The Gauntlet Of Existence

The Gauntlet Of Existence

By Paul Mc Cann

 

Pogue O’Loan awoke from his sleep on the banks of a river somewhere between wherever and whenever as the morning light came spiralling down  through the mists of tine from a sky suspended above where s vortex of colours splashed its way among the clouds and as he got to his feet he looked down the road that lay before him .

In that space he realised that he saw a division of time had presented a way for him to chose which way he had to go .

He never hesitated and made haste to walk the gauntlet between the walls of the past and the walls of the future in the here and now .

As he made his journey through the gauntlet of existence he heard the call from the landlady  of time .

“It’s time to leave today alone for a second and go back to what yesterday had taken away from you “

On the wall to the left the keeper of the past placed the key into the lock and turned if three times and the gate opened .

“ You may now  enter here “

As he walked thought gate to the bridge to the past  he was questioned by a guardian 

of the realm there who stood on the bridge before the pathway to the past .

“Who are you and what is the purpose of your visit to the gateway to the past ?”

Pogue presented his medallion and permit as a time traveller and said .

“ My name is Pogue from Tir NaNog  I come, with songs and stories for everyone , 

You might hear me calling out your name . You might hear me singing once again.

My purpose is to gather stories and songs to be shared by all who exist in the past , present and future “

The guardian replied  ,

“Why are you doing this ?”

Pogue replied .

“Why will never be accepted as a question to what I  do because I have been given the authority to do whatever I choose to do by the keeper of time who is not answerable to any principality or guardian of any realm known and unknown in existence ..”

The guardian of the realm was not happy with the response Pogue had given  and would not allow Pogue to proceed and asked .

“ When did you get this authority, you speak of ?”

Pogue replied 

“ When the existence of life started and that is something that you will never understand .

I was given this authority .

I have already shown you my permit and if you prevent me from travelling freely through time to wherever and whenever I chose to then you will find yourself in breach of the spiritual laws of the  realm that you protect and I will have no choice but to call on the keeper of time to  remove you from your post .”

The guardian looked troubled and asked , 

“ Where is this keeper of time ?”

Pogue replied ,

“There are many keepers of time who exist in every realm , past present and future . They govern all realms as one and for your information they are always around in every realm at the same place in time . You never know when they’re looking at you .

You’ll never know when they’re going to come through. 

But you better keep your eyes to the wind and let me pass this way unhindered. “

The guardian still refused Pogue to travel freely across the bridge and Pogue pressed the communication button in the centre of his medallion and immediately three beings appeared in the place where he stood who spoke with one powerful voice.

“We are the keepers of time past. 

present and future . We are here to answer the call of the owner of the medallion . 

We break the chains of sorrow. 

we rise above  we do what we have to , yeah, we're all on our way home , here today and gone tomorrow. ,we're all travellers here  just passing through “

Pogue ordered the three keepers of time to remove the guardian of the realm who prevented him from continuing his journey to collect songs and stories to wherever and whenever he chose .

The guardian was immediately removed from his post and replaced with another who gave permission for Pogue to continue his journey .

Pogue made his way across the bridge where angels dwell then beyond fairyland to a place between somewhere and nowhere where the existence of life began . 

The landlady of time met him there and gave him welcome .

“Hello storyteller , apologies for the green-eyed guardian of the bridge to the past realm .  He was envious of you and so had to go ?

Pogue asked ,

“So, to where did he go to then ’?

“To another gate where he cannot  leave and there, he will remain for eternity causing no more problem to anyone ?”

“ Thank you landlady of time , it’s nice to see you again . If you don’t mind, I must go now for I have work to do as you know “

They said farewell and  Pogue remained there in that place and time observing and writing , songs and stories that were inspired by the spiritual gift givers from the beginning of existence when life has first begun .

So  when his work was done he returned back to the road between somewhere and nowhere to the bridge across the where angels dwell to the end of the path  that brought him to the gate where he was able to return back to the present with songs and stories to share about places where no one has ever been and things that no one had ever seen before .

So Pogue continued to walk through life through the gauntlet between the past present and future ,onwards and upwards and beyond the bends, where stories awaited and songs to sing and to be found or remembered . Who else but him would do that , if not himself , who else would dare to walk between somewhere and nowhere with no signpost to point the way except for a light that he followed on the roads that he borrowed for a time and place of  their choosing .

There is a place for him in this world , there always was and there will always be so

Let him be and let him go whenever and wherever he would chose to go .

 

The End