The Mirage

by John Vieczorek

conclusion

* * *

After a long time they awakened from the spell, feeling refreshed. They’d never felt so alive. The wounds on their feet were healed. The sores on their skin created by the merciless sun were gone.

No longer naked, they were now clothed in shimmering robes. They appeared as if they’d been reborn in finer light emitting bodies. As if they had been resuscitated by what could only be described as an Almighty power. Their faces were now radiant with peace and joy. Their bodies were made of light now, and they appeared glorious... like gods.

Upon rebirth in this new dimension they had but one desire, to drink from the fountain, and they did so liberally. The waters of the fountain were sweeter than honey and lighter than ether. No words could describe the character or effect of the waters in the living fountain.

Amia rejoiced, and said, “Oh Jared, have you never tasted anything as delightful or as fulfilling as the water of the fountain? It makes the spring in our garden appear tainted. To taste the water of the fountain... is to taste life.”

Jared could not disagree, the water of the fountain was wondrous beyond imagination.

* * *

After a long period of adjustment in this new dimension, Jared spoke to Amia saying, “Amia, I see vast and limitless horizons filled with mystery and splendor, let us begin exploring our wonderful new world.”

It was Amia now that felt supreme contentment, and she said. “I long to explore this exotic place as well, Jared, but I fear leaving the security and rapture of our fountain.”

“Be not afraid, Amia, we will never venture away for too long, and we can always return here.” Amia reluctantly agreed to explore the heaven realm with him.

Travel in this ineffable place was not difficult, for there was no space, only the illusion of space. If they wanted to explore a different world or horizon they merely willed the idea, and the thought became a reality. Their existence on this new plane included the gift of omnipotence.

* * *

For ages Amia and Jared explored the paradise realms. Each new mind created world was more fulfilling than the previous one. Nor did any two worlds remotely resemble each other. Whatever they desired in their now dynamic imagination, became a reality. There were no barriers to overcome, and their thoughts produced immediate effect.

Each of the heaven realms had its root in the imagination. There were worlds of passion and pleasure. Realms of majesty, glory, and opulence. Incredibly sweet unconquerable realms where they reveled in inexpressible joy and supreme satisfaction.

Their every feeling or thought had a corresponding paradise or combination of realities. They could enter the pleasure realms as deeply and intimately as they desired. But they frequently had to retreat from the mind realms at a certain point. For if they were to penetrate any deeper into the vibrant intensity of their imaginings, they would be consumed by them forever. The depth of the mind worlds was bottomless.

But no matter how far they journeyed, no matter how incredible their joy, or fulfilling their adventure, they always felt a sense of loneliness and separation if they ventured too long from the fountain. Without the waters of the fountain there was an emptiness. The fountain was the essence of life, from which all else was made possible.

* * *

Surrounding the fountain in the limitless boundary of the courtyard stood innumerable statues. Horizon after horizon contained vast numbers of stone-like sculptures. Many of the statues were human in form and appeared as couples, singles, or children.

But there were other beings as well, some of them colossal figures standing hundreds of feet high, their form other than human. These immense lifelike statues appeared to be made of the finest marble, or lapis lazuli, with eyes of diamond, sapphire, or emerald. The beings were suspended in eternity and perfectly preserved. The sculptures began to trouble Jared, but he did not reveal his anxiety to Amia.

Jared wanted to believe he was immortal.

For untold ages Jared and Amia existed as deities, exploring and indulging in the paradise realms. Then slowly, almost imperceptibly, things began to change.

The shimmering garments of light which clothed them began to collect dust. The vivid colors of the flowered garlands around their necks grew dim. Amia’s radiant complexion lost its luster, and beads of sweat began to appear on Jared’s forehead.

Jared could not fail to notice Amia’s skin was beginning to appear opalescent, like the fine sculptures throughout the courtyard. He began to wonder if their existence in this paradise was only temporary; and an idea began to haunt him: we are but mortal gods.

Amia began to sense the changes as well. Feelings she could not comprehend filled her once buoyant and shining mind. Eventually she could no longer bear her feeling of loss, and she questioned Jared. “My dearest Jared, for who knows how long now I have existed as a body of light. My feet have not touched the ground, nor have I had any sense of confinement, but I am slowly growing firm. My face no longer reflects glory and perfection when I gaze upon my image reflected in the pool. My flesh grows dense and rigid, and my mind has become torpid. I feel as if I am devolving into stone. Surely we will exist as light-emitting entities in this wondrous place forever. Please explain these changes to me?”

Jared stroked his deep golden amber beard. His mind, once simple and pure, had become stained and dualistic. Jared’s heart was no longer free, and he’d learned to speak in riddles.

“I understand full well your concerns, Amia, for I have had my own. I am at a loss to explain the alteration in our state. I did not discuss the matter in hopes these new conditions were but temporary. Perhaps we are just becoming familiar with this realm, and it is not quite as charming as it once was.”

Jared lied, Amia knew it.

In an attempt to eliminate the undesirable effects of change, Amia and Jared no longer ventured from the fountain. The waters of the fountain still provided them with a sense of ecstasy, but they had to partake of the waters frequently. They now spent their time bathing in the effervescent pools. Jared became obsessed with rituals performed at the head of the fountain: they began to worship the fountain. Long gone were the wonderful adventures in the paradise realms.

Slowly... ever so slowly, the final stanza of their fantasy drew to a conclusion, and Amia became too stiff to move. Her body that once shined like Venus on a cold clear night in January, became dense and impliable, as she slowly petrified to stone.

Jared knew the time of their rapture had come to an end, and he carried Amia to a distant horizon. He took her to a place they had visited many times before. A place where they had both felt a sense of endless tranquility.

Jared cradled Amia in his arms, beneath a magnificent golden oak tree with bark like coral, and leaves like spun malachite. The tree was alive with the colorful little birds that Jared so adored. The tiny creatures sang a melancholy lullaby in the branches of the trees enormous limbs.

Amia began to weep and said, “Oh my beloved Jared, I am deeply troubled and ashamed. How will you ever forgive me? If not for my wandering mind, we would still be safe and secure in our garden. I ache sorely inside for having suggested that we explore the mirage. I deeply regret having made such a proposal to you. I see now this place is indeed only an illusion, and now it is our downfall.”

Amia began to tremble, and said.“Kiss me, Jared blow my last breath of life into me, for you are, and always will be my life.”

Jared looked deep into Amia’s eyes. A tear trickled down her cheek and turned into a pearl.

Jared kissed Amia for the last time. He wanted to comfort her and said, “Be not distressed, Amia my love. Had you not opened my mind to the possibility of this existence, we would have been forever indentured in the garden. Eating, sleeping, making love, little different than the animals in the forest. Because of you I have discovered we are spiritual beings, different from the brutes in the wilderness. Without you I never could have known the infinite beauty our minds possess, nor would I have discovered my unborn faculty of imagination.”

“We would have existed eternally conditioned, living as slaves fettered forever by the finite circumstances of the garden. I now see we possess a soul. It is I who owe you an eternal debt of gratitude. Not one thing I have experienced or anything this realm has to offer could equal or compare to my love for you.”

Jared looked once again into Amia’s eyes, but they had become sapphires. Her once enticing feminine form had petrified into opalescent marble. Jared wailed in deep distress. He had lost part of himself. His anguish was unbearable, and he wept bitterly. Jared cried out for Amia in a defiant voice — a voice that echoed through eternity, and said,

Amia my Amia,
If heaven is nothing
but a fool’s desperate dream
Like a mist that dries up
in the sun,
I vow by the stars
you won’t be alone.
If no heaven exists,
I’ll create one.

Jared held Amia tenderly and wept for a long time. Tears tumbled from his cheeks, and splashed into a pool of diamonds, on the ground. Jared continued to speak to Amia as if she were still alive.

“Oh my beloved, Amia. I now understand our form will adorn this world forever, just like the numerous sculptures that have found this place in the distant past and now abound here.”

“It may be that we are but tiny drops like water, seeking our way endlessly through streams and rivers to become one again with the great ocean. Perhaps we will rise to the sun again, and be reborn as drops.”

Jared drew Amia to his chest, he would never let her go. He felt his body becoming cold and heavy as he petrified to stone. Jared’s vision grew clouded, and his eyes became two orbs of pale turquoise. His awareness faded, like an exhausted ember; and as a drop of consciousness, he entered the infinite ocean of... mind.