Alice 1
Page 13
CHAPTER 45
Arlene is getting bigger and bigger, and eating like two starved pigs. Her doctor says all’s well. Renters are staying and paying more, so she added 5 rooms in the attic. With the extra rooms she was able to afford a part-time helper. It’s a cheerful place now and attracting cheerful people. Not like the old days, full of sullen faces and an empty TV room.
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Brother Timothy waved me over as I walked though Sather Gate. I sat on a nearby bench and went Shadow.
“Sister Alice, can you help me. There is a poor woman who is stuck between Heaven and Hell.”
“Sure, glad to. How can I help?”
“It would be best to help now if you are free. She is an older, devout Christian who believes deeply in the literal interpretation of the bible. She is standing next to the bed where she died, awaiting the appearance of the Devil and Michael the Archangel. They will decide if she goes to Heaven or to Hell. I will play the Devil and you Michael, and we will have a lively battle over her soul. You will win and let her know she is worthy.”
Wow, Michael the Archangel. How high I have arisen! “Sure, let’s send the poor woman to Heaven.”
“Well no, let her know that a holy monk, Brother Timothy, will soon come to guide her along the path of righteousness.”
“Where will you take her? And where did you take that poor girl who kept jumping off the Campanile?”
“To a resting place.”
“We will have to go into that a little more sometime.”
“Yes we will. Let’s meet in Karla’s office.”
“Why do you always take me to his office, and why is he never there?”
“It’s convenient, and I know his schedule.”
I joined Brother Timothy in Karla’s office and went Shadow.
“Let me do Michael in case you are a bit rusty on Christian iconography,” and Michael the Archangel appeared in a flash of light. He wore a flowing white robe trimmed with gold, and had a shining shield in his left hand and a sword of holy fire in his right.
I walked around him to get a good look and then did the desire trip and appeared in a magnificent flash. Bet nobody ever saw two Michaels in the same room before.
“Good, very good. I will go first, and when I am about to lead her through the Gates of Hell I will bring you in. Keep your present form and wait here. It will be about 5 minutes.”
He vanished and I got my shield and flaming sword ready for battle. What do you guys do with that thing? So awkward. Women are so nicely finished off.
The call came and I appeared beside the woman. A hideous Devil was on the other side of the bed, hands outstretched, ready to take the terrified woman to his fiery kingdom. When I appeared he jumped back and I raised my mighty sword.
“Back you blasphemer of all that is holy. You will not take this good woman.” The Devil recovered well and shot a ball of fire I caught with my shield.
“I shall have this pig. She is a fallen woman and I shall have mine.”
“She will never be yours, evil spawn of the abyss. She belongs to the Lord God Almighty and the Lord will have his,” and started toward the Devil with my sword of Holy Fire held high. He shrank back and covered his face as I advanced. “Be gone Satan. Be gone. Back to eternal damnation. Back to the everlasting fires of Hell.”
“Aaaaaah! No! No!” he screamed, and vanished in a very impressive cloud of black smoke. The woman fell on her knees and wept.
“Arise good woman and weep no more. The Devil is gone and will not return. A holy monk, Brother Timothy, will guide you onto the path of righteousness.” Brother Timothy appeared next to her and put his arm around her. Together they rose into the air, through the ceiling, into the sunshine.
The next moment I was back in Karla’s office. How does Brother Timothy space-shift like that?
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Mary and I got together later in the day to plan the fall semester. I’ll help in the lab and the neuropsychology course. My job is to handle the paperwork, grading and take over if she gets sick or something. My French is getting better and better, and Mary is sure when we get to Paris next year, everybody will assume I was born there.
Odd though. My accent, cadence and syntax are late 19th century, and sometimes I come out with the filthiest French she’s ever heard.
CHAPTER 46
Karla was in his office the next morning.
“Hello Alice, hope your vacation went well.”
“Yes it did. Had a great time. May I ask a favor?”
“Of course.”
“Do you have information about the Holy Warriors in Walton, especially when and where they hold their meetings?”
“Yes, I can give you that. In return, how did the Glacier Gang do working with their Shadows?”
Wonder how to play this. Perhaps we’re reached a parting of the ways.
“I have a problem talking about what progress we may or may not have made.”
“OH?”
“As you once said, I am very cynical about governments, including my own. If we made progress I would not tell you because I don’t trust our government to use the information responsibly.”
“And you believe the Glacier Gang will?”
“Yes I do.”
“Alice, the two Shadows at the Livermore Lab almost killed you. Our side is at a huge disadvantage if they are from a foreign government. We need to be able to defend ourselves. The information you have could be vital to the survival of our country and I’m not being overdramatic. That may literally be true.”
“The Crowley group is in immediate danger. The Glacier Gang needs the information I requested to protect them.”
He sat for a while looking at me, then went to his computer, and the printer did its thing.
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That afternoon I sat on a bench near Brother Timothy and went Shadow. He congratulated me for my fine performance and I told him he was a very ugly Devil.
“Brother Timothy, do you know about the Holy Warriors of God?”
“Yes. They are militant Christian groups scattered around the country. Some do good, some do harm. I regret the death of the Plattsburgh group. Militant self-righteousness turns so easily into the Devil’s work.”
“How about the group in Walton?”
“They have made serious mistakes, but have done more good than harm. The Walton group is considered the leader of the Holy Warriors in the United States.”
“Are they aware of the Shadow World?”
“They only know how to use their Shadow hands.”
“Thank you, Brother Timothy.”
“You are welcome, Sister Alice.”
CHAPTER 47
The Walton group meets every Sunday at seven in the evening, 114 Shepard Street. I called Doris and suggested we attend their next meeting. Ralph agreed to be peacemaker and we’ll meet at the airport in Binghamton, either Saturday evening or Sunday morning depending upon plane schedules.
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It’s a beautiful drive through the rural countryside. Just over the Delaware County line we went past the Cannonsville Reservoir which provides water for the City of New York.
The village of Rock Royal is at the bottom of the lake, sacrificed for the greater good. Well, at least that’s how politicians sold it to the good people of Delaware County. There are ugly rumors those wonderful, civic-minded politicians were able to afford a very pleasant, early retirement.
Beautiful forests cover both banks of the Delaware, no fall colors yet. The great River originates in Delaware County and flows straight south, past Philadelphia, to the sea.
Walton is a time capsule. People have been too poor to modernize, so the village looks pretty much as it did a hundred years ago, and the same number of people live there, around 4,500. We walked along the Delaware, watched fishermen and church goers, visited a few antique shops, had dinner at a 1930’s deco diner, and it was time.
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Jennifer opened the door and looked very suspiciously at our group. White hair, maybe in her early 60’s. She didn’t much like a bunch of strangers at her door.
“Yes?”
“We would like to attend your meeting tonight,” Ralph said. “We have important information about the Crowley group in Berkeley and how the Plattsburgh Holy Warriors died.”
“All right. One of you may come and address the group. We will be grateful if your information is relevant and useful.”
“We can’t do that, ma’am. This is very dangerous for us all. We come in peace, but won’t endanger one of our members.”
“Then there will be no meeting,” and began to close the door. Ralph pushed it open and we all went through.
“I’m sorry ma’am, but we must have a meeting with your group.” The rest of the Holy Warriors came up behind Jennifer.
“Please, we come in peace. Give us a chance to give you vital information about what happened in Berkeley. We know you plan to attack the Crowley group. We need to tell you why that would be a serious mistake.”
It was very tense as each group carefully watched the other. No Shadow hands came out.
“All right, we will listen,” and led us to a large room in the back of the house. “As long as you are our guests, though uninvited, may we offer you tea or coffee? And Mary has baked a very nice Brown Betty.”
After we got our tea, coffee, and Brown Betty, Ralph stood up.
“We regret and apologize forcing ourselves upon you like this. The urgency required it. We know you plan to attack the Crowley group in Berkeley. There are two reasons why that would be a mistake. You misunderstand the Crowley group. Aleister Crowley on his death bed recanted all the evil he had done, and saw that his life was empty and meaningless. As he put it, ‘nothing but dirty straw in the barnyard.’ He embraced the light and died in God’s grace. His grandson who leads the Crowley group also embraces the light, and has never worshiped the Devil or any of his minions.”
“Are they good Christians,” an earnest young woman asked.
“They honor Love, Beauty, Truth, and...”
“No, No,” an equally earnest young man interrupted, “if they do not follow our Lord Jesus Christ, they have no Truth.”
“They may or may not have The Truth, but they are good people trying to lead decent lives.”
”How can they do that without Jesus Christ in their heart?!”
Jennifer got up. “Ok, Ok, let’s assume they are not evil followers of the Great Beast. What is the second reason?”
“We killed the Holy Warriors from Plattsburgh. They attacked and we defended ourselves.”
Sudden dark tension.
“Then everything you told us is a lie. If you have prayers, say them quickly.”
There was a brilliant flash and Michael appeared in all his glory. The Walton group was stunned and blinded for a moment, then recognized the Great Archangel and bowed their heads in reverence and awe. I walked slowly to the center of the room and turned to the Walton group.
“Stop blessed followers of the Lord! This is not the time for war! This is the time for peace! This is not the time for hatred and fear. This is the time for love and joy. These people tell the truth. The Plattsburgh group was evil.
“Look at each other. Look beyond words and ritual. Look into each other’s hearts. God does not care what name you give him or how you choose to worship. You and your visitors are all good, decent people.
“Feel God’s love!
“Feel God’s joy!
“Feel the love and joy flowing between everyone in this room.
“Love and joy are God’s gifts to share with all of creation.
“Embrace one another in God’s great communion!”
There was another flash and the archangel was gone.
“Praise the Lord” and “may God be praised.” rang through the room and we embraced. For the rest of the evening we munched Brown Betty and sipped tea and coffee. And, as old warriors will, reminisced about battles won and battles lost fighting evil. We have much in common and have fought on the same side for many years.
We invited them to visit Carmel this coming winter and they invited us to stay and spend the week in Walton. The Glacier Gang agreed to stay but I had to hurry back to Binghamton to catch the red eye to San Francisco.
Some of us have real jobs in the real world.
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Maybe I’ll continue to share my life in a second book. Maybe not.
Fare thee well.
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Yes. I did. Click on the cover.
CLICK THE TITLE TO EXPLORE A BOOK OR PLAY.
(Be sure and click those marked * for a pleasant surprise.)
ALICE BOOKS by Janis Hoffman
The Alice Trilogy: an over-sexed, super-smart, foul-mouthed brat
*Alice:the world of shadow
Alice II: the nature of Reality
Alice III: the creation of Reality
BOOKS by Ernest Kinnie
*A Light in the Darkwood: two children learn the power of imagination
60 Psychological Adventures: to explore and create your life.
*25 Psychological Adventures: experiences, concepts, strategies.
*Chasing Reality: an adventure into the nature of Reality
Cynical Soup: not for the easily offended, or the ridiculously naïve
*Thoughts of Old Man and a Young Woman
Psychological Maps: explore Berne, Perls, Skinner, Pavlov, and Freud
*Amoral Science: Brainless Religion: two world views
Eric Berne: the best of Games People Play
Fritz Perls: out of your head, into the NOW
*Skinner Pavlov Lenin: how they turn you into a useful idiot
PLAYS by Ernest Kinnie
The Brujo and the Four Professors: a 2-act play
10 Short Plays: Peak Experiences. Critical Moments. Epiphanies.
*Androidian Love: a short play
*Deep and serious: a short play
*High Flyers: a short play
*Sammy finds a way: a short play
*You want Sex?: a short play