Spirit’s Proxy

“Knock knock” someone said through the partially open door to Margaret’s office.

Margaret responded with, “Come in.”

Tiffany pushed open the door, and entered.

“Please close the door Tiff,” said Margaret. “Today’s my weekly office hours, I left the door ajar so students would know I’m here, now we won’t be interrupted.”

Tiffany closed the door and took a seat on the sofa facing Margaret’s desk.

Tiffany was a professor in the Religious Studies Department. She said, “A student told me something I felt might interest you, though it’s not in your field.”

Margaret, an archeology professor, raised her eyebrows.

Tiffany continued, “I’ve got a student who’s an Aleut Indian from Alaska.”

“Indians should be called Aboriginal Americans,” snidely said Margaret.”

Tiffany didn’t bat an eye at the comment, instead said, “This student told me the Religious Studies Department should have a course on the spirit world, given so many cultures believe in such.”

Margaret shrugged, replied, “Interesting.”

“I’m going to suggest that to my Department Head concerning the new course. I’m hoping you’ll talk to someone in your Department’s Admin to give me a boost.”

Margaret smiled, replied, “Certainly.”

***

Margaret and Kevin, her husband, often took their lunches together at a vegetarian café just north of Monroe Street. Kevin worked in the University’s Physical Plant Department as an electronics technician and elevator repair person.

“What’s new?” asked Kevin.

Around an endearing little smile, Margaret said, “Tiff had some interesting news today.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. She wants me to help her get a class going about the spirit world, says an Aboriginal American she has as a student thinks such a class would be a good idea. Interesting enough, the student is an Alaskan Aleut.”

Kevin said, “Sounds like something I should mention to a friend of mine. As a kid he lived in Alaska.”

“You mean that nut case who owns the business across the highway from the motorcycle shop”

“Yep.”

***

That evening, at home, sitting side by side in plush recliner chairs, during a TV commercial, Kevin said, “Talked to my friend today.”

“What’d he say?”

Kevin continued, “You know how whacko that guy is. First he told me there’s not a spirit world, it’s actually another dimension.

“Oh?”

“But here comes the interesting part,” said Kevin. “You know how weird that guy’s ideas are. Well he told me the spirits are waging a proxy war against Earth.”

“He claims that aliens in space live long lives, some are immortal, or near so. The spirits have no physical bodies or memories of their past lives, so when they attach themselves to living beings they’re able to experience things that without bodies they’d never feel.”

“The problem for them is that they greatly enjoy the sensations received from living beings. We’re sorta like carnival rides for them, so they get hooked, stay with their rides for an entire lifetime of the beings. Since many of the more advanced beings have long lives, including the people of Earth now, the spirits never leave their hosts until their hosts die. So that means the spirit dimension is being depopulated.”

Margaret interrupted with, “I think I see the problem.”

Kevin reached over, took his wife’s hand, said “All that terrorism that’s going on right now, it’s caused by the spirit dimension’s spirits who are controlling the humans causing the violence.”

Margaret pulled back her hand, cupped both hands over her mouth. Her voice was muffled as she exclaimed, “Oh my God!”

“That’s the problem,” responded Kevin. Those humans who are terrorists are mistaking the spirits possessing them for God. According to my friend, there’s only one God. The differences that we humans see in God that make them believe in their own particular God are caused by prejudice, ignorance, people’s lack of intelligence.”

“The rulers of the spirit dimension are able to feel the reduction in population in their domain. My friend insists that some wars of the past were caused by people unknowingly working for the spirit rulers to repopulate the spirit dimension. You know, like Hitler, many others.”

Margaret put her hands down as she said, “You know what bothers me?”

“What?”

As she turned her head toward Kevin, Margaret softly said, “That whacko friend of yours? As crazy as that guy is, he’s often right on with the things he says.”

THE END

C. E. "Chuck" Gee misspent his youth at various backwater locales within the states of Oregon and Alaska.

Chuck has been a logger, factory worker, infantryman (Vietnam war draftee, 1968), telecommunications technician, volunteer fireman and EMT, light show roady, businessperson.

Retired from the telecommunications/electronics industries and also a disabled veteran, Chuck now writes Science Fiction.

His blog is at https://kinzuakid.blogspot.com

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