story 9 part 3b

Story 9Part 3B

A short story

by Wanchain

PrefaceI had initially conceived of a story with the title The Statue and the Fly. But you will find that this story is not about the relationship between the statue and the fly. As I began to write this, I changed it a couple of times, but what has not changed is the idea of writing a story outside of a story.

I have written a story within a story. I don’t think I will write the story behind the story, because the scope will be too large. So this time, I wanted to experiment with a story outside of a story.

Most of my stories could be treated as a standalone story, except this one where Part 3A must be read first in order to appreciate the developments in this story.

WanchainFebruary 2016

“How do I get into the body of a fly?” Henrick asked Saint Edel, a wise phantom who had been residing in a crystal in a remote part of the world for thousands of years. Henrick happened to chance upon this phantom one day while he was loitering around on the surface of the planet, familiarizing himself with his new existence as an apparition.

“You just think. Think of putting your consciousness in the body.” Saint Edel spoke calmly and gently. Much like a monk, he was a quiet and pleasant phantom who preferred to exist in a space far removed from the conflicts and struggles of the world.

“That’s it?”

“Yes.” Saint Edel paused, and added, “But of course you would have received permission from the fly first before you do that.”

“Right …” Henrick was a bit suspicious as to whether it was really that easy. Thus far, he found that being without a physical encasement was very convenient, although such low maintenance came at a cost of not being able to perceive the five senses that someone with a physical body could. The only sense that he had was the sixth sense, which someone in a physical body also had but rarely used to its fullest extent.

Henrick was excited about the meeting between his daughter Dirkje and Khaled, and was hoping to see it himself. The only reason that he was still sticking around on Earth as an apparition was to see his wife with a life companion. Saint Edel had told him that he could observe the unfolding of the events by simply sensing the consciousness of the human beings, which could give him the sight and sound that their sensory organs had registered in their brains. However, he felt that such an indirect approach could not capture the intensity and nuances of the event. He preferred a direct experience of the event. Saint Edel therefore suggested that he could borrow the sensory organ of someone with a physical body, and had further suggested a fly as his most convenient option.

After obtaining the brief instruction from Saint Edel, he flew to the university cafeteria where Khaled was to meet Dirkje. He could sense Khaled’s presence, and several other unrelated individuals, but he didn’t sense his daughter’s presence, nor did he sense the presence of any flying creature. Hence he ventured further away from the cafeteria in search of a fly.

Outside of the cafeteria, Henrick found a young and naïve fly circling around a trash can.

“Hey, could you please lend me your eyes?” Henrick accosted the fly. He felt that his own question sounded quite odd even to himself. He felt as if he

Story 9 part 3B by Wanchain 1

was approaching a pair of glasses, and asked it if it could give him clearer vision.

“Who’s talking to me?” Alarmed, the young fly responded instinctually to the orb of consciousness that was hovering around it and trying to communicate with it. Although it was born just a few days ago, it had already sensed several different invisible entities who occasionally passed by it or shared the same physical space with it, but none of them had ever made contact with it; instead, they coexisted peacefully without disturbing each other. This was the first time that an invisible entity attempted to interact with it, which startled it slightly, but being naïve and unsuspecting, it did not try to avoid the interaction.

“Sorry for the abrupt intrusion. My name is Henrick. I am the spirit of a human who has recently left his physical encasement. I want to see something inside that building. So I want to borrow your eyes, if that’s okay with you.”

“Can’t you see for yourself?” The fly was puzzled by his request. It had little knowledge of the world.

“No. I have no eyes. I don’t have a physical sense organ to perceive sight. I can only know that you are here, that you are exploring the compound, but I cannot see you nor the building nor anything else. I cannot see. I can only know. Does that make sense?”

“Hmm … Sure.” The fly thought for a second. “So what do you want me to do?”

“Fly inside the cafeteria. I want to see someone in there.”

The fly complied. It was in the spirit of a little adventure. It had never been inside the building. It enjoyed exploring new landscapes. Ever since the day it was born, it had been exploring. The world was so vast and so intriguing that there was no end to its exploration.

A few minutes later, with the help of Henrick’s direction, it arrived at the cafeteria. Henrick asked for its permission to enter its body. It said okay. He squeezed his consciousness into the tiny body. Through its eyes, he saw a panoramic but distorted image of the cafeteria. In fact, he was slightly nauseated by the vision of the fly which was very different from the vision of a human. He felt as if he had put on a pair of glasses with the wrong prescription. He realized that the fly was short-sighted, and was momentarily disappointed before he reminded himself that he was going from being blind to being short-sighted, and thus should be content with the upgrade.


In the cafeteria, he saw a few people. He immediately recognized the statue. He told the fly to move closer toward the statue, but it flew to the kitchen instead.

“Just a moment. I smell food in here. Give me a moment to check out what food they have. The smell is so irresistible!”

Inside the kitchen, it saw a lot of chicken, potatoes, rice, soup, and desserts. It wanted to try everything. Unfortunately, with such a small stomach, it had to be extremely selective. It surveyed every individual ingredient three times, undecided on which was best. Henrick kept nagging it to hurry up, and it kept telling Henrick to wait.

A big fat human in a white uniform swung an electric fly swatter around the fly a couple times, each time narrowly missing the little creature.

“Wow, this is a dangerous zone!” The fly exclaimed.

“Yes, that’s why you should hurry up before the chef electrocutes you.” Henrick said.

“Okay, okay, I will just eat this plate then.” It picked the food that was closest to it and furthest away from the chef.

After savoring the chicken, which Henrick also enjoyed, it dashed out of the dangerous zone, and flew around the walls of the cafeteria, exploring the new landscape. It quite fancied the ambience and the décor. Henrick kept telling it to fly toward the statue, yet it kept exploring the venue rather than the person.

Frustrated, Henrick was tempted to take control over its physical body, although he was aware that he was not allowed to do so without the explicit request and consent of the owner of the body. Hence, the pair quarreled. The fly didn’t like to quarrel and thus yielded to Henrick’s demand.

Prancing right in front of the statue, Henrick was finally able to take a good look at the man who would eventually become his wife’s companion for the remainder of her life. He wasn’t curious about the physical appearance of the statue, but rather, he was very eager to see the facial expressions of the statue. That was one thing he missed after being an apparition. Although he could sense thoughts and emotions, they were rather faint and removed. The difference was akin to drinking a glass of water instead of a cup of coffee. He missed the emotional intensity that someone with a physical body could experience. Also, he wanted to witness how the meeting would materialize in the physical world.


The fly had no interest in staying at the cafeteria. It already enjoyed a big feast in the kitchen. It had already explored the cafeteria. It wanted to leave. Henrick pleaded it to stay with the statue a bit longer.

“There is nothing going on here. The only person I find mildly entertaining is that person over there who is curious about this statue.” Since the fly was the owner of its winged body, it had the final say as to where it wanted to go, and hence, it flew out of the cafeteria after paying the statue a brief visit.

Henrick was disappointed. He was still wondering why the meeting did not occur.

“Hey, you can come out of my body now.” The fly reminded Henrick. It felt rather uncomfortable having a guest inside its body. It was like having two drivers in a car.

After Henrick exited the tiny body, he flew back to Saint Edel’s home.

“Hey Saint Edel, there’s something I don’t understand.” He hovered outside of Saint Edel’s crystal.

“What?”

“We know that Dirkje and Khaled will meet, but how come she didn’t come to see him today?” Henrick was still unfamiliar with how the energetic potential in the non-physical world would manifest in the physical world.

“Well, remember that there is supposed to be some hindrances in their meeting.” Saint Edel reminded him.

“So what I observed today was the minor hindrance?”

“I believe so. We don’t know and cannot accurately predict how the intangible would translate to the tangible. Those in the physical world are largely responsible for determining how things will materialize. We can only sense the invisible potential around them.”

“Okay. Is there any more obstacles to come?”

“I believe so. Khaled will still need to overcome a slight impediment. But eventually they will meet. So be patient.”

“Do you know why there would be an impediment?”

“There are many reasons. Think of it as the vehicular traffic of a busy city. Sometimes you have traffic congestion. Sometimes the traffic flow is slow for no apparent reason. There could be many causes. Maybe a traffic light broke down. Maybe there is construction somewhere. Maybe there’s road


closure somewhere due to an important event. Maybe it’s the conflicting driving styles of different drivers, which is caused by different thought patterns.”

“Hmm … Okay, I can understand that. But I don’t get how that applies to this scenario.”

“Well, in this case, there’s too much angst coming from Khaled. Angst is a very erratic and disturbing thought pattern. A very disruptive brain wave. If you ever want things to go smoothly, or to get things done swiftly, you need to have a very clear head and a calm mind. I sense that Khaled was very anxious before and during the wait in the cafeteria.”

“The brain waves he is emitting are disrupting the two from coming into contact?”

“Indirectly yes. You can think of it as a person riding a galloping horse while trying to shoot an arrow at a bull’s-eye. It would be much easier to do so if the archer was standing still. By the same logic, the destabilizing thought vibration that Khaled projects causes a little bit of misalignment between everything and everyone involved in the meeting. However, that was not the only reason. I also sensed some disorientation from Dirkje. She’s extremely disoriented by her new environment, her new responsibilities, and her new colleagues. The way she chooses to respond to her new challenges is to push away everything and everyone else who detracts and distracts her from her immediate concerns so that she can concentrate her effort in overcoming her challenges. Because of her resistance to the meeting, perhaps she thought it was unimportant, she and Khaled had not met yet. But their meeting is in the divine plan, which is almost impossible to change or avoid, so they will meet, regardless of the current disharmony.”

Upon hearing Saint Edel’s explanation, Henrick came to understand the importance of meditation, an exercise meant to calm the mind, with the effect of stabilizing the surroundings of the meditator. He also understood the importance of a prayer, which was an effort to concentrate the intention of the person and to send out the intention to the universe such that it could influence the consciousness around the person to align everything and everyone involved to manifest the intention. When he had a physical body, he did not believe in prayers and meditation. Now he did, but it’s too late.

The next day, Henrick again sought out the same fly. The fly agreed to go to the cafeteria, primarily because it was interested in the food in the kitchen. Henrick tried not to argue with it, for fear that their argument could disrupt the already disruptive brain waves that Khaled was emitting.


This time the fly did not spend as much time in the kitchen as the day before. Also, it was able to avoid the attention of the big fat chef. It immediately flew to the food that it was most interested in trying. Thus almost the entire duration in the kitchen was spent on savoring the beef stew.

After satiating its appetite, the pair flew toward the statue. This time, Henrick did not pay as much attention to the physical surrounding and facial expression of the statue, but rather, he paid more attention to the subtle vibration that the statue was emanating from his disquiet mind. The fly’s body was much more sensitive to subtle vibrations than a human body. From its body, Henrick could sense that the statue was rather tense. He then immediately realized that a meeting would not occur. Furthermore, he also came to realize why the fly was not keen to approach the statue yesterday. Neither Henrick nor the fly was consciously aware of the reason yesterday. But now, Henrick knew that the subtle thoughts and feelings of a being could attract or repel another.

He was fascinated by the power of the mind and the power of human thoughts. Their effect was largely unbeknownst to men, yet their influence could not be underestimated.

Henrick was quite concerned about Khaled, but he wasn’t sure what he could do, although he knew that he was not allowed to intervene in the affairs of the humans, unless they explicitly requested help, whether in the form of a wish or prayer. So Henrick hoped that Khaled would pray, at which point he could immediately step in to assist. However, Khaled was too disconcerted and distraught to pray. Instead, he was constantly repeating this question in his mind: ‘Why is she not here yet?’

Henrick exited the fly’s body, as it refused to stay with the statue. After the fly left, Henrick tried to connect to Khaled’s subconscious mind. He tried to drop a hint for Khaled to pray.

With a disquiet mind, Khaled did not immediately pick up on Henrick’s hint. Thus, Hendrick dropped a few more hints, and more forcefully too. Pray.

Finally Khaled sensed Henrick’s message and started to pray quietly. “Allah, please bring this psychiatry professor to me. It is urgent. I need to see her. Thank you.”

Relieved, Henrick began to help smooth things out for the statue. Like a traffic controller, he began to unknot a few kinks along the way that caused the two humans in the same building to not be able to meet. He used his consciousness to stabilize some of the chaotic brain waves.


After removing a few small hurdles, the statue received a confirmation call that Dirkje would meet him the following day. Henrick was overjoyed at the immediate effect of his effort. He looked forward to attending their meeting the next day.

Before the appointed hour of the meeting, the fly sought out Henrick.

“Hey Henrick, where are you?” It called out impatiently. It wanted to visit the kitchen again. Although it could visit the kitchen by itself, the feast was much more enjoyable when shared with someone. It had considered inviting its fly friends, but was afraid that too many of them would attract unnecessary attention from the big fat chef, and also considering the fact that the kitchen was a very dangerous zone, it did not want to be responsible for the loss of any friends’ life.

“Hey Fly Fly, I am here. Sorry I am a bit late today. I was just double-checking all the people and events surrounding their meeting, to make sure that there will be no more obstacles this time. I don’t want another day of disappointment.”

“Oh, you think they will meet today?”

“Yes, for sure. Think positive!” Henrick tried to instill faith in his little friend who had misplaced its faith in the kitchen.

“Okay. I can think very positively about the food in the kitchen, but nothing else.”

“Oh please, we don’t have time for that today. Can’t you eat a little bit later?”

“No, I am starving. I waited all day for this moment! You wouldn’t believe what I dreamed about last night. I dreamed of a garden full of delicious food, and all my fly friends were there.”

“Oh my goodness, I didn’t know you can dream.”

The pair flew into the cafeteria. Henrick saw his daughter already seated in front of the statue.

“Oh wait, wait, wait! Go straight to the statue right now! My daughter is there!” Henrick said to the fly excitedly.

The fly was about to complain, but it noticed that there was something unusual about the meeting, and being equally curious as hungry, it decided to listen to Henrick. The fly sat on a salt shaker between Dirkje and Khaled.


The meeting was so eventful such that the fly did not want to leave. It enjoyed witnessing the unfolding of some human drama, as the statue became slightly emotional compared to the stoic and tense expression he had on the first two days. Prior to this meeting, the fly had no appreciation of human emotions. It simply knew that they existed.

Henrick felt that someone else was about to arrive, although he was not sure how this person could contribute to the forgotten relationship. He wanted to stick around to find out.

After Dirkje left, Henrick suggested the fly to stay a bit longer, to which it agreed. Immersed in the sea of human emotions, almost as if watching a live movie, it seemed to have forgotten its hunger.

A few minutes later, a bespectacled young man approached the statue. The fly happily participated quietly in their conversation, although it could not comprehend what was said, it could however sensed the complex emotions that were exchanged between the two humans. Without the angst, the fly found the statue to be quite a pleasant fellow. In fact, the fly became quite fond of him.

Meanwhile, Henrick had already exited the fly’s body, seeing that this young man was not a key player in the reunion, but rather, a spectator.

“Do you think I will be able to witness their reunion?” The fly asked Henrick, after Khaled had left the cafeteria. Like watching a movie, the fly wanted to chase the ending, to see how the relationship between Khaled and Julienne would pan out.

“I am sure you will.”

“I mean, will I live long enough for that?”

“Oh, let me try to expedite the reunion.” At that moment, several other invisible entities already started to bring about the reunion. Good news would come in due time.

Three weeks had passed during which time Henrick did not pester the fly. However, out of its own curiosity, the fly had visited the statue several times, each time resting quietly on Khaled’s shoulder. From its visits, it was able to stay abreast with the development between Khaled and Julienne. It learned that Khaled and Dirkje were preparing the necessary legal documents for Julienne to visit his country. Although Khaled did suggest going to London to


see her, Julienne preferred to visit Saudi Arabia, partly because she had never been there, and partly because she wanted to see the place where he called home.

The fly came to the cafeteria one day, and was surprised to see Julienne there with Dirkje. At that moment, Henrick had also arrived. He immediately requested the fly’s consent to enter its body.

As soon as he entered its body, he told the fly to get closer to Julienne. It did. Henrick was happy to see the sight of his wife for the first time in five months. She was as pretty as he had remembered her to be. The fly rested on her shoulder. Henrick was very happy to be in her presence again. After being an apparition, he tried not to follow her too much, for fear of intensifying her nostalgia, which would upset her emotional health.

Shortly after, Khaled appeared at the entrance of the cafeteria. A beautiful drama erupted in front of everyone, both human and non-human. The fly was ecstatic to be able to witness the revelation of a complex set of emotions from the reunion. Gradually, it came to understand and appreciate the beauty and intricacy of a human relationship.

A few days later, the fly arrived at Khaled’s house. It knew about the radio talk show that Khaled and Julienne were invited to speak at. It wanted to be a silent speaker at the talk show. But it didn’t know how to get to the radio station. So it asked Henrick for direction. Henrick only knew how to get there as an apparition, but not as someone with a physical encasement. On the other hand, the fly had the physical sensory organs to negotiate around the physical world, but it did not know the direction to commute from its usual location to the radio station. Hence between the two of them, they discussed various possibilities, then suddenly Henrick had an epiphany.

“You could go to Khaled’s office the previous day, so that you can follow him back to his house. Then the next day, you could follow Khaled to the radio station.”

“What a brilliant idea!”

The next day, the fly followed Khaled to the radio station. As the talk show was about to begin, Henrick arrived and entered the fly’s body. They watched the entire show from a corner of the studio. At the end of the show,


the fly flew around the two old friends, to express its joy and to congratulate them.

As a fly, it had lived a very colorful life, a life that witnessed the revival of a human relationship that had been comatosed for 40 years. Not many flies had such an unusual opportunity to experience the turbulence in bringing two humans who were utterly different in every conceivable way to meet in a country that separated them, and to experience the sweetness of human love as the single most powerful force in humanity that could dissolve all differences.

After the talk show, the fly followed Khaled back to his home. This time, it rested on a music box that Khaled had bought 40 years ago in London, to commemorate the wonderful times he shared with Julienne. On the lid of the music box were the words: I love you.

The fly chose to spend its last moments on those three words, as they symbolized the beauty of human relationship that had punctuated its otherwise dull and insignificant life. To be able to partake in the happy ending of Khaled and Julienne, even as an uninvited guest, was the happiest ending it could ever dream of for its short lifetime on Earth. It could not ask for more.

Henrick arrived. He hovered around the music box. He knew that his little friend was ready to expire. He wanted to be the first being that his friend would see the moment it stepped into the non-physical world. Although Henrick did not specialize in escorting spirits to cross over from one world to the other, he wanted to use his presence to show his appreciation and gratitude to the little creature who had selflessly offered its eyes and its friendship to him throughout its life. There was nothing more beautiful than loving someone who was completely different from himself.

Moments later, the fly breathed its last. A very light orb of consciousness exited the winged body. Henrick greeted it cheerfully, “Congratulations, my friend! Welcome to my world!”

The unlikely pair continued their friendship, in a different space, a space that erased all of their differences.


story 9 part 3b

Documents