The Cult Of The Flying Unicorns

Finding viruses is like trying to find flying unicorns. It's practically impossible. Everything we have been told is a lie. Truth Tsunami cometh.

Billy stood at the edge of the world contemplating his fate. He stomped his hooves, testing his will, setting off mini-avalanches of tiny rocks and dust that crumbled and fell into the void.

Looking out beyond the Endless Sea towards the Stars of Sorrow, Billy neighed and snorted, pushing out rushes of blood-hot air from his nostrils, through his lips. Thrashing his head from side to side, his arctic-white locks danced and glistened under the moonlight. A threaded golden horn protruding from his forehead attempted to pierce the darkness as if Billy knew deep down that he could escape it somehow if he just tried hard enough, if he wished for it with all his might. Maybe then he could join his mother in the realm of the flying unicorns.

Billy's mother had been the first, the first to cross over into the world beyond their world, a world where anything was possible, a world where unicorns could fly and live forever freeing themselves from the cycle of birth and rebirth in the domain of Joran where Billy had lived, learned and loved for his entire life as a young colt. Now, as a fully grown stallion preparing for his first launch into the void, the voices of all of his ancestors, his teachers, his mentors, his parents, his sweethearts, his friends, all of them, whispered to him gently, wishing him luck and safe passage on his luminal travels.

Trotting away from the cliff's edge, Billy pondered the advice that his mentor had conveyed to him earlier that day. A long run-up was best for a good launch but not so long that his timing be off, or that he may tire and stall, or maybe even change his mind on approach. No, his run should be just enough to get the job done leaving little opening for interference from wayward birds, a stumble on a stone, or Joran forbid, a flutter of fear in his heart, something he had not experienced since his first year of life.

Without pause, without any further thought, Billy turned to face the void, quickly marked a spot with his hooves, swished his tail, and started his run, building his pace as he went, locks flowing behind him like ghostly waves, until he was at full speed, galloping like the summer wind. Just before the precipice, he launched his graceful, muscular form into the night air high above the Endless Sea.

What happened next took Billy by surprise. He was convinced that he had done everything right. He was sure that every instruction had been followed, every bit of advice taken on board. Yet, as he could clearly see, he had not sprouted his magical flying wings and he was most certainly not heading towards the Stars of Sorrow as had been promised. Billy was plummeting to his death. The glassy rocks beneath loomed large. He frantically kicked his legs attempting to inch closer to the waters where he could plunge safely into their depths, but the Endless Sea appeared to recede just as he was making headway. Billy crashed onto the rocks below and his conscious experience was instantly extinguished as if a glowing firebug had been suddenly swallowed by a hungry frog.

Slowly but surely, a new conscious experience began to surface from the place where all conscious experiences arose. Billy couldn't believe his luck. His eyes cracked open allowing a tiny bit more light to enter with every blink. He felt like a newborn starting life for the first time yet he could sense the fullness of his adult body as he twitched and stretched the muscles on his legs.

No one had told him about this — the trials, the fall, his shocking death, and the apparent return to life in Joran. No one had prepared him for the experience he was living right now. Was he dreaming? Was this the afterlife? Surely not. He could see his friends and neighbors all around him where they lay slumbering under the giant willow tree in the early morning dew. Unicorns had dreamed their dreams of flying for thousands of generations under this ancient tree. This couldn't be a dream. Everything felt so real.

Suddenly, a wet nose brushed against Billy's neck startling him. A familiar fragrance wafted into his nostrils. It was Goran the Elder. Billy immediately summoned whatever strength he could muster so as to stand to attention and greet his mentor.

"Good day Billy. Did you sleep well during the long night?"

Billy was confused. Was this a trick question? Was his mentor testing him again as he had done many times during his training?

"I... I suppose so Master Goran. I mean... after my jump last night, that's the last thing I can remember. I thought I was dead."

"Oh, my dear Billy. You still have much to learn, but for now I can tell you that you passed your first exam with flying colors, if you'll pardon the pun."

"I did? But where are my wings? Why did I fall? I was sure I would cross over to the stars and see my mother, but all I saw were rocks and darkness, a deep, deep, darkness that I thought would never end."

"Walk with me to the lake," said Goran gently. "There are some things that you should know before you continue with your training."

More? Billy had thought that his training was complete, that his first jump would be his last and that everything up to that point in his life had been for that purpose and that purpose alone. What more could there be to learn? What secrets had his beloved mentor been keeping from him his entire life? Billy guessed he was about to find out.

The two unicorns stood quietly on the banks of the Great Lake of Longing. They drank from the crystal clear water watching their own reflections. A rainbow stretched from one side of the lake to the other. Mountains rose up in the distance touching the sky. Nearby fish jumped and sent ripples in all directions. A dragonfly landed on Billy's nose causing him to sneeze more loudly than he wanted to, disturbing the lakeside peace. Aquatic birds rose up out of the marshes dispersing into the nearby forest. Distant creatures whooped alerting others of their kind.

Goran lifted his head, his emerald horn still proud and strong for his age, the tightly woven grooves denoting his status and rank as the unicorn herd stallion. Billy could sense that Goran was collecting his thoughts, pausing to choose his words wisely as he had done many times before during his tenure as Billy's chief mentor and surrogate father.

He cleared his throat and spoke with clarity and conviction. "The years have been kind to me Billy, but soon you will have to take my place and teach the next generation of younglings. To do so, you must learn the ways of the mentor. You must learn the code. You will have access to the hidden knowledge, the ways of the ancients. You will be made whole, an ordained elder in the Cult of the Flying Unicorns."

Billy stood to attention, wide-eyed, his pulse quickening, tail swishing with expectant energy. He dared not utter a single word.

"Our lives are not what they appear to be Billy. There are creatures beyond this realm, beyond the Endless Sea that live among the Stars of Sorrow. They are known as humans and these humans possess incredibly overactive imaginations. They are capable of immense feats that twist their own reality. They are literally drowning in flights of fantasy of their own making."

Billy gulped. A fly buzzed around his ears, but still he managed to maintain his composure, to hold his tongue, waiting with bated breath for the rest of this outlandish revelation.

"It's all true my young friend. This isn't real. You don't actually exist. You're just a figment of someone's imagination, a character in a story, a fable, long told to human children by their parents for entertainment."

Billy finally summoned the courage to speak up. "I... but why? How can that be true? This feels so real. My life, you, everyone, this place. I've known it all my whole life. Even when I died, it felt real."

"All of this feels real to us Billy and in a way it all does exist in the realms created by these humans. We dwell there as do other creatures and myths of their making. I have seen them with my own eyes on occasion while traversing the Endless Sea and the Stars of Sorrow."

"You've been there?"

"Oh yes. And I met with your mother. Your father was there too. They sent their regards but I was bound by the code. The code forbids the relaying of such information before a subject is ready to receive it."

"You kept that from me?"

"You weren't ready. You are now."

"Hmpf. What else have you lied to me about in all these years? I have a right to know. I passed the test didn't I?"

"Now now Billy, let's not get ahead of ourselves..."

"I HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW!" yelled Billy with all his strength, aiming his horn directly at Goran.

Goran the Elder stomped his hooves, taking a step back away from his student, vigorously swishing his tail in disgust and disappointment. "You will refrain from such behavior or you will be banished like your parents before you."

Billy stepped back, astonished, his anger deflating as rapidly as it had risen. "What did you say?"

"You heard me. Your parents were banished from this realm because they were unable to abide by the code. They insisted on telling the truth about our existence. They were causing too much trouble. The Council of Elders decided that it was best to banish them, that our way of life was worth preserving just the way it was. Better to live as fantasy characters in an artificial world than to not live at all."

Billy was dumbfounded. This was more than he could handle all in one go. He could taste the bile rising up in his throat. His legs had begun trembling. He resisted the need to lie down. Thrusting his horn high into the air he asked, "These humans, why did they imagine us to begin with?"

"They like fantasy and storytelling. It's just something they do."

"So unicorns don't exist in their realm? I still don't see how they can make stories about us if we have never existed for them."

"We exist in their minds but not in their physical world. That hasn't stopped some humans from believing that we actually exist in their forests and jungles. Some have even collected evidence trying to prove to other humans that flying unicorns exist and that precautions should be taken to prevent transmission of disease from flying unicorns to humans."

"But what proof can they provide if we don't even exist?"

"Well, there are some humans known as scientists and they find hoof prints in the woods belonging to animals that actually exist and also fragments of bone and wisps of hair that get snagged on tree branches. They put all these pieces of evidence together and run samples through their machinery. The printout then tells them that there must have been a unicorn running through the woods in the place where they found the evidence even though none of them have ever actually seen a unicorn in the flesh."

"Ha! That's quite the story." Billy was starting to relax a little realizing how ludicrous the lives of the humans was turning out to be.

"Yes, it really is my dear Billy. When I heard it for the first time my reaction was not dissimilar to yours. In fact..."

Suddenly, a rush of air like a short burst of thunder made Billy flinch. Something had clipped his ear making it bleed. He shook his head spraying beads of silver unicorn blood in all directions. By the time he was able to process what had just happened, Goran the Elder, Billy's lifelong mentor and friend, was already lying on the ground, mortally wounded, exhaling his final breaths, wondering if this would be the one, his ticket out of the cycle of birth and rebirth, his conclusive jump back to where all things begin.

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Many years went by. Billy had attained the title of herd stallion. He was mentoring dozens of colts and young mares. They looked up to him with a reverence that he hadn't thought possible among the new brood. He was proud of his achievement and routinely gave thanks to his old mentor for teaching him the ways of the ancients.

Every morning, Billy would wake, groom, graze and trot to the same spot at the edge of the world where he would begin his preparations — a ritual consisting of boisterous neighing, head shaking, turf scraping, bucking and trial sprinting — until he felt ready to make his leap of faith, launching into the void as he had done every day since his very first jump. And every time, shortly after yet another failed attempt, Billy would wake up again under the giant willow tree alongside the rest of the herd.

He'd lost count of his attempts to gain flight, to cross the Endless Sea, to reach the field of stars in the distance where mysteries lay waiting. It was probably in the thousands by now, but it didn't affect his resolve. His mentor had told him that he'd seen his parents one time, among the stars, in the world beyond.

And that was enough for Billy to continue his search. He would never stop. He would never give up. For this was his purpose now. This was his life. And he was convinced that one day he would break through to the other side and see his parents again, that he would speak with them and that they would help him find a way to release the herd from the cycle of lies they had been forced to live their entire lives, even if it meant forsaking the world that had been their home, even if it meant imploding the collective dream until it shrunk to a single point and disappeared forever. And when the opportunity presented itself he would act without pause or doubt, knowing deeply that it was the right thing to do.

And the beautiful mountains, the lakes, the rivers, the rainbows and fireflies of Joran would cease to exist because they had never, ever, really existed at all. And as painful as it would be to leave those memories behind, the solace of finding a new life in the land of the real would be worth more than all the watchful Stars of Sorrow forever casting their light into the dark depths of the Endless Sea.

THE END

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