32: Nothing of the Soul

NOTHING is very important to me.

Let me try to rephrase that without getting too high or drunk. Nothing is more important to me than anything. I mean ... Pour yourself a drink.

There was a woman on one of the islands of Southeast Asia—I don’t remember which one or if that’s even the next thing in this story. I just remember our time together.

After we left Tibet and I followed the river downstream to the sea, I bought or built—don’t remember which—another boat sufficient for sailing and trading along the coast and among the islands. We’d been sailing in warm waters, putting in at new ports and trading for new and exotic goods we took to the infinity room to propagate there. I remember it as a terrifically lazy time, often having a few of my beauties on deck with me and letting the currents take us where they would. I found a lovely beach and grounded the boat, hauling it up onto the sand and anchoring it solidly to a fallen tree. I opened the gateway and the girls came rushing out to play in the warm equatorial waters of the sea.

Of course, they were dressed as usual—meaning not dressed at all. Nothing. After all, we were on a secluded beach and there was no reason for us to hide from each other. Yes, I was naked as a jay as well. Every once in a while, one of the girls would break away from the others, grab me by the hand and find a place in the sand where we could make love.

As we played and frolicked in the sea, returning from one of my romps, I spotted a woman I could not remember seeing in the infinity room. She was beautiful—of course—brown-skinned as if she had spent all her life playing naked in the sun on this very shore. She was enjoying the company of my women as much as they enjoyed her.

“Bob, this is Ningrum. Isn’t she beautiful?” Pari called to me.

“Indeed! Ningrum, I am happy to meet you.”

“May I just call you Happy?” she asked.

“Well, you may if you wish. My name is Bob.”

“Oh! I misunderstood. Many names in this land are feelings or objects or actions. Like Full Moon, Magical Stone, Dancing in the Rain. You understand?” she said. How cute.

“I see. And what does your lovely name, Ningrum, mean?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing.”

I was perplexed, but if someone asked me what Bob meant, I suppose I would have the same answer. Perhaps I was, indeed, Happy to Meet You.

“Do you live near here, Ningrum?” I asked.

“Here or nowhere. I live.”

I wasn’t sure we were communicating. I checked myself to see that I was speaking and hearing directly mind to mind. Occasionally, I found that I had spoken ancient Minoan to a person who only understood Hindi and I had not bothered to translate mind to mind. There seemed to be no problem with that this time. She blended well with the others—certainly with their mode of undress—and I openly admired her as they played.

There’s always been something a little mystical in my mind about girls and a beach. Perhaps it’s an archetype that we all tap into. Just think of being out walking on the beach and meeting a winsome girl with just the wind for a wrap, greeting you with open arms, falling to the sand to make love with the waves lapping at your feet, holding hands as you run in the surf. It’s the thing that television commercials are made of. Only it existed thousands of years before television.

I’d had my experiences. Of course, I’d never forget waking up on the beach at Cyprus with Aphrodite riding on my dick and bringing me right along with her on her ascent to pleasure’s pinnacle. But there were others as well. When I first arrived at Troy, I beached my little boat just about where the Greeks would land a few decades later. I made camp and was about to open a gateway to get some company for the night when I heard music coming toward me on the beach.

Did I tell you about this when I told you about Troy? No, I don’t think so. This was before all the events of that horrid story.

I had gathered driftwood and lit a fire, planning an intimate little party with Nimia and Josie. Anyway, I heard music—someone singing—coming toward me in the gathering darkness on the beach. I was always prepared for an attack, though I had no sophisticated weapons at the time. I felt I could protect myself and my companions pretty well.

As she got closer, the music faltered and I saw her silhouette approaching until the firelight just picked out the scantest details of a shapely young woman in a gauzy gown, looking at me cautiously. Cautious, yes, but not afraid. She continued to approach.

“Greetings, fair one,” I said. “Would you share the warmth of my fire on this cool evening?”

“You sound gentlemanly. Are you trying to deceive me?” she asked.

“Lady, why would I have need of deceiving you?” I asked. “I’m a simple traveler who has beached here for the night and hopes to continue in the morning. My name is Bob and I have journeyed far.”

“I can tell you have come from far away. And also that you are not what you appear to be,” she said. She moved closer into the firelight and I could see the gauzy dress was so light it was almost completely transparent. She was a beautiful young woman.

“What else might I be than what I appear to be?” I asked.

“Hmm. I’m not sure, but I know the gods would not have sent me here for an ordinary man. I have come to this beach under every full moon for five years, expecting to find you. I don’t believe you are ordinary at all,” she said. “Of course, when I began coming here, I was a mere adolescent with dreams of a great hero coming for me. But you could be a god or a demi-god. You might even be a monster, disguised as an attractive and brawny man.”

“Thank you for your compliment. May I say you are a very attractive and beautiful woman,” I said. “Please sit and tell me your story. Why have you been coming to this place under the full moon for five years?”

“Okay. I’ll tell you,” she laughed. “Do you have anything to drink? I think I need to be a little looser to enjoy the full benefits of this night.”

“I think I might have something. I’ve always had a weakness for loose women.” I reached into the satchel and Josie handed me a wineskin and giggled. I think I was the only one who heard that.

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m still pure. So far. I’ve been saving myself for you.”

“For me?” I asked, holding the wineskin for her. “Whyever for me?”

“Mmm. The story,” she said, wiping her mouth. “When my first blood came, my father took me into the city to dedicate me to the goddess. One or another of them. I thought my life was over. I would either die a virgin in some holy reclusion, or become a temple whore and part my legs for any and all who would enter. It wasn’t my father’s fault, exactly. I was a girl and an extra mouth to feed on a poor fisherman’s labor. I don’t blame him, really. Becoming a priestess of Aphrodite or Athena was an honorable vocation. Do you have any cheese to go with the wine? I’m kind of hungry.”

I reached into the satchel and Josie handed me a board spread with cheeses and dried meats and even some bread. The girl, whose name I had not yet learned scooted closer to me and helped herself to the spread.

“Who are you, by the way?”

“I’m Dora. So, as I was saying, I went into the city. I went first to the temple of Athene and the priestess took one look at me and shook her head. ‘You don’t belong here. The priestesses of Athene are virgins.’ I protested that I was a virgin and she laughed. ‘Honey, I mean virgins all their lives. You are filled with visions of the man who will take you. Go to the Temple of Aphrodite and talk to the priestesses there.’ So, I went to Aphrodite’s temple.”

“And did the priestesses of Aphrodite take you in?” I asked. I’d heard of them, but in spite of having met My Lady Goddess herself, I had never been to one of her temples.

“No. The chief priestess took me to a room apart from the rest of the temple and sat me down. Then a strange thing happened. It was like she changed right in front of me and I saw the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. ‘Child, I see what you want. You want a love that will forever be young and fresh. You want your hero to keep you like a princess and carry you off to his castle. You want a fairytale romance.’

“I’d never put my fantasy in precisely those words, but I guess she was right. As she spoke to me, I saw a vision of a brave and strong man sweeping me off my feet and carrying me away to his castle where I was pampered and loved for the rest of my life.

“I see and I am inclined to grant your fantasy,’ said the goddess, ‘but you must do something for me. When you meet your handsome prince, you must convince him to come and dwell in the city for some time. I will then bless you with all you have dreamed of. But you must have him promise to dwell in the city until his goddess comes to him.’ What could I do? I agreed and she told me that I was still too young and I must walk on this beach each month at the full moon and eventually I would find you.”

“Ah, My Lady Goddess, what have you put in my path?” I sighed. But what could I do? The simple tale was certainly directed at me. “What is the name of this city I must dwell in?” I asked.

“It is called Ilium and lies across the plain to the northeast.”

“Then it appears that my boat shall remain on this beach and I shall cross that plain in the morning,” I said.

“Oh, that’s wonderful! Then we can make love tonight,” she said.

She continued eating and sipping from the wineskin, but moved to sit on my lap as she ate. She punctuated her feasting with little kisses on my shoulder and cheek, occasionally landing one on my mouth. I feasted on her beauty, kissing her hair and her neck, and letting my hands traverse her body, parting the folds of her gauzy dress to fully expose the beauty beneath. Her breasts were a feast in themselves, larger than I expected and crowned with very sensitive nipples that I rubbed and squeezed. I found the heat of her sex to be open and well-lubricated, allowing my fingers to dance across her clit. At last, she put the cheese board aside and spread her legs wider welcoming my questing fingers.

“I think I’m loose enough, if you want to make me your lover and promise you will move to the city tomorrow.”

“I so promise,” I said. And with that, we stretched out on the sand and made love beneath the full moon next to our fire.

Dora was a relaxed lover, seeming to know what came next, but never to have done it. When I broke the barrier of her maidenhead, she gasped a little and then pulled me into her by placing her heels against my buttocks and pulling. I sank into her buttery warmth with a sigh and we began to move together. She was exquisite.

When we woke in the morning, she pointed out the direction to the city and I offered to take her in the infinity room, explaining that it was where my palace was and that she would live forever young and beautiful there.

“Oh, yes, please,” she said excitedly. “Take me away to your fairy castle. I’m yours forever now.”

Dora was a simple girl. She truly lived in her fantasy and may not have been able to tell the transition from the natural world to the infinity room where her fantasy was a reality. She never had the least interest in returning to the natural world as long as I had promised to go to Ilium. It was an interesting story she told and I thanked My Lady Goddess for sending her my way. I knew that someday she would call on me to repay her for her kindness. Ah well.

Back to Bali, or somewhere in that vicinity.

Most of my girls went back to the infinity room when night fell. A few wanted to stay out under the earth stars and make love for the night. Staying out for a night on this peaceful beach was fine with me, especially when Ningrum joined the party. She was sleek and sensual. She danced for us at our campfire and then taught the other women her island dances as well. I got right in there and learned the dances, too. I could feel the feminine energy pulsing through me and nearly transformed to a female version of myself.