Back to the Garden

HEAT

Intermezzo Four


The location does not exist in our reality.

To even talk about it in terms that we are familiar with diminishes the emotions, the consequence and the outcome. That said, we can try to make sense of it - because to truly understand - we need to make sense of it.

So let's approach it through analogy - we'll start with the Chronicle of Narnia films - and we have to imagine a place where homo sapien like creatures and animal and plants have equal intelligence and can communicate.  I will say they can 'talk' to each other and that will have to suffice. And it will have to suffice - because in a world where 3 dimensions mean nothing, and the speed of light means nothing - we will never be able to map that reality onto ours at all.

This is a place that has never known conflict - in any form - and therefore has never known the genesis of conflict in any form - and therefore the results of conflict in any form.

But it is also a place where there is complete acceptance of the 'is' - of the moment - there is no thoughts of why am I here - what does this all mean - because, what 'is .. well ... 'is' ... and that is because there is no 'death' ... no concept of 'finiteness' ... time ...decay ...

We have all seen pastoral paintings of heaven and clouds and angels and cherubs and harps.

Imagine a setting like that ....

There is a large gathering ... of plants, and animals and what we might refer to as human like beings .... they came there by serendipity .. but they are there ... all communicating with each other at once ... grokking ... and then a stray thought so foreign, so different, enters the communication stream ... all communication ceases and then there is a collective puzzlement ... the thought .... 'why are we here?' ....

And like a virus ... this thought takes root and it spreads and it grows ... and suddenly .. what once made sense to the collective gathering now makes no sense at all ... 

A serpent slithers corkscrew along the limb of a fruit tree ... and coils around several of the fruit ... and it sticks it head out of the leaves .. and gazes around and opening it's  mouth, blasts a huge jet of fire towards some of the puzzled assemblage, engulfing them in flames ... the serpent has just bestowed the gift of pain and death ... and what we would call panic ensues ... 

Another thought now takes over the communication stream .... 'now you can see ... now you can know ... and now you will know what it means to really be alive' ... and with that, the serpent grew in stature  .. and as he did the fruit fell from the tree ... and when he had increased in size, hundreds of fold, he breathed the breath of pain .. incinerating everything around ... and the soul raker is 'born' ...

'So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.'

Within You Without You

HEAT

Chapter 10 - Part 2

It is 2 days after the hypnotism session and Fill and the FBI tech are sitting around the kitchen table in Fill's cottage. Fill had spent the night in hospital on Pine Island after his collapse and is now resting at home.

Fill wanted to know what happened after he fainted and the FBI tech went through it all. Fill asked to see the writing pad that he had scribbled on while 'out'. The tech removed it from his briefcase and laid it on the table.

The first question I asked was - What is it? - you wrote - Who is 'it'.

The second question I wrote was - Who are you? - you wrote - I am 'it'.

The question I asked was - What is going on? - you wrote - kill four door.

Four door started barking loudly at another dog barking outside - wonder if he knew what had been written.

Fill watched the tech closely for almost a minute - just stared - and finally said what the fuck is going on - and what the hell has my dog got to do with it?

The tech smiled and pulled a picture out his briefcase - do you know this guy - and he tossed the picture on the table. I don't know him, but I have seen him with Jenade - and by the way, where the fuck is Jenade?

Jenade is OK - he's at a happy hour somewhere I am sure - that guy in the photo - he's a known drifter around town - goes by the name of Lou Kerras.

The tech ripped a blank piece of paper out of his notebook and with his pen wrote,

L O U K E R R A S    on the paper.

He then wrote underneath these letter the following numbers,
4 2 3 7 8 9 5 6 1   and passed it Fill.

The tech told Fill to rewrite what he had written by putting the letters in order numerically - 1 2 3, etc,

Fill looked at the tech puzzled and then grabbed the paper and following instructions wrote,

S O U L R A K E R

Yes - the tech said - he has taken many forms over the millennia - we knew him as Caligula, Ivan IV, Pol Pot, Adolf Hitler - with each reincarnation, the killing fields become larger. You have something he wants - it resides within you - if he obtains it, all life and the universe itself will be destroyed - the ultimate killing field.

Fill started to ask the tech if he was crazy and suddenly Fill's arm shot forward and grabbed the pen and started writing on the paper ... I am inside you .. it is me he wants ... you must kill Four Door ....

I Can Remember, Faintly

HEAT

Chapter  10 - Part 1

Fill was seated at a small table in a small fishing shack just off the coast of Pine Island. Fill had kayaked here based on directions he had received in an e-mail from the FBI tech. It was early afternoon and overcast - muggy and no wind. Fill was soaked with perspiration.

The FBI tech sat opposite Fill and asked Fill if he was ready - Fill indicated he simply wasn't sure - he didn't believe in it - but that said, what was there to lose. The tech nodded his head - exactly.

Fill asked the tech - well what do we do - you swing a pocket watch in front of my eyes and tell me I'm getting very sleepy. Well we need to relax you for sure but let me ask you a few questions first. 

Have you ever been hospitalized. Fill described his ordeal as a young child and his fall. Had Fill ever been anesthetized - yes at age 21 for the removal of a cyst.

Good - OK - come with me - Fill followed the tech out onto the deck around the fish house - Fill was told to lean slightly against the rail and stare into the water. Fill gingerly approached the rail and started to lean against it and it started to give - Fill tried jump back but could not and as he experienced the sensation of falling he fainted.

The tech grabbed him and the two other men who had been waiting for this helped the tech to prevent Fill from free-falling and got him back inside and seated at the table.

Can you hear me Fill - yes - black dots in front of Fills eyes - he was feeling nauseous - the tech knew he had only 30 - 45 seconds to work with.

Fill - I need to talk to your friend - the one who is with you - in there. 

Fill heard this as in a dream and then the tech heard Fill say 'pen' - 'paper' - Fill was quickly provided with a pad of paper and a pen. 

What is it the tech asked.

Fill grabbed the pen - and scratched something on the pad.

Who are you the tech asked.

Fill scratched on the pad.

What is going on the tech asked.

Fill again, scratched on the pad.

All of a sudden the wind picked up and the sky started to turn almost purple - a cascading line of lightning bolts flashed across the horizon. Fill was coming around now and was vomiting on the table. The tech and his aides tried to help Fill as best they could.

Beneath them, in Pine Island Sound, Lou had almost collected himself - 2 days at the most and he would be ready to make the move. 

Only 2 things could stop him - and they would need to be apart - one was above him in the fishing shack - the other was in a cottage in Matlacha, barking at the sudden change in weather. 

What Possessed Fill?

HEAT

Chapter 9 - Part 2

Jenade had been released from custody and Fill had been released from hospital after his 'lie detector' collapse. The hospital doctors had suggested a series of tests which Fill agreed to and he was waiting to hear when the test series would start.

It seemed that as a result of the circumstances surrounding the lie detector test, the authorities were both backing off on their suspicion of Jenade and Fill, but becoming more perplexed, bewildered and frustrated.

Fill was out walking Four Door when he received a cell phone call from the lie detector test tech. He inquired  as to how Fill was and then said that he had an idea. He had not run this by the FBI but if Fill was interested in getting to the bottom of what might have happened at the end of the test, hypnotism might shed some light.

Fill laughed at this and simply said he didn't believe in it and even if he could be hypnotized - so what?

The tech said he understood how Fill felt and he went on to say that he had felt that way until he too had been hypnotized. The tech went on to describe, in great detail, his experience to Fill, and Fill, just as perplexed by what was going on as everybody else, said, 'let's do it - what have we got to lose?' The tech suggested that afternoon; Fill said sure - where? We'll do it at your place - you'll be more relaxed there. 

Fill asked who was going to be doing the hypnotizing - I will the tech responded. Fill laughed - holy shit - an FBI tech and a hypnotist - what next. 

Well, the tech said, hold on to your hat - I used to be a priest - and Fill - you are not alone in your body - no - not alone at all ....

The Needle and The Damage Done

HEAT

Chapter 9 - Part 1


Jenade and Fill were being questioned almost daily now  - if it wasn't the Lee County Sheriff's office, it was the FBI. They had made up their minds that Jenade and Fill knew more than they were saying, and in fact, they had arrested Jenade for public drunkenness and put him in jail.

Fill offered to take a lie detector test and the FBI jumped at the chance. Fill said they could do it anywhere they wanted and the FBI took him up on that as well. It was scheduled to be done in Barnhills Restaurant where this whole mystery started - they would do it in the morning before Barnhills opened.

So at 9 AM on a Wednesday, Fill walked over to Barnhills, waltzed right in, saw where everything was set-up and sat in the chair provided for him. There was one agent and a tech to run the test. The tech hooked Fill up with the electrodes and then after about 50 questions to set a reference, and once the tech was satisfied that it was running properly, the agent handed the tech a list of questions that had been prepared for the session.

The questions used in the set-up were repeated and then a quick question asking if Fill knew the location of the ambulance that had disappeared - no; back to the initial questions again and then; do you know the whereabouts of the ambulance attendants - no; more of the set-up questions and then; do you know the whereabouts of the missing woman - no.

The test went on this way for about 45 minutes or so and then the tech went through the litany of initial questions again to establish a reference for the end of the test - is your name Fill - no. The tech almost missed this as the polygraph needle never budged - he started to ask the next question and then perplexed asked again - is your name Fill - no.

The tech looked at Fill and realized that Fill hadn't passed out but was definitely in a state of - for want of a better word - hypnosis. 

The tech went off script - what is your name - 'it' -and that moment the polygraph went wild, seeming to randomly sweep back and forth across the graph paper - but as the tech watched and the FBI agent awoke from a catnap in his chair - it looked like something was being spelled out on the paper by the polygraph needle.

The needle kept sweeping across the page and suddenly Fill simply fell out the chair onto the floor - at that exact moment the needle stopped completely. 

The agent rushed to help Fill who was coming to - the tech grabbed the graph paper role from the machine and held it up - sure enough written on the page were the words, 'soul raker' followed by the phrase, 'four door' ... 

Blue 'Lou'

HEAT

Intermezzo 4

'it' and 'Lou' have battled throughout the millennia. 'Lou'can be pushed back, but 'Lou' always resurfaces to fight again. 'Lou' has no 'memories' of these push backs. When he re-gathers himself after one of them, a million years has passed.

'Lou' is not aware of 'it'; 'Lou' slowly realizes that with each resurrection that his salvation resides in finding his 'soul' ...  'it' however is quite different - 'it' clearly is aware of the task at hand - each time 'Lou' is in the ascendancy, 'it' must push 'Lou' back.

Man - homo sapien - would codify these battles as 'good' vs. 'evil' - a whole ethos across many cultures would evolve based on this - and all religions today would evolve from this dichotomy.

This is always as it has been because when 'spark' serendipitously created life, 'Lou' was quick to make it in his own mold - 'it' reacted quickly to imbue this life with the power to pro-create and to overcome this mold, but to have a finite existence - in other words to die - but because only in death, can there truly be a defeat of 'Lou' ....

Pass Gas

HEAT

Chapter 8 - Part 2

The wind has swung to the north ans was gusting 10 - 20 mph across Matlacha Pass. It was a clear night and the moon even though in it's waning phase still lit up the pass and the house and mangroves adjacent to it.

Tonight the waters of Matlacha Pass contain more than dolphins, rays, mullet and crab - they contain Lou in atomic form and he is once again gathering himself together and in water this will take a bit longer than if he had been gathering 'itself' in air. The water was cold and cold was Lou's enemy.

Lou realized he could not get very close to his 'soul' but it wasn't close enough - he needed to get close enough to touch the entity that 'it's was inhabiting - though Lou knew nothing of 'it'.

He would have to inhabit an animal suddenly - one that was close enough to Fill that he night even be holding it or touching it.

Not too far away, at the dock's edge behind a peach cottage Fill walked, carrying his dog Four Door, who for some reason had to have a 4 AM leak. Fill caught a sudden chill and shivered - Four Door started to growl and then just whimpered. Fill picked him and carried him back inside.

Out in the Pass the waters seemed to boil in several different seemingly unrelated small areas - fish exploded in these areas and crabs were immediately cooked. It almost seemed the waters of the pass were laughing - laughing with a newly acquired knowledge.

Fill and Four Door slept uneasily - Lou gathered himself together - knowing exactly what his next move would be ...