Weola, Kansas by John Argo

= WEOLA, KANSAS =

Dark Fantasy

by John Argo

"I bet I can make them all go away."

"Ah go on."

"No really. Have you ever heard of custening?"

"Custe-what?"

"Custening. Didn't think you had. I read about it in an obscure journal. See, most of the people you bring in your crowded mind aren't real."

Sid was getting upset. He bellowed. "These people here. They're not real."

"They seem real to you and me. They are real, what's real? It's whatever you think."

"You sound like my daughter. She's a professor of philosophy. All this goyishe crap, Plato, Newton, what have you. The Talmud, I hollered to her, I said gently, I begged the girl on my hands and knees. Talmud, Mishna, Halakha, Haggada, I told her over and over. You think she listened? Does a stone weep?"

"There you are," Goldberg said. "A stone will weep if you speak to it in its own language. We have here a similar situation."

"Are you a rabbi?" Sid asked suspiciously.

Goldberg smiled and shrugged at the distant past. "My father, bless his soul, was a rabbi and I prayed at his side. Then I began to read on my own and here I am, modestly endowed with my Ph.D. in Mathematics and an interest in Far Eastern religions."

Sid shook his head. "You and my daughter must have gone to different schools." It wasn't funny this time, and he did not complete the thought. So it became a simple true statement, accidentally, and he let it hang in the air."

"A simple matter," Goldberg said. "Mind over matter. Now listen. Hold your forefinger and index finger against the middle of your forehead like so."

"You think I'm nuts."

"I think you will learn something very great." Goldberg leaned forward confidentially. "You know what else? It cures migraines in a matter of minutes."

"This I gotta see." Sid did get migraines. Would it not be a blessing to be able to wish the headaches away? "Like this?"

"Exactly so. You are pointing at this primitive eye matter in the middle of your forehead. Now what you do is close your eyes and picture a scene without a lot of people."

"What scene?"

"Any scene. Something you remember."

Thank you for reading. If you love it, tell your friends. Please post a favorable review at Amazon, Good Reads, and other online resources. If you want to thank the author, you may also buy a copy for the low price of a cup of coffee. It's called Read-a-Latte: similar (or lower) price as a latte at your favorite coffeeshop, but the book lasts forever while the beverage is quickly gone. Thank you (JTC).

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