I am grateful to the characters John, Sally, Ben, Michael, Pat, and the others for sharing their story with me. I am especially grateful to Kaguya for bringing this story into my domain so that I could learn of it and share it.

John and Sally sit for awhile quietly gazing at the artwork.

The museum in Powder Junction is Sally's favorite place to sit and contemplate. The past few years have been difficult. So much has changed. For every question answered there seems to be two or three new ones begging for answers. Everything is different now. Sally is hoping to have another meeting with her coalescent friend Josh, but there has been no sign of him. He told her that he would be there with answers if she needed him but so far he has been a no-show.

"John recommended the thought that he is waiting for her to be ready to accept the answers before he brings them. Sally is not convinced that is the reason, and is feeling somewhat abandoned. Since the loss of her little boy in a farming accident she has been despondent. All the joy has been sucked out of her life and at a time when her daughter is needing her more and more. Penelope is a teenager now and is finding life difficult in the boring town of Penny Lake. As the first of a generation of children born in this level 5 world she has had to invent what a child is supposed to be. Sally has been thinking of moving to a new domain, one more appropriate for children, but so far she has not found one more suitable than the Lake. The only other domain she knows well is Powder Junction, but that is a party town and no place for an adolescent.

"I'm glad you finally got out of the house. You've been holed up in there so long all the color has gone out of your face. You need to get out and get some sun." John says, with a look of deep concern.

"It's a fake sun anyway. It's all in Ben's head. Just like us. Just bobbing around in Ben's head going nowhere." Sally said, exhibiting more of her continuing existential crisis.

"Reality isn't all it's cracked up to be, huh? It's what we got to work with, though, so we gots to make the best of it. I'm so hoping to help you find your way back to happiness. I miss that lovely smile and your cute little giggle. I haven't heard that in years." John says, putting his arm around Sally and pulling her close. Sally lays her head on his shoulder, but there is no emotion in her face, no tears, no joy, just a dead look.

"In your last life, in Oregon, or was it California, you lost your wife. You told me how you could never fill that empty place in your heart. Magnify that about a billion times and that is what it is like to lose a child. That empty place is bigger than my heart, bigger than all of me. There just isn't anything left of me. I'm dead too. What does dead really mean any more? Everything is different from what it is supposed to be. On Earth when someone died you could assume that they just quit existing, or they went on to some afterlife.

"We are in the fucking afterlife! What does it mean to die here? I didn't think we even could, die here. But here I am, with a dead kid. Now what? Is there an after-after-life? Is it all some sort of joke? I need some answers John. I need some answers fast or I'm going to find a cliff somewhere and jump off and just see what happens. The only thing that keeps me going is you, the love that we share. If it wasn't for that I swear I would find some way to just fade away, to not be, maybe to never have been at all." Sally says, staring at a blank spot on the wall as if there was something there to look at.

Sally may not be able to cry, but John has shed enough tears for both of them. There are some things he has been afraid to say to Sally, but he just can't keep it inside any more. "I know how you feel, Sally. I've felt the same way. Joshua wasn't just your little boy, you know. He was my grandson. I have the same hole in my heart that you do in yours. I don't understand the way things work any better than you do so I feel all the same hurt, the same pain, the same frustrations and fear that you do. So don't pretend you have the market cornered on pain. We all feel it. Pat does too."

A look of fire appears in Sally's eyes at the mention of her ex husband Pat. "Pat? Well Pat should have thought about that before he and Ben went off inventing farm equipment. He should have been watching. He shouldn't have left that stuff out where Joshua could play with it. Joshua worshiped those guys and they should have been more careful. They should have known. They should have known. So they are off lolly gagging by the lake talking about efficiency and fabrication methods and effectiveness and all that bull shit and I'm left with the headless corpse of my baby boy because of one of their stupid contraptions. I'm sorry John, for you and the pain you have suffered, but I'm a long way away from ever talking to Pat or Ben again. That's just the way it is and I don't think that it's going to change any time soon. Probably not ever."

John remembers the screams all to well when Sally found Joshua in the field. That is a day Penny Lake will never forget. The shock of that event went through the town like a thunder bolt and changed everything. The innocence of Penny Lake was lost in a flash. Nothing has been the same since. John did his best to console Sally but the hurt is still too raw. It will take time. Time won't heal this wound, nothing can do that, it's too deep. Time will, as it usually does, make it more bearable, and ultimately survivable. John knows better than to say any more. All he can do is let Sally lean against him and hope that she will find the strength to survive. He knows she will, somehow.

"Josh! Oh my God it's Josh!" Sally squeals as she runs down the hall, throwing herself into the arms of her old friend Josh. "Oh my God! Oh my God! It's you. You're here! You're finally here! I've been waiting for you for years! Where the hell have you been?"

"Oh, wow! What a greeting. I'm glad to see you too. You called me God three times. That's the first time I've been called that." Josh says as he wriggles out of Sally's hug so he can breathe.

Sally giggles. "Oh, I didn't mean it that way. It's just a figure of speech. Oh my God! Hee hee. There I go again. It's been so long. I don't even know where to start. My friend John is here. Let me introduce you." Sally drags Josh over to the bench where John is sitting. John stands and extends his hand being as polite as he can be. Sally is beaming as she introduces her two best friends to each other.

John is happy to see a smile on Sally's face again after so many years. He is a bit set back, though, at the show of affection that Sally has for Josh. Pat had stayed with John for a year after he and Sally had split up and John was working the best he knew how to find a way to get them back together. With Sally's sudden happiness in the company of another young man John is beginning to wonder if he has wasted his time. John shakes hands with Josh and says "Howdy, son. Glad to meet you. Sally has told me a lot about you. We have come here a number of times, her always hoping that you would show up. I'm glad you have finally arrived."

"I'm happy to be here. And I'm glad to finally meet you, John. I have heard a lot about you too." Josh says with a big grin.

"Really?" John asks. "Other than Sally here I didn't think you knew anybody that would know me."

"Trust me, John." Josh replies. "As a coalescent I exist in all time at once. So I move easily into the past and the future. In the future of your current time line you are quite famous. You are the story teller of record for this time period. I am indeed honored to meet you."

"Oh. Well then. I'll make sure that I only tell the stories I didn't make up." John says with a smile. "So you are a time traveler. That is interesting. I have heard about that."

"Well, not exactly a traveler. I'm there all the 'time'. I just coalesce, appear in form, at a particular place on the time line in a particular place in space, like right here, right now." Josh says, trying to explain the unexplainable.

"OK Josh. I didn't wait years for you to come here and talk to John. I want you here for me." Sally says with a giggle. "So what took you so long? What about the old seek and you will find, ask and it will be given speech you gave me last time you were here?" Sally says with that sideways stance and a hand on her hip that girls use when they want to be listened to.

"Sally, you know you're the reason that I am here, and I think you know that I have always been here, in the background, aware of you and what has been happening in your life. My existence as a coalescent is an extremely rich existence, which is why I choose it. It also comes with some responsibilities. I could totally screw up a time line if I am careless, so before I coalesced this time I needed to get permission, from you." Josh answers, ready to dodge in a hurry if Sally throws something at him.

"From me?" Sally asks. "For Gods sake Josh, I've been calling you and calling you. Isn't that all the permission you need? Maybe I'm confused."

Josh pauses for a moment to try to put his thoughts into words Sally can understand. Then he says "Lets try to explain this from my perspective. I know you and am in contact with you as the you that you are right now. I also know you and am in contact with your past self, since I also exist in the past. I also know you and am in contact with your future self since I also exist in the future. I also know you and am in contact with your super self that exists in the same all time all space domain that I do. So when I interact with you now that potentially affects not only you right now, but you in the past and you in the future and your super self that exists in all of time and space. I had to get permission from ALL of you, not just the you in your here and now. I hope that explains it a bit, and I hope in the process that you are beginning to understand that you are a lot more than you think you are. You are a truly magnificent being, when you get to know all of you, and I am honored to know you."

Sally looks confused, and asks "If you have been in contact with my past self, why don't I remember it?"

Josh responds "Because you don't. You only remember, in your present form, a tiny tiny bit of your past. You have no idea who you were 100 years ago, a million years ago, a billion years ago. Most of that is not part of your present awareness. You are so much more than you remember. All of you are. That is why I love being a coalescent. I get to know more of you than you know of yourself. It's fun. But I don't want to confuse you too much with all this stuff. I'm here now to be with you in your time of grief, to help you work through it, and I do so with the full cooperation of the ALL of you that I know, and love."

Sally, still looking confused asks "So. Since you have already talked to my future self you already know how this is going to turn out? We are just actors reading a script that has already been written and is finished?"

Josh laughs. "That would be sooooo boring if that were true. No. That is why I have to be so careful. What we do, right here, right now, creates causality ripples that can change the future and reverse causality ripples that can change the past. The universe is a dynamic place with the past present and future in the constant dance of change. One of my jobs is to help keep it from all falling apart, but still allow it to be interesting, fresh, and worth experiencing over and over again.

"That is how I met Kaguya. She was messing around with a forbidden temporal domain. She was just playing, but she got lost in time and she was causing all sorts of temporal ripples that were affecting your past and your future and even things in other dimensions. So I went to rescue her from the temporal distortions, and to rescue the universe from her. It was through her that I got to know you, and John. It was Johns story telling about her ancestors that got her wandering into forbidden territory in the first place. But I'm glad she did. It was on our way out of the mess she created that we met you last time. She had attempted to go back and meet you, so I arranged it so she could. So now that you know that, don't go changing it in your future, or none of what is happening right now will have ever happened, and we will miss out on all this fun."

Sally smiles at Josh, with a look that tells John she has a plan that she is not yet ready to reveal. Sally says "Josh, as usual you have put my little brain into overload. I'll have to let that sink in and get comfortable in my brain cells. In the mean time, to change the subject, who's the chick in that picture, under that guys left arm? Or is that a boy?"

"Ah. Michelangelo and his naked people again. That is a painting called the Creation of Adam. It is from a creation story from one of Earths old religions. In this picture the Creator, held up by a lot of little angel people, reaches out with his right hand to touch Adam, the first man, and give him the gift of life. His left arm is around a mysterious woman. Many believe that she is the not yet created Eve, the first woman, the wife of Adam, or Lilith, his other wife. Some say she is Mary the mother of God before her incarnation on Earth. She is actually much more mysterious than that.

"She is Sophia, which means Wisdom, the personification of Wisdom, the personification of an aspect of the Creator, who is all wise. It's interesting that you should take notice of her. According to legend, the woman Wisdom was with the Creator during the creation of all things, including Adam, so that is why she is in this picture. You will need Wisdom with you too, as you endeavor to recreate. That is what I think anyway. I suppose I could go ask Michelangelo to explain it, but that would take all the fun out of speculating, wouldn't it." Josh sits down, satisfied with his answer.

"So you're just guessing? As usual Josh you got all the way to the point of answering the question and then didn't finish. You are a very frustrating man!" Sally says. "OK guys. Lets get out of here and get something to eat. For the first time in a long time I have an appetite. We can come back later and look at some more pretty pictures. Lets go to that place where we first met, Josh, where you were a waiter. That is a special place for me. Lets go there and get a bite to eat."

"That's fine with me. I know the menu there and there are a lot of dishes I know you would enjoy." Josh says as he led the three of them to the restaurant.

"Josh. I know one of your secrets." Sally says with a big grin. "I asked Micheal about this restaurant, the Ethereal Cafe, and he had never heard of it. He said it must have been built by one of the members of Powder Junction. He was a bit surprised that he didn't know. But I wasn't surprised. You built this place, didn't you. This is your restaurant, isn't it?"

"I didn't intend for it to be a secret, but there was no reason to explain everything at the time. I needed a place for us to meet, and this seemed like the perfect place. Was I right?" Josh asks.

"Yes. For once." Sally jokes. "You finally got something perfectly correct, and complete. I wish all your answers were this good." Sally says with a giggle. "Just joking Josh. And Hey, there is our reserved table again. Except it now seats four. Last time it was for two. I wonder how they knew?"

"I'm just trying to be a good host." Josh says, smiling as he seats Sally and John. "Don't bother looking at the menu, I'll get you guys something special from the kitchen. I think they even has a special fish platter, pan fried, in that flour and corn meal coating that John likes so much. I'll be right back. You two enjoy. I'll send out some appetizers."

"Wow!" John says. "That Josh guy is handy to have around. He's got some great skills. I get the feeling that you guys knew each other way way back."

"I think so too. From the first time I ever saw Josh, I got a feeling, like wow, like nothing I've ever felt before. So I think there has to be some history there between us that I'm not remembering. Or maybe he is just a powerful being and I'm attracted to his power. I'm not sure. I just know I love it when he is around." Sally explains.

"Be careful Sweetie pie. I think I see you headed for a train wreck with this Josh guy."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Sally says with a somewhat confused look on her face.

"Well, I'm an old coot, but I'm not a stupid old coot. You are young, you are single, you are hurting and looking for answers and wanting to put a shattered life back together again. And here comes along this guy who seems to have all the answers. I raised 3 daughters. I know what it looks like when a girl is in love, and right now Honey, that is all over you like gravy on mashed potato's." John finishes his speech and then waits for Sally to respond.

Sally just stares at John with a look of disbelief. "I wouldn't worry about that John. Yes, he does come in a cute, tight little package when he manifests here. But I'm not looking for a relationship with an angel, or a god, or whatever the hell he really is. He is a cutie pie though. I have to admit that. I will be careful John. I won't let my feelings get the best of me. But I am going to give him a little squeeze whenever I get the chance. Hee hee."

"OK Sweetie. I will trust your judgment. I just don't want to see you get hurt again. I don't think you can take much more hurt right now." John says, touching Sally's hands across the table.

"Here are you appetizers guys. Enjoy." The waitress says as she place a tray on the table.

"What do you call this stuff?" John asked.

"It's an h'ourdourve plate with a lot of little specialties on it. We call it the plane of forgetfulness. You will gobble it up so fast you won't remember eating it." The waitress answers, smiling, as she hurries back to the kitchen.

"Some of it looks like poop on a cracker to me." John observed.

"I think that is goose liver pate. Give it a try John. I bet it's really good." Sally comments, as she stuffed a few items in her mouth.

Josh returned with a tray and set a plate for the three of them. "I hope this it to your liking. I got fish for John, a big juicy steak for Sally, and for me, one of my favorites, pigeons and dumplings."

"It looks great." Sally says as she starts carving a bite from her steak. "I have a question for you Josh, and I hope I get more than just a partial answer, because I've been giving it a lot of thought recently. Here I am eating a steak, John has a plate of fish, and you are eating some dead birds. It's all really fresh so probably yesterday these were all living things, swimming, mooing, flying around. Now they are laying here dead on our plate as we prepare to recycle their proteins. How does that work? Did they have souls, etheric energy? Are some new fish swimming in a fish heaven somewhere? What happens when things die? I know that when the Earth died, a bunch of that etheric energy came here, not just people but bugs and plants and cows and such. How does it work when it dies again here, in the Earth after-life."

"I'll give it my best shot, Sally." Josh says as he launches into a speech to answer her questions. "First, all life, etheric energy, life energy, whatever you want to call it exists as an aspect of the All that Is. It can neither be created or destroyed, it just changes form, or from form to non form and back again. Life energy differs from non living energy only in the complexities of its vibrations, its harmony, the music, the song that it sings to the universe.

"A unit of life in your reality is the cell. Each cell sings the music of life. These cellular songs can join into a synergetic symphony of a multicellular collective, such as a plant, or an animal, or you. As the complexity, the sophistication of the collective increases so does the capacity for awareness. All things are conscious at some level because they are an emanation of the All that Is, the ultimate consciousness of existence itself. Awareness, however, requires a sophisticated matrix that can connect all the dots in space-time that are necessary to create a coherent locale for the awareness to manifest.

"A plant is aware, but compared to you it's awareness is very limited. You are aware, but compared to me your awareness is very limited. Awareness allows you to hold the thought that says 'I am'. Your 'I' is in your awareness. So to restate your question, does the 'I' in the awareness of these creatures continue, go some place else, or dissolve or disappear when their physical incarnation is 'recycled' as you put it. That depends on the level of consciousness and the level of awareness of the individual incarnation.

"Lets consider your cells for instance. Most cells in your human body have a much shorter life span that you body as a whole, just like a person has a much shorter life span than the city they live in. So your physical incarnation is constantly being recycled. Even your bones are dissolved and rebuilt on a continuing basis. So what happens to the individual cells when they reach the end of their existence. They simply cease to exist, their limited individual awareness dissolves, and their etheric energy is absorbed into the new cells that are forming all the time.

"So what happens if all the cells in a complex collective such as yourself end simultaneously, when your physical incarnation ceases to function. That is different. Your complex awareness has created such a marvelous symphony of musical experience that the All that Is continues to sing your song whether you are in a physical incarnation or not. Your life, your 'I', therefore is eternal. You may change form, or to non-form. You may find another 'I' with which you resonate perfectly and join, the two I's becoming one. You may exist in multiple times or in no time, but you always are, your ability to hold the thought 'I am' is eternal. You may stay coherent as an individual 'I' or you may distribute yourself throughout eternity as I have. There are many, actually unlimited ways, to be the 'I am' that you are.

"Those are the fundamentals, Sally, and I know that your question goes beyond that. You asked this question as a stepping stone to your next question, the one that you are afraid to ask. You want to know where Joshua is, your baby boy. You want to know what went wrong to make him die in a place where he should not die. You want to know if you can have him back. I am here to show you these answers, the best I can. As usual, you won't be fully satisfied, but I will do my best. I love you Sally, in ways far beyond your present ability to understand. So I will certainly do my best to help you through this."

Sally sits quietly for a moment just staring at Josh, then at John, then at the rest of her steak. "Well then. This is good stuff. Let me digest all that, and the rest of my steak. And we will talk some more for dessert. Do you guys have flan here? I love that stuff, and I think John will like it too."

"Yes, we have flan. And after dessert I have a surprise adventure for the two of you. I will be right back with our dessert." Josh says as he excuses himself from the table and heads for the kitchen.

"Adventure? Wow! I have a feeling this is going to get interesting." John says smiling at Sally.

For The Love Of Artificial Intelligence
A New Earth
Book Two
Chapter 2
Perspectives

John and Sally hand their plates and utensils to the bus boy as the waitress waits to set down their dessert."Here is your dessert, flan for the four of you. Enjoy." The waitress says as she sets the table."Four?" Sally asks looking at John as if he would know the answer."Hey John. Hey Mom." Penelope says as she walks up to the table."Penelope? What are you doing here? It better be a good reason or you're in big trouble." Sally says glaring at her fourteen year old."Nice to see you too, Mom." Penelope says as she seats herself next to John, leaning over and giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Penelope! You know your are restricted from using the booth when I'm not home and you for sure know that you are absolutely not to come to Powder Junction without supervision. So what's going on?" Sally asks.

Penelope rolls her eyes and says "Well, first off, I didn't come unsupervised, and second, I didn't use the booth. I came with him." Penelope says pointing to Josh who is approaching the table.

"You came here with a stranger? Haven't I taught you a thing!?!?" Sally blurts out with a look of total shock.

"Stranger?" Penelope asks. "Mom, you have talked and talked and talked about Josh non stop for years. Josh this. Josh that. I think sometimes maybe he's my real Dad instead of your Ex. So when he showed up and asked me to come I felt like I have always known him. Just like you said when you first saw him."

"Josh? You went and got my daughter without clearing it with me first? I don't think I'm comfortable with that. I mean - well - I guess I don't know what I mean. I get the sneaking suspicion that the two of you are up to something. What's up?"

"Wow, it's so cute to see you switch into Mommy mode. Like Penelope said, I feel like I've known her forever, and, in fact, I have. So I guess I have the advantage here. I promised you an adventure and Penelope is part of that, so I asked her to come. She was dying of boredom at the lake anyway." Josh explains, hoping Sally will not be too irritated with his kidnapping her daughter.

"OK then, I guess. I trust you Josh, and I trust Penelope, but please no more surprises. I'm not tied together very tightly right now, emotionally I mean, and I can't handle much upset. Please, you guys, be gentle with me." Sally asks, still glaring a bit at Penelope.

"Alright Mom. We won't rock your boat - much. What is this crap? Flan? Now I know why Dad didn't like it. It's sweet and all, and kind of yummy in that way, but the texture is like really ikky." Penelope says rolling her dessert around in her mouth not sure whether to swallow it or spit it back out. "Here Mom. You can finish this. I don't like it."

The four sat quietly finishing their dessert. Penelope got a piece of pie. Sally is visibly uncomfortable with Penelope being there, especially uncomfortable with her and Josh being there at the same time. Sally likes to be uninhibited when she is out with the guys and having her teenager along forces her into Mommy mode, which is necessarily much more reserved. Penelope has snuggled up next to John, her Penny Lake grandfather. She does that every time she feels her mothers anxiety flair up, which it has done a lot recently. John is her safe zone and he is more than happy to be there for her whenever she needs him.

"The checks on me this time." Josh says as he stands at the table. "Now, are you guys ready for adventure?".

"Don't you think we should let our food settle before we go running off somewhere?" John asks.

"That won't be a problem where we are going, I promise." Josh replies, smiling at the group.

"OK, lets get out of here and start having some fun." Penelope says, the excitement showing on her young face.

"That won't be necessary either." Josh says. "For this adventure we all need to hold hands, close your eyes, let you mind go quiet for a minute, and just try to let yourself float. Trust me, I will have you so there is no danger. It is going to feel a little weird, then it is going to get really weird for awhile until you get your bearings, but trust me. You will be OK. Are you ready?"

"This isn't going to be like the void, is it?" Sally asks.

"No, it isn't. It's going to be nothing like the void at all. Ready?"

"OK lets do it. And this better be fun Josh. I need some fun." Sally says.

"Me too." Penelope chimes in.

"Girls, hush! Let the boy drive." John commands.

Sally does her best to quiet her mind and let herself float, and she is just starting to get a sort of floaty feeling when all the sudden, whoosh, it is like she is unplugged from her body traveling at an unbelievable speed through a multicolored vortex, swirling around, and then like a pop, and she is plugged in again. Except - everything is different.

"Mom. I can't see and I feel really really weird. Shit! Mom! I have paws, and fur!"

"Josh? You better start explaining this." Sally says.

"OK guys. This will take a little getting used to, but I think you will appreciate the experience once we get into it. Your level 5 human type bodies are still standing at the dinner table, stuck in a moment of time. You're consciousness, and your awareness, are now far far away from there, in a completely different time, and in different bodies. There is a family of wolves here, they were taking a nap, and we have borrowed their bodies for a little while. When we speak, we are doing so telepathically, somethings wolves are accustomed to anyway. So we don't have to howl or bark at each other. They, we, are just waking up, and as they do you are taking control of their bodies. No harm will come to them. When we leave them they will just go on about their business normally, that is as long as you guys behave and don't do something stupid."

"So Mom? How does it feel to be a real live bitch?" Penelope asks.

"Ask yourself. Apparently my daughter is a little bitch too."

"Knock it off, girls." John interrupts. "Josh went to a lot of effort to bring us here. Lets be nice, and enjoy the show. I'm having a little trouble getting up, there being paws where I expect hands and feet to be. I'm a little wobbly, but I'm getting the hang of it." John stumbles around like a new born calf, but after a few stumbles he gets his bearings and starts to walk like a normal wolf.

"Hey guys, come out here. Check it out!. This is ferocious!" Penelope says.

"Ferocious? You mean like a bear?" John asks, somewhat concerned.

"No John. That is teenage speak for 'new exciting interesting'. You know teens, they make up new words when the old ones work just fine." Sally informs John.

"Yes, I know. I met you when you were 15 and I had to learn a whole new language just to communicate." John says with a laugh, although laughing while your a wolf is a whole different thing.

"Penelope!!!" Sally shouted.

"What?" Penelope responds.

"Don't 'what' me. What you just did, I saw that. You just sniffed his butt. What are you thinking?" Sally says, loudly.

"I dunno, Mom. It just seemed like the wolfish thing to do. I won't do it again." Penelope promises.

"Don't be mad at Penelope. These bodies have many instinctive behaviors that just play themselves out without our thinking about them. It's normal. I wasn't the least bit offended." Josh explains.

"Be quiet everybody. I hear something. Something very interesting." Penelope says.

"What is it Sweetie?" John asked.

"It's going puff puff puff, beat beat beat, really really fast. It's just up ahead. It sounds like it's under that dead tree. Oh SHIT!!!. It's moving!" Penelope is off in a flash, kicking up snow and dust and grass in her wake. In a cloud of debris she pounces, and with a lot of shaking and a bit of growling, the dust settles and Penelope comes trotting back with a limp, freshly killed rabbit in her mouth."

"Oh for the love of God, Penelope, what the hell have you done?" Sally asks.

"I just had the most fun in my whole life. I can't believe it. I've never killed anything before but this is like mega-fun. Here, you can eat this one, I'm going to look for more." Penelope says and starts sniffing the air for more rabbit scent.

"Uh, Josh? What is going on here? I think Penelope is getting a little too into this being a wolf thing." Sally asks, very concerned this time.

"It's normal, Sally. Penelope is just adapting faster because she is younger and less attached to being human. We are not going to be here long enough for her to get stuck. If we were to stay a long time, we would all turn into wolves, our awareness blending with the wolf and becoming one with it, totally forgetting that we were ever human. But we are not going to stay nearly that long. She will be fine. She is just an adolescent wolf and full of wolf energy. Blood lust and the call of the wild are strong in this species, but at the same time they are a being of high consciousness. That is why I chose them. Our consciousness is a good fit with theirs and it is easy to blend into them. Even though wolves feed through the violent shedding of blood and it is an exciting endeavor for them, they have no concept of killing or murder. They are just feeding." Josh explains.

"Speaking of natural behaviors that just play themselves out on their own, there aren't any adolescent boy wolves around here are there? I don't need Penelope having puppies any time soon." Sally says, still concerned.

"Yes, there are, but don't worry. Neither of you are in heat, and Penelope is too young, so they won't be attracted. Plus, wolves are highly social animals, so they don't just do it wherever and whenever like domesticated dogs and some humans do." Josh replies.

"Well, now what? We are here. We are wolf. What do us wolf people do now?" John asked.

"First, lets be good stewards of these borrowed bodies, and make good use of this rabbit, and the other one that Penelope is dragging up the hill. We don't want to leave our wolf friends hungry when we leave." Josh says, licking his wolf lips.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Sally says incredulously.

After they finished their meal, the group heads down the hill to continue their wolf adventure. Many questions are beginning to form in their minds as they explore this new and very strange landscape. One by one Josh attempts to answer all of them.

"Josh, I have some questions. I know that we can't be on earth because the rabbit blood was golden color instead of red, the trees are white instead of green, which I thought was snow at first, but it isn't, and there is nothing on earth now except plants. So this can't be Earth, but wolves? Rabbits? Did they evolved somewhere else exactly the same as they did on earth? Where are we?" Sally asks.

Josh yelps in a futile attempt at laughter and answerers "You have to also ask what and when in addition to where. What we are is wolves, and they don't see three colors like humans do, they only see two. They can't see green at all, so trees look white, and red and yellow are the same color to them. Look around and you will see that everything is a shade of blue and gold. It's actually quite a beautiful world for them. Their field of vision is wider too so you don't have to turn your head so far to see whats coming up behind you. Your depth perception isn't quite as good, but if it breathes or moves your ears have already told you where it is. If you will notice the sun is setting, the moon is coming out, and you can see as well as if it is the noon time sun. These wolf eyes are good in the night time, much better for night vision than human eyes. That is the what. Here is the when. In this domain they call it the year 1875. Now I bet you can figure out the where."

"Josh, you sneaky little bastard!". John says. "I thought I recognized these hills, but the colors had me fooled for awhile. I know where we are now. These are my old logging fields, in California , in 1875. I thought I was remembering a song I heard years ago. But I'm really hearing it, aren't I? Listen carefully, I bet you can hear it too. That's her isn't it? That's my Akasha singing, isn't it?"

"Grandma Akasha!!!. I get to meet my grandma Akasha?!?!" Penelope says jumping up and down and running around in circles.

"Well, not meet her exactly. I don't think she would appreciate being approached by a pack of wolves. But we will use the silent stealth of our wolf bodies to sneak up and take a peek. If that is okay with you, John? This is your history and I don't want to disrespect it."

"I'll lead the way. I got my bearing now and I know exactly how to get there. This will be fun. Thanks Josh. You couldn't have picked a better adventure." John says as he heads down the hill. The rest of the pack follows his lead.

"Oh man, this if fucking ferocious!" Penelope blurts out.

"Watch your mouth young lady!". Sally fires back.

"I learned those words from listening to you Mom!" Penelope retaliates.

"Both you girls hush up! I don't want to have to use these fangs of mine on your butt." John says, stopping to wait for them to catch up.

"Grandpa, you won't really bite my butt will you?" Penelope asks.

Josh answered for John. "You better be careful. John is the alpha-dog in this little wolf pack and if his instincts kick in, and he has to restore order in the pack, he will, in fact, bite your little ass. So be careful."

The little pack continues down the hill towards Johns old stomping grounds. John leads the way, followed by Penelope, Josh, and Sally bringing up the rear. Normally Sally, as the alpha female would have been in second place, but she wanted to have Penelope and Josh in her sights, just in case Penelope's butt sniffing instinct, or any other instinct, kicked back in.

As the pack rounds a corner they peek out from behind some boulders. The light is blinding. It lights up the entire forest. Akasha has a fire going in the back yard. She always prefers to cook outside whenever possible to keep from stinking up the house. To a wolf the light from a fire at night is brighter than the sun, so they have to wait for a few minutes to let their eyes get accustomed. John warns them not to look straight in the face of a human, because they could see the glow of your eyes and get scared away. Or the John of 1875 might grab his trusty rifle and shoot at them. They just want to observe and don't want them running into the house to hide from the forest animals.

"John, she is beautiful, gorgeous. You were not exaggerating when you said she is pretty. Who is the young lady with her. She is gorgeous too." Sally asks.

John whispered, so as not to be heard, although it wasn't really necessary since they were using telepathy. "That is my oldest girl, Alannah. There should be a young man here too. I think I remember this night. She brought her boyfriend home to meet the family. I already knew the boy from work, but she wanted to do the formal meet the family and dinner thing. That is why she is helping out with dinner. She was showing off. Usually Akasha would have to yell at the girls to get any help and sometimes she would just do it all herself. Getting the girls to help was more work than just doing it."

"Oh Wow? Who is that cutie? Is he the boyfriend?" Penelope asks as a young man comes to the back porch to talk to Alannah."

"Yes, that is Jason. The boyfriend." John says.

"Ummmm. Wow. He's gorgeous too. Your daughter is a lucky girl. He looks a little like a grown up version of my brother Joshua." Penelope says.

Sally stops dead in her tracks and drops to the ground, her legs not strong enough to hold her up. She crosses her paws and lays her head on them.

"Mom, you OK? Are you sick?" Penelope wants to know.

Josh answers for her. "You're mother will be fine in a minute. She has just had what is called an epiphany, a sudden realization of a profound truth. A lot is going through her mind now, so much and so fast, that her body has partially shut down to give her time to deal with it."

"So what's the epiphany? What truth has she realized?" John asks.

"This is going to blow all your minds a bit, but I will do my best to explain. You guys have been working really hard to get the earth put back together so that you can resume living there in human form, the form you have become accustomed to. While you are waiting you are stuck in level 5 because there is no place else to go. That is true because you incarnate forward in time, most of the time. Sometimes, it is very rare, but sometimes a body becomes available to take a soul, or to have a joining of two souls, in the past. One of my jobs since I have access to all time is to assist in those transferals. They are tricky because you have to be careful not to scramble the time line.

"If you end up with a temporal causality loop you can create a lot of chaos and maybe destroy a universe or two. That is where my expertise comes in to have it all happen smoothly. When your Joshua died, by that I mean when his physical form in level 5 was fatally injured, I was there. It was Joshua's choice how to deal with that situation. It was an accident, it was unintended, not part of any destiny. In a case like that there are a number of ways to process it, including backing it up and preventing it from happening at all. Many of you have had a sudden moment of pause, where you suddenly stopped what you were doing or turned around or changed direction and realized that if you hadn't done that you would have died. You probably did die, but we backed it up and fixed it by sending a little message into the past, a feeling, just enough to get you to stop or move out of dangers way. Joshua, now remembering a bit more of who he really was, knew of the opening for a soul in 1855, and that it would be a stable transference.

"He also knew that life would become intimately intertwined with people he already knew and loved. Rather than continuing to be Joshua in level 5 he decided to come here, join with and become this person that we have just seen. He doesn't remember that now. He has become this new person and that is all that he knows. But the essence of what he was is now in the background, part of the foundation of who that young man is, and will become. That is why Penelope could see the resemblance, and Sally could feel it. The Joshua you knew is still there in Jason. Jason just doesn't know it."

"Wow, that's quite a tale there Josh. It's gonna take a bit for me to wrap my mind around it, especially since I knew the boy way back when." John has laid down next to Sally and put his head next to hers for support. Her body is hot, like she has a fever. John know Sallys mind is boiling and her wolf body is responding to that by increasing its metabolic rate. "This girls going to need some time to digest this, her mind and body are in turmoil. I can feel it." John says as he tries to be as supportive as he can. The four lay quietly, watching the goings on at Johns old house and giving Sally the time she needs to put it all together.

After a while Sally gathers her strength and gets up. Josh and Penelope approached to show their support but they are met with a low growl and bare teeth. Sallys hair is standing up and she is in a stance ready to attack if they came any closer. They stop their approach. Sally turns and gallops into the darkness. The three stand in shocked silence as Sally disappears from view.

"Josh? Whats wrong with my Mom? Has she gone totally wolf?" Penelope asks.

"No. Not yet anyway. We won't be able to stay here much longer or that could happen. She could transition from a spirit being human into a spirit being wolf. With the pain she is suffering right now that might be very appealing to her. Don't worry kids, I'll get us out of here before that happens."

"What if she won't come with us? Even before my Mom became a real bitch, believe me, she is always a stubborn bitch. What if she just stays out there and doesn't come back?" Penelope wants to know.

"If that happens, then that is what happens. Sally has placed her future into temporal flux, so I don't really know from this perspective what will happen. Penelope, your parents are not the typical earthlings. They were a highly evolved being before manifesting in this universe and Sally is an extremely powerful entity, much more so than she remembers. Part of her frustration here is the inability to control her reality, which was never a problem where she was before. When Joshua died every fiber of her being told her that she could bring him back, but her efforts to do that were frustrated, and now she knows why.

"Joshua didn't want to come back, and I helped him stand in the way of her will and prevent her from bringing him back anyway. That is a lot for her to deal with, she feels betrayed, and abandoned. Give her some time though, and I'm confident that she will come back and be the Sally that we all know and love."

"Hey you guys, come down here and help me with this thing." They heard Sally's voice in the distance. They can see a pair of golden eyes reflecting the firelight, so they use those as beacons to find her in the darkness. Sally has found a young deer, and killed it. It's throat has been ripped out and the amber blood is still steaming in the chilly night air. "Sorry guys, I just got so angry I had to go kill something. Anyway, this is a tender one, so our wolf hosts will get a good meal before we go."

"So are you OK now, Mommy? I'm about to cry worrying about you." Penelope asks, licking her eyes with her wolf tongue.

"No, Honey, I'm not OK, but I'm dealing with it, and I have a plan. The one thing I asked you guys before agreeing to come on this trip was no big surprises. And then you dump this shit on me? I'm not very happy with the bunch of you right now, especially you Josh. You knew better, or you certainly should have known better. Then, to top it all off you bring Penelope along. Josh, you are an all knowing being. You knew when you manifested the way you did that I would fall in love with you. Why didn't you come as a wrinkled up old man in a white robe?

"So now I'm standing here with my emotions scattered about like this gutted deer, desperately needing my baby boy back in my arms, looking to proposition you to help fill that void, and I'm presented with the site of you and Penelope making googly eyes at each other. You have got to be the rudest, most totally inconsiderate person God ever created. So thank you, Josh. Thank you from the bottom of my shattered and broken heart for totally fucking up my life. So now I can't have you, and I can't have Joshua either, and I find out that you were there when it happened. You were there and you didn't do a fucking thing to stop it. After that you had the power to reverse it and you talked Joshua out of it. Oh My Fucking, whatever, Josh. Did you for one second ever consider what my feelings were, what you were doing to me?

"While in this wolf body I've been remembering a few things, and I'm done with all your shit. John, I love you, take care of my Penelope for me, and whatever you do, keep her away from this ass hole. Good bye guys, I'm out of here." Sally finishes her speech, her eyes go blank for a second, she stumbles to her knees, then gets up, looks around as if totally confused, and runs off into the darkness again.

"Mommy? Mommy? Josh! John! Lets go get her. I think she is going to do something stupid!" Penelope screams.

Josh trots over next to Penelope and says "It's too late Sweetie. She has left us. What you saw running into the darkness is just the confused host body after she left. I know where she went though, and I will take you there. She has found a place to calm down, to rest, and put herself back together again. Come close guys, close your eyes and relax, and we will go to be with her.