The Perfect Leaf

Four seekers of truth and wisdom approached the One they honored as the wisest of all and asked for their greatest desires to be granted.  The One nodded and lead them to a great tree in the courtyard.

He pointed to the tree and said, "Choose the perfect leaf from this tree and you will realize your greatest desire.

They each approached the tree.  The first climbed up and down ladders and searched every leaf on every branch and twig, comparing leaf against leaf until he pick one with great joy.  He carried it to the One and showed him his leaf.  The master nodded and told the seeker that his greatest desire would now be realized and he could go.

The second seeker stood looking at the tree and turned and met the One empty handed.

"There is no perfection, so there is no perfect leaf." he explained.

The One nodded, "Your greatest desire shall now be fulfilled.  You may go," he said.

The third seeker of truth and wisdom, looked at the tree and then stepped up to the nearest leaf and picked it and took it to the One.

"All is perfect," he explained.

The master nodded and told this one that his desires would also be fulfilled and was allowed to go.

The last seeker sat and looked at the tree.  He saw how the leaves moved in the breeze, and then how a leaf fell from the tree.  He arose and picked up the fallen leaf and took it to the master.

"This leaf is perfect because it was given to me by the tree," he explained.

The One nodded and told this seeker that his desires would be realized and that he could go.

Lost

We each woke up in this boat.  There were six of us.  We didn’t know how we got here, and that terrified us.  Our surrounding only deepened our terror.  Where were we?  Why were we here?

We were afloat in some water.  I tasted it; it was salty, so we were adrift in the ocean somewhere.  But the water was still, waveless, like glass.  And we were enveloped by a thick fog.  We assumed it was day, but could not determine where the sun was in  the sky.

Our boat had a few provisions.  There was about two liters of water and a couple packages of nutrition bars for each of us.  We saw that there was a small gas motor and a 5 gallon can of fuel, and a pair of oars.  Whoever put us in the boat also dressed us in warm coats.

As we talked among ourselves, we found that we were from all parts of the country, so there was no clue from our origins as to whether we were afloat in the Atlantic or the Pacific.

We listened carefully for any sound that could tell us where land might be, but heard nothing.  We were lost, completely lost.

We decided to wait until the fog cleared.  Waiting was pretty hard to do, because we all wanted to get out of this boat and onto land again.  But we waited because we didn’t want to waste our fuel going the wrong direction.

After a few hours we heard a sound, a voice calling out into the fog, “Anyone there?”

We got excited thinking we were rescued and called back that we were here.  But our hopes dropped when another boat just like ours rowed out of the fog toward us.  There were six others in that boat too.  They threw a rope to us and we tied the two boats together.

We exchanged introductions and assessments of our situation.  I think we were all cheered a little now that there were more of us, and we talked for a while.  We wondered if there were more boats out here in the fog and started calling out into the blank grey.

In a few minutes we heard and then saw a third boat appear in the fog.  In this one stood a man that definitely looked like the leader of his boat.  He waved at us and seemed to be ready to take command of all three boats.

“Hey!” he shouted, “Follow us, I know the way into shore!”

We got excited about this and began to ready the oars, when one of us asked, “How do you know which way the shore is?”

“It’s not that far,” the guy in the third boat called back pointing out past his bow, “that way!  Follow us!”

Others in his boat waved to us to follow too.

We looked at each other.  The man who questioned the directions, shook his head.

“How can that guy know the direction?  Look, the fog is only thicker, there is no wind, no birds, no indication of land at all yet.  What if he’s taking us away from land?  We have provisions and fuel for two, maybe three days.  We have to get this right.  I want to know how he knows!”

And he stood up and called back at the third boat’s ‘captain.’

“Hey!  How do you know the way back to land?”

The ‘captain’ raised his hands to his mouth and shouted back, “I’m a sailor.  I know.”

Our skeptic yelled back, “Good, but how do you know?”

“Trust me!”

“OK!  But how do you know?”

The ‘captain’ pointed again over his bow, “This is the way!  Trust me!  I’ll get us all home!”

Our companions in the second boat untied the ropes holding us together saying we could do whatever we wanted, but they were going to follow the captain’s boat.  They pushed away and began rowing after the third boat.

We deliberated and our skeptic said that he didn’t really trust the ‘captain,’ but agreed to go along with the majority who voted to follow and stay with the other boats.  We did not want to be out here in the fog alone.

I could see hope in my companion’s faces as I took the first turn rowing after the other two boats.  It felt good to be doing something.  It felt good to be moving.

Three In Utopian Hell

Imagine a future, I have in my story Zenith, where technology protected everyone.  No one could be harmed physically by anyone else.  There could be no murder, war, or threats.  What if everyone had everything he or she could possibly want?  What if all functions of the government were performed by computer.  Heaven on Earth right?

1. The Confession of a Serial Killer

“I am in hell!”

He looked around at the sympathetic eyes that gazed back at him.  No one looked away, no one looked down.

“How so?” one of them asked.

He fidgeted as if to get comfortable.

“I’m not normal,” he began.  “I like to kill.  I like to hunt people, to capture them and torture them and kill them.  I like the chase.  I like seeing the terror in their eyes and then to see all life fade from their eyes.  I like the blood, more is better.  I like, no I love to kill people.

“I look at each of you and think about slitting your throats right here and now.  I would like to hear you beg for your lives, but I would love to hear you each scream in pain and terror.”

He still saw nothing but sympathy in their eyes.  One or two nodded just a bit at what he confessed.

He tried to get comfortable again and cleared his throat.

“I have killed hundreds of people in the virtual but of course the system won’t let me even scratch a single person in the real.  And as real as the virtual seems to be, I know it isn’t.  I haven’t actually killed anyone.  The warm, thick, red blood on my hands isn’t real, even though I can taste it.”

He chuckled and continued, “Some of my victims were willing participants in the virtual…,” he choked a sob with another feeble laugh, “They thanked me for the experience!  The ones I killed thanked me the next day!

“I’m in hell!  What am I supposed to do?”
One sympathetic voice suggested, “You know the system can correct your mental issues completely and permanently.”

He laughed at that.

“Yes, I know.  But if the system fixed me, wouldn’t be me anymore.”

“But you wouldn’t be suffering as you are now.”

“But, I wouldn’t be me.” he growled back at them.

“This perfect system is hell for me!”

2. The Jihadist

He smiled.

“Well, we cannot actually fight and conquer the world in the name of Allah,” he admitted, “the system does not allow for the strategies of the 21st Century.  We can fight battles in the virtual, but at the end of the day they are like a football game.  Who actually wins?  What does it mean? Nothing really.

“The political injustices are done away.  Everyone is equal.  Everyone has a home, food and water, every comfort.  So, our jihad must be different, now.  We cannot enforce Sharia Law within the system.  There can be no real punishments.

“So our jihad must be in our example of who we are.  We are Muslim and we must show the world that Islam is the only true way to live.  The whole world must see the benefits of being Muslim.  Our jihad is our presentation to the world.  It is marketing really.  It is all the system allows us to do; we can do no more until Allah frees us from this machine.”

He continued to smile.

3. The Freedom Fighter

He tugged at his uniform and looked at the interviewer with a fire in his eyes.

“The system violates our God given human rights!” he declared.

“What do you mean?”

“We were given the rights to govern ourselves as human beings, created in the image of God, and they built this computer that makes all the decisions for us!”

“What decisions do you want to make?”

“Where I want to live.”

“Where do you want to live?”

“On the ground that the Good Lord Himself created, and not in this sterile tower!  We should have the right to defend ourselves instead of some machine’s force field.”

“But it protects everyone the same.”

“But no one has a choice.  What if we didn’t want that protection?  What if we wanted to take care of ourselves?  We are man not babies that need protection from everything.”

“But you would be opening yourself to risks.”

“Life is all about risks, or at least it used to be before the system was built.”

“What else would you change?”
“Humans leading humans, not some machine!”

“How would that be better than the Governor Program?”

“It would be flesh and blood, not some computer program!”

“Well, everyone is safe.  There is no death, no illnesses, no physical conflicts, everyone has everything they need or want.  They can do anything they want in the virtual, and anything they want in the real as long as no one is hurt.  They can live anywhere in the virtual.  Every person has a voice in the government’s decisions.  What more do you want?

“We want freedom from the tyranny of the system!  We want to have control of the system in our human, flesh and blood hands again!  Power to the people!  We want to be free!” he shouted with his hand raised in a fist.

“Thank you for sharing your views with us.  They are duly noted.” said the holo-image of the Governor.

Justice and Mercy

I followed my guide not knowing where we were going.

The first assembly was full of people I had hurt or offended during my life.  One by one I had to meet them listen to them and apologize for my behavior.  It was quite humbling.  We shook hands, gave each other hugs, laughed, and cried together.  At the end of it most, almost everyone forgave me.  I felt as if a great burden was lifted from me.

My guide lead me through another set of doors to a great hall of people that had hurt or offended me.  Some of these folks were scary.  But one by one they came to me and apologized for what they had done to me.  We shook hands, gave hugs, laughed and cried together.  At the end I forgave them all… well, almost all of them.  I came away with even more of a burden lifted from me.

I followed my guide to the next set of doors.  These opened up to the outdoors.  Before me were animals, mostly cattle and chickens, some pigs, and some birds and mice, and swarms of flies and mosquitoes, and ants, and spiders.  I also saw vats of putrid liquids.

I turned to my guide with a question.  “

These are all the creatures you killed or were killed for you, from livestock, to the flies and spiders you swatted, down to the bacteria you killed with antibiotics.

“You must make amends with them now.”  He explained as he turned to leave me with the creatures.

“How am I supposed to do this?” I cried.

He didn’t really answer me, so I turned back to to face all the inhuman eyes coldly fixed on me, waiting.

“This is not going to be easy,” I said under my breath.