Christopher V. V. Parnell

Author

  The Sunday Smuggler    Hell's Prisoner  Aimless

Authors Note: The Title "The Sunday Smuggler" published HarperCollins is the same book retitled and published as "Hell's Prisoner" by Mainstream Publishers

                          AIMLESS

            Sample Chapter

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This is a fictional story packed with characters as colourful as a rainbow which I wrote during my imprisonment.  It's a story of young girl who dies and goes to heaven only to find that God is on a Holiday and as it is written in the Bible, on the seventh day. God rested. Well then... just how long is one day in the life of God? 

For those of you who are about to read Aimless let me first fill you in on the books origin. it is a fictional book in parts but within the story line I have woven a number of true events.

Naturally for all concerned I have changed the names of my characters as Law suits can be downright annoying not to mention expensive.

Once the reader starts this book it will be up to them to work out just who are the real characters and who are the fictional. this also applies to the various events which will pop up between the story lines.

The idea of Aimless came to me while serving a 20 year prison sentence in Indonesia. I was serving my 9th year of imprisonment of which over 3 years of that was spent in solitary confinement. it was while I was serving the last months of this particular punishment sentence in Malang Prison, which is in the central highlands of Java. where Aimless was truly born.

To keep my sanity, I desperately needed to laugh... and to at least feel good under the oppression, the hunger,, and the violent beatings. Though in their won ways they were bearable. what was the hardest thing for me to handle was the loneliness. I was the only white man in this Asian Prison. It was this loneliness and this desperate need to laugh again which enabled me to dig deep within my own memories and recall all the funny thins that had happened to me and those around me.

SAMPLE CHAPTER

CHAPTER NINE

When Ogeleye got over the initial loud bang and shock of what, for a few seconds, felt like she was being torn apart, she found herself drifting on a cloud.

Everything was white and misty.  She didn’t feel bad, in fact she felt quite good.

Something swooped past her, she didn’t know what it was, she was still too busy trying to get her footing to walk on this funny stuff... whatever it was.

As she walked along, her balance seemed to improve.  She realised that she wasn’t wearing shoes.  Whatever it was she was walking on started to feel like soft grass under her bare feet, soft, warm grass. 

The odd thing that had just flown past her made another circuit and flew right through the floor, or whatever it was that she was walking on.

“Where am I?” she wondered, looking around totally bewildered.

“Aimless, Aimless, are you there?” she called out.

The clouds seemed to build up even more though whatever it was that she was walking on started to feel more solid.

Then that white fluttering thing made one more pass over her.  Whatever it was, it seemed to be in trouble trying to land and splashed down just a metre or so in front of her.

“Aimless, Aimless, is that you?”  She asked.

The clouds around her began to clear a little.  She waved her arms in front of her, again she whispered, “Aimless, Aimless is that you?”

When the mists and clouds cleared a little more, she could see what appeared to be an Angel getting up off the ground and shaking himself off.

I know him, she thought, as the Angel slowly lifted his head.  She looked at him, as he stared back at her smiling.

“Pete?” she said.

“Hello Ogeleye!  Ah, I just got my solo wings today, still haven’t got used to them”, the familiar voice said.

They’re pretty big hey?” he said, as he stretched them out, and that was no understatement, they were big, really big.  His wings draped down into the clouds, losing themselves somewhere at his feet.

“Aren’t you dead Pete?” Ogleye asked.

“Yeah, well, I guess you already must know that I blew it at that rotten party, I OD’D”, Pete the Angel said, looking a little embarrassed about it all.

“Wow”, Ogeleye replied, “This is a real weird dream”.

“No, it’s not a dream.  I asked to come and meet you first.  They told me to wait, but I got my solo wings now so I slipped out to see you.  I’ve still got problems landing, I guess I should have left it up to the other Angels to meet you.  They handle these things better.  Actually I didn’t really intend to land, it was a kind of forced landing.  I guess I just wanted to show off my new wings to you when I found out that you were coming”, Pete the Angel said.

Ogeleye started to smile, then openly laugh, “This has got to be the weirdest dream I’ve ever had”, and turned to walk away…. but to where?

From out of the mist Ogeleye could see a dark skinned Negro type old lady appear.  She had the softest, most gentle face Ogeleye had ever seen.

Before Ogeleye could say, or do anything, the sweet old lady just slipped or sort of glided up beside her.

The old lady gently placed her arm around Ogeleye’s shoulder.

Instantly Ogeleye began to relax, “Where am I?”, she asked.

“You’re in a place where you’ll never be lonely again child”, the dark old lady said in such a soft and soothing voice it made Ogeleye warm to her even more.

“Pete’s made it harder for you, he shouldn’t really be here.  He should have been practicing his solo flights, and that’s a long way from here.  So off you go Pete you’ll have plenty of time to talk to Ogeleye.  Carry on with your practicing and I’ll explain everything to Ogeleye.  You’re only making this harder for her and confusing things”, this soft-faced lady said

“Yeah, you’re right.  Look, I’ll see you later” Pete said, as he flexed his wings like a beautiful bird holding his arms out and upwards, just like he had been taught. He took one step forward, quite gracefully, with that his wings gently flapped, and off Pete flew.

Ogeleye started to smile again, as did the old lady when she said, “They sure do look neat when they take off in the right way.  I remember when I first got my wings, oh how proud I was”.

“But you don’t have wings now?” Ogeleye said, “What happened to them?”

“Oh they’re there”, the old lady said, “But you don’t really need them to fly. They’re like training wheels on a pushbike, once you’ve got your balance, you don’t really need them anymore, although they can be useful at times”.

“No… I don’t believe this.  It’s all just a dream.  Aimless!  Aimless!  Where’s Aimless?  Where’s my baby?  Pete’s dead!  This is not heaven.  Heaven is supposed to be a nice place, where God lives.  Look at all these rotten clouds and mist.  This is hell… I want to go home”, Ogleye said, as she started to cry and get upset again.

“Is it all the clouds that upset you Ogeleye?  Then we will just have to chase them all away”, the old lady said, and with a wave of her hand the clouds disappeared and the sun was beating down.

Ogeleye found herself standing on a beach of beautiful white sand, where the shores were washed and caressed by the clearest cleanest waves from the ocean,  a beautiful blue ocean that gently capped the shores for miles and miles of coast.

Ogeleye reached down and picked up a small hand full of sand.  She looked at the old lady, who was still standing beside her but this time the old lady was wearing a sarong.  Ogeleye smelled the sand and then watched it as it trickled through her fingers.  She squeezed it, it sure felt like sand, she thought.  She then plumped down on it.  It felt warm under her bare bum.  That’s when she looked down and realised that she had no clothes on.

“Where are my clothes?” Ogeleye asked.

“Well that’s up to you when you decide what you want to wear.  Angels can wear whatever they like, or be wherever they like.  Pete is still just a flying in the clouds Angel who still can’t fly properly with his wings.  He’s on a totally different level to you Ogeleye, but if you want to try wings look there they are”, the old lady said, and Ogeleye found herself wearing a beautiful set of wings.

“Try them out, do a circuit or two”, the old lady offered.

After a very short time... Ogeleye found herself flying.  The sensation was great. When she landed on her feet she barely disturbed the sand.

Folding her wings away she said, “If I am really dead, I want to know how I died!”

The old black lady paused for a moment in thought before she answered.

“I think you’re a very strong soul Ogeleye”, the old lady said, weighing carefully what she was about to say.

“I don’t like going back to those places child, but in your case, I’ll do it.  I’ll take you back and show you, and then… we’ll talk a little more”.

So Ogleye was taken back to that warm summer’s morning, to where she pulled up outside Nicks Night Spot.

She could see Pinky carrying little A out of the car and hand him over to Maria, the Hairy One.

She could see Maria leave to get the keys to the Mercedes Benz.

She could see herself talking to Pinky, and remembered every word that they had spoken while Maria had gone.

She could see herself, strutting up the lane and getting into the car... and she could see the ball of flame that had engulfed it!

She could see tiny little Pinky blown back against the passing bus… and big Maria blown to the side, protecting her little baby with her own body.  Tucking the newly born between her large breasts she turned to allow the fire to engulf her back, burning all the back of her dress and hair away.

“Please, please”, Ogeleye screamed, “Stop it, stop it.  Please stop it, stop it!”

Ogeleye suddenly found herself back on the soft sun soaked beach, the sun gently beating down and a breeze that was blowing on her face and lifting her hair high up off her shoulders.

All seemed quiet for a very, very long time.  While Ogeleye tried to shake away that horrible vision of her death, she broke her silence eventually, when she looked at the old lady.

“What happened to my baby?  He can’t be dead, I’d know it.  None of them died did they?  Only me, I am the only one who died… Thank God the rest of them are safe.  They are really good people you know.  They have really big hearts”, Ogeleye said, as she looked over towards the old dark lady, and started to cry.

“And so do you child”, the old lady said, “And so do you”, tears brimmed up in her eyes too, as she reached over to cuddle Ogeleye.

“Now, now, now mother”, a voice sounded, as a big black man appeared out of, what seemed, nowhere.  He started to pat and comfort the old lady.

“Its OK Mother”, he said, as he started to rock her and Ogeleye in his big arms.

When the old lady dried her eyes she straightened herself up and said, “Forgive my bad manners, I didn’t properly introduce myself to you.  My name is Ruby, that little pest Pete threw me off a little up there, I should have more control.

Grabbing both Ogeleye and Max by the arms she said, “Come on, let’s go and have a cup of tea, or would you prefer something stronger?  This is my husband Maxwell by the way, we’ve got a little house over there behind those coconut trees”.

Ogleye was pretty certain that she had just lost her mind and sanity.  After having talked to Ruby and Max for a while, she realised… that she was, well, dead, but only dead to the world that she had known.

She asked Ruby to take her back to see the car exploding again, but Ruby didn’t want to see it again.  It only upset her, she said, to see such things, so Ruby asked Max if he would agree to take her back, which he did.

When Ogeleye returned the second time with Max, everything was exactly the same.  Her talking to Pinky then strutting up the laneway with the keys in her hand, getting into the car… followed by the laneway bursting into flames and Maria protecting little Aimless.

“Max, Max, can I see what happens after I died?” Ogeleye questioned.

“Sure you can”, Max replied.

“Can I see how my baby is?” Ogeleye asked with pleading eyes.

“Why not, but please, be quiet OK!” Max said in a whispered voice.

Max grabbed Ogeleye's hand and pulled her from what seemed like one world to another, it felt like she was passing through a soft curtain, when suddenly she found herself in the baby’s room of their apartment.  When she looked down in the crib, it was empty.

“Where is he!”, Ogeleye asked in a panic.

Max held a finger to his lips, “Shhhhh, not so loud or they might be able to hear us, they’re watching TV”.

Ogeleye could hear the TV going.  When she went into the room, there they were. Aimless nursing the baby, both of them were dead to the world with the TV still blaring away.  Ogeleye looked at them as they both slept, the love that she held for them was obvious in her face.

“Cute, hey?” Max said.

“Yes, they both look so beautiful.  But that nappy needs changing, so does the bottle”, Ogeleye said.

“Well then… change them girl, you’re the mother aren’t you?” Max replied.

Ogeleye looked at Max in total disbelief.

“Well, go on girl, pick that little baby up and change it’s nappy”, Max insisted, beaming with his big ebony smile.

Ogeleye reached down, picking up the baby, she took him into the second room where he woke up as soon as she changed his diaper, so she played with him and nursed him giving him the million cuddles and kisses that he loved so much.

When the baby had fallen back to sleep, Max quietly came in and said, “Would you like to visit Pinky for a while?  I think she needs you”.

“Sure!  I’d like to do that. What’s the matter with her?” Ogeleye asked.

“This way”, Max replied, as he took her by the hand.

He seemed to look around for a while, when he found what he was looking for he moved his hand pulling her gently.

As she followed, she could feel the sensation of passing through that curtain again, finding herself in a hospital corridor.  It was the Intensive Care Ward.

Max stopped outside a private room, opened the door and gestured for Ogeleye to enter.

Pinky lay on the bed with tubes stuck up her nose, IV’s stuck in both arms, and all her wild wonderful white hair, cut off and replaced by a big bandage that was wrapped around her head.

Flogger was sitting on a chair with both his huge hands around Pinky’s tiny frail white hand.  He had a thick growth of stubble, which Ogeleye had never seen on him before.  His head was resting on the mattress of Pinky’s bed as though he was asleep.

“How long have I been dead Max?” Ogeleye whispered.

“Three days” Max replied.

“How can I help them Max?” Ogeleye asked.

“The same way you changed the baby’s nappy, you just reached out and did it. That’s what Angels are all about, just reach out honey and help that little friend of yours.  You can do it, because you are a natural”, he said.

Ogeleye walked over to the bed not really knowing what to do or how to help, she took Pinky’s small hand in hers, “Pinky I’m here, I’ve got to talk to you.  It’s really important Pinky, I need you to stay here.  If you go away like I have, there won’t be anyone of us girl’s left to watch over baby Aimless, or the other baby…. his Dad, or Flogger.  Look what you’re doing to him Pinky”, she said.

As Ogeleye lifted up her head, the sight of Flogger with his head down caused a rush of sadness to sweep over her.

“He’ll just be a big empty shell without a heart if you leave him Pinky.  If you believe in Angels, and you told me once that you did, then I’ll make you an Angel’s promise.  You and Flogger will have your own baby one day, and I promise I’ll always watch over it, but you’ve got to live to have one”, Ogeleye said as she implored Pinky to live.

“Ogeleye, Ogeleye, I don’t…what… the car… I…. I… The baby, Maria’s got the baby”, Pinky mumbled, quite incoherently… though none but Ogeleye could at first hear her.

Slowly she began to regain consciousness, pulling out of the coma that the Doctors had given her a one in one hundred chance of surviving.  Flogger was still by her side, head down half asleep, when he felt her coming out of it.  Because that’s what it was like, Flogger kind of felt something.  He felt something happening, he seemed to feel someone else in the room. Then he heard the slightest change in Pinky’s breathing, at first he thought it was only a dream.

But when her small hand tightened around his huge mitts.  He lifted his rough unshaven face up and saw Ogeleye standing on the opposite side of the bed, holding Pinky’s other hand.  Flogger was surprised, but not really shocked.  In fact the first thing he thought of there and then was, how Ogeleye had looked the prettiest he’d ever seen her.

“Hello Ogeleye”, he said, “Gee, you look pretty… Pinky, my little Pinky, she’s been hurt, really hurt.  I love her so much you know”, the fear of losing Pinky showed in Flogger’s face.

“I’d cut my own heart out with a plastic spoon and lay it at her feet if she wanted it”, he said, with tears building up in his eyes.

“I know you would Flogger”, Ogeleye said, as she walked around to the side of the bed where Flogger was sitting, and cuddled him.

He wrapped his thick arm around her waist and started to cry.

Suddenly Pinky started to call out, “Flogger, Flogger, I wanna go home Flogger, I wanna go home”.

Flogger leaped up and hit the big red emergency button on the wall.  Doctors, nurses, interns and medics of a dozen different descriptions all rushed in, crowding the room.

Max grabbed Ogeleye by the arm, “Let’s get out of here, before they see us”, he said, as they quickly walked down the corridor.  Ogeleye bumped into a few people, not really realising that she was bumping and touching things.

Once they were outside, Max hailed a taxi.

Two or three blocks away from the hospital, he paid off the taxi, and they both got out.

“This might be a good place”, Max said.

He looked around for a couple of minutes, scratching his head, until he found what he was looking for.

“Give me your hand”, Max said.

“But I felt things, I touched things”, Ogeleye said, very confused.

What was Max doing, and HOW? She thought.

“I’ll explain that later, just give me your hand”, Max said.

So Ogeleye reached out, and once again took hold of Max’s hand.

Ogeleye again felt that sensation, finding herself on the beach again.  Ruby was still sitting under a huge umbrella drinking a Pineapple Pina Colada and waving to her.

Ogeleye started to get really confused…

Max and Ruby eventually explained many things to Ogeleye, in their own gentle way.

Over the next month she finally came to grips with the fact that she was dead. Well, at least dead in the way man knows it, and totally unbeknown to herself and most others she was destined to become a very powerful Angel.

With Ruby and Max’s coaching, all their advice and lessons, things just seemed to get better and better for Ogeleye.  Though there were still a lot of shocks, big and small for her to go through, Ogeleye was determined to be a good student. Simply because she was fully focused on learning how to travel about like Max and Ruby could.

“Just like peeking through a curtain Ogeleye, but the material is the Fabric of Existence and it’s all around us”, Max said, in assuring tones.

“You, Ruby, me and lots, of other Angels, can easily walk through to the other side. With lots of places in between.” Max told her.

But the biggest shock of all came to Ogeleye well into her fourth month of Angelhood.

One day, sitting on the beach listening to some piped in Van Halen music, drinking an iced club soda (Even Angels have to watch their weight, you know) Ogeleye's mind started to wander.

Max was in the water having a dip with a few other Angels.

Ogeleye had just recently been introduced to one of whom she thought was pretty cute.  She had already been to two beach BBQ’s with him.  Suddenly a strange, though unexpected thought, struck her.  Turning to face Ruby, who was sharing the big beach umbrella with her, Ogeleye said, “Where’s God Ruby?”

“Ah, the Great Creator”, and she started to chuckle to herself, “I’ve been waiting for you to ask me that.  I’m amazed it took you so long.  Well, I’ll be totally honest with you… I don’t know, none of us do”.

“After creating everything… God and his lady just said they were taking a holiday, asked all us Angels to take over for him, and left, and what a mess he left behind for us to clean up too”, Ruby added, as an after thought.

“Though you know, I suspect Maxwell knows where he is, but if he does he’s not telling anyone… and only God knows how much I’ve tried to wheedle it out of him”, Ruby said, with a devilish little smile on her face.

“What’s he like?” Ogeleye asked.

“Well, like most men, he has his good and bad days, good and bad points.  But it was his lady I was closer to.  One of the sweetest little heavenly beings you could ever wish to meet, never a bad word for anyone”, Ruby said, in a way that instantly stated her affection.  She was obviously a close mate to the boss’s lady, nod, nod, wink, wink!

So for the next couple of days Ogeleye thought all about this, and yeah she thought to herself this heaven might not be such a bad place after all.

Being an Angel she could nip down anytime she wanted to, to see Aimless and check on the baby or Pinky and Flogger, or Itchy and Maria.  All of whom she could watch over and happily did.

She could go investigating and exploring the curtains to the Fabric of Existence.

Though there were some pretty unsettling things behind them.

Or she could just hang out on the beach, and catch a beach party BBQ.

Ogeleye had become quite a popular little Angel.

There was no lack of party invitations, and not just on the beach either.  In fact she had just recently been invited on a skiing party by that cute looking Angel, who reminded her so much of Aimless in some, odd, funny, kind of way.

So things were finally starting to get better and better as each day passed for Ogeleye

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Copyright © 2002 The Sunday Smuggler-Christopher V V Parnell

Copyright © 2002 HarperCollins Publishers "The Sunday Smuggler"

Copyright © 2003 Mainstream Publishers "Hell's Prisoner"

Last modified: February 17, 2006