With These Eyes

With These Eyes

A Modern Mythology by

Horst Steiner

To my mother

and the spirit of my father,

in gratitude.

Based on an Idea by

Horst Steiner

& Ben Jacob

Good Energy Press

A Story of

Friendship and Love

That Transcends All.

With These Eyes

Horst Steiner

Copyright 2010 by Horst Steiner

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved.

ISBN:
 
9781301337033

02 03 04 05 06

“It is our fate to live
during one of the most perilous and, at the same time, one of the
most hopeful chapters in human history... W
ill we see our species safely through this difficult passage
so that our children and grandchildren will continue the great
journey of discovery still deeper into the mysteries of the
Cosmos?

That same…technology that sends our ships
past the farthest known planet can also be used to destroy our
global civilization.

Exactly the same technology can be used

for good and for evil.”

Carl Edward Sagan, Astrophysicist

“
The religion of the future will be a
cosmic religion…

Covering both the natural and the spiritual,
it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience
of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism
answers this description. If there is any religion that could cope
with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism.”

Albert Einstein, Physicist 

“
At the heart of the Lotus Sutra lies one
intrinsic principle, namely, that all living beings are endowed
with the Ten Worlds [including Buddhahood]. A human being, for
example, is made up of the four elements [earth, water, fire, and
wind].  Lacking any one of these, no person can exist.

This principle of the Ten Worlds applies not
only to living beings.  All things that make up the objective
and the subjective worlds, as well as insentient beings such as
plants and trees and so on down to the tiniest speck of dust, are
every one of them endowed with the Ten Worlds.”

Nichiren Daishonin, Buddhist Philosopher

Part 1 - Age of Angels

1 SCORCHED
JUNGLE

Our story begins with a look 20 years into
the past...

The mighty Amazon river wound its way across
the south American continent. Like an artery, it carried and
distributed life force to the farthest reaches. The river was low.
It had been an unusually hot summer across the hemisphere and the
monsoons were overdue. The storm that was brewing blew a breath of
relief into the tired jungle.

A short distance from the river’s banks,
nestled somewhere in the thick, green jungle laid a serene little
village. The weekly mail barge was tied off by the water's edge.
Engaged with the mailman, Horacio, was Gemma de Fleur. Gemma was
the only woman with European skin tones in the entire village. A
very active woman in her 70s, Gemma's deeply tan complexion bore
witness to years in the tropical sun. Her hair showed more grey
than brown, but youth remained ever strong in her eyes and smile.
She handed Horacio a carefully packaged parcel, marked
urgent
. A colorful collection of stamps depicting plants and
animals of the wild decorated the top portion of the plain-brown
package. A small monkey curiously watched the exchange from a
nearby palm tree.

"Please take good care of this for me,
Horacio."

The young man’s face barely showed that Gemma
had asked him this before. He had made the mail-run every week
since his father had left him the boat and retired. Horacio knew
the route well. After all, he practically grew up on the boat and
often told Gemma of his outings. Because she asked him every week
to be careful and he had never lost a package, Horacio knew how
important this was to Gemma.

"Of course I will", he replied. "I'll keep an
eye on it until I load it onto the plane. It's in good hands." His
warm smile underlined the sincerity glimmering in his eyes.

A sense of ease came to Gemma. She replied,
"Thanks Horacio, I know it is. You should get going; it looks like
the rains are finally here."

Horacio looked at the sky. Black storm clouds
were quickly covering every bit of blue. Gemma untied Horacio's
boat and threw him the line. It was apparent that she was no
stranger to travel on water.

"Thanks for the cookies!"

Gemma folded her hands before her chest and
mouthed, "you're welcome" as Horacio started the boat's motor. The
noise of the engine overpowered that of the storm until he puttered
off down-river. Gemma smiled as she watched the boat disappear
around the bend. She headed back on the dirt-road that lead to her
house. The storm was picking up. Branches and wilted frowns were
detaching from their mother plants and turning into projectiles
under the force of the wind. Gemma was busy dodging the hailstorm
of tree parts and debris from the village. A large branch broke off
just ahead of Gemma. It thundered to the ground, missing a little
puma cub by inches. Scared, the young cat ran behind an adjacent
tree.

Gemma looked around, no puma would leave her
cub to the elements like this. Then again, it would have been very
unusual for a family of big cats to come this close to the village.
There wasn't a single puma in sight besides the little one. Gemma
realized that its parents were likely on their way to becoming the
main course in a bizarre wildlife buffet at a corporate function
far away.

"Did the poachers get your parents?"

The little cub looked lost. The wind shot a
branch into the ground next to the puma like a spear. Gemma knew
the cat wouldn't live more than a day or two before hunters or
natural predators would put an end to its short-lived existence.
Without considering much else, she chased after the cub. Gemma had
only taken a few steps away from the path when the vegetation
became significantly thicker. It became difficult to walk, the
thick jungle kept out much of the storm and provided shelter for
them both. The wind was saturated with the strong smell of cloves.
The scent originated from the many choji trees that the Apophis
Corporation had planted when the hospital was built. Gemma caught
sight of the cub as it ran to hide in a hollow tree that laid on
the ground ahead. She went over to the stump and looked inside. The
interior was pitch-black. Only the cat's eyes were visible as they
reflected the minute amount of light that fell inside the hollow
wood.

"C'mon out. I have some food for you in my
hut."

The little puma's eyes seemed to grow to the
size of saucers in anticipation, but fear kept it from leaving the
safety of the tree.

"I see I'm going to have to convince you that
you really can't live in there."

Gemma climbed into the wooden tunnel. It was
damp and slippery from moss that covered its walls. The cub made no
attempt to move. Gemma knew she'd be there for a while. Shielded by
the thick jungle and the solid barrier of damp wood around her,
Gemma noticed little of the storm's severity now raging over the
village. Amidst the heavy hail of tree parts, villagers were
rushing to bring their animals and possessions to safety. A couple
was struggling with a few chickens that the wind would not allow to
get inside. The clouds were thick and the fleet of airliners that
had striped the sky with cloud-seeding chemicals had long returned
to their hangars. The storm clouds were much thicker than regular
monsoon clouds. It seemed like the sun was setting in the middle of
the day. The villagers knew this was going to be a tough storm.
People, animals and debris were everywhere.

Suddenly, the wind stopped. Everyone froze in
their tracks - the whole village came to a halt. It was an
uncomfortable quiet, as if the big bad wolf was holding his breath
right before he would blow the house down. At once, every pet and
farm-animal alike raced towards the safety of the jungle. Moments
later, a catastrophic downpour was dousing the area. Within
seconds, the energy from the falling water droplets had
supercharged the cloud cover and a barrage of lightning bolts
struck every tree throughout the settlement.

A storm of fire and electricity consumed
every building, plant and person within the village boundaries.
Like an array of lightning bolts, the choji trees drew in lightning
from the clouds. With every drop of rain, the clouds' charge
increased and for a solid minute, for every lightning strike two
new ones would emerge until there was nothing left but scorched
earth and smoke.

Not even a hint of any of the brilliant lives
that were just extinguished, not a trace of a building or any sign
of civilization remained.

2 ISABELLE AND HER
CAT

The rest of our story picks up in modern-day
Los Angeles.

The sun had just risen over Southern
California. An early spring was in the air. It was the beginning of
what promised to become a beautiful day for the angels who were so
abundant, the city had been named in their honor.

Gemma's daughter, 28 year-old investigative
reporter Isabelle de Fleur, was working out behind her house. The
young woman ran along the extensive fitness trail that lead through
her abundant, jungle-like garden. Her light skin glistened with
sweat in the orange morning sun. Isabelle’s dark hair was flowing
in the wind as she jumped over one of many obstacles along the
course.

Running shortly behind Isabelle was her puma
Tonati. He was a stunningly beautiful cat. His tan fur glistened
majestically. A few leaps and Tonati had passed Isabelle on her
course. The puma disappeared into the bushes behind the next turn
of the trail. Just as Isabelle came around the corner, Tonati
jumped at her from behind a bush. The force of the leaping cat
knocked Isabelle to the ground. The puma let out a triumphant
roar.

"My turn!" said Isabelle laughingly.

Tonati made off, running down the trail. The
young woman jumped up and ran after her furry companion.

"You're not going to hide from me again," she
puffed, keeping her eyes on Tonati.

Isabelle knew, she wouldn't catch up with the
puma's swift speed. Tonati followed the trail as it serpentined
down the wall of the canyon at the edge of her yard. The large
branches of a banana tree by the side of the trail cast their first
shadows of the day over the ravine. She used her momentum to get
into the tree. It took her only a few leaps and Isabelle had
reached the end of a branch. She grabbed two very large leaves
which bent downward under her weight. All the tugging and shaking
broke loose a good portion of the plant's green fruit. In a
hailstorm of unripened bananas, Isabelle landed on the trail below.
Her feet hit the ground only yards in front of a charging Tonati.
In a single bound, the large cat came to a dead stop with his nose
just inches from Isabelle. He roared and Isabelle gave him a loving
hug.

"Nice workout."

Just a little later, Isabelle stood behind
the counter of her truly amazing kitchen. Her center of food
preparation was the perfect marriage of nature and technology. It
was only partially indoors. The rest of it made a smooth transition
to the garden. Several tightly-spaced trees acted as one of the
walls where the structure of the house ended. A large granite
island stretched across the center of the kitchen and extended to
the outside. A sliding glass partition for the island and two large
glass doors allowed Isabelle to close the kitchen off from the
elements outside.