Sitnalta Page 16

Rus sat alone in the Fougere compound. The last Rus saw of Jason, Jason was racing to rescue himself and then alter time. Since Ellen and the body of Natalina had vanished from the compound, Rus figured that in some way Jason must have already caused change. Sitting isolated, Rus feared what new disasters Jason might have created by his dangerous game of playing God. Nervous, Rus stood and began to pace trying to muster the courage to exit the compound. Suddenly Rus felt tired. He felt very tired. He knew something was happening. He felt change of sorts happening to himself. Even as he struggled to walk toward a mirror he wasn't sure what was happening. Even as he looked into the mirror at his own reflection, he saw no clue. He saw the same boy he had become: a boy with a goat head. And then he felt weaker than he had ever felt in his life.

"Oh my God," he whispered as he slumped toward the floor. "Am I dying."

Sprawled on the floor, Rus fell into a seeming slumber and an image of a globe entered into his thoughts. "Am I looking at earth from heaven," he wondered. "I must be dead."

"The ice age!" Rus heard a voice exclaim. Then he heard the voice continue, "It began roughly a million years ago. Some think it began suddenly. Others think there was a slow cooling down of planet earth. Some scientists think that the change of climate caused the big Pleistocene mammals to die out. Others believe that man acted as the exterminator. In Europe man hunted mammoths, bison, horses, and cave bears. As proof of the extermination theory, scientists state that man entered North America 20,000 years ago. They say fossil evidence indicates the extermination that happened in Europe did not happen in America until the arrival of man. Is it really that simple?"

"Son of a teacher!" Rus started to use a more normal expletive vulgarity but stopped himself for fear of his situation. "Am I going to be condemned to taking a Geography class for eternity. Is this going to be my hell."

A different voice spoke and giggled, "You mean a history class, don't you?

"Whatever!" Rus was not amused. "Who are you people? What is going on?"

The voice continued, "Consider the horse. By the time of the ice age a 1,000,000 years ago, scientists believe the horse looked like the modern horse. Fossils show that horses spread throughout the Northern Hemisphere and lived on every continent except Australia. Then for some reason horses disappeared from the Western Hemisphere. The early colonist found no horses in North America. American Indians had never seen a horse until they were brought over by the Spaniards. Now consider America itself. It is a great mass of land, longer from North to South than any other land area on the globe. Yet to other than its own sparse population it became known to the rest of the world less than 600 years ago. What strange encounters caused the early European civilizations to think the planet flat and prevented them from knowing that the continent now called America existed? The Romans heard tales of the old Atlantis destroyed, but what of the continent we call America. Why were there no tales of it?"

Rus opened his eyes. No longer feeling weak, he stood up from the floor. Still he heard the voice.

"Between A.D. 600 and 900, the Mayan civilization in Central America probably numbered more than 2,000,000 people. They built great cities. During the 800’s they abandoned the cities or more to the point, the population vanished from these cities. Even before the coming of the white man, their civilization had crumbled. What happened?"

Rus said, "The Mayan cities were probably abandoned because the people had to return to the countryside to scavenge for food. Or maybe there was disease or war."

 The voice continued as though whoever had not heard Rus. "What happened to the lost colony on Roanoke Island in North Carolina? When John White returned in 1590, 3 years after he left, all he found of the colony was the word CROATOAN carved in a tree."

Rus said, "But later there were Indians found in the area who call themselves Croatoan and they have English names. The settlers just decided to live as the Indians. That is no great mystery."

A different voice giggled, "Or maybe the settlers were transported back in time as we were."

Rus asked, "Who are you? Why can't I see either of you?"

"I'm like you. I have no idea who is talking to us, but I'm pretty sure he can't hear us."

"You are the woman who was on the plane who died and became part of Ellen? What is your name?"

"Yes, I am the woman. My name also is Ellen."

"You blamed me for what happened to you. Please believe that I had nothing to do with what happened to the plane."

"Everything has been so confusing. I don't know what to believe. My son was on the plane with me. Do you have any idea what has happened to my son? "

"I'm sorry. I don't know."

" I must find Gurdy. She will help me find my son. I must go look for my son."

"No! Please stay where we can talk."

Rus heard footsteps. He heard strange bumping sounds. He saw the knob of a door turn and then the door slowly opened. Rus expected someone to come through the doorway, but no one did. Again Rus heard a voice. The voice told him, "You must exit the compound. Do it now." The voice screamed, "Do it now!"

Rus rushed toward the doorway and saw the doorway start to vanish. He managed to leap out the door into a corridor. The elder Jason grabbed hold of Rus. Jason told Rus, "Come with me."

Rus asked, "What is going on?"

Jason led Rus through the corridor. "You are in altered flux time. I discovered what caused you to be transported back in time. I made sure the machine causing the shifting rays would cease operating when Atlantis is destroyed."

"Atlantis destroyed! You have given up on trying to save Atlantis?"

"Better Atlantis be destroyed than planet earth. The alternative path is worse."

"You said that you made sure the machine causing the shifting rays would cease operating."

"Yes, but then I discovered that it was important the machine transport some people at different times. Anyway, I did manage to make sure you and the plane with the woman would not be transported back in time."

Rus screamed, "So why I am I still here."

"You aren't, that is my point. I'm trying to get your soul back out of flux before you become fractured. I must restore you to yourself before it is too late." Jason screamed, "Quick, we must fly."

"Fly. I can't fly."

"Sure you can. You are in the metaphysical."

"You mean I am a ghost."

"No, you are not even in an astral body right now."

Rus felt himself sore and watched the molecules of the corridor and even the entire building become like a great light show with exploding fireworks. Then, though he felt seeming warmth embracing him securely, all he had been seeing vanished into darkness.

The silence seemed eternal and Rus screamed, "Jason, the warmth, it is still you with me isn't it. I'm scared."

Jason said, "Yes, but now I must leave you temporarily."

"You can't. You said you were going to return me to myself. Don't leave me in this darkness."

Rus felt the warmth of Jason fade. "You will be okay," Jason told Rus. "The angels of God will be with you."

"But what about you?"

"I must return to my realm, the House of Fougere."

"Please don't leave me."

"Know that I and my fellow Fougeres will always watch for you even as God watches over all of us. I will always be on your side and do my best to protect you. For now I must say bye."

"What is going to happen now? I feel so lost."

Moments passed and then Rus heard a girl's voice. "Come on brother. Just think. We are going to planet earth. From what I hear it is going to be an outing we will never forget. The most exciting picnic of our existence awaits us. Come on, we've got to get in line for the birthing ponds."

"Birthing ponds?"

"Mom and dad told us about them before we began this journey. You've already forgotten."

"Remind me please."

"No, I'm not going to remind you. What has happened to you?"

Rus was not about to volunteer information any more than this peculiar girl was.

The girl said, "Come on follow me."

"Follow you, I can't even see you."

"Mom," the girl screamed. "Something is wrong with Rus."

The girl's mother called back. "What are you talking about? Rus is perfectly okay. Aren't you?"

Rus was about to say something when he heard a boy's voice. "Yeah, nothing is wrong with me. Kind of tired of standing up here with the old folks. I want to play."

Rus felt the girls hands roughly grab and clutch his shoulders. "Don't do that he screamed at her."

"How are you in two places at once? Who taught you this totally tubular trick?"

"Maybe I just look like your brother."

"No two souls look the same. What would cause you to say such a lame thing?"

Another girl walked up to where Rus and the girl who called him brother stood. The girl said, "What is keeping you. The line is getting longer. I hear people from over a 100,000 different realms of Eden are gathering for this experience."

"My brother has learned how to be in two places at once."

The girl touched Rus and said, "Wow! Way cool! This world is going to be such an amazing place. I wonder if he will still be able to do that after he has been in the birthing pond. I'm kind of scared of that. I've heard it may change us. It might make us think differently." The girl said, "Michelle, what if I don't remember you?"

"Oh Natalina, you are so silly. You can't forget me and I will always know you."

Rus moaned, "I wish I could see."

Michelle said, "Well, maybe if you weren't in two places at once you could see."

"Oh man, when did I do this. How did I do this?" Rus said as he ran up to himself.

Natalina said, "You didn't do it intentionally. I just felt a butterfly and not the pretty kind. I'm starting to get a little nervous about this journey. I mean what do we really know about those men who came to us in Eden and convinced us to make this trip."

Michelle said, "Get over your fright. You saw the pictures. And Natalina, you tasted the fruit from this world. And like Lucifer said, this is going to be great learning experience. He told us by the time our outing is over, we will know as much as God."