The Lover's Parable Through A Seven World Journey (51 page)

The light of John sprung forth from the grassy soil at Sofia’s feet, like the flowering plants in the newness of the springtime. The message that she had delivered to him at the Sea of Red had become his awareness: he was rising up like the stars of the
night.

John held Sofia in his arms. The waters of the Sea dripped warmly across his hands.

“Where will the answers come from, Sofia? Please, answer me,” he pleaded.

She opened her eyes. His image was reflecting off the blackness of her pupils. Like strings of time, they played a melody of beauty that only he could hear.

The sky filled with the brilliance of the reverse thrusters of millions of transporters descending upon Red’s surface around the sea, shaking the planet to its very foundation. The light of the Savior burned with fury, blinding John from witnessing the continuance of its power.

The bay doors opened once again. Sofia and John were standing on the ramp leading to the overgrown, ivy patches of the ruins of Labor’s launch facility at the base of the mountains: a place they had once thought to be named the Red Plant. Devoid of human life, the vegetation had concealed its once ash-laden soil, hiding it beneath layers of grass, bushes and youthful trees. The warehouses that used to extend for kilometers were now covered over, appearing like mounds of natural formations, rolling away in the distance. The brightly lit fencing was long torn down with nary a hint of their ever having existed. A thick strip of grass, like a pathway, meandered away from the burnt out umbrage that fell under the devouring heat of their
transporter.

Descending the ramp, neither John nor Sofia could believe the changes that had taken place in their former planet. As far as they were able to see, the Highway’s tunnel had fallen in upon itself, leaving heaps of overgrown concrete in a trail of moss and ivy covered rubble that twisted through the valleys and hills, into the world beyond. The young boy was somehow already taken to walking upon its path when they passed through remains of the ivy-coated pylons standing erect at what had once been the entrance to the compound. Waving his hands, the child waited for them to catch up.

Climbing along the Highway’s remains, the spaces in the concrete slabs and boulder-shaped rubble revealed the skeletal remains of the dead, trapped within their transporters or crushed under the fallen roof and walls. By the bleached bones that lightly protruded from the soil outside of the ruins, it appeared that some of the people had tried to flee from the terror, but died en route to the forest while attempting to make their
escape.

The damage was concise and thorough, leaving nothing alive within its walls, and leaving nothing intact as to its structure. Whatever happened, Sofia thought, it must have been a terrible sight to
behold.

Following the course of destruction, both she and John knew that they would be eventually reaching the boundaries of Labor City. Fearing what they would find at the end of the line, Sofia intuitively walked closely beside the young boy with maternal protection, subconsciously vigilant and prepared to do everything in her power to keep him safe.

After several hours of traversal, it became quite apparent to John that the Savior had not so much as moved a single centimeter across the open expanse above. It had remained static upon its skyward resting place, hanging as it were, like a glowing ornament upon a wall of ocean blue. Had the planet come to a standstill? Had it stopped rotating on its axis, he wondered. With the bizarre nature of their journey, he kept the observation to himself and pressed
onward.

Sofia could not help but look to the West, hoping to see the place that they had once called
home
. The thick green of the forest, and the distance that would need to be covered to reach it, were much greater than their view allowed, and she knew it. But still, the yearning for the peace that she had while it lasted was something she believed would never leave her. Holding tightly to Sofia’s hand, the child looked contently upon her, as if he were in a state of emotive unity with her, enjoying the peacefulness of life as she did.

As the Savior still had not changed from its position for an unimaginative number of hours, John understood that they were actually going to make the entire trip to Labor before the Great Star had set over the westerly horizon. It seemed remotely impossible to traverse such a long distance in a single day, as he remembered several nights transpiring before he and Sofia had made the full journey. But an unmoving light source had not been available to them before. The impossible was seemingly possible, now.

Highly aware of his surroundings, John had an incredible sense of well-being. The thirstless strength that carried him onward allowed him to effortlessly move through the ruinous heaps of concrete without so much as breaking a sweat.

Fully healed of her wounds, Sofia could hardly remember what the suffering felt like. She was able to traverse the land with as much ease as John, hopping from structure to structure. Physically, she seemed as fit as she had been years ago, on that day when they left the City through the wound in the Highway’s wall.

The young boy provided their pace without ever tiring. He was peculiar in his own right, so quiet and secure. His aura was a living entity all its own. Sofia wondered why it was that he was leading them in the direction of Labor, but she did not have the desire to ask
him.

The hike across the Highway’s ruins, slithering through the valleys and across the forest-lined fields, was time consuming, but enjoyable. Sofia and John felt at home, as if they had never left the forests of Labor in the first place. Were it not for the burning wall of John’s mind that would creep in during their discussions of sensitive topics, the thoughts of other planets existing in the farthest reaches of their little portion of the universe, the wars and disputes between the varying factions vying for power, could have easily been forgotten, concealed under a perspective of deliberate ignorance.

Although there were many hours to waste away, time had finally made an allowance for the two of them to get reacquainted. But neither John nor Sofia considered for a single moment about bringing up what had transpired during their time apart. It was much too painful. Instead, they kept close to each other. That was comfort enough.

Having only traveled once near the Highway, the world around them was unfamiliar in particulars. Generally speaking, it was still home. But with each passing minute the city drew closer, and the anxious feeling bubbling in John’s stomach grew more intense. There was no way to tell what it was that awaited them at the end of the day’s journey, but they continued to put their faith in the child, following him wherever he led.

Labor had finally come into view. It was nothing like John and Sofia had remembered. From the distance that they were observing it, and after their experiences with the other worlds, the breadth and depth of the once thriving metropolis seemed so minute in comparison, especially when considering the ravaged state in which it presented itself to them.

The overlapping rooftops had collapsed long ago, decaying in the streets under thick layers of moss and green brush, allowing the light of the Savior to saturate its once hidden face. The walls of the city, the Corral, had also fallen into disrepair and waste, leaving only hints of its past existence visible under the free roaming
grass.

As they advanced nearer to the City, John’s fire began to kindle. The memories of its claustrophobic, controlled environment had jumped to the forefront of his mind. Although the landscape had changed, and the Great Light from the sky was leading the way, it was still Labor, no matter how much he tried to rationalize upon it.

From the street level view, just outside what had once been the original border of the Corral, the City appeared to be a ghost town. Its streets were deserted and barren. The peoples were scarce, perhaps hidden in their apartments waiting for the Savior to return to his home on the other side of the planet, and the night skies to present them anew. Or, perhaps, John thought, they were all dead, destroyed by the ravages of a violent uprising, like that of Raw.

Holding Sofia and the young boy back, John insisted that he lead the way in. Following close behind him, Sofia gripped the child’s hand firmly as they passed through, what had once been, the red brick structure that coupled the City to the Highway.

The eerie feeling of returning to their place of origin, but under differing circumstances and environmental conditions, was somewhat overwhelming to Sofia. Although the memories of her youth were not so wonderful, it was the place from which she and John had made their vows to each other that they would always be one. It still held that special place in her heart.

With the rooftops destroyed, the buildings seemed to John to be so short and unimpressive. The dull, blue-gray dreariness that once pervaded the culture was now green and vibrant, allowing only scant glimpses of its morbid past to peek through the unfettered growth of the natural world. The inhabitants, if there were any left, and if they still shunned the Light above, would now merely exist as nocturnal beasts.

Walking beside Sofia, the young boy grasped the reins of her heart with maternal care, giving her the sense that he was her own. His fingers were about the same size that her son’s had been on the day that he disappeared from her life. His hair was similarly shaded. His eyes were as equally bright. Sofia wanted to kneel down and hug him, but she refrained, for she knew deep inside, somewhere out there, perhaps hidden in the City, his mother was waiting. She would do whatever she could to reunite the woman with her little boy. But if she could not be found, then Sofia would keep him for her own, providing the love he lost, just as she hoped someone, somewhere, was providing the same for her
child.

Passing through the emptiness of the decayed metropolis, John found very little difficulty remembering it the way it had been. Gone for the good were the orange lights above, the Security agents, the congested streets. Walking among the destruction, he was feeling rather envious of those that laid the once proud City to waste, wishing he had been a partaker of its demise. As if John’s appetite for violence was being projected into the child’s mind, the young boy bowed his head in shame.

“John,” Sofia whispered from behind.

Turning back towards her, John was quite surprised at how far he had unwittingly led them into the City, as the red, brick entrance visible over Sofia’s shoulder was now several blocks away.

“Let’s let him lead the way now, okay?” she asked with a tone of concern. “I think he’s looking for somebody.”

The deteriorated, windowless buildings prevented that
being watched
feeling from ever making its presence known, and John did not have that insecure intuition that he usually experienced when a threat was nearby. Agreeing to her request, he said, “Alright, but just for a little while.”

With the young boy situated between them holding their hands, he began to guide them back down the street they had come. The Savior was still hovering directly overhead, floating in the same fixed position for the past several hours. His beams of light pierced through the fractured frames of the city’s edifices, creating an ambience of reassurance.

Directing John and Sofia down several more streets, the child guided them with an apparent confidence of mind. Crossing through multiple alleyways before taking one final path between the skeletal remains of two fallen apartment complexes, he, to Sofia and John’s amazement, had escorted them directly to Labor Apartment: Building 1A, the birthplace of their wearisome
journey.