(In which the sacred Laws of Physics may be carnally violated.)
"Well, I guess we're only about 2 hours from Boston. Everybody ready for tonight?" Zorp says as he looks around the cabin at the comfortably lounging group of lizards.
"Hey, what about my raise, Zorp?" asks Skeen.
"Done." says Zorp, smiling.
"Where're my bloomers?" asks Floating Rocks.
"Ah, freshly laundered, folded and spindled in the drawer right behind you."
"Hey hey hey hey?" asks My Love
"But of course, My Love." Zorpack turns and walks into his private cabin to dress.
Reflecting on the events of the last few years, the initial thrill of being on stage with his friends, the first hits, the adoration of the crowds, he smiles to himself.
"It's been fun for the most part" he thinks. But deep inside he feels the irksome presence of a question he's been trying to answer for the longest time. It raises its head and reminds him of a quest he'd been trying to abandon for years. He's immediately depressed.
All the roads he's travelled, all the efforts he's made and all the attempts to explain have fallen onto deaf ears for the most part.
The sickening feeling of failure contaminates his soul with remorse.
There aren't any regrets or blame, just the feeling that no matter what he tries, or how hard he works, the results will be the same.
The jumbo jet abruptly hits a spot of turbulent air and shakes the cabin momentarily. He holds on for a second then continues to ponder.
It's seemingly impossible, he thinks, to waken the masses to the reality that they're mere tools at the hands of master manipulators who use lies, religion, corporate slavery and brutality to keep them in their place.
His attempts to break the molds have made him both hero and villain with the resulting net balance equalling zero.
Another patch of rocky air interrupts his thoughts. "What th...?"
He picks up the phone and calls the front desk.
"Steve, I thought you were going to make this a smooth flight. Everything alright?"
"Yeah, everything's fine. I just climbed another 1000 feet to get out of these clouds. Actually, I'm a little surprised. I didn't see anything in the weather report to indicate heavy weather, but I swear I'm seeing a lightening storm up ahead. Weird."
"Can you call someone and find out what's up?"
"Normally yes, but that first bump we hit must have caused a short in our transmitter. We're going to the back-up now. It shouldn't be much longer than a few minutes. I'll get a weather update then and let you know."
"Steve, should I be worried?"
"Ha ha...not unless you want to survive."
"Ok then, get back to me if there's anything new."
Another shock convulses the large jet.
"I will. I'm gonna take her up another 500 feet. That should do it."
Resplendently dressed in a full length shimmering blue robe, tight black jeans, flaming red silk shirt and 3 inch platform hobnailed boots, Zorpack sighs with resignation.
"Maybe I should just start my own religion. The Reverend Zorp, can I get a big amen?" He chuckles and steps back into the main cabin.
My Love notices his entrance that goes without being noticed by the others.
"What's all the turbulence, Zorp?"
"I don't know for sure. I talked to Steve and he said he'd get....."
And then...SLAM!
The whole plane began to shake violently. The floor beneath Zorpack's feet dropped away leaving him floating weightless for a second before he crashed down. Drinks tipped over on every table and the water from the hot tub was sloshing from side to side spilling out across the cabin floor drenching fine carpets and feet along the way.
"Jeez...I need a smoke." said Floating Rocks.
"Christly, I need an aspirin." said Skeen.
"I need some new clothes" said Zorpack.
The light on the phone began flashing red and Zorpack grabbed it up. "What the hell was that?" he asked Steve.
"Steve? Steve? What is wrong with this thing? Can you hear me Steve?"
By now Floating Rocks and Skeen had gathered around Zorp trying to hear what was being said.
"I'm coming up front, I can't hear you on this line." Zorpack said and hung the phone up.
The turbulence had stopped abruptly.
"Why don't you guys settle in for our approach. I'll go see if I can find out what's going on."
"Don't get lost" purred My Love.
Zorpack glanced at her briefly, curious, then moved quickly down the corridor leading to the front of the plane.
The level of destruction stunned him as he hurried forward. There were cables hanging from the ceilings and sides that burst into sparks as they touched metal. Papers and furniture were strewn all around. On several occasions he had to push the debris out of the way in order to get past.
"Good God" he thought "It didn't seem this bad in the back. What the hell is going on here?"
Finally, he reached the pilots cabin door and pushed it open.
He was hit with a blast of cold air as it poured in through a huge puncture in the window. Lights were flashing and warning bells were sounding as he surveyed the mayhem.
Then his eyes settled on the pilot, Steve.
"Holy Jesuit. Steve, are you alright?" he asked. In his heart he knew that Steve was beyond hearing.
A look into the co-pilot's seat showed much of the same thing. Both of their faces had been severely burned and their hands were fingerless stumps. It was only then that Zorpack noticed the stench of burnt flesh. He shivered.
"Aw Steve, I'm so sorry." he said to the corpse. He found two blankets and covered the pilot's faces gently. A tear ran down his cheek as sadness overcame him. Steve had been their pilot since the beginning and they'd become close friends.
Guessing a flash fire had reached out and killed the two he looked at the panel to see if he could make sense of it. Something outside grabbed his attention.
His eyes grew wide and the hair on the back of his neck tingled as he stared out the window.
The jumbo jet seemed to have been set on auto pilot and was circling a large volcanic mountain that was spewing ash and molten rock from its peak. It shone with a hellish yellow/red glow.
"That doesn't look like Boston." said Zorpack out loud.
As he watched, there came a sudden loud metallic noise behind him that ended in a sickening crunch.
"Uh oh." thought Zorpack.
Then it was just the sound of the wind blowing in through the broken window. The engines had stopped.
As the nose of the giant plane began to angle downward towards the volcano's peak Zorpack noticed the phone light flashing. He picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey Zorp. What's going on up there?" My Love asked.
"Well, I think we're going to crash."
"Long night?"
"No, the plane."
"Oh. I thought it had gotten quiet."
The nose continued to angle downwards, picking up speed.
"My Love, do you think we're being punished by God for our bad behaviour?"
"I didn't behave badly. Did you?"
"No, not really. Do you think that it's fate that's bringing about our destruction?"
"Fate's a little complicated. In order for us to be here, crashing in this plane, fate would have had to go through a lot of trouble. Seems to me in order for fate to influence day to day events in our lives, you'd have to trace the origins of our lives all the way back to the first hand."
"That's true My Love, but we are living in a ten dimensional universe, or at least some say so, so who knows what's really going on at those tiny levels of uncertainty that could affect our daily lives?"
"How much time do you think we have left?" asked My Love.
Zorpack looked out the window and saw that the angle had increased to almost forty degrees down and they were circling faster and faster around the flaming peak.
"Probably a couple of minutes. Are there any parachutes back there?"
"Yes, there were four. The steward and his assistant have already jumped. Skeen and Floating Rocks are dressing in the last two now as we speak."
"Dammit, tell Skeen I'm sorry about her raise. Oh, and tell Floating Rocks to 'keep on rocking, girl.' Where's that leave us?"
"Uh...duh. In the middle of a conversation?"
"Oh, right..."
The plane was picking up speed dramatically now as it continued to circle. Two figures could be seen rushing away from jet as the wind caught their parachutes. They would be safe.
"Care to join me?" asked My Love.
"Why not? It's a bit windy up here anyway. Did you prepare champagne for our guests?"
"Silly boy, of course I did. Now hurry."
Zorpack tossed off his clothes and stood naked for a brief second, then watched as his body began to blur and become vague. He carelessly tossed what remained into a corner and became a humming mass of bees hurriedly flying towards the back of the plane where My Love and their guests waited.
On the way the conversation continued.
"I'm not sure if we'll ever really understand what brings us to certain points in our lives." said My Love.
"Well, if you think about it, isn't the right to choose your own path an illusion if your life is determined by fate?" asked Kate.
"Or for that matter if it's determined by a God. Could you pass the champagne?" Morningstar asked with a smile.
"It just seems to me that religion, fate or anything that claims a higher knowledge and understanding that is incomprehensible to humans, and therefore must be accepted on faith alone is just another form of tyranny." said Zorpack.
"I despise tyranny. Hand over that bottle Morningstar." said The Wraith, reaching.
"My question is, does it really even matter whether we know how we got somewhere? Isn't it more important to recognize that we are where we are? Regardless?" asked My Love.
Zorpack joins the group, and the five of them form a huge swirling mass of buzzing points of light so thoroughly mixed and intertwined that they are indistinguishable from each other.
The plane's nose dives straight down into the lava filled crater immediately becoming incinerated molten refuse.
"I think I agree, My Love." says Zorpack. The others nod in agreement.
"People waste too much precious time worrying about this rule that rule, this god that god...." says Kate, taking a swig from floating champagne.
The jet inches its way into the volcano's maw at an astounding nine hundred miles per hour, melting cheerfully.
"Let's face it," says The Wraith, "the only real rule is to love each other."
"Hear! hear!" says Morningstar, "Too much blame, guilt or jealousy over nothing. Emotions that are squandered instead of used for loving."
By now the plane has rocketed half its length into the mountain. Lava splashes and sparks fly violently.
"Well, you know my stand. I think we should all have sex."
"Jeez, Zorp, you are such a pig." laughs Kate.
"At a time like this?" asks Morningstar.
"I thought we already were." laughs My Love.
"Oink... oink." says Zorpack.
"You are a bunch of knuckleheads. Anybody bring some food?" asks The Wraith.
And the entire fuselage is engulfed in a burning burst of searing white fire.
From the darkness...
"Was it good for you?"
"You idiot, what a question."
"God, I'm hungry."
"Where's the wine?"
"I've got a whine."
"Oh yeah, well I've gotta pee."
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...they all laugh in unison, and continue their discussion.
--------------------------------------------------------
RIP Zorp, you were a thoughtful and very funny man. Gone to dust. You are missed.
No comments:
Post a Comment