I always enjoy my morning walk to the Hall of Ivey. Saying goodbye to mom, as I do every morning, I look forward to the tall sculptured pine trees and oaks along the walkway as their branches spread wide over the landscape. They give me a sense of wellbeing as the honeysuckle laced among them spreads their fragrance in the air, bringing a smile to my face.
As I top the hill in the distance, I have my first glimpse of the regal Stone Doom as its affectionately known. The fog from the morning dew just lifts above its rounded peak. This huge mountainous rock is the focal point for the Downtown District. Stone Mountain never fails to enchant me with its majestic beauty and its powerful energy that surrounds our community. As it has for so many people from centuries gone by. I give a slight sigh as this is yet another beautiful day in the citizenry.
As I walk round the bend, Lisa joins me. I give a smile as she approaches. We live in the same neighborhood, our friendship goes ‘way back,’ as they are heard to say around here, and our dads even work together. We have both just turned 24, which is a special age for young citizens. Lisa has brilliance beyond our adolescent years, coupled with an uncanny ability to know when something isn’t quite right. Her personality, marked with a wicked wit, lets her get away with saying words you typically don’t hear citizens verbalize. Thinking on this, I shake my head and look at her with a slight smirk, I love that about her and truthfully, am a tad jealous.
Her personality and wit color her attire; like most female citizens, Lisa wears a khaki skirt with a form-fitting, light blue, button-down blouse. In the peak of health, her 5 feet, 6 inches frame has power from her dark brown eyes, clear olive skin, and silky dark brown hair which cascades to her shoulders. She exudes health as do all female citizens. I would never tell her, well, maybe not yet, but Lisa’s beauty, inside and out, makes other female citizens pale in comparison to her. It makes me realize how fortunate I am to have such a good friend.
“Hi, Echo.”
“Hello.”
She adds, “Another wonderful day at the Hall.” I simply nod my head in agreement. She then looks at me while shaking her head, “The least you can do Echo is brush your hair.” With a smirk, she adds, “How difficult could it be.”
I merely roll my eyes, “Indeed, another beautiful day.”
Pg. 1
We continue walking mostly in silence, just enjoying the peace of our surrounding. Of course, all good things come to an end. As this will all change once we are near the Hall. The Hall of Ivey is where citizens discuss relevant aspects of life, learn skills, and be placed into service within the citizenry. There are three hall levels of enlightenment for citizens.
The Hall of Blooming, the Hall of Ivey, and the Hall of Knowledge. Our Hall is in the town of Stone Mountain. It is where the library and old municipal buildings once stood. The buildings are red brick with towering white columns in the front. Inside the hallways have granite floors and walls. Session rooms are unique to the subject matter being discussed. Today Lisa and I have history, one of my favorite subjects. The session is held in a room dressed in fine oak wood paneling laced with all sorts of artifacts from pictures of pecan trees, the granite quarry, indigenous people, and commemorating the changes which occurred in town after the cleansing period.
As we top the hill approaching the Hall, within seconds, our peaceful walk and reflection will soon be over. I will hear the one question I have been dreading since leaving my house. With each step, I brace myself for the onslaught as this question is repeated over and over again and again until eternity, it seems. It simply drives me nuts, and I can’t wait for it to be over.
Lisa and I both roll our eyes as the question is asked, “Echo, do you know if you have been accepted to the Hall of Knowledge?” This must have been the millionth time I’ve been asked this question over the last few months.
“NO,” I say in frustration. Well so much for peaceful karma.
Lisa gives me a nudge, shakes her head at me again while smiling, “Come on.”
I get it; everyone our age is a bit tense as many of us are in our last few months of learning at the Hall of Ivey. We are at the age of acceptance, for the highest level of awareness, known as the Hall of Knowledge. So, we are a little anxious about our future. The hall facilitator says the anxiety is part of our maturity learning. Citizens typically do not have to deal with stress. We are told this is the only time in life we will experience this emotion. So, as a one and done, it is very challenging and hard to control our human emotions during this time of uncertainty. I don’t like it and pray it will be over soon.
That’s when I hear…
“Hey Echo, do you– NO, I have not heard yet!” I reply as Lisa just rolls her eyes while giggling at me.
“What?”
“Nothing, come on.”
Pg. 2
Luckily, we are about to begin our discussion on history. At least it will take my mind off the anxiety over the acceptance question. Besides, I’ve always had a keen interest in humankind’s history, especially in the early 21st century. Such a riveting yet turbulent time for humanity.
As part of our assignment, we were asked to speak with older generations in our family to give a glimpse over the changes they have seen and stories they have heard in their lifetime. In the citizenry, older generations are respected for their knowledge. Today we present our findings from those conversations. It is my belief the facilitator specifically wants us to learn about the cleansing and enlightenment transformation experienced during the early 21st century. My granddad, Jamison Bodhi, was eager to speak with me over our family’s history. I was very impressed over his memory, given he is 84 years old. As a younger man, he was about my height, 6-foot but with age, his frame has distorted a bit as he leans forward when walking. He wears khaki trousers, and a blue button-down, has brown eyes, silver hair with a bit deeper skin tone. His has deeply wrinkled skin, which is typical for our elderly. He has a brilliant smile and a servant’s heart. I am proud he is my granddad as I absorbed his thoughts. This is how we obtain accurate knowledge from one another. In fact, it is the way we learn. After our absorption session, I placed all the specific aspects of his memories on my virtual for today’s assignment.
Once settled, the facilitator calls my name, “Echo, your turn.” I simply nodded.
I began by expressing my granddad’s words on how tragic the cleansing was leading up to the period of enlightenment. Then I shared his absorbed words:
“Life had become so harsh for humanity, people all over the world were protesting as disillusionment became widespread.” Since we had never heard these terms before. I informed the group what he meant by using these words. Then went back to telling his story, “It was a turbulent time as people endured nuclear electromagnet pulse attacks by terrorist causing power grid failures around the world. This led to government collapse, pandemics became widespread wiping out entire populations, worldwide martial law being called for by the United Nations organization. People became paranoid over something called global warming, which led to some kind of end times prophecy?” Again, I stopped at this point to mention, I really was not sure what this end times thing was about. Then continued with his absorption feed, “Despite these inhospitable and untrusting times, people still tried to work together during all the chaos occurring around them. Citizens began showing compassion for one another as they band together in small survival groups in areas where they lived. Granddad called it, ‘living their faith.’ People were shocked and utterly confused by all that was taking place. My great-great-grandfather decided our family should make its way to Stone Mountain Park where FEMA had set up a family encampment sanctioned by the government. This is where our family was able to survive until the time of enlightenment.”
Pg. 3
I stopped his absorption feed and ended my presentation by explaining this chaos is what brought about the world citizenry we know today. After sharing my family’s stories, the facilitator thanked me as I went back to my seat.
One by one, my fellow hallmates continue giving their family stories, hearing these stories, my imagination began showing me the visions my granddad gave. His spoke of uncommon things like threats, fears, crisis, protest, and disillusionment which have not been part of our human vocabulary for hundreds of years. Once the worldwide enlightenment took place, our society evolved into a peaceful existence. We became the citizenry. We have no needs as the collective, known as the Order, short for World Order provides for the citizen’s general needs. No productive citizen ever goes without. You have access to extra service credits for things you want to buy. Of course, once chosen for your final position in society, you begin earning your own credits. Our lives are fulfilling, as we all come together in one mind, one purpose, one reality. The Order describes it as a utopic society.
While my classmates continue, I become nervous as I feel myself going into my dream state. My friends call me a daydreamer. I would like to say this is unusual for me, but unfortunately, it’s not. I have had this dream state, or as my friends describe it, absent-mindedness ever since I can remember. It can really be a challenge and a pain in the butt. I don’t control it, can’t explain it, but for whatever reason, it only comes over me when I ponder deeply over things that pop into my mind. Unfortunately, today would be no exception with all this talk about the cleansing. I lose control as I feel my imagination taking me to my faraway place –
Soon, I find myself looking at Stone Dome in the distance. All around me are people rushing towards the entrance to the Stone Dome Park. Except the sign says Stone Mountain Park and everyone was wearing unusual clothing…I mean it was all different definitely not citizen attire. That’s when I see a man wearing a green uniform, I guess a soldier or maybe a guardian giving directions while pointing to the entrance continually telling people to proceed with caution. As I’m watching this, I see another guy in a blue uniform with FEMA written on his vest approaching the soldier giving directions. I push my way closer to them, so I can hear what is going on.
Then I hear the FEMA guy say, “Just got word from HQ, Florida and Alabama are now quarantined. The pandemic has consumed those states.”
The soldier responds, “Oh…god, what are we going to do? How long do we have?” The FEMA guy says, “Axelrod from high command has given orders to continue ushering people to the refugee encampment as quickly as possible. I’m warning the others. Remember to watch for anything suspicious like someone getting sick or looking pale with red around their eyes, these are signs of the disease. Since the dissidents took down the power grid, all hell has broken loose. We’ll be in darkness soon. Just keep them coming.”
Pg. 4
The soldier turns, that’s when I see National Guard written on his sleeve as he throws a hand up, “Sure thing, sir. Alright everyone please keep moving towards the gate with caution we don’t want anyone being trampled.” That’s when it actually hit me… I’m dreaming about the cleansing. All at once I noticed the FEMA guy staring right at me.
“Hey kid, where did you come from hmmm.” I freeze for just a second…move Echo just move…then I begin running back into the crowd of people hoping to get away as everyone was frantically headed for the gate.
“Hey, kid?”
National Guard, “What is up with you over that kid?”
“He should not be here! Didn’t you see what he was wearing.”
“So?”
“Let’s just say he is not from around here. Get a couple of your guys to find him quick. Ambassador Axelrod will want us to bring him to HQ. He warned something like this may take place. Hurry up and find him…now!”
“Hey…hey you can’t talk to me like that. You’re not my superior and who the hell is this guy…Axelrod?”
“Sorry, it just…well, this is important…please help find him. Ambassador Axelrod is the senior envoy for the United Nations. He will want us to report this incident at once.”
“Okay, I’ll put a couple of guys on it. He is headed for the encampment, so he won’t get far. Calm down.”
“Your right…your right, thank you. I just never thought I would see one.”
“Uh see one of what?”
“Nothing…nothing just making sure we take every precaution and find that kid.”
“Gotcha, no problem sir…we have this under control.”
Frantically heading for the gate, is the first time I noticed many of the buildings are damaged, and smoke is everywhere. Following the crowd, I find myself at the park entrance where guards are checking people in requesting their name.
As I approach the guard, “Name?”
“Umm Echo Bodhi.”
Pg. 5
“Okay, keep moving.”
I was shocked he let me in. As luck would have it the family in front of me had the same last name, Bodhi the guards trying to rush everyone through the process assumed I was with them. Once inside, the family stares at me strangely for a moment, then turned and headed towards one of the tents. As I looked around the park, I see a sea of big white tents lined up everywhere. Row after row. I start feeling dizzy and exhausted. This frequently happens when I’m dreaming. I try to find a place to sit down. Fortunately, there was a seat near an open campfire. As night was falling, I sat down an begin listening to what people are talking about.
An older guy kind of explained, “With the epidemic, lack of power as the grid is down and the dissidents coming into the area. We need to prepare our families for the worst.” Another younger guy says, “We need to have the serum first, without the health serum to resist the sickness it won’t matter.” Everyone seems to nod in agreement with the younger fellow. Slowly looking around, I noticed a girl about my age, staring straight at me. I try to ignore her, but then she gets up and approaches me. I begin to feel fidgety and uncomfortable, not knowing for sure why she is coming towards me. Nervous I start wondering if she is going to give me away? She sits very close beside me. Just staring.
“Hi, what is your name? I’m Misty.”
I respond, “Hello, my…my name is Echo.”
As we both look into the fire, she turns towards me again then asks something extraordinary, “Echo, why are you here?”
I…I didn’t know how to respond. Seeing me squirm, she smiles and asks a different question, “What is your last name?”
“Umm Bodhi.”
Still smiling, “Oh, you are part of the Bodhi family.” She points just beyond the fire to a fellow, “There is Mr. Bodhi.”
As I stare where she was pointing my eyes focus on someone familiar…sort of. I sense he must be family.
I smile as my excitement builds, “I think your right, thank you.”
As I begin to stand up, she says, “Sure thing Echo…I’ll see you around.” Then giggles, still staring at me, “Maybe sooner than you think.”
Pg. 6
“Oh…umm yeah sure, …thanks.” In my haste to stand up, I slip and brush my pants leg against the wood in the fire. One of the adults gives me a warning, “Hey, kid be careful.”
I just stare at him and reply, “Yeah, umm, sorry.”
I just shake my head. I must really be into this dream. Regaining my focus, my attention turns to the man Misty called Mr. Bodhi. I become overwhelmed with excitement, as this is a chance to meet a past family member. Surging forward I just make it up to him, about to speak as he is turning towards me. All at once, I sense someone running towards me, “Halt, hey kid stop!” I feel something grab me as –I’m pulled back to reality with a loud outburst of laughter startling me as I jump feeling myself being drawn back to the hall session.
I quickly seat back down, feeling like I’m hyperventilating while trying to take deep breaths. The facilitator observing this spectacle, “Well, welcome back Echo.” Everyone laughs. “Okay enough of that, it is time to prepare for meditation.”
Lisa, smiling while shaking her head, touches me on the arm, “Are you alright? You were daydreaming again, huh?”
I nodded, “I’m… I’m okay, a little dizzy, it just felt so real.”
“Echo, you may need to have these episodes checkout again…you know to make sure you’re okay. They seem to be occurring more frequently.” As she looks on with concern.
“Yeah, you may be right.” Knowing I have already spoken with a healthcare provider. They just say it is a phase and I’ll eventually grow out of it. To be honest, I’m not so sure. As Lisa mentioned and she is right, they seem to be getting more intense.
I try to settle down to regain my facilities as we enter a time of meditation. It is meant to be a time of silent and deep visual thoughts over what we have discussed for the day. Usually, for most of us, it is time for a quick nap. Given the daydream I just had, I’m exhausted ready for this time of rest. Until – Reggie’s outburst of snoring causing several, including myself, to jump during this so-called time of peace.
Looking at him, I shove his shoulder.
“Instead of having citizen serums for health and knowledge, you would think they would make a serum for snoring!” With his eyes closed, he just gives a faint smile.
As the giggles fade, I find myself still distracted. I could blame it on Reggie’s antics, but truth be told. I think it has more to do with today’s discussion. For some reason, I guess, my dream has my mind spinning. I mean, it felt like a real experience visualizing such occurrences of the early 21st century.
Pg. 7
We have been taught to enhance our learning and spiritual awareness for the advancement of humankind. Yet, after my dream over the hardship and brokenness which affected people of that time, I find it hard to ignore. Once I have an intense daydream over something like this, it sticks with me for a while.
As the time of snoring ends, I chuckle, while collecting my virtual to leave for the day. My friends and I usually walk home together. Lisa, Reggie, Hanna, and Roger have been my closest friends for many years. Walking home, they are all chattering about the upcoming choosing. This milestone is an essential next step in our life as a citizen. Looking around, my mind is distracted. In an effort to focus on something else, I remind myself every aspect of life has a place, an order. Everyone is given a place in life to bolster self-worth. Literally, every part of our world is placed together to enhance our joy, giving us peaceful awareness.
Then I hear, “Echo, time to come back from the clouds.” Then laughter…it was Reggie. “Well, welcome back, daydreamer! I hope you enjoyed your ride.” More laughter, he looks at me shaking his head, “Echo, you’re too much. I’ll speak to you later. Have a good night, guys.” Reggie waves as he heads towards his neighborhood.
I give a wave, “Yeah later.”
One by one, they all begin splitting off giving a wave, saying goodbye for the evening. Soon, Lisa and I are walking alone in silence, once again back at the bend where our day began.
She looks back, “Well, have a good evening.”
“Yeah, you as well, Lisa.”
She turns, “Umm, Echo.”
“Yes.”
“You should clean that black soot from your pants leg.” Rolling her eyes, – sighing while shaking her head as she walks away, “Can’t brush his hair, now wearing dirty clothes. What are we going to do with you?”
With a grin, “Bye, LISA!” She waves her hand without turning.
Looking down at my pants leg what I see perplexes me. I have somehow gotten dirty. I just don’t recall how this could have happened. I must have brushed against something at the Hall. I try to wipe it off only making it worse. Looking back down at my pants leg, mom will not be happy with this. With a sigh, I think I must be more absentminded than I thought.
Pg. 8
Suddenly the hairs of my neck stand straight up, I stop dead in my tracks as it dawns on me. Recalling my dream – when I stood up by the fire, I brushed hard against some of the burning wood.
Then remember hearing the words, “Hey, kid, be careful.”
Shaking my head, this is too weird, could this just be a strange coincidence? My dreams have become much more intense lately. Not sure what to make of it or why I feel uneasy. I suppose all this talk of the early 21st century continues to disturb me for some reason; it clouds my mind…it haunts me.
Pg. 9