Tightening her grip on Lali, the mother owl
looked up toward the sound.
Lali had been screaming for help, but also stopped now,
and turned her head toward the sound in extreme
fright and bewilderment.
Standing in the path, was the figure of an old woman
with huge hands and feet. She was wrinkled
and snarled with time. Her skin was golden brown,
and she seemed to have feathers and down
growing from it. The small figure approached.
Lali could see the old woman was blind
and used a cane to feel her way. She frightened
Lali, who began writhing helplessly in the
giant owl's claws. The mother owl tried to fly away
with it's prey, but the old woman grabbed hold
of one wing and jabbed her cane into the bird's
armpit rather sharply. The cane released a bolt
of lightning, stunning the mother owl, who then
released her grip on Lali and withdrew
to her nest once more.
Lali rolled away quickly trying to hide behind
a bush, but the old woman went straight to her
and grabbed Lali roughly by her arm.
This made Lali start to cry, so the old woman
released her.
Now the old woman's manner changed, and
she smiled kindly. As Lali looked at the old woman,
she thought she heard a crackling sound in the
distance, and saw sparks flying through the air.
The old woman went over to the pyramid now,
and stood so that the sun reflected onto her
from the shiny surface. She was repeating
something in a language Lali had not heard before.
As she looked at the old woman, she saw her
becoming smaller and smaller.
She was doing some kind of jig and as she was
going around and around the pyramid,
she was scratching the ground
until she unearthed a golden orb.
The hooting from below the pyramid was louder
now and the ground vibrated from it.
Lali looked curiously at the golden orb,
but was not close enough to it to distinguish
the strange markings on it.
She was still hiding behind the bush.
When Lali looked at the old woman again,
she had turned into an owl about 6" tall.
She was still hopping around the pyramid
and hooting melodically.
Lali was very surprized and intriqued by all that
she saw. Slowly she crawled nearer to the
golden orb. There was still earth covering a part
of it, so she brushed it off gently.
As she did this, the little orb lifted up on hinges,
revealing a tunnel leading beneath the
mysterious shining structure.
As the underground tunnel appeared,
the hooting which had been muffled,
was clear now and very close.
Lali strained and stretched her neck and eyeballs
to see into the tunnel. Little by little she
was able to fit her head down into it and
she saw there were many tunnels, in all directions.
There was a light at the end of one tunnel,
and that seemed to be where the hooting was
coming from. What she didn't see or realize
was that as she was looking into the tunnel,
she was growing smaller and smaller,
until she was the size of the owl woman.
Just then, the little owl woman, came around
the corner of the pyramid behind Lali,
still doing her lively dance. When she saw
Lali's butt sticking up from the hole,
she gave it a swift whack, knocking Lali
down into it. Lali looked up at blue sky dazed
and unsure. She clung to the earth with claws.
She herself, her turned into an owl and looked
just like the old woman, who now jumped
into the hole after Lali.
She stared curiously into Lali's eyes,
then scurried down the tunnel to join the
other hooters...and the Glorious Light.
Throughout Lali's body moved a strange
sensation. Her feathers stood on up and fluffed.
She felt pliable and elastic. Not wanting
to lose sight of the owl woman, Lali
rushed to follow her, stumbling along
as she learned to use her new clawfeet.
The owl woman was way ahead of Lali now,
and ducked into one of the rooms along the
corridor. When Lali got to the room, she
saw there were many many little owls, just like
herself, hooting together in unison.
When they saw Lali, they synchronized
their stare at her instantly, like a mosaic,
over one shoulder, still hooting
rhythmically without interruption.
Lali felt a strong urge to join them, and so she
did. It seemed so natural, so important.
As she was hooting with the others,
Lali looked around for the owl woman,
but couldn't recognize her among the
throng of other owls.
Quickly she forgot the owl woman,
as the sound of the humming filled her head,
provoking images, distilling her mind
and memories. Memories of other lives.
Memories of errors in judgement and willfulness.
On the wall of the cavern appear the images
in her mind. She sees a beautiful insect
creature, a Queen, sitting poised upon a lovely
divan. Humanlike creatures serve her nectar.
She sips it with her probiscus tongue.
A beautifully tiled plaza stretches before her.
The shining big sea waters stretch beyond
the horizon. To one side of the plaza,
a huge pyramid stands. Adjacent to it
a domed temple and university gleam
brilliantly in the sun. The Queen sits
in her palace chamber looking out upon
her kingdom. She is luminous with a bulbous
head. She cleans her gossamer wings
inbetween sips of nectar. A servant approaches
with a message. When the Queen receives
the message, she gets up quickly and leaves
her chamber with the servant.
Lali is amused by what she witnesses,
but as she somehow knows the Queen
is really herself...she pauses, perplexing
on the meaning of such a vision.
It makes her wonder how she could be
this marvelous insect Queen in her palace,
when she still remembers that she's still Lali.
"Who am I really?!" she thinks to herself,
continuing to hoot instinctively...almost
involuntarily.
Lali follows the Queen's movements
as the vision continues. The servent
leads the Queen to an immense domed room
that has an alter prominantly situated
in the far center of it.
A giant crystal hangs over it
casting dancing light patterns throughout
the room. Lali watches as the Queen
goes over to the huge plastic resin compartments
that line one side of the temple room.
They are frosted over and just beginning
to reach room temperature. The Queen looks
coldly at Lali as Lali approaches.
The beautiful insect Queen rubs the frosted
compartments to view the inside. Lali
takes a peak too and falls back gasping
as the 15' cyclops hanging within the sealed
chamber, stares with vacant eyes at her.
It is chained to the wall, and blood is dripping
from it's mouth. Lali is considerably shaken
by the vision, which awakens her to her
surroundings in the underground room
of the tunnel of the Pyramid of Lost Owls
once again.
She looks around her. The owls are still hooting
continuously enraptured by their own visions
on the rock wall before them. Then all of
a sudden, they all stop and begin moving
toward the Glorious Light at the end of the maze
of tunnels. Lali felt it too, but didn't know why.
Yet she moved along with the same purpose
as the others, trying not to let her feathers
drag along the rough floor of the tunnel,
which was strewn with many unrecognizable items.
As she hobbled along swiftly, something caught
her eyes on the floor ahead of her.
She slowed down as she approached the item,
for it seemed familiar to her.
She stopped and looked carefully at it.
It was a dolly made of corn husks.
It was the very dolly her grandmother
Sittingjing-gongala had made for her
the summer before. She had torn the arm
off of it, and then destroyed it. Now
Grandma had made a new one for her.
Which dolly was this one? She felt abit scaird
to see it. Shocked really. But Lali wanted to take
the dolly along with her for safe keeping.
When she looked closely at the doll,
she could plainly see that the arm had been reattached. "Oh this is so strange!" she
remarked.
"How can all this be happening?"
Lali tried to carry the dolly so she could
continue down the tunnel toward the
Glorious Light, but became very frustrated
when she couldn't secure it with her wing,
and had to clutch it with one claw and hop
on the other. Unable to do that well,
she held it next in her beak, and so was able to
scurry along and catch up with the
rest of the owls who were gathering
outside the tunnel already.
Her clawed foot hit a stone, and she fell
right on her beak, so she decided it would
be better to leave the dolly there,
and pick it up on the way back.
She could hear the delightful sound of water
trickling somewhere, and when she got to
the end of the tunnel, she saw the stream.
It was flowing briskly and there was a great old
Cottonwood tree with it's branches
dancing in the gentle breeze.
The air was fresh again and Lali rushed
outside to join the others who were
forming a circle beneath the tree.
The circle was being led by a beautiful
shining lady. It was not the insect Queen,
because this person had a comforting presence.
She smiled at Lali and invited her to join
the circle, which Lali did enthusiastically.
Lali was the last owl to join the circle, and
when she did, they all stretched out their wings
so they were touching. Then the Shining Lady
went and sat on a small throne, carved
from the living tree. When she was seated,
her tender voice made the buds of
all the flowers blossom, and the air was filled
with the thick aromas of their intoxicating essences.
As the Empress sang, the owls began
spinning round the tree, slowly at first,
and then, time stood still, while they twirled
into a blur. The warm light that flowed
from the Empress' body, saturated the darkness,
and illuminated the night. Even
the stars in the sky joined circles
in their constellations and twirled
in harmonic arcs to the compelling rhythm of
the Empress' chanting which resounded
to Infinity.
Moving together in unison, the hooting owls
twirling becomes a high pitched ringing,
like a bell, vibrating within everything.
Then a breeze ruffled their feathers,
and synchronously, gently, they slowed down,
and stopped twirling. Dazed, they cover
their faces with their wings, and tried to
maintain their equillibrium.
The Shining Lady roze up and approached
the first owl. Lovingly, she administered
a benediction to each owl as she moved
along in the circle.
When she would get to an owl, it would look
up at her. Humming, she'd break off a piece
of the sweet cake she manifested,
and place it on the tongue of each owl.
After receiving the sweet cake,
the owl would fall on it's beak in a trance
that could last for a few moments.
The Empress would then move down the line
to the next owl performing the same ritual.
