No Innocent Men and Wednesdays: Chapter 2 – Cut and Dry

Chapter 2 – Cut and Dry

My home sits in the middle of America. Here is where most go to escape Old America and set up their own countries and ideas of what America should be. It’s essentially the wild west again since everyone does what is right in their own eyes with no government oversight besides whatever God allows to happen and those He employs to see justice through. Currently, I’m scouting out a town where the worst of the worst from Old America and the new wild west are set up to fulfill their evil desires. From the trade of drugs, guns, and other illegal goods, dealings with other countries, human trafficking, and prostitution. Here, people are so shameless that some have their preferred kind of sick sex in public while not caring about those who see it since this is supposed to be a ‘judgment’ free zone where powerful people can do what they want. I’m here to show them that they can’t.

In fact, I’m done scouting and going there to clean the earth of this scum now. What’s the point of it when I’m just going in like I usually do and taking no prisoner? Most of these towns have the same layouts and there’s no building bigger than two stories in it. The only difference is that there are more guards than usual. Speaking of which, I take care of the guards on the towers and sniper spots with my rifle silenced before using a hook and rope to climb over the steel walls. Going over to the building with a radio tower on it, I take care of everyone in it with the knife attached to my rifle before transmitting this particular radio signal and more listed black network signals back home with my transmission device. Most black network signals are memorized by those who use them, but they will write some of them down. These signals also change every now and then though it’s still good to know the existing ones now so we have a chance to find all the sources of the signals and additional ones.

Going outside, I see that the guards are on alert. The strange thing is that some of the people here are still going about their business as if nothing is happening. The guards are coming this way, so there’s no reason to keep up this halfhearted attempt at stealth. I come out shooting starting with the couple having sex with beasts in public before leaping to cover and shooting everyone else. Leaning up against the wall of a building, I consider my plan until I realize that I’m walking in front of a blackened window. Instantly, I drop to the ground before a shot hits me and return fire before busting in through the window and shooting everyone else in there. I almost forgot that the blackened windows in towns like these don't allow you to look in, but the people inside can see out of them.

My strategy is to go in and out of the buildings to clear them out, however, the guards are one step ahead of me and shoot at me from all of the surrounding buildings while the others advance into mine. It doesn’t help that the scummy citizens, slaves, and visitors of this town have all taken up arms against me so I essentially have everyone against me. Now things are getting hairy. After shooting those entering the building I’m in, I quickly check it for hidden exits in the floor, and surely, I find one. The intel I collected informed me of the secret exits that all these buildings have that lead to tunnels that go all throughout the town and offer an alternate exit to the town. In the tunnel, I find more people, however, they don’t notice me, so I’m able to get the jump on them and since I’m in a tight space, I switch to my revolvers loaded with shotgun shells and clear a path forward.

Because there’s no cover in these tunnels, I have to use the bodies around me as a substitute. Advancing forward, I find that the tunnels aren’t marked. This forces me to guess where to go. Right now, I need to get behind the crowd and deeper into the town where I’ll find more of my targets. Thankfully, I get to a building that’s a fair distance away from where I was with no one inside it. It’s also not too far from the surveillance station, which is another bonus. Gong to it, I find it heavily guarded with men in suits of armor in it. Sheets of metal come out from the ground that are as hard as the metal the building’s walls are made of to give them cover and make things more difficult…for them.

Switching over to my armor piercing rounds and charging up my rifle, I’m able to shoot through the sheets of metal and into my enemies. They begin to scatter because of this allowing me to conserve some of the fuses that I use to charge my rifle and just shoot some of them with my regular armor piercing rounds. After the shootout, I quickly check how many more fuses I have, which is only a few. If I run out, I could use fuses from fuse boxes or the fancy electric cars outsides, however, those don’t give as good a charge for my rifle. Doesn’t seem like I’ll need it though as there doesn’t seem to be anyone left-woah! A bullet just passed through my cloak. It’s a good thing I wasn’t hit.

Taking cover, I try to see the shooter in the surveillance room I’m currently in. The monitors and tables in this surprisingly expansive and dark room have been made into makeshift cover. I can’t help but look up at the monitors to see that they had cameras in every building and tunnel in this town as well as the outside walls and where the tunnels lead outside of the town. From the monitors I see, everyone who is after me is headed towards this building and it doesn’t look like I can use the tunnels to escape this time.

“I’d knew you come, Colton,” I hear a woman’s voice say.

“Does that mean you’re going to come out to let me shoot you then?” I ask not really knowing what to say.

“Aren’t you going to ask how I know your name or who I am?”

“No, not really because you aren’t leaving this town alive.”

“We’ll see about that. I already know your tactics after our first encounter. The only thing I was surprised by is your rifle’s charge function.” Okay, we’re just wasting time. I take a chance and go out of cover to try to find this woman. “We don’t have to fight, Colton. If you chose to work for me, then I’ll get you more help for your little town and state.”

There’s no point talking to her. I hear movement in the dark and shoot in that direction and vaguely see the woman that is revealed by the light of the monitors and gunfire. Unfortunately, I only managed to clip. She shot back at me, but she missed me as well.

“Why pick a fight with people like us?” she asks.

Because you’re scum. Simple as that.

“From what I’ve read and heard from my contacts, you’re a self-righteous man who kills whoever you judge as being evil. What separates you from us who do what we consider right?”

I don’t define good and evil based on my own feelings. I actually do what is right. While she continues to rant on, I sneak around the room until finally find her and put a bullet in her head to make her stop talking. That’s it for this building so I leave the room and find more people waiting for me coming into the entrance. One of these people seems to be a rich man because of his fancy clothes and what looks to be a diamond plated pistol. He brings in people in chains some of which appear to be in their teens and younger.

“I know how much you like defending the innocent, Colton,” the man says. “How about you leave and you’ll be free to take a truck full of the innocent back to your home with you-”

After waiting for the man to align his head with another’s, I take my shot killing three in a row. I’m not going to fall for his trap since I know these slaves are a mixture of willing slaves, people pretending to be slaves, and other people who have lost their minds due to the torture or drugs their tortures put them through. Not only have I learned this trick of theirs through the black network, but there are also many stories of slaves being freed and brought back to towns only for the towns to be taken over and their inhabitants killed or enslaved. Using the advantages I have, I take cover behind the metal sheets that are still up as well as my position on the top floor, and take out everyone who comes in. Eventually, they stop coming and I assume that I’ve killed everyone in this town save for those who managed to escape through the tunnels.

When I go outside, I find the truck of so-called slaves. Taking a grenade from one of the dead guards, I throw it under the truck and blow them up. My job here seems to be done. I’m about to find some gas to burn this place to the ground until a man decked out in cybernetic implants and armor jumps down in front of me from the second story of one of the buildings.

“Sorry I took so long to get my suit on. Now we can fight-” the man says before I blow off part of his head with my rifle. Seeing that he doesn’t fall down startles me a bit especially when he tilts his head. “Surprised? The best cybernetic implants allow me to become a human tank.”

Loading my armor piercing rounds, I shoot the robotic man over and over again as he tries to shoot and crush me with his arms and legs that can break off parts of the buildings and cars around us. It’s a back and forth battle of dodging and countering his attacks until I’m able to get at a certain angle where I’m able to shoot both of his legs with a charged shot to bring him down and despite all the damage I’ve done to him, he still lives, so I keep shooting him. He screams out in pain with every shot and part of his body that I blow away.

“I thought you were a merciful kind of guy?! Where’s your mercy now?!” the man says in a distorted mechanical voice.

“This is mercy. Now, do us both a favor and die,” I say.

It takes almost every bullet I have to kill this man. By the end of it, he’s in scattered pieces. If you looked at him, you wouldn’t think he was human and just a bunch of computer parts with bits of flesh and blood, which I guess is fitting. Whelp. Looks like it’s time to finish up here. I find some gas cans pour them all over town, set fire to it, and watch it all burn from a distance. Even though there was ammo, weapons, money, and more in the town I could’ve taken, it’s all ill-gotten, so as far as I know, it would’ve cursed me and my own if I took it. It’s reward enough for me that I’ve brought justice here and burned it all down. With that done, I go back home and get yelled at by Liah since I have minor scratches and bullet holes in my cloak. I’m fine with it knowing that she, everyone here, and everyone who would’ve been affected by the scum in that town is now safe.

No Innocent Men and Wednesdays: Chapter 1 – Killer with a Conscience

Chapter 1 – Killer with a Conscience

“Colton! We have company,” one of my watchers says.

Finally, they’re here. Getting my feet off the railing and tipping up my hat, I grab my rifle, and black cloak, and go out to meet our visitors. A pregnant woman and three men stop their truck in the middle of the road at the request of my friends who have their guns pointed at them. The group talks to one another before stepping outside with their hands up the woman leading the group forward while saying that they mean no harm and are looking for a safe place to live.

After shooting the ground in front of the woman to make her stop, I say, “We told you to stop, and let us search and question you before you settle down. What’s the rush?”

“We just want to rest since we’ve been on the road for so long. What’s wrong with that?” the woman asks.

“You’re not listening to our request. That’s what’s wrong.”

“I’m pregnant, we’re hungry and homeless. Why can’t you make an exception?”

“Because if random strangers walked into your home, wouldn’t you be cautious about them?”

“I thought this was a free state separate from America.”

“We are separate from them, but we still have rules out here, at least in this town. If you want a place without rules, then you could take your chances in the free states where there are none.”

“Are you kidding? You’d throw me to those wolves if we don’t listen to your rules?”

“Yes.”

The woman and her men pull out their guns and point them at everyone.

“Screw this! We want to be taken seriously-”

With my rifle, I shoot a hole through the woman’s head that takes out her and the man behind her before I shoot the other two. Everyone in town who witnesses this is shocked and quickly goes back to their daily lives when I look at them.

“Inspect their bodies and the truck they came in,” I tell my watchers.

Inside their truck, we find weapons, drugs, and various kinds of currency hidden in compartments that are revealed when a button is pressed. I also find a couple of boxes of birth control pills. There aren’t many pills and these weren’t as hidden as the rest of the products. It’s safe to assume that the woman used these pills to abort her pregnancy since these types of pills are meant for women who are in the stage of pregnancy where there’s a noticeable bump in her belly. I’ve also seen this trick before in my line of work used by trash women like her that don’t deserve the honorable title of mother.

“We’ve got more company, Colton,” a watcher says.

Looking into the distance with my cybernetic left eye, I see an APC approaching. Now it makes sense why these people were in such a rush to make their home here.

“Back away and keep your guns down. I’ll do all the talking,” I say.

I quickly put an eye patch over my left eye. The watchers do as I say as the APC drives closer to us before stopping in front of me. A squad of four armed and heavily armored enforcers step out with their weapons drawn. Their leader looks at what we’ve done and then looks at me in silence for a few seconds.

“Are you the leader of this settlement?” the leader asks.

“No. Just its protector. Take the bodies and everything in their truck and leave. I only ask that you let us take the infant out of this trashy woman and give it a proper burial. It deserves better than being thrown away,” I say.

“It seems you know the way we do things.”

“I do. That’s why I’ve made things easier for you so you can be on your way.”

“Ya’ll seem awfully patriotic for a rogue settlement.”

“We still care about America. Just not the one you serve. So, will you be on your way?”

The leader slightly lowers his head down and I can hear his muffled voice talking. He’s speaking to his other soldiers on their private comms about what to do. Sure enough, he agrees and allows us to take the infant out of the woman and give it a burial. After we perform the surgery, they take the bodies and the truck and drive away. With that done, we breathe easy. I tell my watchers to keep an ear out on the Old America radio, black network, and open network channels for news and an eye out on the road for possible trouble. I head into the tavern for lunch and a drink. Sitting at the bar, I order my typical beer and lunchmeat sandwich.

“Have you considered another option yet?” the bartender asks.

“Are you talking about my lunch choices again? I don’t see why I should,” I say.

“No, the other option that we always talk about.”

“What’s there to consider?”

“Maybe talk to them more before shooting?”

“I present my fair case in a cut-and-dry way. There’s nothing more to say as far as I know. Besides, my rifle is my best form of communication.”

“I get it, but you may end up shooting an innocent person if there’s a misunderstanding.”

“You know as well as I do that there’s no such thing as an innocent man. There are only two kinds of guilty men. One knows he is guilty and does what he can to make up for it and the other one doesn’t care that he is guilty and uses every excuse in the book to justify the evils he does.”

“Your mindset hasn’t changed much since your enforcer days, has it?”

“It’s been readjusted and corrected. Before it used to be arrest, shoot, or a mixture of both. I’d say I’m better off than I was before.”

“Speaking of them, it’s a good thing you have that eye patch on you. If they saw the crosshairs on your left eye, then there would’ve been trouble.”

“What kind of trouble that they would care about? Rogue enforcers are the last thing on Old America’s hit list. They’re more worried about riots, other states abandoning the union, and criminals and other countries who are trying to take advantage of the chaos like the ones we just gave to them. Old America won’t bother us if we don’t give them a reason to or make them know that we’re part of their country anymore.”

“What about the other rogue states? Shouldn’t we worry about the places that haven’t rebelled for good reasons?”

“I’ll take care of those neighbors and the other troublemakers in our state. I’m going to be heading out today to do that. I was just waiting for our visitors to arrive before I headed out.”

“Well then good hunting, but remember what I said about trying to talk first?”

“I’ll do it if I have a reason. You should do well to remember what I said as well. There’s no such thing as an innocent man. It’ll help keep this community safe.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Colton.”

After finishing my meal, I head out of the bar and almost make it to my motorcycle before Liah stops me. She’s a girl a little younger than me dressed in all light blue and an important person for me who pushed me to change. Looking at her now, I remember the day I met her when I betrayed the enforcers to save her and her family who were trying to flee Old America because they could no longer pay the high expenses of living and didn’t want to be forced to work to make up for it.

“Are you heading out, Colton?” Liah asks.

“Yes, I am,” I tell her.

“Aren’t any of the watchers going out with you?”

“No. I need them here protecting you and everyone else.”

“But you got hurt last time you went out hunting. Why can’t you take at least one of them with you just in case?”

“Because I need all of them here. If we had more watchers, I’d bring one.”

“Do you promise me that you’ll come back without a scratch?”

“I promise.”

With nothing more to be said, Liah hugs me and lets me leave town. When I’m a fair distance away, I look back so that I have a good view of most of it. It’s a quiet All-American town with farms, businesses, and churches. If you were born here, you wouldn’t know about the flying cars driven by the richest of the rich, the high taxes, corrupt universities, businesses, and the government. This is what America should look like. It shouldn’t be a materialistic dystopia where God, family, and country come last. It should be a place where people are allowed to find the truth freely and not have the government and corporations tell you how to feel and what to do.

Despite all the violence that’s happened these past few years, I’m glad that one sheriff killed the previous president and his criminal goons both in and outside of the government. It was the catalyst that woke up the rest of America to stand up to corruption. I was a soldier in the army and turned into an enforcer, but after what happened and the many things I did, I decided that America couldn’t be changed from within. Looking at the town from this distance is a good reminder and motivator for what I fight for now and why. I take off my hat and touch the rose that Liah gave me, which is another reminder I keep on me before putting it back on and driving away to start my work.

My Advice for Fiction Writers

 This post covers the general advice I have for fiction writers. All points are in no particular order in their category and may be added onto in the future.

Extremely Essential Basics, The Soul

• When you write, make sure you have a point or take a position. Every story has something to say. Even slice-of-life stories have their characters living a certain way shown as being either the right or wrong way to live. Whether you like it or not, you'll be taking a position against something and someone will disagree with you.
• Know that there are no real stories that are simply entertainment. Even action movies from the 80s and 90s have the main character fighting against some evil or corrupt person. This tells the moviegoer that (for example) drug cartels and military dictators should be fought against especially when lives are at risk.
• There is no such thing as subjective morality. You will say something is objectively good or evil even if you think you're just giving your opinion. For example, the nonreligious will say that organized religion and God shouldn't be listened to or at the very least aren't worth looking into, which devalues it. If you don't know why this is important in writing fiction, then you clearly don't know the value of truth and I'll have to ask you to really think about why truth matters and why there's always one truth in reality rather than multiple truths that are either all true or all unimportant.
• Know if you actually want to be a writer or better yet if it's what God wants. Only some people should write even if you think you can write something decent and have done so. Think about how many people there talk about things they don't really know, but talk nonetheless because they think they know enough. Think about the times you've done the same and embarrassed yourself as a result.
• You're writing fiction and not a lecture. This goes without saying, however, in light of how recent fiction is being written it needs to be said. You should make the story interesting to read so that even if the reader doesn't catch or agree with the themes of the story then they may at least may recommend it to another person for its entertaining world and interesting events. If you want to lecture someone on a topic in a blunt way, then write nonfiction. Fiction should be used in a way to entertain as well as teach.
• Do not write pornography or stories made solely for shock value. Both devalue human life and are dangerous for the soul and people's views of sex and violence.
• Write without concerning yourself with fame, infamy, and fortune. You have little control over whether or not you'll get these things. Trust me when I say that when a single person recognizes your work for what it is then everything you've done will feel as if it were worth it.

Essential Basics, The Body

• Writing a simple story that's easy to understand is better than writing something complex or confusing with events happening out of order. If you're having trouble connecting events, then your readers will as well. Think of stories such as Kingdom Hearts or the popular Five Night's at Freddy's series that are too convoluted and complex for their own good to the point where most people don't have a good grip on what's happening and why. So, if their stories are hurt by their way of storytelling, what do you think will happen when you give it a go? If you do try, then you better plan your story out and connect events effectively and understandably.
• Write a story that you would read. If you aren't interested in what you are writing, then it will show in your work. A work deprived of love is something that is hated both by its consumer and maker.
• The accompanying artwork for your fiction should be eye-catching but not deceptive. Even if you're writing a story that takes place during a person's everyday life where they fall in love and nothing more, then at least put a design on the cover that gives an idea of the story, its point, or its characters. Also, an uninteresting front cover is an instant turn-off for most readers.
• Reread what you wrote after you've written it or at least have a grammar program or editor look over your work before you show it off. I admit that I've made lots of stupid grammar mistakes in my work, some of which might've made the story confusing or given the wrong idea if I didn't look over my work again. Sometimes you think you've written one thing, but you've redone it or come back to your work after some time and forgot where you were going with the story. This has happened to me more times than I'd like to admit and hopefully hasn't happened in this blog post, so be sure to double-check your work.
• Try not to write prequels. A good prequel gives the readers interesting information about preceding events to stories already told. A bad prequel gives useless information and has no stakes, especially for characters whose fates are already known by the readers. The recent Kenobi series is a good example of a bad prequel.
• Try not to write sequels to stories that have satisfying or definitive endings. In reality, stories in series can continue indefinitely, but if you keep trying to add stories to it where the stakes are either unchanged or go through the roof then you're just bloating the universe you've created and the reader will be disinterested in it. Think of the Dragon Ball series where the stakes and power levels kept getting so high that these things didn't matter anymore and people started to drop off it because it became too predictable and boring as a result.
• Don't retcon things that happen in the series or change the readers' perspective on events or how your series' universe works without good reason. Everything in the story needs to make logical sense and introducing a twist or change that contradicts previous information will take a reader out of the story and may ruin previous stories in your series.
• The world, the themes, and the characters should all seem like they fit together. Having a funny or light-hearted adventure in a horrifying world makes no sense unless you're trying to write a dark comedy or trying to say something about seeing the light in the dark. Going from something like Wonderland to Star Wars to Resident Evil will be jarring for anyone so imagine these series happening together when your pieces don't fit together.
• Your story should be a reasonable length. Some stories should be long, short, or somewhere in between depending on what's being told. Filling your story with useless events and information wastes your and your reader's time no matter how cool or important you think what you're adding is. Everything in the story should be important and not something that can be reasonably skipped over as if it never happened.
• You can take as much inspiration from other stories as you want, but don't implement plot points, designs, themes, etc. in the same exact way. If you decide to make your inspirations into your own story with various changes, then you may compromise it as if you took pieces from one puzzle and put it into another.
• Don't write sex scenes in your story. If you're going to imply or say that someone is having sex, then only mention them going to have it, mention what happens after it, or just mention it without going into specifics. Pornography is garbage and having elements of it bogs down and devalues your story and human life. Also, sex is a private action and not something that should be publicly shown anyways.
• Use big action scenes, overly edgy, nightmarish horror, etc. sparingly. Overly stimulating your readers will normalize the stick-out events of your story and everything will become boring and predictable if your rollercoaster of a story is just thriller without any build-up and slower sane moments.

Check out my latest paperback collection on Amazon!

Paperback ($7.99) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSCY32WN

Kindle ($3.99) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSGF9NG3/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

What does it take to be genuinely yourself? 

The truth of the world can guide us to find our role in life and make our hearts whole. We need only trust and act on it to become whom we are meant to be and change the world. Follow the story of a man who views his life as less than nothing, a clown who entertains and can exorcise the demonic with his singing, and a blind boy who sees the world as an open book as they follow the calling of their heart despite the many challenges that they face at every turn. 

This collection contains; A Reconciliation of Hearts: Less than Nothing, A Union of Hearts: Love and Truth is for Fools, and A Blind Heart: Selfless and Sacrificial along with a couple of Behind the Story extras for each story. Also included is How to Build Yourself, a story of a doll trying to find out who she is and why she should care about life.

My 230th book is finished today!

Download for free on Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1315203

Aurelius is blind, but his Heart Absolute ability is to see the world in words and truth that describes everything to him, even the contents of a person's heart. He is studying at a school after the Church takes notice of him so that he can grow his ability and become a better servant of the Absolute. Though he isn't much, he uses what he has to become truly himself for the sake of others.

A Blind Heart: Selfless and Sacrificial: Chapter 3 – The Loving Hand of Correction

“And how else will it end? How can eternity itself be defeated? Imagine the absurdity of the truth being defeated. All that opposes it is vanity. All actions that we take that aren’t in line with who we truly are is vanity. Let us use our time on this earth wisely, brothers and sisters, by serving love and seeking truth. The smallest steps forward done in truth and love are more worthwhile than the storied history of a corrupt king. The corrupt king’s history will be forgotten and the results of his tyranny erased. Meanwhile, even the simplest man who is true will build a legacy that will endure for generations to come. Continue forward! Be brave! Together, with one heart, we will overcome falsehood, hatred, and all that is evil. With one heart, victory is ours!”

A Speech from True Progredi, Saint of the Laymen

Chapter 3 – The Loving Hand of Correction

It’s a normal day in the gardens of the school. Despite not being able to see the plants as they are, I still enjoy the smells of nature, especially since I’m stuck inside for most days. While reading, I lift my head every now and then to give myself a break and see the people passing by. Some strange people catch my attention in the midst of the garden. They have words such as nervous, possessed, dark, clouded, and even murderous intent. One of them suddenly looks at me, pulls out a short sword, and starts to attack me. Pulling out my dagger from my sleeve, I defend myself and disarm my attacker while the guards and other students take care of the rest. This isn’t the end of it as more sounds of violence come from inside the school.

What follows are many fights within the school that ends in the deaths of many students, teachers, guards, and priests. It's thanks to most of the students carrying weapons, having some Heart Absolute ability that can defend themselves, and the many security guards that the casualties were kept to a minimum. I'm thankful that I was able to remember to carry mine. You never know if a conceited has snuck their way into the school looking to cause trouble, a disgruntled student or group of students are planning something evil, or if a spell has taken hold of someone or some kind of other conceited power is used against us. These reasons are why the school allows us to carry weapons and I'm more than glad that we have them.

The criminals that carried out the attack that are still alive are brought to a secure area where they are to be judged by those who can read hearts like me since we can see if there is something left in them that's worth saving. A heart reader is typically used after a trial to see if there is still value in a person's heart or if their heart has completely warped into something unsalvageable. Those who have these hearts are executed so that they don't cause further damage to themselves and others and don't warrant a worse punishment in the Land of the Forgotten. I've dreaded making a decision like this for a while. Even though I've been trained to do tasks such as this, it feels like the task being suddenly dropped on my lap is unfair and I should've gotten a warning before getting it, and yet, I have gotten this warning through my training.

As I begin to start looking into their hearts, I see that most of these people were possessed. In them, I see the words jealousy, pride, inadequacy, and manipulation, but also regret among all of them even the conceited. From what I see and hear from the other heart readers, these people were manipulated by their fears of various kinds. Some were scared that their ideology wouldn’t get noticed, that the changes they wanted to happen wouldn't be heard out, that their loved ones would think less of them for failing, that nothing they do here will matter, and more like these. The conceited became what they are because they lost heart in who they were and tried to become someone they weren’t to take over the school and eliminate any opposition to their views. I understand why they’re afraid and why they did this.

This understanding is both a benefit and a burden. A benefit in that I can better understand a person’s suffering and a burden because I feel their pain and temptations as well. I know the feeling of wanting to do something important with the opportunities I have here and the temptation to use my ability to read people as a way to manipulate them. Because of the honest repentance in their hearts, we give them to the authorities to serve out their sentence in jail. An execution would be too extreme since there’s still a bit of truth left in their hearts and I pray that they do change.

The rest of the day passes and the next one comes as if nothing happened. I go to classes and continue my studies as usual with very few notable events such as votes or interviews in the near future. At times, I wish the rest of my life was like this. I wouldn’t even mind the simple life of a farmer or a house cleaner, to be honest. Thinking about waking up early in the morning to do a job and resting after it’s done every day makes me nostalgic for a life I’ve never lived. But I shouldn’t think about what I don’t have. Instead, I’ll appreciate what I have.

Yesterday was a test for everyone in the school and not just me. After seeing and feeling the hearts of the people that attacked us, I’m glad that I spared them. Today and tomorrow’s studies, exercises, and tests will help me in making future decisions and facing up to all challenges. Even though they may not seem worth mentioning, they are integral to building me up to be my true self. It’s just like an “I love you” said to a loved one. Saying it all the time may seem unneeded, but every time is treasured nevertheless as if each time were the first time it was said. As such, I will say an “I love you” to the Absolute and everyone around me no matter who they are with every action of my life that I offer up as a sacrifice for the betterment of humanity and love of truth.

It doesn’t matter if I’m voting for an important leader, doing a special interview, deciding the fate of a conceited, studying, sleeping, praying, or talking with my peers, teachers, family, and priests. All of it is an offering of love to the truth. Every single event leads me to become my true self and my Absolute given destiny. All of it I appreciate and value. The pleasures and the pain. Because what I’ve learned is that every life is lived in service to what the heart has fallen in love with. This is why I thank the Absolute for every day, blessing, and challenge. Oh, great. Now, I think I’m reflecting too much on the fundamentals of living life to the fullest again.

I have to do as the clowns that inspired me told me to do and live in the present while continuing forward to a bright future. Without further ado, here I go. Here I come, step by step to that future prepared for me by the eternally loving hands of truth, the Absolute, the master of all hearts, and the purpose of living for all lives.

 

The End

A Blind Heart: Selfless and Sacrificial: Chapter 2 – The Grinding Work of the True

“Many times in history have the truth seekers and fighters for love been oppressed, hunted down, discriminated against, and killed for their beliefs. Even now as of this writing, the people that the Absolute has made His people, His Church turn against each other during a time when the Church has now recuperated itself after the sacrifice of uncounted martyrs. I know that the greatest enemy is from within because I persecuted the faithful who embraced the new covenant made with the Absolute because I was trapped by the laws and customs of the old and my own pride in keeping all the commandments except for the law of love, which is the law above all laws. Listen to me, this ungrateful sinner turned bishop of a diocese, and love one another even if you may have feelings of hatred or distaste for one another and submit to the truth even when it challenges you and you hardly understand it because this is how the conceited and heartless will be saved. This is how we will become truly ourselves and eliminate the enemy within. Bless you, all.”

An Epistle by True Pontius from the Scriptures.

Chapter 2 – The Grinding Work of the True

“Sir Aurelius. The author, Mr. Dirk, is here to see you,” an attendant of the school says from outside my door.

“Let him in,” I say while settling myself at my desk and putting a bookmark on the book I was reading.

Dirk comes into the room, bows, and holds out his hand before saying, “It’s an honor to meet you, Sir Aurelius.”

“It’s my pleasure Mr. Dirk,” I say while shaking hands, “Please, call me Aurelius. Being called sir is unnecessary for this interview.”

“You can call me Dirk and take off the "sir" as well. I’ve heard that you like keeping meetings like these casual and I like that style.”

“It’s simple and keeps things relatable and more human in my opinion. I wouldn’t have minded if you dressed more casually too. I see everything in words after all. Would you like some tea, wine, or coffee? I have all three ready since I didn’t know what you’d prefer.”

Dirk sits on one side of my desk.

“Tea, please. I’ll drink some wine with my dinner after I get done with the interview. Don’t want my handwriting on my notes to be scribbles and want to keep this meeting as professional as possible.”

I pour tea for the both of us and sit down at my desk ready for the interview. Dirk sips his tea and I can see the words comfortable and at ease appear on him. In addition, I also see the words inquisitive and eager. He looks at me and smiles knowing that I can read how he feels.

“Your Heart Absolute ability must be allowing you to read me like an open book, Aurelius,” he says.

“All of reality is like an open book to me with the words bending around the things they describe. Is that why you wanted to interview me rather than the other who can read hearts?” I say.

“Of course, there’s no one else in the world that I know of that has the same ability as you.”

“I’m sure there will be another in time. I mean I’ve heard of scientists and mathematicians who can see the equations that make up reality, but I understand what you would pick me. So, what would you like to ask me for your next best seller?”

“You already understand why if you understand why I would pick you. You see the words the Absolute makes reality out of. It’s why I came to you rather than a man who can read the equations that reality is made of. I want to write a book about how the truths of the world help us in our lives that are stories already written by the Absolute.”

“First, I’d like to say that our stories aren’t already written as far as we know. We aren’t damned to the Land of the Forgotten or saved and ready to go to the Land of the True. Sure, the Absolute sees the future and does write our stories, but it’s our choices that write our stories and they can either be romances or tragedies depending on if we decide to be true to the character that the Absolute has written us as.”

“Yes, yes. It’s kind of what I meant. Sorry.”

“That’s fine. I’m sorry for going off there for a bit.”

“No, no, no! It’s actually what I want.”

“Then could I tell you more about how I view a story should go both fictional and nonfiction? I’m just going to be spitting ideas.”

“Go right ahead.”

Dirk is leaning forward and seems hungry in a way to write more notes and eager to hear what I have to say.

“I prefer my stories shorter. That’s not to say that I’d prefer my life to be shorter or filled mostly with life defining events. I just like my stories with less fluff and events and lore that don’t really matter to the greater story. To be honest, it’s in those uneventful moments in life that matter most. Our daily routine is what prepares us to make the bigger choices and what defines us. I both want to make those bigger choices to change my life and the lives of everyone for the better and fear the day they come because I may make a mistake and ruin what could’ve been.”

“I see. I too fear the mistakes of the present ruining the future just like how a bad plot point in a story could ruin it in its entirety.”

“But really I shouldn’t worry about the mistakes of the past and challenges of the future. It’s what the clowns that inspired me to use my ability to the fullest said emphasized.”

“Oh, yes. I’ve been to that circus and read a lot about its two leading clowns. Isn’t one of them an ex-tyrant that is serving his penance by evangelizing the places the Church isn’t controlling through his singing?”

“I’m glad to see that you’ve taken interest in it. I have to go back there one day and thank them for everything they’ve done for me and watch their spectacular shows. I’m not sure he’s serving his penance to the kingdom that he wronged anymore. As far as I know, they kept an eye on him for a while to make sure that his change of heart was sincere until letting him go and allowing him to serve his purpose.”

“That’s interesting. To let a person go so easily after he’d done so much evil.”

“Well, he is doing the Absolute’s will, which serves the kingdoms he wronged and Church very well.”

“That’s true.”

“Anyways, the next thing I wanted to talk about that is kind of a continuation of my previous one and that is the themes of life. What I mean is that every story has something to say as does every life lived. I prefer that every interesting story has an equally interesting setting such as the world we live in, a more futuristic one, something nightmarish, or even more fantastical.”

“I struggle to think of a setting more fantastical than this.”

“But I’ve read great stories that are like yours. Your future stories make my imagination go wild with what can be possible in the future.”

“You flatter me too much. They’re obvious assumptions about what could happen in the near future, but I guess you have a point. Futuristic stories are hardly different than fantasy ones. The only thing that usually separates them is the time period.”

“You’re right. Back on topic. Think about the stories that have inspired you and taught you something about life whether they’d be fiction or nonfiction. Even a story with nothing but action tells you something. Such stories about slaying dragons tell you that dragons and evil should be slain, stories of redemption tell you that no person is unable to change for the better, and stories of freedom tell us that tyranny should be fought against.”

“That makes sense to me as to why certain characters in my short stories have inspired people even though some of the main characters are one note.”

“Right. But also think about the stories that have inspired others but not you.”

“I know where you’re going with this. It’s one of my fears as a writer. I want everyone who reads my stories to enjoy them, but I’m blinding myself when I think that everyone will.”

“Correct. What I’m recommending to you is that you make sure your fiction is at least interesting to read because they are reading fiction after all and not a lecture. The lesson of it all may silently resonate with their hearts and be picked up by those looking for it.”

“Thank you for telling me that. It’s reassuring to know that there are those that will take away what I’m trying to say within my stories. Is there anything else?”

“Um, what about the value of stories about the enemy within?”

“Do you mean how we can be our greatest enemies or those we think that our allies are our worst enemies? I’ve got that down.”

“Okay, what about sympathetic villains or villains that are completely evil?”

“Got that down too. I wrote about it in my recent books.”

“Oh, that’s right. Ummm. Like I said, I’m spitting out ideas.”

“Come on. I’m sure there’s more you want to talk about.”

“Unfortunately, none of it is coming to my mind.”

“Okay, fine. I’m satisfied with what I got.”

“Want me to crack open the wine now?”

“Are you even old enough to drink?”

“I think so. Why?”

“You don’t look it.”

“Well, if I wasn’t, the teachers wouldn’t have given me this bottle as a reward for my work and high marks.”

“Alright. Crack it open then.”

For the next hour, Dirk and I drink and talk more about ourselves and even a few things that I forgot to mention such as that most memorable stories are those of redemption, romance, and fighting against some injustice, which speaks to our inner desire for these things. It was a deep subject to talk about or at least I think it was. After a couple of drinks, I begin to feel woozy and sure enough, when I look in the mirror, I see the words red and lightheaded on my face. Maybe I am too young to be drinking so much. Dirk gets me water to drink and the servants in the school to get us our lunch now so that I have something to relieve the effects of the alcohol. These things do help clear up my head, but in the end, I end up falling asleep not long after Dirk leaves.

Later, I hear that Dirk said he found my insight invaluable and that he’ll use what he’s learned for his future books. His reception to our meeting also gives our school praise and me another bottle of wine that I’ll be more careful in drinking next time. I can’t wait to read the next book he’s going to write and what positive effects it’ll have on its readers.

A Blind Heart: Selfless and Sacrificial: Chapter 1 – Blind Leader

“In the beginning was Truth and in truth was authority, consistency, and eternity because the truth is master over all, is commanding, and always has, is always, and will always exist. In truth was also sacrifice and charity because the truth is charitable by nature without the thought of getting anything in return since nothing can add to the infinite. Love was also in truth because love is a binding force and gives for the sake of the other. Because of all these things, creation came forth from the eternal loving truth known as the Absolute. All were made out of love and all contained truth. After which, there was peace for a time until the vainglory rebelled from the serviles in one of the first acts of hatred, and from that, the vainglory lied to mankind, and humanity sinned and committed their own acts of evil and spread falsehood, their own truths they wanted to be true for their own sake. Thus began the war between love and hatred, and the Absolute’s work to reclaim and purify the hearts made by Him.”

Excerpt from The History of the Beginning inspired by Scripture from the works of True Alexander of Inquirens, Saint of Scholars and Explorers.

Chapter 1 – Blind Leader

Learning how to be yourself. That’s the secret to true success in life. To be completely yourself is to be who the Absolute made you to be and to be yourself is to be what’s called a True or a saint. My journey to become myself didn’t start until I saw the Circus of Fools and heard the many songs performed by its two leading clowns that I was inspired to actually do something with my ability if you can call it that. Technically, I’m blind, but I do see everything as a series of words that forms a person, animal, or object. For example, I can look at myself in the mirror and see the words uncertain, resolute, and searching that comprise my body among many other words. I also see the words blue on my eyes, tan as part of my body, and black on my hair. To be honest, I don’t really know what colors look like, so I have to trust that the words colored blue and tan for example are those colors, especially since they are a different hue.

Most of my world is colored black and white, and in words that describe them. People say that I am blessed to have such a unique sight. To me, it comes with flaws that make it not as wonderful as it’s made out to be.  For example, people say that I’m blessed to have such a nice room and a good view of the land, however, my sight is limited so I can’t see the mountains that are clear from my balcony to a person with normal sight. Instead, all I see ahead of me is a white void and bits of the city below me that goes as far as the walls as if I’m stranded on an island. In addition to this limitation of sight, the words I see in people may tell me about them, but I also have to interpret these words in the right way. A person described as a courageous person may also be too brave and get themselves into trouble that they aren’t ready to deal with. In contrast, a person that has the word fearful as part of them could not be affected by their fear. Instead, it motivates them to be careful, appreciate what they have, and make sensible plans for the future.

 Despite this glaring limitation, I was brought to the kingdom of Discretionem by the Church once they learned of my ability. I've been staying here to learn more about words and how to evangelize to grow this Heart Absolute ability of mine for the Absolute's purposes. They've also employed me to help them make decisions by reading the people they talk to and the books they publish. Falsehood is something that I can see by reading into a person and what they produce. When it comes to books, I can see words between the lines such as exaggeration, lie, mistake, or phrased wrong depending on what the error is. People, on the other hand, are different. I'll see words such as duplicitous, willfully ignorant, overthinker, or slow on a person. Deciding on whether or not people like these are trustworthy is relatively easy, but if they are subtlety sinful, as I have mentioned before, and may not catch their errors until they reveal more of their plans. Good people who are either inexperienced or naive are easy to trust and give my approval to, and yet, they will make some major or minor mistakes in the future that I should've seen coming.

To be honest, I'd rather trust a good-natured fool rather than a malicious wise man. A good man will admit to his mistakes, learn from them, and improve accordingly. In contrast, the malicious man may hardly make a mistake, but when he does, he'll hardly ever take responsibility, taint his own works since he does them not for the greater good, and rot his own heart with his evil deeds causing his own wisdom to falter in the future. To better summarize my point, a good person is always honest while a malicious person may or may not be lying to you at any given moment. I keep going over this point in my head since some of my peers prefer to trust people I consider to be shady and complain to me when I pick honest people who mess up. We all mess up and will keep having to learn from our mistakes until our deaths. It’s a hard lesson to learn when you’re supposed to be learned and from a prestigious place such as the one I am currently at.

Here at Discretionem, a kingdom of scholars, historians, philosophers, theologians, and the like, research and help make decisions for the entire Church. It is said that we are the brains of the Church, and people here pride themselves on being closer to the Absolute than the others since we are always studying the truth of the world. I argue against this. You can love the truth simply by living it. I’ve also already mentioned that we learn from our mistakes until death so learning is part of everyday life and not confined to those who are stuck in libraries, political theaters, and theological discussions.

Speaking of theater, I was given a letter to inform me that I am to vote on who I think should be the next manager of charity in a neighboring kingdom that focuses on charity along with the rest of my peers and give a small speech on the reason for it. Along with the letter, I got two short papers on the history and behaviors of the two managers and two letters from those under them that endorse their leader. I call it theater because endorsing one means supporting one ideology that the other is opposed to rather than just choosing a worthy leader and making this decision look bigger than it actually is. This is why I like thinking over the basics again and going over how I got here and the reasons for it. The basics, the fundamentals of the truth are what really matters in life to help you make decisions after all and it’s not like we’ll be quizzed at our judgment about how much truth we know. Instead, our hearts are presented before the Absolute to see if they are true hearts rather than rotten messes of flesh.

Here's hoping my heart is being made into what the Absolute made it to be as I look over the two choices and hope that it doesn’t negatively affect me. I pray that I am given the wisdom to make the right choice. To get to it, my options are between a jovial man named Iocari and a more by-the-books one named Firmo. Iocari came into the business of charity because he grew up poor and has a history of caring for his family and neighbors. He's been able to distribute food during times of famine and worked very close to the poor all his life and has even given his food and made it for others while he hardly ate anything. Despite the hard times he's been through, he's been able to keep a smile on his face, a light heart, and a treasure trove of jokes that is said to be infectious since he can put a smile on the faces of those he encounters with his humor and demeanor. So far, it looks like he has my vote.

Firmo, on the other hand, is a man born and raised in an office to be a manager of charity. In contrast to Iocari, he’s not much of a joker, all business, and hasn’t worked directly with the poor even though it’s been noted that he’s tried on multiple occasions. He’s been able to keep the poor he’s cared for well-fed though he’s also made people starve to let this happen. His supporters have written this off as an unfortunate tragedy due to the lack of food and shelter at times. However, Iocari’s story tells me that it could’ve been managed better if he had distributed everything better. Nevertheless, Firmo has a good record among his peers and seems to be just as devoted to the Absolute as Iocari is.

It’s at times like this that I wished I could read a person from their picture, but I can’t read anything either than their general appearance and descriptions of what they’re wearing in the picture. These two are going to be at the final decision so it looks like I’ll have to make my decision then. For now, I read up on them, continue my studies, and pray. The day of the vote comes and I now see Firmo and Iocari in person. The words that catch my eyes most on Firmo are resolute, cross-bearer, conservative, and firm. Iocari has the words traditional, family man, penitent, joyful, and hard working. Even though these words stand out to me, they tell me nothing new that I haven’t been able to figure out about these men by myself.

When it’s time for me to make my decision, I stand up and say, “My choice is Iocari. This is not because I prefer the kingdom he came from nor the school of thought he learned from or his origins. My decision simply comes from what I’ve read of him and what my eyes show me. His charity for strangers, family, friends, and enemies alike is admirable. He treats everyone as if they were family and this shows us that he is a true servant of the Absolute as both charity and suffering for others are the two main pillars of love.”

Everyone around me is silent for a few moments before continuing the vote. My peers bring up the history and personality of their chosen leader and also talk about how we shouldn’t let politics and differences in ideology cloud our decision. By the end of it, Iocari is the winner. This surprises me a bit, but I guess it shouldn’t because of what I’ve said and the people like me who can read people and read heart’s have their votes count for more than those who are simply scholars and politicians. Of course, there are more of them than us to balance things out. I just expected many of my peers to vote with them.

I like how one of our leaders says, “We are all part of the Church and part of the Absolute in our own way. Truth cannot contradict truth. All our hearts are connected and if we beat out of sync the body will suffer, so let us continue working with one another with the body’s best interests in mind.”

This was said in reference to the arguments between the traditionists, conservatives, and those whose hearts can read others. Hopefully, we’ll eventually come together and Iocari will do his best in his new job. It’s also good to see Iocari and Firmo shaking hands and talking as if they were friends after the vote. As far as I can see, this is the best thing that could’ve happened and the beginning of some much needed improvement for Discretionem.