SABIS the SURVIVOR

EPILOGUE

Epilogue

It was 2055 and the cold climate had exhausted the tribe's heat resources as well as their resolve to remain in their current cavernous habitat. As the leader of the tribe, Gadi decided to search for a new heat source for his tribe. He asked Janet to look after their two children, Yannis and Hirachis, ages three and two.

"Janet, this is my chance to prove to the tribe that I am their Saviour─that I am not just a man of words but a man of action. This is how I want our children to remember me; as a man of action who willingly ventured into the wild so that his extended family could survive and thrive."

Janet bounced Hirachis on her lap while Yannis drew a picture on the ground with a sharpened rock.

Gadi kept that picture of his family firmly at the forefront of his mind as he journeyed into SkyGod's domain. With every step away from his home cave, he was reminded of his hobbledehoy tour guide days in the Andorran mountains.

"All I'm missing is the warm updraft from the town below, the tour buses, the summer crowds, and the array of biting and nibbling insects."

He looked up to the heavens and asserted to SkyGod:

"You can do as you please, for you are a God. But know that I am guided by Mother Earth and will not bow down to any of your forces, including those that aim to strike a blow at my mental fortitude. I am Gadi the Survivor."

Months later, on the edge of exhaustion and torn between giving up entirely or continuing his quest, Gadi wrote a cryptic entry onto a parchment that hung by a thread to the inside of his book, I AM YOUR SAVIOUR.

Gadi's Lament*

We are your brothers, we are your sons, we are those who perished under our collective sun. We set foot onto that beach, a zillion grains of sand, that soaked up our blood. Then transformed the land.

We are your brethren in churches and temples. We desire forgiveness─can it be this simple to hear our pleas and respect our wishes from all of us in heaven? We ask that of you who miss us, to trust us.

Religion is not for everyone, some of us here are too young to know about the tax and tithes that supposedly liberate. Religion is a choice, something we can come back to. Some days it can be forgotten just as some nights we have purview.

But we have a different view from here in heaven; we can see the scope of humanity. We can cope with our situation. What else is there to experience?

Religion does not exist where we are. Religion is not an illness but a way of being, a way of coping. It is like a shooting star that the cosmos has sent to you from another place, then someone added a human face.

We are still here all together arm in arm. We don't breathe air anymore, nor do we wish you any harm. Religion can make people do things: It can force others to suffer. We know that it also raises the spirit. And it can help when suffering lingers. Don't take this the wrong way.

We are your brothers, sons and fathers, sisters, daughters and mothers. We need to tell you how our collective consciousness matters.

We send you this message, one that can stir your ire. Religion is not an illness nor does it come from the town crier. But it has a way of sending your family away.

* Gadi's Lament was recovered by the Skytran tribe upon Gadi's capture in the year 2055, several months after he had left his home cave. Before capture, Gadi had managed to hide his book, I AM YOUR SAVIOUR, in a secret nook that only a Survivor would be able to find.