The Dream

I awoke in the cave near my home where I kept my computer in the eternal cool. It was as black as pitch. Fortunately, in some bizarre somnambulistic quirk, I had picked up my flashlight. I switched it on. I walked up to the computer and switched it on. Nothing happened. The generator must have run out of gas again. I turned around and left the cave. Past the rushing noise of the waterfall, I walked to the shed where the generator was stored. In opened the door, pulled the cord, and the trusty Honda came to life.

I returned to the computer and switched it on. My heart nearly stopped as I realized the image on the screen was that of my dream! My last recollection before I awoke was of being in the boat having left Nacah. As if still in the dream, I reached for the screen. Strangely, as I touched it, I was transported from Nacah on the boat I thought had just been a figment of my imagination in my dream. I sailed for hours or seconds and arrived at a jetty.

It was then I realized I was no longer myself. I had always been here. Perhaps my waking life was the dream and I had returned to reality?

The Island

A structure with two doors stood before me. Electing the further door, that at left, I walked toward it. On my right, just before the door, was a plaque engraved with “Matthew 26:34”. I thanked God and my former teacher, Brother Modallotto, who drummed the passages from the Bible into me:

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the cock crows, you will disown me three times."

I walked up to the door but found it locked. However, no lock mechanism could be seen. By the door, a handle turned a wheel. With each turn, a carved picture of a different animal was revealed, accompanied by the creature’s call. I turned the handle to show the rooster. As though by magic, the door opened to my touch.

The First Room

I was in a narrow corridor blocked by an upright plank of wood. I removed the plank and dragged it with me in case I needed it later. At the end of the corridor was a turquoise pedestal that held a book. I opened the book and found a key cunningly concealed in it. I took it and the Bible that had borne it. I left the room and walked toward the other door.

The Second Room

I chanced the key in the lock and my endeavor was greeted with success. A touch to the handle and the door swung open. A slightly larger room this time. From a door at right, I picked up a hammer, a signal base, and two fuses. A chest of drawers at left would not open even with the hammer. I would need a key. I exited the room and followed the decking around the side.

Side of the House

I was halted when I noted that some of the planks had rotted and fallen into the sea. I placed my plank across the gap and walked up to a board on my left, strangely nailed shut as though to conceal something. The hammer raised the nails enough for me to collect another key. I took the board when I realized it was a signal board. I returned to the second room.

Second Room

Back in the room, I unlocked the chest. I removed two signals from the top drawer and three matches from the bottom one. Realizing that I had found everything this abandoned house had to offer, I set off again in my boat.

Into the Unknown Sea

Another journey, this time longer for day changed into night. I anchored not far from another boat much larger than mine in a harbor of a mysterious village. I swam for the shore.

The Village

I made my way up to the main door of the village. Dogs barked in the distance. Suddenly, I heard footsteps. A guard walked by an open window above and to my right making me feel this was more a fort than a village. Fortunately, he did not see me. Without a sound, I opened the door and went in.

Inside the Village

The entry corridor featured primitive artwork of Bible teaching on both walls. I followed the corridor to see a monk scurry away. Like a cat, I padded after him. He and another monk were praying at an altar at the end of a long corridor. Though deep in thought, they were roused by my not-so-catlike-after-all presence. Caught, I was overpowered and led through a rabbit warren of passages to a cell. I could not remember the way I was led despite putting my best efforts into concentrating on it.

The Cell

Within my sparsely furnished cell, I was drawn to a barred window. I could see the ship I had seen earlier. If only I had gone immediately to it. Surely, I could be no worse off than I was now. The bars were well secure-no moisture had seeped into the rocks. I noted a handle on a drain in the floor. Perhaps I could squeeze out through the sewer system. I lifted it up, and against my gut feelings of fear related to claustrophobic imagery, I plunged into the pipe. Immediately upon arriving at the bottom, one of my captors appeared above and secured the hatch effectively securing me in the tunnels.

The Tunnels

I was now locked in a chamber. The only door out had a series of buttons on it. Fiddling with them, I came to realize that two buttons were different, making sounds more akin to a “click”. I pushed them and then the one in the middle. The hatch opened, allowing me access to tunnels. For a long time I scraped my knees and hands as I crawled. I was drawn to a grate-like window in the floor. Peering through it, I watched a monk reading a Bible in a cell. Alas, there was no escape into this cell for me. I followed the drain out to the village. As quietly as possible, I walked to the beach and swam back to my boat.

Back on Board

Noting a figure on the deck of the larger craft, I set out to signal him. I placed the signal board on the edge of my boat. I proceeded to place the signal base on it. Once it was secure, I placed the signal sound in the holder and placed a fuse into it. I lit it with one of my matches. Fortunately, it wasn’t too wet to light. The signal flew up into the air. Moments later, a lamp was lit on board the boat and the figure peered out into the dark. I needed to help him see where I was. I repeated the steps I had followed before, this time using the signal light. Seeing the state of my boat, the figure, a weathered old sailor, hoisted me aboard.

The Sailor’s Quest

The sailor questioned me about my origins and I told him of my adventures in Nacah. I showed him the Bible I carried. He advised me to follow its wisdom. Then, he spoke of the people of Derek whose people, the Matteh, had lost their Bibles when dominated by the Dalaq. The Dalaq gave them Bibles they could not read. However, all had not been lost. A group of Matteh, the Qadas, fled to the mountains with Bibles in their own language. He asked me to find and return with a Bible so that he might return the Matteh their faith and a map to find his way through the islands of Derek to them and then his home. I chose to help him, knowing within me that this was a way to prove my own faith. He gave me a letter to the Qadas in their own language explaining my quest. We were to sail through the night to as close as he could to the path to the Qadas. He told me to sleep to rest in preparation for my journey. I went to bed, but slept fitfully of events of the past and what might be in store.

The Safe Harbor

The next morning I awoke to a beautiful sunrise of purples and oranges from within a cavernous sheltered rock harbor. The sailor fared-me-well, offering his wishes and prayers. By the magenta light of dawn, I walked up the stone path of the cove. Immediately across a bridge, I noted a blocked man-made cavern. It was offset to the right with a strange round hole, it, in turn, marked with another Bible reading: Haggai 2:8.

            “The silver is mine and the gold is mine,” declares the Lord Almighty.

Not carrying either silver or gold, I searched the ground and found providence had shined on me. I picked up fragments of both and placed them in the round opening. I turned away briefly and when I looked again, the blockage was gone!

The Cave

I entered the passage, walked a short distance, and opened a copper door.

The Cage

I was in a cage-like room, spherical in shape, with a concentric circle grill in the floor. I turned around and collected a sharp pair of cutters. Below the grilled floor, I could see a ladder descending to the ground below. A hatch leading to the ladder was locked, but the cutters made short work of the lock. Opening the hatch, I noted how far down the floor was. White knuckled, I climbed down gingerly, expecting a rung to break at any time.

Ground Control

I was in front of what looked to be a very old control panel. The room was completely dominated by this monstrosity. A button was on either side of a metal wheel. I turned the wheel and a golden ball descended stopping short of crushing me. I noted that when I pressed the button at left, a different Scripture verse was displayed. The right button caused a holographic image to appear. I soon matched Amos 7:8 to the plumb line:

            And the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” “A plumb line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer”.

I turned the wheel clockwise and the ball descended, now revealed as a chain plumb line. As I prepared to back out of the way, I noticed a cleverly hidden key hanging on a peg at the right side of the control panel. I collected it and climbed onto the plumb line. I noted some controls and realized it was an elevator. I pushed the up symbol and was returned to the cage.

The Cage

I crossed the room and turned the key in the keyhole at the rear of the elevator controls. Returning to the controls, I pushed the up symbol again and was raised to a round chamber.

The Chamber of the Dead

At right, there was a niche. I pressed he button in the niche and an image of a graveyard appeared out of the mist, then disappeared in a blinding flash of light. This was a clue-but what did it mean? Further on, directly opposite the elevator, was a huge switch. Unfortunately, touching it did nothing. Further on to the left were three buttons on the wall. Experimenting with them revealed that each displayed a verse of Scripture. All three must be right, I mused, before the switch would work. I soon realized the link was the image I had seen before-that of the graveyard. Daniel 12:2, Ecclesiastes 9:5, and Ecclesiastes 9:10 were the correct verses:

            Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.

            For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten.

            Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

I pulled the switch-it seemed to be reflected in a dim new glow. I heard a sound of a door opening in the distance. I returned to the elevator and descended to the cage room.

The Cage

The oval door I had heretofore taken no notice of was now open.

The Hall of Eyes

Through the door, into another corridor, I turned abruptly to see the door close behind me. There would be no returning…for now. I walked through alternating corridors of dark and light before pausing in a room with a dazzlingly lit section of carved wooden columns and alcoves at left and right. In both alcoves sat a statue of an eye. The left eye had a “dot” or speck of dust at one corner, the right looked to have a splinter or other foreign body in it. Making a mental note of these bizarre statues, I walked forward through the corridor. The corridor ended in a mechanically controlled set of door. The controlling mechanism for the day sat at left but was unlike any other I had seen in my journey. An incomplete Scripture reading was carved into the control panel at the top: “Matthew 7:” The display screen underneath was intended as a way to complete the verse number. Two buttons were inlaid on either side of the screen, one red and one green. Surprisingly, the red button was the “on” button. A swirling light appeared on the screen. I used the buttons below to form digital numbers on the screen once I pinpointed the three relevant verses as Matthew 7:3, 7:4, and 7:5:

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”

“How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your eye?”

“You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye”.

After I entered each digit, there was a beep suggesting I was correct with my entry. The doors shuddered and slid opened. Once again, I thanked God and Brother Modallotto.

Ladder to Where?

I went into a circular chamber, empty excepting the ladder that rose from the center of the room into the far, mysterious distance above. I climbed rung by rung, eventually reaching another tunnel.

Tunnel to the Outside

I walked down what looked like a mine tunnel. My journey was ended abruptly, however, when I discovered the corridor was blocked by a wall of rocks. I pushed in the hope that they might be shifted. Amazed when the rocks loosened enough to create a hole large enough for me to squeeze out, I viewed large pools of water beyond. I stepped out.

Pine and Water

Taking a few seconds to breathe in the pine scented air, I gathered that my path lay straight ahead. However, on inspection, the single plank bridge had no power to lower it and only featured another Scripture verse, Exodus 14:21:

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided.

I walked back toward where I had entered and walked up to control panel on my right. I pressed the top button on it and a red light came on. I took this to mean it was on. I walked further toward the hole in the rocks and turned left, following a path around the water. I crossed a log bridge and entered an abandoned hut on the other side. A strange electrical or mechanical device sat n the table. I pushed a button and magenta mist rose from the odd device. A soft hum confirmed to me that power was restored. I returned to the entry area and then walked to plank. Pushing the control button lowered the plank across the water. I crossed and walked up to what appeared to be a bunker of some kind. The door opened readily to my touch.

The Temple Antechamber

The room beyond had a spiritual feel to it-evil or good, I could not tell. The area was clean and spotless, as though it was still in regular use. Leading from this entry room, a series of slowly winding stairs descended to the left. On my left, I noted a plaque that read “Job 14:16”. A sudden image of waking with a start after having my earlobe flicked by Brother Modallotto ran through my head. I’d fallen asleep in the middle of his teaching of the book of Job after I had stayed up all night to finish an assignment that I had had three months to complete. I had to write out all the verses of Job ten times as penance. It was the last time I fell asleep in Brother Modallotto’s class. Job 14:16 was obviously one of the verse I knew best:

Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin.

I walked down the slowly winding stone staircase. Something mysterious happened as I walked. Despite the fact that I took numerous steps, a footfall was only heard at certain intervals. I counted seven audible steps before I arrived in a huge chamber.

The Temple

This temple was an ancient one, the imposing roof supported by gigantic marble pillars. On the far side sat what looked to be a pulpit. Nearby was a huge rotating door without entrance. I walked up to the pulpit, noting the controls of another elevator. I pushed the down button. A short, rapid descent later, I turned to face a console. I made the console read “7” to match the number of steps and then ascended. I rose beyond the ground level. Turning, I approached another console. A symbol on the console suggested to me that this controlled the rotating door. A series of buttons rose from left to right. One button stood out-the ninth from the bottom. I pushed it and then all from one to seven to correspond with the footsteps I had heard. The door rotated! I returned to ground level and walked through the newly revealed entrance in the rotating door.

The Rotating Door

A nook beyond the door held internal controls for the door. A series of buttons on the left and right effected changes to Scripture verses on a display screen. Through careful consideration, I determined that the correct verses for right and left were Acts 21:3 and Matthew 5:39. These were:

After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo.

“But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

I pushed the right hand button and the door rotated. The wall on my right featured handholds to climb upwards. I climbed up to another chamber but found the exit door secured with a cage and no possible way to open it. I returned to the bottom and then to the nook. I was struck by a clever thought. I made to return the door to its original position with the controls, but at the last moment jumped out of the nook as the door passed. I was in another area beyond this one!

The Hidden Area

Yet another elevator control beckoned. I descended the elevator. Noting little at the end of the journey, I turned to face a stone switch. I pulled it and was rewarded with an electrical sound. I returned to the surface. Pushing a button on the wall near the elevator, I was rudely returned to the nook.

The Rotating Door

I climbed to the chamber above. A smile grew on my face as I observed the cage on the door was open. I opened the door.

The Fort

I was above ground again. Trees and every shade of green burned into my retina. I heard animals: horses, dogs, birds! In the distance was a sign of civilization, a low fort with watchtowers. As I approached, I observed a monk. Did he see me? I continued and viewed more monks. As I entered the grounds of the monastery, a monk wearing a threatening grilled mask walked to me. Was it some kind of spell? I passed out and awoke who knows how many hours later in a cell.

The Cell

I searched the locked cell desperately trying to find an escape. I could see  stars outside the window-day had become night. Finally, with heavy heart, I walked to the cell door in a seemingly vain hope of getting help. A figure passed the barred window in a blur. I’d missed my chance! I stomped around the cell again cursing my failure to catch the passerby’s attention. I was suddenly struck by a thought: if the figure passed by the door on their way to somewhere, there was a great likelihood that the figure would need to return by the same route.

Within moments of returning to my vigil by the door, I was rewarded for using my brain. The figure returned-a hooded monk. His voice boomed at me but alas it was gibberish. Noting my expression of bewilderment, he addressed me in my language! He asked for the Bible I carried. I proffered it to him. He recognized it as the Word of God and advised me to follow its wisdom then returned it to me. He asked to see the note I carried. Again, I gave it to him. He read it, looked both directions in a covert motion and disappeared with it.

When he returned some minutes later, I recognized that he was an ally. He gave me a robe and mask to allow me to walk around the monastery undetected. I changed into the uniform and fled my room.

Corridors of the Monastery

I followed the corridors to an area with a wire rope descending into the darkness below.

Elevator

With a low whine, the elevator arrived. I climbed in, turned around, and pushed the button to go down. As I descended, I disrobed, knowing the uniform would no longer be needed. At the bottom I exited into a rectangular chamber. I immediately turned and cut the elevator cable. No one would follow me here. I then turned my attention to the room.

The Red Room

At one end of this long room was a locked door. At the other, a sword was attached to the wall along with a compass rose and a series of buttons that changed a readout to correspond with a Biblical verse. I triggered the sword. Sparks flew from its blade in cycles. Considering all possibilities, I was struck by Genesis 3:24:

After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Not only did this passage mention the sword but also the direction “east”. I set the passage and marked the eastern point of the compass rose. The door opened. I entered another elevator and descended yet again.

The Narrow Passage

I exited the elevator into a narrow passage, obviously a deep ravine in the earth above. A short way along a cross blocked the way. I brought it with me. Two hidden circular plaques, now revealed on either side of the passage, read “Daniel” and “2”. A mysterious message which I could not fathom… I continued along into a large chamber.

The Scaffold and Statue

The chamber was dominated by a statue and a scaffold possibly for building or repairing the statue. Immediately it was clear: the reference to “Daniel 2” was a clue to the statue. Brother Modallotto had made us draw the image to help retain the correct sequence of colors in the statue. All I needed to do was close my eyes and the colors were clear as if I could see them applied to the statue in front of me. The exact quote description was from Daniel 2:32-33:

The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.

Atop the scaffold, I found a button that changed the composition of the statue’s external metal. I then raised the switch and a rock crushed the statue, just as the rest of Daniel’s passage read:

While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace.

The path beyond the statue was cleared. I ducked under the scaffold and walked down the rest of the corridor. I opened the sliding doors at the end of the corridor. The outside world beckoned invitingly again.

Welcome Water

It was a delight to be outside-almost like coming back to life. I went across to a covered marquee that had a conspicuous black cable leading high above the water (perhaps to power a cable car?) The switch was another Biblically related one, for on a tablet, I could see every book of the Old and New Testaments but out of order-there was no power to this switch. Above it, the writing indicated this was a test wherein the goal was to identify the books of both testaments in reverse order. Pressing the button had no effect on the test.

I turned and returned to the sliding doors. I turned left and walked along a ledge. I crept across an unstable looking plank bridge, noting a cable from the hut there leading to the marquee. A building nearby that had two stone tablet doors could not be entered. I entered the hut and touched a strange device inside. With a crackle, a puff of purple smoke rose from the machine and the power was audibly on.

Returning to the marquee, I pushed the button on the tablet and a light promptly burned on accompanied by a ticking noise of a clock. I rushed through each of the books of the New Testament:

Revelation              Jude             3 John

2 John             1 John             2 Peter

1 Peter             James              Hebrews

Philemon             Titus             2 Timothy            

1 Timothy             2 Thessalonians             1 Thessalonians

Colossians             Philippians             Ephesians

Galatians             2 Corinthians             1 Corinthians

Romans             Acts             John    

Luke             Mark              Matthew

I was able to pause for breath before continuing with the Old Testament:

Malachi             Zechariah             Haggai

Zephaniah             Habakkuk             Nahum

Micah              Jonah             Obadiah

Amos             Joel             Hosea

Daniel             Ezekiel             Lamentations

Jeremiah             Isaiah             Song of Solomon

Ecclesiastes             Proverbs             Psalms

Job             Esther             Nehemiah

Ezra             2 Chronicles             1 Chronicles

2 Kings             1 Kings             2 Samuel

1 Samuel             Ruth             Judges 

Joshua             Deuteronomy             Numbers          

Leviticus             Exodus              Genesis

When I completed the challenge, I walked back to the sliding doors. Instead of returning to the marquee, I walked forward along a path I had not noted before. It ended in a power box. The power was restored as evident by a spinning turbine.

I hiked back to the building with the tablet doors. I touched the doors and they rose up, opening to reveal a short passage beyond. Sensing their instability, I secured them with the cross I had picked up earlier.

The Cavern

Inside a narrow corridor, this one domed and wooden like a church I followed it as it widened into a cavern with a railway track. The track terminated at an old quarry, filled with water and obviously unused for some time.

The Quarry

My attention was diverted to another track overhead as someone in a railway car crossed over the water far above. Luckily, I was out of their line of sight. I dove quietly into the water, shocked to find the water was breathtakingly icy. I swam across, squeezed my clothes out and clambered up to the track above.

On Track to the Mountains

I got in a rail car and rode the track across the bridge into the desolate mountains above. I followed a path through the mountains, eventually leading to a valley of black, destruction, and despair.

The Valley of Death

I walked through an abandoned village, past decrepit buildings and skeletons of long forgotten villagers. This may have been one of the last pockets of Matteh resistance against the Dalaq. As I crossed to the other side of the valley, I observed faint torch light. I crept up keeping the site of the light in view. I crouched by a boulder but lost my footing, rolling after it and duly making everyone within calling distance aware of my presence. There was movement and the torch was doused. Step by step I recovered my lost ground and then proceeded to the source of the light. An unlit torch was ensconced in the wall at the mouth of a cave. I lit the torch and took it with me into the hushed darkness.

The Cave of the Qadas

The passage was empty of people. I followed it to a room decked out with edible foodstuffs and paper materials. I examined a book on the counter. I closed it when I heard distant footfalls. A woman emerged from behind the counter. She spoke in a language I did not know. I proffered the note I had been given to give the Qadas. She examined it with a surprised expression and then exchanged the note for a scrolled map and the Bible that had been the goal of my quest. She then returned the letter to me. I then made a relatively faster journey back to the sailor to inform him of the success of my mission.

The Safe Harbor

I returned to find the sailor shackled to the rocks in the harbor. His boat was nowhere to be seen. He congratulated me on my success, knowing as I did that this more than a mere personal victory. I could hear the returning Dalaq and knew I had to make a rapid decision. Would I swim to safety with the map and Bible sacrificing the sailor for the good of the Matteh? Would I wait for the guards and try to save us both through defeat of the Dalaq? In the fraction of a second in which I was considering these options, I solved the conundrum. From the items I collected I pulled the cutters and cut the sailor free. With moments to spare, we dove into the crystal blue water knowing that the Matteh’s darkness would soon begin to lift.

(47)