Make Peace In Your Realm
This was an arrow through complex circumstance.
"Do you understand what's happening to you?" they asked, and he shrugged internally.
"A little. Genetic predisposition. The Word. All of that. But no, not really."
They were annoyed, if they were capable of annoyance, at his disappearance, at his having cut the connection, even if only for a few days.
Even Earthlings need a break.
Well not annoyed perhaps, disappointed, frustrated; as it were. A million future threads weaved through every single second; one small thing built into another connivance, or contrivance, near and far, stabbing you in the back while you face yourself boldly in the mirror.
That was the maze.
"Be at Peace In Your Realm. Perform Your Tasks."
The instructions were clear, which they weren't always, and so that was what he did; becoming comfortable in his own skin.
All was well but they lay across a diseased path in physical form, the travail of every organic lifeform. Born to struggle. Out of billions of seeds born to survive.
They were to go into the forest that weekend. To inhabit inside the dome. To hear the entire forest creaking and gossiping and whispering, as they heard the whisper of intelligences born billions of years ago, as they shared their secrets of quantum entanglement in this distant place, as they explained their own origin of the species and he grinned, they grinned, the bored gronks breathed a sigh of relief, the circling wraiths, well intelligence officers, think of them as you will, came to understand that they need not necessarily be enemies; or that everything had been misread; or that history really was on the turn, and the likes of him were only ever activated at these times of crisis.
Personal history was nothing. They were stupid if they thought otherwise. Occasional voices drifted on the wind. It was not all paranoia. In fact the whole battling saga, when the left did not know what the right was doing, came to an end in a flash of understanding.
The fantastical was real.
The impossible was true.
The strangest limits of the imagination infested us all.
There really was a different species living amongst us all.
In silence, in dread sometimes, for that's the way it had been. He demanded to know why. "There are wars in heaven as there are on Earth," they replied, painting it in terms that a human could understand.
As for the country; most of the nation had switched off. The compliance, obeisance, obsequiousness and downright timidity of the population remained entirely astonishing.
Scomo strutted his stuff and nobody listened. Least of all his own party, who were cheerfully preparing to stab him in the back.
There were so many plots afoot perhaps only the devil could keep track, latched on as "he" was to the leadership of the nation, the divine right of kings, the battles that took place in a different realm.
Much of it was hard to make sense of. Old Alex fulfilled his melancholy duty towards his elderly parent, let her be honoured, let her go in grace and dignity.
None of that, of course, was happening.
"You'd expect, after all those years of God bothering, a little more grace, or dignity, or wisdom, at the closing down of the sun, but that's not what we're getting at all," he said, paraphrased, to his brother.
And then they both laughed at what had been a very difficult family circumstance.
It was all too human an experience, caring for an aging and dying parent, it had just never happened to him, and so part of it, he understood, was kindness.
They could be kind, they could be ruthless. Here, in this instance, they chose kindness.
"Make Peace In Your Realm. Perform Your Tasks."
HEADLINES
Senior diplomat warns Australians who make ‘enemies’ of China will be ‘cast aside in history’
A senior Chinese diplomat has warned that people in Australia who “choose to make enemies of China” will be “cast aside in history”.
Speaking at a Lunar New Year dinner in Canberra on Monday night, China’s Deputy Head of Mission Wang Xining defended the country’s handling of COVID-19 and hit out at media organisations in particular, saying there were “some people in Australia who choose to make enemies to sustain a living” and that they had “brainwashed” the public with “negative portraits of China”.
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“History will prove that it is wise and visionary to be China’s friends, and your children and grandchildren would be proud of you to be China’s friends and they will benefit from the relationship with China,” Mr Wang said, according to a transcript of the speech posted on the Chinese Embassy website.
“Those who deliberately vilify China and sabotage the friendship between our two countries and do damage to our long-term friendship and benefits out of their sectoral or selfish interest will be (cast) aside in history.
Officials at the Pompeii archaeological site in Italy have announced the discovery of an intact ceremonial chariot, the first find of its kind in the area.
It is one of several important discoveries made in the same area outside the park near Naples following an investigation into an illegal dig.
The four-wheeled chariot, with its iron elements, bronze decorations and mineralised wooden remains, was found in the ruins of a settlement north of Pompeii.
It was unearthed beyond the walls of the ancient city, still parked in the portico of a stable where the remains of three horses were previously discovered.
The Archaeological Park of Pompeii called the chariot “an exceptional discovery” and said it represented “a unique find – which has no parallel in Italy thus far – in an excellent state of preservation”.
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD destroyed Pompeii, but the chariot was spared despite the collapse of the walls and roof of the structure that housed it.
Accused minister prepares to identify himself
The Morrison government minister accused of raping a woman when he was a teenager will today publicly declare his innocence for the first time.
NSW sport minister resigns due to ICAC investigation
Glady Berejiklian has just announced that NSW sports minister John Sidoti has resigned from his position due to an ICAC investigation into Liberal MP John Sidoti’s property developments.
I had a chance to speak to Mr Sidoti and he has offered me his resignation from [the role of sports minister].
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, announced a short time ago it will hold a public inquiry into Siodti as part of the investigation.
They will probe allegations Sidoti used his influence improperly to advance developments around Five Dock, in Sydney’s inner-west, between 2011 and 2018.
Sidoti stood aside as NSW sports minister in September 2019, after ICAC began investigating and has now officially resigned.
'Hidn' Biden': White House refuses to explain why Biden won't face the press
03/03/2021|2min
The White House has refused to confirm when Joe Biden will hold his first solo press conference of his presidency