by Beth Cohen
Jane Double D walked, actually marched, into the room. Her solemn look took the women by surprise. The mood of all present changed
immediately. Jane Double D clearly had an agenda — and a serious one at that. As she walked into the room, she handed out a single piece of printed paper to the Upper Stratus. Jane Double D asked for the floor, and, although highly unusual and a disruption to the already heavy schedule, Dally Blyth and the Upper Stratus gave way.
Jane Double D spoke clearly. She explained her thoughts — her fears of the vulnerability of the women. The women had given some thought to the possibility of the men taking revenge. It was conceivable that their anger would turn from their pre Great Split favorite domestic violence — slapping around and battering their wives — to a more encompassing violence, but an all-out attack on the Realm? The women, although skeptical, listened attentively. This was, after all, Jane Double D.
Jane Double D had thought her plan through from beginning to end. She based her plan on the simplest of defenses: The Judoshii-Juniors, the Judoshiiks, the Way of Gentleness and the leadership qualities of Kay King Junior. It was an awful lot for the women to take in. All members of the Daily Deed were called in to discuss the proposal with the members of the Upper Stratus. They met for more than 24 hours straight. Jane fielded their questions and came up with a few of her own. This group of women was made up of the smartest and sharpest women that Jane had known. Their collective experiences, their cohesiveness, their ability to listen to one another as well as to draw on each other’s strengths and fears turned every such discussion into a brainstorm of ideas. The women trusted each other. The women knew that while fear alone could paralyze, their fear and all of their other qualities combined could bring together a brilliance unique to the society they had worked so hard to create. They themselves learned from each other. They had enough trust in one another to know it was right.
And with this, the Headquarters of the Upper Stratus was born. The defense forces of the Realm of the Women’s Forward Movement was named and the leaders chosen. It was no surprise that Kay King Junior was chosen to be Cowander of Defense. Jane, however, much to her surprise, was named the Chief Senshii. Jane knew that she would be the one to train the combatants, the Judoshii-Juniors and the Judoshiiks. Jane was so modest and so unaware of her popularity and the faith that the other women had in her — all of the other women, the young, the old and even the children, male and female alike — that she could not quite grasp their unanimous and absolute decision to make her the Chief Senshii. “What about Gabrielle, Kay and Dally Blyth?” she asked.
That question brought a roar of laughter, especially from Dally. While Dally Blyth was a born leader, a great public speaker with a great
charismatic power and ability to convince and persuade, her strengths were definitely not on the mat. While she was fairly certain that she could defend herself from one male attacker, thanks to her good friend’s teaching of the Way of Gentleness, she was also quite certain that being a leader in battle was never going to be her strong point. She not only did not feel confident in this ability (or lack thereof), but she did not want this to be her ability. She was actually ecstatic that she did not have to take a strong leadership role in this part of running of the Realm but could instead take a listener’s role and be an impartial — ok, partial — observer rather than an active decision maker in the top defense of the Realm.
Jane Double D at Home
Jane Double D’s life in the Realm was full of motion, duty and thought. She was completely dedicated to the defense of the women. From the moment she woke, alone in her bed each morning, and
throughout her waking hours, Jane was Jane Double D. It was as if she had omitted any need for a life outside of work from her being. Jane was, by all appearances, a born worker bee.
This fact worried her friends, especially Dally and Kay, who had found so much happiness and peace in each other’s arms. Dally Blyth and Kay King Junior were also completely dedicated to their work and the Realm. They also worked tirelessly through excruciating long hours…but they had each other. They had something to look forward to at the end of the day and they each waited anxiously for the moment when they could be alone with each other’s wants and their mutual desire to find ways to fill those wants. They had love. They had sex. They had pleasure. They had a life.
It was Kay King Junior and a few of the Templits who took it upon themselves to find what was missing for Jane. Kay King Junior was certain that her friend ached of loneliness and while this loneliness gave Jane impetus and served the needs of the Realm, it would clearly prove a shortened road of life for Jane. Jane’s friends knew that she was a woman who loved men. In the Wideness, Jane had had many men. She never seemed to want to settle with any one. She had stayed with Dward the longest but her friends knew that it was not love but companionship and the challenge of a partner who was her equal, on some level anyway, to spar with.
*** In the Realm, Jane Double D had watched the comings and goings of the women. She observed everything quietly and closely. She understood the women and the needs of the community — of the new society they were building. She knew they needed each other and that they needed a form of protection that wouldn’t be threatening from within…So she came up with the Way of the Gentleness. This was such a calming practice — and yet it kept the women safe.
All the women knew they owed much of their security and the safe feeling they had in their homes and daily lives to Jane Double D. Jane Double D became one of the most highly revered women in the Realm. All felt Jane Double D’s presence and were grateful. All, except for Jane…who somehow did not have even the smallest of inklings how much she was respected and revered. When she walked the streets, people would shout out to her. When she taught the Judoshii-Juniors, the Judoshii-Juniors were in a state of full captivation…a state of awe and adoration…and Jane Double D did not know how they felt…she did not know how they all felt at all.
*** Kay King Junior and Dally decided that this matter of Jane’s loneliness was more than they could deal with on their own. They went to the Templits to discuss the matter with these experienced, wise and caring women. The Templits met for an entire night. They too had been watching Jane — or rather watching over Jane Double D. Her endless hours of work followed by lonely nights alone sitting over her papers working out her plan for the safety of the women and children of the Realm. They talked and talked… but what could they do? Jane had never shown any interest in any woman for anything else but friendship…What could the Templits do? How could they find her a companion from within the Realm, from within the women of the Realm of the Women’s Forward Movement?
*** Later that night, when Dally and Kay finally came home, as they lay in their bed in each other’s arms, they continued to discuss Jane. If Jane had known how much she was discussed that day, that week, she would have been shocked into complete perplexity.
All of the discussion and all of the thought — and still they could not think of a solution — no answer to what was perceived as Jane’s extreme loneliness. All of the worry of all of these prominent thinkers brought no remedy.
The Walking ‘Accident’
After endless talk and debate, the Templits could not come up with a possible resolution, some direction or anything that would help Jane Double D and her loneliness.
The absurdity of this whole long discussion and all of the focus on Jane Double D’s “problem” was that Jane remained completely unaware that these discussions were taking place. Jane did not even know that there was such a general and widespread concern for her well-being. Had she known, had she any idea, she would have been shocked, thinking that worrying about her was an awful waste of energy. There was an entire Realm full of women and children to worry about. And she, Senshii Jane Double D, was fine.
*** One day, as Jane sat in her room in the late evening, she decided to do something very unusual for her. She went out for a walk. It was a beautiful but moonless night an
d the darkness was heavy all around. Only the stars gave some light to the clear night sky.
As Jane walked, she was preoccupied, as always, with thoughts of how to best organize and provide the best defense for the Realm. Her mind was not exactly racing but she was slowly piecing together the puzzle of the security of the Realm and constructing a mental picture of how the security and safety of the Realm could best be served. Jane walked a quick pace. She was calmer knowing that she had trained the Judo-Juniors and Judoshiists and that the defense plan was accepted and in the process of being enacted.
She walked off into a part of the Realm that was less densely inhabited. Most of the women of the Realm preferred to live close to one another…these women included those most active in the daily running and decision making — most of the Daily Deed; the Wombitee, who needed to keep close physical contact with the women and various households; the Templits; and obviously Jane Double D, Dally Blyth and Kay King Junior.
*** There was, nevertheless, another significant population of women that preferred to live a more solitary lifestyle. These women had spent their lives in the Wideness completely surrounded by their men and their men’s lives and desires; serving their men and living their lives according to the wishes of the male-dominated society had filled their daily lives. This group of women seemed to crave their quiet, their own separate lives and their own separate peace. They built their homes on what was
essentially the farmlands, each putting up a yurt and living alone. Working the land and living alone…the quiet of alone…this was the life that these women had chosen.
One such woman, Zana, was also out for an evening stroll around about the same time that Jane wandered around the quiet farmland. Jane Double D was so engrossed inside her own head that she did not even see that she was walking at a quick clip straight into the slowly strolling Zana…Jane Double D did not see what she was doing until she had just about trampled Zana from behind.
Zana was a striking woman. She was tall with dark skin and white, white hair. It was difficult to tell in the darkness if her hair was white or just so blonde that it appeared white in the starlight.
Zana’s stride was slow. Each step matched her breath. As she walked, her eyes were open wide, absorbing the beauty that was the night; the stars, seemingly endless in number, twinkling above; the trees gently waving in the breeze; the leaves rustling and hushing the world to sleep. Zana took these walks nightly. She was a spiritual woman and was blessed with the Powers of All Around. She was both a woman of the soil, a gardener and a Healer. She needed these walks almost as much as she needed water, air and sleep to rejuvenate her own soul and refresh her healing senses.
*** Quite suddenly and rather abruptly, Zana felt the power of Jane Double D hit her from behind. Instantly she could feel Jane’s strength, her warmth, her caring, her protectiveness, her kindness, her energy…She felt all of these and more. That bump from behind caused a spark and awakened a feeling, a feeling in Zana that she did not at first recognize, but Zana knew she would never want to forget. For the first time in her long life, Zana knew, from just that one bump, that one chance moment when their bodies collided…and she knew with absolute certainty that this woman standing over her was the woman.
Jane, for her part, was completely mortified. She could not believe that she had let herself wander inside her head so deeply that she didn’t even see this very long, wiry and agile woman striding several paces in front of her.
Jane Double D’s impact toppled Zana. Jane was left standing with her mouth open. Zana, who was so affected by the emotions she felt from the moment of impact, lay sprawled on the ground unable to move for several seconds. Jane thought that Zana might be hurt from the physical impact. Perhaps she was seriously injured! Jane Double D also froze, but with worry for the well-being of Zana…and the thought in her reveries of protecting the women, she might have caused one of them harm.
After several more long seconds, Jane snapped out of her embarrassing shock long enough to whisper her apology in a deep, hoarse voice. She then bent over Zana to see what she had done to this beautiful woman. Zana was accustomed to knowing and identifying her feelings intuitively. Zana, who knew her instincts were almost always correct, reached for Jane as she bent over her with
worry…Zana enveloped Jane in an absolute loving embrace.
Jane Double D was then in even greater shock — Jane had never been much for affection or touching, let alone hugging…Jane was so
overwhelmed, she couldn’t move. She allowed this strange and beautiful woman to wrap herself around her own muscular body and simultaneously allowed the sudden flood of her own emotions to surface.
Had this incident been witnessed by anyone, especially her friends, Dally Blyth and Kay King Junior, or any of the Templits, it would have brought first a gasp of surprise and then been followed by a collective sigh of relief and joy. However, there was not one single being to witness this amazing incident…A great and gentle gust of cool air rustled the trees and the trees bent in devotion. The windows of the houses and yurts shook gently. All those sleeping in their lovers’ arms rolled over and sighed an audible sigh and continued to sleep.
It was all so fast. Yet time for Jane
disappeared. Jane Double D didn’t know what was happening…she had never felt this way before and never experienced these feelings. She was
momentarily confused and then dazed… And then suddenly, she didn’t care and she felt right, for the first time in her life — she felt right just being where she was…with Zana…all was right. If anyone had been there to see their faces just then, you would say they were glowing, their eyes, sharp, bright and clear like the stars.
Zana kissed Jane warmly on the mouth…Jane had never felt anything like it. All those years and all those men…and Jane had never felt anything like it before. There was a warmness on her skin and throughout her body. She could feel the warmness begin to spread and she found herself completely taken in by the kiss, by the moment, by the presence of Zana.
Jane helped Zana to her feet. After the hug and intense kiss, Zana took Jane by the hand. Jane Double D did something she had never done before in her life. Jane Double D let herself be led…and she followed as Zana led her back to her yurt.
They didn’t say very much that first night. Zana helped Jane undress, slowly…Jane was in the haze of a calm light fog. Her usual sharp mind and heightened sense of awareness had shifted. At first Jane felt herself an observer of this very strange and foreign, yet pleasant, event. Jane felt that she had been somehow removed from the ground and placed on a soft, soft cloud. That cloud was Zana’s feather mat. Jane could feel the want…She felt a wanting in her whole body, a desire that she had never felt before…and it took her by surprise. So much so that Jane could not find herself with anything to say…she could not find herself knowing what to think…All that Jane could do was stare into Zana’s eyes. So, that was all she did…stare into Zana’s eyes…She didn’t fight this new and strange feeling. She just let herself feel and be and enjoy and wonder…She had no idea what was happening to her. All she knew was that she felt something amazing…she felt that something amazing was happening to her.
Jane felt. Jane was not used to feeling such strong emotions toward another woman, certainly not the emotions she was feeling now. And now, Jane felt emotions and physical sensations that she had never felt before…and this was all while standing on a bed mat. Jane had love in her essence. She loved her friends, she loved the Judo-Juniors, and she loved the Judoshiiks. She had even felt love for her parents and brother — but nothing, nothing had prepared her for this. This feeling was all encompassing. It enveloped Jane’s heart, mind and body. And this in less than one day.
Zana
Zana woke up every morning with the sunrise. She stretched her long and lean body so that her feet were off the mat. She went to bed every night as the sun went down, reading or meditating by candlelight until sleep took her away.
For several m
onths now her dreams had taken a specific pattern leading right up to the evening she was run into by Jane. A woman would come to her in her dreams…not the soft and motherly type of woman she had been drawn to before, but a woman who was hard, aloof and with a chiseled body. This woman was smart, brilliant and dogmatic, almost rigid, in her staunch beliefs of strength and perseverance. She was a fighter for the Realm and someone who took personal responsibility for the safety of many.
Zana did not see this woman’s face in her dreams, but she felt her presence. She felt her body…and could almost read her thoughts,
discerning a woman like no one she had known before. At first Zana thought that this woman was a woman her lonely mind had made up to tease her and to keep her body warm and alive during the long cold nights on her mat. Zana wanted to believe that this woman was real. But she was surrounded by the women of the land and none of them was anything like the woman in her dreams. Zana allowed herself to dream and believe that perhaps this woman was real, maybe she was out there and they would come together. Zana believed that when the time was right, they would meet…The universe of the Wideness had not been kind to Zana…It had brought her many violent men who would come to her for her healing powers and then would use her up, without caring to replenish her…often violently taking all that they felt they deserved. Zana’s life in the Realm proved that anything was possible, that reaching out to the Powers of All Around meant that vibrancy was attainable.
