Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Utah - a Fable by Kiddrane
A letter from "John" to "Kay", aka Kiddrane and K.M. Samet
Note: Kiddrane is an amazing short story writer and novelist. We've known one another online via an internet music group since 1995. I was SO HONORED to be the subject of a short story of his.
Utah - a Fable
by Kiddrane
Kay remembers waking up to the smell of the ocean outside her window. The sound of the waves when she closed her eyes tight relaxed her. Kay never dreamed there was anything that would make her leave the East Coast. She enjoyed the sunny days mixed with the challenges of her job. Working with music provided her with a way to express herself. She liked promoting local bands and discovering new music to share with people. Despite the long hours and frustrations associated with any job, she felt something was missing in her life.
She wrote a letter to a friend expressing her emotions. She said, "John, I cannot believe how beautiful it is to wake up each morning and feel the beauty that surrounds me. Is it ok to feel this way and still want more?" John, was someone she had never met. In the new world of communications, friendships are born by writing your name on a computer screen. Not long ago it was unheard of for people to make friendships in this manner. In the modern world, in many ways it was common to secure relationships based on words, ideas and dreams.
She told John, "Some days I wake up and I feel so inspired by the things people take for granted." John lived on the East Coast as well. He lived in New York. Kay was in Miami, Florida. He told her, "The internet makes distance between people a keystroke away." John lived in a place where the ocean was not so far away. On certain days he could close his eyes tight and swear he could reach out and touch the rushing waves kissing the shoreline.
Although, the ocean was ten miles away, the sounds of rubber tires passing on the parkway translated in his mind as the sounds of the sea.
"John", she wrote, "Sometimes, I realize there is nothing in the world that could make me want to leave the comforts I own. But, someday I know one thing could make me trade everything in and take a leap of faith." The one thing Kay wanted did not come with a paycheck. It did not have an element of security. It held more risk than all the gambling on earth. John would sit and wonder out near his private lake in the concrete world about the fortunes he saw come and go. The neighbors who longed for better lives, choosing to escape the place they called home for a dream.
He told Kay, "The thing about dreams is some come true and some disappear when we wake each morning." When John heard where people were from; he would tune in to the local radio stations using the internet so he could hear what music was being played in different cities. No matter how far he searched, music was the one constant that remained the shared beacon of light. Kay and John had discovered one another because of music. It was a music digest that reached out across the heavens to unite people from all over the world.
Kay told John, "I have neighbors I see everyday that I do not talk to. I wave to them. They wave to me. The full extent of our knowing anything about one another is when we leave for work and when we come home. They go inside their homes and I go inside mine. Some days, we might nod at one another if we find ourselves sharing the same thought to sit quietly catching the sun."
John knew the feeling, he felt the same way. The world, was one huge mountain with holes dug out everywhere filled with people coming and going. There were people who lived inside the mountain who never came out. There were people who worked hard at the bottom, spreading the good earth to keep the mountain mighty and strong. There were people in the middle who reached out every so often trying to lend a hand, but mostly they kept to themselves. At the top of the mountain, where the air was cleanest, the powerful looked down at everyone else expecting them to pull their weight to secure their lofty perches.
The internet changed the ways of the world in more ways than anyone on the mountain could imagine. Suddenly, the world had forest, oceans, valleys filled with flowers and a million voices capable of singing in harmony or protest. The people at the top of the mountain did not like the internet. They felt it was intrusive and lacked the disciplines necessary to keep everyone in their place.
More than anything, with music as her weapon, with words she could share at a moment's whim -- Kay felt the world was a better place than what she read in the papers. It was a better place than how the local television stations broadcasted news each night in to her living room. She reached out beyond the stars and discovered communities of people she could understand. It did not matter what these people looked like. It did not make a difference what they wore or the kind of cars they drove. The images of importance, and success were replaced by their ideas, their thoughts and shared dreams.
She discovered, after sharing her ideas that even in Cyberspace people with strong opinions could be cruel. People, in general convince themselves at times they know more about the ways of the world then the next person. Sometimes, they live in a mountain perch inside the mountain; and no matter where they live and breath they attack rather than reach out. John told Kay, "There's a big difference between reaching out and attacking. When you reach out there's an understanding you might get yourself hurt, people attack because they sometimes do not appreciate the difference between others." It was human condition that nothing could change. John was guilty of it himself. There was no way to explain how one person's experience made any difference in the world.
What Kay longed for most in life was respect. She learned the hard way that being appreciated for the ways she wanted to express herself, learning to say what was on her mind and feeling others understood her was not a daily occurrence in anyone's life. The bottom line despite all the modern ways of communicating was still based on how much dirt needed to be plowed come morning. How much time and energy was required to maintain the hole in the wall everyone called home.
Kay chose to disappear. In a cyber-community people can turn the world on or tune it out. Despite her love of music and the many different people she had come to know through their words on a screen, Kay chose to turn if off. She learned that no matter where she fit in on the mountain, her private life needed tending to. Her little garden near the ocean did not depend on the words on a screen. Kay did not share her new ideas with the cyberpeople. Kay chose to become a silent participant. Every once in a great while, she would wave to a name on the screen. While sitting at her keyboard she would nod her head when she agreed or disagreed with something she read.
The cyber world had become in many ways just like the world outside her window. She told John, "All windows are alike, no matter what you're looking at." Kay was quiet for a long time. Kay discovered the one thing missing in her life because she shut out all the noise and allowed the beauty of trust to capture her. Kay found love.
Finding love can change everything. It can open your eyes to a new world. It can make you see things in ways you never thought possible. It comes with new horizons and new challenges. For Kay, it required that she surrender the ocean. She moved to Utah. Where the mountains are as real as the wind dancing through the trees in any forest. She fell in love with something more powerful than the vision outside her window. A vision that when shared with someone who respected her made her feel secure.
She started her own business. She reached out beyond the stars with a smile that whispered, "I'm happy."
She told John, "More than anything else in this crazy world, happiness is the most elusive dream of all."
John responded with understanding, "Kay, it's all water under the bridge no matter how close or far you find yourself from the waves of change."
People spend their lifetimes looking for answers. They look for the one thing that can make them feel it's worthwhile.
Kay lives in Utah. Kay is happy. She found love.
Keep Smiling and Rock On, Kiddrane out near Lake Marie fixing a hole.
Note: Kiddrane is an amazing short story writer and novelist. We've known one another online via an internet music group since 1995. I was SO HONORED to be the subject of a short story of his.
Utah - a Fable
by Kiddrane
Kay remembers waking up to the smell of the ocean outside her window. The sound of the waves when she closed her eyes tight relaxed her. Kay never dreamed there was anything that would make her leave the East Coast. She enjoyed the sunny days mixed with the challenges of her job. Working with music provided her with a way to express herself. She liked promoting local bands and discovering new music to share with people. Despite the long hours and frustrations associated with any job, she felt something was missing in her life.
She wrote a letter to a friend expressing her emotions. She said, "John, I cannot believe how beautiful it is to wake up each morning and feel the beauty that surrounds me. Is it ok to feel this way and still want more?" John, was someone she had never met. In the new world of communications, friendships are born by writing your name on a computer screen. Not long ago it was unheard of for people to make friendships in this manner. In the modern world, in many ways it was common to secure relationships based on words, ideas and dreams.
She told John, "Some days I wake up and I feel so inspired by the things people take for granted." John lived on the East Coast as well. He lived in New York. Kay was in Miami, Florida. He told her, "The internet makes distance between people a keystroke away." John lived in a place where the ocean was not so far away. On certain days he could close his eyes tight and swear he could reach out and touch the rushing waves kissing the shoreline.
Although, the ocean was ten miles away, the sounds of rubber tires passing on the parkway translated in his mind as the sounds of the sea.
"John", she wrote, "Sometimes, I realize there is nothing in the world that could make me want to leave the comforts I own. But, someday I know one thing could make me trade everything in and take a leap of faith." The one thing Kay wanted did not come with a paycheck. It did not have an element of security. It held more risk than all the gambling on earth. John would sit and wonder out near his private lake in the concrete world about the fortunes he saw come and go. The neighbors who longed for better lives, choosing to escape the place they called home for a dream.
He told Kay, "The thing about dreams is some come true and some disappear when we wake each morning." When John heard where people were from; he would tune in to the local radio stations using the internet so he could hear what music was being played in different cities. No matter how far he searched, music was the one constant that remained the shared beacon of light. Kay and John had discovered one another because of music. It was a music digest that reached out across the heavens to unite people from all over the world.
Kay told John, "I have neighbors I see everyday that I do not talk to. I wave to them. They wave to me. The full extent of our knowing anything about one another is when we leave for work and when we come home. They go inside their homes and I go inside mine. Some days, we might nod at one another if we find ourselves sharing the same thought to sit quietly catching the sun."
John knew the feeling, he felt the same way. The world, was one huge mountain with holes dug out everywhere filled with people coming and going. There were people who lived inside the mountain who never came out. There were people who worked hard at the bottom, spreading the good earth to keep the mountain mighty and strong. There were people in the middle who reached out every so often trying to lend a hand, but mostly they kept to themselves. At the top of the mountain, where the air was cleanest, the powerful looked down at everyone else expecting them to pull their weight to secure their lofty perches.
The internet changed the ways of the world in more ways than anyone on the mountain could imagine. Suddenly, the world had forest, oceans, valleys filled with flowers and a million voices capable of singing in harmony or protest. The people at the top of the mountain did not like the internet. They felt it was intrusive and lacked the disciplines necessary to keep everyone in their place.
More than anything, with music as her weapon, with words she could share at a moment's whim -- Kay felt the world was a better place than what she read in the papers. It was a better place than how the local television stations broadcasted news each night in to her living room. She reached out beyond the stars and discovered communities of people she could understand. It did not matter what these people looked like. It did not make a difference what they wore or the kind of cars they drove. The images of importance, and success were replaced by their ideas, their thoughts and shared dreams.
She discovered, after sharing her ideas that even in Cyberspace people with strong opinions could be cruel. People, in general convince themselves at times they know more about the ways of the world then the next person. Sometimes, they live in a mountain perch inside the mountain; and no matter where they live and breath they attack rather than reach out. John told Kay, "There's a big difference between reaching out and attacking. When you reach out there's an understanding you might get yourself hurt, people attack because they sometimes do not appreciate the difference between others." It was human condition that nothing could change. John was guilty of it himself. There was no way to explain how one person's experience made any difference in the world.
What Kay longed for most in life was respect. She learned the hard way that being appreciated for the ways she wanted to express herself, learning to say what was on her mind and feeling others understood her was not a daily occurrence in anyone's life. The bottom line despite all the modern ways of communicating was still based on how much dirt needed to be plowed come morning. How much time and energy was required to maintain the hole in the wall everyone called home.
Kay chose to disappear. In a cyber-community people can turn the world on or tune it out. Despite her love of music and the many different people she had come to know through their words on a screen, Kay chose to turn if off. She learned that no matter where she fit in on the mountain, her private life needed tending to. Her little garden near the ocean did not depend on the words on a screen. Kay did not share her new ideas with the cyberpeople. Kay chose to become a silent participant. Every once in a great while, she would wave to a name on the screen. While sitting at her keyboard she would nod her head when she agreed or disagreed with something she read.
The cyber world had become in many ways just like the world outside her window. She told John, "All windows are alike, no matter what you're looking at." Kay was quiet for a long time. Kay discovered the one thing missing in her life because she shut out all the noise and allowed the beauty of trust to capture her. Kay found love.
Finding love can change everything. It can open your eyes to a new world. It can make you see things in ways you never thought possible. It comes with new horizons and new challenges. For Kay, it required that she surrender the ocean. She moved to Utah. Where the mountains are as real as the wind dancing through the trees in any forest. She fell in love with something more powerful than the vision outside her window. A vision that when shared with someone who respected her made her feel secure.
She started her own business. She reached out beyond the stars with a smile that whispered, "I'm happy."
She told John, "More than anything else in this crazy world, happiness is the most elusive dream of all."
John responded with understanding, "Kay, it's all water under the bridge no matter how close or far you find yourself from the waves of change."
People spend their lifetimes looking for answers. They look for the one thing that can make them feel it's worthwhile.
Kay lives in Utah. Kay is happy. She found love.
Keep Smiling and Rock On, Kiddrane out near Lake Marie fixing a hole.
