Charles Pendelton
      © 2008 Marty Langdon
Chapter 02

                  The mystical realm of Neptali Sable

The subtle manifestation would eventually grow into full blown delirium as I sat erect on the edge
of my bed waiting for the room to clear while listening to the tone of barely audible voices begin
a formal conversation in the empty room next to mine. Encaptivated by the linguistic suggestion
of words in prose, I was feeling within my own spirit an intense longing. Sounding to be in their
mid twenties or early thirties, I could surmise they were either literary students or teachers. So
articulate and gentle were their words that I thought they might very well be lovers. The susurrant
sighs and whispers turned into moans and kisses, indicating to me what I had first appeared to
believe was true. Soon an altercation would develop between them over something as insignificant
as a pen and without warning this small quarrel escalated into a full fledged brawl.

The intonations were so pronounced, I feared Mother would come rushing into my
room and blame me with,
"What's going on?" (and) "How dare you!" (But nothing)
The room then became deathly quiet.



As a resonating chamber would resound in tunes distinct, so did these vocal tones emanate in range, charged with fury! The pulling of hair and the shoving fueled so much contention that the sound of brute slaps could be heard. A table lamp fell crashing to the hardwood floor but made no echo. If I tried to listen, they would stop. Then a mild repose quieted the bickering and the argument ceased. Without warning the bathroom door slid from one side of its tracks to the other, then back again. The shower turned on and I could now hear the distinction between reality and that of a delusional mind locked in paranoid mode.

I felt strange, as if I were breathing in one lung and out the other at the exact same time, while my heart pounded within a celestial cage of protoplasm and bone. Like a statue I sat, unable to move; frozen in
time by worry. I began to fidget like a child with severe autism and came to the conclusion that I had smoked too much, too soon. Nothing could be worse than that feeling of over intoxication. My entire
soul was now affected and undulating. Like a stone cast into a still pond, I could feel my very spirit
rippling as it disengaged from the housing of its weary temple.



                                                              Pg 6
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The gasping cries of sadness were those of utter sorrow, in a room where fact and fiction overflow.
Till at last, the meek sound of whimpering was comforted by an amiable and loving embrace. As the
shower curtain was pulled back, the shadows of time dissolved in a shell of inner peace comforting
my thoughts where I now lay, blanketed and trembling under the covers of my soothing bed. A remedy
for the ailment which had now begun to plague me. Icy on the inside and feverish on the outside, I shuddered in a harrowing state of over induced stupor. Wasn't that always the case when I got just
a little too high?
A sigh of relief came when the morning yawned deeply, summoning the clouds of resinous smoke in a semi circular motion back up into the atmosphere and away from my room.
Under the covers was dark and so my mind showed me what my eyes could not see.



Indiscernible notions eclipsed my fictitious room,
where the division point for the exact medium rested.

In other words, if the world were to be cut in a perfect half
from one end to the other, then my bed would, in fact, be its equator.
Actually, anywhere we stand on any given day could be that equator;
it's the person on the upside down side that needs to do the measuring!

Indeed I was a stoner, hung out to dry in the rain!!!

As I began to drift away in this room, I could see the impression of an eroding shoreline.
It was the shore of Cairedon and as I willed it closer, I contemplated that sandy beach.
It was creamy-white with an infusion of stramineous projecting its color toward a radiant
wheatish yellow. Silently, I imagined staring at the tide coming in off the ocean.



As I gazed upon an infinite sea that seemed to go on forever, I could see
the actual point where everything stopped to become itself once more.
It stopped the moment my eyes found the back of my head!


Hey, is that really me?

Again my thoughts were obfuscated within a veil of
illusive dreams where I was left to ponder questions
that could never be answered by mortal man. . .

How many men have lived and died?
How many tears has a woman cried?
How many widows are there in this world?
How many parentless boys and girls?

How many insects live underneath?
How many grains of sand on each beach?
How many raindrops have fallen down?
How big is Heaven?

Only God knows the answer to these questions left unsaid, and who the hell was I that
yearned to know? To comprehend the impossible is madness and besides, in the length
of time it takes for the hand on my watch to move
one second, the answer has already
changed dramatically. Mystical rhetoric, I blurted aloud in my distorted lair! Where an
equal portion is longer than its counterpart; those equations can only be measured invalid.

                                                              Pg 7
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What is longer than infinity, I thought?
The answer is in the hemisphere of the probe.

If something does not end which had once started,
then it's safe to assume that if we stopped it now,
we could indeed measure it from beginning to end
therefor measuring infinity!

(((But)))

Since it keeps on growing as does the cosmos,
the end is in fact its beginning
for the center goes on forever as well!

That's it I thought, half is the end of never!

It was right about here where I had to control myself from running

up and down the block screaming,
"I found the answer which
had
plagued the world since the beginning of time!"

"It was me!"
"I found it!"
"I did it!" 



Half is the end
of never!!!



The more I dwelt upon this, the more hysterical and confused I became
until the big ball of string in my head slowly began to unwind.
Curled up like a cat in his sleeping quarters it
all made sense to me now.


*Zero equals more than its sum*

As pictures and thoughts flooded my mind at an alarming rate,
there was nothing I could do but allow it to happen. I had absolutely
no control of the situation whatsoever. The zephyrs came and went,
and I never saw them at all for I was in hiding. Like a primal creature
in the earliest stages of its development, I would wait until it was safe
again to resurface. After some time, my condition was once again stable,
and so I calmly unwrapped the sheets and coverings which secured me.


I gathered some sparse seeds together that had eluded me by rolling
away moments earlier. Not knowing what to do with these scoundrels
that would have me inquisitioned if I were to be caught with them,
I did the only logical thing I could think of at the time. . .

I put them in my mouth, and I ate them.

No evidence meant no crime committed, and it wasn't long after this where
I felt as free as a bird in an amaranthine sky to travel where it be I may.

I examined the elaborately detailed vessel for superficial marks
or scratches attributed to an occasional mishandling. Back in 1979,
I purchased the extravagant item at the merchant's over in New Dorp,
where I was living at the time with my father. It was more like a head shop
back then with every novelty one could think of in paradisiacal order!

Nowadays, the only place you are likely to find a store like that
would be in the basement of some reclusive East Village shop!


Looking around the room made me feel somehow intranssient.
I was now completely remodeled and better than ever before.
Fashioned from air was thy kingdom and steadfast my home!
I chortled in my head these words that bemused me.
An asseveration that should only be uttered by one
residing in the confines of a state mental institution.



                                                              Pg 8
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"Inkpop" reviews for chapter 2

cara_ruegg - "they might be very well be" ? I think you made a tinsy mistake in
that sentence. Other than that though this chapter is even better than the first.
once more beautiful imagery and descriptions. I am very much impressed. I'll
probably end up putting all your chapters up on my picks. lol.

isabella2296 - The whole concept of this is fantastic, and I love your incredible imagery.
You have incredible talent! Keep writing!

Mcrae by Nature - Yay, you have a chapter two up here. Last time I read chapter one,
it skipped over to chapter three. "I felt strange, as if I were breathing in one lung and out
the other at the exact same time." I really fell in love with your writing in this chapter.
I loved the imagery and how you described you bed being the equator of your room. This
was all so brilliant. There is such a rare quality to your writing. Can't wait to read more.


"Worthy of Publishing" reviews for chapter 2

Katie Mae - Very interesting! Can't wait to read more! *rating = 5 stars*


Don Brennan - Half is the END OF NEVER!


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PG 6) (3D) Empty room with chair by Naomi. S. Univ Student

PG 6) Heart final by Surreal Artist Laurent Monnet

PG 7) A dream within a dream
by Masterixx

PG 7) The flood-gate
by Jacek Yerka

PG 8)
Lesson by Gary Odom - (a fractal image)

PG 8) The Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky by Briana