Blue Skies for Rayden

Snap out of it.

Wake up. Don't make me pinch you again.....

Ahhhh! You're awake!

Take some time to take in your surroundings, but not too long. It's been a while since you last were awake. Check out the skies, it's a pretty blue hue today, or so I was told. And that air, huh? Gotta get used to that smell in the Haze, don't you? 

Feeling disoriented? Wishing you could go back to sleep again? NO NO NO, don't nod off again, stay with me. There we go. 

Hold my hand. 

I get it. I just woke up last week, and ohh boy, was I a wreck when I came to! Still feels like recovery is a long way off if I am being honest, but hey, it beats going back and seeing those horrid things again.

Hey, hey, calm down! Why did you let go? What did you see that scared you? 

My eyes? What happened to them? Well, I did what every soul SHOULD do here to live; I gouged them out.

HEY, RELAX, you are not in a nightmare, this is real! I am real. And yes, I am very much of sound mind, not so much of body though, as you can see. 

Why would I do tha- well, that's a long story. One I will share with you in due time, but before that, if you could be kind enough, could you lead me over to the nearest well? 

Yeah, I know it's a city, you don't have to remind me. I know that YOU THINK that there are no wells in cities, but that's because you've not been looking; in a sense. No thanks, I don't want a Cola can, and yes, before you say it, I know that there is a vending machine nearby. I can hear change being jingled nearby. 

Tell you what, hold my hand and wait for me a second. 

WHAT, WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING AGAIN? Stop it, man. You overreact so much. 

Where's my right hand? Oh right, now I see why you freaked out, hahaha! 

I cut it off of course. 

But here, you can hold my left hand for a second. I need to ask for something. 

He's thirsty, Abba. Lead us to place where he may drink. 

Who did I just talk to? All in good time, my friend. All in good time. 

We have to take a left and keep going straight. I might walk slowly, so I apologize in advance. 

Where is everyone? Good question. Mind looking at your watch and telling me what time it is? 

4:50 PM? Hmmm, Amazing Apparitions must be on, so we are unlikely to see them outside till 7 PM, after Love, Live, Lie.

You remember it now, don't you? That repetitive theme song that feels like it can never get out of your head? Having trouble remembering? Good, as long as it feels like a distant memory that you can't quite remember, like a wonderful book that you've just read that you've now entirely forgotten, we are on the right track. 

I have come thus far Abba. I have obeyed your instructions. Where do I turn now? 

Straight on from here, my dazed friend. 

Who do I keep talking to? Ahh well, I suppose it is time I reveal a little context. You've been very patient so far. 

Okay, so prepare for a history lesson, but the sped-up version. 

But before that, what name were you given? Asmodeus? No, not your Haze label, curse that wretched name! I asked for your given name, you know, the one written on your forearm? 

Asher. What a wonderful name. Did you know that in Hebrew, your name means 'happy'? Are you happy, Asher? 

Sorry, my brother. I understand the feeling. Well, Asher, I am Rayden. My name means 'Thunder God'. Don't forget my name, as I will try not to forget yours. Names are important to Him. 

So Asher, what I am about to share is going to be the most important thing you may ever hear in this short and testing life of yours. 

Everything we know is a lie. Everything.

Abba, close his eyes and open his heart, as I speak 

Asher, the world you see around you? Let me describe our surroundings in detail.

Do you see bright, blue skies? Tall buildings, built like skyscrapers that have scraped their way beyond the sky? Men always loved building their monuments to the heavens, didn't they? That was a rhetorical statement, Asher, I know that you did not know that. What else? Cars shaped like teardrops, buzzing quietly through the streets, barely making a whisper? Beautifully manicured artificial greenery, wrapping every open space as far as the eye can see? Like a Utopia designed just for you? Are parks just bursting with the 'sounds' of nature? Game arcades bathing the streets next to it in pretty pink iridescent lights? 

But you are seeing none of that are you? You're wondering what the heck I am on about? 

Now you tell me what you see. 

Orange skies? Japanese gardens and koi ponds? Sushi restaurants with authentic Asian chefs? Ohh, quite a different render, you got there! What else? No vehicles in sight? Just cycles and hand-drawn carts? Pretty Japanese women trimming and shaping Bonsai trees on the sides of the road? Trees in the park at the peak of Cherry Blossom season? 

What's my point? Asher, you missed it. Look at how I described what I could see when I first opened my eyes last week. Look at what you described about what you could see. Ahhhh, I don't need eyes to know that your gasp indicates that you caught on. 

Welcome to the Haze, Asher. To quote it's overused byline-

'An Apple one day, made the Controller go away. No more pain, no more sorrow, all it took was leaving Eden for a better tomorrow.  A Paradise awaits, don't be shy, a haven for unloved souls exists at a store nearby. Close your eyes and count to ten, we'll have your dreams ready for you before you open them.  Take a look and you'll see, the world in your palm, a Haze-birthed reality!

Recognize the song? Of course, you do. You can hum it in your sleep if you want to. They make you listen to it as a child. All of us had to. 

Asher, the world you see around you, is very real, but at the same time, it is not. In a sense, it is real to you, and yet simultaneously, real to me at the same time; both being different states of reality for two people in the same REAL space we cohabit together.  

Wait, wait, SHIT SHIT SHIT, ASHER CLOSE YOUR EYES, I COMMAND YOU. NO NO, I PLEAD WITH YOU. ASHER, CLOSE THEM. ARE THEY CLOSED? OKAY, HOLD MY HAND AND WAIT RIGHT THERE. 

Abba, I can hear the jingles. They are coming close. I tarried for too long to ask for guidance on where I should go, and now, I am lost. Abba, forgive me. I ask for protection in the powerful name of Yeshua Hamashiach

Are your eyes still closed, Asher? Good. I know, the noises are getting further away. You can open your eyes now. They are gone. 

Ohh right, they are a dark entity that appears only to the blind. To you, who still very much has your sight, it could have taken the form of a group of Japanese women passing by with baskets of flowers, or a group of college girls on their way to school or something like that. If you had opened your eyes, they would have asked you to join them on a walk to the river. What would have happened next would have depended entirely on you. If you felt hungry, they would have presented you with a large picnic hamper of your favourite treats. If you were feeling aroused, they would have taken you down to the river to 'join them for a swim' which could have very quickly played out into an orgy of your dreams. If you desired to be entertained, they would have presented you with a near-perfect performance of an ancient pagan, Japanese dance using gorgeous dragon kites. 

It changes from person to person but be warned, all those who hear the sounds of bells and do not flee will find themselves in a trap, tailor-made for free. A mere look is enough. 

I am freaking you out, I know. I can hear the fright and anxiety in your voice, but we were protected by Someone with the kind of power you have never seen before. 

And without further ado, let's take a left, and keep onwards that way, and finish up our little tale. 

Where were we? Ahh yes, alternating realities. 

There are two forces in this world we live in Asher; the Controller (as He is referred to by most) and the Brazen King. Ahhh, you've heard of the latter? That's no surprise, he is everywhere. He is on every poster or painting, coffee cup and cereal box, car or cycle paint job, TV show or short film. He is behind the scenes and sometimes on camera, subliminal and direct. He runs this world and created that little smart lens that they surgically inserted into your retinas as a wee lad, that gives him the power to change every person's reality according to their shadows. 

Right, you would not know about shadows, because you have no idea about Eden. 

Okay, forgive me, let me start at the beginning. In the beginning, there was nothing. Nothing, at its finest level of non-existence. And then came His words and reality itself took a place of being. The Controller, or the Creator (as others like to call it) had the kind of power that could call an entire Universe into being with a whisper, and it was. With the same breath, He created life within this reality He made, two humans, the first of our kind, and allowed them to cohabit in this wonderful garden together. Not just any garden, but one where a pure magic of a different kind flowed through its roots, where the wolf and lion play with sheep. Its fruits granted immortality and its vines gave a wine like no other. No changing realities, just one, for the two He called His children. 

But then the Brazen King, once a leader of the Controller's inner courts, now exiled for his mutiny, wanted to remake Eden in his image. So he tricked the woman into eating the Apple, promising her that they too could take the power of the Controller, and with two bites, the Haze was born, with its two founding members. 

The Controller as you can imagine was furious, and cursed both of His children out of His sight, locking access to the legendary garden of Eden forever, and striking a deal with the Brazen King. He would be given dominion over the rest of the earth, along with the authority to afflict His children. His children were cursed to mortality, as are we still, forced to work the soil and bear children through pain. And since humans are part Spirit, the other part; our flesh, would now bear the marks of our exile, including a vulnerability to be misled, or a shadow of twisted desires following each of us, courtesy of the Brazen King. 

Incensed with joy, the Brazen King asked about the catch, only to be horror-struck with a prophecy of a Servant King, one with power and a rule greater than the Brazen King's, who would intercede at a hidden point in history, who would crush the rule of the Brazen King, for the Controller loved His children, though they rejected His rule. For years-

WAIT, WAIT, STAY QUIET. Sorry. False alarm. Thought I heard something. 

As I was saying, for years, we rebelled against the Controller, controlled by our own desires and led by the lures of the Brazen King. Those who rebelled, against the Brazen one, were crushed and silenced, although, much to his horror, despite every effort to quell the revolt against his rule, some humans desired to pursue the Controller, even unto the gates of death. And so he destroyed, killed and tried to suppress every member of the chosen bloodline of the coming Servant King, in a desperate attempt to stop the plans of the One whose very words created life itself, but quite predictable, the plan failed. 

Let's stop here. I hear my Abba. 

What is it Abba? What am I not seeing?

Asher, in your right pocket, what is there? Take it out immediately. What is it?

JUST A TOFFEE? THROW IT AWAY AT ONCE? DO YOU WANT TO LOSE ALL THIS PROGRESS OVER A DAMN BALL OF SUGAR? SURE, GO AHEAD, TAKE A BITE OF IT AND BACK INTO A STATE OF DELIRIUM YOU GO.

Sorry. I lost control of my temper. I know I know, I am sorry, it was unacceptable, but He warned me that you would accidentally pop that little ball of Bluesy Pop in your mouth before I could stop you, and I feared losing you again.

IT IS NOT JUST CANDY. That little thing may give you a wonderful rush of liquid joy, but it would make you unfocused and right now, I need you to focus Asher. We can't lose everything we have just gained. Not for a damn Bluesy Pop. 

Thank you, Abba

We are almost at the well.

I know it's just an empty street, you don't have to tell me that. He has a way of hiding a well of Living water where you least expect it. Remind me to tell you about that later.

Wait, I know that voice...... Darius? DARIUS? PRAISE ABBA, IT'S YOU! 

Ohh joy! Asher, meet Darius, a close brother of mine! Yes, I know his eyes are gouged out too and his hand is missing, but look behind the missing parts and I assure you, his spirit is whole, praise Abba! There may be a prosthesis for amputated body parts, but there is no prosthesis for an amputated soul, Asher. 

Darius, it is wonderful to hear your voice! What colour was the sky, my dear friend? Magenta? Marvelous, mine is still blue, or so I believe it to be. Darius, I was just talking to my friend, Asher, about the Controller and Servant King. No, I don't believe he is ready to taste the Water yet, but I hope to finish the tale before we reach it. Speaking of, we better get moving. 

What.....he knows? Does the Brazen King know that Asher went missing? Has he begun the chase? My Lord..... How close? Salem? That's not too far away, ohh my...... Thank you for taking this perilous journey to let us know. Bless your kind soul, Darius. I'll keep you in my prayers. I wish you safe travels on your journey back. 

Asher, my dear friend, I am afraid we have to move quickly. The Brazen King has caught word of your departure with me and is on the way to try and intercept us before we reach the well.

Abba, I ask that You would delay him on his journey. I ask this and plead with you for Asher. We are so close, I can feel it 

I am afraid that we might have to pick up the story now, as it has been revealed that we are almost near the well. 

Asher, the Servant King left His Father in the High Kingdom, and descended into the world of the Haze, eager to fulfil the words of the prophecy. He was a man, of no noble birth, who gathered unto Himself a varied group of misfits and some common rabble and asked them to share a message to those who wished to know the truth about the Brazen King and the Haze. To prove His Son's authority, the Controller imbued His Son with miraculous powers and gifts, a sign of power given from above, which shook many people awake from the Haze.

But the Brazen King would have none of it, and constructed a plan with the aid of a traitor planted amongst the Servant King's inner circle, and had that man betray His King into the hands of an angry mob, incensed by the threat that the Servant King's rule posed to the Haze and it's smooth functioning. And at their hands, they tortured the Servant King to death and buried Him in a guarded tomb, a prison to hold back the sword of the prophecy. 

I hear the despair in your question, my dear Asher, and no, that wasn't the end of the Controller's plan. You see, while the Servant King lay dead in that tomb, His Spirit broke free and cracked a loophole in the Haze, which was cemented as the fulfilment of that curse on the Brazen King when the tomb opened in three days and the fully alive Servant King casually sauntered out and was even mistaken as a Gardener by one of His old followers. That was the end of the Brazen King. Or the beginning of his end. Now we are in the endgame. Why does His death matter? My dear boy, IT IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS!

You see, we humans were blinded by our exile from Eden and were tainted by a new will within us, bent to the pleasure of the Brazen King. And we would have remained there, but for the Servant King creating a way back into Eden; the sacrifice of the most pure-hearted and innocent man that ever lived, to pay the price of our reentry by bearing the Controller's wrath on Himself. And with that, He returned to His High Kingdom to the Controller and swore that He would be back, with an army far more terrifying than even the most powerful group of mercenaries within the Haze. He left His group of people behind, to spread a new message, that we could be free of the Haze in a sense. We would still be in the Haze, but for those who would bow their knee to serve the Servant King, He would grant them the ability to survive the corrupting influence of the Haze.  

This all happened hundreds of centuries ago. That brings us to recent history, or to be accurate, 20 years ago, around the time you were born. Technology has grown under the domain of the Brazen King, and he has utilized every advancement to his own means. Music now hides a sound wave frequency that dulls the senses or spikes levels of lust, aggression or grief in the hearts of its listeners. Videos and photos now carry billions of tiny images that move so quickly that you cannot catch them, however, they would have embedded a series of numbers and symbols into your subconscious before you can say Tally-ho! Genders have now erupted into more than 2000 varieties, and medical technology has given people the technology to change genitalia at the click of a button. Cameras are now as tiny as a pin and are used to record high-quality pornography, which has now been legalized and mandated as part of every child's sex education after marriage was legally banned. Cars have radios programmed to channels and podcasts that are run by producers hired personally by the Brazen King. Children are indoctrinated with recorded content from a young age, to prepare them for a lifetime of remaining in a state of hypnosis. Every child is given a new name that is based upon the names of the members of the Brazen King's army, and our real names are concealed. You are free to do whatever you want to whomever you want in the Haze, except to exercise the freedom to leave. 

Which is why we are moving quickly. 

Asher, a week ago, I was in the middle of taking a fellow Haze inmate woman to bed with me. We booked a Sex Lounge and changed the settings on our retinas to change the visual image of each other into the physical form of our deepest sexual fetish, as you already know. I don't think I need to explain what happens in these rooms to you. They are all recorded and you can probably find them online. As she went into the bathroom to freshen up, I heard a voice that sounded like Thunder, and from that terrifying sound of heaven erupting in splinters, came the words - 

"Follow me, Rayden and I will open your eyes for the first time to see"

Asher, at that moment, I saw something I could not explain. The room around me seemed like an ordinary, luxury Sex Lounge you can book through the app, but in a flash, I saw the souls of tortured individuals being sexually abused by large dark figures, who laughed in pleasure as those poor souls screamed in agony and fear. In fear, I stumbled back and yelled, which caused my lady friend to come running out of the bathroom to find out what was wrong, only she was no lady anymore. 

That was the concubine of the Brazen King himself, a starved feminine naked figure, covered in a scarlet cloak and ebony jewellery, now smelling of sulphur and the fumes of hell fire, rather than myrrh. In fear, I screamed at the sight of such a putrid figure, my senses overwhelmed by the revelation of the true nature of the Haze, and I turned on my heel and burst out of the door, with the scarlet witch following in chase. As I exited the Lounge, I rushed across the street to a Butcher's shop, grabbed the hilt of a thin butcher's knife while placing my right arm flat on a table, and cut off the hand that had fornicated with her. And as I turned back, holding in a scream of pain, I saw the Scarlet Witch approach me with a host of malevolent entities behind her. Knowing what I had to do, I looked up at the sky and said a prayer out to the voice that thundered, asking for help, and then drove the knife into each eye, gouging them out. 

The last thing I saw was a blue sky and a brief vision of the Servant King on His throne, repelling away every dark entity within a mile of me, with just a few words. After that, I found myself wandering, free from setting my eyes upon the things that stain the soul until I ran into you. Literally. You were lying on the ground and I tripped over you, as I wandered. I figured you had almost OD'd by the empty needles I touched that were lying around you.

Wait.....did you hear that? 

Abba, send them away, it's not yet time

Asher, the well is just up ahead. Listen to me, because we are running out of time. Go to the well, and call out to the Servant King. Tell Him that you wish to bow your knee to Him and that You wish to see. And only then, do you draw yourself a bucket of water and drink. GO NOW. 

I HEAR THEM COMING. 

ASHER GO, I CAN'T HEAR YOU RUNNING. WHY ARE YOU STANDING THERE? 

What do you mean you don't know? ASHER YOU'VE BEEN BLIND YOUR WHOLE LIFE. IF YOU KEEP YOUR EYES, YOU'LL LOSE THEM, MY BROTHER. PLEASE. 

WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU NEED TIME....... ASHER THEY ARE COMING AND THEY ARE NOT COMING TO TAKE YOU BACK. YOU REVOLTED, YOU FOOL. YOU CHOSE TO WALK AWAY FROM THEIR LURES, AND NOW THEY KNOW THAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THE SERVANT KING, SO THEY WILL KILL YOU, BEFORE YOU SPREAD THE NEWS OF THAT ANYWHERE.

ASHER, PLEASE, STOP OVERTHINKING THIS, AND THINK FOR A MINUTE. YOU CAME ALL THIS WAY WITH ME. WHY NOT A FEW MORE STEPS? 

ABBA, PLEASE, TURN HIS HEART TO YOU. TAKE AWAY THE WOOL FROM HIS EYES

Asher? Why did you go silent? I can't feel you near me... ASHER! WHERE ARE YOU? ASHER? 

"Rayden, I see......I...I see Him. The Servant King you spoke about. I drank the water, like you asked me to, and I SEE HIM! RAYDEN, HIS EYES, HIS EYES. THEY ARE LIKE FLAMES. I SEE HIM, AT THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE OF THE CONTROLLER, NO, FORGIVE MY FILTHY TONGUE, MY ABBA. OHHH MY EYES HAVE SEEN GLORY TODAY. RAYDEN IT'S BEAUITFUL.......Wait.....He is gone. Rayden, where is He gone? He is gone. No wait, Rayden, I can't see anymore.... RAYDEN, I CAN'T SEE."

ASHER, IT'S OKAY! It's okay Asher. I know you're scared. I was too when I first lost my sight, but I promise you, you'll see better than you ever did before. I'm here with you. We are safe now.

"Rayden, I.... I.... He is real. You were right! I saw Him smile at me, and speak something out which I could not understand, and those terrifying creatures that were following us, heard those words and went away. What was in that water, Rayden?."

Life. Abundant Life.

We have a lot to catch up on, my brother.

I just have one thing to ask you: what colour was the sky before it all went dark?

"Blue."