Twinks in Space: Fantastic Voyage - Part Two - 27. Chapter 27 - Mama

Lyoth and Stawren had not spoken in several minutes. They were listening to a group of the Children talk about the woman who had introduced herself as Mama. Their explanations left the two new arrivals only more confused. The woman herself was not present.

“Mama goddess is making a shift in the universe,” explained a Child who was in fact a middle-aged woman. “She’s bringing balance, harmony, and giving people freedom.”

A man with a scraggly beard added, “The first time Mama goddess told me that she was the perfected incarnation of all the gods and goddesses who came before her,” and his voice quavered with adoration, “I knew she was the answer.”

“We’re welcoming and accepting of everyone!” another woman declared.

An older gentlemanly fellow raised his hand and said, “Once Mama goddess showed us how to access the fifth dimension, I think all of us knew we could never go back.”

“Ugh!” grunted a girl with orange hair. “The low vibration of the three dimensions that all you outsiders live in is so dull!”

A teenage boy brought his hand to Lyoth’s forearm and smiled. “You two really feel like fuckin’ you belong here among her Children. It’s just fuckin’ a casual group of loving people.”

Lyoth scrunched up his face at the boy’s awkward placement of his unnecessary swear words, and he glanced at Stawren. She was not hiding her incredulity at everything these Children were saying; she looked like she had smelled something unpleasant.

“I can tell,” the bearded man said with a grin, “you both are picking up what we’re putting down. It’s important to unite yourself with others on the same plane of existence that you are. You should stay here with Mama goddess. Ready to eat?”

“Eat?” Stawren asked, a little surprised by the sudden shift in topic.

“Dinner,” the orange-haired girl clarified.

Lyoth was not ready for the discussion to end. “Wait, what was that about three dimensions and five dimensions?”

“But it’s time for food,” one of the men added. “It’s the one time of day that we eat.”

Stawren did not like the sound of that. There were times in her past, living in Boullia Bay, when food was scarce. “Why do you only eat once a day?”

“Because that’s what Mama goddess decreed,” the girl declared. “Come, we need to eat.”

The boy added, “We have to shed these husks for travel on the fifth-dimensional spaceship when it arrives.”

Lyoth glanced over at the Galaxy Surfer and then turned back to the boy. “What’s a fifth-dimensional ship?”

“We need to eat!” one of the group members insisted.

Lyoth conceded. “Alright, please lead the way.”

Stawren was not satisfied with the conversation, but Lyoth took her hand and shrugged at her. She rolled her eyes and nodded in agreement.

They were led into a communal hall. The woman who called herself Mama was seated at the center of a table that was positioned at the head of three longer tables, set up side by side. The Children took their places, making room for Lyoth and Stawren, and Mama addressed the group.

“Mama goddess blesses you with the sustenance you are about to receive. I love you, my Children.”

Small plates were passed out to everyone. On each was a single slice of bread, a small wedge of cheese, and half an apple; it was not much of a meal. Along with the meager portions, a ramekin full of supplements accompanied each individual’s food.

“Take your pills first,” the woman seated beside Lyoth instructed.

“Yeah,” agreed the man next to her, “if you take them after, you’ll end up burping their nasty taste later.”

“Gross,” Stawren replied.

Lyoth looked curious. “What are they?”

“Mostly herbs and minerals and whatnot,” one of the Children answered.

Stawren leaned toward Lyoth. “I’m not taking them,” she hissed.

“You need to,” encouraged one of the younger men. “They’ll provide you with everything you need without having to eat extra food.”

Stawren looked down at her very small meal. “This is really it?”

The man replied. “Along with the supplements, your meal will sustain you.”

“But aren’t you hungry?”

“Of course I am, it’s dinnertime.”

Lyoth raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Stawren. He picked up his glass of water and started swallowing one capsule after another. Some of them were rather large. A moment later, they were gone, and he cleared his throat to dissipate the sensations he was still feeling from the pills. He took a bite of his half-apple and addressed one of the Children across from him.

“May I ask you a question about Mama?”

“Of course.”

“We were told us that you’re trying to shed these bodies,” he said gently, looking over at the group’s leader, “but is Mama not?” He watched a large plate of many different foods as it was placed in front of the woman.

Several people gave him knowing nods.

“Mama goddess has the weight of all the sins from everyone in the universe on her shoulders. It’s taxing to her body and requires that she eat enough to handle it. She needs to process all of our sin before she too can shed her husk and ascend to the fifth-dimensional ship. Mama goddess will cleanse the universe. She will purify us of our sins.”

Stawren and Lyoth looked at each other, and he said, “Okay.”

“I’ve also got a question,” Stawren declared, turning back to the Children. “Why are you all way out here?”

“Mama goddess was drawn to the Entry of Ecstasy by her divine will,” a man answered. “This is a sacred place.”

Lyoth repeated himself. “Okay.”

Stawren continued. “How did all of you come to join her?”

One of the women replied. “Mama goddess is the mother of all creation. She calls everyone to the Entry of Ecstasy.” She smirked. “Why do you think you two ended up here?”

The other Children who were near enough to hear the conversation chuckled and nodded like they were privy to secrets and understanding that Lyoth and Stawren could not possibly comprehend.

Stawren looked down at her plate and tried not to let anyone see her rolling her eyes again. She raised her head. “Is there something special about this location, some reason Mama chose this area?”

“The gods told her this was the divine place to bring about the rebirth of the universe, and she gave it the name Entry of Ecstasy.”

Lyoth and Stawren did not feel like they were getting anywhere, but they pressed the Children further. “If she’s the mother of all creation, why have we never heard of her?”

People around them chuckled at their ignorance, as one of the men continued to clarify.

“Isn’t it obvious? It is not yet her time to ascend. She must complete her task. She has to heal the universe of all its sin, which will take time.”

A young woman added, “We are her acolytes through this arduous process. We provide her with support during her struggles, and we prepare ourselves for the instant that the universe is returned to balance and oneness. All will be Mama goddess, and Mama goddess will be all.”

Lyoth ate his bread and cheese.

The young woman then urged Stawren, “You really ought to take your supplements. They’re good for you.”

Lyoth gave her the subtlest shrug and she rolled her eyes at him. After swallowing four capsules, she paused and counted the rest. “Twelve more? I think I’m done with them.” She looked around at the Children. “Do you all mind if I just leave the rest?”

Several of them seemed upset, but no one forced her to take the other pills, and Stawren ate her measly portion of food. Her empty plate was a disappointment, but she did not complain. In the time it took her to eat, something in everyone else had shifted. Stawren could feel it, but she could not tell what it was that she was feeling. All the Children seemed rather vacant, not to be paying attention to anything; even Lyoth felt distant to Stawren.

Then Mama started shouting.

“They don’know what I do for them,” she slurred. “I’m taking all fuckin’ the sins from everyone, even you,” and she waved at the group of Children. “And are you grateful? No! No one knows what I go through!” Mama took a large gulp from her goblet.

Stawren did not appreciate being yelled at and looked to Lyoth for support, but he was not listening to the raving woman.

“I’m the incarnation fuckin’ of all the gods and goddesses! Everything that’s foul and disgusting and wretched, I make it clean again. Do you even know what fuckin’ I do for you? You’re such ungrateful Children, and you disgust me.” Mama drank more of her beverage. “But I saved you all,” she continued, her voice turning soft. “I’ve given fuckin’ your lives meaning and shit. I am all the gods you worshiped in your youths, and I have come to save everyone.”

Is she drunk? Stawren thought. And what’s with the weird swearing?

Mama suddenly raged again. “People aren’t ready to see me yet! I am the gift to the universe, and people reject me! How am I supposed to save everyone if I have to keep cleansing all your sins? If you really loved me and shit, you would be devoted; you fuckin’ would do the work of the gods, but you’re lazy and stupid and worthless!”

Stawren glared over at Lyoth, but he did not seem to be aware of her or Mama. Lyoth was with the other Children in some sort of haze that had not engulfed Stawren. He and the others did not seem drunk, like Mama, but instead they seemed half-asleep.

Mama suddenly slapped the man seated next to her across his face. “More tronidra!” she hollered, thrusting her empty mug in his direction.

The man snapped to attention, but his eyes seemed unfocused as he poured her another glass of whatever it was.

Stawren looked at Lyoth, and then at her own goblet, which contained nothing more than water, but her eyes shifted to her unconsumed pile of pills. Did they take something? she thought, observing those around her with more scrutiny, and she grabbed Lyoth’s hand. “Hey!” she hissed at him under her breath, but he did not meet her eyes.

Mama took a long drink and continued to berate her unresponsive followers. “Why won’t people just accept me as the ultimate incarnation fuckin’ of divinity and shit? I’m Mama goddess. I’m the Mama goddess! Mama fuckin’ goddess, yeah, that’s me.” She looked over her Children and shook her head in disappointment. Then she focused on her drink. “Thisss isss gooood,” she said down to it, and she finished her second glass. Mama stared into her empty mug and mumbled, “Sometimes I wonder if I just made this all up and I’m just some woman.”

Stawren was confused by what seemed to be a brief moment of clarity. Did she just say…

“All you sinners make Mama goddess suffer!” Mama suddenly shouted. “It’s your fault Mama goddess can’t ascend! You lowly worms and your filth keep Mama goddess from unifying with the divine.”

Oh great, now she’s talking in third person.

“Mama goddess is every god and goddess! Mama goddess is fuckin’ the thing you’ve all been looking for your whole lives! Why can’t you just worship me like I deserve? Mama goddess is the healer and shit of the universe, and no one appreciates my goodness!”

Wow, she is really annoying.

Mama softened again. “But if not for you devoted Children, I would be alone in the wilderness, struggling to bring fuckin’ my gifts to the universe. You are all Mama goddess’ Children, and Mama goddess loves you all.”

This doesn’t feel like love to me.

“I was special as a child,” Mama goddess mumbled to herself. “I was better than all the other kids. I was smarter and faster. I was just better than fuckin’ the other kids.”

How did all these people get duped into following this woman way out here? Has she just been drugging them into submission? Stawren was the only lucid person present.

Mama slumped in her chair, and Stawren could no longer make out what the woman was murmuring to herself.

Stawren rose from her seat, and no one seemed to notice. She stepped up behind Lyoth, hooked her hands under his arms, and pulled him off his chair. He slumped to the floor and she began to drag him out of the meeting hall, and across a clearing to a path that into the trees. Once in the darkness of the Jitha forest, Stawren slapped Lyoth’s hands and cheeks a few times.

“Snap out of it, Lyoth!” She pinched his arm and poked him in the chest. “Dammit, you’re long gone. What did you take? It’s gotta wear off after a while.”

A gentle hand came to the back of Stawren’s arm, startling her and causing her to pull one of the many blades Lyoth always carried. Stawren spun around, but in the darkness behind her, there was just a frail woman who appeared to be only a few years older than Stawren.

Her hands shot up in surrender at the sight of the knife. “Please don’t hurt me! I’m trying to escape!”