The Book of Hope: Verse 3

The Fox and The Hound

The Tale of the Genius: Verse 3, Part 1

The Genius and The Hound Dog were a few minutes walk to the boathouse when Langston stopped, barked once and ran off the path into the woods.

Hope followed.

When she caught up to him, he was standing at the edge of a clearing staring at an old maple tree that fell years ago.

Behind the felled tree a mist of colors rose like vapor just as it had in her meditation.

Red to Yellow to Blue, and as each color rose it traveled to different parts of the forest bringing a slight glow to whatever it touched.

Hope was awake and seeing the same dance of light the Dandelion shone from her meditation.

What did it mean? Was this Enlightenment? And... Langston was staring right at it!

"You see it too, Langston?"

He barked twice. Then, the light show coughed and a grey static cloud hovered above it.

Langston ran to it.

"No, Langston. Come back, no!"

Langston disappeared behind the fallen tree.

Hope followed.

The light that was causing all growing things around them to shine now caused them to dim.

Langston stopped at the source and barked three times.

In front of him was the carcass of an old fox.

Hope covered her nose and mouth.

Langston got closer and began to sniff.

As he did the color light show, greys and all, drew into him causing him to have a subtle glow.

The forest light show, including the grey cloud, ended.

Langston returned to Hope's side. She studied his still glowing figure. He looked well.

Then she reached out to pet him.

He barked once and ran towards The Boathouse.

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At The Boathouse

The Tale of The Genius: Verse 3, Part 2

At the boathouse, which was just an oversized shed with a cellar used to keep fishing and boating supplies, Finn already had the boat at the dock about half a football field away.

Where the boat was parked all Winter and Spring was still a large patch of flattened Earth.

Langston, still glowing, ran for that patch.

He put his nose close to the dirt and began sniffing... no huffing. As he huffed, colors flowed from his nostrils like they had from the dandelion and the old fox carcass.

Each ray swooped over the ground like a soft cloud of tinted light. The more he sniffed and huffed, the more soft light clouds joined the procession.

Until, at last, Langston's glow dimmed back to normal. The ground where he spread the light resumed the cloud dance of color.

Langston walked over to Hope's side and pressed his nose against her leg.

"It's beautiful, Langston."

The Genius and The Hound Dog stood and watched the great choreography of light return to the Earth.

Reds met Yellows and Blues and... there.. there it was Purple!

The spectrum came together at last and a soft lavender hush fell over the land.

So quiet and peaceful and... just as the light choreography touched down a great quick firework spark show set off and countless splashes of violet light lifted off into the air through the forest ceiling to commune with the sky.

Hope watched and whispered, "Beautiful."

Langston raised his head to watch and barked three times.

"Langston! Hope? Is that you?" Finn shouted from the other side of the boathouse. "Did you see that!?"

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The Durendaphlor

The Tale of The Genius: Verse 3, Part 3

When they reached Finn, they found him sitting with his back against a tree staring at the bulkhead door.

"Tell me you saw that."

Hope took a Genius moment to consider. She could tell him, 'Yes of course she saw the light show.' But she decided it was best to let him tell her what he meant first.

"Saw what, Finn?"

"Seriously, Sis? I'm walking back from cleaning the boat and all of a sudden, it's like the Fourth of July. The forest sky lights up and..."

"You did see it!" How could she wait?

Finn nodded, eyes still on the bulkhead door. "Strange thing is I think it's coming from the cellar of The Boathouse."

"Don't be ridiculous, Finn. It's from my meditation." Two nods of her baskets.

He tilted his head to look at her, "Go on."

And Hope told him. The Dandelion, the color lightshow, and the grey cloud, just about all of it.

"Sis, first I'm glad you didn't say anything to me sooner, I'd have just thought you were crazy. But now... well..." He lifted both arms and shrugged.

"There's more Finn. I haven't known how to talk about it. It's not exactly sensible. But the morning of That Day, when Mom was driving away, that was the morning I saw this color show. Well, while she was driving away, I saw a grey cloud like in my meditation above her car as she drove away."

"Interesting." Finn went back to staring at the bulkhead door.

That was all he had to say? Maybe she didn't express it well enough. "I know it sounds odd, but I think that cloud is connected somehow to what happened to Mother. I came out here with Langston to talk with you about it. I thought maybe you could help me make sense of it."

He nodded still looking at the door, "I'll help you make sense of it if you help me make sense of this. Remember years ago, when Gramps first took me to The Boathouse. It was the first time I ever saw a cellar door like this. I told him, 'That's not a door. It looks more like someone rendered a hole in the floor.' He thought it was so funny. I started calling it..." He stood. Leaned a little towards the bulkhead door and whispered... "The Durendaphlor."

As he did the color lightshow lit up the doorway, then dimmed to its normal color.

"Okay, that's new." Hope said.

Langston barked once.

"Langston sees it too?"

"Yes," two nods of her baskets, "I thought maybe he got enlightened, too. But now I'm having second thoughts."

"First of all, Sis," Finn was now pacing while talking, "Of course Langston's enlightened, he's a dog. Second of all, I have no idea what any of this means other than you see it too so I'm not crazy. Third of all, if it's got something to do with what happened to Faith... well... we ought to check it out."

"Yes, I would love to study it. But how?"

"How about this? I say the word, the door lights up, and we go through while it's lit."

"It's just the cellar door, Finn."

"Or is it?"

He had a point. Hope needed more information. And when Hope needed to find an answer, nothing got in her way.

She walked to the edge of the door, Langston followed, Finn was close behind.

"This is either going to be totally anti-climactic or we're about to go into Wonderland. I'm hoping," he always smirked when he punned her name, "for the latter."

Then Finn said: "Durendaphlor."

And The Poet, The Hound Dog, and The Genius walked together through The Durendaphlor.

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Side-Story: Common Decency

A Faith Esperanza James Campaign Speech

"My Country, America, has put money over morality in means of economic and social importance for too long and we're starting to pay the price for it.

There's nothing wrong with money, but there's nothing right with it either. It's value is an act of faith.

Most of what's called cash these days is just some arbitrary number blips in cyberspace.

Your true value, as far as Life is concerned, and therefore as far as your well-being is concerned, is based on your contributions to the well-being of Life itself.

Your worth is in your relationships.

The more we value money as a purely mathematical exercise the further our quality of Life declines.

Turn on The News for evidence.

When we start caring about each other again, start valuing Life as more than a numbers game again, our Nation will heal.

Your life can only ever be as good as the relationships in your life.

Not just with people, but with all things.

How's your cup of coffee or tea? Getting along all right? Your sentiments for your morning cup are a part of its sustenance for you.

Really.

The world is full of quietly desperate millionaires wanting something more, something else. Do they enjoy their cup of coffee or tea in the morning? Most likely its taken for granted and barely tasted at all.

The things in your life are only worth how much value you put into them.

Money is supposed to be emblematic of value: not value itself.

Surely your grade school teacher is worth more to our Country than a Wall Street Broker.

Our money is failing our morality and so... The News of the Day, lately.

But money and morality add up.

America is at a moral tipping point.

A Nation of laws cannot endure with criminals at the wheel.

Are you ready to give up on America?

If you're quiet right now you are.

The ship is sinking. Money is attempting to buy the Law.

Is it for sale?

Are We a Nation of values or a Bank account?

Hundreds of years ago there was an essay entitled 'Common Sense' that inspired a Nation to do the right thing.

Here's a speech entitled 'Common Decency' set to do the same.

Morality, not money, makes a Nation Great... again, or at all."

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