A little esoteric fun as we delve into consciousness and see what
surfaces. Where is MRI when you want it?

~ ~ ~

"Another Tale of the Dragon, the Final Saga,"
Or:
"Dinosaurs Have Been Extinct for 65 Million Years!"

The bone chilling scream split the warm summer night in two. I was
sipping

My fourth cup when I heard it. I slid off the seat and onto my feet,
the
cool handle already in my hand.

"Damn!" I thought, "Here it comes!"

Slipping out the door I could feel the eyes of the cook on me, she had

Become suspicious after the third cup. The warm night air reached my
nostrils with the subtle odor of the city. There they were! Across
the
street three men

were struggling with my contact, trying to get into a car.

"Hold it!" I yelled, as I dashed behind the car parked in front of
mine.

"Shit, trouble," one of them said, his voice carrying in the air,
"Come
on!"

Quickly the struggle ended as my contact was half dragged, half pushed
into

the back seat of the car, which took off like a shot, tires squealing
and
doors slamming on the move.

It seemed to take ages to get my keys. I had left the door unlocked,
and

With gun in pocket I took off. The taillights were a favorite pattern
of
mine, no trouble to recognize from a distance. They turned a corner
and I
gave them a

good nighttime lead, then stuck on their tail. Traffic wasn't heavy
and I

didn't lose them. My contact told me to expect trouble, and here it
was.
I had brought four full clips and a box of shells for my 9mm. In the
trunk
I had put a

shot gun, just to be on the safe side, for those creeps that play for
keeps.

I'm glad I did, with that came three boxes

of shells and a flare gun, and my cell phone has one button 911!

Up to the water front they went, and stopped next to a big black
sedan. I

stopped behind a car that I hoped was a safe distance away. Good,
they had
taken no notice. Staying low to the ground, I climbed out of my car
and
opened

the trunk. I poured some shells into my pocket and took my shot gun--
I

was ready. Parked trucks giving me cover, I slipped up to them.

Three were eight of them with my contact, two of them had her off to
the

side, and an animated discussion was being pursued. The other six
were at
the far end, with the two cars between them and the hushed talking. I
was
far from

their minds crawling underneath the big rigs. I had my shoulder right
up

against a wall, with a rig right in front of me, and I took a deep
breath.

"I said hold it!" With shot gun at ready, I bellowed, whipping around
the

corner firing two shots over their heads.

There was an appropriate scramble as they were ducking for cover,
while my

contact headed straight for me. Two more shots kept heads down as she
reached me.

"Oh my goodness, that was close," she said to me breathlessly.

"I'm parked right down the street," I hissed to her, "Get Going!"

"OK," she said, and ran crouching down the sidewalk.

"Stay put damn-it," I cried, as one more round roared into the night.
I

followed her, with only one sharp crack in answer behind me.

Both of us in my car, I started it up, slammed it into reverse and
spun it

around, then made tracks. With no lights, I cut two corners and
pulled

into a parking lot, shutting off the engine.

"Get down," I said, and we ducked. Three minutes, five, seven, safe.

"All right," I said after a deep breath. "Here's the trouble you

predicted. What are we going to do next?"

She directed me to a project's steam house. This whole affair was
over a

priceless Egyptian artifact, what we were doing here escaped me, but I

followed her into the building with only the 9mm.

Machinery throbbed around us as we headed for the back of the
building, and

then down some steep metal stairs. At the bottom was a dirt floor.
Overhead, plumbing and machinery surrounded us. In a clear area on the
floor there was a

manhole cover that stated to glow with a faint blue light when we
approached

it. She had been unwrapping a velvet bundle.

"What the Hell is that?" I asked.

"What the Hell indeed." Said a voice above us, as six armed men with
dark

glasses on, broke from the shadows, and

two men came down the stairs. "It seems as if we have found what we
were

looking for."

"Put it on," she whispered to me, as she handed me a gold ring with a
large

scarab on it.

"Yes, put it on," said the man who had been doing the talking, "And
touch

it to middle of that cover."

I put the ring on, and the cover flashed a blinding blue. When the
glow

faded, the cover now had hieroglyphs embossed in it, with a scarab
shaped
depression in the middle. I fitted the ring into the cover, there was
a
click, and

they started to glow red, but there was no heat. As I stood up, I was
frisked and relieved of my 9mm. Meanwhile the cover had started to
unscrew
all by itself.

"Me and you my friend," said the talker to me. To the others he said,

"Lift that lid."

Three of the armed henchmen bent over and seized the cover and
strained to

Lift it. Then suddenly it gave way with a thunder, throwing the lid
over
to one side. Black flames burst out, rising nine feet into the air
before
they cleared.

"Jesus Christ!" I said as I leaped backwards, bumping into hands that
grabbed me.

"Holy Shit!" cried another voice.

"Calm down," said the talker. Then to me, "She has chosen well I see,

you're the perfect man for the job!"

"That ring only works for certain genetic types, you should be proud
of

Your heritage. Your line can be traced to the ancient Egyptians. Now
jump!"

Into the pit I jumped followed by someone that I didn't notice who it
was.

The drop was about 7 feet, the area was made of a cobblestone covered
by a
glowing blue moss, and stretched into the distance with no walls in
sight.
I started running. In front of me, to the right, it seemed as if the
moss
had a lane where the glow was dimmer. Meanwhile the ring tugged at my
finger as if it would fly on its own if I

Let it go, and it tugged to the right. Having no where else to go at
this
point, to the right I went. The sound of my feet was muffled by the
moss.
The ring pulled with

an urgency that was quite frightening. Up ahead, there was a dark
round
patch

that grew into another manhole lid. In the center of that was another
indentation.

"Well, how scared are you?"

I turned around, and it was the man who had done all of the talking,
but he

Was unarmed now.

"We have entered the wells of Thoth!" he exclaimed.

"Throughout the ages, men have searched for the secret of true
mystical

might! Some who reach this far do not survive! Some never reach
anywhere
close, and still die not knowing how much blood they wasted in a vain
attempt

at trying to reach the light of the moon-- And here we are !! There's
no

turning back now my friend, we must go down or perish where we are!
I'm
sure that at least you would like this mystery solved my friend, and
the
solution is

in that well!"

I believed him. The ring alone was enough to convince me, let alone
where

We were! So in answer, I placed the ring in the depression. This
time
after the click, they started to glow greenish-white. And as the
cover
turned, there was a

sound just at the threshold of hearing. It was a deep sound that was
almost

felt more than heard, behind it seemed an implied threat to any who
would
dare to tamper with the unknown of the Cosmos, someone like myself.

And it happened! The lid burst up with green flames, and the sound

Increased to painful pressure. We backed away from the well and the
sound
became

Louder still. Then the source of the sound emerged from the well! It
was
a

dragon! This lizard was huge and I mean it! It had scales that were
metallic

blue-green, red whiskers and needle sharp teeth in a head the size of
a
large

tiger's. And it looked hungry to me! I could understand now! The
sound

was the roar of the dragon. It pulled its feet out of the well and
started
to

lift its body up. The ring had my fist tingling like an electrical
charge
was building, and it pulled to the dragon like iron to a powerful
magnet.
Charges were building!

A high pitched tone started to clash with the low roar of the dragon,
and I

knew it was the ring. So I pointed my fist towards the climbing
reptilian
beast. There was a spark! The discharge exploded the head of the
dragon,
and the

body just consumed itself in the green flame. The well was now clear.

I jumped down unmindful of my "buddy." I was going to be first
whatever

happened, and if I went, maybe the ring would go with me, or why else
would
I be here?

This time the drop was about ten feet, my legs throbbed a bit, and my
soles

smarted as I landed. It was pitch black and I was apprehensive. The
ring
continued to give off a green light and a tug, so off I went. I could
see
the floor for

a pretty fair distance around me, it was flat stone tiles as near as I
could

guess, and as I ran, hieroglyphs appeared to be carved into the stone,
and
they were covered with some kind of glaze. The glaze colored most of
the
glyphs, but

there were some spots that were clear. The pathway this time was a
line of

men that had the head of some kind of bird with a long curved beak.
They
were almost life sized, carved into the floor, flanked by smaller
glyphs on
either side.

It was easier to follow this path to the well, I left my "buddy" far
behind.

When I reached the well, I didn't hesitate to insert the ring. This
one
was made of smooth stone, and just quietly started to revolve. I
stepped
back and waited.

Soon a cinnamon smoke odor reached my nostrils, then the lid gently
flipped

open. A normal looking fire filled the opening, and the odor of
cinnamon
filled my mind as well as my lungs. Slowly white smoke billowed from
the
well,

and a shape emerged cloaked in its thickness. I backed up again, the
ring

at ready. The smoke rushed at me, and I pointed the ring at the
figure.
An invisible bubble seemed to surround me, and the smoke pushed up
against
it as it

flowed around me. I could feel a rubbery hardness pressing the front
of my

body, though nothing was there. It cut off my breath for what was a
long
moment for me, then the smoke cleared. I stood facing the Sphinx! We
looked at

each other eye to eye, and again my mind filled with cinnamon smoke.
I

pointed my ring at it, and it didn't budge. Nothing seemed to happen
except
that my head wanted to explode into cinnamon. It took one massive step
forward. My head wanted to disintegrate. And then with a soft pop,
the
Sphinx evaporated...

This time when I jumped into the well, I could immediately feel
something
different. I was strongly aware of the awe of my very own life/death.
It
was mixed with a powerful sense of sublime bliss and reverence, and of
my
own unworthiness. The emotions were so overwhelming that I fell to my
knees, for the moment unable to move. This is what I was here for of
course, so I forced myself to my feet. With my mind reeling, and my
vision
blurred with gushing tears, I staggered in the direction that the ring
was
tugging, each unsteady step taking a mighty effort. After a while,
with
time losing its meaning to me, I now felt irresistibly drawn forward.

So forward I went. Step by step I fought the emotions that washed over
me.
As powerful as these emotions were, I wanted to know what the end of
this
process was. Why was I here? What was going on? The answers lie
straight
ahead. I felt more than saw my destination as I approached it. It was
a
simple stone altar. All of the emanations came from it, or rather from
a
crystal ball that rested on it. This was what was pulling me to it. I
seized the crystal and all that I felt, all of my life itself, was now
concentrated in this very object that I held in my hands. There was
only
one thing to do, and I did it! I raised the crystal up with both
hands, and
threw it down, shattering it on the floor!

These indeed were strange goings on for our hero. When he shattered
the
crystal, his entire being was shattered also. He felt himself torn
away
from his body on Earth, and rise up towards the sun itself. Away from
his
mundane existence, there was a new life awaiting him. Into the heart
of the
star he went, becoming one with it, becoming something more
extraordinary
than will ever be the fate for other humans. As he rejoiced in his new
status, he felt something else, something more ominous. He felt
hungry.
What would a star eat? Why other stars of course. His decision made,
he
left his position as it were and took off to find another star to eat.
He
released all of the planets and other flotsam that orbited him from
his
gravitational influence, and left them behind. As he traveled away,
the
Earth's atmosphere froze solid, now devoid of the life giving energy
it
once had. He searched until he found a suitable candidate, and
consumed it.
With this new input he grew larger and stronger, but in the end, he
hungered again. Once more he moved through the interstellar distances
to
find more food. Once more he found a likely star and ravaged it. Once
more
he grew larger and stronger. Once more, he was unsatisfied. Again and
again
this happened to him, he was a rogue star out of control. Larger and
larger
he grew, like an interstellar Pacman, he consumed stars one after
another,
with no end in sight. Finally it happened. He had grown so large after
his
last meal, he couldn't hold himself together. He went supernova. Now,
now,
he found peace. After lighting up the entire galaxy, his consciousness
became one with the entire universe. He had no focal point anymore, he
was
just aware of everything at once. If he tried, he could perceive all
of the
galaxies at once as tiny specks of his existence, but it was just as
blissful to just know that he was alive and conscious, totally
idyllic.