Little Cherine Book 06 - BPost008
“She won’t, you know it.”“We’ve all been to the void Roberto, add to that what we just shared. Aven felt the way Jessie’s body was responding. She will suffer if you exclude her. I think the other Aven will understand.”
3571
“That is not the point Robert. However she feels about it then, we do not have the right to hurt her now. Damn!” Cherine was upset, sensing her words had made Aven feel that Robbie does not want her. Robbie looked at her eyes that were swimming in tears ready to fall on him. That was the final straw and he gave in.
As he hugged and kissed her face, Athia giggled. “He did not last even one week.”
“Not fair,” Jade whispered fiercely, “he is not doing this because of his needs.”
“Yeah, but he sure is enjoying giving in to her needs.”
Robbie did not bother with a massage first. His hands and lips travelled from spot to spot, expertly awakening the fires within her to a white-hot inferno. When his lips and tongue teased at her tummy she did not want him to ever stop. To her that was the nearest to ecstasy that she could imagine. Robbie was happy to accommodate her since he also particularly loves the soft warmth of a tummy. Soon she screamed and moaned as her first ever orgasm hit her. Her body bucked and writhed wildly and as she slammed herself against him hit his nose a sharp blow. Instantly his healer cut off the pain so that it will not mar this moment for her. Robbie pulled Athia to them and by taking time with one baby girl and then the other he prolonged it for both of them and carefully timing it brought them both to an explosive orgasm together.
Once we had all settled down he asked for a few minutes, had his toast and honey with coffee and then went to the bathroom. When the door opened we saw he had provided one Robert for each of us. We guessed this is going to be one of the most intense nights any of us have ever experienced and we were right. He spent the whole of the next day fast asleep. Not that any of us were much better off.
We arrived at the taverna to find Allan and family there with Alki and family. They were all laughing and enjoying themselves, but as we came in they became silent. Mama Joe arrived as we were sitting down.
Allan got up and went over to Jo and bending kissed her cheek. “Were you angry at my first response?”
“First response? You used the little one to get out of having to respond at all.”
He looked puzzled. “You stopped sharing? You did not see me love my sweet Eleni? Black as the midnight sun and as beautiful as an impossible black rose?”
We all giggled at his flowery words. Mama Jo pretended to be greatly annoyed. “That family stopped watching you because of the little one and then spent all night blowing me out of my mind. I love good sex, but so many at the same time! They shamed me - made me faint a couple of times and I never faint!” She turned serious instantly. “Robert, she is in love with you, was that wise?”
Aven was clinging to Robbie and he had her on his lap as they tried to eat. He gave Dommi a sharp look. “Ask them, don’t blame me.” Jo shook her head, as if to say we were all impossible. Alki laughed.
“Don’t let my husband’s laughter fool you, they drive him crazy too. He gave up trying to censor their behaviour long ago.” She spoke fondly, but Marian was shocked that Cherine had shared our night of sex with Jo (nobody corrected her, as it doesn’t matter).
“Just as Allan claimed to have become a Cherinian carrying baggage from his Normal life, I too see I was carrying my own. Amongst my people there is a belief that white people are inhibited and are not capable of truly enjoying sex. I think this family could teach my race a few things!” Everyone laughed.
“After all this time you still think of yourself as being a Terran and specifically of what we are loosely calling a black race?”
“Yes I do Allan. It is not for the same reasons that you think of yourself as a white man though. During my last life I experienced the suffering and poverty of my race. I saw how most white people speak of their convictions that all are equal, but their words are spoken in such a way that it is insulting, degrading. They speak of treating their maid or neighbour as an equal and it would remind me of certain elderly women who talked of their pets being their babies. If a dark skinned person succeeds or shows brilliance in any field, apart from sport, the feeling of wonder that a dark person has a brain is almost palpable. In your tolerance you hurt more than those who are openly hostile and prejudiced. At least with them we can blame and fight them because they will not even try. How do you fight someone who invites you to his or her house or gives you a job, just because you are black and they want to prove how liberal and open minded they are?”
3572
“You are generalising Jo? What you say may be true of the older generations, but I have seen many white children or young people who have very close friends of the other race. It may not be the same in the country you lived in, but it is true in the United States.”
“It is the same in South Africa.” Robbie added.
Claudia added, “Actually my experience, from sensing people in general, is that there are many black people who show the same prejudice and intolerance of other races.”
Ordinx said, “It is good that you discuss it openly. We too had our prejudices in our distant past. With us it was not colour since we have such varied skins. At first the males without eyes were seen as an abomination, we called them mutants and there was even a call for the extermination of such monsters. A millennium later it swung the other way and males with eyes as females were considered throwbacks and we studied ways to scientifically rid ourselves of them. When I first met Robert I pitied him, a male with eyes! How could he fully perform his duties as a male with such poor sight? It made me more protective of my friend Sam.”
With the confession from Ordinx, I decided to tease Sol. “What about the Sparklers Sol, did you have any prejudices?”
“You know we did Sam. If we had not thought of ourselves as being the way all life should be, would we have not first examined and tried to learn why others are different instead of trying to free their souls and make them as us?”
Luigi spoke thoughtfully. “We tend to explain prejudice as the fear of what is different. Perhaps prejudice owes its existence more to arrogance, because we think of the way we are as being the way all humans should be? I think the gift of Cherine will help us all accept that life is the same for all of us, whatever our shapes or colours.”
“It is not enough.” Robbie said sharply. Aven looked up at him with fear, never having heard him speak that way before. He caressed her hair as he continued. “The prejudices you speak of have had devastating effects on countless lives throughout history, but they are as nothing compared to the prejudices that are being born.” His voice became really angry. “I am already seeing attitudes set among Cherinians. You all see yourselves as being better in many ways than the Normals among your people. I cannot seem to get through to you that there are no better or worse people, only different. What do you think makes you better? The gifts of jumping, of having a healer and perfect health? Your ability to sense other minds?
To me, many of the Normals are better than you. They have no gifts that provide them comfort and yet they sacrifice their lives for their ideals. Because they believe all men are equal they fight; because they see hunger and despair they fight. Whatever we do, however much we help, we dare not compare ourselves to them, for we give from the security of knowing we will not have to suffer. I am not speaking only of those of my race. What about the Inguel who gave their lives because they saw an injustice? What about those who shelter and help CherInguel at risk of being ostracised, beaten or separated from their children? Apart from the Sparklers, which one of you would dare to claim they owe nothing to Normals of their specie?”
Luigi nodded. “I agree. There is arrogance in our joy at being Cherinians. It is human nature Robert.”
“Then shed that part of your natures!!” He handed Aven over to Dommi and stood up, walking up and down as his frustration and anger fought within him. “None of you have any excuse. You have seen that souls are all equal, all have the same ability to love, to feel pain.” He stopped, stared at us and then cried out. “Can’t you see that you betray yourselves if you think of yourselves as being ‘better’ because you are in a position to know and understand yourselves in ways no Normal human could? You also betray Cherine and all she is meant to stand for.” Cherine cringed at his words. He shocked us by turning on her. “I include you Cherine. Your attitudes, of all of you, are unconscious at the moment, but how long before they begin to express themselves openly in your beliefs?”
“Roberto, now is not the time for this…” She was talking about Aven, but he interrupted her by striding to her and taking Aven into his arms. He set her on her feet and took her over to Jessie.
“Jessie, you will soon be a Cherinian so do not get upset at what I say. Okay?” She nodded, a little bit afraid of him.
3573
“Aven, this little girl is a normal human. If she was not with us and she had an accident, she would die. As a Cherinian she cannot die. Like all the other girls here. You felt her heart last night, was there anything that made you feel she is not special, not worth just as much as anybody else here?”
Aven looked up at him, eyes showing she was afraid, so she answered as she knew he would want her to. “No.” We could all feel that she did not really think that way, that she thinks of our family as being special. We thought that his using her had boomeranged on him, but he turned to us triumphantly.
“You see? You felt her? That is what I feel in all of you.” Suddenly his anger evaporated and tears came to his eyes. “I have failed. I foresaw this happening but have not found a way to prevent it. How can you be so blind!”
His sorrow made us all see ourselves honestly and we felt ashamed. Robbie picked up Aven again, kissed her and walked to the beach with her in his arms. He sat on the sand and asked if she would like to play puppy. He was gone within her mind for a long time. I do not know if he did it for her or for himself.
None of us discussed it, no excuses were made, but Jo did go to Allan. She kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. This all began because of my prejudices and I am pleased. I was beginning to fear he would never speak of what is going wrong with us. I’m relieved, at least everyone will now have to look at themselves honestly. Perhaps some good will come out of it.”
Playing puppy became Aven’s favourite game and she wants all of us to play with her. She is making us all love her and Cherine withdrew, trying hard to prevent any possibility of a link forming - any beauty and joy in that happening would turn into a catastrophe for us when her full mind is released.
Things can move too fast sometimes. Robbie read the above paragraph as I wrote it (from my mind) and called Cherine to him.
“What Sam wrote, is she right?”
“Yes.”
“Why baby? Since when do we fear love? We know that when we return her to herself she will not be part of the link anymore, but does that mean we should close our hearts to the child she is now? Do we repulse her love because she will do the same to us one day? It might hurt later, but it would hurt me more knowing that we could have shared a love for a brief time and we did not.” He withdrew into himself, thinking. “If I could, I would ask that you link her to me only since you all fear the pain of losing her. You are wrong Cherine, even when Aven is Aven the Avenger, there will still remain deep within her the little girl of today who will have something to treasure. You are robbing her also.”
Robbie jumped to Allan’s house.
“Do both of you want Jessie to be linked?”
“Does Cherine think she is ready?”
“That is a silly question Allan and not entirely honest. You must have felt she wanted to link her but did not for your sake. We understand your need to have her as she is for a while and we can wait.”
“It would not be fair to her.”
“You are wrong. There is sweetness and joy in what she is experiencing as a Normal. Her heart is opening and your love for her is becoming more important to her day by day. There is nothing wrong in being a little bit selfish for a while Allan, she is safe here and not at risk. Give yourselves more time if that is what you really want.”
“Why did you come to ask us then if you already knew the answer?” Allan asked with a smile.
“It is better if you make your choices honestly.” Robbie grinned. “Not strictly true. We might be linking Aven and I was worried you, Eleni and Jessie might feel hurt we linked her before Jessie.”
3574
“Your giving us permission to be selfish does not alter the fact that it is selfish. If Cherine is ready, then we would be happy for her.” Eleni wrapped her arm around his neck and nodded at Robbie, agreeing.
None of us can get close to Robbie, Aven has claimed him for herself. This has never happened to us before and I think we are more bemused than anything else. Robbie of course is lapping it up and plays along with her. He is right in that she will not be with us long enough to justify our trying to teach her how to share. We did consider the possibility it might be good for the full Aven if we teach her, but Robbie says she did not agree to our changing her personality, only to us teaching her about ourselves. He is wrong of course, sharing is what we are all about, it is an integral part of what makes us the people we are.
Dommi told me I am wrong. She says Aven is actually reacting in the same way most normal little girls would and that she will outgrow it. We have five weeks to go, so we can be patient. Oh! Something just occurred to me. What if the full Aven feels the same way? What if she stays fixated on Robbie?
Luckily she remains sweet and as appealing as before and because we all love Robbie so much, we can sympathise with her need. However, Cherine does not want to link her while she is like this, so I suppose Robbie will have to take care of the problem.
Robbie has this ludicrous trust in common sense. It endears him when dealing with us, but he thinks it works with all kids. He sat down and explained to Aven why she is here (again) and then told her she has to get to know the whole family, not just him. He explained that love is not possessive and she stared at him with big eyes. His words faltered and he stared back into her eyes.
“You’re not agreeing with anything I say. Aven, if you won’t try to understand, how can I teach you?”
Athia had to take over the job, but now she is at a disadvantage; Aven no longer feels she is important to her, Robbie is the only one who matters to her. Frustrated she also gave up. Eleni reported she is having the same problem with Jessie. I suppose it is funny in a way. Here we are confronted with two Normal little girls and with all our Cherinian gifts we are not capable of handling them.
Marian turned up in the morning with Jessie’s little hand in hers. “Aven, the three of us are going for a walk, put your shoes on.” Meekly she did as she was told. They were gone for hours and when they returned, Aven waited for Marian to leave. Soon as we were alone she threw herself into Robbie’s arms.
3575
“That bad woman said nasty things.”
Dommi spoke first. “Aven, Marian is not a bad woman. Are you being naughty?”
Sullenly, “No.”
“I think you are. Go to the bedroom and sit there until you have thought of what she told you, and when you are ready, come back and explain to us what she said. You better get it right.” When Dommi feels the way she was emoting at that moment, nobody fights back, and Aven was no exception. With tears in her eyes she left us. We all sat silent, aching to rush to her and put our arms around her.
“Roberto, she has a lot of growing up to do within hardly more than a month. We dare not let our time with her end with her as she is now. She is childish and selfish, still at the age where she thinks she can demand to have her own way. Those are not the qualities she should have if she is going to help raise children. She has to learn discipline and empathy. Love for you is not enough!”
“Dommi, I’ve been thinking. When we leave her on her planet with the children, I should stay with her.”
“No. You do not have the right to do that. Athia, I am not forbidding you, I’m saying it would not be right. They are her people and the responsibility is hers and of the other adults with her. After their experiences and suddenly finding themselves back in their bodies, the children are going to be very unstable and will be looking for a rock to cling to. You are an alien, you must not be their rock. Perhaps Aven will not be either, perhaps some of the adults will be.”
“The adults, they will be the parents of the children?” Irene asked.
Robbie nodded. “Yes.”
“Then the numbers are wrong! The adults must be double the amount of children.”
“We will not be governed by numbers. We will choose families, satisfied?” She nodded.
“What role will Aven have then?” Athia asked. She was right. The parents will not allow her to interfere with the way they or their children adapt to being alive again.
“She has a strong personality, she will make a good leader. We will leave her there as an adult and if they look up to her, they will be influenced by her ideas.”
Athia felt her plans were going awry somehow, but she could not see how things can be handled in any other way. Maybe because she was unhappy, Dommi did not stop her when she went to Aven.
“Are you angry with all of us?”
No reply.
“I would be if I was you.” Aven looked at her. “You’ve never loved anyone the way you love Robbie and you feel he should only love you, just like you love him only.” Despite her youth and innocence, Aven was not stupid enough to answer in agreement, so she stayed quiet.
“That is how I felt about you. Because I love you so much I felt you should also love me more than anybody else. I decided I don’t mind if you love Robbie more.”
“I do love you.”
“You do? I mean really? I was feeling so sad because I thought you don’t anymore. I thought, since you love Robbie, you can’t love me anymore.”
“Of course I can.”
“Hmm, that’s good. So you only love Robbie and me. I’m sure you can’t be able to love anyone else also. Take Cherine for instance, surely you don’t love her? Not Goldi either. The others are silly, they think you love all of them. You and I know that is not possible. We don’t even want them to love us, do we?”
3576
“Cherine. I want her to love me.”
“Okay, maybe a little, but not that monster Dommi. Wasn’t she nasty to you!”
“She was cross.”
“But if she really loved you she would never get cross with you.” Aven was agreeing with her in her heart, so Athia waited without speaking.
“Are you sure Dommi doesn’t love me?”
“I don’t know. Do you feel she does?”
Reluctantly. “Yes.” Then she burst out with, “But she was cross with me!”
“I wonder why. If I was wrong, do you think…no, that’s too crazy! I can’t be right.” She paused, making Aven curious. “Could it be she was cross with you because she loves you?”
It is amazing how honest Aven is. “I think so.”
Athia looked at her with horror. “But that would mean that Marian was right!”
Aven wiped her wrist against her nose and looking down said, “Maybe.”
“I bet Jessie is too stupid to know that.” She hugged Aven.
She will not change overnight, but at least she is thinking about it, aware, and she will change. Robbie has been proven right about one thing. He insists there is an inherent goodness in all children. Now it is Robbie who clings to every minute he still has left of her devotion to him. Maybe we should set Athia on him? (Just kidding Robbie.)
Aven did become more loving to all of us and would allow us to distract her, take her away from Robbie to play. Within two days Cherine felt the link would happen soon. Excited we decided we wanted a party. Robbie moaned about having to send the protector to an alternate Alki for provisions; he complained our parties are only an excuse for us to waste food. He’ll say anything if it will provoke us into climbing all over him.
The other guest of honour was Jessie. Allan and Eleni looked proud, but also a bit sad. They kept on wanting a last cuddle and Jessie was puzzled, wondering what is wrong. That forced them to make up their minds to accept the inevitable and let her go.
We needed the two of them to play and enchant us with their laughter and sweetness so we had them and a few of the younger ones play together. Fondly the rest of us watched them and Cherine curled up on Robbie’s lap, her eyes shining and dark. As the two girls laughed at something, their eyes on each other, we felt Cherine reach out and she linked them. Not to any family, just to her so that they are now Cherinians. Cherine was not the only one to cry out in dismay.
As the link had pulled them in, the two of them had also linked to each other!
Both had felt what happened and they first responded with terror and then an ecstatic joy and awe as they felt themselves expand to all of us, to all Cherinians aboard Freddie, and then as they seesawed, they felt all of us enter them so that now and forever we will be one large family of Cherinians. The link between them settled and it could now be felt as a special friendship between the girls - not the family circle we had feared it was. Those of us who thought of it secretly cried for Jessie, knowing she is soon to be hurt by the loss of her special friend. Some of us, even fewer, wept also for this Aven.
Freddie has again stopped travelling and we all went to the void. Whatever fear there was initially soon dissolved and the two girls had a welcoming as but a few have ever had. Literally thousands of Terrans and aliens wanted to exchange motes with them which would have taken far too long - the girls could not last for very long in the void, they still needed time to adjust. Dommi tactfully suggested that apart from family and close friends, everyone else either wait for another chance or else they appoint two representatives of each species. Allan and his girls could now have formed their own Kaleidoscope World, but Robbie asked them to wait until we return to our own void.
3577
When we returned to our bodies Jessie burst out crying as she said, “They all love me!” The way the two were linked it did not surprise us when Aven also burst into tears. A lot of hands reached out to pet them, which did not really stop their tears, but then Asimi came forward.
“Would the two of you like to come for a ride on Sharipya and myself tomorrow morning?” Jessie had often watched Lucy ride as they galloped past and shyly she accepted, so Aven did, and soon the both of them were playing together and telling each other secrets. When we saw the two of them were beginning to suffer and were rubbing their bums on the seat and their thighs against each other, we decided we better take Aven home. She hugged her friend happily and let Robbie pick her up. She put her hands against his chest and leant back to look into his eyes, saying shyly, “I love you” and swiftly her hands went around his neck as she hid her face against his chest. She touched him deeply and he stood there with a look of pure love on his face, his arms crushing her to him. Out of the blue we felt the circle reach out and she was pulled in to our family. This time her tears turned into sobs and we jumped home, none of us commenting on what had occurred. As Robbie said, we will love her for a month and miss her for an eternity.
We did not think it through that night, being more intent on loving her and filling her sweet little body with pleasure, but the next day we had to face what some of the repercussions could be. For instance, she now has a healer; will her healer continue to exist when the original Aven returns? Will she continue to be linked to us? If she is, how will she react, how will we, if she still hates us?
Allan did not waste any time. He taught Jessie how to change her age and then asked of her, as a favour to him, that she change herself to a baby for a couple of hours each day. He explained about the brain and how it stops making new connections by about eight to ten years old. Jessie is still only seven, but she understood when he told her the connections being made now are at a far slower pace. So that she will not feel he was suggesting she is stupid, he suggested Eleni do it with her and then when they resume their normal ages, he would also do it. Mama Jo asked whether she can be present when he is a baby. She wants her healer to be within him and watch the effects of his baby mind being stimulated.
Dommi explained to Jo. “I’m sorry we did not explain this to you earlier. All parts of our bodies change when we alter our age except for our brains. Our healers have learnt to maintain all the connections while allowing the chemicals and everything else to change in accordance with the age we choose. Otherwise it would be a pointless exercise. Automatically our brains are maintained as they are at our real age, or else we would forget everything, but soon as we learnt about how the brain grows we adjusted the other parameters. Up until now we have mainly been doing it for the pleasure it gives us or the others and any benefit has been a side-effect, but Allan is taking it one step further by doing it deliberately for improving their minds. We had discussed doing the same, but somehow we always are caught up in something and have not done it.”
“That is wrong Dommi, especially for the Cherinian born babies. From what I see they alter their ages immediately and spend hardly any time as babies.”
“It did not worry us Jo because all of them are born far more intelligent than we are. They also have more talent than us.”
“I think you are confusing knowledge with intelligence Dommi. Perhaps they can only reach their true potential by giving their brains the time they need to grow naturally.”
“What is natural for them Jo? The years a Normal baby takes to grow or a Cherinian?”
She shrugged. “It would be asking too much of them to stay babies for a century, but give them the normal eight to ten years.”
“We can do better than that Jo. The fastest growth of brain cell connections, after birth of course, are within the first year. We can regress to that age for an hour or two every day for a hundred years if we want to.”
Allan answered her. “I do not think that will be enough Dommi, each doing it on our own. I think Cherinians of each planet should organise on this. It is not enough to become a baby if all that happens is you are cuddled and cooed at. We need to set up the right environment with trained people who will see to the minds being stimulated with colours, shapes, sounds and music. It will take more hours out of our day, as only half of the family can do this at the same time, half remaining as they are to give the babies the cuddling and love they need to grow in a healthy manner.”
Everyone agreed with him and Jo realised she was about to be conscripted. I gathered my courage, it is not nice having to shoot down such beautiful dreams.
3578
“I’m sorry Allan, it will not work. What you are asking of us does not fit in with our natures. There is a very limited amount of pleasure in being a baby and doing it now and then for an hour or two or for a night to sleep held by ones we love is more than enough. If we try to do as you suggest, we will soon start to view it as a chore.” Robbie nodded, agreeing with me and soon everyone else did. Allan looked worried and upset, feeling his dream slipping away from him. I gave him a smile to cheer him up.
“I would estimate it must be about twenty five years since Cherine and Robert linked, in real time for us. For others like Alki, who has not travelled much in Freddie, it is more like seventeen years. Even if you take the worst case scenario and only count the years as being seventeen, out of those years I would guess Cherine has spent at least sixteen of them as an eight year old or younger. Even if it means her growth of connections are slower, doesn’t it still mean she has far more connections in her brain than she would have as a Normal? It is likely she will spend at least fifteen out of the next twenty years at an age of six to eight. How many more connections? What of the next hundred years - the next thousand? Could it be we will cause unforeseen problems if we carry on doing this forever? Is there a point where we have to stop our brains from making new connections?”
“Theé mou!” Themi exclaimed. “Madness lies that way.”
“What a madness though!” Luigi said, his eyes wide with wonder, as he tried to picture what it would be like for him. Without meaning to, he frightened everyone. We had not thought such a madness could be attractive.
“Luigi is right.” Themi said, his fear battering us, “As the connections grow we would willingly reach for more connections. Perhaps it would feel as if we are becoming Gods.”
Robbie was no longer amused and his face was pale, his eyes haunted. The protector appeared, also agitated.
“How do we prevent this?” He abruptly waved his arm at me to silence me. “Sam, I know we can instruct our healers, that is not the problem. When and how do we decide we have reached cut-off point? It will be like a drug, the more intelligent we become, the more we will want to reach out for just that extra bit to become perfect. It could become just as compelling as anorexia.”
“I think you are aware of this as a problem for your own species only Robert. It is likely to affect most species.” Sharipya said.
“Most? Not all?”
“How would the Sparklers do it?”
Ordinx was very worried, but an Fisp spoke first. “This could turn out to not only be a problem for the individual. What if we examine it as a species problem? I would like my species to have the advantage of being the most intelligent species in the universe. What if you set a limit, a certain percentage of connections above what occurs in Normals of each species. Would it not be seen by each species as a temptation to add slightly to it, so that they are more intelligent than all other species? Where would it end? How could any rules be enforced? My friend Allan, I fear you have released a demon that will destroy all of us.”
“Except for the Sparklers.” Empathia said.
Sol shook her head. “It did not seem important so I did not refute it earlier. How do you think we create our thinkers? What makes any of you think we will not also be tempted to improve on what we are?”
The protector sat heavily. “Robert, what do we do?”
Robbie was not in a condition to think clearly either. His own instincts as a protector had his mind racing, in a turmoil that made it impossible for him to consider the problem clearly and logically. That will come later, but everyone was looking for instant answers right then and there.
An idea came to me, inspired by what an Fisp had said. I extrapolated from that and it was as if a white-hot explosion had hit me. I sat silently, stunned, while all heads turned to me. Afraid, but more concerned than afraid, Robbie set Aven on her feet and pulled me to him. “What is it Sammy?” His hand gently caressed my head and I leant over, burrowing into his chest for the comfort and to give myself time to collect my thoughts. I began to cry from joy. I felt as if I was in a state of ecstasy.
“No species can be any better than any other if we make a rule and they all agree to it.”
3579
“Explain to us my love.”
“What if we make a rule that every Cherinian has to spend at least one Normal lifetime as a member of every species? When we are ready for our next lives we could become Anadir. After that, Sparklers, or Inguel or Elipian or anything else. We have to spend a life as each of them at least once. The same for all of them. How important would species be then?”
Stunned they stared at me and then looked at each other, especially those of other species, their minds churning as they tried to envision themselves being of another species. The protector wavered, lost his form and he grew into a brightness that had to withdraw into our skies so as not to harm us.
I could not wait, give them time to absorb my words; my thoughts had to be spoken.
“The girls asked Freddie how long he would be happy running this world and he asked, what of you in a thousand years, in a million? We have all feared we would grow tired of living and become like the Ii. We already know of thousands of species, once we bring them all back. How many more exist that we do not know of yet? How many lives of learning have we got ahead of us if we all accept this plan? Each species will grow and evolve in ways we cannot imagine right now, so we can return and live another lifetime as each of the species so as to grow also. Oh Robbie!” I cried as I buried my face into him again. I could feel him trembling as he held me tightly.
“This would include the Sparklers Sam?” Sol asked. I nodded my agreement without taking my face out of Robbie’s chest. I felt Sol leave her body and Solomon appeared, Sparklers, the Thinkers mostly, swirled down and around him, dancing with their excitement. The fields around us were filling with people of all species; all rejoicing, arguing, laughing.
Solomon spoke for all of them. “Samantha Teller, friend of all aliens and love of Robert and Cherine, today you have given all of us a future none would have dared dream of.” He came to me and got on his knees so that his face would be at my level. His hand rested on my shoulder as he asked, “How do we thank you my little one?” I burst into new tears.
“No wonder she is overcome! We all are.” Urafel said.
Robbie shook his head, disagreeing. “No, there is something else she has thought of which she has held back. I almost fear to ask what it is.” His hand pulled my face up tenderly. “Sammy?”
I stared up at him, unable to speak for a moment, only able to stare into his eyes. I let him see what was in my mind and he paled, a fever of excitement and joy bursting out of him. I thought he would shout out the words, but instead he lifted me in his arms and turned me around so that I had to face them all. “Tell them, the words are yours.”
“Our Worlds, our Kaleidoscope Worlds, the Entities we become, think how they will grow, what they will be when we have been all species. We will all be the same and yet different because of the personalities that make them. Each World, every Entity will be brother to all other Entities, each Entity parent and child to every other Entity. We will become…I don’t know!” I cried.
The protector called out. “One family Samantha. One family.”
Su’phon, Fe’jene and Shiyra, out of all those who did not know how to react moved towards me. Solomon saw them and got out of the way. Weeping they knelt in front of me, grief tearing at them.
Fe’jene cried out, her face and words directed at Robbie, but also all others. “It is not fair! Such a vision, a promise that brings everything to us while she is locked in a loop, the only one not to share with us. How can we rejoice? How!?”
Shiyra was still in a Terran body and she wept as a little girl would. Aven did not understand what was happening, but she was also being inundated by all the emotions everyone was emoting. Perhaps to localise, bring it to a level she could handle, she put her fingers to Shiyra’s face, feeling her tears.
“Don’t cry. Please.”
We all stared at her with wonder. She herself had chosen to feel Shiyra, how will she feel about it later, will it help tear away those dark curtains of hate? Athia put her arm around Aven, hugging her with a heart bursting from love, even as she wept for me. I saw their joy was being spoiled by their love for me and it filled my heart. I turned to Robbie and spoke loudly.
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“You and I, we are not going to allow the loop to take me. I will stay with you.”
“Yes my love, we will.” And as he spoke tears ran down his cheeks. I stared out at everyone defiantly, defying them to think I would not. Alki sobbed and laughed and rushing to me lifted me above his head.
“Not you and Roberto koukla mou, you and all of us.” I love being held by him and buried myself against him, soothed and comforted by the love and fierce determination he was emoting.
Chapter One Hundred and Sixty Seven
I have been hiding in here, reading what we wrote in the past, sometimes puzzled by fate, and at other times filled with glee as the words bring back to me how much love each of us have known. We promised as a family that none of us are allowed or will ever make any changes to our diary - not for any reason. I have decided I want to break the rule, but I will ask everyone’s permission first.
There is a chapter that does not belong in here. The photos and words should not be there for all innocent new souls to read. I will not ask that we remove them, but that I be allowed to use a hyperlink which I encrypt so that they have to ask to read it. Perhaps one day we can even remove it, someday when there are no such horrors in the hearts or minds of Mankind.
If Arthur wants, this is a good point for him to end his book. We have found a future worth dreaming and fighting for, and he can end on that high note; perhaps tying a few loose ends, making the real Aven love us, giving me an out from the loop and allow his readers (if any) to live our lives from hereon in their imaginations. I hope he will not, we need to feel him at our side, watching and loving us as he writes.
Speaking of loops! We are caught up in another one, a loop of our creation that is going to hurt us more than we can bear. We all love Aven and because we are constantly aware that we only have a short time with her and then she will no longer exist, we have opened ourselves to her without any reservation. The more we do so the more we love and adore her and that makes us open up to her even further. I tremble when I think of the effect her departure will have on us. We could not grieve more if any other of us were to die. We feared it would be Athia who will suffer the most, but it has turned out, as we should have realised, that Robbie is the most vulnerable. We rejoice at his love for her, at his sweet trembling loving and adoration of her, but we also fear for him. How can we help him through what will become his darkest hour ever?
Aven herself is of course lapping it all up and her love for all of us and her friend Jessie is growing daily. She however only finds joy in what she feels and is the happiest child we’ve ever seen. During her last week with us she and Jessie have discovered they enjoy playing with their ages. They might not have broken our hearts if Aven had not decided to make herself an adult.
At first they tried on various dresses in our bedroom, preened in front of the mirror and teased each other. Deciding on what they would wear they came out to us. To tell the truth, Jessie did not look so beautiful. She has not played with her features and has not been tempted yet to make herself the ideal Jessica for Allan. As with many children, most of her beauty is due to the plastic unfinished features of childhood. As she matures she will look more like her mother, minus the hard set to her features. It does not matter, for we can still feel how lovely she is inside her and that is the beauty that is important to all of us.
Aven though, she silenced us. She has the potential to be a gorgeous woman, something out of some fashion magazine. Tall, lithe, with fine features that make her look like a princess, she is enough to stop traffic wherever we should appear with her on Earth. Those green eyes are filled with warmth, even if they do seem to cut right into you, seeing what your hidden self is like, but their warmth seems to say, I see and I love who you are.
At first she reacted to our emoting, especially of Robbie and there was glee, giggles and oodles of love. Slowly though she seemed to settle, become more thoughtful.
We would have expected her to go to Robbie if we had known what she was to say, but instead she went to Cherine.
“I will not remember who I am next week, will I?”
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)9th December, 2019
- posted: 9th December, 2019
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