Chapter
5: Strange Awakenings
That morning started off like every other one, but it quickly took a rather
unusual (even for me) positive turn.
When I jumped up out of bed, I found myself crashing into stacks of money
that were piled up all around the room. I
watched in bewilderment, lying on my back, as the crisp bills came floating down
all around me.
What would you do if you went to sleep on a straw mat
in a cave a million miles from anywhere and woke up in a motel
room lying on a pile of all the money in the world?
Maybe it’s just me, but all I did was smile, thinking,
‘What a great trip!’ and thank my angel guides, of course. Not that anything like this had ever happened
to me before, but when you expect the impossible and live only
in the moment, every moment is an amazing trip.
Try it sometime.
I started to wonder how all the crisp $100 bills had gotten there, how
I’d been transported from Mt. Rasur in Costa Rica to wherever I was, and even
what I might do with all my newfound wealth.
But to be honest, the thoughts never fully materialized, and I was just
enjoying the moment. I could have basked in it all day long if I
hadn’t noticed that someone kept ringing the doorbell.
I sat there, my head now back on earth, and for a brief frantic moment
scanned the room. The money was still there, and, laughing, I slipped and slid
as I tried to get up to get the door.
The ringing continued, now accompanied by a furious knocking. Looking down, I noticed I was in my underwear.
A quick glance around the motel room didn’t discover anything I could throw
on, so I stood there undecided for a moment. The
noise got louder and I dashed for the door, knocking over more stacks of money,
sending them crashing down to produce more clouds of green floating around the
room.
“Pizza Delivery, with what was a hot pizza.
But I’ve been standing here so long, it ain’t hot nomore. No way you’re gonna hold me to our twenty minute
guarantee. I’m telling you right now, that guarantee is null and void,” a woman’s
voice barked at me in a thick Hispanic accent. Was I still in Costa Rica after all?
“Uh... Pizza...”
“Habla Ingles, senor? Pizza. P-I-Z-Z-A.”
“Si, yo hablo...pizza...umm... I am starving ...”
“And here’s your pizza. Now open
up, I’ve got other deliveries to make, you know!”
I fidgeted with the chain, then stepped back and the door swung open. Absently I fumbled for money in my pockets,
but then remembered I was standing in my boxer shorts.
“Uh... I don’t think so...” I stammered, unsure how to answer that perfectly
reasonable question.
“You don’t think so. Hmm... Okay ... Look,
just give me my money and I’ll be on my way ...”
Nervously smiling, I picked up one of the $100 bills from the floor.
“I don’t have no change of $100, Mister...”
“Uh, that’s okay, keep it...” I smiled. “I’ve got plenty. Here, sorry for
the inconvenience. Have a few more...”
Her face lit up. “Oh, well thanks... I guess ... This isn’t drug money,
is it? I’ve seen a lot of people go through hell over drugs and I don’t want anything
to do with any dirty money.”
I shrugged uncomfortably. “I don’t
think it’s dirty money.”
“It better not be, mister.
Doesn’t look marked or anything. I guess it’s alright.
Well, thanks, then.” She turned to go.
“Say, if you don’t mind my asking, what you gonna do
with all that money?”
“Uh, save the world?” I suggested as the thought popped into my head.
“Uh... the angels sent it?” How
else could I account for this strange, wonderful dream I seemed to be stuck in.
Her face completely lit up. “The
Angels? Now you’re talking! My angel guides have surely sent me here! Say,
do you need an angel to help you manage this little Save-the-world campaign?
I’d sure love to help you do it ... I did tell you my name is Angel, didn’t
I? Angel Rodriguez, at your service.”
“You believe in angels!” I gasped. Most
people just look at me like I’m a crazy old hippie when I talk about the angelic
realm all around us.
“Do I believe in angels ...” she laughed.
“Angels and saving the world. Those
are my passions. Heaven knows I’ve been
going about it from every which way these past few years. Why, just this evening I was going to be going
to a peace rally. Protesting the World
Bank and globalization and genetic corn. Or something like that.”
“A peace rally. That sounds like fun.”
“Actually, she
sighed, “in all honesty I’d decided not to go. Been hanging around this anti-globalization
crowd for the past few months ... well, because of a man ... I don’t know what
it is -- I’m always falling head over heels blind for some guy with a cause.
Not that he wasn’t one fine-looking fox.
But now he’s left me for ... well, another cause, shall we say.”
“Save the Whales?”
“No, that would be a little easier to take, Mister.
It was more like saving some pretty young thing. Actually she was an OLDER
woman! But anyway, that’s gone in the past. Well, what do you think? I’d be a great manager for your campaign to
save the world... What’s your name, by the way?”
“Umm... Peace Dude... or you can call me, Peace.”
“Say, what?”
“It’s a long story, but that’s what I’ve called myself for the past twenty
years. Sort of started my life anew with a new focus...
Some friends used to call me Merle, but that’s not my name either. I used to play Merlin in a peace show, but that
was like a whole lifetime ago, now.”
“Peace Dude, Merlin ... Call yourself whatever you like. Actually, truth is my real name’s Gloria, but
I’ve been called Angel since I was a baby. It’s
more fitting of how I see myself, too, so I understand completely.
SO, what do you say, Peace? I can
see you’re on a mission from God. The angels have brought me here, and I’m willing
and able to help you heed their call ...”
“Great. That’s great.
Tonight we’re going to start saving the world together. Now get your pants on. Oh, and forget about that pizza. What have you got on there, anyway, bean sprouts
and artichoke hearts? Yuk! What kind of crap is that? We’ve got work ahead of us -- we need brain
food. We’re going to get a nice, thick,
juicy steak and then we’re going to protest like there’s no tomorrow. I know a place that makes a great steak with
all the fixings. And they deliver!”
“Um...I don’t eat steak ... or haven’t in thirty years or so ... at least
I don’t think I do...” To be perfectly
honest, after what the day was bringing I wasn’t exactly sure of anything at that
point.
“Peace, you’re going to have that steak, and it’s going to be juicy and
tender and it’s going to send you to paradise, Dude.
Now get those pants on. And where’s
your phone? All this talk about steaks
and I’m starving!”
Then I remembered what was in my pocket, and reaching in I pulled out the
small crystal wand I knew would be there. Of
course it was glowing faintly...
“Thank you angels, for bringing me this wonderful day, and for Angel --
I’ve got a good feeling about her ... she’s the one who’ll help spread your message
-- I’ve been sidetracked for a long time now, but I’m back and this time it’s
going to work. Peace on earth is coming...”
The wand glowed brighter. Previous Chapter | Next Chapter Table of Contents | Preface | Ch 1
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4 |
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