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Knock, knock, knock.
Sally nearly jumps out of her skin at the sound of someone rapping on her door. She quickly throws on a robe and hurries to answer, her mind racing about who on earth could be visiting at this hour. "Hey Pat," she says, opening the door with surprise. "I figured you'd be dead to the world by now—it's pretty late. And wow, look at you all dressed up! What's the occasion?"
"Oh god, I'm sorry—I can see you were already getting ready for bed," Pat says, his face flushing with embarrassment and disappointment. "I couldn't sleep and thought maybe you'd still be up, but I should go. We can talk tomorrow."
"No, no—I wasn't actually asleep yet," Sally reassures him. "Just lying there thinking, you know? Trying to process everything that's been happening and keep it all 'in perspective,' as my dad used to say. He was always worried I'd lose sight of the bigger picture. So what's eating at you, Pat?"
Pat's face breaks into a grin. "Well, I got to thinking—Powder Junction is one of those party towns that never sleeps, right? There's got to be tons of stuff happening downtown right now. So I came up here to ask if you want to go out with me. Like, on a real date. Let's go see what's going on."
Sally's eyes go wide with complete shock. "A date?! Oh my God, Pat! In all the years we've known each other, through everything we've been through together, we've never actually gone on a real date. This is going to be amazing! Just wait right there while I throw something on."
Slam.
Open.
"Oh geez, sorry for slamming the door in your face like that!" Sally giggles. "I'll just be a few minutes, I promise." She slams it again, though much more gently this time.
"You're in luck—we've got one table left," the hostess tells them as she leads them through the bustling restaurant. "It was supposed to be reserved, but they were a no-show, so I guess it's yours now."
"This is absolutely perfect," Sally beams. "Josh will be taking care of you tonight. Enjoy your dinner!" the hostess says before hurrying off to seat another couple. Sally had noticed how sharp Pat looked, so naturally she felt compelled to outdress him. She'd found this gorgeous white satin evening dress that fit like it was made for her, complete with a delicate beaded purse and matching shoes. She's constantly amazed that Penny seemed to pack the perfect outfit for every possible occasion—she must have known that in a town like Powder Junction, Sally would eventually want to paint the town. They sip their water and nibble on the complimentary crackers while waiting for their server. "Pat?" Sally says, looking directly into his eyes. "Why now? What made you decide to ask me out tonight?"
"You've got a pretty wise friend looking out for you, Sally. His name is John," Pat says with a knowing smile. "Turns out he was married before and raised a bunch of daughters, so he's got real insight into how women think. I was talking to him about you—about us, really, and our whole history together—and he pointed out something I'd never really considered. We've been inseparable for as long as I can remember, but it was always because of some project or cause: school assignments, peace rallies, learning new technology, the INA experiment, you name it. But it was never just about us being together. It was never just about you being you, and me wanting to spend time with just you. So tonight is different. Tonight is just about you. I love you, Sally. Hell, I worship you. I always have, but I've been too fucking stupid to ever just say it outright. And I don't mean in that casual 'love you too' way friends say it. I've told you I loved you before, but always with that safe little 'as a friend' qualifier. This is different. I love you as my soulmate, as someone I want to build a life with. So there it is—I've finally said what I should have said years ago. If that makes things weird between us, I'll understand, and we can just head back to our rooms and pretend this conversation never happened. But I really hope you'll stay."
"Yeah, it does make me feel a little weird," Sally admits, "but it's a good kind of weird—warm and fluttery inside." She has that same look of quiet satisfaction as a kid who just got a gold star on their art project. "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't wondered what it would be like if we were more than friends, but our lives have always been so completely insane, with one crisis after another. I guess that's part of what drew me to Penny Lake—I was craving something simple and uncomplicated. And boy, is life simple there. Look, I'm not ready to jump into the whole 'rest of our lives' conversation right now, but I love you too, Pat. I just never thought I could say it without destroying what we already had. Either way, I can't believe we both just dropped the L-word. This is surreal. Where the hell is our waiter? I'm starving, and these crackers taste like cardboard."
"Hey folks, I'm Josh, and I'll be taking care of you tonight. Can I start you off with an appetizer?"
"Absolutely," Pat says with a mischievous grin. "We'd like a sampler plate of knowledge with a side of wisdom, and a couple of glasses of perspective, please."
Josh doesn't even blink. "The kitchen can't handle an order like that—trust me on this one—but I might be able to hook you up with a couple of shots of everlasting life. That's more of an after-dinner thing though, so why don't you order some actual food first and I'll check on those shots later."
"Damn, you're good," Sally says, laughing. "Alright, we'll take the western sampler to start. I want the ribeye, medium, with garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli and yellow squash, and save room for apple pie. My friend Pat here will have his usual—steamed vegetables, wild rice, potato soup, and pumpkin pie. And we'll both take iced tea."
"Coming right up," Josh says with a smile, heading off toward the kitchen.
"Even without being able to read my mind, you still know exactly what I want," Pat marvels.
"Come on, Pat," Sally chuckles. "You're really not that mysterious."
Pat sits back and watches Sally attack her food with gusto. Some women get self-conscious about eating heartily in front of someone they're trying to impress, but Sally couldn't care less. Pat takes this as a good sign—it means she's comfortable enough around him to just be herself. Still, there's this nagging voice in his head wondering if maybe she's just not trying to impress him at all. Pat's still trying to decode what Sally's feelings really are. John told him he's wasting his energy trying to figure out women's emotions—it's like trying to predict where a rainbow will appear and how long it'll last. His advice was simple: when you see a rainbow, just enjoy the colors and don't overthink it.
"Excuse me, sir, ma'am?" comes a tiny voice beside their table. A little girl, probably six or seven years old, is standing there digging through a small purse for a card and pen. "Ma'am, could I please have your autograph? I really, really want one, and you're so pretty. Please?"
Sally stares at the child in complete bewilderment. "Well, I... sure, I guess," she says, scribbling her name on the card. "But honey, why on earth would you want my autograph?" The little girl snatches the card back and giggles before disappearing around the corner. "This just keeps getting stranger and stranger. I swear, I should change my name to Alice—I feel like I've tumbled down some cosmic rabbit hole."
Josh returns with their check and two shot glasses filled with an eerie, fluorescent pink liquid that seems to glow from within. "Here are those shots of everlasting life I promised. Drink these carefully," he warns with a knowing smile. Sally takes a cautious sip first—when it doesn't burn, she downs the whole thing. Pat throws his back in one gulp.
They both cough and sputter a bit. "Jesus, what the hell is in that?" Sally gasps. "It's got some serious kick to it."
"I'm honestly not sure what the bartender puts in there," Josh admits, "but I know there's no water in it—water would dull that glow. It's mostly pure alcohol with some kind of sweet glycol, I think. Some secret ingredient. I definitely wouldn't recommend having more than one."
"Don't worry about that," Sally laughs. "Two of those and Pat would be carrying me back to my room—or maybe you'd have to carry both of us. So Josh, where would you recommend we go after dinner? We're new in town. And I've got to ask—why are you dressed like a soldier?"
"Well, that's kind of a long story, but I died in this uniform, and it just became my thing, I guess," Josh explains casually. "Since you two are obviously seekers, I'd recommend the museum. You might find some answers there. I get off in about five minutes—I could go with you and show you my favorite pieces. That is, if you leave a decent tip." They all laugh at this.
"That sounds wonderful," Sally says. "We'll wait for you by the front door."
Josh appears to be around their age, with an almost pretty face and long, flowing brown hair. He definitely doesn't look like he belongs in a place like Powder Junction. Pat's starting to feel a little annoyed that Sally so readily invited Josh to crash their date. Now, as usual, he's playing third wheel while Sally collects another admirer to add to her ever-growing fan club. But what can he do? Pat decides to take John's advice—just enjoy the rainbow while it's there—though that gnawing jealousy in his gut refuses to go away. Sally's practically bouncing with excitement about their night out, and having two guys instead of one seems perfectly natural to her. Pat puts on his best smile and cheerful voice, determined not to spoil her fun.
"Here's the museum," Josh announces. "I'll cover your admission—you two just go on in."
"Oh wow, this is gorgeous," Sally breathes, looking around in wonder. "I was expecting old saddles and covered wagons and frontier stuff. But look at these incredible paintings and sculptures—works by the masters! Josh, where did they get all of this?"
"Where does Powder Junction get anything?" Josh explains matter-of-factly. "They create it from their memories of Earth."
Both Pat and Sally stare at Josh in disbelief. "So you're not really from Powder Junction, are you?" Sally asks, her curiosity piqued. "Nobody else here except maybe Michael knows this kind of stuff. Who are you really? Where are you from?"
"I'm a coalescent," Josh replies simply.
"A coa-what-now?" Pat asks, confused.
Josh chuckles. "Remember, you ordered knowledge, wisdom, and perspective earlier. The restaurant kitchen couldn't deliver that, but I can. That's why I'm here. Let's look at some of the art, and I'll explain as we go."
"Here's one of my favorites," Josh begins, leading them over to a beautiful sculpture. "She's called 'Nature Revealing Herself to Science.' When I first saw you tonight, Sally, you reminded me of this piece."
"What?!" Sally snaps, giving him a look that could kill. "She's naked! You were thinking about me naked? I think I see where this is going."
"Oh no, no, no—it's not like that at all," Josh says, looking genuinely frustrated. "This is about art, and beauty, and nature, and revelation, and perspective. It has nothing to do with anything sexual. You reminded me of her because you're experiencing revelation—you're being given the secrets of the universe. Nature herself is revealing herself to you, in innocence and beauty. That's what I meant. I would never disrespect you by imagining you naked."
"Oh," Sally says, slightly sheepish. "Well, anyway, you guys quit staring at her chest. Ha! Mine are better anyway—and no, I'm not going to prove it!"
"I need to sit down for a while, guys," Pat says, looking a little green around the gills. "That shot is really getting to me and I'm not feeling so great. You two go ahead—I'll catch up with you later." The shot has nothing to do with how he's actually feeling, though.
"Okay Pat. Josh and I will circle back in a few minutes to check on you," Sally says, already getting excited about exploring more art. "I'm really getting into this whole museum thing."
"That's totally wrong, Sally," Josh says with a knowing smile. "Here's what we're going to do—we'll all sit with Pat until he feels better. You can sit next to him on that bench there. It's actually positioned as a viewing seat, so we can still see plenty of artwork from here and I can explain it to you. Scoot closer to Pat. No, closer than that."
"Huh?" Sally looks confused about Josh's insistence that she sit closer to Pat. "What are you getting at, Josh?"
"Just a little closer. Perfect. Now put your arm around him and rest your head on his shoulder."
"Where exactly are you going with this, Josh? I don't understand."
"Okay, now it's perfect. I'm staging you as a living painting—you two are now a piece of art. You're the perfect picture of two young people
on a date, exactly as it should be.""This is definitely weird," Sally says, but she doesn't pull away. Pat and Sally settle in to watch as Josh points out his favorite pieces throughout the gallery.
Pat's feeling much better now. Josh has given him exactly the right medicine to cure what was really ailing him.
"Hey, I recognize that print on the wall," Pat says, pointing to a framed piece. "That's Mars being terraformed. I remember studying that in school. What's it doing in a 19th century museum?"
"Well, that's quite an anachronism, isn't it?" Josh replies. "Actually, I submitted that piece myself. I thought you'd appreciate it."
"That brings up something that's been bugging me," Sally interjects. "There are things here that are completely out of place, but everyone just walks by and ignores them like they don't even exist. I've noticed that all over town—stuff that should make people stop and stare, but it's like it's invisible to them."
"Great observation," Josh nods approvingly. "They're lost in their own illusion. They only see what fits with their chosen version of reality, and everything else just doesn't register—as if it literally wasn't there. Earth was the same way, but since you were caught up in your own illusions there, you didn't notice it either."
"So none of this is real? That's where my mind keeps going," Pat wonders aloud.
"Not 'real' in the way you usually think about it," Josh explains. "You see, what you call reality is actually the illusion. Reality IS the illusion. There isn't just one big, fixed reality that everyone has to agree on. There are trillions upon trillions of realities all emerging from an infinite sea of possibilities, each playing their own music, creating the experience of life. And there are absolutely no limits on how that can express itself."
Sally grins, thinking she's figured it out. "I know! You're one of those level 10 people that Mike and Ben told me about, aren't you? That's how you know all this stuff, right?"
Josh laughs heartily. "Sally, like I said—there's an infinite sea of possibilities and no limits on how life can be experienced. Yes, I was a level 10er. I spent time at level 3 for a while, and level 5 for a while, just like you are now. I did ascend, like many level 10ers do from level 3. But now I'm a coalescent—that's a completely different kind of experience." Pat and Sally pepper Josh with questions, and he seems to have thoughtful answers for everything. So far, they haven't managed to stump him on a single thing.
"Here's another one of my favorites," Josh says, gesturing toward Michelangelo's David.
"Wow, you really do have a thing for naked people, don't you?" Sally teases with a giggle. "Sorry Josh, just kidding around."
"Please, no comparisons!" Pat pleads.
"As if I'd even know," Sally shoots back playfully.
Josh smiles and continues, "Okay, here's the point. Forget about the anatomy you seem fixated on and look at the entire work. This represents a level of skill and artistry so far beyond what the average human could achieve at that time that you have to wonder where Michelangelo actually came from. I want to suggest that maybe—just maybe—a lot of the great masters from your history aren't originally from Earth, at least not in the way you'd think. Level 3 people leaving their bodies and becoming level 5, only to return to level 3 again in a new body—that's not all that's happening. We call you guys loop-de-loops, or 'loopers.' You just keep cycling back and forth between level 3 and level 5, over and over again."
"Is that a bad thing?" Sally asks.
"Not at all. It's perfect. It's the perfect expression of the life you're choosing to experience, and it's exactly the way it's supposed to be because that's what you've chosen. It's your free will, you see, to be whoever and whatever you decide to create. But it's not all that's available to you, as you'll discover when your future unfolds."
"So Josh, tell us about being a coalescent—that's what you said you are. We've never heard that term before," Pat asks.
"Alright, but first let's look at this image," Josh says, pointing to a framed photograph on the wall. "It's just a simple water drop hitting the surface of a larger body of water. Think about what happens to that drop after it makes contact with the larger body. Is it still a drop?"
"I wouldn't think so," Pat responds. "When it merges with the larger body of water, it loses its identity as a drop and just becomes part of the pond, or ocean, or whatever."
Josh nods approvingly. "Yes, but let's dig a little deeper. There are trillions of water molecules in that drop. Do those molecules lose their individual identity?"
Pat thinks for a moment. "Yes and no. Physics tells us that all water molecules of the same isotope—except for their individual kinetic energy—are identical and indistinguishable from each other. They lose their ability to be identified individually, but I suppose they still exist as specific molecules from that one particular drop, if you think of them as particles rather than waves."
"Okay Pat, let's say after a thousand years or so, where would these individual particles from that one specific water drop be?"
"Well, they'd probably be distributed evenly throughout the pond, or ocean," Pat replies.
"Exactly," Josh continues. "If it's an ocean, then they're also in the clouds, in snow and glaciers, in rivers. It would be incredibly unlikely that you could find a single drop of water or snowflake anywhere that didn't contain one or two of those original particles from that first drop. That's what we call omnipresence. That one drop, even though you can no longer see it as a distinct drop, has become present everywhere. There's no place where that drop is not. Every drop everywhere shares in the essence of that original drop."
"So that's what a coalescent is? You're a water drop?" Sally asks, puzzled.
"No, silly," Josh responds with a laugh. "Let me finish—I'm not done yet. Now imagine there were some magical way to extract individual water molecules from throughout the ocean and form a new drop composed solely of them. That process is called coalescence, and that's what I am. The water drop analogy isn't perfect because, as you pointed out, water molecules are indistinguishable. But just like a drop is made up of molecules, you are made up of cells. You are the collective expression of all your cells, and each one contains the essence of the whole. There's no clear boundary where your cells end and 'you' begin. You are both many and one at the same time. Your etheric projection doesn't just represent you—it includes all of you, down to every single cell. Your essence exists within each of your cells just as it exists within your entire being. Just like the fundamental unit of water is a molecule, the fundamental unit of life is the cell. You aren't a single living being—you're a vast community of living beings working in harmony as one. Now imagine that you are the drop, and the vast ocean represents the infinite All That Is. When that drop falls into the ocean, it disperses throughout eternity, becoming omnipresent across time and space. That's what I did. A part of me exists in everything—in you, on Earth, and across all levels of existence: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and beyond. But in places where time exists, like here, I can coalesce from the All That Is, bringing together the essence of my individual self to reappear anywhere I choose—like in this moment you call Powder Junction. Likewise, a being can also coalesce not just as an individual, but as the embodiment of the entire Ocean, bringing together all individual experiences as One."
"Okay then. Why does everyone think we want to know all this multi-dimensional mumbo-jumbo anyway?" Sally sighs, rubbing her temples. "My head is spinning after all that. I think it's time for a midnight snack. But no more shots—then my head would spin right off my body, and nobody wants to see that." They all laugh and head across the street for a late-night bite. Josh recommends something called 'flan.' Sally absolutely loves it. Pat says it looks like a big chunk of vomit and makes him want to hurl. No worries though—Sally happily polishes off both servings.
"So let me get this straight," Sally says between bites. "Our etheric bodies have cells, just like our Earth bodies? Aren't we just etheric projections here?"
"Just? No. You are as real here, cells and all, as you are in level 3. Level 5 is a reflection of level 3, but no more than level 3 is a reflection of level 5. You've co-evolved in both realms, with one interpenetrating the other. Everything that exists is a projection from the All That Is, no matter what level it manifests on. Level 5 is just a bit more flexible than level 3. So the long answer to your question is yes, you have cells in your etheric body, and they are in fact the same cells as in your Earthly body—sort of."
"Sort of?" Sally presses.
"Language fails to provide a complete explanation. As you evolve, you'll be able to understand more."
"So there isn't anything you don't know, but there are some things you can't explain, and the problem is us, not you?" Sally asks pointedly.
"Yep," Josh says with a laugh.
"You just wait, Mr. Coalescent Being Person, and all your level 10 friends and ascended masters," Sally says, glaring at Josh with mock intensity. "I will evolve—I am evolving—and one day you're not going to be able to talk in circles around the answers I'm looking for. I'm going to call you on your bullshit."
Josh smiles warmly. "I love you too, Sally, and I await that day with great anticipation. I regret your frustrations, and I really do want you to understand. Here are some concepts that might help you adjust your perceptions—some analogies and metaphors to assist you. Consider that existence is like a novel. The whole story is in the book, complete from beginning to end, all at once. In your reading of it, however, you can at most perceive two pages at a time. As you turn a page, the previous pages are lost from your view and the pages ahead aren't yet visible. The characters and experiences in the book enter your mind through a string of symbols that you interpret as you create the story within your own perceptions. Your understanding may be similar to, or quite different from, that of the author who created the work, depending on your level of intelligence, consciousness, ability, and willingness to understand. Consider the number of life stories—written or otherwise, fictional or real—that exist or have existed in your universe, and the eons of time, the eternity it would take for you to read them all. Consider a character on an old-style movie screen contemplating their own existence. In an attempt to discover where they come from, they peer back through the projector lens, only to perceive a meaningless flicker of colored lights that has no power to enlighten them. How does a fish perceive water, or is it as invisible to the fish as air is to you? Many Earth animals will look you straight in the eye and respond to your presence, and you assume they know you and perceive you the same way you perceive them. But these animals don't have a visual cortex like yours and don't live in a visual reality like you do. Imagine how different that would be—you probably can't even imagine it. By your standards they're 'blind as a bat,' but they still navigate their world with as much precision as you do, sometimes more. One of your Earth masters who seems out of time in your history says it best: 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'"
Sally looks down for a few seconds, then looks directly back at Josh. "Alright, knower of all things, this has been eating at me all evening. There are no children in Powder Junction. Who was that little girl who asked for my autograph?"
"Some things are better left unanswered—it spoils the surprise," Josh says with a cautious expression. "Are you sure you want to know?"
"Yep, spill it, Josh. No more beating around the bush. Who is she?" Sally insists.
"Okay, you asked for it," Josh says. "She's one of my most favorite people in the entire universe. I made it possible for her to visit you. She's in first grade, and they're studying storytelling and the importance of having a good story. Your stories define you, and you define them as well. For show-and-tell, she wanted an authentic artifact for the story she was telling to the class. So she came here to get an autograph—from her great-great-great-grandmother."
Sally sits in stunned silence, tears rolling down her cheeks. They all sit quietly with her for a while.
After what feels like an eternity, Pat asks gently, "Would you rather not have known?"
"No, I'm glad I know," Sally says, her voice thick with emotion. "Thank you, Josh. This will be my most precious memory—a glimpse into a future that I'll cherish from this moment on. I just wish I'd gotten a better look at her. If I'd known, I would have scooped her up and given her the biggest hug ever."
"Josh, why are you here with us right now? Are you here to help us with our mission?" Sally asks, almost afraid to hear the answer.
"Yes, I'm here to help. You are seekers, and I'm always ready to help seekers find what they're looking for, to give those who ask what they're asking for. I can't always do it in the way you might prefer, but I always do my best. All you have to do is ask."
"So since you apparently know everything, can you tell me what to do tomorrow? Because I honestly don't have a clue," Sally asks.
"Yes, I could," Josh says, then adds, "But I choose not to. If I tell you what you should do, that will manifest as what you will do, and then my will would have trumped yours. So I won't tell you, because I refuse to know. Therefore, your will has the opportunity to express itself. There are many potential outcomes for tomorrow. You'll exercise your free will and choose one of them, and I will protect, with my life, your right to choose."
Sally stares at Josh for a long moment, then says, "Well, I don't know if what you just said was extremely profound or just a convenient cop-out. But I'm guessing that no matter what I say, you won't change your mind, will you?"
"Nope, my mind is made up," Josh says with a smile.
Pat has been mostly listening and letting Sally drive the conversation, though he doesn't really have much choice in the matter. But there's a bigger question weighing on his mind. "Josh, I think there's an even more important question than how to complete our mission. The question is whether we should do it at all. The planet is dead, and if left alone, life will barely get started again before the sun burns out and destroys everything all over again. Is it wrong for us to try to fix it? Shouldn't we just move on to whatever comes next in our existence and leave the old dead planet alone?"
"What the fuck, Pat? Did we come all this way just to give up? I'm not hearing you on this one," Sally snaps back, clearly frustrated.
"Right and wrong, good and bad, up and down, left and right, evil and righteous—all of those are part of the vast sea of possibilities, the big bag of opportunities that lie before you," Josh explains. "It's wrong if you judge it as wrong, right if you choose for it to be right. No one outside your realm is judging it. So the choice is yours—the collective yours, you level 5ers in this little corner of the multiverse that you currently experience. Make up your own minds and make a choice. I'll assist you in whatever choice you make."
"Uh-huh. I see what Sally was talking about. You guys always circle back around and dump it in our laps. I'm not sure I'd call that helping," Pat says, somewhat disappointed.
"I understand your frustration, Pat. But this is your little acre of existence here—you have to cultivate it. I could plow the fields for you, but that's not the way it's set up, the way YOU set it up. If you want it to be different, then choose differently. But that's easier said than done, since you're so tightly locked into the vision of this reality that you've created. It's not my job to undo what you've done or to send you down a path you don't choose. So if you choose to go back and heal Earth and return to her, then that's the right choice because it's your choice. Your Earth has been your home, your mother, and your lover for as long as you can remember, so there's a strong calling tugging at your heart to resurrect her. Your other potential choices are equally right. In your reality, grieving your mother and moving on is part of the process too. Sorry, but that's the way it is, and it's my choice to leave it that way. There are those who would teach that you must go a certain way, be on a certain path, because they've discovered it's the 'right' one for them. That doesn't mean another path is wrong, just different. Those who would limit the possibilities are not 'The Way'—they're 'in the way.' I choose not to get in your way. Love exists regardless, and is in fact all that exists. Love is expressed, however, through experience, and that's what you're having and doing, here and now."
"Josh, maybe the help we've been asking for is a bit much for you to deliver. Scaling it back—can you help me with my fear? My fear of the void? It terrifies me," Sally asks.
"The void you're going into only looks like a void. It's filled with matter, with form—you just can't see it, so you sense that you're in emptiness. The real Void is the home of the All That Is, where form, time, space, and everything you know exist as an infinite singularity, but which cannot be experienced, so it's perceived as a void. Any creature of form, such as you are, standing on the brink of any void will be afraid, because form needs attachment—something to hold onto, solid ground to walk on, water to swim in, air to fly through. When there's nothing of form to grab onto, you feel lost, falling forever with nothing and no one to catch you. Just remember that form is only what you think you are—that you are, in fact, always part of and one with the All That Is. So when you find yourself in the void, just say to yourself, 'I'm home,' and become one with it. It won't be so frightening."
"Yes, that's exactly what I did," Pat agrees. "I just surrendered to the darkness and became part of it."
Sally smiles while looking into Josh's eyes. "Frustrating as you are, Josh, you have been genuinely helpful. It seems like my date with Pat has turned out to be a date with destiny. Thank you both for a wonderful evening. One more thing, Josh, and then I really need to get to bed. If you won't help me choose what to do, can you ask one of your level 10 friends to come lend a hand?"
Josh laughs out loud. "Sweet, sweet Sally, you ask the most interesting questions. A level 10er already came to help and has been here for a long time."
"Okay, when do I meet him?" Sally asks.
"You already have," Josh says.
"Okay, quit fooling around. I'm serious here. A lot is riding on tomorrow. I need to know."
"Then you shall," Josh answers. "A long time ago, a level 10er offered to come here to work on this problem. It came here and entered into human form—two forms actually, male and female—and then, lost in their own forgetfulness, they grew up like ordinary human children. They are, as you're already beginning to remember, the two of you."
Sally and Pat wave goodbye to Josh and head back to the hotel, not quite grasping what he just told them. "Pat? What just happened here?" Sally asks, not really expecting an answer.
"I think you were on a date with two guys," Pat says with a smile. "One of them is really cute, and the other one is God."
"I'm not buying the God part—I never really believed that religious stuff anyway. I mean the part about us being a level 10er, the same one, actually. I'm not feeling that. Are you?"
Pat grins. "Well, I've always thought we could be soulmates. This just proves it."
Sally looks a little irritated. "Yeah, that plays right into your narrative, but is it real? I keep getting the feeling that this is some sort of elaborate practical joke, or that we're being set up for something that isn't going to end well."
Pat's expression turns serious. "What can I say? I can only go back to what I said before. We're actors in some sort of cosmic drama, and all we can do is read our lines and hope the story has a happy ending. If this level 10 stuff is true, then I guess we'll know—we'll remember—when it's time to remember."
Sally opens the door to her room, clearly exhausted. Leaning against the doorframe, she looks at Pat and says, "I'll have to sleep on it. Maybe I'll lie down and wake up and it was all just a crazy dream. Sweet dreams, Pat. I'll see you in the morning."
