Little Cherine Book 05 - BPost028
Even with all she had suffered and seen, never had she experienced anything like this and her fury only served to fuel Allan’s so that he was ready to strike out at the parents.
3071
Robbie and Cherine arrived at that moment, the dog convulsing and in its death throes scratching the child. Robbie reached out and threw the dog away from the child and at the parents as Cherine reached into the child’s mind and put her to sleep. As Allan froze, Eleni was ordered by Cherine not to interfere.
Robbie materialised, his appearance entirely different.
“Has your daughter got grandparents?”
They were in shock, but the man still tried to bluster, demanding to know who the fuck Robbie is. Robbie shot out such a blast of fury that it knotted up all his nerve-endings and the father collapsed with a scream of agony.
“You will not talk except to answer my questions. Has she got grandparents who will care for her?”
The mother was smart enough to realise she must lie. “No. Our parents are dead.” Without any regard for our own rules, Cherine slammed through into her mind and found out the truth.
*Forget them Robert. They are no better than these two.*
*What do we do with the child?*
*You are taking them to the penal world? We can make an anonymous call and warn the police the child has been abandoned here.*
Allan sent, *No, please, she is too old to be adopted easily. A life in a home will destroy her.*
*What are you asking Allan? Do you and Eleni want her?*
*Eleni?*
*Yes Allan.*
*I’ll bring her to you. Go home, there is no need for you to see this.*
*If she is to be our daughter we have to stay Robert.*
Allan did not realise that this particular case had driven Robbie to want vengeance, that he was prepared to abandon his own rules and inflict all the pain he can on both of them and only then deliver them to the penal world. He had seen the photograph years ago and it has preyed on his mind all this time, because he was helpless to save the child. With Allan and Eleni staying he had to control himself. I wonder if Allan would have stayed if he had known the effect he will have on Robbie.
Robbie cut the ties and eased her tiny limbs. He took a cloth and covered her, reminding Allan to send his healer into her. The father had managed to sit up, his wife hanging on to his arm in fear. He looked over at a cabinet when he thought Robbie was not watching. Robbie kept his back to him and the man crawled over and opening the cabinet pulled out a revolver. He pointed it at Robbie and pulled the trigger with a yell of satisfaction. It instantly turned to a scream as the revolver exploded in his hand.
*I have to go to the void.* Within minutes he was back, the awesome energy of the void surrounding him. He captured the man and woman and they disappeared. I was certain he was going to place them on a separate island as is standard when we take a woman there. He will have to show me so that I can provision them whenever the protector cannot. I’ll have to go soon, for the man’s hand has severe wounds and I can sense Robbie has no intention of healing him.
The three of them watched over the child until Robbie appeared again. As he made to take the child Eleni called out. *Please, she has toys in her room. Can we take a few with for her?*
Robbie placed toys and clothes by the child and Eleni and Allan returned to Lynda’s apartment and soon as they were back in their bodies they jumped home. Within minutes the sleeping child arrived and was placed on their bed.
*Eleni, can some of us come over please?*
3072
*Dommi also? I’m sorry, yes, come.*
“I won’t go love. She is right, after what we saw I’d emote too much love. Take some of the girls with you though, they need to see her.”
I chose Wendy, Irene and Goldi and told the others to decide which three will come. The rest can meet her in the morning.
“A daughter Allan?” I teased.
“Yes Sam. I have my Eleni to love, but I want a daughter also.”
“Mmm, she does have a sexy little body.” I teased again (yes, I know, to tease I do have to set my empathy aside). He did not dignify it with an answer, but Eleni shot me an annoyed look. I grinned at her and she relaxed and grinned back.
“You are only eleven, how does it feel to have a daughter?”
“I think I will love her very much. How can they do it Samantha?”
“How could your father Eleni? Some children grow up into nasty or very sick adults. Why do you think all of us prefer to stay children?”
“You are teasing me?” Suddenly she burst into tears and Irene went to her. They held each other and Irene was able to soothe her. Allan sat stroking the child’s hair. When Eleni looked at him he asked, “Can you see now why I had to help you?”
“You want to make me be like you?” She went to him and his arms reached for her, pulling her to him. She sat on his lap. “Thank you Allan. Maybe it is good to be stupid like you.” Aganthi laughed in our minds.
They sat in our garden smoking. Allan was quiet, his thoughts buried somewhere deep within himself.
“Writing the diary gave me the wrong impression about you Robert. I saw you as a sort of anti-hero. A soft guy without abilities being thrust into situations which force him to be more than he is - if that makes any sense to you. At the time it was possible for me to imagine myself being you and handling everything at least as well as you did. To me, your strengths were your ability to love wholeheartedly and your need to protect those you love, without really being effective at it and so you had to have a protector - sort of a father figure who will look after your primes and yet give you the satisfaction of being the one who is really doing the job. Those qualities I saw in you are how I saw myself, or at the worst, as an idealised version of myself.
Meeting you has been a shock to me. My opinions of you have had to alter radically, but the worst of it is my opinion of myself has also had to be altered equally radically, but in the opposite direction, taking a nose-dive. In the short term, becoming a Cherinian has its disadvantages, because it forces one to see oneself more honestly. It is not a pleasant experience.”
“You are selling yourself short Allan. I’m not going to comment on your remarks about me, I think your attitude to yourself has influenced you. The way you are feeling about yourself is a stage you are going through. I had the same problems - hell, I still do.”
Allan mentally steeled himself, refusing to accept Robbie’s words. “There is a large difference Robert. You were a young man, still untried and lacking in self-confidence. It made you very critical of yourself. In my case I lived a full life up to old age. My judgement of myself is based on my ability to look back on my strengths and weaknesses and see clearly for the first time where I was lying to myself. Robert, if I live another five hundred years I will never achieve the strength of character you have. I will perhaps with time learn to think my way through a problem more effectively, but I cannot change my personality.
I think I have always been a loner because I will not accept the authority of any man over me and at the same time I realised, subconsciously, that I am not cut out to be a leader. I’m prepared to pay the price for my mistakes, but I refuse to make others pay. You, on the other hand, are a leader.”
I mentally awarded Robbie points when he did not argue with Allan as he wished to. I thought to myself, he is slowly coming to understand this strange man. Allan laughed.
3073
“Sam, strange man? What did you expect of a man who can write such a weird story?” I blushed. Being most of the time with my family only, I sometimes forget to guard my thoughts, especially if I’m comfortable with our visitor(s). Robbie had a good laugh at my expense.
He gripped Allan by his shoulder. “We’ll have this conversation in ten years time. Try not to be so hard on yourself in the meantime.”
He smiled back. “You misunderstand me Robert - I thought that will not happen with telepaths. I’m not flagellating myself. I’m pleased with the new understanding of who and what I am. It will not stop me from being a pain in the neck, but at least I will not be lying to myself. It shows I am capable of growth and I had been worried that having lived to a ripe old age, a new and young body will not help me to change. I’m now convinced that the ageing of our bodies is largely responsible for the way our mind sets in a mould - though I think that the largely repetitive nature of life-experiences play an important role. Robert, you may get tired at times of the adventures your heart forces you on, but the breaking out of the cycles on a regular basis may be what will keep you flexible as a youth should be.
For instance, you and the girls keep on changing your ages. Can it be that every time you adopt the age of a child you are freeing your mind, allowing it to grow once more?”
“Sam is right. You are a strange old man. You have just acquired a new love and instead of holding her you sit here with me, of all people, analysing yourself and what being a Cherinian means.”
“Not so difficult to understand Robert. I’m afraid. What if she does not like me? Is this not a good time to examine myself and Cherinianism? After all, I am bringing a new soul into my life and I will have an effect on her. Don’t I owe it to her that I search a little deeper into my heart?”
“You don’t believe your love is enough?”
“No.” He stood up, his face looking as if he were angry. “No! I have never hurt a person I hated; only those I loved.”
Sadly I turned to Eleni. “You did not win Eleni. You only taught him to love you, not himself.”
“I don’t understand. What does he fear?”
“He fears that he will blink and not see the danger and fail to save you; he fears his love will make you vulnerable and he will lead you in the wrong direction. He fears he will have good intentions and destroy you.”
She stared at me, glanced down at her daughter and maybe wife to be and looked back at me. “No, I do not know enough yet, but I know you are wrong. Those are only little fears. Something else…Sam, I don’t know what.”
It was good to see the hall fill with Cherinians. It did not surprise us when Alki, Elia and Eddie walked out. They were worried and had gone outside to discuss the building of a new hall.
“Cherine, we must not let them tear this hall down. This was the first ever place Cherinians belonged in.”
Tasso nodded, a pleased look on his face. “I’m glad Sam, I worry about the children born Cherinians; how much of what we cared for as normal humans will you treasure?”
“Rosie, put that down as a subject to be discussed.” Dommi said.
We had chosen to have our meeting on Monday. Apostoli had closed his club for renovations for four days so we can jump there for food and refreshments. We did not want him to lose Friday and weekend nights. We have also promised to help with renovations so that the customers and staff will see work has been done. Robbie is there at this moment with Apostoli and they are re-painting the club.
Of course we all knew why Robbie was working. He is trying to distract himself, forget about the fear that is eating away at him. He is not doing a very good job of hiding it either. Jade had asked that she be permitted to take Freddie to collect representatives of Cherinians from all planets we’ve brought back to life, that we know about within our time in the other reality. She has the protector with her and Solomon, the Sparklers and Anadir have gone with, so her soul is safe, but Robbie is the only Cherinian I know who worries more about our bodies. By the way, all the planets we will repopulate in the future are already repopulated. We will not be bringing them though, only the ones we already handled, as otherwise we may learn things about ourselves of the future. ((Aw! come on Sam!! Are you suggesting some other man should also be worried about our bodies?)) (Okay Cassie - funny!)
3074
Jade should have been back and our meeting was supposed to have started. As long as Robbie stayed away, nobody noticed Jade was missing. It is funny, if we had come as adults I’m certain they would have noticed her absence. Just as Cherine was ready to call to Robbie and ask they go to her, Jade appeared. It was stupid of her to jump into the middle of a crowd, but she did not give us time to react. She broadcast an urgent need for everyone to clear a space around her and she created a dome of energy. She was coughing as she jumped out of it. She called for space again and she waited at the edge.
Robbie and Apostoli appeared and we waited. The CherInguel guests arrived in the dome as Sharipya and Asimi with Urafel and another four Elabet arrived in the open space. There were many gasps of amazement as many saw for the first time our alien friends and Cherinians. A number of them began to clap and soon all of them joined in. They stopped as Robbie stepped forward.
“Friends, welcome. Jade, where are our machine friends?”
She only grinned at him. He gradually realised something was different about her. Her hair was sparkling. The sparkling lights rose and floated above her. Robbie flushed; he should have sensed them.
“Robert, I think we need to apologise to all our friends. There isn’t enough space for all to spread out comfortably as we are used to.”
“Dommi…” There was an outcry of protests. Sol and Ordinx with other Anadir and the Eminixx arrived. Robbie smiled at Dommi and raised his arm.
“This is a wonderful moment for us. We have representatives of eight species, our Sparklers, the Anadir, CherInguel, Elabet, the Gillians, Eminixx and Elipians, plus the machine people, apart from the variety of Terrans on our planet.” He paused. “I think all our governments would be having panic attacks if they knew.” It made everyone laugh. “I see some of our visitors have brought their own food, but for the rest of us, you will have noticed that we do not have any refreshments here. Apostoli has kindly made his club available to us for the next three days. Food is ready and hot or cold drinks are available. Make yourselves at home and please serve yourselves. It would not have been fair to anyone that they spend their time there serving us instead of being part of our meeting. For those who, like myself, are smokers, please use the areas marked for smokers. Before we begin, I believe Alki has something to announce.”
Alki went to stand by Robbie.
“Thank you. As many of you know, Elia, Eddie, his wife and myself have established a fund for our local Cherinians. We use the fund to assist those families who are not well off financially. We either provide them with the capital to buy or start a business, or we buy them a share in a Cherinian or non-Cherinian company. These are not meant to be financially rewarding investments for the fund, but it is expected that those so helped contribute to the fund once their business is financially viable.
We also use the fund for establishing cell banks around the world. These in some cases have become profitable and the whole project is now self-funding. It may interest you to know that we have not limited our collection of cells to ourselves. Under various guises we are attempting to create a gene pool that extends to all the races of man. Our target is to have at least five million samples. We also are adding animal cells - from microbes or bacteria, insects, to all other kinds of animals. This part of the project is not seen as having any urgency as we will be able to re-populate our planet with fauna from alternate realities.
A further use of our funds has been to identify properties, some in cities and some in remote areas for two purposes. The one is to provide our Cherinians with holiday homes and the other is to have a number of safe houses should it become necessary to hide from our own governments.
Our investments in alternate world projects have grown and they have been very lucrative. Our lunar holidays are usually booked a year in advance. We are starting a new travel destination. This will be for the few and will be expensive. Two weeks on the spaceship-world Roberto and his family call Freddie Mercury.
3075
We have a manufacturing base on the back side of the moon and it has caused great interest world-wide. There are continuous attempts by corporations and governments to discover our secrets of manufacturing under what we call simulated low-gravity. If we extend this operation over a number of alternate Earths, our annual profits can begin to run into the billions of dollars.
Years ago, Roberto identified a Chinese herbal pharmaceutical plant that had potential and required capital. This has grown to become a hundred million dollar business. We have cut our prices for undeveloped countries which we hope will have a number of humanitarian benefits. The downside though is that their populations are growing too fast. A solution has to be found that can be married to their culture; solutions imposed, based on our Western culture, will not work.
We use a small, unfortunately, percentage of our fund to provide relief to deserving cases among the Normals. We are usually guided by Robert which means most of these are either directly to help children or families.
Finally, on recent trips by the family, we have been presented with copies of a food machine and plans are being made for the manufacture of them in unbelievable quantities - in the trillions! This represents technology from another species and is their contribution towards making life possible for the various species Roberto is bringing back to re-populate planets destroyed by the fire-world. In the short term it will be a non-profit effort, but as the various species recover their technology, we trust they will make contributions of their own to the general good of all Cherinians and life in general.
This speech is not for the purpose of bragging. We felt it is time for us to partner with those of other realities. We need help in manufacturing specialised food machines, in selling software we have created and so on. Those of you interested, please contact us at the end of our meeting or while either of us are at the club.
I’m sorry, I should have mentioned that our alternates of other realities have been investing large sums in our projects to help worlds that have faced disasters. We are grateful for their generosity and look forward to them becoming a part of our inter-planetary and inter-reality projects. Thank you very much.”
As he turned to leave the platform he turned back with a grin. “I should perhaps mention that our Roberto has stopped working for me and hardly ever contributes any art work I can make money off. It may amuse you to know that he still resents being paid just enough to keep his family in modest comfort. If what has been achieved till now had been done in his name he would have been a multi-trillionaire. He’ll probably make me regret asking, but if any of you are close to him or have a new psychic gift that can help, please try to make him see sense. They are our leading family and they should not have to worry about money.”
Robbie took over, with a grin. “It is amazing how such a brilliant businessman can be so blind. I never worry about money - I let Alki worry about how to make me accept some.” He turned and embraced pappou. “He has made all they have achieved sound so easy, I assure you, without their full devotion we would not have had a Cherinian fund.”
He let Alki return to his family, his face red - he was pleased to see the faces of his kids shining with their pride in him, his daughters promptly placing themselves on his lap.
“I’ve asked for this meeting for various reasons. For one, we have been asked over and over again about our trips. I think it is time for us to have a storytelling. Please remember that those who do the telling are my loves and they do tend to make me look like a hero if they can, so don’t let them fool you.
It is important we all get together as often as we can just for socialising. Everyone of us have our own problems and it is easy to forget we are all part of a very large family. I am glad to see there are many new faces here and such meetings can help make them feel they belong.
I hate formalities, but I suggest we agree on the form we follow. I would like to first introduce those of species that are new to you - questions you have to ask them about their cultures should be left for after the storytelling, you’ll probably find a lot of your questions will not need to be asked. After that I will ask you to introduce new members of your families to us. I have the feeling some of you may have avoided explaining to your children or others the basic facts of life with respect to my family and myself. Shall we take a short break for us to have a coffee or cold drink while you do so? After listening to Alki I’m dying for a smoke, so I’ll see you here in about half an hour.”
Sharipya soon saw there was no need to be nervous - whoever recalled his attack on us also presumed that he is here because Cherine accepted him as a Cherinian. Anyway, both he and Asimi are audibly admired for their beauty and he proudly basked in their admiration of his love. It is such a pity the Inguel are not attractive to us Terrans. Those who took the trouble to talk to them soon saw what wonderful souls they have. Urafel is confusing for everyone. In a vague way he resembles our bears, though not round-bodied. In an odd way, as Jade remarked, he looks like a very tall man masquerading as a bear, though those extremely long fingers of his, with their brown hook-shaped talons can look quite intimidating.
3076
Claudia walked through the sphere, automatically being sheathed in a thin film of energy to protect her from the differences in our atmospheres, so as to be with Urafel. Lucy joined Sharipya and soon all the aliens had visitors chatting with them.
Because of the new Cherinians, the storytelling had to begin from the early part where Robbie and Cherine met. Three days will barely be enough for the girls to tell our story. It will also be exhausting for them, so we left as soon as the first storytelling ended and going to an alternate world relaxed in the sun and played on white beaches. For almost half of the first day Robbie was in a strange mood. He was sitting in the shade when we felt him chuckling in our minds. *I’ve been feeling something is wrong, something is missing. I’ve just worked out what it is. We’re actually going to have a few days on our own without Allan around.*
To be a little more carefree I had regressed my body to the age of seven. A number of us were standing in more or less a straight line waiting for the waves (keep in mind that we are in Tanzania and the waves or often over a metre high, which also create quite a strong undertow as they break against the shore). As it is about to break over us, we (physically) jump, trying to keep our heads above water. There is one rule - no one is allowed to use their gifts.
As a larger wave came, my face hit the wave squarely. I tumbled in the water as the wave carried me to shore and I managed to get onto my knees, coughing out the seawater I had inhaled. For me it was an amazing experience. I have never felt my limbs grow weak so quickly before and it was horrible trying to breathe as I coughed. I would not let my healer help me even though it was scary. As I was nearly recovered, another wave came in and knocked me over, this time the undertow drawing me deeper as I floundered and my throat filled with the salty water again. My eyes stinging and my chest and throat sore and raw I struck for the surface. My head broke clear, but I could not breathe. I gave in and let the healer help as I teleported ashore.
On hands and knees, I crouched on the sand coughing, water dribbling out of my nostrils. The healer soothed my burning lungs and throat and soon I was breathing normally again, only my arms and legs still trembling. If I had been a Normal child I would have drowned and I found the experience far more unsettling than I had expected.
I looked up to find them all around me, their faces curious. Robbie was on his knees next to me. His hand stroked my head.
“Was it worth it?”
“Scary.”
“Don’t talk yet, let your throat recover. Cherine, get her some water.”
She brought me some coconut milk and it soothed my throat. Robbie reached for me and swung me onto his shoulders, my legs on either side of his head. He stood up and I clung to his hair as he held me by the legs. He walked along the water line where the sand is firmer. His hands rubbed up and down my skinny legs, wiping the sand off.
“What next Sammy?”
“It was an accident. Then it did not feel right to use my gifts. I wanted to be a Normal child, see what it is like.”
He walked without answering, but I can feel his mind, he was not upset and was thinking about something. The sun was hot on my back and it was a strange feeling being carried like this. I put my hands to his cheeks and relaxed, carried along in a dreamy state.
We came to the hotel and we sat under an umbrella. He ordered a glass of soda water with a little fresh lemon squeezed in and plenty of ice. I ordered a coke.
“It might be a good idea Sam. Perhaps all children born as Cherinians should spend some time as Normal children.”
3077
“Only when they reach the stage when they want to try it, it can’t be forced on us, dad. Your purpose, it is meant to be as part of our having more empathy for Normals?”
“It might work out that way. If the experiences are not good, it can result in the opposite happening. I was thinking it might help them appreciate what the gift Cherine brought us really means.”
I was curious. “How will we do it?”
“I’m not certain.”
“I think each of us should choose what kind of life we want to experience.”
“There would be little point in choosing to live as the child of a rich family.”
“Why not Robbie? Even rich kids have to learn that life does not only have good times.”
“Perhaps. I don’t know, I think the experiences should be raw, experiencing what most of the kids in this world do, not some sheltered life with servants to take care of you. If anyone wants to experience being rich, they can do that as a second lesson.”
I got off my chair and sat on his lap. He was suffering from the heat and sweaty and a little smelly. I liked his smell. I traced my fingertips over his face.
“I love you very much Robbie.”
“Sometimes I can’t believe how much I love you Sam. You cause me more problems than all the others together and you force me to think more deeply about things I’d rather ignore, and yet for some strange reason it only makes me love you even more.”
I grinned. “I’m an enchantress. That is why I came back from the future, to enchant you and make you my slave.”
He grinned back at me. “You succeeded then.” What a pity we were sitting in a public place!
“Before the girls begin the second part of our storytelling, are there any questions? For many of you who are new, we know you are upset at what you saw. The signs have been obvious, even within your own Cherinian communities, but the idea of an adult loving children is anathema and you have turned a blind eye to what was staring you in the face. This is your opportunity to get your objections heard.”
He stood there, forcing himself to keep his face gentle so that he does not intimidate anyone. Nobody spoke.
“Your minds will not be open to us if you do not speak. Instead of learning about our history, albeit from the perspective of my family, your minds will be fixated on what you are horrified by. There is little point in you keeping silent, everyone in this hall can feel your emoting. None of us here will judge you; we have all in turn been horrified, yes, if you have understood the first storytelling, you will have seen it includes myself, even if I was the first perpetrator of this ghastly crime.”
All of us girls get upset every time he has to put himself through this emotional wringer, but we also understand the need for it. We can hardly wait for the day he does not need to justify our loving each other.
A young woman stood up. “To be honest, I did not understand much about the storytelling last night. When I understood you were making love to a child of eight I was too horrified to concentrate on the rest of the story. I did not see much difference between what you did and what Wendy’s father did to her. Because she wanted it, it does not make you that different from the men who use children, like those in the stories of Aganthi and Theresa. No child is mature enough to make an informed decision. I’m not stupid. I did see how you suffered, but the fact is you gave in to your lusts!”
A few others were nodding their heads in agreement with her. Her pose was defiant, as if expecting Robbie to attack her. I do not know what Robbie was about to do or say, for Cherine stood up.
3078
“You said you saw how he suffered, but you did not mention understanding how I suffered, how desperately I needed him. There is no way you can understand if you keep your minds shut to him. I think there is only one way to solve this. You have to share the experiences with me. Will all of you who agree with her please come to our home. I want you to join me in my mind as I re-live the experiences that horrify you.”
“Thank you Cherine, but I do not think it will change their minds.”
She turned on him, her fists bunched against her sides. “I don’t care! What I need to show them is that they are not being fair. They are blinding themselves to the fact that we are not Normal children. Even before I met you, I was not a Normal child.”
Robbie shook his head. “I don’t agree. What you were, what we did, they should not be the deciding factors. Cherine, I too thought so for a long time. I cannot continue to do so with so many children in my bed. I cannot do so after my countless rovings among the homes of cities all over the world.” He turned to the woman. “In the second storytelling you will learn about the penal world. With your opinion of me as it is at present, you will consider it’s existence hypocrisy on my part. We have to resolve this before the girls continue. There is not one of you I will want to have leave here despising me. There are a number of things we can do to help you understand. What Cherine suggested is one way. Another will be for you to change your body age to that of a five year old, go to the void and dance there. Upon returning you will be left alone, no one making love to you. Then you will understand and be more open to discussing the subject.
I’m not interested in anybody here justifying green love, as my lovers call it, for Cherinians only. You all have gifts that give you an advantage over Normal human beings. If you feel strongly and make judgements on them you may end up using your gifts to interfere. All of us have done so at one time or another. We must not! I cannot stress that strongly enough.” Now his face was stern and his eyes dark pools that none wished to feel focus on them.
“Where do we stop? Do we interfere in their politics? Stop their wars? Force them to feed the hungry?” His presence was like a freezing magnet that held us captive. We can all sense within the heart of that icy presence a fire raging and we realised he is tortured by his own questions. He must have blocked himself and as we all relaxed he did so too, though his body remained stiff and unyielding.
“The innocent suffer, millions die of hunger; governments kill their own citizens and brother fights against brother and I ask you not to interfere! Am I being heartless, worrying only about my Cherinians? The truth is, I’m not thinking of you at all, I’m thinking of them.
None of you will ever know how I fought myself in the early years. I saw my gifts, the powers passed on to me as a responsibility, fate speaking to me, pointing a finger to the suffering around me and saying, every heart that aches, every body that suffers, is abused or mutilated, the blame lies with you now, for you have the power to bring peace and an end to suffering.
For those of you who wonder why I did not, I have no simple answer. In the beginning I was partly paralysed by my fears. I worried what the exposure of our powers to the world will do to all those I love. What hope will Cherinians have of surviving?
We grew and I no longer had that fear. We can all jump to an alternate Earth and I knew we will be welcomed at any of them with open arms and hearts filled with love. Still I held back. Something warned me I would be wrong to act on my feelings. It has taken me a long time to mature and learn a little wisdom.”
“Oh for God’s sake, light a cigarette, nobody will mind!” Allan called out and we all laughed. Robbie had been twisting his fingers behind his back in his anxiety to get his message across. The tension broke and a few fidgeted about, making themselves comfortable.
“Starting from Alki onwards, you all looked to me as your leader, a position I never wanted. As leader though, there have been times I wanted to interfere in the way I saw some Cherinians behaving. I saw it would be wrong of me. Each and every one of you is entitled to follow his or her own conscience. Each of you has the right to make your own mistakes and learn - just as I have done. I formed a committee to help protect all Cherinians from me and from any future leaders. We Cherinians are a new species, whichever race and planet we come from. We need to discover our own rules to live by, not have them forced upon us by one well meaning individual, even if he or she is right.
By extension I saw that the same rules apply to Normals. They too are in the process of evolving. At times they seem to take large strides in the right direction and then they slip so far back we think they will never recover. At such times it is very tempting to interfere, give them a nudge in the right direction. I have a theory about that, would you like to hear it?
3079
I believe that among the well educated and highly successful or intelligent of various nations, a number of groups have been formed throughout the ages with the intention of secretly helping their country to evolve to a better future. They probably did some good for a time. Thereafter I think the groups evolve or devolve and instead of gently trying to help their fellow-man, they begin to use their power to dominate - always with the excuse that they are doing it for the good of all. After all, the Normal man and woman, they are like children. They have to be led and protected. If it means we have to take away a few of their rights…it is only for the short term; the day will come when society will reach an ideal state (which will never arrive) and we can return all their rights to them. From there the dream turns into a nightmare, as we have already discovered…but I’ll discuss that at another time, for at this meeting, we must concentrate on creating an image for and of ourselves, of learning who we are and want to be or become.
That kind of thinking I mentioned, it sings in the mind like a siren. It appeals to the parent in each of us. No people, no species, no race, no adult individual needs a parent! Where there is such a parent, whether one man or a government, all that happens is that we stunt the growth of those we are trying to help. Since we can see it is true for the Normals, we must remain doubly aware and beware of us allowing anyone to treat any of us Cherinians in such a way.
Let me return to the subject that brought on this tirade. The young lady, your name is Edith? Edith, I have broken my own rules. I found adults who were severely molesting, abusing or hurting children in some way and I acted against them, removing them from our world. I have a weakness, I cannot bear to see or sense children suffer. Where I find a child being tortured, I will not allow them to continue. In other cases, I am forced to sit by as children suffer horrendously. Even in an ideal world, there will be accidents and little bodies will be broken. I do not foresee yet a time when all disease will be eradicated. With every single Normal maturing, there will still be children who suffer. One day we can perhaps help them all, not just the few, as we do now. The time has not come yet.
I have seen many families where there is physical loving between adult and child or adolescent. I have seen nothing but joy and love in the hearts of those children. They are the rare exceptions. There are other cases where the child enjoys the relationship, but is tortured by the over-strident attacks in the media and by society in general. They are taught by other adults that what they are doing is wrong, that it is evil, dirty and so on. Even though the lessons are always careful to rest the blame on the adult, the child still feels guilty because they are enjoying something they should not. They are made to feel they are dirty and freaks and are not part of society.
Edith, you have grown up within a society that has categorised all adults who make love to children as monsters. Even those who will not touch a child and channel their love and urges to making life safer and happier for children, if they have one photo of a child that is considered by someone provocative, if they have a story, a fiction written about child love, they are branded monsters and placed in prison.
Every now and then a monstrous story hits the headlines about some child that was abducted, raped or killed. Even I, lover of children, at such times I feel a rage and need to find all such men and kill them. When emotions are high, reason hides. We then forget to differentiate. Think on this. Why does any adult decide to become a teacher? Are they all paedophiles? In a manner of speaking, yes. Wanting to help young minds grow and become the best they can, means they love all children. Most of them will not dream of making love to a child. Such a thought will not cross their minds and most have a wife or husband and children of their own. Yet, in the strictest sense, they are paedophiles, they love children. Are parents who love their own children paedophiles? No, not if they only care for and love their own children.
As an aside. If we are horrified by adult male paedophiles, why are we not even more strongly horrified by females? After all, we are taught that women have the mother instinct and there is nothing stronger or more beautiful than that. How can any creature that has those instincts be a paedophile? Is it because we mostly abhor those who use their physical strength to hurt children and it is not really the loving that is so horrible?
I will not pretend to know the answers. The subject, I suspect, does not have one answer. Perhaps it needs that we judge each case on an individual basis. The adult who loves children and will die to save one from being hurt should not be placed in the same category as those who abuse children, just because of sexual preferences that he or she does not act on anyway. Abusers and molesters are not paedophiles, the only word for them is monsters. Edith, you and the others, you will have to decide for yourselves what I am.”
Dommi, who looked about eleven went to his side.
3080
“In Earth years I am in my late thirties, but if we considered the time spent travelling in other realities I am about forty years old. Look at me and ask, why do I prefer to be eleven? Often I am an adult and I can tell you, I can’t wait to change back to this age, even if it is only for making love. If you close your minds to the fact that children are also sexual beings, you will think of me as being decadent. Open yourselves and you’ll sense a beauty in my feelings, which no longer exist once you are an adult. Sex at different ages is different, especially if your lover is sensitive and caring as Roberto is. When we make love, with me as a child, something is added to our lovemaking, his need to protect me almost making the experience too beautiful for words.
We cannot do the storytelling without the girls having a rest in between. To give them a break we went to Keith’s Earth for a few days. While there, Sam changed herself to a seven year old. She had an accident and nearly drowned. Well, not strictly true, but if she had been a Normal girl she would have. She spent the next few hours sitting on Robert’s shoulders as they walked and talked. They sat at a hotel and she left her chair to sit on his lap because she loves him so much. Sam is a special case. Hers is a soul that came from a couple of hundred years in the future to live her life here with us. She saw how after so many years she and we all still adore our Roberto and says she had to come back to our time. You will have been shocked to hear at what age she first made love with him. Try to remember who she really is and that she came back in time especially for him.”
We jumped to the club for Robbie to have his cigarette and coffee. It also gave the others time to talk to our new Cherinians - those who had disapproved. Aganthi sat on his lap and took a few puffs.
“This place, it is special to me Roberto. This is where you first saw me and chased after me. You did lie though.”
“I did? About what my love?”
“You promised I will be your princess, but you made me your slave.”
He smiled as his arms squeezed her. “Just as well Edith and the others can’t hear you. In a way, love makes slaves of all of us. You are right though, I did make a mistake, you are not my princess. Each and every one of you are my goddesses. I adore all of you.”
They had left our listeners hanging with dread at the reason for the old man taking away Robbie. They listened and watched as Jade brought the singing/talking storytelling to life for them with actual scenes. Robbie jumped and walked on the beach while they showed him being tortured. He says he does not like seeing or recalling those days. The truth is he cannot bear the feelings they evoke in all of us. The storytelling ended with his return to us.
“We need a rest. If you all enjoy a meal at the club, we’ll join you back here in a couple of hours. Our story changes drastically from here on. I think you will find it interesting.” Meli ended with a smile. Robbie arrived and we jumped, using our gift to help those who had been doing the storytelling. Jade was drained and could hardly stand. Robbie took her in his arms and jumped again to the bungalow we had rented. He placed her on the bed. She made as if to get up.
“I must have a shower, I smell.”
“We all love your smell. Sleep first my darling.” He lay down next to her and drew her to him. Even before her head was on his chest she was fast asleep.
*Meli, cut down the time. Five hours is too long. Half your audience was dying to get to the toilet.* His arm reached out for her and she lay down next to him. The rest of us held Wendy and Candy as they fell asleep. It was not long before we all slept.
I was not really tired and woke up first. Immediately I realised Robbie was not with us and I sensed he was strolling along the beach. I sent him a question mark and he sent me a picture of two arms open in welcome. I jumped to him. He took one look at me and laughed.
“Are you going to walk in the nude?” I was about to brazen it out with a saucy reply, but changed my mind and jumping back put on my bikini.
“Happier now? Hey, it’s full moon!”
“Are you going to change into a wolf?”
“What for? I’m much more dangerous as I am.” He acted as if I had said something hilariously funny. He sat on a fallen palm tree, wiping his eyes. I waited until he calmed down.
I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love - and should some of it be true for our reality, I hope you will love our Cherine.
Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου
(Alexander Zenon Eustace)23rd November, 2019
- posted: 23rd November, 2019
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