An Evening at the Carnival with Mister Christian

"You know, when we recorded that one Jesus Christ was sitting in a corner of the studio. Paulie brought him, ya know. Strangest thing I ever saw." Then he put his guitar down and stood, looked out to sea -- as he began taking off his clothes. When he was finished, when he was ready, Lennon turned and faced Collins and Goodwin.

The skin on his torso and legs was a mottled, translucent blue now, smooth and free of genitalia, and he held out his hand to Goodwin.

"Ready?" Lennon said.

"Ready? For what?"

"A swim."

"No, not really," Goodwin said, but Collins helped him up, walked with him to the edge.

"Can I come too," Sumner asked...

...but Lennon shook his head. "Not this time, Mate." And when John had Goodwin in hand he leapt from the edge -- pulling Goodwin along...

Slicing into the sea, they arced deep, trailing a comet's tail of hope and desire. Goodwin was surprised the water was almost warm and oh so very clear, so he cleared his ears as he looked about...

...but he saw he was alone and a great despair slipped past his lips...then, when something caught his eye he swam for the bottom, found a piece of driftwood half-buried in sand. Short of breath now, he pulled it free, gasped when he recognized the image, the two scars under the eye, then he kicked for the surface, burst into air and breathed the sweetness. He settled in the water and saw Lennon by his side, waiting for him, a sly smile in his carefree face.

"Hey, boyo...I think you've got a ticket to ride," Lennon said as he looked up -- at Perelandra -- and for a moment Goodwin was half convinced the man had become a dolphin --

and then she was there, with them

Her face appeared next to Lennon's and he flew to her, put his arms around her and leaned his face against hers. He listened to her breathe, felt her heart beating against his and knew then that he loved this creature as much as he'd ever loved anyone -- and that he could not live without her, somehow, in his life. Then he saw another dolphin swimming in the distance -- much smaller, a little girl, perhaps -- and a moment later this one circled-in slowly, her eye on his -- as if seeking forgiveness.

Then they were swimming around him, slowly at first, then ever faster...and it came in a moment of transfiguration, in a split second of showering bliss. He woke in fields of strawberry dreams, drifted on seas of cellophane flowers yellow and green, and he smiled when he remembered Portofino, and her singing to the stars about tangerine trees and marmalade skies. He felt free as a bird as he swam between them, and he wondered what yesterday might bring, because tomorrow never knows.

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© 31 October 2016 by Adrian Leverkühn | abw | this is of course a work of pure, unbridled imagination...fiction, in other words. Hope you enjoyed the evening...