Chasing Shadows!: A Dream

by Arthur Zulu

CHAPTER 3

  THE GOLDEN CITY

  But they are not able to find Inferno, wrecker of nations, try as they may. Because he has many faces and appearances. Because he is craftier than the kings and all their combined military intelligence. And as they make to abandon the search and return to their lands, they see someone approach.

  They rejoice greatly for supposedly seeing the enemy—thinking that Inferno has willingly walked into their dragnet. But as they prepare to shoot, they get the disappointment of their lives.

  The man happens to be the winged-man in white, who they had ignored. What is he now going to say? they wonder.

  When he comes near, he asks the kings if they have found and exterminated Inferno, to which they answer no. And he promises to take them to a land that they have never been.

  They thank him and hastily follow him with their weapons, thinking to make mincemeat of Inferno. I follow them, and after going a great distance, we arrive at a foreign land.

  Now, I have never seen a city so beautiful like this all my life, and all of us stand and wonder.

  The place is known as The Golden City. It has seven gates, manned by seven angels: Love, Peace, Freedom, Justice, Equality, Dignity, and Trust. The walls and gates are made of gold and glass, and the gates are never closed. The city is squared and laid with the best precious stones that eyes had ever seen. The sun never sets there.

  I see that the kings are awestruck at the wondrous beauty and peace in The Golden City. But what they first ask the winged-man in white is why the gates are never closed, and why these seven spirits are different from the other seven dangerous ones.

  In answer, the winged-man takes the kings and their soldiers to the spirits—one after the other—in order that they might hear directly from the seven angels. And the first one that they visit is Love.

  Now, hear him: “All of us in The Golden City show love and put up with one another. We know nothing like pride, jealousy, or anger here. Neither do we pay back evil with evil. Hope, joy, and long-suffering are our watchwords. And that is why all of us are truly happy.”

  After he has spoken, we move on to the next gate, where we find Peace. Hear him: “We all here live in peace. We have peace in our mind and in our heart, and with one another. That is why we do not make war in The Golden City. In fact, all these instruments of war in your possession are banned here. If you are to come in to see how we live here, they have to be kept outside. Please move on with your destructive weapons.”

  And we move on, the kings still stunned to say a word. The winged-man in white leads us to the third gate, and there we see the spirit in charge, Freedom. Hear him: “This is the city of freedom. There is no national, social, religious, cultural, racial, or class, bias here. Everyone is free to live and enjoy life, and in a clean environment. Life without freedom is meaningless. And because we allow everyone freedom of expression and right of association, we don’t have uprisings, revolutions, and disturbances as you have in your lands.”

  Then we go to the fourth gate, and the keeper of the gate is Justice. He says to us, “This is the only place where man can find justice. We judge in righteousness, and here we do not bend the scale of justice. But over there in your lands, the scale of justice is tilted heavily against the widow and the fatherless children, the poor and the underprivileged. We know no perversion or oppression here. And we are not partial. Neither is there any occupying power in this city. These are the very things that breed terror in your lands. But with justice and fair play, the inhabitants of The Golden City are content.”

  This must be a wonderful place to live, I say to myself. And I think that the kings also believe likewise. Now, we come to the fifth gate, where Equality is in charge.

  “You preach equality but don’t practice it,” he says. “Come and see the city where we practice what we preach. For we are all equal here: there is no small or great, no rich or poor, no slave or master. Everyone in The Golden City has equal rights and opportunity with one another. For we believe that all are endowed with knowledge and wisdom. Go, practice this, and you will live well.”

  I think that the kings are humbled by these lessons, but it is not over yet. So the winged-man in white takes us to the spirit, Dignity, at the sixth gate.

  Here the kings take another lesson: “There is no dignity in your lands. Your people are neglected and subjected to inhuman treatment. Even life is cheap in your lands. In The Golden City, everyone is accorded honor and respect. We do not trifle with life, even with that of the unborn. Women and children, who are viewed as playthings in your lands, are precious to us here. Imagine the lives that you have already wasted with your guns and bombs—an insult to humanity and life!”

  With that castigation, both kings and their soldiers follow the winged-man in white to the seventh gate. Trust, the spirit, is there, and he says: “This is the only city where you can find trust. We exchange secrets and valuable things here. And this is something I know that is quite unthinkable in your lands.” And in order to drive home his point, he further says: “Both of you have been chasing this Inferno so as to exterminate him. You fool the world to think that you are united and trust each other. But now, tell me: Can you exchange the secret nuclear codes of both your countries?”

  It is like a bombshell, and the two kings are not able to look at each other because they are embarrassed. So they ask for permission to be allowed into the city if only to make their countries better. Trust gives them the permission on the condition that they keep all their instruments of war at the gate. They gladly do. The winged-man in white takes us in, and the sight of the city is something marvelous in our eyes.

  A crystal-clear water runs through it. The city abounds with varieties of unseen animals, birds, and plants. Even the houses are of the kind that I have never seen before.

  Everyone lives in his own house and peacefully with one another. There is food in abundance for man and animals. We see the children play with wild animals and dangerous creatures. Yet they do no harm to the children. The people wave and smile at us. But they seem to wonder why we are fascinated by what we are seeing. And they look at us as members of a different species.

  I can see that the kings are impressed. And they ask the winged-man in white what they would do so as to have that kind of tranquility in their lands.

  He then tells them that they would have to kill the seven dangerous spirits: Hatred, Oppression, Frustration, Injustice, Mistrust, Fear, and Enmity. If they do, Inferno would no longer manifest itself as The Vanishing Child, The Disappearing One, or The Man with the Mask. It is only then that they would have Love, Peace, Freedom, Justice, Equality, Dignity, and Trust in their lands; not in words, but indeed. And they thank him greatly for the advice.

  As we exit The Golden City, the kings decide to do just so. The winged-man in white leaves us outside the gate of the city. And I fear for the worst…