Alice 1 (13 page)

“Don’t know. On occasion they’ve killed people
they considered dangerously evil, but were never the bloodthirsty,
God fearing holies from Plattsburgh. How is the Carmel group
doing?”

“I feel guilty about that. I guess losing Linda
and Greg at Monte Alban makes it too painful to go back. But I
should, they are dear to me.”

“We may need their help, along with the
Glacier Gang.”

____________________

The Carmel group would love to have me for
the weekend. Old man Benson died a month ago and is buried
alongside Skinny Santa and Linda under the cypress. That leaves
only Johnny, Molly and Maggie. They want to talk about joining the
Glacier Gang. And Molly is so excited. They have discovered
something wonderful and can’t wait to show me.

CHAPTER 31

I’m tired of playing poor, little waif, so flew
to Monterey. I felt so sad when I saw just Maggie, Molly and Johnny
waiting at the gate. I cried a little on the way home. They
understood.

The next morning Johnny gave us a great treat.
He got up early, dug razor clams, and made clam omelets for
breakfast. Bet you never had a clam omelet, and it’s best you never
do. It was a culinary disaster.

“What do you think about our joining the Glacier
Gang?” Maggie asked. “You know them well.”

“Their hunting camp at East Glacier has plenty
of room and I think they also have enough room in Sarasota. Doris
is their leader and Ralph is an older man, no longer very active.
Ruth, Betty, David and you three make eight, which seems a
comfortable size. Give them a call and talk it over. The snow is
falling in northern Montana so they’re probably still in Sarasota.
Maggie, you and Doris will need to get your roles straight.”

“What kind of conflict might there be?”

“You are both strong women, used to being in
charge. You need to see if you can work together. Ok Molly, you
were so excited over the phone. What’s the big deal?”

“Stand over there Alice. Ok. Now look ahead of
you near the wall. Lightly tap the left side of your
pituitary.”

Nothing.

“Now tap the right side.”

Oh my God!
A copy of myself was standing
against the wall, wearing what I‘m wearing. The colors are a little
pale, and after a minute or so it faded away.

“Wow! What was that?”

“You said the ancient Egyptians called our
invisible hands, Shadow hands,” Maggie began, “so we did some
research. You just saw your Shadow. Kind of weird. Many occult
traditions believe the pituitary is the link between the body and
the soul. That’s one reason Hindus put a red mark in the middle of
their forehead”.

“So all those wild stories about seeing ghosts
were just ways to make sense of a real experience. They were seeing
Shadows.”

“Exactly!”

I tapped the right side of my pituitary again
and walked over. There’s a slight smudge on my left cheek. Make-up
too thick? She just stood there with a blank stare, silent and
motionless, and then faded away.

“OK. What do you do with it?”

“We have no idea. We just discovered it a couple
weeks ago. We’re trying to find a way to transfer our
consciousness, but don’t know if we should. Maybe there’s no way
back.”

“Can you all see my Shadow?”

“Yes, and you can see ours“

A Shadow formed in front of each, just as
motionless as mine.

“I’m sure you’ve tapped every other part of the
pituitary.”

“Nothing,” Maggie answered. “We’ve seen a few
Shadows but most don’t seem very aware, more like sleepwalkers.
There were two exceptions. Last week we saw the Shadow of an old
man floating over by that rock. He was looking out to sea and
seemed very sad.

“And a few days ago we went to Cannery Row and
saw the Shadow of a little girl. She was very awake and aware,
skipping along and looking at everything. We have no idea if her
body is dead or alive, we know so little.

“Oh! And we saw the Shadows of two large, black
worms slowly circling the old man. Ugly and scary!”

Can’t wait to sit on a bench at Sproul Plaza
and watch for Shadows. Do horny Shadows spy on naked women? That
must be pretty frustrating unless they can do more than look. Maybe
there really are incubi, male Shadows who take advantage of
sleeping women? And succubi, female Shadows who hit on sleeping
guys? What a trip that would be.

CHAPTER 32

When I got back to Arlene’s Sunday night, she
was in the kitchen tired and worried. Barry was shocked! Shocked!
He needed time to think, poor dear. But just maybe Arlene set him
up, told him she was on the pill. Yeah, there are ugly rumors women
sometimes do that to grab their guy.

“What did he say?”

“He said he loved me and wanted a little time to
decide what to do. You were right, he didn’t say anything about an
abortion.”

“Did you tell him you were on the pill?”

She burst into tears. “Yes! I did!
I did!
And I’d do it again!
I want this baby, Alice, and I’m going
to have it!”

I went over and hugged her.

“Nobody can stop you having the baby.”

“I’m afraid I’ll miscarry,” she wailed, “or have
a monster come out because of what I did to my first.”

I held her tight and comforted her as best I
could. Should I tap her calm center to make her feel better? No,
that would stop the natural flow. Just comfort and reassure her
we’ll go through this together, no matter what Barry do.

“Should I tell him?”

“
Good God, no!
The less guys know
about such things the better.”

______________________

I saw nine or ten Shadows on my way to campus
but they’re hard to see from a distance. They don’t seem very
aware, just drifting along.

While eating my usual breakfast at the Bears
Lair, Dennis came over and sat down. He looks more like his old
self, thank God.

“Morning Alice. You sure you can eat those two
chocolate donuts all by yourself?” I gave him one, I’m not all bad.
I assume he’s a gentleman and won’t steal the other one. Ashara is
no lady.

“Thanks. We would like you to come to dad’s
place this Saturday, seven in the evening. Our group is going to
evoke St. Francis of Assisi to help cleanse the planet of the harm
done by greedy polluters.”

“Glad to come, St. Francis is my favorite saint.
I love the statue of him holding a sweet little bird and Bambi
licking his toes.”

“Good, see you then,” grabbed the other donut
and ran.
Damn!
Just as greedy as Ashara. I was so tempted to
trip him with my Shadow hands and get my donuts back but stopped
myself just in time. People might wonder what two delicious
chocolate donut were doing gliding through the air.

Bought a couple more, got my cocoa high, and off
to Sather Gate to watch the Shadow World.

____________________

Holy shit!
What is that!? A huge, slimy
slug in the Shadow World was slithering past, maybe five feet long
and three across, dark brown with red and yellow splotches. A heavy
wave of disgust and horror went through me.

It suddenly stopped and slowly turned the head
of its slimy body toward me. She has no eyes but she sees me and
knows I see her. Slow waves began to undulate back and forth along
her body. Suddenly a three-foot long, black worm pooped out her
rear. No fart ever sounded so bad or smelled so awful.

The black worm started floating toward me with
its huge mouth open. The swirling nothingness of that open mouth
was going to suck me in. I freaked! I don’t freak, but I freaked
and ran into the Bear’s Lair. When I looked out the window mommy
and poop were gone. What would have happened if that worm had
sucked me in? I have no idea but the thought brought back the
horror of my worst nightmare.

When I got back to the Plaza I noticed a
movement over on my left and got ready to run. No, it wasn’t a
black worm or its slimy mommy. It was a naked male Shadow with a
hard on. He was running in and out of the crowd hitting on
girls.

Not much of an incubus. All he could do was run
up and jerk against them a couple times. Probably the only way the
little pervert can get a little. Too bad I don’t know how to
activate my Shadow. I’d have fun teaching him what real rape is.
That thought sure feels a hell of a lot better than the fear and
horror from that slimy slug and her sweet poop.

I saw maybe nine or ten more shadows. Mostly
professors and students wandering in and out of Sproul Plaza, all
sleep walkers. A beautiful Shadow girl in a bikini came into the
Plaza and danced to her boyfriend’s bongo drums for a while.

Oh! Oh! Just to the side of Sather Gate was the
Shadow of a little, old man sitting on a fancy, wrought iron Shadow
bench. He’s wearing a brown robe and hood. The monk, friar or
whatever was awake and aware but when I walked over he ignored
me.

A very impolite Man of God? Or maybe scared
what a hot, beautiful woman would do to his vow of celibacy. I
don’t want to brag, but have found that Men of God are very easy
prey.

CHAPTER 33

Arlene and I were having breakfast the next
morning when Barry called. She motioned me to pick up the other
phone.

“Hi Barry, what did you decide?”

“I want to marry you Arlene, but there’s
something that might get in the way.”

“Yes? What might that be?”

“My children have to be good Christians. Is that
a problem for you?”

“That must mean you want me to become a good
Christian too.”

“Yes I do”

“That sounds non-negotiable.”

“Yes, I have to be straight with you. My love of
Christ is the central part of my life, and I want the Lord to be
the central part of your life as well.”

“That isn’t something you decide, Barry. He’s
not a central part of my life now, and may never be.”

There was a long, sad silence as they realized
the moment of truth had arrived.

“I love you Arlene, but I love the Lord
more.”

“What does that mean?”

“If you can’t accept the Lord as your savior, we
don’t have a future together.”

“I’m sorry to hear that Barry. I wish you well.”
Hung up, and burst into tears.

Wicked thoughts came swirling out of the
blackness. I go to one of their meetings and all hell breaks loose.
And I mean the She-Devil sends all those religious symbols crashing
around the room, and then runs over to the crucifix on the wall.
First she colors Christ’s face a sickly green, then a shocking
pink. At the grand climax of the diabolical orgy, Christ’s face
bursts into bright red flames, and melts into a black, slimy,
smelly mess.

But I would never do that. They are decent
people trying to live good lives. They have a very rigid belief
system but whether that’s good or bad is not for me to decide. Yes,
and mine is just as rigid, so who am I to throw a stone. Barry’s
sin was to get involved with a woman he knew would not accept
Christ as her savior. Testosterone’s infernal heat kept that
awareness far, far away.

The phone rang.

“Arlene, I love you. Please, please come to our
services a few times to see if there is any chance you can accept
the Lord.”

“No, Barry, and I’m not going to raise my child
in such a closed-minded environment. Don’t call again!” Hung up,
and burst into tears.

Gotta make sure she doesn’t go back to sour
puss, old maid.

____________________

Classes are going well and summer school will
start in a few weeks. It’s going to be fun working with Mary in her
lab. She stimulates sites in the brain and records the behavioral
response, either a physiological reaction or self report. She
hasn’t gotten around to studying the pituitary. Wonder if
electrical stimulation will have the same effect as our taps? Wow!
Would that ever blow minds and guarantee a Nobel.

Fat chance! They’d put that senile, old woman
away as quick as they could catch her. Can’t have crazies running
around messing with the OVR, Official Version of Reality.

____________________

Arlene didn’t go back to sourpuss old maid. She
knows what a nightmare it would be if she bowed before Barry’s God.
And she is going to have a baby! We went and bought some unisex
baby clothes and supplies. Her pelvis is spreading and her breasts
are tender and growing. She loves it.

Maggie, Molly and Johnny have gone to live with
the Glacier Gang for a month. The Gang was so excited when Maggie
showed them their Shadows. Next week is the start of summer
vacation and lab work with Mary doesn’t start for a while so think
I’ll go see how the gangs are melding. Checked the weather forecast
for Glacier National Park. They aren’t going up there anytime
soon.

Damn!
Will I ever get to Many
Glacier?

CHAPTER 34

As I left the Bear’s Lair, I saw a young girl in
the Shadow World wearing 60’s hippie clothes walk through Sather
gate. Two black Shadow worms were following her. They came nearer
and nearer, opened their mouths, and struck. She tried a few times
to pull them off but gave up and kept walking.

I followed her to the Campanile and she flowed
through the door. After a few moments I heard a scream from the
Shadow World and looked up. She was falling from the top of the
tower. Her Shadow body was a gruesome mess when it hit the
concrete, and the two worms were still sucking whatever they suck.
Poor girl. I wonder how many times she’s reenacted that terrible
decision made so long ago.

In the afternoon I saw a boy and his dog in the
Shadow World. They were running around having a great time chasing
each other. So pets have Shadows? Maybe not. The monk created the
iron bench to sit on, maybe the boy created the dog to play with.
So if the evocation is successful this evening will it be the real
St. Francis? How will I know? I don’t have a clue.