Notopia Read online

  “Check this out, Strata, I was showing this to Cirrus, and now she can’t stop laughing,” a voice from behind Gwen said.

  “Hold on a moment Nimbus! I have someone for you to meet first,” Strata said.

  But Nimbus couldn’t wait. He wore short, faded blue jeans that barely clung to his hips and his shirtless body was dark toned and sported blotches of white paint. His face and long curly brown hair were the classic Jesus look.

  “First you bend your hands at the wrist and put them under your armpits. Then, you stick out your tongue, put your chin on your chest, and try your best to look up at the sky. Then, you flap your arms like a bird and hop around,” Nimbus said.

  As he pranced around in random circles, flapping his arms, leaning back with a stiff upper body, his chin down, eyes up, and tongue wagging, the girls could not control their laughter. Nimbus scratched at the ground with his foot and twisted his head from side to side like a chicken looking for bugs. Gwen covered her mouth and laughed hysterically. Even with her eyes shut she could see him flailing about in this nutty version of the chicken dance her grandmother had taught her as a child.

  “Nimbus! Nimbus! Stop! You are too much!” Strata could barely speak between the laughing and the gasping for air. She wiped the tears from her face but more came forth. Cirrus was now there as well, laughing just as hard.

  A new roar of laughter chimed in from the other side of Nimbus. Gwen followed the new laughter and found another man. He too wore shorts and sported dark tanned skin. His hair was much shorter than Nimbus’s, and he was taller than Nimbus. He stood at least six feet four inches high, she guessed. He was noticeably stronger built, but he was not what one would call ripped. His powerfully kind face, dark eyes, and blond hair went perfectly with his huge grin.

  “What in the world are you doing?” his voice was strong and echoed comfort as it vibrated inside her.

  “Where I am from they call this the chicken dance,” said Gwen. “But we don’t do the chin and tongue part.”

  “Chicken dance? You have chickens that dance?” Strata asked.

  “No, no,” she said, still laughing at Nimbus. “It’s a dance people do for fun. You know, to be silly and laugh. There is music for it and kids dance as well.”

  “Sounds like a hoot to me! By the way, my name is Cumulo. It is very nice to meet you.”

  “I am Gwen, and likewise to you,” she extended her hand, and he took it. He was indeed powerful, but his grip left her hand room to move. She could tell he had control and sensitivity as well.

  “Gwen is a nice name. Well, Gwen, you are the first seeker to visit us! We feel very special.”

  “First seeker? Oh! You are not seekers, not people… I mean… you are people… but you are dreams. You must forgive me. I am still very new to this Notopia, and I am still adjusting.”

  “It’s perfectly okay, Gwen; dreams know what this place is. We know why we are here, and we know that seekers are not as enlightened as we. So, we will be patient and wait for our seeker to find us. Do you like the paint job?”

  “Cumulo, these clouds of yours are nothing short of remarkable! I am fascinated that your clouds move and inspire simple yet complex thoughts in me. Makes my mind gleeful to be alive,” she said.

  “Gleeful? Wow, I never expected gleeful.” He was grinning with pride now and almost blushing a bit. “Thank you, Gwen.”

  “Ahh, look at that gang,” Strata said, “he is blushing! How cute is that!”

  “You heard her. She said she saw them move. I knew it would work,” Cumulo said.

  Strata kissed him on the cheek and said. “We never had a doubt.”

  Strata then took Gwen by the arm, saying, “Gwen, let’s go finish that tea and let them finish painting.”

  “I could do with a break. I will join you after I wash up,” Cumulo said.

  Back at the table on the porch, her tea was still perfect. “You folks are certainly very happy,” Gwen said.

  “Being happy is what we are all about Gwen. I will let Cumulo explain it. He is our leader.”

  “Explain what?” Cumulo said, stepping out onto the porch.

  “Perfect timing, love, Gwen was noticing how happy we all are, and I told her you would explain it to her.”

  Cumulo sat down at the table and selected a tea bag and a cup. “It’s not so much about how happy we are, Gwen; it’s more about you being happy, or everyone being happy. The person dreaming us into Notopia believes that many people, often unwittingly, instigate their sadness and their depression. He found that by doing some simple things like smiling, being positive, and untwisting some thought processes, that everyone could improve their level of happiness. Those already suffering from depression could be lifted from its grip. And the ones teetering on going over the edge would be able to move back to their happy selves. We are his vehicles to present his concepts to the world. To reach everywhere, he wanted something that could be found the world over. He chose clouds; thus, our names are from different types of clouds. In your real world, we will appear as a comic strip called LookingUP. I am Cumulo, the friendliest cloud in the sky.”

  Strata leaned toward Gwen. “He never gets tired of saying that either,” she said.

  “That is an amazing dream, and we sure could use more happiness in the world. I hope your seeker finds you soon,” Gwen said.

  “What is your dream, Gwen?” Cumulo asked.

  Gwen sighed. “I wish I knew. I have no idea at all. After visiting the museum, I am beginning to think my being here is a mistake.”

  “Is your painting there?” Strata asked.

  “Yes and no. It’s just a frame and a mass of murky colors. I am embarrassed that it is hanging in that pentagon thing next to such masterful paintings.”

  Cumulo’s and Strata’s faces then got serious. “Gwen, the Pentagon? I assure you, you are not here by mistake. You have something very exciting and very important stirring inside. If your paint is still very murky, then your dream has not yet arrived, but it could at any moment,” Cumulo said.

  Strata piped up. “There is a gathering tonight in the park just up the road. You should come with us.”

  Why not? Gwen thought. “I might do that, but right now I was headed home when I saw your house. I think it is best that I continue home and try to find some thinking time.”

  “Okay, Gwen. It was charming to meet you, and we look forward to seeing you this evening,” Strata said.

  ***

  Gwen got back in her car and pulled away from the curb. She thought to herself about the gathering. That would be good. She would see and meet many dreams and many seekers. Gwen brought her car to a stop and parked. She then discovered she was not at home but at work and Notopia was gone, for now.

  Chapter 6

  With her mind repeatedly thinking about Notopia, she found it hard to concentrate on work, and to add to that was Roger. What was she going to say to him? Will he remember I saw him there, talked to him, and hugged him? Will I now see Leo? I can’t think about this now, I have work to do. She forced herself to focus on real life and settled in.

  Fortunately, the file in front of her today was nothing notably difficult. She got into her methodology, and soon all was like clockwork. Moving from one form to another, she made it look like a machine could do it. It was true, some parts a machine could probably do, but only some, and a mistake would be significantly costly to the company.

  “Your house is beautiful,” she heard Roger say, but she half ignored him, and half wanted to scream. He said it again, “Your house in Notopia is lovely.”

  Without looking up, she replied. “Thank you. I mean, yes, I don’t know what I mean. Can this wait until lunch? I can’t think about it while I’m working.”

  “Sure, I understand.” Roger more than understood and Roger knew all he needed, for now anyway. She did remember him. She was much more in tune than he had imagined. I must go to the museum and find her painting next time I�
�m there.

  At lunchtime, Gwen and Roger sat outside on the patio, where privacy was easy to find. Gwen barely spoke; she let gestures, sighs, and moans do her communicating. After a good twenty minutes, Roger could take no more.

  “We are very fortunate. As far as I know, very few people ever recognize someone they have seen in Notopia. On top of that, you and I have known each other for a long time,” Roger said. “Gwen, I am getting a little concerned that all of this is upsetting you. All I can tell you is to be patient. You will grow more comfortable with it all when you find it does not disrupt your life.”

  “Not disrupt my life! Are you crazy? My life feels to be in total disarray, Roger. I sit in my tub and disappear; I drive my car down streets that don’t exist, I see museums with paintings that have paint that interacts with my thoughts, I see giant rainbows, and blue lightning!” She began to tremble.

  Roger touched her arm. “Fire, blue fire.”

  “Jesus! Yes, blue fire. Like that makes any of it better!”

  “Gwen, you are letting your emotions get the best of you. This is totally understandable, but I implore you to just go with it, let it come to you.” Roger knew a nervous breakdown could separate Gwen from Notopia. Any extreme interruption in her mental functions and her subconscious would sever the link until she was ready again. “It is important to know that you will not get hurt there, no one gets hurt there. When you are there Gwen, you don’t have to venture out—you can simply, enjoy your home. Your home looked very comfortable Gwen. At the risk of sounding forward, I liked the bed, and you have a marvelous taste in furniture.”

  “You went in my house, Roger? Why?”

  Roger and Gwen first met while vacationing years ago. Their parents would go camping in the same park for the summer. They lived a few hundred miles apart, and for quite a few years they would meet there. They were close summer buddies and exchanged emails, but they never formed a love interest. She always shared things with Roger, but for the first time, this felt like he had intruded.

  “Gwen, when you disappeared, I went to look for you. I closed everything when I left.” Roger sensed her defensiveness and knew now was not the time to discuss the paintings. “As soon as I realized that you had left Notopia, I got out. I left Notopia very soon after you did and found myself here at work.

  Gwen thought for a moment. Something is not right. She could not pinpoint it, but she knew it would come to her. “It’s okay Roger; I’m just a bit edgy.” She finished her salad. “I will be fine. I need more time to think things through. Let’s get back to work and see how things go.”

  “There you go. You will be fine Gwen; I have every confidence in you.”

  Chapter 7

  Paul sat at work and wondered if Gwen accepted Notopia. It had taken him a good year to be at ease, yet he had seen others adapt much quicker. Many do not fare so well at all, with failures ranging from mental collapses or psychotic episodes to flat out denial and refusal by the conscious mind to accept Notopia as reality. After all, with the rarity of its occurrence, it isn’t exactly dinner table conversation, and the concept is completely foreign to most people. Paul had played a special role in Notopia, and he quietly hoped that Gwen would be like him.

  Paul met his dream in Notopia like all those before him. However, to complete his dream, he would have to reach and merge with the mind of another person. Once merged, they could reach out together and experience the universe in ways no one has ever done before. The only way to accomplish this was to find another person with the same dream as his. He and his dream scoured the museum day after day watching for another dream to match his. Due to the uniqueness of his situation, he spent many years in Notopia. He had tutored and guided many people and felt satisfied with the knowledge that, without his help, many seekers would have given up. He hoped Gwen would have an equally rewarding experience.

  Only half of Paul’s dream was realized in Notopia. He and his dream finally found another person with the same dream and ambitions, but alas, her mind had, thus far, rejected the very notion of Notopia. He tried desperately to convince her when they were together in Notopia, but all attempts only alienated her further. Fearing he would push too hard, he decided to pursue her in real life only. It had been three years since his last visit to Notopia, and when Gwen spoke of her being in her vision, his hope was rekindled in the knowledge that Delilah was still going there. He was also happy to hear that she is still a reporter, a role she had taken on before he left. She had said she thought it might be a way for her to stay on top of things there while the place made some sense to her. Paul loves Delilah with every fiber of his being, and on every plane of existence he could imagine. He could only wait for her to accept her dream and then join with him.

  What was surprisingly new was that Roger was in Notopia as well. Paul wondered when this had occurred. Roger was a cheery guy, but he was not a dreamer; quite the contrary, Roger did not like this modern world at all. Oh, he put up a good front to keep his job and accepted what the world had become well enough, but inside he would rather see humans living harmoniously with animals in nature. Being hunters and gatherers eating meat, when they came across it, or perhaps fish. People should be living amongst the plants and animals, and rocks, as part of the earth. “That is when humanity flourishes,” he would say.

  “To each his own,” Paul would reply, and inside he would wonder why people would want to limit themselves. Hatred, bigotry, and selfishness all accomplish the goal of limited, divisive thinking, and all fail to inspire any level of real happiness.

  Paul thought again of Delilah, and as Gwen approached his desk, he was talking to himself and said. “I would love to see and feel her portal painting.”

  “See and feel her what?” Gwen asked. “Honestly Paul, sometimes you say the strangest things. What does Delilah say when you blurt stuff like that out?”

  “Hello, Gwen. I was just… just.”

  “No need to explain, cowboy. I just came by to tell you I’m stealing Delilah tonight. We got girl talk to catch up on.”

  “Okay, but have her back before nine. Otherwise, she’ll be too tired the next day,” he replied before saying, “Cowboy? What did she tell you?”

  Gwen walked away, giggling.

  Delilah and Gwen had stopped at the grocery store on the way home. Once they were back home, they opened a favorite bottle of wine and began to create their traditional eggplant parmesan for dinner. It was “their” special recipe, and they only prepared it when they were together. Over the years they had perfected it, they often joked about passing on the recipe to their children, if they ever had any.

  “I am very glad we haven’t shared this dish with anyone, Gwen. It makes it so much more special that it is only ours.”

  “I wholeheartedly agree. Delilah. What does Paul do when you have these evenings with me?”

  “Well, he says he usually meditates and contemplates an issue or a problem that has long eluded him. It has something to do with the worlds that dwell beyond the mind and venturing into them. I don’t understand it. He tells me someday he hopes to be able to explain it to me, but that he doesn’t know himself yet.”

  “You two are quite fortunate to be together.”

  “Oh, I believe that completely, Gwen. Speaking of couples, you have any prospects these days?”

  “No.”

  “What about that guy involved with the playground equipment project? What’s his name? Julio? He seemed rather likable.”

  “Needs more cheese over here,” Gwen pointed. “Yes, he is quite handsome and has a very positive demeanor. Oh my god! I saw Jim from over in Travel last week. He was talking with some of the girls, and he said, ‘I know I’m not very handsome, and I don’t smile a lot, but I’m not a bad guy.’ Poor guy just doesn’t get it. Nothing says you are a great catch like ‘Hey, choose me, I’m ugly and depressed!’”

  “Gwen, you are horrible!”

  “I know. I’m sorry. But Delilah,
why would anyone want to date an ugly and depressed man? He isn’t ugly, and if he just thought about what makes him happy more often, he would be much more attractive. Take that Julio guy for instance. He is good looking, and his smile makes him even more appealing. He doesn’t dwell on the negatives or failures; he talks about the successes and what is ahead.”

  “Starting to sound like you are interested in Julio to me.”

  “Well, perhaps I am a little. I did notice there was no wedding ring. I don’t know enough about him yet.”

  “Yet?” Delilah said. The ladies both laughed before putting the eggplant in the oven.

  They each took a seat at the table with full wine glasses. Then, Delilah said. “Enough small talk Gwen, what did you want to talk to me about?”

  “Well,” Gwen started slow. “I’m pretty sure I found just the kind of guy that I would be happy with.”

  “And who is that?”

  “His name is Leo, but he is not exactly a who.”

  “Now, you sound like you did when you told me about that Notopia place. You had me feeling uneasy about you then,” Delilah noticed Gwen’s straight face. “No. You can’t be talking about that again!” Gwen just nodded. “Are you serious? You are telling me you found the guy of your dreams in your dreams?”

  Gwen said. “I keep telling you Delilah it’s not a dream. Okay, I admit I can’t tell you what it is, but it is very real to me. I know it isn’t real life, I’m just saying that if I met a guy like this Leo character I could be very happy.”

  “So, what is this dream guy like?”

  Gwen’s face began to light up just a little. “He is easy on the eyes, patient, and kind. He is caring toward others and realizes it took him a long time to learn to be a complete man. He also thinks for himself and listens to others. That’s about all I know so far.”