Total Consciousness

Chapter-3: Heart and Soul

The men shuffled and scrambled over ropes and chains, careful not to step on the lard bag.

     An entire song played out. And the man in the bone white hat stood tied and chained up to a large pine tree. He did his best not to smile so much.

      “See, pendejos,” said Aquel, “he’s just a crazy man—nothing to worry about. That’s all that he is, un loco infeliz de la noche … make ready, gentlemen. Empty them into this nut case pig wanderer of the night.”

     Aquel air kissed two times at Luz as he tongued over his remaining dip. He spat the rest of it over his left shoulder and laughed. “Go to hell,” he said, “burn in misery, you crazy son of a puta.” He smiled and gently pressed back on his triggers. 

     Aquel fired his two pistols one after the other, and nodded at his two men to join in. For a hesitating half second, the two men shuddered in place and struggled to keep their pistols leveled.  

     El Jefe looked over his shoulder and glared at his two men with an asymmetrical smile. “What did I say?”

     The two men swallowed hard and joined in.

     Blast after blast, bang after bang, the three men unloaded their guns, sending thunder ripping through the night sky.

     Splinters from the large pine tree filled the space around Luz. Hot bullets ricocheted with sparks off the chains. And, grey-white smoke drifted in the air, covering the visibility of the three gunmen.

     The woman on the ground covered her ears. She looked away and tried to fight back her tears. Each shot punched a certainty into her solar plexus—causing nauseating spasms in her stomach, chest and throat. She curled up on the ground, tensing her shoulders and crossing her forearms in front of her face. How stupid, so, stupid to dream, she thought as she bit down on her right forearm, drawing another trickle of blood.

     The pistols smoked in place, emptied and hot. And all about the mountain cried the echoes of bunny men, satisfied, beneath the crescent killing moon.

     Aquel holstered his pistols first, content with his night practice. He approached the pine tree and stepped through the smell of sulfur, waving away grey thinning smoke. Closer to his prey, he crunched pine wood chips beneath his steps. And he squinted to check the chains and rope, and the beautiful carnage he imagined.

     He moved within arm’s length and inspected Luz. But, to his dismay, a strange certainty surged up in his throat, vile and strong with acid.

     For the first time in his entire life, Aquel felt ripples of immense dreadful panic. Something did not make sense in his world. The lack of blood and gore yanked at his nape like a cougar dragging a dead mule deer to its cubs.

     Instinctual reflexes forced Aquel to double jump backward, and to move quickly on reloading his guns. The two men behind him followed his lead and reloaded with quivering hands, doing their best to ignore their severe desert mouth.

     Luz raised his head and dropped his hat in the process. He smiled ever so calmly and spoke with a serene tone of voice.

     “Tsk, tsk, tsks … little boys, little boys—filled with joy, so much joy, playing with their boom, boom toys.”  

     The chains clinked and popped away. The ropes twanged and burst forward. Luz brushed his coat and picked up his gambler hat. And he grinned with a double wink at Aquel.

Thank you

     I appreciate your time in reading this blog post. Next Saturday I will upload the next part of Chapter Three: Heart and Soul, from my second novel: Luz Upon The World.

     If you have an interest in learning more about my writing and philosophy of metaphysics, you are welcome to explore my website, totalconsciousnesses.com on WordPress. Or, if you prefer, you can spend some time on my Substack, totalfreewill.substack.com

     Also, I currently have nine independently published books on Amazon. Feel free to visit my Amazon Author Page. My top recommendations are: Luz Upon the World; How Does Writer’s Block Work?; How Does Free-Will Work?; and How Does Studying Work?

     Overall, I hope the free posts that I upload to this website may provide some positive value in your life.

     Thanks again for your time.