Sunday, May 20, 2007

Episode 3: IMAGINE NATION




Almost everyone liked Alex because Alex liked everyone, he was a very wise 13 year old who saw value in people, even those others deemed worthless. He developed enough strength through his relationship with Logos to stand firm in his convictions. He would not give in to peer pressure to do things he knew were wrong. Most of his classmates, though they secretly admired him, couldn't really understand him, but Faith could. "Why does he want to hang with losers?" was the big question among them. Alex had invited Dan, Tad, Sophia, and Faith to dinner, and then his parents would take them out to a movie. Faith had other obligations but the boys gladly accepted, Sophia reluctantly accepted because her foster parents insisted she participate in activities with other children her own age. Other than Faith, these were all kids who other kids at school wanted little to do with. Dan was well known for his exaggerations, many of the kids at school made fun of him and called him a liar. Tad was a good looking guy who thought very highly of himself and paid more attention to girls than to his assignments, and Sophia was very pretty, but very sad all the time.

After dinner, still seated around the table, the Franklin family politely listened as Dan Blower told of his exploits on a Safari in Africa and Tad Gray was flirting with Sophia Paine. Occasionally dad or mom would try to bring the conversation around to King Logos, but their guests all seemed to be focused on themselves or, in Tad's case, on Sophia and Alex was squirming because he had a project due at school in two days and had no idea where to begin. He had invited his classmates over before he was aware of the assignment. .

Alex's school project was to invent something simple but useful from common items and he couldn't think of a thing. "Seems like I should be able to come up with something," he thought, "my parents named me Alexander B. Franklin after two great inventors, Alexander Graham Bell and Benjamin Franklin", the B. was only an initial. His parents felt his name was almost ordained as Benjamin Franklin , who was named for the great statesman, inventor, married Belle Graham. As the conversation continued his mind drifted, what could he do with a clothes hanger and string? Could he use an empty coffee container to make something? Different things were drifting around in his head, drifting around and around and around in his head, around and around, he was beginning to feel a little dizzy, around and around in his head, no, they were drifting around over his head, soon he was drifting around with all his ideas, before long he was no longer at the dinner table but in a place where the things he thought were no longer just ideas, but real. He soon settled down and noticed that his friends Faith, and Logos were with him. "Welcome to Imagine Nation, Alex!," Faith exclaimed.

"What? Imagine Nation?," Alex questioned, still puzzled by the recent occurances. "Yes, this is where all inventors come," explained Logos. "We're in the State of Invention." Alex looked around and saw that the place was filled with computers, light bulbs, cars, phones, diagrams, drawings, artwork, and some things Alex had never seen before. "This city is called Ideas and the building we're in is called Creations", Faith told him. Great inventors and artists, both past and present, were there, and he saw them work their concepts till they became realities right before his eyes. Alex soon saw a table with his name on it and the objects he had been thinking about using for his invention, there were also some things on the table he hadn't thought about using. "Get busy," Logos insisted, "this is the place where thoughts and ideas become realities." He began to think about driving around with his parents and how ineffcient the little trash containers were that were made for cars, he saw a medium sized trash bag with draw strings on the table and some clasps. Alex knew what he would invent now. The family car appeared next to his table and he saw himself attach the clasps to each of the inner headrests with the metal rings that were already on the clasps, then he pulled a little of drawstring out on each side of the plastic garbage bag but tied each side past the drawstrings on the bag itself, so the bag wouldn't be able to close, he then took the drawstrings and attached them to the clasps right behind the front seats. "Perfect," he thought, now they would have a trash container large enough to hold just about anything they needed to put in it and it was convenient to the driver and the passengers in the front and back seats. "Thank you Logos!," Alex exclaimed gratefully. They walked out of the room of the building holding Alex's idea and down the hall. Alex noticed a room holding creations that were in various stages of completion, apparently just dicarded. "What are all these things?" Alex asked. "Those are projects someone just gave up on," Logos exclaimed sadly, "they'll be here until other creative people come along and take them out and finish them." "Since your project is finished there are some other places we need to visit while we're here in Imagine Nation," Logos said very seriously. They walked out and got into a hovermobile, it lifted into the air and off they went. "I've always dreamed of owning one of these," Alex thought. Logos looked at him smiling, "You'll invent this vehicle one day." Before long they arrived at a small cove that Logos told him was called Make Believe Cove on the coastline of Vastness Ocean.

MAKE BELIEVE COVE

They walked along awhile, and it was starting to get a little dark. Alex heard someone call out "Alex, come help me fight the pirates!" It was Dan, he had sword in hand trying to keep two of the meanest looking men Alex had ever seen at bay. Alex started to run over to help his friend but Logos stopped him. "Logos, please hurry, we need to help him he's in danger," he shouted back, almost in tears. "He'll be OK, you are going to help him but you need the right weapons," Logos warned. "Then give me something to help him with, please Logos, quick." "Your weapon is in your mouth," Logos sternly informed him. "What are you talking about?" "In my mouth?" "Logos, if you don't help me they'll kill him," he screamed back. "Your weapon is in your mouth," Logos repeated. Then the words began to repeat over and over in his mind, "Your weapon is in your mouth." This was Imagine Nation, the pirates weren't real, they were part of Dan's imaginary world. "Stop, leave him alone, he's my friend." The words flung through the air like daggers at the pirates, and then they vanished. Dan dropped the sword and it vanished too. He looked at Alex flabbergasted, "you're really my friend, even though you know I make up almost everything I say?" "Yes, I really like you Dan, I always have," Alex responded. "Even better, Logos likes you, and so does Faith." "Dan I'd like you to meet my friend Logos." "By the way, Logos is a King of the Realm of Peculiar People." "I'm one of his subjects." "Logos, I'm sorry I screamed at you, but more that I doubted you," Alex muttered dejectedly. "All is forgiven, Alex." Logos smiled at him. "Now Dan, let's have a little talk." Logos took him aside and although Alex and Faith couldn't hear what was being said they could tell it was having a profound effect on Dan. Then Logos handed him a book, "this will be your greatest weapon Dan." "You may not always see me, but I'll always be with you, and I'll always be your friend. Logos hugged him and he vanished, and just as Alex suspected, Dan found himself back at the dinner table, this time listening to the Franklins.

THE DINGY DUNGEON

Logos, Faith, and Alex walked along the coastline for a couple of miles. Up ahead was an old castle. As they approached they heard someone crying inside, they also heard some hideous sounding voices tauntingly chanting "nobody loves you, you're worthless, you'll never amount to anything, nothing good will ever come to you," and on, and on, and on they went, relentlessly. Near the bottom of the castle was a window with bars. Alex bent down and looked in. It was Sophia, curled up in a dirty corner of a small, dingy, barred dungeon. She was crying, while ugly little creatures were dancing around outside the bars tormenting her. "We'll get you out," Alex yelled through the bars. "No one can ever get me out," she cried. "I will always be here, no one loves me, no one wants me, I'm worthless," and she starting sobbing hopelessly. Before she knew what was happening her dungeon became as bright as daylight, and Logos was standing in front of her. The ugly little creatures scurried away for fear of their lives. He reached down His hand to her but she just curled up tighter so He knelt down in front of her. "Sophia, I'm Logos, Alex and his parents told you about me." "I just want you to know I love you, and I always will." Sophia began to feel the light and the warmth coming from him actually getting inside her, she began to loosen up a little. "I am a King, and I need you, I have plans to use you in My kingdom, of which, if you accept My offer, you will be a queen." She looked at Logos doubtfully. Could He really be telling the truth. She recalled things Alex and his parents said about Logos, and how happy He made them. Was it worth the risk? Logos reached out His hand to her again and she took it, and immediately they were standing outside with Alex and Faith. They sat on the grass and Sophia told them things she had never told anyone before. Her mother wasn't married and didn't want her and let her know it, she was given up for adoption at age six, but nobody wanted to adopt such a sad little girl. Foster parents had taken her in but couldn't reach her so she was moved from one foster family to another and she could tell the people she lived with now were about to give up on her too. She felt hopeless, but then she met Logos. It was just a beginning but somehow she knew if she stuck with Him He would change her life. He was her hope and light in the midst of all the dark hopelessness. When they stood up, Logos gave her a big warm hug, and she vanished. The others walked back to the hovermobile and left for what Logos said would be the final destination on this visit to Imagine Nation.


CHOICE LANDING

Logos lowered the hovermobile straight down in front of an old, rundown house in a place called Choice Landing. They knocked on the door and an old, sickly, scruffy looking man answered. He stared in disbelief when he saw Alex and Faith. "Alex?, Faith?, you're young?" "Tad?" they said in unison, alarmed. "What's happened to you?" "What do you mean, what's happened to me?" "I've aged." "Why haven't you?" Alex and Faith looked at Logos questioningly. "This is Choice Landing," Logos reminded them. "Ohhh," Faith said, realizing what He meant. This is who Tad had become because of the choices he made, but this was Imagine Nation and there was still a chance to change things when they returned home. "Well since you're here you might as well come in, sorry the place is a mess, I'm about to be evicted from this hole in the wall anyway," Tad muttered. Alex looked sternly at Tad, "Tad, we're going back to my house, we're going to a movie, then you, and I, and Faith, and Logos, and the rest of our friends have a lot of work to do, but I guarantee when we're through with you, you will never end up in this place!" Logos smiled, then in the next moment Alex and his friends were getting up from the table to go see a movie.

Alex teacher was extremely pleased with his invention and put one in her car. Alex introduced Tad and Dan to some of his friends who also were subjects to King Logos, they also became the best of friends to each other. Dan found there were people who really liked him for who he was and didn't feel the need to pretend all the time, although he still had a very healthy imagination. Tad realized the importance of a good education, and it became evident to everyone he was truly a scholar. Alex, true to his word, kept after him, and he eventually ended up at a very different place in Choice Landing. Alex was the Franklin's only child, they always wanted a daughter, so they adopted Sophia. It took some time and a lot of love, but all her barriers were finally broken, and she became a happy, winsome, young woman. Alex was the best, proudest brother a girl could want, but at times a little too overprotective to suit her. They all developed a rich relationship with King Logos and became His subjects in the Realm of Peculiar People.
© 2009

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Episode 2: TIME JUNCTION

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Faith boarded the bus to church camp. Her older cousin was to accompany her, but she called on her cell phone to let them know that there had been an accident on the highway and traffic was stalled, there was no way she would be able to make it.
Someone sat down beside her, maybe Terri was able to make it after all. Faith turned expecting to see her sanguineous cousin but as she turned she noticed she was no longer on the bus, she was on what appeared to be a white mist in the shape of a plane and the person sitting next to her definitely wasn’t Terri.
“Logos?!,” she exclaimed incredulously. “Good morning Faith,” he replied. She gazed at him wondering why he had come and where they were going on such unusual transportation but she was hesitant to ask. Logos smiled at the young girl, and took her hand between his two hands, powerful hands with scars she could feel. “We‘re going on a short trip?” Logos explained, the look on his face becoming more serious. With her next breath Faith was in the most incredible place she had ever seen.
When she finally adjusted to her new surroundings, “Unbelievable!” was the only word that Faith could think of to describe all the sights and sounds. “Logos, this is the strangest place I have ever seen.”
Right in front of her a child was chasing a flying clock, “How time flies!,” he exclaimed remorsefully. By the time the words were out of his mouth he had aged from the child to a very old man. Across the street at an outside café three men were sitting sipping coffee, “Never do today what you can put off till tomorrow,” one said laughing, then they all laughed, suddenly the cups in their hands crumbled, their nice suits became ragged and dirty, their clean shaven faces suddenly sported unkempt beards, and they couldn’t find their wallets to pay the bill. The waiter angrily chased them from the premises.
Faith was feeling rather numb with all the unusual sights and sounds, trees were changing from green leafed, to autumn colors, to bare, and back again to green leafed all within a few minutes. Flowers were growing, dying, and growing again. In the distance she heard what sounded like a child practicing piano, but it got better and better till the music was so wonderful she hoped it would never stop.
Faith turned around and could see right into the living room of a home behind her. A young man was sitting watching TV, he appeared to be hypnotized by the image he was watching, which to Faith looked like a swirling mass of colors. She heard a woman call, “Toby, go mow the lawn right now.” Not now mom, my TV show isn’t over, he called back, while Faith stood watching the grass and weeds grew up in their lawn right before her eyes. Next door a woman came to the door and started sweeping just as her husband arrived home from work for lunch. It wasn’t dust the coming out the door, it was images, images of the woman sitting watching soap operas, talking on the phone, playing solitaire, and other unproductive activities. “There just aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done I need to do,” she complained to her husband.
“What is this place,” Faith asked?” “Time Junction,” answered Logos. “People seem to waste a lot of time here, and they certainly like clichés,” Faith mused. “Not everyone here is wasting their life away, there are many productive people here as well," Logos responded, “look at the office building up the street.” Faith looked in the direction Logos pointed and saw a young woman, appearing to be in her early 20s, walking down the stairs of a monotonous looking office building, a large group of people at the top of the stairs were waving their hands and handkerchiefs, and most of them were crying. The young lady looked back and waved then ran down the rest of the stairs and started on her way when Logos motioned for her to come over. Faith noticed as she walked toward them she held a bouquet of roses in her hands, and roses were growing up along the path she was taking. “Logos, it is wonderful to see you,” she said excitedly as she approached them. She threw her arms around him and gave him a big warm hug. “Prudence, I would like to introduce you to Faith Victor.” “It’s very nice to meet you Faith, I’m Prudence Jones.” “Do you work in that building you just left?” Faith asked. “Oh, no, not any more,” Prudence exclaimed. “I worked there for thirty years and I just retired, my friends gave me a wonderful retirement party, I will surely miss them all.” Faith was flabbergasted, “but you can’t be old enough to retire.” “I’m 54 years old Faith, I just learned very young to spend my time and my life wisely.” “You give your best, forget the rest, and take time to stop and smell the roses.” “Logos, bring Faith over for cookies and milk, I baked some outstanding cookies yesterday, if I do say so myself, and my husband would love to see you again.” “That would be very nice, we’d be pleased to accept your offer,” Logos replied. Faith began to feel just a little impatient, she still didn’t know why Logos brought her here, but surely it wasn’t for cookies and milk, and she would just as soon they got on their way. She still didn’t quite understand this place he brought her to, but this was Logos and she knew she had a responsibility to obey him even if she couldn’t understand everything that was going on. One thing she was certain of, by the time this adventure was over with Logos would make sure she understood it’s purpose.
Peter Jones was busy in the garden when they arrived, he appeared to be a young man, a little older than Prudence, but now Faith knew better than to try to judge how old he was by his appearance. “Look who’s come for a visit, dear,” Prudence called out to her husband as they drew near. “Well, as I live and breathe, if it isn’t Logos,” he said grabbing his hand and shaking it as one would a dear friend he hadn’t seen in a while. “And who is this adorable child with you?” Peter asked, turning to give his wife a loving kiss on the cheek. “This is Faith Victor, Peter,” Logos replied. “It’s nice to meet you sir,” Faith said shyly, not sure whether she was greeting a very young or a very old man, or somewhere in between. “We’ve come for your wife’s wonderful cookies,” Logos told him, smiling teasingly. “Well come in, come in, we’ll make sure you don’t leave hungry.”
Prudence certainly hadn’t exaggerated about her cookies, they were the best Faith had ever tasted, but why wouldn’t they be in this strange place. Things were pretty normal inside the Joneses home, Faith almost forgot she was in such a strange place. The conversation was pleasant, laughter was abundant, Faith actually began to enjoy herself.
Faith suddenly became aware that it was time to leave, by now she wished she could stay but Logos stood up and took her arm and lifted her up. “Peter, Prudence, we appreciate your hospitality, the wonderful cookies and milk.” “It was good of you to come visit us,” Peter responded, “please come again soon.” “You can count on it.” The goodbyes said, they started for the door, as soon as Peter’s hand touched the doorknob to show them out the house and everything and everyone in it had vanished and they were in a beautiful rose garden.
Logos showed Faith to a bench and they sat down. “Faith, you may not be aware of it but you visit Time Junction everyday, and the decisions you make about how you use your time will determine the person you will become when you are older.” Suddenly Logos was no longer visible, but Faith knew he was still with her. She was back on the bus headed for church camp and she knew there would be opportunities there and throughout her life to use the lessons she had learned on her trip with Logos.
© 2009