Dilemma of Dreams - 12

An adult speculative Christian post-Armageddon fiction
Dilemma of Dreams
Chapter Twelve: Complete
Last Day in the Mountains

I had a red outfit set out for me this morning. I asked Peralte about him choosing red for me. I did not see him in red. He mentioned not exactly liking pink for me. I wanted to agree with the pink, but I remembered that I was a girl, so told him pink would work. I however told him that I wanted white, although he could change the secondary color of my outfits. He told me that he would inform his ladies.

It still hurt to fire the pistols. After releasing the four rounds, Peralte challenged me to twirl the weapons. He showed me the actions with his guns. I did not do well, but he said that the activity would strengthen my arm strength, my wrist strength, and just looked good. I agreed, so played with my pistols during the day.

Jeraketh helped me saddle Saroniel. I was told that if I wanted to be a cowgirl, that I would have to build up my upper body strength. I had to admit that I had lost all of that in becoming a girl. He told me that there was not really any need for arm strength in the convent, but that working with animals and guns would require it. I thanked Jeraketh for the help and the advice.

I am not certain what type of angel had been transformed into my horse, but the being must have bothered God by moving around a lot. Saroniel loved to run. I again worked on all the maneuvers that I had tried the previous day, and others that I thought about during the night. At no time during the day did the animal refuse a command to go rushing off.

It was the sight of Pezraneeta that had me realized that the others had stopped for lunch. When I rode up, Peralte told me that I needed to explain my choice of colors to the lady. I first had him introduce the other lady. I now met Essabyish. She had very white hair and blue eyes. Pezraneeta admitted to being the one choosing red for my outfits, as she felt the color looked good on me. I told her how I wanted my outfits to look, and she did not argue. Feeling that I would be happier with my appearance tomorrow, I moved to get something to eat.

As I sat down to eat, Dimerkess said to me, “Don’t go running off, Vetacha. We will be switching realities in about two hours.”

Peralte said, “She has never been too far. These are my mountains, so I know how to find her.” He looked to me and said, “Keep having your fun, Vetacha.”

I replied, “It is so much fun. I feel bad that I did not think of doing it before.”

Dimerkess replied, “I must say, Vetacha, that your present personality seems so much different than what I remember of you as Mesapher.”

“I don’t know, I just feel lighter now. I felt angry and hostile as Mesapher. Even though I was living in Heaven, I felt frustrated that things were not to my liking. I was trying to get things the way I wanted, and felt that I had achieved it with my town, but I am now realizing that still was missing a whole lot that could have been mine.”

“I hear you laughing. You did not laugh as Mesapher.”

“No, I did not laugh. The only time I remember laughing… was… Damn. GOD!”

I heard the divine voice reply, “Yes, Vetacha.”

“Where are the books? I really miss those books.”

“I do not see why. They are there in your room. A whole wall is filled with an entire collection.”

I suddenly remembered that they were there. I did not read them upon entering the afterlife, as I felt all of my troubles were gone. I no longer needed the escape from reality the books provided. It had comforted me to see them, but I never considered opening them to relive those memories.

“Thank you, Father. I will probably go get a few.”

“The collection should be complete, but you are always free to come to me with any problem.”

I looked at the men and said, “I believe that I am learning who I really was.”

Dimerkess replied, “A girl?”

“A cowboy…er, girl.” I looked to Peralte to ask, “Are there any hombres in these-there hills?”

He had an amused smile as he replied, “I guess they are coming.”

“Yes, but there is no need to fear, as Sheriff Vetacha will take them on.”

We all laughed. I really had no idea about what it would be like to face hombres, track hombres down, or any of those deeds. I wanted to learn however. It would take some time to become used to shooting a gun, but I could be reading up on the topic while I practiced my sheriffing skills and letting my body mature. It filled me with delight to think that I would one day actually live the life that had supported me as I lived my life. Feeling that I was heading toward my dreams, I laughed with the men while discussing what I had read about the Wild West.

I rode with the others while working on a real western accent. English had not been my actual language, and what we spoke now none of us could truly say. There were however certain word patterns that I remembered from the books, and the men spoke of certain ways of lengthening the pronunciation of certain words. Some names were told to me of those who were from the period of the Wild West that I could go to for advice on how to speak.

I went quiet realizing that I was becoming a completely different person than I had been, but honestly the person that I always wanted to be. Being female had not been part of my dream, but the switch in gender had caused my mind to reset in a manner that opened up my thinking along paths that I had previously been unable to follow. The desire had been there, but I had been so entrenched in an alternate pattern of thinking that I could not find my way past certain small pleasures. I had been happy as Sheriff Mesapher, but now I realized just how delighted I could have been.

Understanding that these were not my mountains, I spoke to Peralte about possibly inflicting his land with hombres. He reminded me about Jesus mentioning for our realities to be more harsh, so allowed that something probably needed to be done to make life in his mountains more challenging. The rougher conditions would force his people to make drastic decisions that could result in a number doing things worthy of criminal charges. Considering that hombres would help me fulfill my dream, he felt that they would be one problem he would not mind inflicting upon his citizens.

He then said, “Of course, you won’t have jurisdiction outside your territory. I will however welcome your incursions, as long as they accompanied some recompense for your actions in my domain.”

Assadra softly growled with a clearly worded, “Meow.”

Fully picking up on the meaning of the comment, I laughed with the others. Some of the following statements I did not fully understand, but again I stayed satisfied with the general positive results of the exchanges. Feeling a part of the group, I never signaled Saroniel to gallop off.

A man upon a heftier, although slightly smaller, horse waited for us. Everyone greeted him, then introduced me to Beyathrash. I did not know the man, even as Mesapher, so there was no problem with my simple exchange, although I was pleased to see him tip his hat to me as he did to Assadra.

After the pleasant exchange of names, Dimerkess made a more in-depth introduction. “Beyathrash is the one that has been watching after Leotion. He thus came to present some pertinent information. Beyathrash and I have been in discussion, especially after the collapse of realities under my authority. He has lost two, and feels certain that Leotion will be next.”

Beyathrash had a deep voice that grumbled at times as it fell to a barely audible level. “Leotion is from China, and lived at a place near the Great Wall. He thus grew up hearing about the Mongols, although found himself enchanted by them in the same way that some Americans fell in love with things Indian. He put this reality together without much thought, although figuring that it would not take much thought. I mean, grassland, a river, and put some commoners set to a nomadic lifestyle, and viola, what more could one need? Truthfully, I guess that one did not need much more, as it has existed now for over a decade.”

Peralte asked, “What about Leotion himself?”

“Honestly, a rather fun-loving person. He however has become more and more subdued. Took a wife from the commoners, and settled with her to raising a family. I believe that we have all heard the story of the sons of God taking themselves mortal women, then the great flood. Well, cannot say that this is history repeating itself, but you might find yourself wondering.”

“We are supposed to interact with the commoners.”

Assadra replied to Peralte, “You don’t.”

“You heard Jesus say that he would be trying to get me to do it.”

Beyathrash asked, “You have spoken to Big Brother?”

Dimerkess replied, “Yes, last night.”

“Well, I would like to know what he said.”

Assadra replied, “He basically said that he wished us luck.”

“Well, I was basically going to tell you the same thing.”

Peralte asked, “Have you noticed any problems with the reality? Is the ratio of men to women becoming really skewed? Is the river running a little too fast? Are the animals losing their fear of the populace hunting them?”

“All of that. Ladies, expect to be ogled and have lewd comments directed at you. Men expect to be challenged. There are some antelope, but mostly horses and ground rodents.”

Dimerkess asked, “How much authority do we have?”

“How much you want? I am not here to lay down the law, but to provide what scraps of information I can. Leotion is my charge, but not one that I have had to worry much about. He threw his reality together, and as far as I know has been having a good time. Don’t go in thinking to upset any apple carts. Find what problems you can, and work on fixing them. If you do that, Leotion and I will be grateful.”

I suddenly saw Beyathrash look at me. He did not speak, but stared in my direction enough that the men almost said something. Before they could, he made a comment.

“Vetacha?” When I nodded, he said, “Nice horse. Probably the only one in the group that won’t get eaten.”

“I don’t know,” Jeraketh replied. “You aught to see the girl eat.”

Everyone laughed, but Beyathrash did end it by stressing a point. “They ride horses, raise horses, and eat horses. None of you are riding a local breed, but the people get desperate at times. While we all know that they can’t kill any of you,, they can get you in a situation where you might need to leave the mounts behind. I understand you wanting to go back for personal belongings, like that fancy tack, but there is nothing wrong with the local breed of animals. They are smaller, but quite sturdy.”

Peralte said, “We are not here concerned with horses, but with the reality as a whole and Leotion in particular.”

“My thoughts exactly. Brothers and sisters, I wish you well.”