"Confrontation"

He knew this guy Ilhelp was up to no good. John has seen many men get their energy tangled up in other people’s relationships before. With some weak willed people its often ended in tears. He knows all too well how men are, men can get so concentrated on one thing they become blind to the bigger picture, blind especially to other men. This guy though was different. This guy was getting entangled in John’s own house, and that has now become a very personal affair. There is something very exact and intentional about Illhelp’s actions. There are to many small instances of this guy appearing and doing little acts that chip at the positive energy, short comments here and there that accentuate small nuances between people that naturally take time to come into balance within a relationship. So often these small comments can be ignored, but they actually refract future paths ever so slightly that in the long run make a situation all together different, all together non-existent, or even molded in the fashion of the manipulator. This guy has been driving under John’s skin now for months. But John has finally figured him out, and now, he knows exactly what he is going to do.

John is an expert at observing peoples manipulations and motivations. Some people are good at these small almost undetectable maneuvers, some manipulator’s aren’t people at all.

“Monsters” John muttered to himself determined and shirtless.

“It has been a long time, a very long time.” He thought to himself as he finished his sit ups in his back yard. So long he almost forgot what it is about to vanquish another being. To huff their light out of existence. Sitting quietly on the wild grass John silences the world, the universe, the infinity, all that exists is only his breath. It will come to him; you can tell what is real in reality from what is just passing reflections when you forget something, because the real things will come back. Oh yeah. He smiles wide and cynical, oh yeah, it has been a very long time.

Still smiling deviantly he finished his yogi poses, being extremely flexible is what his girlfriend fell in love with him in the first place. Finally. “And this guy was calling him out, actually asking for this confrontation.” He thought as he lit a candle and locked the door to his small studio. “What a pampas ass”. He rode over to his girlfriends house watching the trees rotate in circles as he passed pedaling. Smiling strangers smiled back. Arriving at his girls house he knew he was in side. John knew his instincts were right, he was certain this guy was straight fucking with him, calling him out, seeing how he would respond.

“Oh yeah, it’s been a while.” He did not knock, entering, he called out to his baby’s momma, friendly. “Kathy, you here?” he wondered how much she will see. It will be neat. He had high hopes. He saw her stand up from the table were they were sitting sipping tea; she makes a special tea and has a comforting way of serving it that makes a man feel like the only man in the world. She smiles.

“Glad you’ve come, Illhelp came over to visit. We’re having tea. Want some?”

“Yeah baby.” John responded gravely, Kathy returned to the

Illhelp’s eyes shifted from John to her and then back to John. John smiles. It’s on. It has been a long time, he reminds himself remembering the last time now. Illhelp solidly announces they are going to go running. “Want to come John?” Illhelp’ look at John smarted with his smirk bursting out of control. Another look, watching her to see if she’ll see. Can she recognize a demon when one is present? She’s acting if all is normal. All is not normal, not today. John looks back at Illhelp. This time the friendly man is aflame, slow, red flames rise up smokeless from a four-limbed figure. Only two human demonic eyes near the top of the ball of flame were his head was resemble human. The smooth red flames rise in twisting doublehelixs.

“Good to see you again John.” The demon says cheerfully. John hears from inside his own head the voice he hasn’t heard in many many moons. “Couldn’t miss my obvious invite.” The demon stared straight. He’s good, very good quick and subtle transition, I wonder if she sees. John glances at Kathy, she sips her tea and smiles at the flaming humanoid. His quick transition startles John at first; it has been ages since he’s seen the pure manifestation of evil. Fear incarnate. Hurt and pain walking and talking manipulating and receiving input, growing and right now smiling at him. Reading your mind, your trips, any insecurity will be magnified exponentially, many good beings have crumbled into their own minds. Less than a second passes. John breathed in air from a distant dimension of pure light. The demon has grown. John has trained and traveled and learned as well, now he is the oldest of his kind. Reality slows into slow motion; the demon still thinks he’s got him down from the frightening initial shock. Illhelp’s grin apparent through flame. John closes his eyes. Feeling for the fabric of time the demon posses and believes in; John shapes its outline in the darkness of his minds eye. Slowly, slowly, he colors the shape of the demon cool green of grass, feeling the niceness and softness of the color his lips begin to raise. Slowly, slowly. He boxes this image within a six-planed square of all right angles and clear planes. Molecule by molecule John begins to channel brilliant energy into each atom within the box. Slowly, not missing any space at all. Breathing in and out now at the same time, eyes closed, John pumped more energy into each atom within this space, the little molecules start zipping and disappearing. Some ricochet off others when they collide creating firework sparks. He slows more and more into the fabric, the darkness around the green demon turns the shade of night breaking an hour before sunrise. Feeling connected to all things every entity a friend, every spirit a god, John’s smile grows. He hears his name, it’s her. John sees her vexed look and shock. He knows that she is confused but she is safe and protected. The demon continues to grin trying to alter the situation to allow as much confusion and misconception using any and all thoughts in anyone’s minds to create mistrust. The demon focuses on the dying angel fighting off demon worms coursing through the mind and body. Ancient tricks that have killed lesser beings, unaware of the pressure building all around him, the glowing energy continued to pour around the green demon. John opens his eyes staring straight into the demon’s stare, into the demon’s black soul. BAM! John summons his entire consciousness of life energy visualizes it into a green energy missile and shoots it right into the demon’s soul. It hits him like an uppercut. Suddenly the demon knows, he knows now, he’s fucked. Now shining reflecting the light of infinity into the square, John outstretches his hands pumping light into his created box of space like an air compressor pouring in pure white light. The demon tried to move but couldn’t budge under the pressure of infinity weighing on his weakening flame. His own demonic worms began eating his own flaming head, thoughts that go through any mans head when confronted with the face of god and the power of infinity began to break him.

“What have I done!?” The demon screamed.

Silence.

“John?” Her voice sharp and soft, the voice in the silence after a tornado filled with anxiousness and dread. The voice that tells you its over and you’ve made it or the angels voice that tells you it’s over and you didn’t make it, but welcome home. The sweetest voice John has ever heard soothed him awake. He opened his eyes. He opens them to the dimension he has been guarding for many ions, and to the women whom runs at his speed. She looked shocked and disheveled, wide-eyed and confused. “He’s Gone.” She muttered. “Gone, did, what the, the light, the roar,………..the flames?” John knew she saw the demon.

They bathed each other, and held onto each other for many years. Outside, birds chirped and a bike passed down the street.

The end

Mark Stegman Oct 13, 06

"Metaphysical Bus Trip" A Short Story

“The City Bus”
By: Mark Stegman

The bus was heavy, loaded thick with the air of silence, loaded thick with the weight of the engine rumbling loud and smelling thick diesel fumes. The lone reddish pink light of the interior of the bus lit the silent people sitting next to one another, yet a mile apart from each other. They averted their eyes from one another and looking at whatever is not a person, unless their happens to be an unfortunate walker by, then the entire bus takes brief notice; if the unfortunate walker by happens to be a beautiful women, then the men continue to look well after a short glance, there is nobody speaking, a sad trip.
The bus roars and halts, the riders lean forward together in g-force unison. At this stop no one gets off, but a jester boards through the front door. Tis’ a modern day jester, not a decorated hatter colorful banjo toting feather in the cap wearing jester, but an ordinary jester that one couldn’t tell if this funny man was a jester at all or anything but a crazy man smiling like he is at everyone as soon as he boards the bus. His sudden presence though, like color in a black and white world, like rain on starched bleached desert sand, strikes sparks in the lines of reality in the bus. The rider’s on the bus became conscious of the reality of the bus, like the past was pre-life and suddenly time was born, awaken by the stimulus of oddity. This man saw the space between the people and laughed out loud and beamed smiles around the space. He sat next to a giant of a man who has been frowning at everyone since he boarded the bus. As the jester sat next to the large man, all on the bus saw the space in the air between all the people become filled with colorful electric photons zipping and spiraling, snapping, hissing, whirling, and then dropping, halting as each person averted their eyes, looked away from each other shyly with curt smiles. Yet as the sullen riders saw these dim glowing laser beams zipping and whirling and the unaffected smile of the colorful jester, they began to smile. Faintly at first, their smiles enforced the dim lines of energy’s paths and they began to open just faintly, showing colored plains of green and blue. Thus the jester laughed at the exposing awareness and some of the older people began to giggle. Children jumped into the aisle and swiped at the speeding electric lines zinging about, moving right thru their tiny chests harmlessly. They jumped right into their pathways waving their tiny hands; they could feel the pulse of communal electricity in the laser lights. The young teens and hipsters began to shed their cool pose and began awing and talking of these strange energies exposed. “What could it be?” They asked. The elders, being much wiser, knew that what was being exposed was there all along. “It’s only the pre-existing reality.” The older folk told the young teen-agers. The colorful Jester has made it all become visible.
Through all the laughing and kids at play, even the bus driver was smiling and could be heard laughing, there was one man not stirred, one man actually stirring in his own homebrew of hate. He was a brown wall impenetrable, this the jester thought most amusing, and laughed and “hahad” and sent playful arches of energy toward the giant man. The man looked up and with his eyes said
“What the hell you looking at? I’ll kick your ass!” His silent words reflected off the inside of the brown wall surrounding him and broke apart, fragmenting into the air. The jester frowned mockingly, momentarily stunning the giant. While the giant sad man looked confused, for he has never seen anything like a jester, or anyone ever make faces at him like that, the colorful jester swooped his hands up through the brown murk wall surrounding the giant. The people gasped and became silent, their chatter stunned, everyone turned and watched. The jester, taking the dripping brown softball size murk ball in his hands, rolled it into a ball. The giant looked up and speaking through his eyes once more said,
“Huh?”
“What?”
And “Dha?”
The jester smiles a wide grin and quickly shaped the mud into a dove and opens his hands like a magician. A brown dove flew upward to the ceiling of the bus. The happy people gasped and cheered and laughed; the children “Oohed” and screamed for more. The giant took a sudden interest that quickly faded and vanished. The jester turned, turning his smile upside down. At the same time the dove turned upside down and melted before everyone. The crowd on the bus went silent. The jester asked the giant with widened eyes, “Do you see what happened? Do you get that?”
The giant, finding hidden language in ancient energy patterns, growls back, reverberating low waves that bang into each other and creep through the brown wall surrounding him that said, “You can’t possibly understand my hurt, my pain, my anger!”
The jester once again arched his outstretched stretching hand sweeping up ward thru the giants murky wall scooping a heaping handful into his hands. He shaped it into a circle then with one gulp, he swallowed it. The people on the bus choked on their own teeth stunned. Then the bus broke into laughter. The laughter on the bus was quickly curtailed as they saw the jesters face suddenly pale and green.
“He bit off more than he can chew.” One of the old ladies near the back said as she watched the colorful man intently. They watched the jesters eyes speak.
“Ahh yes, a big bite indeedee, painful like all emotion, made of energy, made of light, and(he grunted) with that(he shifted in his seat) we can ( another grunt) make anything into anything we want(He opened his mouth and echoed loudly a rictorious burp). He lifted a leg passing a tsunami fart that literally blew the hair up of the sad large man next to him. A moment of silence then everyone, including the giant, cracked up rolling with laughter ( some farting as they laughed making more laughter). The giant lifted a leg, the hole bus ducked and covered (as if that would help the nuclear affect of such transformed energy, the giant burst out laughing and screaming(no fart); the understanding was made.
The bus had stopped, the driver laughing and wiping tears from his eyes; the jester departed and disappeared unnoticed as all the people were doubled over in laughter with tears of life in their eyes.
Mark Stegman 5/30/2006