I was walking past those old bins, the antique ones on the corner of Maidstone Street, where all the old garbage goes. Some people still use them. Most, of course, use the sky trains and load their rubbish onto them when they’re passing to get a train or hover car. On this high heat day I was passing the antique bins where a lot of stuff is still dumped. They can’t be bothered to go to the sky train or they are too sick or weak to walk anywhere far. The council bus still collects rubbish from them anyway.
The pile of old solar panels there today was astounding. Before the days of the new panels these would have been worth a lot – not now; everyone is into the new models, the ones that absorb twice the amount of sun even on dull days. Panels even absorb moonlight now.
I like moonlight. I absorb it every month in my glass moon chamber. I lie there still as a rock, shining silently in my own moon glasshouse at the end of the field. I lie there in wait for the moon to shine on my belly. She does and I lie there in gratitude. I feel her warm glow pulsating through me. I love to feel the moon on my limbs and feel her essence of dark-light. She fills me up whether its menstrual time or not. My menstruation started tuning in with the moon as soon as I moved onto the field community. The stink of urine, vomit and puss pushed me out of town eventually. But some never get out, despite the vermin and toxic gases.
The solar panels were worth taking. Not as good as the new ones but they would still work. I resigned to take a load back on our community bus. Buses were one of the few vehicles still allowed on ground level. Sometimes I just needed to be grounded. I hated flying actually. I had always detested the idea of flight. But how else are you supposed to get around unless you take the ground buses? We were 25 kilometres from here. I’d only taken the trip into town to visit Laura. She was so sick these days the puss was oozing out of her constantly.
‘Laura, why don’t you just leave, come outside to the countryside! Please Laura, you don’t know what’s happening to you here. You’re so exploited and contaminated and controlled in the town you don’t even know it any more. Don’t you see why everyone has these puss wounds? Can’t you see how dangerous it all is?’ I’d tried to warn her as best as I could but she wasn’t listening. She wanted to see another advert on Demon-Sky. She’d got the ad-addiction really bad. She said she wanted to buy more of that soapy stuff that takes off body hair. I told her it was highly toxic and didn’t work properly anyway. I said it was only natural to have body hair and if she wasn’t careful she’d loose all her head hair too. She just didn’t seem to hear a word I was saying. She closed her eyes for a moment then switched channels. There was an ad for fried biscuits and chocolate tea. She wanted that now. All these narking ad channels – it was unbelievable how they got away with it. I told her I wanted her to turn it off and visit us at least for a few days on the community. She wouldn’t have it. She lay there on her leopard skin futon lounging in her own muck. The bucket sat by her head in case she needed to puke and the bucket for puss at the other end, by her feet. Her long blonde greasy hair sagged onto the futon with clumps of it stuck onto the cushion. If I didn’t feel so sick myself I would have just cried.
I slammed her door in frustration. I couldn’t bare it. All those warts on her face from some cleaning gel that was full of that stuff they make weapons with. It was tearing her apart. I left her to it. She wasn’t listening. I could feel the remnants of her puss on my hand and wiped it off immediately. That puss wasn’t normal. It was all that GM and cloned food she was eating. It was a mixture of everything. God, what if she turned into something really grotesque? She could do. She was messing with nature like all the urban crowd. They lived here and lapped it up thinking it was an easy life. They didn’t have to leave their front doors any more; just slam on the breeze button, sunshine, dry day, rainy day, forest day, woodland day, sunshine on the beach day. They could make the weather and the environment anything they liked. They could smell the beach, caves, woods – nature that didn’t even exist any more, not here anyway. None of it was real. It was completely synthetic and gave the impression everything was fine, when it definitely wasn’t.
The urban crowd all ordered their synthetic food from central supermarket. It would come flying in on the hover cars which delivered it all neatly through the house tubes. They just had to sit up, press a button and wait for the pre-prepared rubbish to appear in its little plastic platelets. That was all people had the energy to do. They would occasionally run or walk on their conveyor belts but exercise and fresh air was generally a thing of the past. No-one had the energy any more. No-one was getting the right diet and nutrition. The fast food GM companies had taken over everything.
The only person I had seen in town was Laura. There she was attempting to dress her wound and wipe up the puss every couple of hours then drinking lots of water. The puss leakage makes you dehydrated but there’s nothing clean to drink. The smell of puss in the street was making me puke. I bent my head down and threw up on the roadside.
The town was pouring debris all over me. I couldn’t stand it for much longer. I loaded the bus quickly with the solars and shot off to my place of sanity, my retreat, my home away from all this.
I got away fast from that place of decay. All this just to save money, time, energy when people had plenty of time but little energy or money. Everything was cheap. Everything was rubbish and most people couldn’t work – they were too ill. Those of us who’d escaped were left alone. We survived. We were the well ones. We were the ones who still knew how to cook, how to light a fire, how to know whether something was edible or not. We sensed energy and other’s thoughts and feelings. We’d grown accustomed to helping one another, not living in isolation like the urban crowd who used to talk to their TV’s and mono screens more than people. That was the normal thing. Life was a cesspit pit. I hated it there.
The solar panels came in use. My community friends loved them. We never threw anything away. We just conserved energy and utilised whatever we had to make our own stuff. The urban crowd didn’t know anything about recycling or making things any more. I felt for them. They’d all been brain washed.
We were happy here as a crew. We supported one another. There was love, hope and healing amongst us and we still held spiritual knowledge. That was our key to survival. We’d built a pyramid temple and every day we gathered there to pray and meditate for ourselves, others and for the healing of the planet. We never gave up despite the dire state of everything. Every evening we huddled round the great old fire place next to the oak tree and sang and chanted, prayed and lit candles for peace. We drummed and danced and made our intentions known to the higher realms, the spirits and our ancestors. We held crystals and moon danced. We sent sound across the globe through our Tibetan bowls and giant gongs. We gave one another sound baths and crystal healing. We prayed for everyone here no matter what happened on a daily basis. We hugged and danced together. We used herbs and produced our own essential oils. All these were banned from town, but no-one, not even the authorities dared to come out to our community. They called it ‘The Wilderness’ and considered it dangerous and barbaric. Little did they know that their lifestyle was far more dangerous. There were just 8 of us here: Dann, Shanty, Slipper, Me (Thommas), Clover and Sam and Solarias and Hilary.
The problem was we were running out of food. There was little uncontaminated food left and it was hard growing when the GM seeds were blowing in the high winds. We’d planned to do some planting today. We always kept our fruit seeds and we were going to plant fruit trees, lemon bushes, melons, oranges and we had some turnip and spinach seeds too. They’d take a while but we had to plan for the future and future generations. The hemp was a good crop and we always did well on that. We made our own hemp clothes, rope and hemp oil. The hemp kept us going but it wasn’t enough. We had to grow whatever would flourish now. With our anti-GM herbal spray we would protect the seeds as much as possible.
Dann helped me load the solar panels off the bus-truck and we started standing them around the giant greenhouse. ‘They’ll do,’ he said plainly and simply. He never said a lot, claimed he was conserving his energy for telepathy and crystal power surges. I watched him now, his spindly form with loose hemp chemise and trousers and fine straight blonde hair and bronzed under a hot sun. The panels stood up well against the pine trees we planted 2 years ago. We pointed them south and others came out of their shadow-shacks to view my great find. ‘Hey, Thommas, get some more. These are great. See what else you can find there. Perhaps take a hike out there tomorrow?’ It was Shanty. She always saw the brightness of everything, even though our food was running out and the panels wouldn’t help us eat. But it would bring us more electricity and light into our greenhouse and that was always good for speeding things up, especially in winter. We had to think ahead.
We sat down in the evening round the great old fireplace in the centre of the wood. Solarias said we had to go looking for new seeds in the undergrowth of the plains. He said it was about time we found new sources of food, that we had to be the ones to start it off, start a new diet with whatever was available. He said we may feel sick or even die. He said one or two of us may die if something was found to be really poisonous, but with our God given skills of extra senses we should be able to suss out what was good and what was a poison. I felt nervous of the thought of eating strange foods and said so, ‘What if we all die? What if we start growing something deadly poisonous? What if…?’
They knew of my timidity and suggested I went to the bins again with Shanty to see what else I could find and leave the foraging to others. I slept on my sheep’s wool blankets and hemp over-cover very deeply that night. I dreamt of strange plants, ones which grew right out of the greenhouse roof taking over the whole community. I had a dream of a seed growing inside my belly and turning me into a giant pumpkin. I was afraid that by looking for new food sources that the human race had never eaten before was dangerous beyond our comprehension. But what were we supposed to do? You couldn’t guarantee anything was safe in the towns these days. It was all synthetic and then you’d get the puss. Even going into town felt risky at times. I always travelled with my protective herbal spray and covered my whole body with the protective paste. (look up what does this for radiation etc)
‘Morning Thommas! Ready for urban visit?’ It was Shanty placing a warm cup of dandelion tea into my hands. ‘Thank-you Shanty. I’m never quite ready, but you never know what we may find. They’re chucking out all sorts now. All the stuff that works – they don’t care. Its all old products to them. The ads tell them so!’ We both chuckled a bit knowing how fortunate we were to be out here and with control over our own minds.
We loaded the bus and packed some cold baked potatoes, spinach and carrots mixed with mustard seeds to eat later. These basic vegetables were our main food source now. Shanty placed a dandelion close up to my eyes, all three of them. Look at it Thommas. I sense you need this energy. Watch as the petals blow in the breeze. Look at how the bright yellow lights everything up. Absorb it Thommas. Absorb its bright yellow glow.’ As I looked closely at the flower my mind became a buzz of yellow and gold. I saw all these colours moving around my third eye. The yellows and golds were jetting around like shoots of energy reaching all my inner thoughts and cells. I was really attuning to the flower’s energy signature. I felt energised somehow and well. I had wanted a snack but there was nothing. Shanty knew I was hungry.
We reached town and the yellow haze of smog-pollution was heavy and toxic. The smell was like some cesspit. We placed our masks on immediately and imagined all the flowers with violet or green energy signatures. These would give us some protection. ‘And keep chanting petal Thommas, say your mantra inwardly. It will give you strength.’ I chanted 108 times ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’. It protected me somehow. There were lumps of puss on the pavement, urban decay. They couldn’t clean it up, there was too much of it. People’s wounds just leaked all over the place.
‘Let’s just get to the bins fast Shanty. Grab what we can. I can’t stay here long. Can’t take much more of it.’ The bins on Brick Street were toppling over as usual. There were a few brand new games, software, old pictures and photos and old Nokia phones. There were children’s toys. Kids never played with those old games any more. It was all computerised. A few sacks of clothes lay strewn across the pavement. ‘Take it!’ I said. We’ll need them when winter comes. It was all out of fashion stuff that was all. Not the latest trend so it was binned. A cop was coming towards us now. ‘Grab that software and a few phones and let’s shoot!’ I said. We weren’t allowed to take stuff out of the bins. It was a criminal offence. But anything dumped was just chewed up in machines and made into scrap paper. Once we’d stuffed them in our bags and loaded up the bus he couldn’t fine us. We were away again as fast as we could. He stared at us through his mask but there was nothing he could do. We’d won and he’d lost.
Back at the field there was a dismal feel in the air. Solarias and Dann had gone off to the plains in search of new food. There was barely anything to eat now. We’d eaten our spuds and carrots on the way back. We’d had our rations for the day. Everyone was looking thin and tired. I needed to recharge and sleep now. Town was harsh and sapped energy. You couldn’t survive there long, especially if you’d left. The urban dwellers just got used to it and accepted they were all withering away. It was just the norm.
We heard the sirens then. Pollution sirens to warn of high levels in the air. It was summer heat. It was always worse now. Heat and pollution didn’t mix. I felt nauseas and sick. I went back to my hut and blew the natural air generator all over the place as well as sleeping with my mask on. I visualised tulips, lilies and Star gazers. I thought about primroses and damsels. I had nuggets of information float into my mind. I thought about my granny deep in the wood all those years ago. She escaped and now my life in the wood was possible. The ones who hadn’t grown up here couldn’t survive so easily. They didn’t have the skills or bodies. They’d become addicted to the very chemicals that were polluting the whole country and killing them off. Some used to go out at high pollution times and sniff it all like drug addicts. They got high then very sick. Most didn’t live beyond 40. We were healthier and more alert to what was happening but we were running out of food.
I slept all afternoon and evening. At midnight I got up and looked at the moon. It was under shadows that came and went. Looking up at her I saw magic. I felt her glow. I asked for her energy. I wanted enlightenment. I wanted new energy. ‘Please dear friend moon, give me your light, your strength and wisdom. I need food so badly. If I don’t eat I’m afraid I’ll die. But I have to eat proper food. Give me answers dear moon. Give me insight.’ I wandered around the old wood where trees were suffering too. I looked at the Earth that was cracked in places and where the soil was a gingery red. I looked at the smog town in the background.
I was naked and wandering around in the places where nobody used to roam often. Most were asleep. Some played their bells or chimes in their huts. I’d missed the full moon ritual but I was doing my own. ‘Dear God give me answers please’ I prayed as I wandered and smelt the beautiful smell of fresh bark. I felt the soil while my fingers sifted through it. I looked upwards and smelt the shine of the moon through rustling trees. I lay down next to the great old pine trees and absorbed all of nature through the Earth. Our Earth, so contaminated, hurt and maimed yet so beautiful. I felt her energies being transmitted through my spine and feet. I lay feeling rooted to her as the moon engulfed my every cell. In summer time I would moonbathe outside. In winter it was usually in the glass moon house. I felt my energies expanding and maximising to their full potential. Each cell was being revitalised. Each organ was being filled with light. I called on the Archangels to help me too. My body and mind were in deep need of revitalisation and strength.
I looked at the plants around me, bluebells and hyacinths. The love they gave out and their energetic signatures were so alive and bright I was flowering and blossoming in a strange new way. Maybe because the moon was in Pisces. I wasn’t sure why it felt so strong tonight. I was in a moon chamber, a glowing woodland of light, my body too had become a chamber of light. I was glowing like a new born child. I kept asking and asking for new energies from the Earth, trees, wind, plants and flowers. I had been so forlorn and hungry recently but it was as if I was being filled up with a great food. I fell asleep out there naked in the middle of the clearing surrounded by the bluebells and pine trees. They loved me like no other could do. It was so strong and powerful. I was entwined in their energy.
They found me in the morning, Shanti and Slipper. They wondered if I was still alive and threw great torrents of water over my face. I leapt up suddenly. ‘Are you all right Thommas? You’ve been out of it a long time. Were you moonbathing again?’ Everything was a blur at first. ‘I just slept a lot Shanty. I must get up now and tell you something. Can you summon a meeting. I’ve got something I have to tell you all. It could be the solution. I really discovered something last night. I have some great knowledge.’ Slipper was her lover sometimes. He was a bit like a pet dog at times, following her around. His mind had been affected by the pollution a long time ago and he wasn’t alert for his age, only 19 but weak and frazzled in his mind. His body was lithe and strong though. They helped me up and gave me tea to drink, nettle for revitalisation and iron.
Slipper blew his shell horn and we gathered around the fire. Some were still out on the planes looking for new food. Slipper gave everyone a beetroot to munch. I quickly stopped everyone. ‘Look. Before you eat your beet look at it carefully. Ask it to give you its energies. Absorb its redness into your body. Try to see what nutrients and energy it contains and ask it to give these to you.’ Everyone was curious and tried the exercise. I sat there gazing into the fire, watching the different way people did this exercise. There were 5 of us here: Slipper and Shanty, Sam and Hilary. Hilary was quite new here but had survived urban life well. She was a spiritual herbalist, trying to help the urban crowd. She designed a herbal tincture that protected people against radiation and EMF’s. She had been in demand by some but couldn’t stay in town any longer. ‘I love it.’ She said simply. Slipper said he didn’t want to eat the beet any more. Others said the same.
I told them what I’d experienced that night. I told them about absorbing energy from the moon, plants, trees and flowers. I said we didn’t need physical food if we could just absorb energies. They were scared and suspicious. ‘What do you mean Thommas? We can’t just live off energy. We’ve gotta eat. We’re human after all, not spirits!’
‘I know, but don’t you feel you’ve eaten that beet even though it’s just energy you’ve absorbed?’
‘I know I’ve absorbed good energy, Thommas. But is this enough to keep us alive?’
The debate went on a while. I said, ‘Look, let’s just try it for a day or a couple of days, see how we feel.’
We tried it as an experiment. Solarias and Dann returned from the planes with new stocks of food sources. They looked strange. I was suspicious of those great green plants. ‘How do you know they’re not cloned or GM produced? We may get poisoned. ‘I felt it Thommas with my inner eye. I know these are pure plants. But we can all test them. We need to work as a team now and see what feels right.’ That was Solarias, leader of the expedition.
The day went well. We had two meetings. One was about the energy absorption, the other about the new plants and seeds. We decided to try the energy absorption first. I loved absorbing the petals of flowers, leaves of trees, nuts and seeds that grew in the forest, the Earth, tree bark and summer breeze. I took all of this into my system as I walked around bare foot and naked. I was a living being connecting with the whole forest. I was contained in every branch, leaf and flower. I felt our connection and I felt the love flowing through me like a gentle warm breeze. I wanted to be this walking energy of light, this light wave that absorbed like a sea creature everything that was nourishing to its system. It was impossible to be poisoned like this. We were only absorbing goodness.
We dismissed the new plants. On inspection they were not as pure as it seemed. We absorbed their energy instead. That was better and gave us new energies we wouldn’t have tried before.
We didn’t give up eating. We still grew and planted what we could, but we lived off energies as much as possible to acclimatize our bodies to this new way of being. We would be the new humans, the ones who didn’t need to eat physically. We tried going for days or even a week sometimes just absorbing energy. No-one suffered. We got by.
The software was useful. There was a program where you could digitally translate all the data from your surroundings and upload it instantly onto a screen. That way we could take the forest with us wherever we went. We took it into town so we could ‘eat’ while out there. Of course people had been downloading their own puss and negative surroundings which must have magnified the distress they were already feeling. No wonder the software ended up in the bins!
That’s how we became new humans. That’s how we learnt to live without food. We ate from time to time anyway just to experience the taste of food, but years later this became totally unnecessary. We just learnt to survive on energy. But that’s because we lived in the forest. The urban crowd would die if they gave up their superficial rubbish and tried living off energy. They wouldn’t be able to do it. That’s the irony really.
We’re working to help the urban dwellers. We’re growing herbs, plants and veg and selling them in town now. People are becoming open to the idea of eating fresh food again. So we’ll make a difference. We really will. We use our new energies to grow amazing fruit and veg. It’s so much easier now. Everything is easier. We’ll heal those city dwellers, the urban crowd and make them see what they’re missing out here. They’ll see eventually. They’ll see the truth. We just keep banging our gongs and playing our bowls. We send out our light rays across the world and ask God, the Archangels and our ancestors to do the rest. We’ll win in the end. They won’t survive for much longer living on junk in urban decay.