Solutions: The Dilemma for the Gods by James Gerard (top 50 books to read .txt) 📕

As Terrance continued to reminisce, thoughts of the dwelling in which he was born and raised seemed a luxury in comparison to the cabin he had been banished to.  As a child, as soon as awareness of everyday life expanded to discern the realities of the good world, he visualized the sturdy bed that provided comfort and rest.  It was simply constructed and not unlike that of his parents.  A mattress and a pillow stuffed with cotton soothed the body, offered a soft platform that erased the aches and pains of the day’s laborious work.   Sheets and blankets, also made from course cotton thread that had been sowed, reaped, spun, woven, and stitched by the hands of assigned children.  They offered a cozy slumber when the warm air from the Gods was insufficient on long, cold nights.

Terrance closed his eyes to evoke detailed memories of the dwelling.  Thoughts turned into the visualizations of a dining table and its three wooden chairs sitting to one side of his parent’s bed.  The wooden walls unadorned with any  personal items or touches stuck out in his mind.  He could clearly see the basin used for cleansing the cooking vessels, plates, cups, and utensils that sat kitty corner from his partitioned bedroom.  The basin was in close proximity to the dining table and cast iron stove.  The remaining space within the dwelling came with vivid memories of the cold wooden floor adorned with craftily weaved rugs.  On one particular rug that Terrance loved, weaved with vibrant dyed strands of color, he smiled at the sight of sitting at the feet of his parents as they read to him stories that were not prescribed by the Gods’ tenets, and teachings about realities that were considered transgressions to the Gods.

If he was not aware of some of the truth, Terrance knew he could be easily awed at the Gods' wisdom and resourcefulness and planning and guidance.  With the exception of the materials, pipes, and conduits making up all the dwelling units, all other material needed came from the work of the children.  Terrance remembered the fields of cotton that provided the raw materials from which to make his clothing and other fabricated essentials.  The clothing, the pants and shirts and undergarments that hung in a closet, thought at first to have been given to him by his parents, were provided by the labor of assigned children as he learned.  Cattle provided the material for the leathered shoes and coats.  Advancing through the years, Terrance noticed that the garments, the shoes, lacked any adornments or personal touches that could spruce up the bland look of any separate child.  He became well aware that all garments were uniformly prepared as prescribed by the Gods, and any diversion from the tenets was considered transgressions to the Gods.

As he remembered the three wooden chairs at the dining table, Terrance had once inquired about the absence of brothers and sister and  the whereabouts of grandparents, but was saddened by the answers.  His parents related their deaths to him once he reached a level of understanding of the good world.  His grandparents, from both his mother and father, had died shortly after his birth.  Both mother and father would talk about their respective parents with such loving memories that although he had been too young to have been intimately acquainted with them, the overwhelming warmth of the stories provided the connection.  As far as Terrance being an only child, the explanation provided by his parents pointed to the determination of the high priests at the directives of the tenets.  As prescribed by the tenets, his parents, having been paired well after their age of maturity, had only been allotted one birth, one child, but the decision was of no comfort. Terrance could remember having been upset by the lack of any other sibling to keep him company growing up.  At times, especially at the beginnings of his relationship with Rita, the fact that Rita had her mean brother for company and other peers had siblings as well evoked childish fits.  It was only later, when his parents assured their only son that he was loved so much more for being their sole offspring, that Terrance overcame the jealousy and accepted the idea that he was never alone and had always been loved.       

Terrance’s memories shifted to the Greater Temple and all the equipment that was provided by the Gods.  The gatekeeper, unlike the children, had access to all the power machinery necessary to adhere to the tenets in regards to the outer world.  All sorts of vehicles were at his disposal.  There were skip loaders, earth movers, bobcats, forklifts, flatbed trucks, cargo trucks, and an assortment of other useful vehicles that were provided by the Gods and once maintained by the Gods.  Each vehicle, from its frame to its engine to every moving part was supposed to be maintained for a time period that began the day of the solemn feast and ended five days later.  During that time, as prescribed by the Gods, not one child, not even the gatekeeper, was permitted anywhere near the gates of the Greater Temple lest they risked suffering directly by the hands of the Gods.  

Staring at the horizon, Terrance remembered how he quickly learned the way of the Greater Temple and became familiar with all the equipment through the prescribed instructions left for the eyes of the gatekeeper.  After the harvest, the week preceding the solemn feast, the high priests would begin to deliver all items required by the Gods to an area just outside the gates.  All deliveries throughout the week came by carts drawn by the strength of horses.  In that specific area, the high priests were responsible for unloading all items by hand onto pallets and into bins that Terrance, as prescribed by the Gods, had positioned just outside the gates.  From that point, once the high priests had finished for the day, Terrance would use the appropriate vehicle to haul the items into the outer world of the Greater Temple by the manner prescribed in the tenets.

Terrance thought if he had not complied with the tenets, rebelled, refused to learn how to operate all the various machines sitting within the confines of the outer world, how would the Gods have reacted.  But, the choice to adhere to the tenets and his duties as gatekeeper was prompted by the instructions that were contained on shelves sitting on the porch just outside the inner world, and, he had to admit, the excitement of operating such machines thrilled him to no end.

Throughout the first few weeks as gatekeeper, Terrance peered over the written instructions, scanned the diagrams, and had become familiarized with each vehicle and the components of the motorized machinery used to satisfy the Gods.  As prescribed by the tenets, the time was given to him to do so, but in the event that a piece of equipment broke down or a vehicle stalled he was required to leave the Greater Temple for a day while the Gods came down and fixed the problem.  But it never occurred under his watch.

More and more, as the years passed, Terrance remembered how the Gods started to lack in the maintenance of the vehicles.  That is when Terrance decided to rebel and dare enter the inner world where he searched for information regarding specific maintenance details and instructions.

Upon entering the inner world that day, it was not what he had envisioned it to be.  For one, the Guardian of the Gods did not cry out a thunderous cry from beyond the door to the inner world and was nowhere to be found to witness and stand ready to accuse the transgression.  Secondly, Terrance expected the sight to be much more like the inner world of the Lesser Temple he had witnessed on the days of the solemn feast and on the three separate days when an additional light came on and forced the children to seek forgiveness from the Gods.

The Lesser Temple was adorned with much lighting that varied in brightness depending on the levels reserved for the high priests and the children.  Its interior was a massive one room expanse decorated with finely stroked murals, chairs made of the finest wood, and an altar made of the finest metals and marble that towered near the heights of the domed ceiling above.  To fill the expansive space, Luscious green plants and vibrant flowers, sown and cared for the high priests in a field just to the rear of the building, were brought into the inner world of the Lesser Temple for both sweet aromas and colorful imagery.

In comparison, Terrance noticed that the space he eyed within the confines of the inner world of the Greater Temple was considerably smaller and empty and void of any ornate item decorating the Gods’ domain.  There was no seating, no plants or flowers, no alter, no sweet aroma filling the air breathed by the Gods.  The only thing of interest was a door which led to a room where, as prescribed in the tenets, the Guardian of the Gods dwelt.  This room, if breached, would mean instant death for the gatekeeper if he dared to enter.  The Gods would destroy the gatekeeper by means that were so horrendous they did not describe in detail for fear they would drive away the child away from the appointed duties.  But Terrance heard the rebellious nature crying out for action.

Terrance was well aware that the vehicles and equipment needed for hauling the sustenance into the outer world had to be brought back to life before the Gods descended on the good world and took what they wanted.  Although he was tempted, he resisted telling any of the high priests of the situation so they could witness themselves the unsustainable power of the Gods that might turn them around to a reality they would have been forced to reject; not that they would dare to do so.  Instead, Terrance defied the tenets and entered the room.  There, the mystery of the Gods’ power was revealed.

The room contained shelves of repair manuals for the various pieces of equipment, maintenance records, and computers as described in one of the maintenance manuals.  All about the room was the knowledge of the Gods written out in detail unlike that written in the tenets.  Not a single mention of the Gods was contained within the various manuals.  Wandering off through another door Terrance discovered all the familiar parts of the vehicles and machinery he had operated.  He could see the items as the replacement parts as described in the manuals.  Through another door, he entered into a cavernous room filled with all sorts of equipment he had never seen before.

All about the room were tools that operated by themselves, equipment to lift things, and extremely large containers that named the particular liquid within.  The fuels, as described in the operating manuals, powered the various diesel and gasoline vehicles.  There were oils and grease for hydraulics and for lubrication systems.  Fluids for transmissions and cleaning also were stored in the various containers.  Where they came from he could not be sure.

As with all the children, the belief that the Gods conjured up everything there was by mental power went unchallenged.  To Terrance, however, like a lot of things he had witnessed, the question was why did such things exist for the Gods?  Why did they require the like items as that