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Just prior to the decade of the nineteen-sixties,
when Sputnik was alone and new, and about the time that Ken Kesey
took his first acid trip as a medical volunteer; before underground
newspapers, Viet Nam, and talk of a second American Revolution; in
the comparative quiet of the late nineteen-fifties, just before the
idea of RENAISSANCE became relevant....
Two young Californians, known later as Omar
Ravenhurst and Malaclypse the Younger, were indulging in their
habit of sipping coffee at an allnight bowling alley and generally
solving the world's problems. This particular evening the main
subject of discussion was discord and they were complaining to each
other of the personal confusion they felt in their respective
lives. "Solve the problem of discord," said one, "and all other
problems will vanish." "Indeed," said the other, "chaos and strife
are the roots of all confusion."
FIRST I MUST SPRINKLE
YOU
WITH FAIRY DUST
Suddenly the place became devoid of
light. Then an utter silence enveloped them, and a great stillness
was felt. Then came a blinding flash of intense light, as though
their very psyches had gone nova. Then vision returned.
The two were dazed and neither moved nor spoke for
several minutes. They looked around and saw that the bowlers were
frozen like statues in a variety of comic positions, and that a
bowling ball was steadfastly anchored to the floor only inches from
the pins that it had been sent to scatter. The two looked at each
other, totally unable to account for the phenomenon. The condition
was one of suspension, and one noticed that the clock had
stopped.
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