“Why not on these two?”
“We won’t need politics, for you need politics only if you want to twist the reality of things, if you want to get what you do not deserve, or if you want to exploit a fellow human being; and if we happen to need religion… well, let God come to us and make a fresh start. We will teach our young to do, say and think only the truth and only what is good. That will be our religion.”
“Isn’t that the Zoroastrian belief system?”
“What?”
“Think good, speak good and do good, you know… the basic principles of old Zoroastrian belief…”
“And how do you know about it?”
“I picked it up along the way, I guess.”
“Well, there is nothing new or original we could invent, anyway. But this sounds fair enough to me. Along with: do not wish onto others what you do not wish upon yourself, or the Ten Commandments, as we know them. Even though I would not even mention a couple of them.”
“Which ones?”
“The first one, for example. That one indicates that there is competition in the Heavens among more than one of these supreme beings. Or the one that said: “Thou shalt not kill.”
“Why not that one?”
“I want it to be unfathomable to anyone that one can take another’s life. I think it’s important that something like that becomes a taboo, or better yet not even occur to anyone as a possibility, something that’ll never cross one’s mind. When I start thinking about that whole affair, I tend to drop the whole lot of them, for they seem counterintuitive to me; a reminder that something like that is an option. To steal, to kill, to lie, to betray a neighbour… The only two worth mentioning are: “Love thy father and thy mother,” and “Love thy neighbour.” I actually want to drop the whole concept of worship. We should worship life and nature and that should be enough. We should introduce some new commandments, like we ought not to be afraid and we ought not hate. We should also create conditions in which it would be impossible to envy, or desire, or be lustful towards anything. We shall be free. Free from want, hurt and fear. That is just about everything.”
“So, we should become ignorant about the whole question of God's existence?”
“No, we should accept that there is an entity that created the Universe; that everything that exists has a purpose; that the Universe is a living and intelligent organism; that we should use all we need with respect and wisdom; but we should leave it at that, so we do not fall into the trap of having too many, varying interpretations, and competing concepts that turn into multiple belief systems, which can only bring us back to where it all began, to deviation and destruction.”
“It’ll be hard to achieve.”
“That is why we should not even try. Let’s just keep to the basics: there is God; he created everything for a purpose. Everything has to be respected for its own merit, and be equal in worth, for if it did not need to exist, God would not allow it… something like that. If we achieve an abundance in everything, many questions won’t even occur, and it will allow us to deal with every problem rationally.”
“An abundance?”
“An abundance. We shall have an abundance.”
“How can you be so sure that we shall have plenty? We have nothing?”
“Yes. We have nothing and yet; and yet… we have everything, because of the knowledge. And knowledge has to be revised and rid of its bad parts, of the unnecessary components that led our previous civilization to destruction. Look how little we had and yet how far we came. But we had our knowledge, and our solidarity…”
“How can you be so sure that we are going to be able to achieve such a high level of conscience?”
“Because of our young ones who are already on that higher level of conscience and for the reason that we cannot go further unprepared. We have all the knowledge we need and we will use it in accordance with our experience and weigh it against the mistakes our predecessors made. The problem of our previous civilization was overpopulation and imbalance. Our former civilization was set to the course of self–destruction, long ago, ever since development of agriculture; since Cain killed Abel; and the doom of humanity was inevitable. These problems do not exist any longer, and the only thing we should concern ourselves with is how to prevent it from happening again. We will make sure that we use the resources that are and will be at our disposal, wisely and with care. All along, we had many wise thinkers who warned us about our vices, but we didn’t listen. Now we have a chance to apply their models and live in harmony with our environment. We shall select and educate the best and brightest among us to care about these issues. And we need to forget a whole lot of nonsense of our past existence, and start afresh. We were given this chance and now we must earn it. We have to develop a new model of human society, one that will be in harmony with nature, not an alien to it.”
“That’s an ambitious endeavour.”
“We can achieve it. I know it, you know it, and every man, woman, and child in this group knows it.”
They fell silent. They were sitting on a rotten bench by the harbour. Night was slowly approaching. The evening was warm and the air was pleasantly fresh. Presley thought about what Tagore said and it overwhelmed him. His mind was jumping from one question to another and he realized he had no capacity to grasp Professor’s entire concept, his life theory. Was it enough to have faith in this man; in his wisdom? Then he realized that even Tagore, no matter how intellectually superior, was just fitting in pieces of the puzzle one at a time; with only a vague idea of what the whole picture should look like, and long after both of them were gone, that picture would still not be completed. And this convinced him that his participation in all of this had some sort of merit, too; that they were all participating in that grand endeavour.
The silence was broken by a sudden, loud and deep groan of a siren, and in the moment that followed, lights protruding from the big cargo ship lighted up the harbour. It lasted only a few brief moments as if someone wanted to announce what was happening, and then the lights went dark… But they could still hear the soothing rumble of the engine.
“He made it! Bloody bastard revived the ship!” exclaimed Professor delightedly. “You see: everything is coming our way!”
***
The next morning Jonah Phyla arrived to the shore. A large group of the commune was waiting for him and his small crew at the dock. Everyone was anxious to hear the good news. The expression Jonah and his crew bore on their faces, betrayed nothing. They could not read their faces and it made them weary.
“Well?” Professor could not resist.
But Jonah was silent and his face was dead serious. Then, when he could no longer pretend, he burst into a joyful laughter. Confused by this unexpected trickery, done by a man he thought had no sense of humor, caused Professor to stare blankly for a few seconds, almost angry.
“Everything is all right, Professor!” Jonah said apologetically. “We can go to the end of the World.”
“Why, you… bloody… you!” blabbered Tagore, finally accepting Jonah’s extended hand, when the good news finally sunk in. Everyone was cheering and shook Jonah’s and his companions’ hands, even though only a few of them understood the significance of the occasion.
“Can you bring her to the dock?” asked Presley, when the cheering subsided.
“It’ll take a couple more days. We have to check if the harbour is deep enough and if there are any obstacles at the bottom. I am worried about sunken ships. We have to measure the depth and check for the possible obstacles. Then we can dock.”
“Well, Sunny; now’s the time to call for a meeting and break the news to the rest of our bunch,” advised Presley.
“Yes… And once done, we should call the other people from around the city and ask them if they want to join us,” said Professor.
“Would it be wise?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I am troubled by what we talked about last night. You and me, and the rest of our
people, are ready and on the same page with what we want and, what kind of life… what kind of social order we want to create. We don’t know these people well enough and they may have a different attitude and ways of looking at things. And there is not enough time to get to know them well and, far from sufficient time, to amalgamate with them. They may not agree with our views and aspirations, which could later cause us many problems down the road.”
Professor Tagore listened carefully to Presley’s arguments, appreciating his ever cautionary approach to unpredictable circumstances, and his careful leaning, first, toward the worst possible outcome, before letting wishful thinking delude his reason. Anticipating the worst outcome in any emerging circumstance was natural to Presley, it was the soldier instinct in him that made him inclined to always look for the path that would have the least destructive consequence.
“I agree with you, to an extent… but our numbers are big enough to assimilate all of them. Once they join us it’ll take just a few days, and after that we shall be all as one, just like every other time in the past, when we stumbled upon others. They always blended in. I am pretty sure most of these people will go along with our concept, too; or take it spontaneously, without even noticing. But, give me several days. I’ll assess them, and once I feel comfortable enough, I’ll talk to them. First, we have to talk to our folks.”
Like many times before, the commune was gathered for a meeting, and after a short discussion, the decision was made in unison. To Presley’s surprise, their people took the idea readily, almost as if they knew their journey would end with crossing not only the continent, but the ocean as well. Over the next several days, knowing that they were going to leave the shore to some remote island, and taking Professor’s advice, everyone roamed around the city, bringing back all sorts of things; mostly all kinds of tools, taking stock of anything that might prove useful, and storing it in the warehouses by the docks.
People from the surrounding communes, noticed all the commotion among the newcomers, and were especially impressed with the revival of the big vessel, curious as to what it all might mean. Three days later the ship docked and the gangway was lowered so they could begin loading all their possessions. Professor had limited success with his pitch and only Bradley’s, and one other group, were ready to join them; fifty–seven people in all. The rest of the city inhabitants saw no good reason for leaving, feeling they had everything they needed and remained unfazed by Tagore’s warnings about potential dangers that the future may hold. They simply did not believe that any human being who was still left alive could be a villain, or a criminal, or have a different view of life than they. They assumed all survivors could only be of the good sort, and ready to cooperate, like they were, for it is the only way to survive.
Professor tried hard, but in the end, he gave up; after all, still satisfied, for those who joined them, owned most of the animals. So, once Jonah safely docked the ship and lowered the bulwark, they made room in some of the containers for the horses, cows, pigs and chickens; loaded all the buggies and wagons, and everything else they thought they would need and find useful in their future homeland. After a few days, with regret, they said farewell to those who decided to stay, and set their course south, to the Sugarcane Isles.
The farewell was neither warm nor sad. Only a few came to bid their goodbyes; those whose friends decided to leave, and those who found friends among Presley’s people in those few short weeks of their stay. Some young boys and girls decided to go with them for the reason of love, for they found their sweethearts among Presley’s colony. And one boy decided to stay behind, for the love of the girl who did not wish to leave her loved ones. After all, love was the ultimate winner, as it should always be.
***
On the day of their arrival to the shores of the Big Sugarcane Island, the sea was high and the waves rolled treacherously, and despite the size of the ship, many were sea sick, lying in the bunks of the lower deck. On the upper deck were about thirty people, mostly grownups. They saw the shoreline and distant mountain range, growing bigger with each passing minute.
They could finally make out the rugged skyline of the ruined city, as Jonah steered the big ship towards the harbour, and dropped the anchor a mile away from the shore. A large group of men and women gathered on the upper deck, and many more began to emerge from the ship’s belly. For a long while there was total silence. They did not know how they should feel, if they should hail and greet their new home. It was an awkward moment and they could not decide if they should congratulate each other, or cheer, be scared or happy. Maybe it was because they could not fanthom the fact that their ordeal was finally over. Then, that moment of uncertainty passed and they started shaking hands and embracing each other solemnly and without many words.
The End
…And they decided it was for the best that they forget, that forgetting was the only way to continue. Collectively, they decided to forget who they were and where they came from.
They never talked about what went on before and their stories could only begin with tales of the day they found themselves ashore the northern tip of their Island.
Most of them were too young to keep the memories of their long journey and everything that happened along the way.
They lost their memories within just a few days, or weeks, or months, or a couple of short years, as if they never existed, and replaced them with new ones. These young ones often thought that their recollections of arrival were some trick of the brain, some collective delusion, a dream; something they imagined or were told as a fable, and since they were not permitted to ask questions or talk about it, it was forgotten. Those who were babies, or who were born on the Island, knew nothing about the exodus. Hence, in a few generations that followed, it became common knowledge that all of humanity was comprised only of this small patch of land surrounded by the ocean. It was, nevertheless, important to keep awareness about the history of their survival preserved and documented.
Only few were chosen to bear the burden of remembrance for it was important not to entirely erase the past.
Throughout the decades that passed, up to the present day, there was, and there always would be a small circle of those who were enlightened and knew about the bigger world that once was.
Leo The Raven Presley
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