*SONG* “The Flame” by Eric Carmen
****this was Valaint’s song of choice for this post, but it cannot be found anywhere online...curiously! If anyone can locate it, or the lyrics….please feel free to add it in a new comment! Thanks so much.

The hours call…The box opens
And the Circle of Light is there…

He’s there at once, tall, strong, fearless and
Proud…the noble giant Brishan. A simple smile
On his face. She’s there too beside him, regal,
Beautiful and amazing. Ceres is definitely taking
The lead.

“I realize it’s difficult,” she says with those

Fiery ice blue sparkling eyes of hers. “But
It’s time now. It’s time to remember. Just
Let it flow and it will be fine.”

The pen is hesitating.

“I wish I could tell you,” Ceres said slowly.
“I wish I could tell you it’s not true…
But you know that answer. Remember they
Asked for this…But they do NOT get to
Tell us what to do.”

“I know.” I answered her.

“Will they understand yet?” Brishan asked her
Sternly.

“That’s a mischievous question.” Ceres laughed,
Eyeing him with a slight tilt to her head
Before she looked at him. “To who are you
Referring?”

Brishan only smirked.

“Write it.” Ceres said. “Don’t hold back at all.
Just do it and see the answers. Don’t worry.
It will get easier. Go on…when you’re done
I will have something to tell you.”

“Okay.” I said.

Proceeding with the countdown…

The Fog, the recall…2012…a time apart,
Trapped within the dreams again.
The night came…another call…only this time
It was the men in black.

The dreams are scattered, they’re never
Consistent. One night you’re dreaming of doing
Laundry and the next…you’re sitting in
Some waiting room in your pajamas with
Familiar looking people looking at you like
They know you. They’ve been in your dreams
Countless times before, each time like an
Adventure…but it doesn’t make sense. There’s
Always a lot of mystery about it, so
When you wake up you write it down if
You can or you analyze it over and over
Again to make sense of it.

You ask your friends about it, they say
Wow that’s cool or interesting. But all they
Ever have to say it they’re having sex with
Movie stars in their dreams while you’re
Having weird discussions with familiar
Strangers in yours. Whatever.

The haze and dim recall of a brightly
Lit room, off white or gray…it’s too bright, so
Bright it’s blinding for a dream. I’m sitting
At a large table in a barren looking room
With one wall of mirrors to the left…7 of us…
There’s this huge black guy beside me on
The right, he’s always beside me on my
Right it seems; a few times on the left.
There’s the beautiful blond with short hair,
The Native American guy with long hair…
A smaller slim guy with brown hair and a
Goatee…Jason? He looks different with the
Facial hair…Another guy I barely remember,
Hispanic? A girl with dark hair, Kathy?

The blond is staring at me, she is sharp
And quick. “You changed your hair,” she
Says studying me. “You always look so
Different! I like it.”

“You’ve changed a lot,” the big guy Joe says.
“I always have to look twice at you.”

“What is it this time?” The Native American
Jacob asks. “Where are we?”

The blond Julie looks around. “This is not
Normal, it doesn’t feel right. I saw men
In black uniforms or fatigues at the door,
I swear a minute ago. Military? It feels
Like we’re underground.”

Her mind was so sharp! “Oh my God you’re
Quick. You’re right,” I said, “I saw them
Too. And it does feel weird here.”

Jacob is studying the room, looking around.
“This doesn’t feel right at all.”

“Man another one of those crazy ass dreams,”
Joe says holding his head, “Why do I have
To eat junk before bed, this always happens.”

“Your birthday…” Kathy, the dark haired
Girl says staring at me.

“Huh?” I asked.

“Your birthday is this month,” she says,
“February…right?”

“How do you remember that?” I asked
Looking at her with shock. “How do you
Always remember so much?”

“I just do.” She says in a daze.

“This is wrong.” Jacob says scowling.
“This, being here, does not feel right
At all.”

“The others,” Julie says confused, “Where
Are all the others?”

“Gone.” Kathy answers…numb.

“What?” Julie asks.

“They’re all gone.” Kathy says looking at
Everyone. “Don’t you remember? They’re all gone.”

Silence…As the memories very slowly
Sink in. It’s another world, another
Life…trapped in dreams, held suspended
In scattered nights over the years…that
Make no sense…but mean more than
Anything that happens when you’re awake.

The door to the room opens, men in black
Fatigues file in, soldiers. There’s one older
Tough looking black man with a mustache
And thin beard. He points, “Alright ladies
And gentlemen…come with me…” The soldiers
Surround the table, then we get up and
Are led down a blinding white empty
Hallway…to this large dark room at the
End. The room is full of computer screens,
More soldiers, all at various desks and
Stations monitoring their individual screens
Closely; they barely glance away from
Their duties. These men are not easily
Distracted, it’s like they don’t care, they
Barely have expressions.

The lead soldier with the mustache leads the
Line of us across the wide room to
This huge table. The top of the table is
Lit like a computer displaying some
Sort of giant map. There are more
Officers at the table, in different uniforms
All in black…Some of the men are in
Black suits, they’re pale and creepy looking.
And there are a few others in more dress
Down type suits, civilian-like…different
Colors like gray or tan, more normal looking.
They’re all watching us closely with beady
Eyes, and they look really worried, panicked
Almost…sweating.

There’s one man with a white shirt and tie,
He must have taken his jacket off. He has
Dark rimmed plastic glasses…clean shaven,
Kind of slim, smaller, shorter than the
Others…He looks older, they all do…late
40s…50s? Only the more subordinate
Soldiers are younger, 20s…and they
Never speak at all. In fact the room is
Oddly quiet despite the very obvious
Tension in the air. What is this?
The man with glasses has a scowl,
Cold face. He’s leaning on the table with
Both hands for support, then gestures
Quickly for us to come over. He’s clearly
The one in charge of this…whatever
It is. But the other men in suits, much
Older, don’t look happy at all to see us…
No they don’t like this at all.

“Come over here, look at this.” The man
With the glasses says pointing to us, to me,
Then pointing, pushing his index finger on
The table. He studies our faces closely.
“Do you know what this is?”

I’m the closest to him, I look at his
Stern face, then at the older men, then
Back to the rest of us. I look at the table
Then to him. “A map?”

He was not amused. “We know who you
Are…I know what happened to you.” He
Says sharply, pointing at me. “Don’t play
Games. I want you to help us fix this.”

Don’t play games with him? HA! I
Look back to the others. Jacob’s eyes
Tell me…Do NOT tell him anything!
I turn calmly to the man. “I have
No idea what you’re talking about.”

The man points to me, to us. “You’re
Going to help us fix this, do you hear me?”
He’s trying to be polite, but it’s sounding
Nasty. “Yes, you are.”

Oh really? I look at the others as they
Stand around the table to stare at the
Map. Julie stands the farthest away, she
Doesn’t want to look at it, or know.

“Do you see this?” He asks, gesturing at
The green…It’s a digital map of the world,
With odd graphics…blotches everywhere
In different colors…but he’s talking about
The green…He touches some flat digitized
Button…and the map begins to change…
The colors and proportions shrink and grow…
The green especially… “It’s the population.”

“Okay.” I said. No one else says
Anything.

He’s losing patience fast. Did he have any?
He looks much friendlier than anyone
Else in the room though; not that it’s
Saying much. “8.65 billion people…
Think about that number carefully…
That’s how many are gone…” He means
After the cataclysmic events…

“I have no idea what you want me to do?”
I say.

“That’s awful!” Julie says.

“What happened?” Jacob asks.

The man looks sharply at everyone. “You…
Are going to help us fix this.”

“Us?” Jacob answers. “What are talking
About?”

“What does this have to do with us?”
Joe scowls. “What is going on? Who are
You people?”

“DON’T.” The man points to me. “DON’T.
DON’T play games. Tell us how to fix this
Now!”

We look at each other. Is he for real?
What the heck is this? Walk us into a
Room, show us a computer map of the
World…throw a number at us, and give us
An order? Barely a chance to think!

“I have no idea what you’re talking about
Or what this is.” I tell him.

“Yes you do!” The man snaps. “Now
Help us…NOW.”

Is this a joke? “Help you how?”

“Tell me how to fix this!” The man begs,
Yells…orders.

“What do I know? How could I?”
I answer.

“I know what happened to you.” The man
Points fiercely.

“You do? What’s that?” I answer.

He points to my head. “THAT!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking
About.”

“You’re going to tell me…everything.” He
Says.

Oh I am, am I? “Tell you what?” The
Others were clearly impressed how I talked
To him, they were getting more nervous by
The second.

“Tell me what that is?” The man points,
He looks desperate and wild; good. “How
Does it work?”

“I’m sorry I don’t know what you mean.”

He’s getting angry. “How do you make it
Work?” He asks.

“What?”

“What’s in your head!” The man nearly
Yells. “What he, it, put there! How does
It work?”

IT? Get serious! “In my head? I
Have no idea what you mean.”

He was mad now. “Oh you are going to
Help us fix this…”

Really? How’s that STUPID? I said nothing.

“Tell me.” He says.

“Tell you what?” I said dumbly.

“Let us give you something to think about.”
One of the old grumpy men in suits said
Coldly as he nodded to one of the soldiers.
Immediately a group of the boys in
Black fatigues escorted Joe out of
The room.

“What are you doing?” Joe protested.

“What are you doing to him?” Jacob
Quickly said.

I was instantly in a state of rage, panic…

The miserable old suit nodded… “Take
Them back to their room and let them
Think about it a while.”

The boys in black fatigues quickly
Muscled us back to the cold white room
With the mirrors to give us our time
To give in to the masters orders.

Once alone… “What are they doing? What
Is this? What did they do to him?” Julie asked
Nervously; she was never nervous.

“I don’t know.” Jacob said wide-eyed
And very nervously.

It wasn’t long before they brought Joe
Back…he look scared to death, bruised…

“What did they do to you?” Julie asked.

Joe hesitated, confused, terrified, eyeing
Everyone… “I think, I think they gave
Me a shot?” He shook and held his gut.

“What?” I yelled.

“What is going on?” Julie was freaking out.
“They hit you?”

Joe looked pale. “I tried to fight them, but
They held me down and gave me some kind of
Shot…a long needle into my gut.”

“What the hell are they doing?” Jacob yelled,
Then turned to me. “Did you see that
Table, the map? Did you get a good look?”

“Yes.” I could only say. Everyone was
Terrified.

“What was it,” Joe asked confused, “what
Was it of?”

“I couldn’t look at it,” Julie said, holding
Her arms, “I didn’t want to know. I
Couldn’t…”

My mind was racing, I looked around and
I didn’t see her. “Where’s Kathy, that
Other girl?”

“What other girl?” Jacob asked as he
Stood right in front of me.

“She was right there…” I said confused.
“She was right here before…”

“Bill…” Julie said confused now. “She’s gone…”

“What?” I asked. “What are you
Talking about, she was just here…”

“Bill, look at me,” Jacob said as he
Stood firmly right in front of me. “The table…
Did you see it?”

“Yes.”

“Did you see what I saw?” Jacob asked.
He knew, he knew what I did. I saw
His face when we saw the numbers and
Graphs…the clock. He was in shock.

“They are listening to everything we say
You know!” Julie shook holding herself.
“I hate this. Why is this happening?”

I hesitated and only looked at Jacob
Numbly…he knew, he knew…but
They didn’t, not yet.

“What the hell do they want? Who are
They?” Joe cried. “What do they want us for?”

“Why are they asking us?” Julie cried,
Growing hysterical.

“Because they don’t know anything.” Jacob
Said bitterly. “that’s why they’re asking us.
If they knew, they wouldn’t be asking us.
Did you see how panicked they were?” He
Said to everyone in the room. “Did you see
Them sweat? Did you see how desperate
They were? They don’t know…They’re
Scared…”

“Of what?” Julie cried. “Of what?”

“Bill…” Jacob said, taking a step closer
To me, his face like some angry carved
Rock. “You saw what I did, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

Julie, Joe and Jason watched and listened
Wild-eyed with panic…they didn’t know…
They were terrified…and the other
Guy, the new one, was quiet and only watched
And listened, scared to death.

“What is going on?” Julie demanded.

I felt like a cold piece of steel…Nothing
To feel, I couldn’t move…I could not
Believe it…but the facts were right
There, there was no denying it.

“Bill, tell me what you saw.” Jacob
Insisted.

There was a minute of awful silence.
I looked down, up, around, away…I
Saw Julie’s face…her blue eyes were
Shaking. Joe was holding his stomach,
He was getting sick…Whatever they injected
Him with was already starting. Jason
Looked like a frightened rabbit…I was numb…
Yet somewhere deep inside me a bomb
Was going off.

“Bill??” Jacob said again.

There was no sugar coating it. “The
Planet’s moving…It’s been slowly starting
To move…the pole shift.” I said.

“Oh my God.” Julie’s face went white
With horror.

“They have projections,” I told them
Slowly, but it felt like my voice was
Far away…everything felt like echoes.
“The poles will shift…and then it
Will begin…”

“What will begin?” Joe asked.

I held out my hand to gesture. “Think
About it…The poles will shift? There
Are a whole bunch of nuclear reactors
Across the planet, power plants…They
Will all go off. The colliders, their
Sub atomic research? The sub atomic
Particles will destabilize all at the same
Time…causing a series of quantum
Singularities at once…”

Everyone in the room froze…There
Were no words…Fear? It was beyond
That.

“All at the same time…” I said so
Numbly. “Can you imagine that many
Nuclear explosions? A series of quantum
Singularities, not one…but a bunch? All
At the same time? The pole shift will
Cause it…They can’t stop it. It isn’t
Just the end of the Earth…That many
Quantum singularities happening at
The same time…it will rip apart the
Universe. It’s not just the end of Earth,
It’s the end…of everything.”

“That’s why the Mayan calendar stopped.”
Jacob seemed to moan.

“How could they do this?” Julie asked
With horror.

“Because they’re stupid, that’s why.” I said.

“What the hell are we supposed
To do about that?” Joe snapped.
“What’s wrong with these people?”

Jacob’s eyes were so wide they looked like
They would pop as he never took them,
Away from mine. “That’s why they
Watch us, always watch us…That light
In your head…”

Julie scowled. “What about it? What
Can it do? It can’t do anything
About something like this…can it?”

I looked at her, feeling like a rock…
“I’ve never opened it, I don’t know…”

She stepped closer. “Could it? It couldn’t
Possibly…could it?”

Jacob grabbed his head and paced
Around the room. “Oh my God.”

“I don’t know.” I could only say.

“So everything…it’s over?” Joe cried.
“I don’t want to die.”

Slow responses…A lot of silence…
“This is all I’ve ever had.” Jason
Cried sitting at the table holding his
Head…

“I don’t understand,” I said shaking
My head and looking around… “There were
7 of us…If Jennifer and John had
Been here…And Kathy…Why? I
Don’t understand…She was here…”

“All those legends.” Jacob moaned, then
Froze and turned to me. “For this. They
Did this…with their stupid sciences…”

“I thought we were supposed to find
Each other?” Jason cried. “Wasn’t this
For a reason?” He begged me. “Can’t
You…try…something? Can you? Are
They right, can it work?”

“What for?” Jacob asked angrily.
“It was foretold…They saw the
End a long time ago…Prophecies…”

“But they want to fix it?” Jason
Kept crying.

“You people are nuts!” The new guy
Shouted backing away.

Joe exploded and leapt at the new guy,
Pinning him to the wall. “Who are you?
One of their freak spies here to screw
With us? I’ve never seen you before!
I don’t know you!” He screamed in his
Face. “What did you do to me? What
Are you doing to us?”

I went to Joe’s side, Jacob on the other.
“He’s just some kid, he doesn’t know!”
Jacob yelled. “Look at him, he’s scared to
Death just like we are.”

“They probably just stuck him in here
Hoping to make something happen.”
Julie said.

“Can you” Jason begged me, really
Crying. “Can you do something? They
Wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t possible
To save us?”

“They don’t want to save anyone!” Julie
Shouted. “They want to save themselves,
Their little game world, with all their
Bullshit politics and wargames…slaves
For their big money making machine,
That’s all they care about! They don’t
Care about people. If they did they wouldn’t
Have created this awful hell in the
First place! They don’t care about anything
But themselves!”

“But can it?” Jason begged. “Could it
Do something?”

“I don’t know.” I said. “I don’t know
What it can do!” I held my head. “I
Don’t know, it just happens, it
Just takes over…sometimes it opens,
And it just takes over! I can’t
Control it!”

“But can you try?” Jason kept crying.

“It’s just what they want,” Julie said
Angrily, “Just so they can screw it up all
Over again! All for their big game. The
Hell with them…it could kill
You…”

“What are the options?” I laughed.

“They wouldn’t have put it in your head
If it could kill you.” Jason said, then
Looked to everyone. “Would they?”

“The question is…should you?” Jacob
Reasoned. “We are all connected to this…
Should we?”

“I cannot believe you would say that.” Julie
Argued. “It’s about them getting
What they want…That’s all we are
Is some stupid experiment…for them
To get their way. Can’t you see that?”

“They’ve been trying to get me to open
It for years,” I told them, “Since day
One…They know I’m fighting it…They know.”

“What if they’re just playing another game?”
Julie reasoned looking to everyone, then to
Me… “Don’t do it…for all we know it’s
Another trick.”

“I don’t know.” Jacob replied. “You
Saw the table…that looked pretty real. And
They looked really scared. They were
Sweating.”

“They have some kind of time machine.” I
Said. “They’re doing something with it.”

“More screwing around is what they’re doing!”
Julie said. “Don’t do it.”

Joe held his stomach and sat down.
“Man I feel sick.”

The door opened…the soldier boys came
In… “Ok, time’s up.” The chief in charge
Said coldly. “You,” he pointed to me,
“Come with us…then…everyone is going
To get a little encouragement.”

Everyone froze, we eyed each other. My God,
What now? Our eyes met. Everyone was
Panicked. So I went with them…

“What are you going to do?” Jacob asked
Nervously.

I looked at Joe, he was terrified and sick
With pain. I was furious. “We’re out of
Options, what do you think?”

“The legends…” Jacob said.

“I don’t care about any legends anymore.”
Was the last thing I got to say then, and
I went with the soldiers.

Back to the briefing room with the
Big table and the Men in Black, the
Old men in suits and the little guy
With the glasses.

“Well?” Mr. Glasses asked impatiently.

“I don’t know how to open it.” I said.

“Figure it out.” He said fast.

There was a girl’s voice whispering in my
Ear…’Put it on a public message
Board…Trust me…only answer them that
Way.’

I hesitated for a moment but grabbed
At the mysterious words. “If I tell you
Anything. If I can do anything I will
Tell you on a public message board…
I can’t force it…It will NOT work for
You…It knows…But…I will try.”

“Try?” Mr. Glasses laughed. “A public
Message board?”

“We have people all over the internet
Monitoring everything.” The old bald man
In a gray suit said. “It won’t go far.”

“You will try?” Mr. Glasses seemed
Convinced; I was being honest though.

“Yes. I will. I will try. I don’t know if
I can…I don’t know what it can do…
If it can do anything at all…But
I will. I will.”

“Alright then.” Mr. Glasses said. “Take
Him home.”

“You won’t hurt them?” I asked.

“That depends on you, doesn’t it?” He said.
“Try hard…”

They took me home…I woke up with a
Sick headache…

The world inside crumbled and I
Broke…reality and dreams lost all
Laws of reason then…

Anyone who’s ever read these posts
Knows there’s more to these posts
Than just words…

Dear Mr. Spaceman…oh how long it’s
Been…Dear Mr. Secret Agent man,
You’ve watched and studied me for
A long time…It’s time to pay.

The Circle of Light…Meet your
Avid readers…These words were always
Written for the Men in Black…
Everyone else has always been just
Intended eavesdroppers that’s all.

“For some time now they have been
Allowed to get familiar with us.” Ceres
Said.

“That was our plan.” Brishan said.
“Never theirs.”

A pause to collect the facts.
“Did they ever know the full extent
Of the potential damage they
Would have caused?” I asked the
Watchers.

“To some extent.” Brishan said.

“No, they did not.” Ceres snapped fast.
“The idiots never knew the wide scale
Damage they could have caused…All
Their fake allied friends to come to fix
It…While the good forces stayed
Away in panic…Let us put it simply
Now, since words are over-analyzed
To the point that it’s ridiculous…

“If anyone questions anything…Ask
Them these simple questions.
What effect would a pole shift have
On numerous nuclear reactors across
A planet? What effect then
Would those nuclear reactors
Have on atomic experiments…on
Various secret sub atomic particle
Experiments across a planet? If
They laugh and say nothing, they
Are clueless…

“This has never been just about the Earth,
There are thousands of worlds out
There…

“What is so wrong with appreciating
Simple things in life? The animals?
Nature? A family…your friends?
Simple good things in life? No they
Would rather waste time arguing
Meaningless political distractions
Because everyone is an expert on
Everything…A series of radically
De-stabilized sub atomic particles
Could create a series of devastating
Black holes…but that’s a theoretic
Fear-mongering impossibility! Is it?
Perhaps sending them back
To your very first posts…then ask
If they don’t get a little bit scared?
There are things to think about…”

“I never wanted it this way.” I
Told them. “I just didn’t want to
Lose them. It’s not about being special.”

“I know. I know.” Ceres said…
“It will get easier for you I promise.”

“I told them in the beginning it was
Not a solution,” I said,
“Just a band aid…There are still
Things to be done…”

“That was to temper a rabid unstable
Disaster,” Ceres said… “The stories
Are to help the people…The solutions
Come in different ways…We can help
You with the stories to teach the people…
Stories are the only way people learn…
So that when the big changes
Come…Everyone who has ever read
Them will take on the role then
As a helper…telling them and sharing
Them like teachers when all other
Lights go out…and they will…
That’s the gift for the right ones…
It’s the only way to learn and
Grow…”

“One last thing,” Brishan said kindly.

“Yes?”

“If I were you…I would start making
A BIG wish list to show me…
Because I would like to see it. Don’t
Listen to anyone else please.”

Valiant

PS: More big stories to come in future posts.