I honor the place in you in which the entire universe dwells. I honor the place in you which is of love, light, peace and joy. When you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, we are one.

81 Cardiomyocytes

Flash Meridian and Peck explored the lifeless planet from above. The experience reminded Flash of footage he had seen of submersibles exploring deep ocean shipwrecks. The difference was that even the most inhospitable regions of earth teemed with life. Tube worms and blind shrimp crowded the edges of thermal vents deep below the surface of the sea. Here on Ino, no living thing stirred.

I’ve seen enough, Peck said, and so the pod rose, leaving the desolate landscape behind.

The mothership gleamed and blinked not only guide lights for docking the TNI2, but also a welcome to the travelers returning home.

The small craft once again chased its host ship in orbit until it was in position to slowly, gently dock and be secured into its moorings.

The silver hatch opened, and Lem peered down at Peck and Flash.

Anything? she asked, wide eyed.

Nothing, Peck answered.

They floated up into the cockpit of the mothership, and immediately noticed that something was different.

A bright object hovered above the control panel, and Flash recognized it as one of the sparks that swam like fishes after Lem and Peck arrived.

It was hard to see details, it was so bright, but Flash moved closer and his eyes adjusted. It did not look like a fish anymore. It looked like a human baby.

Flash instinctively pulled it close to him. He felt connected to it, and just stared at it.

He instantly felt a bond with it that he did not question.

I can’t explain it, he said to Lem, I feel so connected to it.

That’s because it is your child, Lem returned.

How is that possible?

Sperm and eggs are not the only cells that can make your children, Lem explained, this child was made from cells of your heart.

Time stood still for Flash Meridian now that his daughter had come into the universe. He found himself just staring at her, and everything else went away. Millions of years of evolution had led to this. He was destined to fly through space, and so privileged to see the wonders of the universe first hand, but his purpose was for the cells of his heart to have offspring. Flash always seemed to do things in an unconventional way. So what? His dreams were coming true.

As Flash sped back towards Olo, he passed Pangea, the ocean planet and the frozen planet, all of which were important on his journey, but he barely noticed. To Flash, the most beautiful thing in the universe was the little bundle of stardust he held in his arms.

80 Ino

Flash felt like everything was coming together for him. He just needed to stay the course.

The mother ship sped toward Olo, and Flash enjoyed the trip. Lem and Peck kept him company, and they looked forward to seeing Olo for the first time.

Midway through their journey, Flash noticed that Peck was staring out the window. He seemed distracted, so Flash asked him What is it, Peck?

That is our planet, Ino, he responded with what sounded like a whimper. Flash looked out and saw a gray sphere. It looked forlorn. Lem did not join them at the window.

Would it be safe to visit? Flash asked.

It’s a dead place.

Is it safe? Flash asked.

Peck only shrugged.

We would be safe in the TNI2, Flash offered, Would you like to see it again?

And so it was decided that they would visit Peck and Lem’s former home.

Flash was curious. Peck and Lem were filled with cautious nostalgia.

The planet looked empty. Its gray surface reminded Flash of Earth’s own moon.

Peck looked forward to seeing the old place again, and talked excitedly about what life had been like there, in happier times.

Lem remained quiet, and told Flash I know it won’t be the same.

Peck described carefree days playing with his friends, the cozy house he shared with his family, the lush green landscape.

Flash had a hard time picturing anything living on the barren sphere they were approaching. Even the atmosphere was gone.

We won’t touch down, he announced.

Flash parked the mothership in orbit high above the bland stillness of tiny Ino, and couldn’t help thinking of the first time he saw Olo. What Flash took to be destruction then, turned out to be rebirth. He longed for something similar to happen here.

So much sadness enveloped this place. It hung in eerie silence. Flash and Peck prepared to enter the TNI2 to pay their respects. Lem would stay aboard the mother ship. She looked through the hatch as the other two readied the pod. She stared, frozen, when she saw the view of Ino scrolling by below them.

Lem, he said, and reached up to stroke her soft neck. She turned away, the hatch closed, and the two felt a soft bump as the pod was jettisoned. They dropped with no atmospheric friction, and cruised over a desolate expanse of gray.

I don’t recognize anything, Peck whispered.

They flew over a plain of flat rock that was broken up by what at first looked like boulders or mounds. Circling the area, Flash saw openings on the other side of the features, and realized that they were structures. Buildings.

That is my home, Peck stated. Or was my home.

Rows of vacant buildings stood, crumbling, with empty doorways and windows that looked out to the nothingness, like open mouths and gaping eye sockets.

A ping sounded, accompanied by a message on the computer screen. Here in the endless night through which Flash traveled, he was reminded that back on Earth, in the cycle of day and night of his home planet, it was his birthday.

It’s never too late for a new beginning.

79 Arc

It occurred to Flash that he may have made a mistake leaving Olo. He understood that mistakes are only made in hindsight. In any given situation, we do the best we can, and when faced with a choice, the strongest motivator wins out. Buffy and Skip had been the only other residents, so there was no place for him. Now, those who had been dormant had risen from the ground, and many others had been attracted, as he had, to the beautiful little planet. Was he too hasty in departing?

He longed for the colorful planet which had attracted him since before its transformation, and he read in the pages of the Ololian book that its inhabitants longed for him, too.

An uneasiness came over Flash Meridian. He was no longer satisfied to be alone in the mothership which had been his home for so long.

Every second, he sped further from Olo, with no destination in mind.

He glanced at the K. D. head for a moment, and then instructed it “Take me back to Olo.”

The ship began a subtle but definite change of course, arcing in an enormous curve that would send him back in the direction he had come. Unlike the violent slingshot he had chanced in the original TNI, this was practically imperceptible. Not as agile as the TNI2, at least the mothership was maneuverable.

There was more gravity pulling Flash deep into the cushions of his chair, and his arms felt heavy, but when the ship eventually pulled out of the turn, everything seemed exactly as it had been before. Nothing had changed, yet everything had changed. For the first time since escaping the black hole, Flash knew where he was headed.

It would be a long trip, but not as long as a journey into nothingness.

The ship knew the way back to Olo, so, in a way, Flash felt like he was just along for the ride. He could eat, read, exercise and sleep while the onboard computer did all the work.

The trip now reminded Flash of summer vacations he took with his family when he was a child. Not only because of the anticipation he felt about his destination, but also because those were carefree road trips with his father at the wheel. His mother would say “Go to sleep, and when you wake up, maybe we will be at Grammy’s house.”

Flash was so anxious to arrive at his destination now, he told himself

“Go to sleep, and maybe when you wake up, you will be at Olo.”

Try as he might, Flash was unable to fall asleep. He reached for the book. Before opening it, he looked at the cover, remembering the day he retrieved it. It had been so precious to Buffy and Skip, and then they cast it aside. Now it had become precious to Flash.

He couldn’t understand how a book could speak so specifically to him, or how a book could write itself the way this one did.

Parts of the book read like movie scripts, telling of colorful characters and grand adventures. Other parts of the book read like an Ololian newspaper. Still other parts were like personal letters from loved ones. He could always find what he needed in the book.

One thing he never saw in its pages was a list of rules.

While Flash Meridian had lost all sense of time on his journey through space, his computer told him that it was mid November back on Earth. The thought of it conjured up memories of fall in the northern hemisphere, and Flash felt a wind blow autumn leaves across the wet pavement of his soul.

Flash Meridian remembered back to his childhood, sending cereal box tops off in the mail, to receive t-shirts or plastic toys. The day after dropping his envelope into the mailbox, he ran to greet the mailman on the front walk to see if his prize had arrived. Anxious days turned to tedious weeks, and eventually, when he’d nearly forgotten about it, a package would show up. This is how he felt now. The universe had changed for him. What had seemed a vast, impersonal sea of loneliness, had now become alive with hope and anticipation. Flash actually believed that his dream of companionship and love would come true, as unlikely as it seemed. There had already been times when he asked for, and received things that had seemed impossible. Peering with wonder into the screen before him, Flash saw his own reflection superimposed over the twinkling array of nearby stars and distant galaxies. His other-worldly friends were right. He was unlikely. Here was the stardust that made up his body, contemplating the stardust that surrounded his ship. The thought of it made him smile. The fact that he was here, and knew he was here, told him that nothing is impossible.

Flash Meridian was all alone, and yet, he never felt completely alone because of the memories he carried. Everyone he had ever loved had left their fingerprints on him, and he bore a piece of them on his very being. His ancestors were also present within his very cells, and in this way, they traveled with him among the stars. Still, he couldn’t help longing for another person, with all their ancestors and fingerprints to accompany him and enhance his experience.

Little did he know, someone else was gazing out on the universe asking for the same thing.

Flash had been adrift in space so long, it was a wonder that he had not gone crazy. He was aware of feelings of loneliness, but this was far overshadowed by a sense of awe and anticipation. In fact, he felt that a wonderful change was about to take place. Sometimes, he felt a presence with him in the cockpit of his ship. Sometimes, he thought he saw someone out of the corner of his eye, but when he glanced toward the apparition, there was nothing there. Peck and Lem seemed oblivious to the visitant, and Flash believed his mind was playing tricks on him. This was not surprising, and yet, what tricks! The phantom seemed almost palpable, and it was accompanied by something vaguely familiar, the musical murmur he had investigated earlier. Perhaps he was going crazy after all.

MEANWHILE:

Back on Olo, Buffy and Skip thrived in their renovated environment. They had taken up residence in the castle where they raised their family, and many others came to Olo to live in their beautiful world. Buffy and Skip ruled with kindness and compassion. Their domain was characterized by open-mindedness and fairness. Their royal scepters were topped with rubies that captured the light of nearby stars and bathed them in dancing light. These were the very crystals that Flash had shown them on the day they met.

From time to time, the whales returned, in greater and greater numbers. Olo was their breeding grounds, and their arrival was always met with celebration. The Ololians would gather on the crystal plain, retracing Flash’s first walk on Olo’s surface. The whales congregated in the air above them, rolling and dipping down, allowing the people to climb onto their backs. The older whales taught this behavior to their calves, and seemed to enjoy it as much as the people on the ground.

Flash Meridian was also remembered in festivals and feasts, and some residents believed he would someday return. They sent him messages. Some did this aloud in solitude, some gave speeches before any who gathered. Others sent their thoughts to Flash non-verbally.

Flash was aware of all this, because the events of Olo appeared in the book, which was the one progressive source of entertainment and news available to him.

Physically, he had moved on from Olo, and yet he felt a strong connection to it, as he did for all of the places he had visited on his journey.

The mer creature, the wooly mammoths the Shepherdess of the stars, as well as Peck and Lem, Ash and KD, were all woven into his daily thoughts. They were an integral part of his life.

---

He was at home in the universe, neither lonely, nor out-of-doors, nor afraid.

George MacDonald

---

The universe is folded up within thee.

BAHA’U’LLAH

---

77 Wait

Flash seemed to hover, as he often did, between the waking world and the realm of dreams. He looked out, from the vantage point of his comfortable chair, thinking about how light the universe was.

Before he ever broke free of Earth’s gravity, he had imagined space to be very dark… Pitch black. It was anything but that!

He was startled by a call coming in over his radio. At first, he thought he was dreaming. It had been so long since anyone had attempted to contact him.

He jumped up from his seat still feeling sleepy, and excitedly answered the transmission.

“Hello! Hello!” he nearly shouted into the microphone.

All he heard in reply sounded like panting, and so he said again, “Hello! Is anybody there?”

Now, garbled sounds came through, sounding like an alien language. The call had an air of desperation, so Flash Meridian did not give up.

“This is Flash Meridian,” he said, “do you read me?”

The sounds changed again and again, each time they responded to his voice, they were slightly more intelligible, as if someone was learning from his voice.

At last, he could understand the words. It was a cry for help.

“Can you understand my speech?” She asked.

“Yes, perfectly,” Flash replied.

“Good. I will now instruct my people so that they may also communicate in your tongue.”

After a moment of silence, Flash heard other voices, only this time they were not coming through the radio. They were coming from within the cockpit. He turned and saw that the two creatures who had joined him earlier could now speak to him aloud.

“Our queen has granted us the gift of your language,” said one of the creatures.

“My name is Peck, and this is Lem,” he said, motioning to the white creature with its migrating spots.

“Wonderful!” Flash exclaimed. It had been a long time since he had had a real conversation.

“We’ve lost our home,” they told him, “we’re not wanted anywhere.”

“I want you here,” he said, “You’re welcome to stay. I only wish there was more I could do for you.”

He wanted to erase their pain, to make up for all of the suffering of their people.

As time passed, Flash grew very fond of his new companions. He enjoyed their company, and they enjoyed his. Sometimes they talked, but most of the time they just enjoyed each other’s presence in silence. During these times, they seemed to communicate telepathically, or at least non verbally.

In spite of this, Flash longed for something more. “What you really need,” said Peck one day, “is another of your own kind. We can accompany you, and we are grateful that you took us in.”

Lem chimed in, “We will be loyal and love you in our own way, but we are so different that our relationship is limited.”

“There are none of my kind here,” Flash answered wistfully.

“How can you be sure?” Lem asked. “You are here. You are made of stardust. Who is to say that other stardust has not formed itself into something like you?”

“It’s so unlikely,” mused Flash.

“So are you,” came the creature’s reply.

This thought filled Flash Meridian with a new sense of hope. He had always believed in the power of visualizing potential… in asking the universe for what he wanted or needed. Perhaps if he wished hard enough, his dream of companionship would be realized, even out in the depths of space. Or maybe he simply needed to ask. What did he have to lose?

“Dear Universe,” he began, “if it’s not too much trouble, please bring me someone like me, to love, and to love me in return. Thank you very much for your cooperation in this matter.”

Flash glanced at Lem and Peck, who stared at him quizzically.

“It works,” he said, and shrugged.

He felt a little silly, asking for something so grand, so… unrealistic. Still, he was happy to have witnesses.

“I’m putting positive energy out there,” Flash explained, hoping he would get points for making himself accountable.

“Now what?” Peck asked.

“I guess we wait.”

The Budget Shop at the Recycling Center came through for me again! I got this box for 35 cents today. It reminds me of a scene from Episode 52: Kaliedoscope.

76 Happy Dream

In memory of T Boy, who spiraled (to the left) to the great goldfish bowl in the sky 8/20/15

Flash Meridian was thrilled to have company. He had sought in vain for others on the diminishing planet he had left behind. Now he wanted to know more about these two companions who had joined him. He tried to focus his thoughts into questions. This was difficult because of the stream of communication coming from them. Or rather from the one who arrived second, in the blue cloud.

He attempted to channel questions like “What is your name?”, but it was hard to concentrate. His head started to hurt a bit, and so he diverted his gaze from the pair. His eyes fell upon the Ololian book, and he grabbed it up in the hope that it held some insight.

Unfortunately, the book could not give him a glimpse into the future. It did, however, give details of the history of his new companions. They were refugees, and many of their kind had been killed.

As Flash read from the book, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Some of the sparks lingered, hovering in the dim light of the cockpit. They had begun to move. Not in the way a spark would normally move, shooting up, arching, and then dropping to the ground. The only way he could describe it was that they seemed to be swimming. Some moved together like fish in a school. A few darted about on their own. In time, they became less and less spark-like and more and more fish-like. He was fascinated by their antics, and felt calm watching them. One was white and made tight spirals to the left as it gradually came to rest on the floor. It would settle there for a time before spiraling up again, in tight circles to the left. Another one “swam” behind the ion beam rectifier, and then Flash’s heavy eyelids closed. He drifted off to sleep.

In sleep, he dreamed that he could speak to, and understand the other two creatures that had joined him. It was a happy dream full of love and fishes that swam through the air.

Space flight was fraught with challenges. On his journey, Flash Meridian had encountered mechanical failures, bitter cold, alien attacks, exploding planets, nightmares, and always the threat of the unknown. Crises had to be dealt with, of course. They made up the nuts and bolts of Flash’s reality, and in a way, gave him a purpose for being out here at all. More difficult, were the doldrums, in which he faced his own loneliness and at times even boredom. It could be tedious, looking out on the seemingly changeless enormity of his window on the universe. Or more suffocatingly limited, his view within his tiny cabin. It occurred to him that the problem was one of time. A human life was just too short to outlive the distance he hoped to travel. For this, he would be forever grateful to the Shepherdess of the Stars for pointing him toward the black hole. Without her, he would never have visited Olo.

When Flash felt the darkness growing inside of him, he retreated to the world of dreams. Here was a boundless realm of possibility, encompassing everything he had ever seen and heard, and always full of surprises.

Now, as he drifted off to unconscious adventures, he had companions, one at his side, and another curled in his lap, purring. Sparks were his nightlight, emulating the starry sky as they swam, orbiting the cockpit, and lulling him into restful sleep.

Flash’s eyelids closed, and his mind scampered off, leaving his body behind in the mothership.

He found himself walking through a field of tall, dry grass. Acres of waving gold danced in the wind around him, and it looked a bit like the surface of a yellow lake. As he walked, something stirred, and rose up from within the growth in front of him. A great grey owl rose silently before him, beating its huge wings against the crisp autumn air. He could see the details of its feathers clearly in the bright sunlight, flecks of black in a field of snowy white and soft gray. Up it flew, like a phoenix rising from the flames of the golden grass. Flash watched it as it circled the field, and then went off into the distance becoming a smaller and smaller speck against the cloudless sky, and vanishing from his sight.

He walked on, until he came to a weathered fence with rusted wire, and saw beyond that, the back of a barn. This was the farm where Flash had lived as a child. He wanted to run to it, and jump in the pile of hay that spilled out from the hayloft, but even as he felt this longing, the scene changed.

Flash now found himself straddling the side of an inflatable raft, which was being tossed upon the breakers. He was not alone, but he could not see who was with him. It took all of his concentration to keep from toppling off into the foaming waves. Salt water crashed all around him, thundering and drenching him. He heard the others shouting, some had paddles in their hands and tried to control the rubber boat as it was thrown over the rocky reef. The surf sparkled, and Flash was engulfed in the spray.

Suddenly, he was thrown from the raft into the sea. He pushed against a large rock to get to the surface, and his foot was filled with sea urchin spines.

Opening his eyes, Flash found himself gasping for breath, and was relieved to find that he was safe and dry, in his chair in the familiar cockpit of his spaceship. His feet were buried in the soft fur of the hide he had collected on the snowy planet, and the K. D. Head clicked. Friendly creatures slept next to him, and Flash Meridian felt content.