Lucky # 60

I admired the surroundings in silence with the fire fighters. It's odd you would have never of guessed there was nightmarish storm from the looks of it. Everything is picturesque. The once turbulent lake is now a gentle stream. It guides us through lush valleys filled with deer, rabbits, squirrels and owls. Good job indeed gentlemen. "Look at that." The chief exclaims while pointing to a bright and vibrant rainbow that we are currently passing under. it's amazing. usually when you see a rainbow it's only there faintly. But there is no missing this one. "Wow, it's beautiful." I say admiring the rainbow. "I feel like skittles are going to rain down." The chief looks perplexed. "The candy, skittles." He still doesn't get it. "It was a popular commercial in the 90's." "The 90's?" He says very confused. "Yeah, the 1990's." "What are the 1990's." "They were a decade that I'm pretty sure you lived through." "A decade?" "Yeah, it's a measurement of time.Ten years." The chief gives a knowing grin. "Interesting. We don't do that though." "What do you mean you don't do that? Everyone does that." The chief shakes his head. "Nope, we don't." "I can believe you don't own a calendar, but time still marches on whether you believe in the concept of it or not." At this point we have now completely passed through the rainbow. On the other side is a purple sky filled with bright, twinkling stars. "We are from different places." The chief says. "I know, what does that have to do with anything?" " We don't follow the math rules that you follow.Therefor everything looks and feels different." I scratch my head. " I can go with that, but if there truly were no math, and you were creating a universe as you went along then why have the fires?" The chief put out his had and does the "stop there." motion. " I didn't say we control the universe. And I didn't say we don't have rules." "Then what?" "We have rules, they are just different. And so that makes everything else different." I shrug and look over the side of the boat. "Is it New Years by you?" He asks me. "I'm not sure." "It is somewhere." I nod in agreement. The chief gazes at the stars. "Perfect time to make a wish." "yep." I take a deep breath, make a wish, and release it. "You miss somebody?" He asks me. "I do." "Don't worry, you'll see her soon." He smiles big and bright. "You'll see her soon."

On the Boat

I slowly open my eyes to find myself in a partially enclosed area of the boat. There is a whole crew of fire fighters standing over me. The chief stands in the center. He is a little on the heavier side and has a mustache. I can see a look of relief on his face. " We weren't sure if you would going to make it." He tells me with a thick brooklyn accent. I attempt to sit up and instead caugh up water and small fish. "Whao, take it easy." The chief says to me as he rushes over and offers his assistance. " You just went through a tramatic ordeal." "You can say that again." The chief shrugs as if he had never heard that expression before. "Ok, you just went through a traumatic ordeal." "Where am I?" "I don't know." The chief tells me causally with a child - like innocence. "What do you mean you don't know?" "I mean I don't know." "But you are the chief. How could you not know?" "I don't know. I just don't." I put my hand to my head. "Do you have a map?" "I don't." The chief turns to his men. " Do you guys have maps?" They all shake their heads "No." "How is this possible?" I ask flabbergasted. "Well, it's simple." The chief exclaims to me. "None of us brought a map when we left our homes this morning." "I gathered that, but you're firefighters. How do you know where you are going?" "Well we just do." " Do you follow the stars? Or some sort of signs from nature?" The chief shakes his head. "Nope none of those." "Then what do you do?" "Well, we leave our homes. We get in our boat. We drive around. We find a fire. We put it out and then we go home." I am stunned it could be that simple. "That's all?" I say. "Well, yeah. How else would you do it?" "I don't know you get a call telling you where the fire would be?" "No, do people do that?" "Yeah, everywhere." The chief laughs to himself. "That's weird. Don't you guys think so?" All the surrounding firefighters nod in agreement. "So you just drive around till you find a fire?" The chief looks puzzled. "We're firefighters. It's what we do. You feeling ok?" I shake my head and change the subject. "Is it still storming outside?" "No, it's beautiful." "What, now its nice out?" One of the fire fighters interrupts. " Yeah, we put out the fires so now it's nice out." I try and rationalize that statement. "And now the world is happy again." He reasurs me. " For now." The chief explains. I still feel somewhat lost. "Before we head home for the night we like to admire our work outside. You wanna join us?" "Sure." I say as I pick myself off the ground.

Weathering the Storm

Storm of the century would be an accurate description of what is going on right now. Never have I witnessed a storm like this one that I am in right now. It is pouring down so hard that the water is forming into a gigantic lake. Furious winds are creating title waves, and lightning strikes the tops of the now almost submerged trees creating fires. And here I am bobbing like crazy, trying to keep my head above the water. I notice the lightning striking the trees and realize there is no safe place away from the lightning. What little land I see is covered in trees, and water serves as an equally good, if not better conductor. I take a deep breath and plunge underwater. Just like any other lake it is murky. I decide my best bet is to close my eyes and feel around. I don't want anything getting in my eyes. I feel what appears to be a long strand of sea weed. I tug on the sea weed as if it were a rope. It pulls me down further. It is bringing me to something, but what? I reach the end of the sea weed. It is tied to what feels like a treasure chest.I open it with minimal effort, and lucky thing too because I can feel myself getting fainter and fainter with every moment under water. The lid to the treasure chest swings open promptly followed by a plop/squish noise. I notice then that I can breathe normally. I open my eyes to find I am in a whitish pinkish bubble. My little protection I guess. The bubble then takes me to the surface. It pops as soon as it hits the surface, forcing me to swim like there is no tomorrow. I'm dodging lightning bolts left and right. I didn't even know that that was possible, but I'm doing it somehow. But my arms do grow tired eventually. Unfortunately though, the violent winds don't rest and I find myself being tossed around in the sea. After and exhausting few minutes of trying to keep my head above water, I hear faint sirens. I muster whatever strength I have left and swim in the direction of the sirens. There is a little firefighter boat. They don't see me. I'm probably not even a dot to them. But that's ok. I swim even harder. Eventually I catch up to the boat. I grab onto the ladder in the back and pull myself on board. Once on the boat I plop, thankful that I have found temporary refuge.

Caffeine Jitters?

We talked for a while about nothing in particular. I guess that is what one would call Bullshitting. Perhaps that is what I needed. A light conversation. Even if it seemed to be about nothing and go no where. It was nice. However, I noticed my leg was twitching. "Is this tea caffeinated?" I ask her. "Most of my teas are. Will that be a problem.?" "No, it's just caffeine makes me jittery." She sinks back into her chair. "It's a good thing you won't be staying then." "Are you kicking me out?" I ask her . "Oh no, but you should open the door." I walk over the door that I entered from. "Oh no, not that one." She points to the opposite wall. "That one." I walk over to the wall and place my hand on the stone. The door slides open. There is a massive downpour on the other side. Long strands of ligtning hit the ground and multiple sirens go off in the background. I turn to the purple haired woman. " You knew something was wrong You could feel it in your bones." "You wan't me to go out there?!" I shout to her. "It's an option" "Should I?" "Do you want to?" "How the hell should I know? Isn't that why I am here?" The purple haired woman walks over to me. "I'm not your shrink." "You could have fooled me." "Hey" She says.."I wasn't looking for you." "I'm not to sure I was looking for you either." She rests her hand on my shoulder. "Do you want to go out there?" "I don't think so." "Then sit down and enjoy your tea." I sit down in the chair and I try to relax. I keep looking at the storm though. Eventually the woman pipes in. "You like a good mystery." She tells me. " I guess I do." "You do, and it doesn't always serve you well. But you should go." "You mean it?" I ask, more so because I am unsure about myself. "Yes, I can't relax with you twitching like that." I smile and head for the door. Just as I'm about to exit, she shouts to me. "Have patience. Mostly with yourself. It's all one big puzzle piece. And some of the pieces may not fit till years down the road." I nod and prepare to face the storm.

When You Find Yourself In a Fog...

Trying to mask my humiliation, I wander aimlessly through the fog. I know not where I am going. Even if there were no fog I would still be clueless. I mean I'm in a castle. What do I know about castles? I'm from the suburbs of Chicago. There are no castles here. Scratch that, there are no real castles. We have a Medieval Times. For anyone who is not familiar with this wonderful thing that is celebrated by Boy Scouts and bachelor parties alike, Medieval Times is basically a place where people put on cosutmes and joust while a crowed cheers or boos them. Somewhat cheesy, but fun none the less. The only way it could be better is if you were to replace medieval jousting with Roman gladiators. Though I doubt that will happen. At least anytime soon. At any rate I'm wandering along in a smog of my own creation. I can barely seen the path in front of me. I feel the stone walls in search of some sort of door. All the sudden one of the stones sink in and a door opens up. With out a shred of hesitaion I walk through. On the other side I am greeted by the purple haired woman. The one whom I drank tea with before. " I knew you'd be back." She says to me with a smile. "Why am I here?" I demand. "Whoa, no need to yell?" She insists. "Sorry, I just don't know what that was all about back there." The purple haired woman shrugs. "Maybe you weren't supposed to win." " Maybe, but I would have at least liked to have competed." "You did." I shake my head. "Hardly, my filling was missing." "And who's fault is that?" She asks me. "I put the filling in." "Then why was it missing?" I clench my fists. " I don't know. Maybe someone took it." She laughs. "What?" I ask her, very annoyed. "Even if someone did take it what are gonnna do? Fight them?" "I don't know." " I think you need to sit down and have some tea." "Tea doesn't solve everything." She smiles. "You're right it only solves 98% of problems." I try and hide it ,but a smile starts to form over my face. "Sit down and have some tea." "Alright, my angst can wait I guess."

Let the Games Begin

So there I was in a coliseum surrounded by many peasants cheering and applauding for me. The king put up two open hands into the air and like a teacher who trained a well disciplined classroom, the audience feel silent. "Thank you. It is my great pleasure to bring to you today... all the way from America... Sparky Boy." The crowd cheered and rored. Stomping and clapping loudly. The king raised his hands again, and once more the audience became silent. "He has come to challenge me with his own brand of pie." The audience laughs hysterically. " I know , but I want to see what this BOY has to offer." The king snaps his fingers. Two servants come by with a long wooden table and place it directly in front of the king. Then another servant servant comes in a places a chair behind the king. The king sits down. The king looks off to the side. "And here is my queen with my pie." She places a warm blueberry pie on the table. You can see the steam rising off of it. She cuts a piece for the king.He snatches the slice out of her hand and wolfs it down. With a mouth full of pie, he shouts to the audience. "Marvelous, simply marvelous. But my queen will also try a piece." The Queen cuts a pieces for her self. She takes a delicate bite, smiles in ecstasy and nods to the audience. The audience cheers. "And now, the challenger." says the King. The Queen attempts to cut my pie, but a big cloud of dust comes out and it flattens. "Do you see that? He has come with an unfinished pie." The King laughs loudly, the audience shortly joins in. " I don't understand." I say. " I had filling in there, but I don't know where it went." Neither the king now the audience care though. They just continue their loud and obnoxious laughter. Wanting to escape my own embarrassment, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a bit of that cloud. I stretched it out a bit so it created fog, and I attempted to walk away. Not quiet sure how to exit the castle.

Four and Twenty Blackbirds

As I was attempting to finish a pie of epic proportions, four and twenty blackbirds burst into the kitchen. I tried to swat them away, but they were all too much. They were everywhere. Each one grabbed a piece of my clothing with their beaks. They then proceeded to flap their wings and fly me out the front door. luckily I was able to get a hold of my pie amongst all this chaos. We flew high in the sky. Up, up in the air. I watched as the houses and cars became little dollhouses and toy cars, and then disappeared altogether. We flew above the clouds. I always wanted to touch a cloud, so I reached out my hand and took I piece of it. It was fluffy like cotton, but better. I put it in my pocket just because. The birds flew lower and we entered a land of rolling green hills. Could it be Ireland? England maybe? At any rate it was beautiful. The birds flew me over what appeared to be a medieval stone wall of a castle, and placed me safely on grassy ground on the other side. They then dispersed. Shortly there after I heard trumpets and someone unrolled a red carpet. Mysteriously the carpet ended at my feet but began in the middle of the field. Fascinated as to where the carpet began, I ended up staring at my shoes. Before I knew it, there was a cartoonish looking King standing right in front of me. Full beard, red sash, crown and all. "Hello." He said in an upbeat jovial fashion. " I see you have brought your pie." "Yes I have." I remember thinking how it must have been a miracle I was still holding it, especially after taking one hand off of it while in flight to grab a piece of cloud. "Are you ready?" He asked excitedly. " I guess so." "Good, then follow me." He walked slightly ahead and I watched him wabble merrily down the carpet. "Let's do this contest." I thought to myself.

The Grizzles

Perhaps it is a bit of being naive , but something inside me says that it is alright to venture into the bears' home. I knock three times on the wooden door. The grizzle bear answers the door. He glances at me for a moment then walks away leaving the front door wide open. It's a big assumption but I figure that he wants me to walk in. The inside of the house is lovely. Hardwood floors, an old 1940's stove, and a candle chandelier. Mr. Bear, or whatever he likes to be known by reclines in a red leather chair and reads his newspaper. His wife wonders about the house aimlessly. Neither one seem to care that I am there. They both go about their business as if it were not there. Perhaps it is nothing. I mean maybe they get visitors all the time. Still I'm not sure why I am here. I shrug it off deciding to focus on the invigorating aroma coming from the kitchen instead. I walk over to the kitchen. There appears to be some sort of soup cooking. I casually look around. No one is watching, so I pick up a wooden spoon and attempt to taste the soup. out of no where Mrs. Bear stomps in a smacks the spoon out of my hand. She then points to the living room. Guess she didn't want me to stay in the kitchen knowing that I'd be eating the food. I walk into the living room that is currently being occupied by Mr. Bear. let me tell yeah he didn't look all that happy knowing that his space was know taken over by another body. He was even less thrilled when I plopped down on the floor and turned on the radio. Mr. Bear cleared his throat. I sighed and turned off the radio. Some what bored I taped my fingers on the hardwood floor. Mr. Bear glanced up at me. Signaling me to stop that. I complied and opted to twittle my thumbs in silence. Mr. Bear handed me a section of the newspaper he was done with. It was just a department store ad, but I had nothing else to do so I started to read it. Mr. Bear sighed and turned my paper over. It was an article about a pie making contest in the city. A light bulb went on. That's what I sighed up for. It wasn't anything bad, and I could do this no problem. I sprung up from the floor and was about to leave when Mrs. Bear stopped me. She shook her head and pointed to the kitchen which was made up nicely with her soup ready to be eaten. Ok, I guess I could leave after a nice, hot meal.

A Tolkien esq Forest

I did one of those things that they tell you not to do. I signed a contract without reading it. I don't even know what it is for. All I know is that in a little less than a week from today I am to show up somewhere in the city. I have no idea where, I just have to be in the city. Then once I'm there something is supposed to happen. I'd say this is odd, but I've seen a lot of weird shit. So far this is nothing. I'm not gonna try and wrap my head around this any more right now. I will simply enjoy my walk. The air is crisp, and I am deep in a forest. There is a stone path that guides my way. Big, beautiful, full trees are on either side. Occasionally I will see small homes made out of bendy, twisty trees. It is almost as if J.R. Tolkien created this land. In the distance I can hear a goat. I try and turn my head to see it, no such luck. I am having so much fun walking along the stone path, glancing at pretty homes made of twisty trees, and then directly ahead of me I see a grizzly bear. He does not spot me, and I feel no fear, but I know well enough not to venture further. At least not yet. I watch him as he crawls into one of the homes made of twisty trees. Part of me wants to take a step back. I know I can not do that though. I keep observing. Another bear follows shortly into the home. Perhaps his wife. I feel a strange peace as I observe them. I actually want to walk over there and knock on their front door. I will restrain myself for them moment though and simply watch in silence.

Contract

An ominous storm cloud is coming into town. It rests above the citizens. It waits. At any moment it will strike down with fury. Pouring heavy rain, gusty winds, and devastating lightning. I must not be afraid though. I walk on as if it was not there at all. Before I know it, I'm in a library. In my hands I have the controls for a remote control car. I do not see the car anywhere, but I fidget with the controls. I hear a little car nearby.I fidget with the controls again. The little car is louder. He must be closer. I continue to play with the controls until the little car shows up at my feet, happy that he has found someone to play with him. I know I'm in a library, but I don't care. I'm having way too much have. I have it do all sorts of fun stunts. Back and forth it goes faster and faster. Then the grand finale. I race it down the stairs. It's bumpy. He does not mind though. He voluntarily does stunts. Bouncing off the walls, grinding on the handrails. We are having a blast. That is until this principal/ librarian woman shows up and spoils our fun. She picks up the little car and beckons me closer with her boney claw like hands. "I'm going to have to take this from you." She tells me in a stern way. I apologize to her and she shakes her head. "That's fine. But I need to talk to you about something." "What is it?" I ask hesitantly. " You still have not signed up." "I'm not obligated to." "That is correct. However, when you ask for my help I expect you to sign." "I'm not signing." She grins and opens her eyes wide. "I think you will." Just like that I grabbed a pen and signed my name beautifully. It was as if a spell had been placed on me and there was nothing I could do about it. " Thank you, now remember it's one week from today in the city." "It's not here?" I ask. "Of corse not. Now you may go." I left dumbfounded not sure what I just signed or what just happened. But I knew things would get more interesting.