The Realm of Ideas. The Sidetrack Cafe. The Other Side.

What have we found there?

A desperate old idea, lost in a time where he has been relegated to being a story believed only by the very young; and the machinations of a bad idea – of The Bad Idea – plotting to seed ideas deliberately or, worse, seed itself directly into our world.

And.

This Side. The Corporeal. Here we have a message, seemingly from the future, telling a girl to learn to meditate so she can create Tulpas – physical embodiments of ideas – and a particular Tupla that can come back in time and tell her to learn to meditate. The temporal paradox on that one has not gone unnoticed.

And so, the pieces have been placed on the table, and time passes.

Well, time passes for the girl.

The Other side is a place without place, without time. It exists all-when.

So – even though Santa’s idea is strong in December on this side, the Other Side can access any, and all, Decembers at any, and all times. There, Santa works on his plans to … to strengthen his idea to more than just the fat man delivering presents.

And The Bad Idea watches, waiting to see what happens, to see if it can steal anything to its advantage.

All three toil under a moon.

Santa’s, round and happy, smiles down as he briefs his elves.

“It must be small, like a bauble. But everyday – so we don’t have to wait until Christmas. It has to be special, so it catches the eye. And it has to be able to carry seeds of ideas in it.”

The elves looked at Santa as if he had finally lost his mind. But, one by one, they turned and headed back to the workshops to see what they could dream up.

***

The moon that looked down on the Bad Idea was shrieking and gibbous. It glared on scenes of perverted rituals, of blood sacrifices. The Bad Idea violated the brains of the disturbed, whispering of pain; of suffering. It demonstrated; it insinuated.

“Do what we show you. Spill blood for secret knowledge.”

The Bad Idea sat on a Throne of Nightmares and briefed a pet.

“If that fat fuck creates an vessel that travels over, I want to know about it.”

The pet considered the words of its master, then slithered away, leaving him to his pleasure.

***

On This Side, Ramona lay in bed and looked out at a moon she had looked out on for years.

Time has passed since the dream of Mona, and Ramona is ready to leave where she is now. She has found a place where she can look upon a new moon.

She has worked hard, over the years. Studying the mundane, the normal. She understands How Things Are.

She doesn’t remember the mocking at the hands of her brother. It is as if the entire memory has got lost.

Tonight, though, she lies awake and talks to the moon.

“I should be happy. I have someone who loves me; a place to move in to; a job that I enjoy. But there is something missing. And I don’t have the faintest idea what that could be.”

But the moon says nothing. It just looks down upon her, as it always has.

***

Today’s photo has been supplied by Lee Briggs. Do read his Bio, as it has a tease for a bonus story.