they inherited from some relative; however, most of it lay under a shallow of swamp water and cypress trees, except for the small parcel where the house stood. No one ever thought much about their condition, as most of the people in the area lived in similar houses. My life at the time was a little better than Jimmy’s, though I never really thought about that either. Jimmy was like a brother to me; we spent endless hours fishing and playing in the swamp around our homes.
“When Jimmy was about eight years old, oil was discovered on his family's land and suddenly they had money – lots of money. Jimmy’s parents had an area of swamp near their old house drained and filled with dirt so a new, very large and luxurious house could be built. It was a grand house with everything anyone could want – a swimming pool, enormous kitchens and sun rooms; Jimmy even had his own bedroom, which was as big as the entire old house. However, Jimmy always felt that the old place was still home ; almost every day he would play there, as it was right next door to the new house.”
I paused and shifted in my chair with a deep sigh, more because of the emotional discomfort of the memory than any physical pain. “Jimmy’s parents never bothered to have the power disconnected from the old place; and I guess one day some bad wiring ignited a fire in the house. I was playing with Jimmy up at the new house. Jimmy saw the fire first; and I’ll never forget the look on his face – it sort of twisted up in this horrified panic look; and before I could say anything, he took off running toward the old house yelling “No!...No!” There was a small trash pile by the side of the house and in it were some rusted tin cans. Jimmy grabbed a can and began dipping water out of the swamp and running back and forth with the can pouring insignificant amounts of water on what now had become a roaring blaze. Jimmy’s mother saw the fire and called the fire company, and then she came running out to try to get Jimmy away from the fire. She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away but he yanked loose. I could see tears running down his face as he tore loose from her and ran into the roaring inferno of the house just moments before it collapsed on him. I stood there horrified; my best friend had died, and I could not understand why. It was just an old building; he had a fine home, a great room full of wonderful toys, why did he run into that run down shack of a house that was on fire? I never understood his actions or what he must have felt, at least not until today. Inside I find myself screaming “No! No!” even so, I am hearing it in Jimmy’s voice.” Kala reached over and put her hand on mine as I continued.
“I feel weak, helpless, and over whelmed. Like Jimmy must have. Like Jimmy, I have a huge luxurious house and great wealth, in fact, more wealth than anyone ever has had. I could buy planets and build mansions the size of which no one had ever seen and I live on an estate the size of a small city, but at the moment home is Earth, light years away and in my mind I keep seeing it on fire and crumbling and I don’t even have a rusty tin can to carry water to the fire,” I finished sadly.
That night I had an odd dream of Thumumba. Thumumba was the curious god like being we had encountered at the planet of Alle Bamma. While most of the time I tended to think of Thumumba as a drug-induced hallucination induced by the concoction given me by the natives, there were aspects about him that made him seem as much more and something real, although I did not think of him being an omnipotent god being. One thing seemed to support the idea that Thumumba was more than just a hallucination was that those that saw and experienced him at the same time all saw and heard him exactly the same, hardly something that would occur with a hallucination. Precisely what Thumumba’s true nature and abilities were had
“When Jimmy was about eight years old, oil was discovered on his family's land and suddenly they had money – lots of money. Jimmy’s parents had an area of swamp near their old house drained and filled with dirt so a new, very large and luxurious house could be built. It was a grand house with everything anyone could want – a swimming pool, enormous kitchens and sun rooms; Jimmy even had his own bedroom, which was as big as the entire old house. However, Jimmy always felt that the old place was still home ; almost every day he would play there, as it was right next door to the new house.”
I paused and shifted in my chair with a deep sigh, more because of the emotional discomfort of the memory than any physical pain. “Jimmy’s parents never bothered to have the power disconnected from the old place; and I guess one day some bad wiring ignited a fire in the house. I was playing with Jimmy up at the new house. Jimmy saw the fire first; and I’ll never forget the look on his face – it sort of twisted up in this horrified panic look; and before I could say anything, he took off running toward the old house yelling “No!...No!” There was a small trash pile by the side of the house and in it were some rusted tin cans. Jimmy grabbed a can and began dipping water out of the swamp and running back and forth with the can pouring insignificant amounts of water on what now had become a roaring blaze. Jimmy’s mother saw the fire and called the fire company, and then she came running out to try to get Jimmy away from the fire. She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him away but he yanked loose. I could see tears running down his face as he tore loose from her and ran into the roaring inferno of the house just moments before it collapsed on him. I stood there horrified; my best friend had died, and I could not understand why. It was just an old building; he had a fine home, a great room full of wonderful toys, why did he run into that run down shack of a house that was on fire? I never understood his actions or what he must have felt, at least not until today. Inside I find myself screaming “No! No!” even so, I am hearing it in Jimmy’s voice.” Kala reached over and put her hand on mine as I continued.
“I feel weak, helpless, and over whelmed. Like Jimmy must have. Like Jimmy, I have a huge luxurious house and great wealth, in fact, more wealth than anyone ever has had. I could buy planets and build mansions the size of which no one had ever seen and I live on an estate the size of a small city, but at the moment home is Earth, light years away and in my mind I keep seeing it on fire and crumbling and I don’t even have a rusty tin can to carry water to the fire,” I finished sadly.
That night I had an odd dream of Thumumba. Thumumba was the curious god like being we had encountered at the planet of Alle Bamma. While most of the time I tended to think of Thumumba as a drug-induced hallucination induced by the concoction given me by the natives, there were aspects about him that made him seem as much more and something real, although I did not think of him being an omnipotent god being. One thing seemed to support the idea that Thumumba was more than just a hallucination was that those that saw and experienced him at the same time all saw and heard him exactly the same, hardly something that would occur with a hallucination. Precisely what Thumumba’s true nature and abilities were had
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