What Could Golem Have Found?

Of course every story has a component that is about a human going through life, not knowing, or able to control most of the events that seem to come from cosmic forces, war, depression, good times, bad times, everyday life. And this story, at least initially is the story of the life of a fairly normal everyday sort of guy. Of course, this was a guy who knew that we were clones, and of a plan. But before that, he was, at least initially, just a human, not knowing much about life, life after death, or why we were here, stuff like that. A guy who one day got on a North West flight bound for Thailand and departed on a runway in Bangkok; not ever having seen a tropical island, a hut on shore, palm trees swaying, bikini-clad girls removing their tops on the porch, girls everywhere saying to him “I love you.” Taxi drivers slowing down each time they passed asking if he was in need of a ride. Girls with smiles wider, broader, like some sort of canyon in the middle of their faces, innocent, some not innocent, but how many of us are?

***

Colonel Pot, a cop on Elephant Island for a long, long time, examined the iguana and after that the actual diary and stopped at one entry as he considered what it was that could have driven Golem insane. Of course, at this time Pot knew nothing of Charlie.

Golem knew nothing of Charlie either, and therein lay the problem. At this time Golem did not realize that Charlie was doing the killing. He took responsibility for it himself as at this time he believed he was responsible for all the world’s problems—every last one of them.

Later he’d hear some words, and sometime after that, match them with a face and many years later realize just who it was saying the words.

“Look at your own hand Golem. You had a hand in the current situation.”
“What are you saying Charlie? The current state of affairs was caused by me?”
“I don’t even have to say it Golem. It’s what you think isn’t it? Just keep blaming yourself. We’ll get along just fine. Turn around Golem, I think I see a grain of salt on the horizon.”

When later he learned that Charlie had taken all the shots and taken out all the humans, he was chagrined and a bit more than a little bit relieved because for now he was staring. And what he saw was beauty, truth, and simple.


So deep was I in a trance-like state that sometimes I didn’t know if I could get out. I was trapped by beauty in nature; held prisoner in my own hammock. I couldn’t have imagined that so much of my time on the island would be spent mesmerized by these scenes of beauty. I couldn’t take my eyes off that painting. I didn’t know it at the time, but I may have been seeing a fresco in Arezzo, Italy. And some scene from long ago.
I would pay special attention to Venus this evening. It may have transferred something to my soul. Something had certainly been downloaded.


Colonel Pot looked at the package in his hands, and at the dead man in the rocking chair and at the live iguana peering at him with a flash drive in its mouth, and then at all the guano stuck on things. A few days later, he composed a letter. He did the best he could with his street English and used parts of Jack’s instructions as a crutch.