absolute1.net 2002|
CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Alex arrives in Elfinland Everybody is a sorcerer. Everyone is always working magic. Alex discovered that, when he visited Elfinland. He also learned how to work the kind of magic that attracted things he liked. Instead of all the unpleasant things so many people conjure up in their lives. Nothing he had ever experienced before had prepared Alex for the strange turn his life would take. He was a boy with a very ordinary life. He lived in a very ordinary street and went to a very ordinary school and had very ordinary friends. He also did very ordinary things. The things boys usually like to do. He loved to skate, which he could do near his home on a special rink. And he also loved to swim. But even though he did not realize it, Alex was not so ordinary. He was always very cheerful and happy. He thought the whole day about pleasant things and he was seldom afraid. Of course sometimes he experienced something unpleasant. He was not happy then, but he got over it very quickly. Like the one time Robert pulled his hair very hard. So hard that he pulled out a wisp of hair. That hurt! Alex was very surprised, that someone wanted to hurt him. He told his mother what happened and she said: 'if Robert wants to hurt other people, he is probably very unhappy. When you're happy, you surely don't want to hurt someone else?' Then Alex felt sorry for Robert. For he was very happy and never wanted to hurt other people. He also asked the strangest questions. When he was only eight, he asked: 'How do I know I'm not dreaming right now? When I dream it always seems very real. I pinched myself, but then I thought that maybe I'm just dreaming I'm pinching myself and feeling pain.' His parents found this very amusing, when they heard it, but they were also quite proud of their son, who could ask such profound questions. And they had no answer for him. They were convinced he was destined for something special. He had to be predestined for great things, though they had no idea what or how. They often looked at him with a puzzled look. As if they were wondering which wondrous fate had landed this young of eagles in their nest of sparrows. Alex also never worried, except about the well-being of others. He wanted everybody to be cheerful. And it was as if the sun was brighter when he was around and his innocence and joy warmed the heart of everyone around him. He also told his mother very often how much he loved her. When his father came home from work that was also the first thing he said to him. He also said it to his grandparents. And to Miss Helen, his teacher, when he was allowed to help her with the chores. His heart flowed over with love. He was not ashamed to show it. And everyone loved him. One day he was skating when he arrived at the half-pipe. That is a part of the skating-rink which is crescent-shaped. He saw the girl who lived next door, Mandy. There was also a child, who looked very odd. He was not from the neighbourhood. He was dressed very funny. Bless my soul, Alex thought, I have never seen such clothes before. They were brightly colored. The colors were brighter than anything he had ever seen before, from an incredible intensely reflecting violet, purple and yellow. The light also seemed suddenly much brighter. The strange boy also seemed to radiate light. And the way he could skate! He did all sorts of difficult tricks with the greatest ease. He even performed somersaults on the half-pipe! Suddenly Robert came riding towards them. When he saw them, a mean grin appeared on his face. He started skating very hard and on purpose he bumped into Mandy. She could not get out of his way quickly enough. She fell to the ground crying. Alex hurried to help her up. He looked reproachful at Robert. 'He is such a pain in the neck', he thought. 'If he was not a head taller, I would give him a good beating.' In the mean time the strange boy was making circles on his skates and looking at Alex with a smile. It was just as if he had seen nothing that had occurred. Mandy skated home again and Robert was practicing hard on the half-pipe. The unfamiliar boy asked: 'Shall we race to the corner?' 'Okay', said Alex, who was very curious about this strange boy. And they rode along. Alex did not realize it then, but that was the moment he definitely said goodbye to the world as he knew it. Nothing would ever be the same again. He said to the boy: 'I'm Alex. What is your name?' 'I'm Racer.' 'Didn't you see that horrible Robert riding over Mandy and that she fell hard on the ground?' 'Yes, that was very funny,' Racer said. Now Alex was surprised. 'That 's not funny at all. It is very mean of Robert to hurt Mandy,' he said. 'He should get a good beating.' 'Do you think it would take away Mandy's pain if Robert would have pain? 'Racer said, sounding very wise. 'Most people are looking for revenge. Has that ever improved anything? People keep hurting each other, because of their anger about what they think has been done to them. And who knows if Robert does not feel pain already, causing him to want to hurt others?' 'My mom also says he is mean because he is unhappy, but he looked very happy and content just now.' Racer started to roar with laughter. When he had finished laughing, he explained to Alex the reason for his laughter. He said that only people who don't know any better can be happy about the suffering of others. Yet no one can be really happy about that. For deep in the heart of everyone is the will to see everyone happy. Their will is not free, however, because they believe wrong things. And people experience what they believe. So if Alex believed that Robert was mean, he would do mean things. And if he believed he was mean because he was unhappy, he would still do mean things. 'Because all people always know everything about each other. They know everything other people are thinking,' Racer said. 'How is that possible,' Alex said. 'I don't know at all what people are thinking.' 'Yes, with your brain you don't know,' Racer said. 'Just like your eyes don't know what your ears hear. But you know. That knowledge just does not end up in your brain. You have another organ for that purpose, some sort of mental antenna. People call it intuition, but that is not really a good name for it. Because intuition means that you suspect something sometimes and wonder how you know it. But in fact it is just knowing everything and sometimes a little bit of that knowledge drips into your brain. That knowledge should in fact also just have to end up in your brain, but it is like people have tied a knot in the connection.' 'Then why is Robert acting so mean?' Alex asked. 'Because you believe he acts mean,' Racer said. 'He knows that is what you expect him to do and he therefore does not disappoint you. The first time you saw him do something mean, he was just playing rather rough. That is how they play in his home, because he has many older brothers. But you thought he did that because he was mean. And every time you saw him, you thought; there is that mean Robert! Finally he once pulled your hair very hard, didn't he, Alex?' 'So if I believe Robert is not mean, would he then stop trying to hurt anyone?' Alex asked. 'You cannot determine what Robert will or will not do,' Racer replied. 'You only determine how you react to the things you see. You can look at Robert and see a mean boy or an unhappy boy, which is in fact the same thing. But you can also see someone who is showing you what you can choose to experience. Just like looking at a short movie. Because everything you see is just like a movie. And you can choose what you do and do not want to see. You choose by focusing your attention on it and by thinking a lot about it and talking about it. It works just like a radio. You tune in to a certain station and that is what you get. If you tune in to the experience of unpleasant boys, you will see more and more unpleasant boys. You can also tune into just having fun. That is a completely different station. In the beginning you will still get some white noise. As if you are still a bit off. But gradually you become better attuned to the world of experiences you really want.' Alex wanted to know: 'How do you do that?' 'Well, how long have we not talked about Robert? He showed you a movie that lasted a few seconds and you have not thought of anything else until now. It is logical that you do that. Most people do that, because everyone feels they have to learn to handle the experiences they do not like. Only they don't know how. In stead of talking about Robert we could have talked for instance about how wonderful it feels to skate like this. And about the feeling when you go really fast. We could have had fun. Now you hardly noticed what we are doing. In your mind you were with Robert constantly and all the nasty things he reminds you of.'  Alex looked at Racer in awe. 'How do you know all that?' he asked. He had hardly finished his words, when he suddenly noticed something unusual. The scenery had completely changed. Everywhere there were trees and flowers which were not there at first. And the light and the colors were also very different than he was used to. Brilliant violet flowers with a hint of purple, trees with brightly canary- yellow colored leaves. He even saw a couple of grey-lilac and pink trees. The skating-rink was also gone. Yet they were still skating! Open-mouthed he stared with amazement as he suddenly saw that Racer no longer had skates on! He halted and asked: 'What is going on?' He took another good look at the boy and realized he really had a very peculiar face. He was very curious now. 'This is my land. We are now in Elfinland,' Racer answered. 'Wow,' Alex said. 'I didn't know that really existed.' He felt a little worried and asked: 'I can go back home, can I?' 'Oh yes,' Racer said. 'But don't you want to play with me and see a little more of Elfinland?' Alex nodded. He became more and more curious. Racer took his hand and they started to skate again. They went faster and faster. Everything flashed by in a blur. Alex enjoyed it immensely. He had never before gone so fast. 'This is great,' he exclaimed. Suddenly they had arrived at a large building. 'This is our castle,' Racer said. 'We call it the Glass Mansion.' It was a very unusual castle. It did not look at all like the castles Alex knew from pictures and do-it-yourself kits. It had very large glass windows. A lot of them were brightly colored. The flowers in the park around the castle were colored more beautiful than he had ever seen before. And the lake by the castle was not just blue, but also lilac and pink! Alex thought it was breathtaking. So much beauty was almost too much for him. Racer took him to a tree with shiny yellow-pink apples and picked two. Alex took a bite. It tasted better than all the candy he had ever had. All of a sudden he had an alarming thought. 'Could I be dead?' he asked. Racer smiled at him. 'No, not at all. You would have noticed that you were dying,' he said kindly. 'And if you die, you don't go to Elfinland. People stay in the human world, except if they think just like the Elfin. For then we can collect them.' 'What happens here to the people?' Alex now asked. 'You do want to know everything, don't you!' Racer laughed. 'We are going to see the King anyway, ask him. He can answer all your questions.' 'Can we visit the King then?' Alex asked surprised. 'Oh yes, everybody is always allowed to do that. Our King answers all our questions, because he is very wise. He really knows everything. He comes from the land of the sages.' 'What is that, the land of the sages?' Alex wanted to know now. 'Well, we don't really know it. Sometimes Elfin suddenly appear and they are very wise. However, they only vaguely remember where they are from. The land of the sages is for the Elfin something like Elfinland is for humans. We don't know it, but we have heard a lot about it. And if I consider the strange things humans think about Elfinland, maybe we shouldn't think we really know anything about the Land of the Sages. Let's go to the King now, because he is waiting for us.' Alex did not understand that. How could the King know he was here? He asked Racer, who said, while he was shaking his head: 'Humans really don't know anything! In Elfinland we really know everything about each other. We just feel each other. Humans have that too, except they are continually pretending that it isn't so. Everyone immediately knew a newcomer has arrived. The birds and the butterflies and all the animals that saw you come also went to tell the great news. Everyone is always happy when one comes back home. And yes, to answer your unspoken question, you have come home, because you really are an Elf. You have just lived in time with the humans, but fortunately you're back home.' Alex could not believe his ears. He an Elf? 'I'll need more proof of that', he thought, 'I can't just accept that.' They now walked towards the Glass Mansion and went in through a magnificent golden archway. There were two rows of Elfin, who were very joyous and applauded him. There were tall Elfin and very small Elfin. They were dressed in all the colors of the rainbow. The tall ones looked a little like very tall grownup people and the small ones like children, Alex thought. Together with Racer he walked a bit shy through the Elfin. Until they arrived at a little chair in which a very small Elf was seated. He had a brilliant crown on his head, a beautiful jewel on his forehead and a cape in rainbow colors around him and he radiated joy. Alex assumed that he was the King. Racer stood aside, while the King started to talk to Alex. 'Hallo Alex,' he said. 'I'm called King Abraun and I'm very happy that you have finally returned. Everything is probably very unfamiliar. You'll find that it will become easier for you to remember who you really are. And we hope you will want to stay with us now. But you don't have to decide immediately. You can think about it for as long as you want to.' 'I can still go back then,' Alex said relieved. The King nodded affirmative. 'King Abraun,' Racer called, 'Alex wanted to know what happens to the people in Elfinland. I told him you would explain, because I find that far too difficult.' Alex was amazed. Racer talked to the King as if they were equals. 'Things are really different here,' Alex said to the King. And actually he was no longer interested to know what happened to other people. He was interested more in what would happen to one special boy, namely himself! And he also would like to get to know the Elfin who surrounded him so cheerfully. Suddenly a small group of Elfin began to sing a song, accompanied by other Elfin who were playing various odd-looking instruments. This was their song: We welcome you We welcome you Such a long time without you Now you are freed from all inventions. And even if you 'd leave again You're always welcome to return You can always share our peaceful life as soon as you have enough of strife. We welcome you We welcome you The Light will always engulf all The Light of Love and Peace will always call. Let there be only peace in you, quiet and clear Let go of the insane nightmare You can choose who you want to be, dear You have the power to silence the fear. When the song was ended, all the Elfin began to form a circle. Alex was drawn into the circle and everyone started to skip and sing a happy song. First a little to the left, then a little to the right. Then a step in the circle and a step back. Then round and round. Round and round we go Back and forth we go It is so great To be in this state to be an Elf! They danced and danced and every time another Elfin began to sing a song, in which everybody joined whole-heartedly. Alex thought it was a very nice party. It was all in honor of him. And it wasn't even his birthday! Suddenly there was a gong beat. Tables were set in the room next to the throne hall. Everyone went there. The eyes of Alex almost popped out of their sockets. There were all sorts of fruit and dishes with fried things and pastries and salad and potatoes and rice and French fries and pancakes. And he also saw very strangely colored little bells. And round bunches with small fruits that were hanging on some little hooks. It all looked very beautiful. Everyone sat down and then something rather bizarre happened. The food started to fly over the table! No one even lifted a finger to put anything on their plate. It just flew there and landed softly on the plate. Alex looked around in amazement Then Racer asked him what he would like to have. Every time he mentioned something or pointed to it, it came flying and landed on his plate. During the meal everyone was constantly calling how delicious it was. Alex fully agreed. The food tasted better than anything he had ever tasted. They were also joking a lot. Now Alex noticed something else that was strange. The Elfin did not speak normal with each other, no, it seemed more like singing. He asked Racer: 'Why do you sing when you talk to each other?' It was difficult to explain what happened then, even though it seemed very normal. Because as he spoke, he noticed that it sounded like he was singing too. 'That is just the way Elfin -speak sounds,' Racer said cheerfully. Alex understood that he could somehow speak like the Elfin, without even having had to learn it. Chapter 2 The song-festival, where Alex makes new friends The next day someone called out during breakfast: 'Today is the song- festival! Will you enter, Alex?' Alex laughed. 'At school I'm very often not allowed to sing along,' he said. 'Because I sing loud and out of tune, the teacher says.' 'Well, then you will definitely win here,' Racer said, who was again sitting next to him at the table. 'All the Elfin sing beautiful, therefore there is an item in the song-festival in which everyone has to sing as unnatural as possible. Alex wanted to know what could be won by the participants. The answer was: 'Everyone who participates, wins the first price.' Alex thought that that was very strange, but after all, this was Elfinland, he realized. 'And what is the first price?' he asked. Racer said: 'Just wait and see. It will be very thrilling.' 'If I participate, it would not be fair,' Alex said. 'For it is no problem for me to sing out of tune.' He wanted to demonstrate that immediately and started to sing a song he had learned only recently. But as he was singing, he heard to his amazement that his voice sounded very nice en in tune. Racer padded him on the shoulder, as he said: 'We believe that everyone in Elfinland sings beautiful and what we believe, is so. You can sing wonderful, Alex. You always could. At first you only believed something that was not true.' How foolish of me, Alex thought. It is much nicer to be able to enjoy your own voice. At the welcoming party he had heard Elfin who sang more beautiful, he thought, but his own voice really was music to his ears. I will not enter in such a silly contest, he decided. Imagine, to deliberately sing out of tune, while you are able to sing very beautiful. Some of the Elfin at the table began to laugh. 'What is going on,' Alex asked Racer. 'Don't pay them any notice,' Racer said, 'they heard what you thought and they are laughing because that is exactly what humans always do.' 'You mean humans always sing out of tune, while they are perfectly capable of singing beautiful?' Alex asked. He really could not grasp this at all. He could understand that Elfin could hear his thoughts, because he understood there was a lot they could do. But could all humans sing beautiful? Racer then told him that all humans could do everything very well, each in his or her own way, but that they did things wrong on purpose or pretended not to be able to do them. And that they did not know that they did that. They wanted to experience what it was like to be weak and imperfect. Therefore they had hypnotized themselves to forget what they were really like. 'Did I do that too?' Alex asked. By now he had the feeling that he must seem very stupid. 'What do you think?' Racer answered. 'You can see that you speak Elfin without having to learn it and you sing beautiful in your own way. Everyone sings as themselves and everyone sings wonderful.' Suddenly the elf who sat at the other side of Alex jumped on the table, and began to sing with a voice that sounded just as loud and hoarse as Alex 's voice used to be: Here and now I choose to sing out of tune so hold onto your earrings For I can choose how I want to be to think great or very small on the contrary everything I do is right seize the day, enjoy it 's light. He bowed and everyone was calling out things like 'bravo Paul', 'wonderful' and he was applauded very loud. Alex joined in wholeheartedly. He now wanted also to participate in the festival. After breakfast he went to play with Paul, Racer and some other Elfin in the park surrounding the castle. 'You can choose what kind of games we will play today,' they said to Alex. The first thing that came to his mind when he saw all the bushes and large trees, was hide and seek. But the Elfin rolled over the grass, roaring with laughter when he proposed this. Racer said confidentially to him, that they thought that the idea that you could hide from someone else, was very amusing. 'Oh yes, of course,' Alex realized. 'In Elfinland you cannot hide from each other, because everyone hears each others thoughts. Therefore everyone always knows where you are.' 'Exactly,' Racer said. 'Do you know another nice game, we could play?' Well, Alex knew a lot of games. To play tag appealed most to him right now. He really felt like running. 'We'll have to play it a little differently than you are used to, Alex,' Paul said. 'Because if an elf does not want to be caught, no one can catch him. Not even another elf. Therefore we will agree that the one who is it, will at least have run through a lane after another and then can call 'you are it!'.' So the game began till everyone had been 'it' at least once. After that they 'raced' around, everyone forming a long chain behind Racer and with skating movements they went like a fast train through the park. They really went very fast. Suddenly Racer started to lift off and with him the whole group began to fly. Alex delighted in flying. He enjoyed the sensation thoroughly. He also noticed that he and all the Elfin had become a lot smaller. Well, if you're smaller, you are lighter of course and then you can fly better, he thought. But he was still amazed that their bodies could just shrink like that. And he had not felt a thing. And suddenly he also saw that some of the Elfin in the row had wings, which they were now waving rhythmically. They flew over the lake and back; over the castle and the park and another round and another round. Then they landed very gently in a circle. Alex had enjoyed every moment. The view was overwhelming too. He had noticed that what he had thought were pink spots in the water, were a lot of pink flowers that drove on the water. And there were also a lot of water-birds in various colors. Swans and ducks he knew; but there were also white, lilac, pink and red long-legged birds. He had never seen such birds before. The meal was delicious again. Nothing had ever before tasted so good. Alex would have liked to let his food fly toward him and he asked King Abraun if he would ever be able to do that. 'You already can,' the King said. 'You only have to practice. But that will come about, you'll see.' 'I don't understand anything at all,' Alex said. 'It seems suddenly as if I'm very stupid.' He would have liked to tell the King that he became quite angry, when he had the feeling that he was the laughing-stock. 'We don't think you're stupid at all,' the King said. 'Of course you have much to learn about our way of living and thinking. When we go to the world of humans, we make a lot more mistakes. Then you would probably laugh at us.' He also explained to Alex that even though he did not seem to fly by himself, he could not have left the ground if he had not known that he could. He only believed that he needed the others to do it. 'We still have to work on that,' the King decided. 'That is why I want to send you to the Mansion in the Clouds, where Yvonne lives, a girl, who was also human not so long ago. She has been with us long enough to be able to tell you everything about Elfinland. At least you hear it then from someone who understands how humans think, because she understands very well how strange everything is for you and can explain it much better than we can.' Alex asked with a heavy heart if it would not be better if he went home. He wanted to stay a while longer, but he thought that his parents would be worried. The King looked at him with a thoughtful expression and then explained that time went completely different in the human world than in Elfinland. No time had passed there at all. 'And in Elfinland you also don't grow anymore like humans do. So you will look the same when you return.' During the preparations for the song-festival Alex made another discovery. Paul took him along to pick out clothes. Alex wanted to take a shower, before he put on clean clothes, because that was what he was used to. But Paul explained to him that Elfin never washed. They know they are always clean. Nothing that is dirty, that does not belong to them, can stick to them. Paul said he should practice to believe he was always clean and stayed that way. Every now and then Elfin bathed in white light-spots, that existed everywhere in the Realm of the Elfin, but that was not to become clean, but because it was such a wonderful feeling. Alex asked if those light-spots also existed in the human world, because their cat had regular spots where she would sit and then she closed her eyes and kneaded the floor with her paws, just as if she was being stroked. Paul remarked that she might be an Elf-cat. Alex uttered his thoughts: 'Of course Elfin stay clean because they can work magic. But I can't, therefore I have to take a shower.' With sparkling eyes Paul answered: 'You conjure up dirt on your body. Isn't that magic too?' After some thought and deliberation with another elf, who was called Marissa and really could not stand still for a moment, they took him to shower under the lawn sprinkler. When he asked for soap, they asked him what that was. 'That is to wash off dirt and bacteria,' Alex said. The Elfin were shocked when they understood what he meant. Killer of bacteria? Soap is a murder-weapon! Certainly you wanted no part of that? All the Elfin that were there also went under the lawn sprinkler, while they sang songs about rain. After his bath Alex noticed that he felt very clean and fresh, even without soap. Back in the castle they put on different exquisite garments, that were hanging in cupboards and went to the big hall, where the festival would be held. The Elfin were dressed magnificent, some in wide robes, laced with silver and gold. Others were completely dressed in gold or silver. And one even in a garment in the colors of the rainbow. But the most distinguished was a robe with little white stones that shone like diamonds, mixed with opaline glass; the result was a white-blue-pink-violet-diamond brilliance with every move of the elf who wore it. The song-festival was a great success. First the songs were sung, that were new. Paul had made a song, that he recited, together with Alex and Racer and Marissa. In all things there is a song that's more than meets the ear Not only in the songs of birds Or the frogs in the reed or human words In every halm and blade the sound is clear even if there is no hearing ear even in silence there is music. Nymphs, spells and magic rings shimmering crystals and thrills flowers, stars, Elfin rings everything has its own song to sing. The song went on and many other happy songs followed. Some songs were also touching and one song was so moving, that even the quick-silvery Marissa was caught sitting still, while listening to it. After that everyone who wanted to, could try to sing strangely. They sang with grunting throaty voices and growling sounds, some bleating and others squealing or roaring and everyone was having a great time. Alex knew one of the songs. It went like this: A fresh walk in the morning sun I'm cheerful and so glad I don't know where my path will lead The world is mine to tread. Falderie, faldera, falderie, faldera -la -la -la -la -la falderie, falderaaa the world is mine to tread.  Finally the King stepped forward and called out loudly: 'You are winners! I love you.' Alex had supposed that there would follow a granting of awards, but something very different happened. Everyone stood in a circle, holding each others hands. And in unison it sounded: 'Think of the love of the One!' It became very still. Alex felt enveloped in a remarkable warmth and intense love. He had never felt like this before. A crescendo humming preceded such a spectacle as Alex had never witnessed. A group of Elfin began to roll incredibly fast on drums. Several Elfin began to cheer and run around, others were crying, while they called 'thank you, thank you, thank you.' He saw Racer, who was jumping up and down, very high on the impossibly quick speed of the percussion. Some Elfin were clapping their hands and dancing. Alex glanced at the King who stood with both arms outstretched in the air. He walked over to him and asked why everyone acted so elated. The King answered with a glowing face: 'We joined in remembering the love of the One. When we remember how the One loves everything and takes care of everything and how marvellous and good everything is, we are beside ourselves with happiness. The Power that has made everything, that holds the whole universe in His hand, loves us and takes care of us! Isn't that wonderful?' Alex had to admit, that it was a wonderful thought. He was often happy with God, too, but this was the first time he saw how happy he could be. After all he was now in Elfinland and everything he had seen up till now made him realize they had every reason to be grateful. The King danced around him while he said: 'And even the humans should be jumping for joy. For the One gives them everything, even their impossible dreams of suffering, helplessness, sickness and death. They have turned their backs on their reality and constantly attack the One. And He only smiles indulgent and lovingly about these dreams. Whatever they believe or do, they remain children of the One. That is truly Divine Love.' Apparently he was so moved by these thoughts that he danced on the wall, upside down over the ceiling to the other side of the hall. Alex joined in the dancing. He had to think about the things the King had said, but decided that he too was glad and grateful and fully joined in the rejoicing. When Alex was lying in bed that night, he longed intensely to tell his father and mother of his terrific adventures. He wondered if he would really be able to return. And even though he knew his parents did not miss him, he missed them in that moment. He even became a little sad. But he decided he had better go to sleep, to be well rested the next day for the journey to the Mansion in the Clouds. The thought cheered him up, for he was very curious about it. He thanked God for all the wonderful things of that day, as he was used to do at home. But he didn't sum them all up, because so much had happened and he was very sleepy. He saved it to the next morning, because when he woke he always thanked for the wonderful new day that was before him. |
