posted November 21, 2002 11:53 PM              

"What precisely," I wanted to know, "does that mean? How does such a teacher appear? Does he just knock on the door some unexpected day or night, and when you answer, there he is?"

David and Lucille glanced at each other with a mysterious smile, then David turned to me and replied quietly, "Well, yes...Something like that."

Now we can return to once upon a time, a few years later, in suite 1217, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, on January 1, 1970.

INT. ROOM 1221 -- HOTEL ROOSEVELT -- JAN. 1, 1970 -- EARLY EVENING

January 1, 1970 flashes across the screen as Linda’s voice says it.

Then across the screen flashes ...31 years and 8 months earlier...to the day.

The room is done up in late 60’s décor.

A woman, LINDA GOODMAN, is sitting on a bed rummaging through many papers, scattered all over the bed. Near her side is a box of books called Love Signs by Linda Goodman. She is on a promotional book tour. She gets up and goes to the window and lights a cigarette and blows it out the window. There are no safety stops on the windows.

We see a view of Hollywood Blvd and there are New Year’s decorations around and cars of the late 60s.

Linda casually walks over to the telephone and calls room service.

LINDA
Could you please send me up some coffee, black please. Yes, 1217. Thank you.

Just then, there is a knock at the door. Linda hesitates, then glides across the room and opens the door. In the open doorway stands NAHTAN.

Anytime there is a Linda voiceover, the two characters act out her words. We see Nahtan moving his mouth when she says he speaks, and the camera goes back and forth to her, expressing the exact feelings that she said she had, contained in the voice over.

LINDA
I saw standing there in the open doorway a plump man rather shaped like a Buddha, wearing the incongruous combination of proper business suit, suede loafers and a snow-white turban fastened in the center with a pearl stickpin. He had an irresistible, almost childlike smile and an impeccably gracious manner. I soon learned he was an initiated Hatha Yoga and Zen Buddhist who had spent thirty years in a monastery in India, under a vow of silence. His complexion was creamy olive; his eyes, not brown, but black and piercing. He apologized for the intrusion, saying that he had read my first book, Sun Signs, and some of the passages in it caused him to perceive that I was already aware of many mystical secrets, but was still questing for more star signs of truth and he felt that perhaps he might be able, in some small way, to guide me along the path of light. His voice had musical intonations, with a pronounced British accent. Later, he told me he’d been educated at Oxford, and had lived for some in London. He offered no explanation of how he had managed to locate me, and I didn’t ask, feeling that such a direct question was forbidden by some esoteric rule of conduct. I didn’t know this, but I sensed it.

Linda then invites Nahtan to come into her room with a gentle wave of her hand. He does so.

LINDA
Of course I invited him to come in, curious, yet not alarmed. For the next several hours we chatted like old friends...Although...There seemed to be a strange pattern to our talking. I had the impression that our speech was, in an inexplicable way, speeded up, because our words were exchanged so swiftly, almost without pause, sentences tumbling over one another...And at times I could have sworn we were speaking simultaneously, like a double track on a tape. I had a thousand and one questions for him, and each was answered no less than profoundly. Excited and exhilarated as I was to be learning so much in such a brief period of time, I felt a surge of regret when he told me he would soon have to leave, because he was late for an appointment at Griffith Park Observatory.

NAHTAN
But before we part, I have a message to relay to you from the Masters of Karma, channeled through me by the Higher Forces.

LINDA
(neither alarmed nor surprised)
Message? What kind of message?

NAHTAN
About your future. There are some events ahead in time even an astrologer as experienced as yourself cannot fully penetrate, because they lie above and beyond the natal and progressed planetary configurations.

LINDA
(suddenly chilled)
And what, then, is ahead in time for me?

NAHTAN
(slowly and very deliberately)
Soon you will be going to the mountains.

LINDA
The mountains? Do you mean Tibet? The Alps...Switzerland maybe? I’ve always wanted to go there.

Nahtan smiles enigmatically and answers noncomittally.

NAHTAN
To a higher altitude. For the purpose of raising your vibratory frequency, and receiving several gifts of illumination from teachers, who will appear without your seeking them.

LINDA
Without my seeking?

NAHTAN
Is that not how I came to you this day?

LINDA
Yes, of course. Is it related, then, to the ancient Tibetan adage I’ve heard that, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear?

NAHTAN
Quite.

LINDA
Well it all sounds rather spooky.

LINDA
I then smiled, to show him I was joking, but I was only half-joking. There was an unreal sensation about this conversation. His next words were completely unexpected...and shocking.

NAHTAN
After your retreat in the mountains, you will travel back to California, where you will meet your Twin Self.

LINDA
Twin Self? Don’t you mean Twin Soul?

NAHTAN
No. There is an important difference in the definition of the two terms, as you will soon learn for the purposes of teaching others.

LINDA
Are you saying that I’ll learn this difference while I’m in the mountains, from the teacher I’ll meet there without my seeking?

NAHTAN
Partially. But you will be fully enlightened to this only after you have met the man who is the other half of yourself. Following your meeting, you will write a book about everything you will teach each other. However, you must not make it available to your readers until after you have written and published a book you will also write, about your experiences of enlightenment in the mountains, which will occur, in Earth time, before you meet this man.

NAHTAN pauses, then continues.

NAHTAN
After you’ve met, it will become clear to you both that your mutual mission, as written in the Akashic Records, is manifold. You are to make others aware that such phenomena as magical cognition, the seeing of auras, the power to ordain happiness and erase misery, the ability to sustain spontaneous remission of illness, and the achievement of immortality do not belong exclusively to only a few Masters, but are possessed by all Earthlings, and may be developed to as high a degree as they desire.

LINDA
Again he waited, and again I remained silent, not wanting to express my reaction to these words aloud, as I thought to myself that there is no way I could ever be capable of meeting such a challenge as he presented, with or without the other half of myself. He might as well have told me that the following day I would be able to manifest a spacecraft out of the ethers, hop in, press a button, and zoom off for a weekend on Mars or Saturn. The manifold mutual mission he described was so unattainable as to be amusing if it hadn’t been so overwhelming. My silence did not disturb him. His enigmatic smile remained, and his eyes continued to burn into mine like a laser beam. After a moment or so, when it became obvious that I was not going to respond, he simply went on with his incredible statements.

NAHTAN
An important part of the illuminations the two of you will seed into the sleeping awareness of humans is the importance of love of men and women, the various paths they may take toward a reunion with the Twin Self...

He pauses, and his voice takes on a sterner tone, making his next words sound like a warning.

NAHTAN
...and the danger, once the other half has been found, of both becoming what have been called fallen angels, destroying their sacred, for-eons-waited Oneness through the grave sins of false pride, selfishness...And unforgiveness. It is further written in the Akashic records that this, too, is part of the mission you and another assigned yourselves long ago, to be accomplished in this present incarnation. The task will be extremely difficult, but you must not allow yourselves to be discouraged. You must also be aware that, if you fail in your mission, there are others, not only others who will be simultaneously teaching the same truths but others who will replace you, should you give up. For teaching itself is the priority, and it shall not be allowed to fail. Earth Time is growing short so short that the approaching moment of human choice between enlightenment and extinction must now be measured by the year instead of by the century.

Nahtan pauses; Linda is silent.

NAHTAN
Your task will require much courage, because you will face disbelief and ridicule. You will also face the challenge of many false teachings, contradictory to your own, which are even now swiftly spreading throughout the world. For these are the days of the false prophets predicted by John in Revelations in your Christian scriptures.

LINDA
My mind contained, superimposed, two thoughts. The first was a surge of thankfulness that, at some time during our conversation, I had asked him if he minded my turning on my small tape recorder, so that I could later recall at least a portion of what he was telling me, because I knew I was likely to forget much of it, or believe I had dreamed the entire incident, and he had agreed. But, as I glanced down, I saw that the tape had run out — I had no idea when. Then, glancing at the clock on the table, I saw that barely a minute or so had passed since I’d turned on the ninety-minute tape, and I knew positively that the things he had been saying, which were naturally still clear in my memory, could not possibly have taken such a brief time as a minute or so. It puzzled me, but more, it frightened me — in the sense that all things not completely understood are frightening when they occur. The second superimposed thought was that his words had made such a profound impression on me, I didn’t trust myself to comment — especially his statement that Earth Time is growing so short that the approaching moment of human choice between enlightenment and extinction must now be mea~sured by the year instead of by the century. Consequently, until I had a chance to assess all of this within, I knew I had to change the subject in self-defense. So I did. Clearing my throat nervously, I finally spoke.

LINDA (smugly)
Forgive me, but I’ve always believed that the Akashic Records refer only to past events and actions, to former incarnations or lifetimes, and not to either the present or the future.

NAHTAN (smiling)
But what Earthlings call the Past, Present, and Future are all one, you see — taking place simultaneously. By the way, the word simultaneously contains within it the letters of the words no time and time is a lie, which is what the word ‘simultaneously’ really means. Think deeply about this.

LINDA
I did. Very deeply. And it was at this instant that my enlightenment to Lexigrams was born (Chapter 8). He went on, his expression making it clear that he knew the seeds he had just planted with that word had taken root, and would soon flower. In fact, he seemed to be positively elated. His face fairly beamed.

NAHTAN
I know it seems incomprehensible to you now, but after a while you will understand, and when you do, you will have mastered how to exist, for temporary periods, whenever you should wish, in what is called the eternal now, a higher dimension of time. There are many such dimensions. Earthlings now exist in the third dimension, and are ready to graduate into the Fourth dimension.

Linda looks as if his words chimed a carol somewhere in the back of her mind.

LINDA
For some reason, what you just said about an Eternal Now reminded me of the lyric to a song about . . . ‘On a clear day, you can see Forever,’ my favorite tape cassette. I play it all the time. It’s the recorded by Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane, called On a Clear Day. For some reason, I always seem to miss seeing the film when it’s playing in a theatre near me, but I love the title song, especially the verse to it, before the chorus.

NAHTAN
Will you sing it for me? I would very much like to hear it.

LINDA
Shyly, softly, and unsure, I sang him the words and melody as well as I could recall them.

LINDA
(spoken)
Why, Daisy! You’re a bloody miracle! Could anyone among us have an inkling or a clue. . . What magic feats of wizardry and voodoo you can do?
(sung)
...and who would ever guess...The powers you possess...And who would not be stunned to see you prove. . . there’s more to us than surgeons can remove! So much more than we ever knew...So much more were we born to do! Should you draw back the curtain, of this I am certain . . . you’ll be impressed with you ! On a clear day, rise and look around you...And you’ll see who you are! On a clear day, how it will astound you...When the glow of your being outshines every star! You’ll feel part of...Every mountain, sea and shore. You will hear, from far and near...A world you’ve never heard before. And on a clear day...On that clear day...You can see Forever...And ever...And evermore.

She finishes slightly off key.

NAHTAN
(clapping his hands)
That was beautiful! It describes so perfectly the powers possessed by all Earthlings, each man and woman yet they remain unaware of it.

He blinks his eyes and continues.

NAHTAN
You have missed seeing the motion picture, On a Clear Day, for a reason you do not as yet suspect. I believe that you and your Twin Self will see it together...And that the seeing of this film together, the ‘simultaneous’ sharing of its seedings about Time and reincarnation, will be the first experience to open your Third Eyes. For it will contain certain subliminal messages for both of you. Yes, it is a clear day when one finally comprehends the mystery of making miracles. Thank you again for singing those words to me.

Linda blushes, feeling a wave of embarrassment at having spontaneously burst into song before a stranger.

LINDA
(murmuring)
I'm sure I didn't sound like Barbara Streisand.

NAHTAN
And why should you sound like her? Your Earthling composer and musician, Paul Winter, who plays to whales and dolphins in the ocean, and who has played duets with wolves and eagles in the woods, in the key of Earth, D flat, causing them to respond and ‘sing’ with him in perfect harmony, made a wise observation. It would be a sad and quiet, lonely forest if no bird sang except the nightingale. And so, once again, I thank you for singing to me.

LINDA
Thank you for your message. It’s such a lovely event to anticipate, like a song in itself...Some familiar but forgotten melody I’m sure I’ll hear in the back of my mind until the meeting with my Twin Self really happens. Yes, lovely...Oh I just realized that lovely and lonely are very similar words, but with such very different meanings. The Lexigram seeds he had planted were already beginning to flower in my consciousness. As I spoke, I was thinking of my own loneliness, an affliction I'd begun to fear was to be permanent in my life.

NAHTAN
(agreeing)
Yes, similar words, true, with, as you say, quite different meanings. What makes them different is a third word, hiding in one of them, that answers all questions, solves all problems, heals all pain.

LINDA
(fascinated)
What word is that?

NAHTAN
The word love. Notice that the word lovely contains the word love within it. The word lonely does not.
(he pauses)
Love is all.

LINDA
(totally understanding)
I see.

LINDA
For a timeless Time, then, we both remained silent. There was a humming stillness in the room that seemed to vibrate like some sort of energy force, the kind of stillness so tangible you can almost feel it, you know? I know this sounds contradictory, but the stillness grew louder, until I became aware of a growing sense of uneasiness and apprehension. I looked at the clock. It was exactly twenty minutes past one P.M. Twenty after. I remembered something my Irish grandmother told me when I was a child. Something I’ll share with you in Chapter 3 of this book...and more of it in Chapter 8. In the humming quiet between us, I was aware of the stranger still staring at me, unblinking, his eyes like burning coals. I finally found my voice, and asked him hesitantly,

LINDA
Just exactly when...In present time...Am I supposed to be destined to meet this man who is...my Twin Soul?

NAHTAN
It is written that your reunion shall take place near Christmas, in December of 1970. As Time is calculated here on Earth...At the end of this year.

LINDA
(confused)
Reunion? Since we’ll be meeting each other, I assume, for the first time, why do you call it a reunion?

NAHTAN
You will not be meeting for the first time. You have lived countless lives together in former incarnations — even in this present one.

LINDA
(confused yet persistent)
But, if we have not yet met in this incarnation, which I am absolutely certain we have not...then why did you say 'in this present one'? It doesn't make sense. It isn't logical. Is it some kind of riddle?

NAHTAN
Yes, a riddle. One you may solve yourself, with his help, for you will teach each other many things. And now I really must leave you.

LINDA
He rose from his chair, causing me to feel a sharp stab of disappointment, because I knew that, this time, he would really leave.
Suddenly, the stab of disappointment was replaced by a surge of inexpressible happiness, enveloping me like a fine mist, and I felt so grateful to this kind stranger who had promised me such a perfectly marvelous Christmas gift as meeting my own Twin Soul. Who hasn’t secretly longed for just such a miracle? He walked toward the door, and I followed; then he stopped in front of a table at the entrance to the small hallway of the suite. On it was my miniature altar, consisting of an alabaster statue of St. Francis of Assisi...Francesco di Bemadone... with his beloved birds and animals.., a bowl of fresh daisies and several votive candles burning in ruby-red glass holders, like the ones in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in New York City. I carry my small altar with me when I travel, using it to evoke minor magic and ordain baby miracles — for myself and others. It’s rather like a portable cathedral. Of course, one doesn’t really need such accoutrement to manifest magic or mira~cles. All one needs is a direct line of communication to one’s Higher Self — or, if you prefer, to one’s own God, Whoever He, She, or They may be — on the desert, in the woods, on a mountaintop, on the shore, or even walking along a crowded city street. But, speaking for myself, I feel the presence of angels with more certainty, and am able to spiral my thoughts more purely, when my senses are thus sweetly incited by subtle ritual. My uninvited but most welcome visitor stood there before the flickering candles, very still; then in a low voice asked me to close my eyes while he offered a prayer. I did as he requested, bowing my head, and as I stood beside him in the scented dark, the musty, mystical fragrance of my Morning Star church in~cense seemed richer than usual, and my thoughts drifted, until I became aware that he had placed his hand gently on the top of my head, like a blessing...and then began to chant in a strangely familiar, musical language, similar to the Latin of the Mass, yet which was, I could tell, not Latin. The melodious sound of his chanting, blended with the sweet scent of the incense in the black velvet behind my closed eyes, after a while transported me back into a magical childhood Christmas Eve, when I had slipped through the huge carved wooden doors of St. Raphael’s Convent to hear the nuns singing Silent Night, Holy Night in their soft voices, a capella...I could smell oranges and cinnamon in the air. Suddenly, his chanting stopped, the light pressure of his hand on my head lifted, and I reluctantly returned from the past to the present, opening my eyes slowly, as if awakening from a dream. When I turned to say good-bye to my new friend, he was gone. Simply disappeared. True, I had come out of my trancelike state and opened my eyes slowly enough for him to have had time to slip through the door — I mean to have slipped out the door. Or would through it be more appropriate? But I had heard no sound of the door opening or closing. Shivering, I took the blue-flowered comforter folded across the bottom of the bed, sank down into the plump sofa chair by the window that looked out on the small white cross, planted on the far hill behind Graumann’s Chinese Theatre across Hollywood Boulevard...Tucked my feet under, and wrapped comforter around me.

It was a disturbing experience, but as I sat in the chair, snugly enfolded in the soft clouds of the comforter, an errant thought swam through the floods of my fear, from childhood’s vast ocean of memories...My Baptist Sunday School teacher mother’s voice, quoting from the New Testament...Be not afraid, for thy Comforter shall come. I smiled, then, to myself, at the in~congruity of the play on words. Cosmic acuity aside, I was on the verge of believing it had all been a dream from the beginning. But there was the tape. And then I noticed, on the glass-topped table beside the chair, the small white card the stranger had handed me only seconds after I’d invited him to come into the room. I hadn’t really looked at it before, assuming it was a business card. Now I saw that it was blank, except that printed in the center in small violet letters were the words: EXPECT A MIRACLE. There was something else on the table beside the small white card I’d been given. An unopened box of Goober’s peanuts, the kind sold in the lobby of every film theatre in America. This, the stranger had definitely not given me, and I knew I had not placed the box of chocolate-covered peanuts there myself. Where could they have come from, I wondered, unless the turbaned one had left them there when I wasn’t looking? That must have been what happened, I told myself. There was no other explanation. But...why would he have done so?

LINDA
The Goobers peanuts troubled me more than a little, because they were, in a complex way, associated with a traumatic relationship in my past. Back then, I had studied only the rudiments of basic numerology (I was later to be initiated into this art and science in more depth, during my predicted retreat in the mountains)...So I quickly scribbled down the numerical value of the letters in Goober, and realized that the singular of the word must be spelled with three o’s — as Gooober. The plural had to be spelled with only two o’s and a z instead of an s — as in Gooberz. The proper numerological vibrations of words make worlds of difference. Again, I reminded myself of my promise to the me-of-me, that I would learn more, when I had time, about this deeply mystical and powerful code of the Universe, taken from the Hebrew Kabala, and steeped in the traditional wisdom of the ancient Chaldeans. For a long time I sat in the chair by the window, trying to memorize everything that had occurred during the stranger’s visit, so I wouldn’t later forget anything important, even the slightest nuance of his words. Some~where in my metaphysical studies in the past I had heard of or read about those Rosicrucian Adepti (called by many other names as well) who were able to disappear then reappear before one’s physical vision by changing their vibratory frequency of angstrom units per second...speeding up the rate to become invisible to the naked eye, and slowing down the rate to become physically visible. I had heard and read of such magic, but that never prepares one for the actual witnessing of it. I had not hallucinated. There was, you see, the box of Goobers peanuts and the small white card. If the stranger had not been real, but merely an ethereal vision I had invoked, then they could have appeared on the table only through what is called teleportation, and it was easier to accept that I had met an Adept -after all, they most assuredly do exist - than to believe that I had apported the chocolate-covered peanuts and the card. So I flew to Colorado in April of 1970, and everything the turbaned one had prognosticated came true...Some of them unexpected. I learned many secrets from several teachers who appeared without my seeking them. I also endured several personal tragedies in Colorado while I was learning, but these you will not be reading about in this particular book. Only the magic.

INT. ROOM 1221.

CAMERA IS ON CARLO, STILL READING.

At the same time that Linda’s voice says "Only the magic," Carlo says it also, under his breath. He looks at the book, closes it slowly, and then places it by his side on the bed. He slowly rises and turns to the cabinet with the food bar in his room. He quickly opens it and shuffles through to see if there are any Goobers in it. He only finds a box of Raisinets, though he takes it and opens it, beginning to eat some. Then he turns casually and sees the coffeemaker on the desk nearby. He goes over to it, sits down, and prepares to open a package of coffee to make some. Then he looks over at the phone beside the coffeemaker, drops the pack of coffee almost involuntarily, and picks up the phone to call room service.

posted November 22, 2002 07:22 AM              

I love it!! Oh boy, that is great, I would love to actually see it played out, either on film at the movies or on a TV movie of the week.

posted November 24, 2002 02:04 PM              

EXT. THE DIVIDE -- A MOUNTAIN PASS BETWEEN COLORADO SPRINGS AND CRIPPLE CREEK, COLORADO. SPRING 1970. -- AFTERNOON

INT. THE CAR OF FINBAR O'MALLEY, LOCAL REAL ESTATE AGENT.

FINBAR O'MALLEY is driving, and chatting with his passenger, LINDA GOODMAN. As a favor, he is taking her from Colorado Springs to the house she has rented in Cripple Creek because the owner-landlord of the house was out of town at the time.

LINDA
All the great composers were "overshadowed" in channeling the Music of the Masters, as they themselves believed...chorded fragments of the "Music of the Spheres"...to the degree that Earthlings were ready to receive these harmonic frequencies. Humans today would be in even worse shape than they are had it not been for the great symphonies which have touched the souls and moved the hearts of millions.

LINDA
One of these Avatars indisputably used as a channel was Yugoslavian Nikola Tesla. Many people even quite seriously believe that Tesla was an extraterrestrial. He's part of the haunted setting of Cripple Creek, where I was, myself, channeled with the star signs in this book. And so, this is yet another experience in the mountains I should share with you. This one began before I even walked into my haunted house for the first time...on my first trip up the winding road from Colorado Springs to the miniature Tibet or Shangri-la called Cripple Creek.

FINBAR
Cripple Creek is almost two miles high, straight up toward the sky. On some days there, the clouds hang down so low you can actully reach up and touch them - if you jump a little. Where you're going to be staying is ten thousand feet above sea level.

LINDA
(to Finbar)
Just the right altitude for miracles...

LINDA
...I replied spontaneously, then wished I hadn't, because I could see my remark aroused the curiosity of this man I hardly knew, and had no desire to know better. No reflection on Finbar O'Malley, as he is an agreeable and likeable sort of chap. But it was, after all, the me-of-me I had traveled to "God's Country" to become better acquainted with, not more strangers. There are enough of those in New York.

FINBAR
(curious, yet guarded)
What kind of miracle were you expecting to happen up here?

LINDA
Oh, just any old kind I might find buried somewhere near a Bristlecone pine tree, unnoticed for centuries or longer. I'm not fussy about miracles.

LINDA
I needed a subject-changer. The weather. It usually worked.

LINDA
Someone told me the sky bursts open frequently in the mountains with violent electrical storms. Is that true?

FINBAR
Oh, maybe once a month or so, sometimes more often, especially in the Summer. It depends on the atmospheric conditions. This is only the second week of April, so you'll probably see quite a few of them before the Fall. Now and then there's an electrical storm in the middle of Winter up here. While it's snowing. Damnedest thing. Gives you an eerie feeling. Folks don't ordinarily associate the thunder and lightning of an electrical storm with snow. But it happens up here in the mountains. They say that's why Nikola Tesla came up here to conduct his experiments. Because of the electrical storms at ten thousand feet...and higher. Pike's Peak, where they say he pulled off some of his light shows, is closer to fourteen thousand feet.

LINDA
Nikola Tesla. I'd noticed the name on some kind of commemorative plaque in the park near Colorado Springs airport as we drove by and stopped for a minute or so for a stalled car ahead of us.

LINDA
(curiously)
Who was he?

FINBAR
Some kind of scientist or inventor. Folks claim he was a genius. I even heard somebody say once that he believed Tesla was a Space Man, like Spock and those characters on TV in Star Trek.

LINDA
Finbar chuckled at the very idea of anything so far out, then continued.

FINBAR
He sure had a lot of peculiar habits. Real eccentric, he was. Somethin' funny about his inner ear, they say - whatever that is. Thing is, his ears were so sensitive, he could even hear a fly light on a table, and it sounded to him like an explosion. They say he could hear a clock ticking two or three rooms away. He was in pain a lot of the time because of the sensitive ears, you know. Then there were the visions.

LINDA
(her curiosity growing)
Visions?

FINBAR
Yep. He invented all kinds of electrical devices. Drew complicated blueprints for electric- and solar-powered cars and planes, stuff like that no one had ever even thought about. But he didn't draw the blueprints for his electric cars and spacecrafts and planes and so on the way most of those guys do. He claimed he had visions - that each time he had one of these visions, the whole thing just popped up in his mind like it was a screen or something. And his 'mental pictures', as he called 'em, were complete right down to the smallest detail. Weird.
(shaking his head)
He was psychic or a mystic or whatever it's called, they claim. He could sort of see things before they happened. Like the time lots of folks heard him tell a friend to take a certain train. The friend listened to Tesla and didn't get on. A few hours later the train ran off the track and killed everybody on board.

FINBAR
Tesla's the one who discovered AC - or alternating current, not long after Tom Edison discovered DC - direct current, you know. Edison didn't like it much, I guess. Took out big ads in the New York newspapers warning everybody that their houses might catch fire if they used Tesla's alternating current. Old Tom claimed it was unsafe and a dangerous hazard, whether it was used outdoors or indoors. Tesla was working for Edison for a while, but that caused a split between them. Finally, George Westinghouse and J.P. Morgan backed Tesla's crazy ideas, and Tesla came out here to Colorado Springs to build a laboratory for his experiments. Later, he proved his AC current was safe. That's all they use in homes today, of course.

LINDA
I waited for Finbar to continue, fascinated...yet troubled by the sense of "this happened before"...kind of a deja vu flash.

FINBAR
They say Tesla was all upset when they split the atom. He said it would bring on nuclear power, which could end the world. He kept trying to convince J.P. Morgan and his money backers that the world would run out of energy in the near future, and that nuclear energy would destroy it - but that his method was safe and pure. He said it would give everybody all the energy they needed without polluting the air, which he predicted in the early 1900s would be a big problem before the end of the century. Sure is a big problem. Especially in Denver now. Just like Los Angeles and New York, maybe worse.

LINDA
Finbar was quiet for a moment, then went on.

FINBAR
Tesla was a strange one, for a fact. Looked a lot like Howard Hughes. Acted a lot like him too. Kinda brooding and moody. He wouldn't shake hands with anybody. Something about mixing up auras, but I'm not really sure what an aura is. They say Tesla climbed Pikes Peak alone more than once. That's it, over to the left, the one with all the snow on it. I guess he wanted to try some of his crazy experiments with lightning. Climbed right to the top, he did, in the middle of the worst storms you can imagine, according to what they tell around here. He used to pull in lightning with the tower he built, with J.P. Morgan’s money, down in the Springs. Then, after a storm, he'd run out with his helpers and screw lightbulbs right into the ground. They'd light up, just as if they'd been screwed into a lamp that was plugged in an electric outlet. Just screwing them into the dirt. Isn't that wild?
(shaking his head in a gesture of combined respect and disbelief)
Tesla said it had something to do with the Earth's magnetic field.

LINDA
...then it happened. Suddenly, without warning, we were enveloped in a velvet-like cloud of heavy silence, that grew...and grew...seeming to wrap itself around the car like a smothering blanket. Even the hum of the car's engine sounded muffled...somehow distant, far away. For a measureless time the silence remained, until it became uncomfortable. Finbar said nothing, his eyes fixed, staring ahead, unblinking. I tried to think of something to say to break the silence between us, and I found I could not.

posted November 29, 2002 04:37 PM              

Congratulations !
I simply love to read what you write.

And seemingly your fan club is growing

posted January 02, 2003 04:20 AM              

Can I be like you when I grow up, well, I am already grown up, I mean, in a few years

PLEASE POST MORE!