Flight of Mind

This is a Flash Fiction Challenge from the blog of Chuck Wendig.

The prompt is: A carpenter draws a map which shows the location of every crossword puzzle in Mecca.

The Watcher’s Mission

The dust in the air was palpable as Dakota ran through the streets of the old city.

The day had started simple enough, shopping for the weekend, getting ready to entertain visitors, listening to his girlfriend chatter about her family’s latest drama.

Each of Dakota’s pounding steps brought him closer to the strange man.

Even though he could seemingly feel it before it happened, when the shrill sound of the phone hit his ear, Dakota almost cut into his own finger instead of the fruit he was supposed to be cutting.

“I’ll get it” Anna said.

She answered the phone and for a moment, Dakota paused to admire his girlfriend’s simple beauty. The light coming through the kitchen window gave her a radiant glow that was timeless. She would be the one, of that he was certain.

The ancient walls seemed to corral him toward his destination as sweat began to bead on his forehead.

Caught looking at her, she smiled, blushed a bit, and, handing him the handset, kissed him gently on the forehead.

“Hello, this is Dakota.”

“The carpenter creates.” Was all Dakota heard then the line went dead.

The look on Dakota’s face must have been evident, as the calm and beautiful moment gave way to a much more ominous presence. Anna’s smile faded and he heard her simply say, “Let me guess, work?”

“This is the one. It’s happening.” Even though Dakota’s words were cryptic to an outsider, Anna had understood and it had only made the growing tension in the room feel even more like a rubber band about to snap. “I have to go.”

Dakota stopped running as he approached the ancient wooden door. The door looked as though it had been in place for centuries. He tried to calm his breathing and heart rate before knocking. As important as it was for him to be here, he did not want his on anxiousness to cast a shadow on what was happening inside the small studio beyond the door.

It had been centuries since a carpenter had created anything. That carpenter had created a movement. A movement that had changed the politics of the entire known world. That carpenter had stoked the philosophical fire and led a following that eventually reshaped the way the world approached everything from law to warfare to religion. They had named their new philosophy after that carpenter: Christianity.

Now that he had gathered himself to a more presentable nature, Dakota reached out to the enormous and ornate brass knocker at the center of the old door and knocked three times.

From the beginning of recorded time, there had always been a carpenter. More often than not, carpenters came and went with nothing significant happening in their mortal lifetime. Once every few millennia a carpenter would receive a new calling, or a vision, or perhaps simply hear whispers. Those all had the potential to move the very foundation of mankind. For every carpenter there were always four watchers, like Dakota, representing the four cardinal directions. Dakota represented east, not because he was from the east, or anything mystical. When he was baptized into the life of a watcher, east is what was needed. Dakota had assumed that at one time, very long ago, the directions had more significance, but that time had also faded.

Watchers were there to protect and serve the carpenter. In the case a carpenter had any prophetic event, the watchers would be there to assist the carpenter in moving the prophecy forward and helping to realize its benefit to the world and mankind. In Jesus’ time these were men like John the Apostle, now it was men like Dakota, and as he waited for the door to open he hoped he was up to whatever task may lie beyond.

The door opened with Daniel standing there with a grin. Daniel was the Watcher of the West, and welcomed Dakota warmly. It was Daniel’s month to live with the carpenter, providing help, assistance, and a sense of normalcy for a person who was anything but. The carpenter was old, nearly 90 years, and there had been no sign of a new carpenter yet. He was confined to a wheelchair as age had marched its course across a once virile body. The carpenter’s mind was still strong, but the watchers could sense that was fading as well.

“The time has come brother. He is creating.”

“What does he create… what does create even mean for the carpenter? Who else has arrived?” Daniel asked.

“You are the first to arrive, come and see. It is unlike anything that we could have expected!”

Dakota loved this small studio. It was nothing more than a large open space with two bedrooms and a kitchen. There were no trappings of modern society except the telephone. Time spent here was spent in contemplation for what may come. Every month Dakota had spent here had been rejuvenating to his soul. Meditation, cooking simple foods, reading books, and deep candlelit conversations with the carpenter about everything from current events to ancient Greek philosophy. This had been Dakota’s refuge every fourth month for the past 12 years. He cherished the time, and wondered how everything would change.

Daniel led Dakota into the open space. What Dakota witnessed was nothing short of a miracle. The carpenter stood tall at an art easel furiously paining shapes in vibrant colors, speaking meditations that Dakota couldn’t quite hear or make out. Dakota stared in awe and began to approach the carpenter.

“My friend…” as the words trailed off, Dakota felt Daniel’s hand on his shoulder.

“He won’t respond at all, and I don’t recommend touching him” Daniel offered.

Dakota paused and began to really look at what was happening. The carpenter suddenly muttered something unintelligible, ripped the paper from the easel, crumpled it into a ball and threw it on the floor with many others. He then began again on a new paper. This time in dark foreboding colors.

“A few hours ago this began,” Daniel explained. “I was out getting some vegetables at the open air market, and when I returned he was standing there painting. I panicked a bit, it has been nearly 5 years since he last stood, but as I moved closer I noticed his eyes and heard his words.”

At that moment Dakota saw the carpenter’s eyes. They were milky white, devoid of pupils or anything. Just a white sea.

“What’s he saying?” Dakota asked, unable to make out what sounded like gibberish.

“I haven’t been able to make any of it out. It sounds like a simple phrases, but I just can’t tell.”

There was a knock at the door, which brought both men back to the present.

“That will be the brothers, I’ll let them in.”

As Daniel went to open the door, Dakota stood mesmerized by the sight. Trying to figure out what exactly was being created and what would the associated task.

Daniel returned with Jack and Joseph… north and south. Brothers, and the longest serving watchers.

All four watchers sat for hours watching the carpenter create. All asking questions of each other trying to decipher drawing after drawing and trying to make any sense of the muffled mutterings that the carpenter continued to speak.

As night approached, it became clear that what was being painted was a map of a city. The carpenter seemed to be taking longer on each version of the painting as it slowly took form into something other than random lines and shapes.

By candlelight, the carpenter seemed to be slowing, and it looked almost as if fatigue was setting in. he had been at the task for nearly 12 hours. The watchers began to sense that whatever was happening was about to revel itself.

The carpenter’s speech became clearer:

“Cross the words”

“All to find”

“Black and white abound”

“Clues for the heavens”

Without warning, the carpenter suddenly stopped, stood straight, and began to slump to the ground. The watchers scrambled quickly with Dakota catching the old man, and one of the brothers getting the carpenter’s wheelchair.

Dakota gently sat the carpenter into the chair. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully, with an angelic look on his face.

All four watchers then turned to the final painting. It’s dark lines geometric shapes definitely represented a city. But what city, and why? At certain intersections of the shapes were large blots of paint that contrasted to the rest of the colors. It all seemed random but with a certain familiarity.

As the four watchers stood arguing about what city the painting represented and what it meant they heard a voice behind them, “My boys…” the carpenter said softly.

They turned to face him.

“This is never easy, the passing of one to another. It is time for me to join those before me and for you to find the next carpenter. The map is Mecca. Look for the crossword puzzles, they will lead you to the truth.”

With that he closed his eyes one last time and the Watchers had their mission.

Since so many arguments today are split between two sides, the Left and the Right, I will frame this thought from that perspective, though I don’t necessarily feel I am simply one or the other (as I feel is a commonality with most Americans).

To see the dichotomy of the failure of the news media to help frame a national debate over the past month has been frustrating. We started the month of September with “national outrage” at entertainers choosing to kneel (or sit) for the national anthem at the beginning of sporting events. I use the word “entertainers” because I feel that collectively we have lost the idea that players on a professional team are just that… entertainers. Modern versions of Roman gladiators…. but that’s a whole other topic!

We ended September with the horrific act in Las Vegas. The mass shooting that would cause the loss of life of nearly 60 innocent people and injured nearly 600 others. This event is mind boggling, and nearly a week later, we still struggle to find reason for the madness as all levels of law enforcement and those in the national media search for the reason why.

So where am I going with this…? Well when we had NFL players kneeling for the national anthem it was interesting to watch the media split… right leaning sources screamed that these people were “unpatriotic” and should be disciplined for this, while left leaning sources praised the responsible non-violent exercise of these player’s First Amendment rights.

In the wake of the tragedy in Las Vegas, left leaning media clamors for restrictions on gun ownership while the media on the right seems to take a position that this tragedy was unavoidable, laws are not the problem, people are.

So where is the truth in our great land? The Constitution is clear (at least to me). The professional athletic entertainers were likely not covered under the First Amendment. The First Amendment reads:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances”

I am no Constitutional scholar, but it would seem that the NFL, or any business, could establish a policy of how to react during the National Anthem while at work, or perhaps a policy of political protests while at work. This is not Congress prohibiting free speech in any way. The outrage of the fans in this regard was similarly ridiculous. Have you ever been to a professional sporting event? Yeah, most in the stands will stand, but those nearly anywhere else in the stadium simply go about their business. Don’t even get me started about those at home… while I’ve seen dubious claims on social media, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anyone, stop and stand in silence when the National Anthem plays on television.

VERDICT: Fans and media on both sides – get over it. You fund the actions of those on the field with purchase of tickets, paraphernalia, food at stadiums, etc. As long as the NFL (or NBA, NHL, etc…) does not take a firm stance on the issue, then the players can do what ever they want.

Now to the Las Vegas event. Nothing can take away the horror and the insanity that happened that fateful night. As always, Americans shined in crisis and the individual acts of heroism were simply amazing.

As always happens in these events, there is always quick ignition of the gun control debate. The question lingers, what is the responsible thing to do with regard to firearms? Have we, as a country, done enough… or is there something else we should be doing on the moral and ethical side of this debate?

Again, I go to the Constitution:

“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of the free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

There has been endless debate on the wording of this. Ideas like “well regulated militia” means that gun owners are simply those on active duty, or “security of the free state” means that this is limited to the National Guard, finally the word “people” is cumulative, not individuals. A great breakdown of all of this can be found here: http://www.guncite.com/gc2ndpur.html

My opinion is that our Founding Fathers never “granted” the right of the individual to own weapons as this was never in question, They simply codified this right to keep the Federal Government from deciding that individuals didn’t need firearms for their protection. If we know anything from the Bill of Rights it is that it was to limit the Federal Government from oppressing the individual citizen, and this falls in line with gun control. I also feel that the intent was to keep the Federal Government in check, which is why there was an initial limit of what our standing Army looked like, so that the Federal Army could not be used against the citizenry.

Now, does this mean that as citizens we need access to everything in the military arsenal… artillery, tanks, mortars? While I would say no, I don’t think that agrees with the intent of the 2nd Amendment. I think that the idea of the 2nd Amendment was to ensure that the individual citizens could absolutely protect their homes and communities against evil and tyranny, both internal and external.

Does the government have the right to limit what people should have access to? I think that, within reason, this is true, we have not seen a whole lot of “reason” come from our elected officials. I’m not sure I trust them to decide on things like this, especially in the wake of Las Vegas. Emotional responses are almost never the right way to legislate. To really have a good national discourse on what the PEOPLE want we have to have a bit of time to heal the wounds of this tragedy.

VERDICT: Evil will do evil. We must focus on the individual. Rolling back the right to even own a weapon is not the answer. It hasn’t helped DUI deaths, drug deaths, or gun deaths in places like Chicago. When we focus on the instrument and not the person, we will change nothing.

In Closing:

We need to remember that WE THE PEOPLE lead this land. These morons that sit in Congress have changed the perspective over time to where we are supposed to believe that we serve them and their opulence. If WE THE PEOPLE want action, WE must act and stop being so damn lazy. Our government was designed for the people to rule through our elected officials. We have trended towards a plutocracy and the time for that is OVER.

It is time for the silent voices out there to get involved. I believe that we have a President who understands the will of the people and is willing to act on the will of the people. What version of “the people” are we willing to have the greatest voice?

Your move America.