Dreaming at the wall of mystery

Hm. Haven't posted on the blog in a while. Well, here's another exciting segment of Rev. Joshi's Travelling Salvation Show; Storytime!

The Wall of Mystery [as retold by Anne Twitty; Parabola 1986]

Far in the East there was once a wall of mystery. Few people approached it. Occasionally, however, someone more daring than the rest made his way to the wall and began to climb. It was not easy to climb to the top of the wall, but some persevered. Those who reached the top of the wall and looked over to the other side were seen to smile; then they slipped over the wall and were never seen again.

After a while, the people of that country learned to recognize the signs that told them someone was about to approach the wall. That person's eyes would begin to stare through and beyond his surroundings. He grew forgetful, and would often fail to answer questions put to him, seeming absorbed in other questions, the nature of which was obscure to those around him.

Though the people did not want to risk climbing the wall themselves, they very much wanted to know what lay on the other side of it. The next time they noticed someone with staring eyes and the look of inner vision, they brought chains and waited beside the wall. As the young man began to climb, they seized his feet and fastened chains to them. Still, he climbed upward, until at last he reached the top of the wall.

He looked over. He smiled, just as the others had, a smile of rapture. The men at the foot of the wall, overcome with curiosity, pulled on the chains, and pulled him back. Eagerly, they began to question him. What was it like on the other side? Why had he smiled? What had he seen? But none of their questions were ever answered. By the time the young man's feet touched the ground, he had lost the power of speech.

~end sermon~

Obligatory, obfuscated hidden link here.