Free Children of the Program by Brad Cox Page B

group.  Like a game of Duck, Duck, Goose, they extended pleasantries and handed down swift introductions.  Magnus, Rand, Simon, Neco, Dez, Ash, Grayson and Elisa were tired of formalities, but revived by the disruption of their speculative time.  Zane, Icarus, Ben & Juno took a seat on the circle. 
                  One by one, they purged their story.
     
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                  The dusk sunset complimented Ash's fair skin.  Tattooed by the puffy shadows of the sky's love, she complimented the desert floor.  Neco couldn't help in noticing her bold beauty, still resting comfortably in his cramped lap; she was adorned in a bedazzled mystique.  The evening was bathed in twilight.  The merciless desert was finally ready to bestow a warranted empathy toward its exhausted travelers.  A modest offering cooled the temperature to tolerable, as the sun hung in its 7 p.m. position.  From beyond, an aggressive breeze suddenly gusted about the perimeter, whipped the sand and pulled dust toward a parting sky.
                  “Do you see that?” asked Simon, pointing.  His mysticism longed for ownership.
                  The group was dumbfounded by a brilliant red, yellow and orange sequence being painted above.  Behind the beautiful colors shined a bright starry light, discarding shadows from the vacant interior of the congregation field.  Human whispers, in various languages, consumed the vibrational field.  Lowered by a cosmic puppeteer, the blue bird assumed the role of a supernova.  Its breathtaking presence overshadowed its underwhelming size.  Though mesmerizing, the magnificence of the sky's Broadway performance only cast a light upon their terrestrial insignificance.  They cowered beneath the unfolding heavenly canvas.
                  The royal bird then separated into four gallant new birds.  They circled, challenging the velocity of light.  Like an interstellar beam from an alien aircraft, a sapphire illumination connected the arid ground to the heavens.  A thunderous voice called out, in a deep, familiar and evocative way.  It was The Council.  Its power echoed through the canyon walls, and breathed fear into the already petrified forest. 
                  “Beckoning for growth, a tenacious spirit longs for humility.  It is the smallest mind that is able to move the greatest obstacle, through the hands of interconnectedness.  We are one body, within an infinite mind,” said The Council.  Their harmonized tones sent tremors through the desert floor.  “Stand, remove your clothing and lock arms!”
                  With warranted caution, they began begrudgingly shedding their earthly identities.  The young girls removed their knickers, but hesitated with the veils of their chest.  The developing boys wrestled with the insecurity of unfastening their ego-preserving fig leaves.   One after the other, they revealed their bodies to The Council and risked the judgment of their new acquaintances; everyone, too self-absorbed to notice.  They reached for each other’s hands, until the circle was connected and instinctively looked up.
                  As if hypnotized, Juno broke free and began to dance; Neco harmonized with The Council; Ash waved imaginary brushstrokes toward the heavens; Simon's body flickered within and out of the visible spectrum.               
                  They were the muses.
                  Grayson spoke in long-forgotten tongues; Elisa used physics to bend the marvelous lights of The Council's calling; Benjamin riddled in maths, seeking the final digit of the numerical constant known as pi; Rand recounted historical records with precise accuracy, as if narrating humanity for a book on tape.               
                  They were the intellects.
                  Icarus, Magnus, Zane and Dez walked toward