ConsciousInk: Excerpt from The Books of Zambarau (Maji Omnibus) - MindGarden

A Novelette from the Extras section of The Books of Zambarau- Maji Omnibus

MindGarden
lit: Dazjae Zoem
(Abridged- A Metaheart Tale)
(A retelling of 'Where Stories Are From' A Zulu Folktale)

When she was bold enough she made her way to them
through the mindgardens of the forbidden travelers she'd come to admire. They were only legends but they could be accessed. She found them all by their totems and asked them for the truths, but rabbit was a trickster, baboon a bitter mother, elephant eternally kind but knowing nothing, suggesting that perhaps eagle might.
Eagle was vain, but kinder than one might expect. He revealed that the way was through turtle. And it was true. Turtle led her there. Into the deep where she could find Ubonsomi and remember herself. Her ancestors... Ubonsomi asked her what she would give in return for the knowledge. Dandel promised imagery. She would give artful interpretation. Then Ubonsomi asked the oldest riddle. The one that revealed everything just in the asking. It made Dandel remember when she first realized she would have to find her way there.

“Put it away,”
Dandel snatched them quick.
Iabyt's papers could get him exiled!
Even so young.
She gathered the charcoal etchings
of womblooms the boy had drawn.
His eyes were keen.

“I am sorry Iabyt, but this is dangerous.'

How funny to come so far and build such an elaborate secret world within a world. They had been the dreaming kind. Some of them lucid dreamers. Many of them artists. Collectively: The Forgotten.

Dandel looked over the papers a third time. Iabyt had dated them 1942. Had it been that long? 10 years? It was like eternity. Dandel had forgotten. She shoved them swiftly into the hole in the tree they leaned against, visualizing a rock to hide the enclosure. Hopefully no one sensed the manifestation.

'What's the use ?,' Iabyt asked her softly.
'What purpose do we have if we can't be who we are? Why do we grow Earth gardens and harvest sunflower and pumpkin seeds to make milks and cheeses when we have mindgardens for all of that?”

“Hush, Iabyt. Don't Speak on these things now. The purists are trying to protect us. They fear what happened when we tried to be what we are with the ones who haven't grown. We won't hide in the trees forever.”

'Promise me.'

'I promise you Iabyt. We will live the stories in our imaginations. I am tired of the re-run too. This bubble we are in will pop. It is at war with inspiration.'

'We belong in Ubonsomi. We are travelers Dandelionhead.'

'I know.'



End.