The Day the Sky Shattered

by Stephen G. Levy

  Mr. Kadet walked across the street and asked Dassi if she’d like to come over and sit with his wife and him. She nodded. As they left, Banks closed the door of the Powers’ house. Ms. Amor approached Banks, “You’re the Chief. I’ll tell you what I think and what I know. But you didn’t hear from me and I won’t use real names.” Banks nodded.

  “I think that Ms. Abrams did not eat the turkey. Am I right?”

  Banks thought about last Saturday when Dassi ate veggie burgers. “Yes, that’s possible. Maybe you’re right.”

  Ms. Amor deduced, “You see, I saw someone bring a turkey last Sunday when the family went to church. That someone left a turkey in their freezer there and took the Powers’ turkey out. It was a switch. The poison turkey was left and the good turkey was gone. I will bet you ten dollars that if you ask Ms. Abrams if she ate any turkey, she would answer no. By the way, that’s a beautiful yellow bird. It lives on the Powers’ roof, you know. I hope in my next life I would become a pretty yellow bird and not some...some turkey.”

  And it all became clear to Banks: Turkey. They all ate turkey. They ate evil. The seven people ate the reborn evil...Evelyn...Evelyn Sands. It was beginning. Banks looked at the Yellow Raven. “Got to get to the shaman, before it’s too late.” The bird cawed.

  Into the Otherworld

  Banks called Shaman Roger Rainwater. He explained all and was told to get to his apartment. He also needed the help of the two ravens.

  When Banks arrived, the shaman told Marilyn that Banks and he were not to be disturbed. Through the shaman’s open door flew in the Monarch Raven and the Yellow Raven. Banks followed as the shaman locked the door. The ravens shifted shapes. The Monarch Raven became Banks’ deceased Uncle Dan and the Yellow Raven became Sway Garland. A table was set for four and all sat down.

  Banks was thrilled to see both Sway and his uncle in physical form. Despite the many arguments he had in the past with his uncle, he loved him very much. And as for Sway, he thought of her as his soul mate. He impulsively grabbed her hand. She took his and they locked eyes until the shaman spoke:

  “It appears that this former Evelyn Sands has been tapped as a possible replacement for the Old Soul. The Spirit probably assumed that it failed with Peyton since Banks is still alive.”

  Chief Dan concurred and reflected on how the previous Old Soul was committed to eradicate the Blackhorse bloodline. However, Chief Dan said that Banks’ mother was from a different line which may ultimately save Banks’ life. But, when Peyton did not kill Banks, it seemed clear that the Spirit was on the search for a new Old Soul.

  The shaman continued, “Evelyn Sands may have been the perfect candidate and would execute a plan for the Spirit to see if she were worthy. Apparently she was close in completing her promises to the Spirit but it was not quite enough. It was the Spirit Above Our Heads that had to complete Evelyn’s job by arranging the death of the White Raven and the death of Sway Garland as outlined during the supper in the cylinder. Evelyn is still attempting to show the Sprit that she is capable of being the Old Soul and we are assembled today to stop her once and for all.”

  Banks queried, “She was a judge, then something else—“

  The shaman interrupted, “After communicating with her ancestral souls, I discovered that she became an insect the crawled into the body of one of the neighbors on Skyline Boulevard. Then, as an insect, she planted future seeds and the insect died. Immediately she was hatched as a turkey. The turkey contained the essence of evil and the plot was in for the neighbor to buy a specifically marked turkey and exchange it for the turkey that the family had purchased. That plan worked.”

  Banks tried again, “Was she reborn again?”

  The shaman continued, “According to her ancestors, she is still roaming around the Otherworld. This is bad news, because it indicates that the Spirit may reconsider her as the new Old Soul. The horror that she created in the Powers’ house may spread to other people in Juneau like some sort of virus. And that would mean the town would act in a similar fashion as you recently witnessed at the Powers’ house.”

  Banks’ hand tightened on Sway’s. He looked at his uncle and then to Sway. The shaman felt Banks’ anxiety. The shaman took a deep breath. After exhaling, he then drew in the smoke from his pipe. As he exhaled, all took in the herbal tobacco. The result...Banks’ anxiety lessened.

  After another puff, the shaman released more smoke as he spoke, “Banks, Sway is familiar with the Otherworld. It will take a while for you to become adjusted. You will be doing your life functions here, but your soul will travel. Now here is your goal while in the Otherworld: Both of you will be in the world of green. You will be greeted by your respective ancestral souls. They will guide you to Evelyn’s souls. Those souls who agree with your mission will take you to the soul of Evelyn Sands. Evelyn must enter through the blue door. Once in, the door must be shut. She will then be trapped in the Aurora Borealis. While in this zone, she will not be reborn, she will not be in communication with her ancestral souls and most important, I believe her work will be undone and those seven people who are now in jail will be released from her evil. The Spirit will understand that Evelyn failed. And for the time being, that is what we want to happen.”

  “Then the myth is true. The northern lights does contain the lost souls,” Banks concluded.

  Chief Dan finally commented, “You see, Banks, myths are higher than truths.”

  After a moment of silence, Banks asked: “How do we get her to open the blue door?”

  The shaman shrugged his shoulders, “Those are questions for heroes not for shamans.”

  Chief Dan said, “We will communicate with you once the shaman taps into the Otherworld. We will do everything we can to get allies for you. The strategy is up to you. Questions?”

  The shaman paused then added, “Let’s begin.”

  The room was engulfed with smoke from the shaman’s pipe. The chanting caused Banks to tire, close his eyes and begin a sleep/wake state. Banks opened his eyes to find that he was holding hands with Sway...but their hands were shadows in a world of green. He was more involved with Sway. He moved closer to her as he noted that they were in motion. Their shadows became one and there was an overwhelming force that was beyond the five senses. It was the sense of two souls becoming one. He became more involved in the oneness and forgot their purpose. He heard the shaman urging him to unmingle the oneness and to concentrate on the task at hand.

  Sway too enjoyed the commingling of souls but new she was wrong for not preventing what came naturally for the two. The couple floated in a sea of green. There were no solids of anything in this world, only a vast sea of liquids where their bodies were shadows amidst the world of shades of green.

  Above them came the parents of Banks. The parents that were murdered while Baby Banks was in a crib and saved by his uncle, Chief Dan. Their identities were known to him by a seventh sense which he could only decipher as a sense of family or relationship. His parents’ touch welcomed him to this new world. He wondered what form they took in their rebirths, but was reminded once again that he had a goal and an Otherworld education wasn’t part of it unless it dealt with the defeat of Evelyn Sands.

  Sway was greeted by her ancestors that she never met, but knew instinctively who they were. She too wanted a big question answered: Where is the Great Spirit? But that would be bad manners in this place.

  Two large groups of souls were heading to a darker shade of green. They floated upwards. All souls had control of their motion like hummingbirds: up, down, stationary, right, left, forwards, backwards. Banks found this movement and direction somewhat similar to swimming.

  The groups of ancestral souls slowed to a stationary position. The ancestors of Evelyn Sands arrived head on. Neither Banks nor Sway were afraid. Instead, Banks devised a plan. He communed with Sway who seemed to be in agreement. But then he contradicted himself: He communed to Sway that it was they who could go through the blue door. It was they that could stay there for eternity.
It was they that could always be together. Commingling forever. Then they sensed the wrath of the shaman: “Perish the thought!”

  It was a thought that defined their love. Soul mates forever. Commingled forever. But that would have to be on hold. The ancestral souls of Evelyn Sands were in conflict. And they could feel the conflict and understand it by a new sense. A warning sense that exclaimed that their actions would create imbalance and balance was only decided by the Great Spirit.

  The ancestral souls of Sway and Banks split as if they were flung away by the conflict. Then the ancestral souls of Evelyn Sands divided in half. Half were dispersed and half stayed with them. They assumed they had allies and this was comforting. Then, Banks went back to his plan. He formalized it and communed the plan to Sway and she agreed. Apparently, the shaman and former chief also agreed due to their silence. After all, Banks and Sway were heroes.

  They followed the allied souls and in the distance they saw the color red. And they knew instantly...it was Evelyn. Red is the color of evil incarnate. And now they must put their plan into action.

  The redness was getting larger and speeding toward them. They were being chased by evil. And evil thought, “... for sure if I capture the goodness, I will be the Old Soul.”

  And the evil was approaching them no matter which direction the goodness was going. Evelyn Sands communed: “Hello, boy. Did you ever wonder what it would be like to have a real woman?”

  Evelyn sprung into the soul state of Banks Blackhorse! She forced a commingling of the two souls as Sway flung into the distance. Banks was overcome with the battle of good versus evil. His good was no match in the commingling of souls. His essence was being swallowed up by the bad. He was no match for this soul.

  Suddenly, Sway collided with the commingled state of Evelyn and Banks. The remainder of Banks’ good with the combination of Sway’s good, created a positive force and Evelyn unmingled in defeat.

  As a unified force, Banks and Sway sped up away from Evelyn. Evelyn’s strength was regaining momentum. The soul of Evelyn Sands was catching up with the unified force of good.

  And then came the color blue. Sway and Banks unmingled and sped up to the blue door. They opened it, went into the Aurora Borealis and when Evelyn Sands swished through the opened door, Banks and Sway ran out closing the door behind them. Their plan worked. They were to be the ‘chasees’ and Evelyn was to be the ‘chaser.’

  Banks and Sway commingled at the victory. They felt the anger of the shaman, “Stop that. Get back here immediately.” They unmingled and floated upwards as if a swimmer were seeking oxygen from the depths of an ocean. Then, the Otherworld shook. One big shaking Jell-O bowl. A new sense of danger was felt. A sense of the wrath of Great Spirit. They were in danger for toying with the world of balance. The Great Spirit’s world.

  They were out. They opened their eyes in the shaman’s apartment as he was chanting and slapping their faces. They took deep breaths. The shaman was furious: “You weren’t supposed to commingle. You could have put us all in jeopardy. Think of the Abrams and Powers. Sway, you are Peyton’s protector. You put him in danger.

  Chief Dan stood, “And you did protect him and all the others. You got rid of the evil. You cleverly made that evil woman bite her own tail. She is gone forever and we all owe you gratitude. Don’t we, Roger?”

  “Yes, you were heroic. A bit sloppy. But like Dan said, thank you,” said the shaman.

  Banks led Sway out of earshot and spoke of tender things to Sway. Chief Dan and Shaman Roger Rainwater spoke of safety and from the heart: “It’s a wonderful thing you did today, Roger,” said Chief Dan. He continued, “I’m taking up new residence here on the roof. Need to watch out for my boy Banks. You can always find me sunning in the morning. I like my plumage to turn purple in the morning sun. Now I wonder if what we did was right.”

  “It was right for the time,” comforted the shaman.

  “Perhaps. But I broke a vow with the Great Spirit. We had an agreement that we’d stay out of each other’s affairs. That lasted for many millennia, until today. We always lived in a state of détente. I fear that I may endure his wrath,” countered Chief Dan.

  “But surely your plans were in conflict. Certainly he would understand what we endured her for the past year. Lives lost. Many wounded. That’s a pact-breaker in my book,” consoled the shaman.

  The chief eyed Sway and Banks in a full lock of lips, “You know, I’m not a prude, but there is something unsettling about watching my daughter making out with my nephew.”

  “Shift into the raven and you won’t see Banks as your nephew,” said the shaman.

  And the Chief became the raven and it tapped, tapped, tapped at the chamber door. The shaman opened it and the Monarch Raven perched itself on the roof of the compound.

  Sway and Banks unmingled once again as she said, “You better get down to the jail house. They should all be fine now.”

  And the Yellow Raven flew the coop as Banks waved to the shaman.

  Sway VI

  (Begin Sway Garland’s Narration)

  Love. Love of family. Love of leaders. Love of nature. Love of Banks. Is there an ordering of love? Should love of my tribe be higher than love of my soul mate? What about love of music, art and nature? Should duty to the one I protect be highest? Should love of Banks be supreme? Pardon this stream of thoughts but floating through the Otherworld has forced me to come to a reckoning. I must prioritize my love. I am a lover. When I feared that I lost my soul mate several years back, I concluded that I lost my purpose of existence. The shaman forced me to live on without Banks. This loss was a catalyst to expand my horizons of love.

  I think one must be a lover of the intangible as well as the tangible. It is almost the Great Spirit’s quest for balance of good and evil. There should be a quest for love of the tangible and intangible...a balanced love. I have not lost Banks and never will. I experienced Banks in the commingling of souls and never realized how high love can be. Is the purpose of human existence to be a lover? Then if so, why do so many humans want to be the lovee?

  I now choose love of duty as the highest form of the love pyramid. I have the supreme purpose of being the guide of Peyton Powers. He will be my top priority in life. I must explain this to Banks. Certainly he must understand since his protector for life is my recent father, the Monarch Raven. Banks will need guidance to love his tribe and find his love there. He has and will always have the love of Ann and Johnny...the love of close friends. And he will always have the love of his soul mate...me. But he needs to understand the ordering of things.

  The Juneau jailhouse is full of reporters. Pictures are taken as Banks exits the house with Stan, Julie, Tricia, Peyton, Murray, Ann and Johnny. Dassi runs up to her family and smothers them with kisses. The police see Banks not only as Chief but also as town hero. They listened to him explaining the horrid Thanksgiving events at the Powers’ house. Normally they would dismiss this information as rubbish. But the town of Juneau has seen unusual happenings not seen in any other place in the world. The past year they dealt with women killing and wounding men. Also there was the simultaneous births of creatures last August. This ended when Banks cleverly destroyed them with meteorites falling from the sky. Later, animals stampeded and invaded the town resulting in deaths and those that were seriously wounded. Once again, Banks had solved the problem. He was like some sort of comic book super hero with super powers. People loved him. And right now authorities listened to him. The seven savages of Skyline Boulevard were released based on Banks’ promises that he assured them that nothing like that would happen again.

  And yes, with Banks and my ridding of Evelyn Sands, the town was now safe. The beauty of the northern lights would always remind me that within its beauty, there was evil. And within the world there must be evil.

  I am wrong! The highest form of love must be the love of oneself. From that egoistical love, comes the freedom of loving others...both the tangible and the intangible. Yes, I love myself enough to be
a lover for all existence. What an insane arc from the despair of loss to the love of...me. I am flying over the jailhouse. And I have this desire to love everything because I love myself no matter what form I take. I am soaring. I am loving. I am the quintessence of Good.

  May your spirit sparkle.

  Winter Holidays

  Now is the winter of Juneau’s content.

  Skyline Boulevard was filled with morning walkers. The Yellow Raven watched the Powers family take their early morning Christmas walk. Stan had reopened his law office and was deeply considering political plans to run for public office next November.

  Julie was now sober (despite holiday drinking by others) and was immersed in motherhood with her new and improved son. Tricia had not yet found a respectable boy to date here and thought that she might use her weekends to hang out at the university to find prospects. Peyton had adapted well to his new gift that no one could explain. Stan and Julie had written down all the facts regarding Peyton’s new sight and documented them and gave them to his priest. The priest consulted a bishop. The bishop had consulted his cardinal. And the cardinal agreed to report the evidence to the college and hopefully then to the Pope. So far, everyone including men of medicine agreed that his new sight was a miracle.

  The oncoming couple towards the Powers’ family were Murray and Dassi Abrams followed by Ann and Johnny. They met in the middle of the boulevard and hugged and wished one another the best for the holidays. Julie opened her house to the neighborhood for noon eggnog.

  The Kadets and Ms. Amor also strolled down the boulevard and Julie reminded them to be sure to come to her home for eggnog.

  Banks arrived with Marilyn and Carol and the shaman. He parked in front of the Powers’ house as the Monarch Raven landed next to the Yellow Raven. Peyton broke from his group and ran to his best friend and mentor and hugged Banks.

  A couple of hours later, the Powers’ house was filled with jubilation. An eclectic group of well-wishers congregated with the exchange of stories of Christian, Jewish, Hmong, and winter solstice. All partook in Julie’s eggnog (except Julie) and to prove that Christmas really did exist, Tricia was sweet and didn’t chew gum.