After seeing the shooting star that lit up the past evening sky, she said her nightly prayers and went to bed. A few hours after midnight, she was awaken by a humming noise. She though it was the rainbow acorn again, but the sound wasn‟t coming from that direction.
Instead, the humming was coming from the ceiling above her bead. It was a soft sweet sound. She was looking at the ceiling wondering where the sound was coming from.
Gabriel, the Arch Angel appeared floating down through the ceiling.
The angel was wearing a green robe, and a gold crown with diamonds and rubies.
He was holding and playing a silver harp. Jessica took a wash towel that was next to her bed and moisten her forehead. She was wondering if she was getting sick again.
Gabriel then spoke to her directly so there would be no misunderstanding on what he was about to say to her.
“Listen to me, Jessica, for it is extremely important what I am about to say to you. You must leave the Industrial city immediately at first daylight and go to the town of Nothing, Arizona. You must take the celestial scarf and rainbow acorn with you. You must travel alone. Remember my holy child, that you a true daughter of the light and your path will forever be shinning before you. Go now in peace and be brave within you blessed cause.”
The angel then faded into the air leaving a fragrance of pure jasmine and rosemary in the air.
“Here we go again”, said Jessica. Nothing arizona. Nothing arizona is 100 miles N.W.
from the industrial city. The industrial city was where Phoenix Arizona use to be. “There is nothing there in Nothing, AZ. I really mean it.”
She remember the dream she had when she almost died in the hospital unit.
I remember Mr. bones and the Apache medicine women that she met in Nothing, but that wasn‟t real. It was only a dream. It seems that my dreams and reality were starting to blend into one reality. Where do dreams start and reality begin? Isn‟t dreams just an alter state of conscious reality of true inner awareness.
Even though, her mind hesitated, in her sacred heart of her soul, Jessica knew that she had to go. She would have to leave her friends behind. She had a backpack that she use at the biosphere. She put in enough provisions for two weeks. She then needed an environmental protections suit. She knew of one at the biosphere that she could borrow.
Maria and Joseph would worry about her, so she decided to write them a letter telling them where she was going to travel to. The last thing she did was retrieve the rainbow acorn from its hiding place along with the celestial scarf. Getting out of the industrial city was the easy part, getting back will be the challenging part.
Security drones order to kill anyone coming into the city due to the potential of further viral or radiation contaminations from partial dead zombies.
On public television video, they showed a mutant zombie captured and was then put into a vaporization chamber to be vaporized. They wanted to make a strong point and place the whole public community on notice. It was easy for Jessica to get back to the biosphere and put on one of the environmental protection suits. There was a stun gun in the cabinet also. Jessica did not hesitated and put the gun into her jacket. She also took a long knife and place it into her boot outside her sock. I truly feel like the original tomb raider as she finished dressing for her journey into the wilderness of the desert Sonora.
Jessica left a personal note for Maria at the biosphere and then boldly started her journey to Nothing, Arizona. She knew that the journey was going to be very hard and difficult for her. There was no shelter from the harsh environment except for a bed roll and solar blanket that she had taken with her. As she left the city limits, she notice how red the sand was and the dust that was in the air from all the recent sand storms. “I could be just as well walking on the plant Mar‟s then old mother earth”, she thought to herself out loud.
Mar‟s was no the last thing on the Commander‟s mind. The reentry pod had a very tough time getting through the harsh Earth atmosphere. The parachutes did opened up. The batter and bruised reentry pod slowly fell to the earth over a state call Arizona . The pod was like a red hawk‟s feather as floated in the sky. The pod landed hard, and skidded on a flat desert mesa.
The commander open up the hatch and immediately starting coughing. There was red dust in the air and an unbearable heat that was drilling down on his shoulder. In the pod, there was an air respirator and an environmental jumpsuit for such harsh climates. He retrieved them, and put them on immediately which took away the unbearable discomfort. The commander then took all of the food and water provisions that were in the pod plus he pulled all of the rechargeable solar batteries. The solar batteries were the only thing of value left on the pod and he may need them for power later on.
The commander looked in all four directions to determine which way he should go.
He then realize that he could go in any of the four directions. Each path, Each direction would be a different path for me. “Well, my intuition says to go South, so South it is.”
There was a dead saguaro cactus next to the pod. He went and pulled one of the spines out that he had decided would be an excellent a walking stick. A small lizard came out of the saguaro. “Hello little guy” You look like you are the only living animal out here.” He than spate on the ground and started his journey by walking south.
The rebel leader got his top followers together to explain what he was going to do We are going to deactivate the entire drone complex today, and take over the leadership that is in control of the industrial complex.The rebel leader was leaving the hospital today with outpatient therapy to finish up. The man with the toothless grin came up to him, and gave him the ivory skull. The rebel leader said, “Nice work and gave him pat on his shoulder. See good old Joe, cooperated after all”
As he was being wheelchair out of the medical unit, he ask for his cell pone to be returned to him. He just had to simply make one phone call to activate all of the resistors in the drones. Once the phone was place in his hand, he dialed the tactical number and hit the enter key. He could immediately see small explosions within the industrial center, and the power grid itself went out of control. Unknowing to the Rebel leader, the final solution set the self destruct sequence of the Industrial complex into place.
“One step, two step, three step four.” “I can‟t believe that Nothing Arizona was ever put on a map.” The wind was hallowing now against Jessica body. She started to look like a walking sandman like a phantom in a mist of reflections of sunlight. Jessica inner self was focus and determined by an iron will. Once she has decided on a given action then normally nothing would get in her way. She doubled checked her respirator and environmental suit and continued her trek towards Nothing, AZ.
She remember seeing an old TV series where people could just beam from one location to another in just given seconds. Now that would be something to experience and would be fantastic to have on this occasion. She continue taking steps towards Nothing and maybe the lovely Mr. Bones will still be there.
Jessica knew that it would take her at least two days of walking. She already felt tired and it has only been the first 1/2 mile. The industrial city was now totally out of site. She hopes that Maria and Joseph will understand why she had to leave them and go on this journey.
There were no longer any roads for her to follow, so she was using a hand held GPS unit to guide her that she borrowed from the biosphere labs. When the archeologist went out searching for dormant plant seeds, they normally took one along with them and were stored in the lab for further usage. I am positive that they would understand my mission of this exploration and would be happy for me to have one.
The day was now already half gone. So far the scenic views of her trip were some half destroyed building structures and bridges that were once freeways. As clouds of red dust continued to push against her, she saw large pieces of garbage blowing like tumbleweeds in mid air making strange shadows against the ground in front of her.
She did started to notice something interesting. About every quarter mile, there were stones that started to glow that give out a soft tone as if they were given to her by the Angels as guideposts for help.
She suddenly stopped. There was a canal that was blocking her path. She looked down at the canal and it was at least a three hundred foot drop that she wouldn‟t be able to cross .
“This roadblock is now going to be adding miles to my journey.” She sat down in the thick red sand to think her next steps were going to be.
An inner voice came to her and said, “You can cross the river bed with just your faith alone.”
Jessica was surprise to get this message. “I see, I can just be like superwomen and fly across the canal untouched by gravity.” Jessica went up to the edge of the canal and it was definitely a long and hard drop to the bottom.
She then saw a small spirit girl in an Easter Pink dress with tiny black satin shoes twilling and spinning. “Do you like my new clothes”.
Jessica smiled and said, “Yes, I do, you look very beautiful” “So you have been sent to me to teach me how to walk over the canal by faith alone. “
“Yep”, the little girl said with an inner glee and a sparkle in her eyes. “Just hold my hand, and walk with me”
Jessica, held the girls hand and she couldn‟t stop laughing to herself. The spirit girl then did a dramatic hop in mid air and instead of falling into the canal a piece of a land bridge appeared. “See, how easy it is”. Jessica than took a step carefully on the bridge and it glowed, just like the guideposts did. It seems to hold her weight, so she put her whole weight on it and it supported her weight. The little girl clapped her hands and took another step, and another piece of the bridge appeared. The little girl then started playing as if she was doing the old game of hopscotch. Pieces continued to appear. and Jessica and the spirit girl jumped and played all the way across the canal.
Once on the other side, the spirit girl smiled and said her final goodbye to Jessica.
“Thanks for playing, you always had the faith inside of you. You just needed me to bring the innocent little girl deep inside of you back out to play.” Jessica laughed and the spirit girl gave her a hug before fading back into another dimension of time and space. “This is going to be a very interesting adventure:, Jessica said to herself. She picked up her traveling bag and started back on her trek towards Nothing, Arizona.
The astronaut commander wasn‟t having the same type metaphysical journey that Jessica was having. He was still heading south and unaware that he too was heading towards Nothing, Arizona. Science and Faith were now in a direct alignment to each other. Yin and Yang of a destiny towards a higher calling and the crossing of the stars and plants above.
“What happen to our Earth?”, the astronaut said while making his steps. One trip and fall would mean a broken bone and it seems to him that there would not be any type of medical assistance near by. He had turn his navigational pod alarm before he left so if there was a rescue party sent out for him by mission control. They would be able to find him in minutes.
For miles, he hasn‟t been able to see or find anything but a few rusted pieces of metal. He stopped and to his left he saw something that look like a metal sign that was turned over.
He went to the sign and turned it over. The sign said, “under construction”. The sign had bullet holes through it as if it had been used for target practice. His mind has been in a constant chatter since his reentry back to earth. He thought about his wife and children and how did they get through this madness that he was now seeing before him for the first time. He was also still grieving over the lost of his science officer, Jody.
Underneath the sing he found also a piece of paper. He went and pulled it up from the sand. The piece of paper read, “Repent now or you shall go to eternal hell” The commander smiled. “Its a little bit too late for that, I truly believe that I am already in hell itself.”
The commander kept on walking and he said that there must be an answer. Everything can always be broken down to their simple building blocks and elements. Once true understanding is found, then human logic can always find the answer and the proper course of action. Logic and Science will always find the answer to our questions.
The sun was now getting low on the horizon and the commander saw a small cliff overhang that would be good to use to block the cold harsh wind. He unbacked his gear and slipped into his thermal sleeping bag. He could see a few stars coming out of the nights sky above. Its nice to see that the constellations are all still here and haven‟t changed at all. He pointed out the constellation Leo to himself as the stars started to appear.
Jessica had also stopped for the night. She saw a small cave that look like it had been used by ancient indians as a dwelling at one time. There were beautiful cave drawings on the walls. There were the images of the seasons of indians planting and harvesting corn.
There were then also images of birth, growth, and death of one of the tribal chiefs.
Jessica laid a blanket on the floor and the wind was blowing furiously outside. She felt very blessed in being lead to this cave and she fell softly asleep.
Jessica awoke and smell the perfume of gardenias was in the air. Next to her was a bouquet of them. She gentle lifted them up and she smell the inner beauty as it touch her total being.
“ I have never seen such beautiful flowers in my life, and they touched Jessica deep within her soul” She then notice the Apache medicine women sitting next to her on a rock that was by the inner cave wall. She smiled at her as she was weaving a dream catcher.
“You are on a true vision quest my beloved sister. I know that you have struggle much in this life and there are still yet more struggles that are yet to come. Remember that the past are lessons that we had to learned and grow by. They gave you the wisdom that you have today. Do not be sorrowful of what is lost, for what is lost is just an element of our journey that has already been transformed into a precious gift that is just waiting to be found again.”
“I wanted you to know that there is a spirit that wants to greet you tonight.” The first spirit came out from behind the wall of the medicine women. The spirit was one that she recognized right away and that it was the spirit of her friend, Maria.
“Jessica do not grieve over my transformation, it was just my time and it was not of my choosing or self. It was an accident, do not blame Joseph. It wasn‟t his fault. He had no choice in the matter, and the outcome would have been the same if he had help or didn‟t.
Fate and choices are all intertwine like the vines of the dream catcher that is being weaved before you. The biospheres have all been destroyed. The Industrial city is gone.
I wanted to tell you that I love you and always will love you. We are kindred sisters and spirits. Your journey will change the world for the better. Do not be lonely or miss me, for we will meet again once your journey is ended. We will meet again in the land of milk and honey. I will always be with you”
Tears were running down Jessica‟s face. “I love you Maria, tell me what happen to you and Joseph.”
“It was just our time and it will be your time as we all must leave our temporary human existence and evolve into our spiritual souls.” Maria put out her arm, and a beautiful owl came and landed on her forearm with golden feathers.
“Be good to yourself, Jessica” “Joseph and I will be there when it is your time, but you have a blessed destiny to follow that will change the world forever.”
“Maria, don‟t go. Please don‟t go. Don‟t leave me here alone.” I have to go now they are calling me. Jessica could hear a beautiful indian flute being played. Maria take these gardenias with you. Maria took the flowers and her body started to sparkle and then faded into the darkness of the cave. The Apache medicine woman then went up to Jessica and gave her the small dreamcatcher that she made.
“Dreams are the messages of our souls. Be grateful and have courage on your journey before you. Blessings my sister until we meet again.”
The Apache medicine women then faded just like Maria did. Jessica was now alone within the inner womb of the ancient cave. She reached into her bag and pulled out the swan feather that she had from the biosphere, and put it into the dream catcher as sacred remembrance to nature and its unending cycles of death and rebirth.
Jessica could hear the wind outside of her cave as she clears her inner thoughts. When I was a child I wanted to be a princess and married a dashing prince that rode a white horse that was valiant and kind. But here I am out in the wilderness with my two best friends now gone. “Am I just wandering endlessly upon this round about vision quest.”
I should have stayed at the biosphere. I might have been able to make a difference there after all. She laid down on her bed roll and closed her eyes. She just didn‟t have the strength any more to say awake for one minute longer. All the recent events were too much for her and she just wanted to fall asleep and get some rest. Rest is all I need right now, and she fell into a deep deep sleep.
Another day begins, the commander woke up and everything was completely covered by a thick layer of red dust and dirt. He spitted away the dryness from within his mouth and took some water to washed his face. He was starting to grow a beard and didn‟t have the time or patience to shave.
He ate one of his protein bars and look again at the precious picture that he had in his wallet of his wife and daughters. “What has happen to them? I will never give up. I am going to find the answers if it takes the rest of my life.” The commander started walking again. The heat was oppressive even in the early morning hours. He had some survival training, and he knew what type of cactus to cut into to get some emergency moisture if needed.
He came over a high ridge, and he saw something in the valley below that look like some type of ruins.
He decided to go and investigate further. As he got closer, he could see that it was an old adobe mission church. It‟s walls were fallen in and only the altar of God was left standing as the last symbol of faith. He came closer and there was red graffiti written on the side of the alter. “Save the Planet, Now”
On the altar was a broken crucifix. The commander said, “Is there nothing left. This is just madness. Has all of creation been destroyed by man‟s ignorance and greed for lust of oil, gas, and all of our natural resources.” “Didn‟t they see the signs, the global warming, the famines, draughts, the violent storms of nature.”
He heard a hissing noise behind him. He turned around and there stood a mountain lion.
The mountain lion was foaming at the month and looks as if he was going to jump on the commander for its morning meal. As the mountain lion started to circle, the commander went into a defense position and jumped up onto the altar in a defensive position.
Out of no where, A man in a brown robe appeared walking out the the depths of the sands themselves. He had on a monk‟s tan robe and brown sandals were on his feet. He told the mountain lion to stay down at once.
“This man before you on the altar was not the cause of your home being destroyed nor the deaths of your cubs. You may not harm him in any way.” The mountain lion growled but then obey the command. The man gave the mountain lion some meat that was in his pouch that he was carrying. The animal ate as if it hadn‟t had a solid meal in days, and then laid next to the man‟s feet.
“You may now come off of the altar my friend, so we can talk.” The commander carefully stepped down. He said who are you?
You know me and you even had a stature of me in your garden as a child. “My name is Saint Frances”. I am God‟s caretaker of all animals in this world and heaven. That is why I can talk to the animals and they will listen and obey me. But enough about me, for I have been sent here by Jesus himself to talk to you, Commander, You may not have faith in him, but I can assure you that he has total faith in you and your true mission.”
“You must help protect the new ark of the new world. The world is now taking its last gasp of air and you must gather the living, care for the sick, and the needs of all species of life. If your mission fails then all life on Earth will be lost for eternity.”
“ But St. Francis, I am only one man. Where is God?, Why isn‟t he not making the world right again” “Does God not have eyes to see, ears to hear, or a voice to speak” “I am tired, I am afraid, and I am so very sorrowful for all of my losses”
St. Frances went to the Commander and put his arm around him.
“It was not God my friend to be angry with, but it was our free will and arrogance. God so loved the world that he gave us his only precious son and the free will to make our own voices heard and make our own individual missions into realities. You must find the faith that you once had as a child, where you helped your mother in the garden planting and tending each precious seed of God‟s creation.”
“Take this sheep skin pouch, Commander” It will help you on your journey.
Talk to this mountain lion for he will listen to you for you are now his caretaker.
Be the blessed caretaker that you are truly meant to be for all the living creators that are left on this plant.
“I must leave you now.”
The commander stepped to the side and a bright light opened up above the altar of God.
St. Francis smiled and said, “I will always be with you commander and than disappeared.”
Jessica was awaken by the light of the early morning dawn. It was still dark outside the cave, but she could see that the sky was starting to open up by the morning sun reflections. She made a small fire and made some herbal tea that she drank slowly trying to get grounded from the night before.
Maria and Joseph were no longer on the earth plane. The biosphere was also gone and therefore she had no home, nor village to go back to. She knew that her old life was completely gone. She felt as if she was shedding her skin leaving the old behind like the Arizona gecko. She must be strong. She hopes to get to Nothing Arizona by late afternoon.
She packed her things and went out into the morning air. Jessica checked her directions and starting her journey. She continue her journey again towards Nothing, Arizona. She looked back in the direction that she came to see if she could see any smoke or fire from that directions. She was too far away and couldn‟t see any of the destruction left behind.
She gave a small sigh and continue to walk. She came to the edge of a small canyon and started to walk by its edge. Everything was so silent and still.
There were no birds, nor crickets, or any living thing that she could see. The emptiness of the endless sands just seem to spread for miles and miles on end.
“I still can‟t image of what could have happen to Maria and Joseph back at the biospheres.” She felt pain in her ankles. She had just walked over a fire ant hill, and her ankles were now their morning meals. Jessica wiped the ants quickly off her skin and small allergic rashes started to appear. “Stupid ants”, as she continue down into a fork in the road. The road splinted apart, one was to the south and the other to the west. „
Jessica took the south road for it shouldn‟t be that much longer to Nothing. She was reminded of an old Robert Frost Poem, “The Road less Traveled”.
“And I took the less traveled by, and it meant more than anything else in the whole world”
She slowed down when she came the a ruins area that looks like an old mission church.
Jessica stood very still when she saw the paw prints of the actual mountain lion.
She felt very peaceful in the ruins even though this animal may be near by.
Jessica then notice the male foot prints next to the mountain lion foot prints.
These shoe prints look more like boot prints and not like regular shoe prints.
Jessica was now getting more scared of who these boots belong to.
Jessica felt the need to pray, She tenderly knelt down at the altar of the church, and said a short prayer while at the same time reaching for the knife that was in her boot for needed protection.
As she was praying an image of a hand appeared before her. There were four elements that were circling a bright star that was pulsating in the middle. She could tell that one was fire as it glowed a red flame. The second one was blue and look like it contained water. The third one was green as the color of the grass. The fourth one was a milky white not unlike cloud vapor in the sky.
You must discover the alchemist in side of you and create a world full of peace and inner harmony. The elements then pulsated more intensely and their orbits became closer and closer. They then merged into one globe that was the image of the Earth of a majestic blue globe in the sky.
The image then faded away. Jessica got up and brushed the dirt from off her knees.
The spirits now want me to be a chemist, not a biologist.
She had heard of ancient ones from a scared land call Atlantis that were able to change normal matter into gold.
Atlantis was the last space shuttle that went to the space station. Science and Magic, they are always intertwine. There is always a nugget of truth in every myth, and a bit of faith in all the science of the world.
Jessica but the knife back in her boot, and continue to travel on her journey heading south.