Solutions: The Dilemma for Men by James Gerard (best free ebook reader .TXT) 📕

Hour after hour Louis was lost in the view.  At times the train passed on through areas where sheer walls of solid rock seemingly had been cut out to make way for the tracks.  The grasses and shrubs gave way to a stretch of trees that dominated the elevated landscape.  Now and then as the train curved around bends the sight of rushing water could be seen cascading through a channel of rocks that routed the melted snow to the lake that was now far away.  All sorts of birds soaring high in the sky darted in and out of view.  Animals he recognized through the descriptions of the work crews were spotted along the way.  There were deer and goats and sheep and bears grazing on what plant life was around, drinking from the streams, or fleeing from the noise of the train into the cover of the forest.  Louis noticed a latch on a window and slid the glass open.  A flow of cool air came rushing in along with the roar of the locomotive’s engine.

As the train neared the summit of a particular peak the trees came to an end and gave way to barren land.  The only thing of interest that occupied the ground was snow that appeared as a light face of rocks from a far away view.  The snow covered the entire peak with a blanket of white and slowly dripped away in sheets of water running down the steep slope.

Louis could only imagine how one might live a life in a setting void of any villages or any human activity.  He remembered the stories of the people who had etched out hollows into the mountains long before men had posed as gods, but his dad did not speak of any specific locations.  At some point, he was told, they emerged from the underground shelters and began anew to occupy the surface under the direction of the gods.  Louis figured that a restoration of the mountainous terrain had already been carried out and he was witnessing the results, but he could not be so certain.

Louis wondered if Hector knew of the specific past of the area they travelled, or was it all a mystery to him.  He wondered if Hector had ever stopped the train to take a walking tour of the terrain that could only be seen in passing, or if ever there had been an opportunity to camp overnight in the tranquil environment.  Regardless of the pondering, thought Louis, the mountains existed for a reason or else God would not have created them.  But for what purpose?  Louis had no idea.

Hector once again manipulated the controls.

Louis looked out ahead and could see the landscape far below and off into the distance as the locomotive began to wind its way down the mountain.  In the distance was yet another stretch of land, but unlike the view to the east, this one was a landscape untouched by grids of various planted foods and void of delineations of any farming.  Still close to the top of the snow capped mountains he could see the barren landscape slowly bleed into the lush green of a forest canopy, which ended in fields of brown and green in the near distance. Louis scanned the area below for any hints of human activity and for structures housing the men and women of the designated city, but none could be seen.

“Where’s Los Angeles Hector?”

“It’s still too far away to see.”

“What is it like?”

“Well, that depends on what you think about things Louis.  I’ve visited Los Angeles many a times in the past.   Remember I told you I used to be a district councilman you know.”

“One of our leaders?”

“Sure was.”

“Were you ever on the Central Council?”

Louis watched as Hector suddenly turned his attention back to the controls.  He adjusted one of the wheels as the train headed down a steeper length of track.  Louis could see the meticulous attention given to the beast.  From its size, he figured, if it went too fast it could come off the tracks and could not be sure if Hector could get its iron wheels back on the rails.  He watched as Hector continued manipulating the controls and kept a steady eye on the instrument panel that registered the many aspects of the train’s functions. Louis was fascinated as he could feel the loaded boxcars push the locomotive as it tried to gradually slow dpwm.

“The Central Council you ask?  No, I was just on the District Council.  But let me just say that I never wanted to be.”

“Have you ever met any of them?”

“Can’t say that I have.  I only made a few visits to Los Angeles to deal with issues in which they had no need to take part in.  And I guess they had no interest in coming to the train yard so I never did have an opportunity to meet any of them.”

“I’d sort of like to meet some of them.”

“Louis, I don’t make it a point to tell a man what or what he shouldn’t do, but I don’t think you want to meet any of them.”

“But I’d like to so I can tell them about what is going on back in the Village.”

“Oh, they know what’s going on.  And as far as them understanding the things we’ve talked about, they could care less.”

“You’re not talking about our talks about God are you?”

“Between me and you, it’s okay, but they got their own views concerning who should run the show.  Unfortunately, God is not included in that.”

“Wow, my dad warned me of that.”

“Of what?”

“About forgetting about God again.” 

“Just a friendly warning Louis, if you ever get to meet any of them then I suggest that you just don’t say anything about our Lord.”

“But….”

“You’ll have to excuse me for a little while here Louis because this beast needs my full attention about now.”

Louis slumped into the chair and looked straight ahead into the tops of the trees sitting off to the side of the track.  He could understand the warning given by Hector since it mirrored the warnings given by his dad.  Back in the Village discussions of the Lord were common amongst all.  He never had wanted to be a preacher of the Word, but his dad always told him that if the passion was there to do so then do so.  His dad was the first one to step up and proclaim the Truth, but afterwards others came forward with enthusiastic messages to enlighten the villagers. And oddly, his dad had told him that he understood the Word well enough to know that no one man was capable of bestowing the Good Word unto all, but that in time the walking by sight he so often mentioned would outweigh any good of the ensured promises the Father, and his Son Jesus, spoke of in the Holy Scriptures.

It is not that his dad wanted any such reoccurrence of the past, but the powers and principalities would recycle the lusts of men and thus make it so.  Louis could now clearly see that it was as if the villagers wanted to return to the days were everything was provided by the men who had rose above to rule over them.  And even when the District Council began to withhold some of the very things they had grown to love, they still felt that grumbling about it was a much better way to have all things restored by the very men who had taken away such comforts in the first place.  It was clear that they would rather rely on the leaders and not the Lord to restore all things.  They could not understand that all was well despite the decisions of men.  And in all his pleas to maintain their relationship with God, that no matter what the Council did, God would be with them and know their pains and suffering. Unfortunately the pleas fell on deaf ears.  His dad’s prophecy, as he understood it in the present, had come to past.

There was a part of Louis, however, that struggled against his dad’s teachings.  He had difficulty understanding how his dad, in learning the ways of men from the past, had strayed away from strong convictions in assuring there would be no repeat of a Godless society.  For he was the one that brought about the revelation that the gods were mere men, thereby restoring the presence of the Lord, but apparently that was as far as he was going to go.  He did not speak up against certain men who once again were made prone to the deception and fell under the influence of the powers and principalities. As far as he was concerned, his dad had his reasoning for such a course of non-action, but why, Louis could only see it as a matter privy to the Lord.

Before long the train made a full descent from the mountains and once again was amidst a landscape covered in grass and shrubs.  Anticipation mounted in the passing hours.  Up ahead the train yard came into sight.  Unlike the compound back near the lake, the facility was huge.  Warehouses stretched out ahead for what seemed like miles.  Louis recognized the orchestrated chaos from other trains coming in while others departed, and from the steady traffic of trucks coming in and out of view.  All the activity made it seem as there was not enough time and space to handle all the cargo.

The alarm screamed.  Hector woke up.  “We’re here.”

Hector worked fast and furious at the switches and wheels and levers.  The locomotive, with the massive weight pushing from behind, finally had its way and everything came to a stop.

Louis looked out the window to the rear and spotted many a man emerge from the warehouses and make a mad dash to the boxcars.  The loud clanking of metal reverberated all through the yard as doors were quickly opened.  A rumbling of forklifts scurrying about began to unload the cargo prepared by the workers back in the Village.

“I shouldn’t do this,” said Hector, “but I’ll see if I can get someone to scrounge up some extra pallets of scrapple to take back.”

Louis turned to Hector with a smile, “I certainly wouldn’t tell anyone if you did.”

“Wait here.  I need to take care of some business real fast.”

Hector jumped off the steps of the locomotive and briefly disappeared in a hive of activity buzzing all about the boxcars.  Looking ahead, Louis noticed a gate where the truck traffic came in and out of at a fastidious pace.  Figuring it could not hurt to take a quick stroll to see up close the trucks zooming through the entry, Louis jumped from the cab and made his way to the shack sitting just inside the perimeter.

The trucks were unlike the ones he was used to see scrambling about the processing plants at the Village.  They were long and wide and appeared to have four times the cargo capacity.  Louis could not spot anyone acting as traffic director.  The drivers coming in seemed to know exactly where they were going and the drivers exiting only had one direction to go; a wide concrete path that he figured was heading into Los Angeles.

Louis turned around and spotted Hector climbing back into the locomotive.  Suddenly a spirit of adventure compelled thoughts of visiting the city despite what Hector had said.  He thought about letting Hector know that was his intention, but he did not want to give him an opportunity to talk him out of it.  Louis figured he had come this far and there would be no stopping him now.

Hector looked over.

Louis waved goodbye, exited the gate, and proceeded leisurely down the road.