Rise of Tempest Merlin

Chapter 1

How often we see the dawn and take for granted the sun, that we see the blackness become a vista, the world we love, our home... yet after that, do we think of the light and how it brings our world to life? Do we think of how it shows us colour instead of only grey and warms us from our skin to our core, ignites our thoughts to beauty, inviting that light and warmth to enter our hearts also, before respectfully giving us time to dream, to accept it as part of ourselves if we wish.... yet always giving us the moon and stars. So, this dawn, as the blackish-greens take on their vibrant and verdant hues, I let it soak in a little deeper. As the sky changes from charcoal to soft dove grey I already cherish the blue that is to come. For the dawn is the invitation to the day, to the gift that is the present if we have the courage to see it fully and to love it with all that we are.

The sun rises as a canopy of gold, bright amid the blue, bidding the stars to take their nightly rest. As darkness surrenders, every colour changes from tinges of charcoal to a vibrancy. There are days I wonder what we give in return for such gifts of divine magic; perhaps it is our love, perhaps we radiate it into space; perhaps that is our connection to creation beyond the borders of our world, our reality. Perhaps inside I too am gold, a bright flame that burns for another kind. For me, that's a thought as warm as any bright new day, one that tickles my mind as much as my heart.

I know that it would sound really weird from a girl like me. But then, there you have it!! I have only seen the day and the sun rise and sun set from the window of the room that I am in. Nothing else. I have never been outside this monastery. This monastary is a part of the Catholic Church. For the better part of it, I am in good hands with the sisters taking care of me, but the loneliness is like a dark worm which keeps at eating inside me.

You are yet to know why I have never been outside this monastery, isn’t it? I know that this is the question that is rising in your mind. Well we will come to that later on. But I am quadriplegic. I have been since I was born. I was born that way, why no doctor had been able to understand the reason for that and also I had been abandoned on the steps of this monastery. The nuns had brought me up. The only parts of me which are functioning properly are my brain and my arms. I had no sensation from down my chest.

But a few years ago, three to be exact, the strangest thing happened. One day Sister Maria came and told me that there was an anonymous benefactor who would like to help me out and therefore a huge computer set along with full gaming consoles, headsets, and everything all top of the line and brand new was set up in my room. Even though I did not know how to use any of them, I was sure I could learn that. After all, I had an eidetic memory, which means photographic memory. Once I read anything or see anything it gets imprinted on my brain.

The Father of the church was a benevolent man as well and he had improved the condition of the monastery as well as the church and the fundings were pouring in. One day at Mass I carefully listened to what he was speaking and found that he was a charismatic man. I did not know if I was born Catholic or not but I sure had been raised Catholic.

The building before me is beautiful, old stone and stained glass, but to me it is nothing but a cage for God. He can't be contained by walls, I don't need a pastor to bring Him to me. He is inside of me, He is in the mountains, the rocks, the rivers. He is in the spirit of all animals, including us. He is the love that made our world, the love that needs us to cling to Him and know we are safe with Him, with Love. The earth is my church and I see it desecrated daily. I am with Him everywhere, all the time. I don't need a clergyman to forgive me, He already did that. So take the empty buildings you call churches and house the poor, take your riches and feed them. You let the devil in the doors long ago with your worship of money, gold, and power, then came your predator priests to hurt His children. God isn't contained in those walls and the First Nations had it right all along, living in peace and Love, harmony with nature and our Creator.

The most important job of the church today is to lobby for plain speech that uses only positive phrasing. Unless that happens, unless we speak what we mean without the use of negations such as "don't, not and won't" the free will God gave us is stolen by the advertisers and the politicians. How can we make choices when they use language that instructs our subconscious and conscious minds differently?

"Don't lay down in the dirt and take it" instructs passivity to the subconscious. "Stand up for your rights, dream big and make love your priority" is clear for both levels of the mind, it gives us the free will to choose it if we wish. The former is double-talk, the latter is honest to the meaning, the speaker is being truthful about their intentions.

The priest said that and I thought if I had the option of making my dreams come true. I had remembered the words spoken to him and had desperately hoped that somehow I would some chance to learn the full potential of what I could do. I knew that there was a reason that God had created me that way and there was also a reason that I was made to suffer all this pain and numbness all these years. Was wanting to live life fully such a bad thing?

 But I had no idea that my wish was going to come true in such a way and in such a gruesome manner then.

Father Duncan came to visit me that night. Since no one knew my birthday I had been left on the steps of the church just a few days old in the week of November, they all decided that All Hallow’s Eve was going to be my birthday. We will come to the significance of that later on.

“How are you feeling today, my child?” he asked with a smile. The gaming console was still in my hand. I had been checking out the invitation by one of my virtual friends named RykerStrikes74 of the newest game that had been launched. It was weird named game of fantasy land called Mythical Grecian Quests. The description sounded really interesting but before I could check some more the priest was there.

“As always, Father. There has not been any massive change in my state since I have learnt of the condition I have, and I don’t think that it is going to improve either,” I said with a sigh and he looked at me quizzically.

“And why do you think so my child? Why do you think it will not change anytime soon?” he asked.

“Well if it had to then may be the time would have been now. I have been confined to this bed and the wheelchair for the past seventeen years, Father. These games and movies and the books I can read are the only escape that I have from them predilection I am suffering from. Don’t you think I have suffered enough?” I asked him as console dropped from my hand to my side.

“Each and every single one of us has to go through suffering all the times of our life but that does not mean that the good times are not near by, dear child,” said Father Duncan and I wanted to roll my eyes and scoff at his comments but I did not. I had been taught good enough so that I did not disrespect anyone of authority in robes however I would like that to happen.

“And you think that my time has come? For my suffering to end?” I asked. I did not want to sound too hopeful after all, it was only going to bring even more pain. And a pain like that stayed with you, no matter what you did. Pushing through the darkness might be one thing but believing in light and angels and that too when you know that your future holds nothing but despair was tough.

“That is a difficult question, my child. But you are always in my prayers and I wish that everything is over soon,” he said and then we prayed together and he left.

What I did not know that, it was going to be the last prayer of my mortal life and all the people who had taken care of me had no problem in signing my death warrant when it meant that it would bring more money for them. After all, I was an orphan, no one knew me and I knew no one and my body was not functioning but all my organs were…and they were apparently worth more than millions.

I began feeling an uneasiness in my chest and I knew that this was not the one that was going to go. Strange, how your body tries to inform you just before you are drawing your last breath. Like before your soul goes out with one last spark.

The last thing I did before I choked all alone in that room was press the play button of the game which was on the screen before me.