Interlude – Part 13 - Who Watches the Watcher?
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham
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Rick walked contently through the countryside hand in with Chelsea, while Kim gallivanted off ahead of them, enjoying being outside. Cart wheeling and rolling around in the long grass. It was a beautiful day. Then sun shone gloriously on the grass hills below. The air was crisp and clear of any pollution, and Rick breathed it in deeply, it carried with it a gentle sent of sweet flowers. These flowers were scattered intermittently amongst the deep green grass, nestled together in groups. There petals were tulip like in shape but on this alien world silver like veins ran through them; that when hit by the sun reflected and glittered in the light. As they continued their stroll through the beautiful scenery Dunham felt at peace.
Kim kept her eye on the treetops ahead, aiming them for the tall one they had seen from their cabin but as they descended into the valley it disappeared from view and she had to revert to the scruffy old map. At one point they seemed lost but Kim remembered her 'Adventurers' Club and how she had been taught about old fashioned "compass bearings" and directions.
It wasn't hard to work out their position from Chelsea's first aid kit 'SPS' which was a basic little 'gadget' that lay around neglected in most homes or childrens' pockets for amusement. It was generally regarded as 'just a toy' but it came in handy in primitive situations if proper communications systems and tracking weren't working for some reason. This kept Kim amused and triumphant when they finally emerged onto a ridge again to find themselves in just the right place.
The moment they stood on that ridge, patting Kim on the back for finding the path to the foot of the tree they were looking for, so another person felt similar triumph to have rediscovered their whereabouts. Arlaw, the owner of the holiday site who had observed them leaving, could clearly see the figures on the ridge and follow them without any trouble.
At the foot of the magnificent tree, "The Dunhams" stood and craned their necks to look up in awe at the enormous structure and it's beauty.
"I can't begin to imagine how old this tree must be" Chelsea breathed, gazing at it and compelled to move forward to touch it. She was gentle with it for some reason, illogically since it had withstood any onslaught for centuries, yet perhaps out of an instinctive respect for its age. "It feels like it's wise" she said. "I know that sounds insane but it just does." she couldn't explain why the tree filled her with a sense of being in the presence of a sage or ancient natural healer.
"Uh huh" Said Dunham not really getting what was being talked about. The tree looked magnificent. A thing of beauty, and countless ages of life. But that was all he could really see it as. He nodded in agreement though, trying to take it all in.
Chelsea smiled. "Okay, so you're not a tree-hugger, right? But that's alright. You're 98% perfect so I can forgive you a little bit of incompatibility." She squeezed his fingers and touched the tree bark with her other hand.
"Kimmy? Can you sense tree's souls?" she asked, smiling mischievously at Kim and winking just out of Rick's sight line. She was hoping that Kim would pick up on the opportunity for a little bit of girls-gang-up-on-Rick fun.
"Your a hundred percent perfect to me." mumbled Dunham under his breath
Kim smiled rolling her eyes a little. She gently felt the tree bark with the tips of her fingers. "It has such a gentle spirit." said Kim her voice holding a believable level of sincerity. "Its like its soul is reaching out to me."
Chelsea's grin widened as Kim joined in. "You feel it too?" she enthused. "I can't understand people who don't feel it. I fear they mightn't actually have souls of their own, you know?" she winked again.
Kim again gently almost reverently touched the back of the tree, "It feels so, so...." she struggled to find the right words "so ancient." Rick gave a small unbelieving incredulous look, wondering to himself if these two were being sincere, taking the mick, or had finally begun {to understand?} Dunham's own religion.
Chelsea moved towards the tree and sighed. She sat at it's feet. "I spent so much of my childhood at the feet of huge, ancient trees, telling them my innermost secrets. I wanted to believe some sort of pagan lore that would hold them as incarnations of something omnipotent, like a force we never really understood, balancing the world with their roots so deeply entrenched inside the core of everything, their branches stretched up towards the highest points of light and their leaves exchanging bad gases for good, purifying the air and perhaps even the souls of those who came to them." She had always known that was a controvertial way to look at these magnificent creations and had often been vilified for her odd ways.
Here with the ones she loved, she was prepared to joke about it but she also wanted to explain it too and discuss it, if they were willing. She tested the water. "I always believed they could help me somehow, with whatever was bothering me. I guess that was arrogant of me, to think something so old and enduring could have any interest in my fleeting petulences." She smiled thoughtfully and patted the nearest root, inviting the others to join her.
"If nothing else I suppose we're in the shade." she shrugged, not too sure whether she'd revealed herself as a bit of a fruit-cake.
Kim and Rick Dunham sat down under the canopy of the tree, Kim began to open up the picnic set, while Rick sat crossed leg in front of Chelsea. Dunham frowned trying to frame his words right for what he wanted to say next. "Ok....let me think about this a moment, what I'm trying to say is.....well...I'm not sure." he took Chelsea's hands in his. "All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else. On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him....or her." he smiled "does that make any sense?"
Chelsea looked seriously at Rick, thinking over what he had said. "It does but I don't think I can fully define the word *pure* in a modern sense...." her brows pulled into a slight frown. "I mean, I understand how a feeling can be *pure* or a child could as these are self-explanatory but how in the persuance of daily life does as adult define it these days? Is it *in all good conscience*.... sort of thing? Like if you refrain from doing something you know is wrong then you'll reap what you sew as it were? And how do we define the grey areas? Still on a *do as you would be done by* basis?"
"Well lets have a think about that," said Dunham with an empathetic smile. "What do the teachings of the prophets say on such things?"
"I don't know" Chelsea replied, looking into Rick's eyes. "Tell me please?"
Kai Taluno once wrote “What I call 'Nature' is just a different name for this permanent, stable, pure and unchanging refuge that is free from arising and cessation, the inconceivable pure pagh.”
"How is it you know more than I do about my own heritage?" she asked, rhetorically as she nestled against him. "I guess I need to do my homework, don't I?"
Kim got up. "Come on you two olds! We're getting behind schedule" she said cheekily, grinning.
"I didn't know we HAD a schedule" Chelsea protested as she got up too. Kim made a joke of helping her up with much too much pantomime and got a near-miss whack aimed at her.
Rick smiled and brushed himself off "so when do we get to stop for our picnic then?"
"oooooooh, food!" Chelsea enthused, remembering. "Should we eat now?" she looked around the other two to see what they thought.
Dunham shrugged "I'm always hungry, and this seems a good a spot as any?" Kim nodded in enthusiasm, eager to see the mischief wrought, from the dodgy sandwiches they had prepared earlier that day.
Chelsea sat back down willingly and they all explored the picnic. Kim distributed it, trying to hide her smirk which played about the edges of her lips threatening to betray her. Chelsea noticed this and had to find an excuse to put her hands up to her face to hide her own in response.
Kim offered Rick a wrapped parcel of sandwiches, then one to Chelsea and opened the third herself, taking a large bite and enthusing a little too much about how delicious it was. Chelsea smiled and put her own sandwich firmly in her mouth to keep her own face from showing any expression.
They waited.
Dunham took a large bite from his sandwich, and munched on it thoughtfully. He paused half way through the act of chewing, his face displaying a look of curiosity, he then continued to chew. Around a second mouthful of sandwich he said "this is possibly the best sandwich I have ever had. Chocolate spread and peanut butter are a favourite of mine, but why is it red?"
Chelsea put on a horrified face. "Is it? Oh no!!!" she gasped and peered fixedly at it.
Kim joined in the pretence of being horror-struck, at least as long as she could manage it.
Dunham took another bite of his sandwich. "Still taste good though" he said with a smile. "Is it some sort of special red peanut butter?"
Chelsea shook her head, smiling. "I think he's on to us, honey." she said to Kim who was looking very disappointed. "But if we gang up on him we could get him back later!" she added, grinning wickedly. Kim brightened visibly and clearly began plotting.
"Gang up on? what I do?" Said Dunham incredulously and pointing with an innocent look on his face. "I'm innocent, I'm just out numbered by malevolent forces, who wish to sully, chivalric name."
"Chivalry? What's chivalrous about a man who won't oblige ladies who seek to attract his attention by fair means or foul?" she objected, feigning great offence in return.
Kim giggled again and pointed to the sandwich, tilting her head to one side and raising an eyebrow in a strange combination that made her face look lopsided and comical.
Dunham just shook his head slightly in mild disbelief a smile on his face. "Out numbered, I'm totally out numbered."
"You would have been if there had only been one of us, darling" Chelsea purred and Kim howled with laughter, tugging at her uncle's sleeve and stealing the rest of his red sandwich.
She made off with it, clearly hoping he'd give chase. Chelsea angled her head after Kim and raised an eyebrow to Rick. "I think you have somewhere you need to be?" she smiled, picking up her own sandwich and tucking in.
tbc.....
A JP Between:
Lt. Richard Dunham
Squadron Leader Extraordinaire
and Sandwich Theft Victim
and
Lt. Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
Chief Agitator and Conspirator
and
Miss Kimberley Dunham (NPC)
Apprentice Tormentor of the Chivalrous.
by Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham
Post Details
| Title | Part 13 - Who Watches the Watcher? | |
| Mission | Interlude | |
| Author(s) | Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham | |
| Posted | Tue May 25, 2010 @ 10:44pm | |
| Location | Gravon IV |
Rick walked contently through the countryside hand in with Chelsea, while Kim gallivanted off ahead of them, enjoying being outside. Cart wheeling and rolling around in the long grass. It was a beautiful day. Then sun shone gloriously on the grass hills below. The air was crisp and clear of any pollution, and Rick breathed it in deeply, it carried with it a gentle sent of sweet flowers. These flowers were scattered intermittently amongst the deep green grass, nestled together in groups. There petals were tulip like in shape but on this alien world silver like veins ran through them; that when hit by the sun reflected and glittered in the light. As they continued their stroll through the beautiful scenery Dunham felt at peace.
Kim kept her eye on the treetops ahead, aiming them for the tall one they had seen from their cabin but as they descended into the valley it disappeared from view and she had to revert to the scruffy old map. At one point they seemed lost but Kim remembered her 'Adventurers' Club and how she had been taught about old fashioned "compass bearings" and directions.
It wasn't hard to work out their position from Chelsea's first aid kit 'SPS' which was a basic little 'gadget' that lay around neglected in most homes or childrens' pockets for amusement. It was generally regarded as 'just a toy' but it came in handy in primitive situations if proper communications systems and tracking weren't working for some reason. This kept Kim amused and triumphant when they finally emerged onto a ridge again to find themselves in just the right place.
The moment they stood on that ridge, patting Kim on the back for finding the path to the foot of the tree they were looking for, so another person felt similar triumph to have rediscovered their whereabouts. Arlaw, the owner of the holiday site who had observed them leaving, could clearly see the figures on the ridge and follow them without any trouble.
At the foot of the magnificent tree, "The Dunhams" stood and craned their necks to look up in awe at the enormous structure and it's beauty.
"I can't begin to imagine how old this tree must be" Chelsea breathed, gazing at it and compelled to move forward to touch it. She was gentle with it for some reason, illogically since it had withstood any onslaught for centuries, yet perhaps out of an instinctive respect for its age. "It feels like it's wise" she said. "I know that sounds insane but it just does." she couldn't explain why the tree filled her with a sense of being in the presence of a sage or ancient natural healer.
"Uh huh" Said Dunham not really getting what was being talked about. The tree looked magnificent. A thing of beauty, and countless ages of life. But that was all he could really see it as. He nodded in agreement though, trying to take it all in.
Chelsea smiled. "Okay, so you're not a tree-hugger, right? But that's alright. You're 98% perfect so I can forgive you a little bit of incompatibility." She squeezed his fingers and touched the tree bark with her other hand.
"Kimmy? Can you sense tree's souls?" she asked, smiling mischievously at Kim and winking just out of Rick's sight line. She was hoping that Kim would pick up on the opportunity for a little bit of girls-gang-up-on-Rick fun.
"Your a hundred percent perfect to me." mumbled Dunham under his breath
Kim smiled rolling her eyes a little. She gently felt the tree bark with the tips of her fingers. "It has such a gentle spirit." said Kim her voice holding a believable level of sincerity. "Its like its soul is reaching out to me."
Chelsea's grin widened as Kim joined in. "You feel it too?" she enthused. "I can't understand people who don't feel it. I fear they mightn't actually have souls of their own, you know?" she winked again.
Kim again gently almost reverently touched the back of the tree, "It feels so, so...." she struggled to find the right words "so ancient." Rick gave a small unbelieving incredulous look, wondering to himself if these two were being sincere, taking the mick, or had finally begun {to understand?} Dunham's own religion.
Chelsea moved towards the tree and sighed. She sat at it's feet. "I spent so much of my childhood at the feet of huge, ancient trees, telling them my innermost secrets. I wanted to believe some sort of pagan lore that would hold them as incarnations of something omnipotent, like a force we never really understood, balancing the world with their roots so deeply entrenched inside the core of everything, their branches stretched up towards the highest points of light and their leaves exchanging bad gases for good, purifying the air and perhaps even the souls of those who came to them." She had always known that was a controvertial way to look at these magnificent creations and had often been vilified for her odd ways.
Here with the ones she loved, she was prepared to joke about it but she also wanted to explain it too and discuss it, if they were willing. She tested the water. "I always believed they could help me somehow, with whatever was bothering me. I guess that was arrogant of me, to think something so old and enduring could have any interest in my fleeting petulences." She smiled thoughtfully and patted the nearest root, inviting the others to join her.
"If nothing else I suppose we're in the shade." she shrugged, not too sure whether she'd revealed herself as a bit of a fruit-cake.
Kim and Rick Dunham sat down under the canopy of the tree, Kim began to open up the picnic set, while Rick sat crossed leg in front of Chelsea. Dunham frowned trying to frame his words right for what he wanted to say next. "Ok....let me think about this a moment, what I'm trying to say is.....well...I'm not sure." he took Chelsea's hands in his. "All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else. On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him....or her." he smiled "does that make any sense?"
Chelsea looked seriously at Rick, thinking over what he had said. "It does but I don't think I can fully define the word *pure* in a modern sense...." her brows pulled into a slight frown. "I mean, I understand how a feeling can be *pure* or a child could as these are self-explanatory but how in the persuance of daily life does as adult define it these days? Is it *in all good conscience*.... sort of thing? Like if you refrain from doing something you know is wrong then you'll reap what you sew as it were? And how do we define the grey areas? Still on a *do as you would be done by* basis?"
"Well lets have a think about that," said Dunham with an empathetic smile. "What do the teachings of the prophets say on such things?"
"I don't know" Chelsea replied, looking into Rick's eyes. "Tell me please?"
Kai Taluno once wrote “What I call 'Nature' is just a different name for this permanent, stable, pure and unchanging refuge that is free from arising and cessation, the inconceivable pure pagh.”
"How is it you know more than I do about my own heritage?" she asked, rhetorically as she nestled against him. "I guess I need to do my homework, don't I?"
Kim got up. "Come on you two olds! We're getting behind schedule" she said cheekily, grinning.
"I didn't know we HAD a schedule" Chelsea protested as she got up too. Kim made a joke of helping her up with much too much pantomime and got a near-miss whack aimed at her.
Rick smiled and brushed himself off "so when do we get to stop for our picnic then?"
"oooooooh, food!" Chelsea enthused, remembering. "Should we eat now?" she looked around the other two to see what they thought.
Dunham shrugged "I'm always hungry, and this seems a good a spot as any?" Kim nodded in enthusiasm, eager to see the mischief wrought, from the dodgy sandwiches they had prepared earlier that day.
Chelsea sat back down willingly and they all explored the picnic. Kim distributed it, trying to hide her smirk which played about the edges of her lips threatening to betray her. Chelsea noticed this and had to find an excuse to put her hands up to her face to hide her own in response.
Kim offered Rick a wrapped parcel of sandwiches, then one to Chelsea and opened the third herself, taking a large bite and enthusing a little too much about how delicious it was. Chelsea smiled and put her own sandwich firmly in her mouth to keep her own face from showing any expression.
They waited.
Dunham took a large bite from his sandwich, and munched on it thoughtfully. He paused half way through the act of chewing, his face displaying a look of curiosity, he then continued to chew. Around a second mouthful of sandwich he said "this is possibly the best sandwich I have ever had. Chocolate spread and peanut butter are a favourite of mine, but why is it red?"
Chelsea put on a horrified face. "Is it? Oh no!!!" she gasped and peered fixedly at it.
Kim joined in the pretence of being horror-struck, at least as long as she could manage it.
Dunham took another bite of his sandwich. "Still taste good though" he said with a smile. "Is it some sort of special red peanut butter?"
Chelsea shook her head, smiling. "I think he's on to us, honey." she said to Kim who was looking very disappointed. "But if we gang up on him we could get him back later!" she added, grinning wickedly. Kim brightened visibly and clearly began plotting.
"Gang up on? what I do?" Said Dunham incredulously and pointing with an innocent look on his face. "I'm innocent, I'm just out numbered by malevolent forces, who wish to sully, chivalric name."
"Chivalry? What's chivalrous about a man who won't oblige ladies who seek to attract his attention by fair means or foul?" she objected, feigning great offence in return.
Kim giggled again and pointed to the sandwich, tilting her head to one side and raising an eyebrow in a strange combination that made her face look lopsided and comical.
Dunham just shook his head slightly in mild disbelief a smile on his face. "Out numbered, I'm totally out numbered."
"You would have been if there had only been one of us, darling" Chelsea purred and Kim howled with laughter, tugging at her uncle's sleeve and stealing the rest of his red sandwich.
She made off with it, clearly hoping he'd give chase. Chelsea angled her head after Kim and raised an eyebrow to Rick. "I think you have somewhere you need to be?" she smiled, picking up her own sandwich and tucking in.
tbc.....
A JP Between:
Lt. Richard Dunham
Squadron Leader Extraordinaire
and Sandwich Theft Victim
and
Lt. Cmdr. Chelsea Adams
Chief Agitator and Conspirator
and
Miss Kimberley Dunham (NPC)
Apprentice Tormentor of the Chivalrous.