It is customary to give special thanks to those who encourage a novelist along the soul-destroying, yet rewarding, path of publishing his or her first novel. I wish I could give such appreciation. Nobody held my hand or gave me specific instruction during my secretive years of writing. Therefore I take full responsibility for what you are about to read.

Prologue

Many suffer from the incurable disease of writing and it becomes chronic in their sick minds - Juvenal (AD 60-130)

Let’s communicate; really communicate!

Perhaps you picked up this book because blah blah blah … Many New Age types begin to insult our curious nature in this way. Be that as it may, we both know that you are reading this because you are bored with the same old and you judged this book by its cover. Am I wrong? It wouldn’t be the first time. Whatever your reasons, be assured I’m glad you did, not only because I might earn commission from a sale but also because I’ve been screaming into a pillow all my life and now you’re prepared to hear me out. For that, I thank you!

I have struggled for most of my life with ‘issues’ regarding God and His quirky personality. In fact I often imagine that this same ‘all-knowing God’ that all religions of the world illustrate doesn’t realise He has schizophrenia, the poor old fellow. How could I think otherwise? One moment He hates me, the next He shows incredible Love. To add further confusion, He sets up many religions and has many representatives that do nothing except squabble, creating greater confusion; often resulting in wars and other detestable things!

Ever since I was a child I loathed His worship houses and detested religious laws of any kind, which only confused my faith in the loving Creator that chose such dwellings to spread His message of love. I always had to learn the hard way because of the sincerity in my quest for approval from this uncharacteristic idol. There is no better way to get closer to my God than to shake the foundations of the churches that claim they have His approval and therefore the Holy truth.

Did I hit a nerve? Good, that’s how I learnt too. Detecting painful sensitive weak spots is what I’m best at and I often do myself considerable damage along the way. Now before you pass judgment on me and assume that I’m here to slam every church organisation and all those good earnest souls that worship between their walls, think again. So before burning this book in one of those dogmatic binges or labelling it as the work of Satan, it might serve some of you well to read the entire volume before stoking up the fire.

Stem’s story is based on actual modern events; it is my personal symbolic crucifixion ready for your judgment. However, there are many other scenarios in this volume where many of my past and present associates are still carrying the heavy cross and are bleeding to death in unwarranted fear. I can only guess that most of us have had similar experiences and therefore we can relate to some aspects of these personal lives. A fictional character, a homeless person who refers to himself as ‘Gee’, narrates the story from the future and his only audience is a priest and you.

If you are not afraid to test your faith then turn each page with confidence; if you are, then read the book twice. For those of you who are hesitant because of fear, please consider the following passage from a Christian Bible:

Test everything. Hold on to the good – 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (New International Version)

The names within these pages have been changed to protect the identity of those individuals, however, some nicknames remain original for characterisation purposes.

Unless stated otherwise, all Biblical quotations come from The Holy Bible (not endorsed by the author). Realistically however, one can use any reference to seek understanding.

– Jesus in Matthew 12:30

If you judge people, you have no time to love them - Mother Teresa

Perfect wave-breaks, which are attributed to the Gold Coast City Council’s decision to allow construction of artificial reefs offshore, entertain sun-seekers and enthusiasts alike. Wholesome family types from all districts and social standings interact with one another as if they are long lost cousins reunited. On the surface of it this interaction amongst strangers appears to be biological, but something’s amiss here and this paradise parallel certainly isn’t the result of a promised biblical prophecy – Armageddon is still on hold while heaven waits for the righteous.

These past few evenings in Paradise have been uncharacteristically cold this autumn of 2049, with the sub-tropics hitting freezing point in the pre-dawn. Consequently, the endangered migrations of homeless outcasts that drift from the southern states to escape the cold have hit another wall. Comfort is impossible for this species of ‘vermin’ whose attempts to stay aloof from the authorities and away from surveillance monitors and public sneer has become altogether problematic. According to authority, this dying species chooses to be destitute because they refuse to comply with the strict laws that were handed down by the Global Ordained Division (G.O.D.), effectively rejecting their safety net and place in society.

Unity is the order of the day in Australia, much like it is in every other continent around the ‘civilised’ globe that joined ‘the fight against the Axis of Evil’. The foundations took root a few years after the tragic 9/11 event that tarnished the eagle’s nest and that particular nation’s pride. A list of Seven Safe Religions (S.S.R.) had been chartered and passed through G.O.D., which was spearheaded by the United States of America. Protocol was set at ‘zero tolerance’ after the acceleration of global anarchy reached epidemic proportions. A rapid increase in technology also had a huge part to play in the social disorder when the information age soared to dizzy heights, thus creating conspiracy theory overload – minus the theory!

Despite the justification of international security, other secretly guarded, although widely speculated, motives were behind the US push for a new joint world congregation. This period saw too many countries becoming superpowers almost overnight and the threat of any one war could literally blow up the planet. America could no longer use its superior weaponry as an instrument of persuasion, just as it could no longer fake a moon landing if it wanted to; digital feedback is everywhere and even George Orwell might be in awe at the implications. Equally, where there is no visual equipment present, privacy is still being invaded by people trained in Remote Viewing, a technique used in the US and Russian surveillance departments a century earlier. Therefore the United States of America had little choice other than to assure its survival as a dominant force by leading the formation of a united world conglomerate, which ironically uses a twisted form of Jesus’ prose in Matthew 12:30 as an ultimatum. It was an American President’s declaration on the 20th of September 2001 that was adopted when he stated the following at an international public address:

‘Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.’ – G.W. Bush

In this day and age the term ‘terrorism’ has been expanded to include any threat that goes against government/religious dictatorship. Moreover, any form of independent thinking is classified as a sin and is treated suspiciously with great consequence. Former Old World leaders seem to have an awareness of the dangerous practices of mandatory religious conformity.

‘Voters are more than Catholics, Protestants or Jews. They make up their minds for many diverse reasons, good and bad. To submit the candidates to a religious test is unfair enough -- to apply it to the voters is divisive, degrading and wholly unwarranted.’ – John F Kennedy [i]

This new society of surreal reality found many civilians unable to accept and cope, which resulted in an increase of mental disorders and suicide. This gave authorities the excuse they needed to introduce a compulsory course, ‘The Safety Course’, which has to be attended every fortnight, numbing the senses of the desperate and further infuriating a smarter society.

Mobile phones and laptops are so last century. A flexible palm card that can be folded, but will never crease, has the technology to create a hologram by using either voice or touch recognition, which in turn gives the holder access to virtual sites in a three-dimensional format. Experiments using a telepathy system where super-sensors pick up brain signatures (much like a fingerprint) and detect instructions have been proved successful and will shortly be added to everyone’s shopping list. A web user that wants to change the site they visit can do so and save the adaptation for his or her own personal use, or alternately create their own cyber-address utilising sectors of the original work.

The once-crazy world of litigation is now crumbling because it’s almost impossible to trace original works and the costs involved in hiring a ‘tracker’ are too great to contemplate for most originators. A new line of work, the ‘cyber chauffeur’, has found its niche in the market place and the business community continues to evolve.

Unfortunately, the cancer from America’s plea-bargain practices, where both innocent and guilty suspects are given the choice between a reduced sentence with no trial if they admit guilt to crimes, or face the prospect of a lengthier prison term if they decide to proceed, has spread to every continent. With over 97% of cases settled almost instantly, this immoral practice saves valuable time and money for the industry while filling the pockets of lawyers who haggle with their clients, often despite lack of evidence. These professionals have evolved into salespeople and keep the production line well oiled. Quantity, not quality, is the order of the day. Many innocent people are doing life for crimes that they did not commit because of their dignity while the hotshots screw the system and their clients to lighten the load.

New strains of brainwashing for personal or political gain have prospered in recent times. After all, governments and the S.S.R. have been using these techniques for years and the formula is available for any individual to learn on the information airwaves. Despite the mandatory Safety Course, the epidemic nature of information overload continues to divide and confuse the populace as the line between fact and fiction blur significantly. Ironically, it is this new technology which G.O.D. itself had fast-tracked that has now become the catalyst for the social problems of the 21st century. In recent times they have become almost powerless to curb the shift in public consciousness and as a result the G.O.D. has stepped up its programs to enforce stability using ominous means.

The old dilemma of who is right and who is wrong continues to loom privately while every individual of age is asked to choose a religion from one of the seven on the safe list. Failure to comply results in something some people regarded as worse than death: shunning, ex-communication.

Soup kitchens are banned. Homeless shelters have been renovated into trendy high-rise units and all charitable work that aids the homeless and other zero tolerance minorities is a criminal act, unless it is in direct cohesion with G.O.D. and follows strict guidelines.

‘Don’t shine that bloody light into my eyes!’ the leather-faced vagrant howls, from where he is curled up inside his sand bunker. ‘I’m no animal!’ he protests further. ‘Do I look like a prize trophy to you?’

‘You know the procedure, old man, hold out your arm,’ a voice orders from behind the intense beam.

‘There is no need for profanity – I’m here to help!’ explains the government worker before pointing a gun to the man’s wrist. ‘Your records show me that you have never been to a Safety Course! How on earth do you survive without assistance?’

‘I’d sooner die than have my brain scrambled by control freaks,’ the vagrant grumbles bitterly.

‘Look, I can give you assistance now – hot food, clothing and temporary shelter – if you agree to do the mandatory courses,’ the official offers. ‘If you refuse, then someone from city waste management will eventually pick up your frozen corpse from the beach this coming winter. It’s your choice.’

‘Choice?’ the homeless man shrugs. ‘There is no disparity between being free in a restricted world or liberating myself only to be controlled again.’

‘Don’t you think the world is a better place now since the introduction of the safe policy?’ asks the priest, for that is what the official is.

‘Look, if you only give the Safety Course and the G.O.D. authority a go you’ll see things differently!’ the priest insists.

‘That is precisely the problem,’ the old man reasons. ‘I don’t want to be brainwashed and take happy pills, or pretend that life is a picnic in the park and play happy families! Why should I, or anyone else for that matter, be forced into accommodating protocol and blindly bind to governments’ laws concerning safe religions for the masses? They dictate this as truth, yet history and commonsense paint a totally different picture.’

There is something about this vagrant that intrigues the priestly government official. It isn’t his argument, which he has heard a thousand times before, yet there is something – something that hides beyond those piercing dark eyes and distinctive face that spew words of cynicism from that acid tongue of his.

‘No, it just has a code number,’ the worker explains. ‘You obviously evaded the system somehow.’

‘Oh? Well then, you may call me Gee – you know, after that magical hard-to-find, yet always rewarding, G-spot.’

‘Hmm … okay, Gee, don’t you think that the S.S.R. and G.O.D. only want what is best for their people?’

‘Sure, what do I care, it’s just a name,’ the sandy man replies. ‘Although, I do find it amusing considering that you’re young enough to be my great grandson. Anyway, Father, back to your question. Let me just clarify something first. The G.O.D. and the S.S.R. are one and the same in my opinion. After all, they need one another for survival and control. Agree?’

‘Furthermore, if governments believe it is in everyone’s best interest to be involved, then why are all government officials exempt from attending the Safety Courses?’ Gee quizzes.

‘Because they, and the religious establishment, are clearly a dedicated faithful group,’ the priest clarifies.

Gee has not spoken his mind in a number of years and he recalls with enthusiasm the lessons that he has learnt along life’s journey. Being a loner can literally kill a person and although it was circumstance and choice that brought him here, he wishes it had not come to this. At least he retains a special gift from a stranger some years earlier that keeps his mind actively focused and morally in check. This ‘gift’ gives some relief to the drudgery and despair that old dinosaurs like Gee experience in the harsh living conditions of a gorgeous modern landscape. He is a victim of principle and integrity, which shapes this nomadic lifestyle. Unlike his shabby clothing and wild hair, the intellect within is rich and sanitary. His desire to talk – to speak out from adversity – reaches an undeniable climax and he wants to use this situation to his full advantage.

‘You know, Father, I had the great pleasure of meeting someone that had as much faith as you profess to hold,’ he begins gently. ‘If you genuinely want to help me understand what I am missing out on and save my soul before winter sets in, and before my stomach begins to eat away at the remaining flesh on my crippling body, then please allow me some of your time so that I can recall a true sequence of events that needs to find an audience. This is the story of a dear friend and I would appreciate your analysis, criticism or perhaps even sympathy.

The good Father’s heart has been hardened in his chosen field and normally he would typically write off a nonconformist as a lost cause that had been swallowed up by the angel of darkness and a bit of senility. Yet something about Gee holds the priest’s fascination long enough to establish a sense of curiosity.

‘Yes, all right Gee, I’ll listen to your story, but I don’t know for how long I can allow you to waste my time,’ the priest shrugs indifferently.

‘I appreciate that, Father, however, for you to fully grasp my friend’s struggle I will have to start with his family background and upbringing …’

‘Like I said earlier, I will listen until I’ve had enough. After that I’ll leave you to your misery,’ the worker reminds the misfit.

Gee sits up and wriggles his backside into the fine sand until the loose surface moulds a perfect cast of his bones. In the shadows of Main Beach, where a revelation took place almost half a century earlier during Stanko Zokic’s lifetime, a new breed of ‘suit’ listens prudently.



PAPERBACK BOOKS

Prologue

Let’s communicate; really communicate!

– Jesus in Matthew 12:30

If you judge people, you have no time to love them - Mother Teresa