Who Were They?

It was during the pandemic he decided to reach out to her, to try to connect one more time. It had been fifteen years since they last spoke, which was a long time for some. A college romance, just a memory perhaps?

And then she responded. When he saw the simple one-line response on Messenger it startled him a bit. Then she sent a photo, and that brought a smile to his face.

What was it about her? Why had she been stuck in his head for all these years? Not quite a constant, but surfacing at certain key times. Sometimes even in his dreams. Why?

Over the coming weeks, their conversations grew longer and longer. They both shared more and more about their lives. Their friendship seems to pick up where it had left off so many years ago. Yet still, there was something about her that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

Was it just a special type of friendship they had, or some youthful notion he had had of a romantic connection, or perhaps it was simply the carnal desires by two young people from long ago that still floated in time and space? He didn’t know. Maybe it was only two adults attempting a diversion from the current world situation. No, it was something else.

He needed to solve this mystery.

A year ago, a friend of his had given him a business card for a Native American Shaman

His friend swore by this guy; he could help you answer life’s questions by introducing you to your animal spirit guide. This involved ingesting an herbal hallucinogenic and going on a trip for the answers.

He called him. Yes, he was seeing clients with proper social distancing and protective face covering.

So he headed to the desert. The house was typical for the area, not particularly mystical looking. The Shaman was a lot younger than he would have imagined, and when they walked to the backyard, the large expensive looking Coleman tent was not what he was expecting.

Inside the tent, the Shaman prepared a special tea drink for him and explained this would help him to meet his animal spirit guide who would take him on his journey to find the answer he was searching for.

Soon the tea was taking effect. He heard Shaman’s voice fading.

He found himself looking at his animal spirit guide.

Not at all what he expected. Not at all Native American. It was a tiny version of King Kong.

He tried to focus on the miniature gorilla in front of him.

He then inquired why the spirit animal was a tiny King Kong.

Tiny Kong, responded, in the voice of actor Jeff Bridges, “You have made my appearance from your own quest.”

“I see,” he said. Not really understanding.

Tiny Kong continued, “Years ago you two were supposed to go see the King Kong movie. You never ended up going, but we still thought this would make for perfect guide for the answer you seek.”

He didn't tell the tiny Kong that it was the version with Naomi Watts and Jack Black they broke the date for. Though he had seen the 1976 Bridges version, and in some hallucinogenic way, Jeff Bridges's voice made total sense as his guide.

“So what’s the answer, miniature King Kong?”

“So you want to cut to the quick then?” Tiny Kong responded.

“Yes,” he replied. He was aware, even in his hallucinating state, that the Shaman may have hypnotized him, and was simply directing him through this. On the other hand, the Shaman could not have known about their failed date to see “King Kong.” He hadn’t even remembered that to this instant. He would need to see what Tiny Kong had to say.

“Okay then.” Continuing in the voice of Jeff Bridges. “Let’s get started. You were both sent to this planet around the same time, given specific missions to be completed. Your human consciousnesses were never fully aware of your “other” consciousnesses.

You were supposed to complete your missions as adults, separately. By some mistakes, you two met as teenagers, so some efforts had to be made outside of you, to make sure you did not stay together as adults. That you both completed your respective missions.”

“All right,” he wasn’t buying this crackpot story.

“You’re telling me that we’re a couple alien consciousnesses that have been dropped into some humans to complete some sort of secret missions. I think I’ve seen this movie, buddy.”

“Alien. Such a harsh word,” said Tiny Kong. “I’m saying you’re both simply not just of this world. You both possess something from two different worlds. Perhaps that is why you’re both fascinated by humanity, and at the same time, long for a special solitude from it.

You personally strive to be in the company of beautiful women, but if you’re truly honest with yourself, you’ve never truly found a connection with one.”

“Well that’s not a very nice thing to say,” he replied.

“You are here to find a truth, and that is what I’m revealing to you.”

“So the only reason I have this strong feeling of connection to her, is because we're a couple alien secret agents? That our human consciousness doesn’t know about, yet still, I have these feelings of connection?”

“Your special origins and the duality you share may have caused the initial attraction, but your human nature may indeed contribute to your feelings and emotions. Your passions.”

He started to get frustrated by what he was being told. “And then there is the whole thing about some outside cosmic whatever manipulating us for their agenda. For our missions. Even if I was to buy into this, how do I know we’re on the right side of things?”

“I think you sense you are. It is for the greater good of things that you were prevented from being together as adults. You both had important missions, in different areas.”

“And what exactly are these missions?”

“You could not comprehend in your current human state.”

“That’s too easy an answer, isn’t it? Typical oracle bullshit. So are there others like us? Others doing whatever they are supposed to be doing?”

“Yes.”

“How come I’m not finding myself feeling connected to one of them?”

“That’s a question you must ask your human self.”

The tiny King Kong had set his mind going in many directions. He started to think about something he had mentioned to her the other night that she couldn’t remember. As if reading his mind, Tiny Kong responded:

“Yes, she could not remember that, because she was not supposed to. As much as you could have never gotten into that car with her all those years ago. You were not supposed to.”

His session with his spirit guide, the tiny King Kong, continued.

Thinking back to the memory of not getting into her car. He could almost remember the make and color of the car, a green LTD, or was it a Lincoln-Mercury Cougar? He remembered the familiarity of her voice when she told him to get in, even though they had not seen each other for more than a year.

Yes, he had smoked some pot that day, but he seemed to know and not know her at the same time. Those sunglasses. And it was as if someone had grabbed the back of his coat and pulled him away and onto the awaiting bus, as he simply said, “I have to get to class.”

His attention moved back to Tiny Kong. He asked Kong: “If they went to such great lengths to control us, to keep us separate — then why are we being allowed to communicate now?”

They had even discussed meeting in person.

Tiny Kong responded: “That is a good question.”

He sighed, “I’m getting a feeling you’re about to give me one of your non-answer answers.”

“I will tell you several possibilities, and you’ll have to decide for yourself. Perhaps you’ve both completed your missions and are being allowed to return to your pure human motivations.”

“So we’re retired alien secret agents, even though we don’t know we are.”

“Another possibility, as we know, humanity is facing a major shift in its paradigm with recent events. Perhaps they’ve teamed you up for something important.”

“Even though our human consciousnesses could never comprehend what that something was.”

“Yes.” Replied Tiny Kong. “And finally perhaps mistakes have been made again, and you should have never been allowed to reconnect. There may be consequences for the one that pursues what should not be. And that would be you.”

He stood up and stared down at the tiny King Kong. “Well, you can tell them they can go fuck themselves. Because I’ll pursue what I want when I want.”

His time and space shifted, and he found himself being dropped off by an Uber at Fullerton Amtrak station for his trip back to Los Angeles.

As the train moved toward LA, the hallucinogenic fully wore off. And what he believed to be some degree of clarity came back to him. He thought it through, he had been “worked“ by the Shaman.

The Shaman had no doubt hypnotized him and pulled out some deep forgotten memories, then re-introduced them as the tiny King Kong while selling him a scenario from a sci-fi movie. The main motive to keep him coming back for more paid sessions.

Embarrassed, he definitely wouldn’t tell her what he had done.

As the train passed the empty parking lot of the Indian casino, he thought to himself that the paradigm had truly shifted for humanity. What if what he learned had some truth to it, even if brought forth from the recesses of his consciousness.

But that would not stop him. He would eventually go to her. He would reach out to her; he would touch her.

Feel her heartbeat against his. With no regrets. For he might not know exactly who they were, but he did know one thing for sure.

That they were love.

###