1/26/17

Return of the Benefactor
By David K Scholes


Canberra, Australia
Earth 2234


“I had a dream last night,” I said. “My father was in it. We did things together that we might have done had he lived.”
“How old were you when he died?” asked Robyn.
“Only 3 months,” I replied. “Though of course I’ve seen countless 3D videos of him.”

“Did you ever participate in the memories implant program?” asked Robyn. “Used in conjunction with the new dream corders the results can be startling.”
“It does not produce anything remotely like what I dreamt last night,” I replied knowingly. “It was a very long dream – it seemed to cover all of my life up until now. We did a lot of things together.”

“Some could find that upsetting,” offered Robyn “to wake up and realise what might have been.”
“I do not feel that way,” I replied “I am simply very grateful for having glimpsed some of what might have been. Who knows but that I may yet dream some more.”

“There can only be one explanation for such a phenomenon,” offered Robyn smiling more openly than I had ever seen. “He is back.”
“Are you sure?” I was whispering now “I know there were reports of such things when he was here before.”

* * *

Robyn and I were both old enough to remember the Benefactor. Though we were children then. We remembered the goodness he brought. We remembered too the anger we all felt when the Elementals came to try to stop his activities on Earth. A confrontation that proved inconclusive. Even though Elementals and Benefactor left Earth afterwards none of his works were undone. Indeed the help continued for a time as if he were helping us from afar.

Just then word started to come in from all corners of the globe and all forms of communication media. Though first of all through the “Telepathic Times” the World’s first and still its only telepathic newspaper. It was unmistakable. The Benefactor was back.

* * *

“We have come a long way since he was here last,” I said “thanks to the lift up he gave us.”

This time around the Benefactor helped us in different ways. We needed a different kind of help and he obliged. Still people old enough to remember it first hand worried that the Elementals might come again.

Through the World Wide Mind it was resolved that we would not just stand idly by if the Elementals came again. We would help him through the unification of the 10 billion minds capable of accessing the unified World Wide Mind.

The Benefactor thanked us politely and individually by accessing the World Wide Mind. It was a brief access by him but tremendously uplifting for us all. Giving us a small insight to the capabilities of Earth’s relatively new World Wide Mind. Or Uni-Mind as it was known for short.

Eventually the Benefactor left us again. This time the Elementals did not come.
I do not know why. Though we had heard from distant worlds that their power was on the wane.

I still dream every night of my Dad as if he were right here with me.

If the Benefactor had lifted us up mightily on his first visit then on this second visit he enabled us at times to stand on his shoulders.

The view of the cosmos from those lofty heights was magnificent.

Later when the mighty Brell, the Multiverse’s most advanced technological race and the Dleene the most advanced psionic race in the Multiverse both came to us in search of friendship we were ready.

Thanks to the Benefactor


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The author has written over 180 speculative fiction short stories, some of which appear in his seven published collections of short stories. He has also published two science fiction novellas (all on Amazon). He has been a regular contributor to the Antipodean SF, Beam Me Up Pod Cast, and Farther Stars Than These sites. He has also been published on 365 Tomorrows, Bewildering Stories, the WiFiles and the former Golden Visions magazine. He is currently very close to completing a new collection of some 36 science fiction short stories.