On Hearing the Voice

Sunny pulled out of Bramlage Coliseum right after the lights went up at the end of All Along the Watchtower, the encore performance of Bob Dylan and His Band. He was elated. Elated that he had gotten to see the man perform again, and elated because of the quality of the performance. Sure, he had seen Bob Dylan before and had heard the same songs played in many of the concerts. But just like the Grateful Dead, Dylan has a way of performing differently each time he does a song from his repertoire. This concert he actually pulled out right behind Dylan’s tour buses and followed them through “The Little Apple” to 177 Highway where he lifted his hand to wave as he rode by. It didn’t bother him if Dylan didn’t see him wave because he knew that Dylan didn’t care about stuff like that. He just waved a friendly wave of “thank you” and let it go at that. He crashed at his old haunt on Bluemont with a friend that got stuck in Manhattan after graduation and just stayed. It was one of those situations where genius overwhelms common sense and the guy, who was a Rhodes Scholar, ended up working at his favorite tavern in Aggieville. But that was ok with Sunny. He stopped by to see Dave whenever he could and they would have a beer and talk about old times. Dave told him this time that he had landed a new part time job mowing the cemetery. Sunny kind of chuckled to himself picturing Dave, a genius in mechanical engineering, riding a lawnmower in the Manhattan cemetery. Was it a waste? Sunny didn’t know, didn’t care. Dave was a good person and that’s all that mattered. They talked about the concert and Sunny crashed on the couch, telling Dave to wake him up at eight if he wasn’t already awake. All he told Dave was that he was going to Kansas City to visit another friend. Dave had that sixth sense though, and could tell that Sunny had something going on and that he just wasn’t being blown in on a cool breeze.
“Wake up, man, it’s ocho o’clocko,” Dave laughed and held a steaming cup of coffee under Sunny’s nose, “Time to get on down the road.”
“Yeah, man, thanks, and by the way su Español es terrible.”
“Sunny, I was going to show you the new project I’ve been working on. It’s this cool truck that I’ve hopped up with some super modifications. Lot’s of digital and mechanical shit on it. I was hoping you could see it but I know you and you are on some sort of mission, I can tell, you know,” Dave rambled on. “So, if you need me to haul that little bicycle of yours, just call this number.” Dave handed Sunny a business card that read: Dave’s Designs, From My Head To Yours.
“Thanks, Dave, I just may take you up on that number. I do have a little project I’m working on in KC but it isn’t anything to worry over.”
“Oooh, drama and intrigue, I’ll bet it involves Darjeeling, doesn’t it?”
“Everything involves Darjeeling, for better or worse,” Sunny Day pulled on his motorcycle boots and finished off the coffee. “Got to run, man,” and he was up and heading for the door. “Thanks for the hospitality, Dave.”
“Any time, Sunny, hasta la vista, amigo.”
“Right on, man..” Sunny tipped the Big Indian off of the kickstand and started the engine. He was off immediately, riding through Dave’s front yard and out onto Bluemont, through Aggiville and out to 177 Highway south to I-70. He pulled up at the outlook on 177 and sat on his bike and looked out over the Konza Prairie. It was one of his favorite spots on the Earth. He pulled out a copy of the long version of the Namgyalma Mantra and recited it out loud, letting the wind carry his words and the healing aspect of the mantra out and over the prairie. Om Dhrum Soha Om Amrita Ayur Dade Soha. He thought about the People of the South Wind, the true Kansa who once lived here and traveled to the bison hunts in the high prairie. He thought about how there are none of the Kansas left and how, in the future, there may not be any of his race left either. It didn’t matter to Sunny Day, though, he never tried to interfere or figure out the inevitable. His mission here was not to save the world, but to save some friends. The mantra would give him the protection he needed to carry through. Hi kicked the Indian to life and got back on the highway. Ten minutes later he was at the I-70 intersection. He turned on the Eastbound on-ramp and gunned the engine to get in front of the cattle truck as he merged onto I-70. One of the more unpleasant things in life is to be riding a motorcycle behind a cattle truck.
Sunny looked ahead on the highway. He saw the other motorcycle immediately and accelerated to catch up. Sure enough is was the baby blue chopper and there was Nuke with some girl on back. When he roared by them he gave the old Born To Be Wild Easy Rider One Finger Wave and went about a half mile up before pulling off on the shoulder. A couple of seconds later he was joined by Nuke and Voice. Sunny checked her out. The cattle truck shot by, swirling the dust and engulfing them in the scent of cows. Sunny heard the cattle bawl and felt sadness for them. “Don’t get out of the truck!” he yelled at them. He knew it would do no good but it made him feel better. He turned back to Nuke who was laughing and Voice who just stared off toward the direction of the truck. She looked around and got off the bike, walking off the asphalt shoulder and onto the flinty soil. She leaned down and picked a couple of the wild buttercups and smelled them then offered them to Nuke who turned them down. She pitched the flowers onto the highway and turned around, climbing to the top of the flint rock cut. She let the Kansas wind blow her hair in front of her hiding her face. Sunny walked up to Nuke. “Hey man, looks like you’re doing all right,” he said and high-fived his friend.
“Yeah, well looks can be deceiving, you know,” Nuke said, “I think this little gal is nuts.”
“Aren’t they all?”
“You old misogynist, you know they aren’t”
“Yeah, I know, I was just joking, so what’s the scoop on, what did you call her?”
“Voice,” Nuke said, “I nicknamed her that after I met her in the bar at Dreamland last night. She talks in rock and roll riddles. Just about everything she says is a quote from some classic rock song.”
“Well, she can’t be all that kookoo.”
“No, I guess not, anyway she’s here and wants to go to KC with us, ok?”
“Yeah, three’s company, no problem. Where’d she go anyway?”
“I don’t know, maybe she went to shit and the hogs ate her.” Nuke borrowed one of Sunny Day’s favorites.
“Crude, man crude,” Sunny replied looking all around to see where Voice had gone. They both heard the sound of another Harley Davidson and turned around to look. The two of them looked at each other in disbelief.
“What’s going on?” Voice looked at the two and laughed. She rode the candy apple red Harley up between the other two bikes and gunned the engine giving that unmistakable Harley exhaust pipe sound that echoed between the two vertical cuts on the highway.
“Where the hell did you get that?” they both asked in unison. She parked the Harley and got off, flipping her hair to the side and back out of her face. Her countenance had changed and she looked both of them squarely in the eye. She put her hands in the back pockets of her blue jeans.
“Somewhere over the rainbow.”
Nuke had had enough. “OK, Voice, cut the crap with the lyrics, ok? You,ve got some explaining to do and you better get started on it now.” He started toward her but didn’t get too far. A blue flame enveloped the three of them as they stood on the side of Interstate 70. It seemed to come from nowhere but then Sunny noticed that it seemed to be emanating from Voice’s forehead and swirling around her and the two of them. Nuke didn’t panic, he just stopped. Sunny didn’t move. Voice said something that sounded like “gocheedy chedal qodaiin” and suddenly the three of them were transported to the top of the vertical cut looking down on the motorcycles and the highway. Nuke fell down overwhelmed by what had happened. Sunny reached for him but before he could touch him, Voice said something else and Nuke was picked up off of the ground. Sunny heard a voice in his mind. “You cannot touch him when we are in the blue light,” he knew it came from Voice. He quickly responded mentally, “OK, Voice, no problem,” and he held his hands up palm out in the “I give up” gesture. Voice looked at him and smiled. “All will be made known to you and Nuke in due time.” Sunny Day smiled and nodded. He did not feel threatened or afraid. In fact he was very calm and watched as his friend Nuke came out of his swoon. Voice pointed to the other side of the highway. “We are going over there,” she said and in an instant they were transported to the opposite side of the interstate. This was just to accustom them to what had happened and probably what they could expect.
“This rock outcropping is part of the Nemaha uplift,” she said and pointed to the exposed limestone on the North side of the highway. “It is a place of great energy and power. I have used the gifts given to me to provide me with adequate transportation to help us on our journey to Kansas City and the fulfillment of the mission we are on.”
“How do you know what “mission” we are on,” Sunny challenged her and the blue light swirled around him. “Humania Terroirialis” both Sunny and Nuke heard the answer and looked dead serious at each other. “Who are you anyway?” Sunny asked.
“I am Star-Vocce,” she vocalized to them this time, “You can continue to call me “Voice” as that name fits my personality and my being. Now we must get to Kansas City.” The blue light swirled again and set them down on the shoulder near the bikes. She climbed on the red Harley and kickstarted it up. Sunny and Nuke looked at each other incredulously and shrugged, getting on their motorcycles and starting them, following the woman in front of them as she edged onto the pavement. Sunny looked at Nuke and shook his head. Nuke looked straight ahead, seriously focused on Voice and wondering if he had indeed lost his mind. Sunny pulled up beside him again and gave him the thumbs up signal. Nuke smiled and signaled back. Up ahead, Voice turned around to look at them both and laughed as she, too, gave them the ok signal. The three bikes created a harmonic vibration that they all soon settled into. “Next stop, Topeka.” Nuke and Sunny heard in their mind. “No problemo,” they beamed back. Voice smiled and they hit the road to Topeka.