only were they clean, they sparkled more brightly, having been tumbled inside the visitors. These stones eventually went into the museum, being unique among the planet’s many gems.
Nothing was found to have been lost from the jewels after they had been smelled, tasted, ingested, tumbled and excreted. Flash read in the book that these rock eaters shared in the spirit of the stones. Perhaps those who don’t understand simply do not possess the particular receptors necessary to interface with them in the same way. Everyone is different.
The new wing featured an exhibit celebrating Olo’s pumpkins, which came in a vast array of colors and shapes. Most were grown for food, of course, but some were prized for their decorative qualities. They looked like bells and lanterns. Some appeared to have faces, not from carving, but natural countenances in a wide variety of expressions. Among these, some had the ability to talk. On Earth, this would be disconcerting, but then, buckets and metallic spheres aren’t usually known for intelligence on Earth, either. They didn’t eat the talking pumpkins. These more animated types interpreted the exhibit. No one worked for money on Olo, they just fulfilled their roles by being who they already were, doing what they would do anyway.
In the same way, the pages and other support personnel in the castle weren’t obligated to be there, or help out. They just did what they wanted to do, and that often involved assisting someone, or cleaning something.
Some Ololians love to cook. Others prefer to eat. It all works out. No one would judge anyone who preferred to lay in bed all day, but we’ve already gone over that.
You could drink a glass of pumpkin wine, and be welcomed into Mr. Pumpkinhead’s dreams.
Remember when I said the wine on Olo wouldn’t make you drunk? Well, if you imbibed Sylvia’s spaghetti squash wine, you would get pretty loopy. Still, everyone was welcome to try it.
One night, Aino stepped out into her garden and unfurled her wings. Yes, she had gossamer wings, like a butterfly. She usually kept them folded. Walking was her normal way of getting around. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it was that she didn’t want to show off. It wasn’t always the time to fly. It was different for her than it was for Bucket or the whales. They didn’t have legs for walking. She had a choice. On this particular night, Aino saw a bright light across the plain, and was drawn to it. Her wings seemed to have a mind of their own. She couldn’t have stayed on the ground if she tried. It was as though her wings flapped themselves. She found herself aloft, flying out toward the castle. The ground fell away below her. She weaved back and forth, up and down, and even made graceful loops in the cool night air. Her heart swelled as she felt the breeze on her face, and her meandering path led her towards the castle tower. She realized she wasn’t alone. The gift of flight was not uncommon on Olo, but on this night, many who usually walked on the ground found themselves looking down, like stars, from the night sky. Even Flash Meridian had once hovered here by surprise once.
The images on Olo’s surface were visible at night, not in intense color like they were during the day, but their outlines twinkled and shimmered gently as the crystals released absorbed light.
As she neared the tower, the air became busy with others who were also drawn to it. They circled the top of the tower, and the whole sky seemed to ring with laughter and squeals of delight. This was another of Olo’s celebrations. The top floor of the tower, just below the steep roof, was open, a viewing platform with a beacon that burned bright in every direction. Aino landed on the deck, breathless and almost blinded in the intense glow.
She heard a voice. Aino? When her eyes adjusted, she saw Jewely. His wings were nearly invisible, except for the way they reflected the light. They looked into each others’ eyes. The flurry of activity around them fell away. The commotion just vanished, and they were lost in that intentional, prolonged gaze. They couldn’t hear or see anything in the past. Nothing in the future, because they didn’t exist. This moment was all they had. All there was.
As morning light began to dilute the night, they leapt from the tower.
When Flash had plummeted from the sky onto the tail of the whale, he didn’t have wings to help with his descent. Nor had he realized at first that he was hovering in the air, and he didn’t make a decision to go back down. Still, he was safe in a situation he did not control. All this to say that it was not such a big leap of faith for Aino and Jewely to launch from the tower. Still, it was a thrill. Neither of them normally flew on their own. You’ll recall that Jewely rode the golden whale to the reef like mountains. Flight was reserved for those rare occasions when they had no choice but to fly. It was not a convenience, but a primal impulse.
A shuffling sound awakened Mr. Pumpkinhead one night. A full moon shone down on the pumpkin patch. He rose to the full height of his vine body and could see something moving near the tomato plants.
The pale light cast deep shadows in the blue air, but it was still too dark to see clearly. He lit the candle in his head, and the beam projected triangular puddles of light from his eyes and nose.
Sylvia, the enchanted spaghetti squash, walked in circles, muttering.
Mr. Pumpkinhead approached her and asked, Is everything ok? My head is full of noodles, she replied. I can’t find my way out of the garden.
Where are you going in the middle of the night? he asked. It’s day! she exclaimed. Look at how bright it is! It’s a full moon, he reassured, and helped her back to her bed where she fell asleep amongst the other gourds.
Now Mr. Pumpkinhead was wide awake and he was craving macaroni and cheese!
Up in his apartment, high in the castle, Flash opened the book. He was doing a little research before heading down to the banquet with his family. It dawned on him that the book had come home. Buffy and Skip had tossed it aside down on the plain the day he had met them, and so much had changed since then. Mad seemed to have more insight than Flash did, at least about certain things. The portraits appeared in the book as they were made. Looking at the images, Flash remembered how he was concerned, meeting the magenta alien in his dream. He had wondered what bad thing had happened, when he saw the drooping eyelid that partially concealed the milky iris of the alien’s eye. In reality, that drooping lid and seemingly damaged eye, was what that being considered their best feature. Mad looked over Flash’s shoulder, and pointed out that beauty is subjective. Daddy, she said, those things we see as flaws can become something that we love about ourselves. What we see as weaknesses can become strengths if we accept and embrace them. She was right. When Flash saw his own reflection, he saw an old man looking back at him. This was not a pleasant thought. What he didn’t see was that age brought experience. He had something to offer because of all the time he had spent doing and seeing amazing things. Mad had a freshness to her perspective that brought light to Flash’s understanding. He brought a seasoned perspective that had insight and value. There are things we can change, and things we can not change. There is nothing wrong with you, Flash said, turning to Mad and Luuu. I love you just the way you are.
His child and grandchild just smiled. They were used to this. Right, he said, glancing around the room. Are you ready to head downstairs?
Bucket and Poikani stayed behind with the sphere, and Flash swung the heavy door open. People were milling about in the bright corridor. Everyone wore fancy clothes and the whole castle was in a festive mood. Walking past a table, Luuu picked a gem from a silver dish, thinking it was karkkia, but then realized it was just an emerald. He put it back. They passed a sitting area, and heard laughter ringing out from a party visiting. They sipped goblets of the king’s wine, and they visited with him… not in the flesh, but he was there the way Flash’s inner child walked with him.
By the time they made it down the winding staircase to the ground level, they went right into the banquet hall, and were escorted to their seats, which were padded with soft velvet cushions. The vaulted ceiling danced with sparkling scenes of the guests’ home planet. The view dove into a canyon below, and seemed to hover and rotate, revealing Flash Meridian himself, sitting on an outcropping of rock, in conversation with a magenta person who resembled their king and queen. When the pink alien licked the rock face, the alien royalty stood, holding up stones that they clinked together in a toast. They tossed the crystals into their mouths, and everyone preset broke into cheers and applause, taking sips of their wine, or tossing karkkia into their mouths, too.
Course after course was served, and between them were speeches and holographic presentations. Everyone, young and old alike, was entertained and validated.
Flash addressed the crowd, recounting, as best he could, the conversation he had had in that dream. He also told of the rocklike giant he had met on the mountaintop, and then shared his daughter’s words. When he finished, he held his arms out toward the visitors before sitting down. The visiting queen stood, and took a big bite of salad. Yes, she ate a plant, and did her very best not to look disgusted. Her husband then stood and popped a red karkkia slice into his mouth, pretending it was an actual ruby. There was not a dry eye in the house. Skip stood, pulling Buffy’s chair back slightly, and they symbolically placed rubies into their mouths, but did not swallow. Those at the head table hugged each other, celebrating their differences, and finding true friendship and respect.
All of Olo was buzzing with the news that visitors were coming. Messages had been received that a ship was approaching. Flash read about them in the book. He had previously met one of their race in a dream (or was it a dream?), the magenta alien that was licking rocks. They wanted to taste the Ololian jewels. The king and queen planned a welcome ceremony on the plain, followed by a banquet in the castle.
As the ship approached, more and more people gathered at the tables, scanning the night sky for the first glimpse of them.
No one on Olo ate rocks, or even licked them. Instead, they carved the karkkia into the shapes of jewels, and served them on large platters. The treats looked just like gems, until you touched them. They jiggled when they were handled, and the sound of laughter rose up from the already joyful nocturnal gatherings beneath the stars.
At last, the spacecraft came into view, and excitement continued to grow over several days while the speck of light became more brilliant night after night.
It was daytime when they entered Olo’s atmosphere, and everyone gathered on the crimson plain. Everyone looked upward when a white streak appeared in the sky. It circled the planet, and when it reappeared, it was much lower, and clearly visible, glimmering against a clear blue background. The ship turned, in a descending spiral, encircling the plain. The crowd parted, leaving a landing strip in front of the entrance to the museum. The silver ship was so smooth, and so reflective that it was barely visible in the daylight as it touched down. It mirrored the sky on top, and the sparkling, multicolored stones below. It hissed. With a cloud of steam, a ramp lowered, and three occupants descended.
The king and queen greeted them first, welcoming them to Olo. They parted to reveal Flash Meridian standing next in line. Looking into their faces, Flash had a feeling of déjà vu. Besides the drooping eyelid, there was an unmistakable expression on their faces that Flash recognized. Here was a dream standing before him in the flesh. They were familiar, yet definitely alien. He had thought that his mind had pieced the red alien together from his experience, but clearly it had entered his brain by other means, the universal stream that ran through everything. Here were bits of him, or maybe he was bits of them. Anyway, they were bits of stardust meeting face to face.
The crowd was cheering and waving, but the aliens couldn’t take their eyes off the stones that stretched out as far as they could see. They licked their lips, and wiped their wet mouths. They were so close to the appetizing gems, and obviously distracted.
Pages stepped forward bearing selected jewels. They held velvet pillows which cradled emeralds, rubies, diamonds and other stones of every color. Help yourself, Flash invited.
The visitors leaned over, sniffing the crystals the way earthlings would look over a box of chocolates or a platter of Christmas cookies.
The first wore a suit of armor. Like the alien in Flash’s dream, he had appendages coming out of his head that looked like dreadlocks. The second wore a blue silk robe, and the third wore a blood red gown. They each selected a stone from the pillow. With closed eyes, they inhaled deeply, taking in whatever aroma the stones gave off. Some Ololian onlookers picked up gems and smelled, them. They shook their heads, smelling nothing, but the three travelers seemed to be in ecstasy, intoxicated by the scents they detected. They licked the crystals they held in their hands, and were overcome with emotion. One after another popped the jewels into their mouths, and swallowed. They gobbled up every stone from the pillow, and after that they were less distracted, more talkative. Flash had already read that the man in the blue robe was their king, and the woman in red, their queen. The third man was their bodyguard and pilot.
The dignitaries boarded whales, which transported them to the castle gate and deposited them onto the amethyst road. I should say gateway, or gate opening. There was no actual gate. They had never had a reason to close people in or out, so it was always open. A procession made its way up the winding paths from the plain to the castle plateau.
Flash and his daughter Mad, along with Luuu and Poikani, took another whale, while Bucket flew along beside them, cradling the sphere inside him. They went directly up to Flash’s balcony, since the royal party were having their portraits made before dinner.
Throughout the castle were bowls of gemstones, set out like candy dishes, which the guests savored, thanking everyone around them, and commenting on their deliciousness.
Skip asked Buffy whether there might be a shortage of gems after their new friends’ visit. She laughed and said Don’t worry, your majesty, we’ll get the stones back. They don’t digest them.
Buffy then approached the alien queen who was about to pose for her portrait. She produced a Ruby necklace and headdress. Leaning in to fasten the clasp, she whispered into her ear A little something for later, your majesty.
Flash went further and deeper. He knew he was well away from the castle. He had left the catacombs and was now in a natural cave system that was unlike the straight smooth tunnel. While it was still accessible, the subterranean path rose and fell, taking turns to the left and right. No art adorned these walls, and Flash imagined what art he or the child inside him could paint here.
Eventually, he turned and made his winding way back to the castle.
Poikani, Bucket and the sphere greeted him when he arrived back home. Daylight shone through the crystals, flooding his room with light and color, in stark contrast to his hike under ground.
Flash wore a ruby ring. It had been a gift from the king and queen. With just a quick glance, you could tell that the stone was a ruby. If you looked closer, you would see the facets on the surface. Looking deeper into the gem, you could see facets on the back side of the stone, through the cuts on the front. Turning the stone slightly would catch the light in a different way, revealing one flat face of the stone through another, flashing a spark through the rich, red hue. This is how Flash saw Olo. There was always more to discover. As with everything in the universe, the planet held secrets that it would slowly reveal if you only took the time to discover them. His inner child taught him that he could expose more facets of himself if he was open to acknowledging them.
All this to say that every new day on Olo was brimming with possibility.
Every once in a while, Flash thought of the mother ship, which was held in Olo’s orbit. It could be seen in the night sky, a speck of light that looked like a star, but brighter. He had no reason to go back to it, though he could. The yellow pod was stored near the castle. He could fly it to the other side of Olo, or anywhere he liked, but he preferred to travel by foot or by whaleback.
The hands that placed the stones in the castle structure, if they were hands at all, were invisible hands. Perhaps they were the same hands that created Bucket, in the beginning, as a special gift. The crystals dictated the structures based on how they fit together. In the case of the castle, this is how they settled after the whales emerged from beneath the planet’s crust. Everything that was Olo was rearranged. Some described it as the planet being turned inside out. Others thought of the castle growing from the plateau, with its roots reaching deep into Olo’s core. No one argued about it, anyway. There was a castle that towered above the mountain. Everyone could see it, and access it, particularly the courtyard. That was all that mattered. They couldn’t explain it any more than they could explain the glasslike spires, the crimson plain, or even the edifices that their own hands had had a role in assembling.
Within the castle, were private living quarters, where the royal family and others lived. There were more public spaces, too. There were great ballrooms where celebrations occurred. There were concerts and plays. There were feasts and presentations. Everyone was welcome. There were also more private events, because of course the castle was a home.
Whales circled the castle, swimming in the air and casting their shadows on the walls, which brought the holograms inside to life. On the shaded side of the castle, light was reflected off the whales creating similar, but opposite effects. This was all unintentional. The whales and the gems just coexisted in a symbiotic relationship.
Prince Eeli and Princess Aada weren’t hidden away. They could come and go freely. They were recognized, of course, and they were loved. Even the king and queen would be seen walking outside the castle walls. They were there to help.
Flash Meridian also lived in the castle, and he normally exited his apartment off the balcony. One night, he found himself wide awake, and he decided to take a walk indoors. He lifted the wrought iron latch and pulled the heavy door open. The corridor was lit by crystals. They sat in sconces between tapestries that hung on these interior walls. Dark beams arched above him in the vaulted ceiling, and he walked on thick carpet, which was woven with scenes and patterns depicting Ololian events and themes. He treaded silently in the dim but warm light, and couldn’t help thinking of the cave, which was adorned by a different kind of art. He knew his way through the castle, of course, but it looked so different at night. The hallway opened here and there to empty sitting areas, and alcoves that housed statues that seemed to watch him pass. At the end of the passageway, a broad, winding staircase spiraled down the interior of a tower. The circular wall twinkled with gems. Not only did the faceted stones reflect the light, but the crystals themselves glowed softly from within, having spent the day projecting forms into the interior. The stairs, like the corridors, were thickly carpeted, and Flash made no sound as he descended the vast height of the citadel.
Upon reaching the main floor, he entered the portrait gallery, which was dark, but for the pools of light that illuminated the faces in the paintings of the royal family.
Flash stood for a while in front a formal portrait of Buffy and Skip, the queen and king, along with Aada and Eeli.
The prince and princess looked so young. They grew quickly, as children do, and Flash sighed, remembering that day when his own daughter suddenly grew too big to hold anymore.
Another image showed the king and queen with baby Eeli before Aada was born.
Individual pictures showed the prince and princess as young adults, and Flash was reminded again of the rapid passage of time, which seemed to stop for a while in the rich solitude of this night.
Flash made his way deep into the castle, to a darkened recess whose back wall was a hidden doorway to another stairway. This was a dark space. He reached out slightly and felt the stone walls on either side as he went down into the mountain to the maze of tunnels below.
He passed through the wine cellars before descending into the catacombs. Racks of wine lined the walls, preserved in the cool darkness. Flash could just make out some of the calligraphic labels in the soft glow of a stone he carried. The dreams of the makers were safe and accessible in these bottles. He passed through room after room filled with bottles, and also stacks of barrels of wine made more recently by the king himself. These young wines would be brought up to the crimson plain on festival days, while the bottles would be served at dinner parties in the castle, or given as gifts.
Flash enjoyed exploring the less visited parts of Olo, inside the castle, in or above the forests, or deep beneath the planet’s surface. On sleepless nights like this, the whole world took on a different flavor.
On this particular night, he enjoyed the cool air, which grew colder the deeper he went.
Down here beneath Olo’s surface, Flash felt more connected to his inner child, who he had found in the cave. He also felt closer to his grandson Luuu, who had guided him there, and to his ancestors who had been laid to rest beneath the soil back on Earth.
I was going to tell you about the clocks on Olo.
Just kidding.
There are no clocks on Olo.
Ololians tell time by the daylight. They gauge mealtimes by when they feel hungry. They know it’s bedtime when they’re sleepy.
They do have something that looks like a clock tower in the castle. There is no clock, just a chime. The bells ring to announce things, but the main reason it is there is because people like the sound of it. They announce festivals and parties. It’s more of a celebration than an announcement.
As I’ve mentioned before, there are no schools or churches. That means there are no weddings or graduations, either.
One day, Flash went down to the courtyard for no particular reason. He just went down from his room high up in the castle because he enjoyed being there. He never knew who he might see, and if no one was around, he could sit and watch whatever stories the holograms happened to be projecting. It was a quiet day, and Flash enjoyed a steaming drink. The story of an artisan creating stone tools was displayed in the cool air. Of course these were Ololian rocks, so the tools were made from topaz, sapphire, chrysoberyl and diopside. The chips of mineral flew off in flashes of colored light. The bells chimed above him, enhancing the colorful scenes. The bells coincided with the striking of the stones, sounding like the ringing of the crystals being built into structures out on the plain.
After a bit, Eeli came out the door at the base of the tower. His eyes met Flash’s, and they smiled at each other. What are the bells announcing today? Flash asked. Aada thought she had lost her jukka, Eeli explained, but it only rolled under her bed.
That’s a relief! Flash said, and celebrated with her in his heart.
People came and went through the main castle gate, and the stories depicted in the holograms changed. One scene morphed into another. This was not at all like television or movie screens. Everything was three dimensional, and different characters might appear in opposite ends of the courtyard, populating the entire space. Characters might approach you and interact with you. It took some experience to differentiate the projected figures from the flesh and blood ones. Whenever Flash was in doubt, he would look for the darkest tones, as these areas tended to show the background through them more than the lighter, or more saturated hues.
A story began about the work on the museum. The bells in the tower provided sound effects for the component crystals being built into walls, and Flash thought about the construction of the castle itself, and particularly, the wall in his bedroom. Bucket would have loved to be part of that construction project!
You couldn’t tell what images these new walls might project. Even the builders didn’t know what the gems would show. They just placed them how they fit together.
Orange circles began raining down onto the amethyst floor of the courtyard, bouncing and slowly becoming spherical. They changed from discs into balls, and continued to develop into pumpkins, in celebration, one could assume, of the coming agricultural wing of the museum.
The pumpkins on Olo grow really big. The C. Maxima variety contain the largest pumpkins on earth, but the biggest of them would be dwarfed by an Ololian pumpkin! Several people lived inside pumpkin shells on Olo. One roasted seed would feed a whole table of people. The meat from the seed would be carved, the way a hotel chef might carve a beef roast.
The pumpkins would dream about how their rind would be carved. This was not scary to them at all. Some would get faces, some would get windows and doors.
After they were carved, their shell would dry, becoming hard and durable. They would leave the pumpkin patch to experience a whole new life on Olo.
Mommy and Daddy pumpkins would sing lullabies to their blossoms, and tell them stories about Mr. Pumpkinhead’s adventures. They dreamed big dreams, and I think this contributed to their huge size.
Flash often returned to the rainbow arch and cave. He enjoyed looking at the pictures in the cool air and gentle light of glowing crystals. Sometimes, he napped on the cave floor, and the paintings came to life in his dreams.
Something else also drew him back to this place. It was the crystal arch where he had sat with his grandson. Standing under the arch gave Flash a good feeling. Colored light beamed down on him blending not only the hues, but the temperatures. Standing in the intensely colored light, he felt that he were standing in a painting. He thought of the dream where he was swallowed up in his grandfather’s artwork. It was a comfortable place, but there was more to it. Something he couldn’t explain. Not everything needed an explanation, and who would he explain it to anyway?
As he thought this, he saw something move on the ground near his feet. Startled, he looked down. It was just the shifting colorful shapes. No, it moved again. The stones and soil were shifting. A jewel toppled as the ground beneath it pushed up.
Flash took a step back and watched. Perhaps this was something like a mole or groundhog, though Flash had seen other, far more unexpected animals, break out of Olo’s surface.
It dawned upon Flash that he had emerged in this very spot to reunite with his grandson after meeting his child-self in the cave.
A hand appeared, and then another, and soon a person climbed up and crawled out into the light next to Flash. He stood, and dusted himself off. Clouds of dust were illuminated in rainbow colors as they settled back to the ground. Hello, Flash greeted the man.
There was something oddly familiar about him, and the two men stood looking at each other for several moments, allowing the silence to hang with promise in the dazzling air.
A chill ran up Flash’s spine. Can you know a person you have never met before?
He stared into the young man’s eyes, and the man nodded his head slowly. He smiled, and Flash’s eyes welled up with tears. He didn’t know why.
The man looked down at his rumbled, dusty suit, and said I’m all dirty.
That’s ok, Flash said.
The man chuckled, and hugged Flash. His embrace was comfortable. Flash hugged him, too. I am Archy, the man said, I come from under the arch. My fingerprints are all over you!
It was true. Dusty handprints covered Flash’s clothes. Thank you for taking me with you to the stars. He chuckled again. You have carried us all with you on your adventures. You’ve taken us to places we never could have dreamed were possible.
Something else was moving, and caught Flash’s attention. They were flying in and out, over and under the arch. Dark against the sky and the crystal bridge, birds flew. Flash had not seen a bird since leaving Earth. They chased each other in a playful way, and Flash watched them in astonishment. They eventually lighted upon Archy’s shoulders, and Flash could clearly see their bright red breasts. Archy! Robins! He blurted out.
Archy just chuckled again and said Yes.
For my great-grandfather, Archie Robbins Miner, 1876-1942, and all of my ancestors.
Flash Meridian awoke one day, and watched the rippling light that trickled in around the drapes. His mind wandered back to Earth. He rarely thought about his former life there. The details were hazy and insignificant, like a dream. He didn’t feel any sense of loss or sadness. He just lived in the eternal now with no fear of the future and no regret or attachment to the past. They didn’t exist. The light that lapped against the walls and ceiling held all he needed to know. A new morning had broken, full of wonder and promise.
