Ray Bow

Ray Bow

Mortus Takes His Leave

"You must not die before I do." Jim cries, holding Isa beau gently in his arms, the rain drizzling upon bleeding brows.

"Please, Isa Beau, stay with me." Oh God," Jim calls out.

"Oh God, please!"

Isa Beau is slipping between the raindrops of one world and the light from the next.

"Don't …." Isa beau says to Jim. "You couldn't avoid this accident."

Jim can no longer hear her soft and loving voice; as he bows his head over her and weeps; he feels the loss of his own awareness, rocking her in his arms he recalls the ring lost she had given him, igniting the argument that ensued the night before. The cold rains swallow the two and Jim drifts off.

With a start Jim wakes up, he is alone, leaning against a tree within a forest. A pathway yields shards of darkness and light, and for him the way in will never look quite the same. There is stillness with a road that arches around a least traveled wooded bend. His first view yields the radiance of a cathedral green. A light that spires from the heavens to "his within"; yielding the warmth of hope to be had if he only steps forward for its reach; a white dove glides quietly by, and deep within the wood a voice lovingly speaks; "follow me."

Ahead is an adobe parapet highlighted by shadows that are contrasted by gleaming shards of light, to remind him that in his life there has to be darkness with light for him to learn how to make a difference; at this moment however he cannot get beyond how his head hurts. He has no idea where he is or how he got there.

Stunned, he travels further to this uncertain space. There, only twenty feet away staring at him is a man, who looks to be his twin.

"Where am I? What am I doing here? Where is Isa Beau?" Exclaims Jim.

The messenger gently smiles as he answers. "James, I have been waiting for you." A starburst spills into what seems like a universe laced with a light blue mist. Jim's visitor reaches over to close the blinds of a window hovering in mid-air stenciled with ice from starlit nights of ages before. "Follow me," echoes the man; "come and see."

Jim whistles as he thinks to himself "Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore."

"I heard that," the envoy informs him; "and make no mistake my friend heaven has chosen to turn in your direction so do not waste our time. Move out!"

Jim gazes in silence at the back of his guide, the entity's voice deep and resonant crescendos with an echo. "When you meet the ‘Buddha' on the road, you must kill him."

"And what does that suppose to mean?" Jim whispers to himself.

His twin stops and smiles patiently, the response comes forth without any hesitation. "No one has the answers for you, James."

"What are you talking about? Who are you, and why are we here?"

"I am not here – and neither are you, not ‘here' in the sense you have known on earth! But to answer your question they call me Mortus!"

Okay, you guys are nuts!

The seer abruptly turns to face Jim as his face splits in half, to reveal darkness with fire and lightning all throughout and a voice bellowing, "I WOULD NOT GO THERE IF I WERE YOU, JAMES!"

Mortus had somehow grown and was towering over Jim with a firm posture. Then slowly returning to his former being, focused in a gaze that looks deeply into Jim's eyes, Jim felt as if Mortus was searching through his heart.

James asks trembling; "What are you doing to me? Are you demon? Are you angel?" The Messenger patiently waits a moment, and then leans forward to answer.

Does it matter, will yesterday or tomorrow matter", NO, boomed Mortus! "Listen, if you won't perform the miracle, your life will be over; it is time to stop talking and thinking, it's time to open up and learn. I will now illustrate my point."

Rising and falling a huge thunderous roll moves closer. What seems like earth begins to liquefy and moves in waves undulating in enormous surges. A rise is felt, striking down like a hammer with intense shaking side to side.

"Okay," says Jim "you have my attention! What? What do you want from me?"

"No! It is not what I want, my friend, it is what you need to do! And it is nothing short of a miracle. Do you know what I mean by a miracle?

"Something tells me that I am about to find out."

"Yes."

Mortus removes a golden ring from his index finger. The ring is pure gold, one large garnet oval stone perfectly graces a "V" shaped groove encircling engraved letters.

"Allow me to demonstrate." Mortus extends his arm with a clenched fist to open his hand as the ring begins to drop. Instinctively Jim reaches to grasp the falling halo of garnet and gold.

"You see my friend, a miracle. Something that happens differing from the laws of nature."

"I don't get your meaning." Jim frustratingly says.

Mortus continues with his explanation.

"The law of gravity mandates the ring to fall towards the floor. By your action you suspended a physical law. You performed a miracle. It is that simple. There is more that you must know, but there is no time. The bearer of this ring needs you, and you are called upon."

"How?"

"You must use the power given you at your birth. It is a reality that cannot be stopped or changed; it will be judged by some and held in silence by others.

"What is this miracle and whom shall I perform this miracle for?"

"Must I tell you everything! When you are handed a fate that you do not want, take control by asking God for help to change it. ASK!"

BANG! A thunderbolt crashes.

FLASH the headlights of an ambulance aims directly into Jim's face. The paramedics tumbled out of their vehicle before the break is even set.

No longer alone, Jim holds Isa Beau gently in his arms.

"Isa Beau, Isa Beau – I am with you - just hang-on for me honey."

Jim cries, embracing the love of his life tenderly in his arms, the rain drizzling upon their bleeding brows.

"Please, I am asking, Lord.

Isa Beau don't leave me. I love you with all of my heart, Oh God!"

Jim feels the cold rain down his neck; he is shivering and faint.

He musters all his strength, "Oh God, please!" Then he passes out.

"It's alright sir," the paramedics arouse Jim into wakefulness; they advise him how they have transferred them to the hospital from the scene of the accident. Isa Beau's vital signs are stable, "she will be alright, sir." The paramedics reaffirm. Isa Beau is gently transferred from the gurney to her bed. Jim suddenly realizes the hard clinch of his hand made into a fist. He opens it to find the ring he had lost, a ring of gold with one large garnet oval stone perfectly adorning a "V" shaped groove encircling engraved letters that read … LOVE.

The room seems to gently move from side to side. Thunder flashes outside. The Heavens are opened as a bolt of light from the ground streaks the sky; as Mortus takes his leave.