VOYAGE 2

Overcome with joy he hugged the old man, holding on tight like he’ll never let go, weeping and stammering out thank you. Whoever heard of someone loving a wretch? He determined he was going to dream this dream forever, he was never going to wake up.

In a very short while he was absorbed into the community, he had been there just thirteen days and he now knows everyone’s name. Well, considering that it’s written on their houses, it was pretty easy to learn. Another thing that was easy is that it was very easy for the people to forget where they were coming from or was it that they remembered it too much?

Sitting down there on one of the cities smooth stones, some young men were having a conversation about where they had lived earlier, Steve wondered why anyone would want to remember that! He decided that he for one will not be part of that story telling. He was in a place as diverse from his old place as water is from acid to a thirsty man. He longed for the morning when he’ll again bathe in the water blood pool. The pool was magical in that it is whatever you want it to be, it could be water or blood and everyone bathed in it daily. It not only cleansed their bodies, it cleaned their minds. It was water that made them happy, that was as close a description as he could give the unexplainable emotion that is felt in the water. Make no mistakes, sometimes, it welled up so much emotion in a person that it is quite common to see people cry in it though they can’t explain why and feel no physical pain.

Very soon the newness of the experience became quite a thing of the past, it seemed to Steve that he had lived there forever, the things that once astonished him to speechlessness he could now walk by without a thought, the pool had also lost its mysteriousness to him, it was now just water. He remembered that there was a time when the pool was also blood but only the new folks who came in daily still saw the water as blood and oh a few of the old residents too. Majority of the people saw only water and didn’t give another thought. There was so much to do!

For instance since the absence of the old man these past months – 4 months to be precise, they had decided that someone must oversee the land and had appointed for themselves old man patorry who had in his wisdom decided that the new people must earn their houses that already have names on it. Old man patorry explained to the people that there was no reason why everyone should go bathe in the pool, instead the waters of the pool would be brought to them in containers which the new comers will then haul for some of the prominent members of the land, which he went ahead to name. Everyone including Steve thought this was indeed very wise. The new members will earn their house which is already prepared for them after they had hauled water for a period of time for the leaders of the land.

And so began the new tradition, new people came into the land daily and where made to earn their houses. These people were very happy to do the work for as long as it took. They would do anything to earn their place in the land of Deen.