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<sup><h6>At least I got a few smiles and chuckles and they soon stopped being angry with my most recent example of my tendency to examine and speak on behalf of whatever is currently unpopular with us.</h6></sup>
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<p><center><a href="https://steemit.com/sfandf-fiction/@arthur.grafo4/little-cherine-book-02-bpost062">Previous Post 062</a></center></p>
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<p><h3><center>1321</center></h3></p>
<p><h4>We were constantly on edge, expecting to be attacked. It made sense that they should, with our staunchest warrior gone from us, but I think Jonathan got it right when he suggested they may be waiting to be certain that Robert cannot break out of their hold on him - after all, he has tricked them many times, so they must be feeling wary, especially as their conquest must feel too easy for them to totally believe in it. I did not point out that if they can feel us, then they must be certain. Even though it should have pleased them to know that Robbie's protector is still so effective, anything that reminds us Robbie is not with us hurts and paralyses our thought processes for a while. I keep telling myself we must stay on our toes and be ready for whatever they next plan for us.<br>
Cherine nearly gave all of us a heart attack. We had gone to bed fairly late, at about two in the morning - not that we expected to sleep. About an hour later we suddenly felt Cherine teleport, without having sensed her intention from before, which meant we did not know what her destination was meant to be. She lightly blocked herself, but we were able to find out from the protector that she was walking on the beach in Cyprus. Dommi made certain we stayed put, demanding we allow Cherine some time on her own. The poor protector felt torn, for Cherine comes first, but the enemy definitely knows of us here, in our home, so we are in more danger. Robbie would be proud of it, for it reasoned the above and remained with us.<br>
Though all the adults knew of Cherine’s walk, not one remonstrated, I guess they realise what her brave front is costing her and accept her walk on Robbie's favourite beach was a necessity.</h4></p>
<p><h4>They were not so willing to be understanding when Cherine jumped to the beach again, the next day. Very luckily for us, only thoughts were exchanged, not one word was spoken about it by any of us. It was early afternoon, so nobody paid attention when we found ourselves feeling sleepy. We did not have much time to wonder about it, for sleep came quickly. When the first one left for the void the rest of us felt it and followed - which meant our healers could not communicate with us until they’d dealt with the threat they sensed.<br>
Cherine felt us and terrified by our stupidity (she thought she was to blame, that by her going to the beach we must have thought it is safe for us to go to the void), she returned home. Instantly our healers warned her and she called to the protector - which was watching over us in the void. The gas sent into our home was changed and then removed, so that our bodies were soon ready to wake up.<br>
Cherine was contrite and tried to apologise, but we set her right and even thanked her for leaving our home, thus remaining unaffected by the gas and able to call for the protector to save our bodies.<br>
Some time later, Agapi asked us, “If our bodies had died and you’d made new bodies for us, would you have kept it a secret from Robert?”<br>
I was about to take it on myself and answer for all of us, but for the first time, Cherine asked me directly, <i>*What is your answer?*</i><br>
I replied and she said, <i>*No.*</i><br>
Aloud, Cherine said, “I’m glad you asked, Agapi mou, for it gave us the time to think before deciding. No, we would not tell him while he is on his trip, but once the war is over and he is back with us, yes, we would. It would not be right to weaken him now, while he is alone and can do nothing to change what happened, but once he is with us, we could not live a lie.” She must have sensed what someone was asking in their mind, for she added, “Even if we could lie, we would not, because we love Robert too much to do that sort of thing to him.”<br>
I can’t help thinking there is something abnormal about us. Marian emoted only pride in the growing maturity of her daughter, while Dommi and us mostly mourned that our Cherine is losing that sweet innocence Robbie treasures so much. The funny thing is, each of us, if given the option, would want to think of ourselves as growing wiser, but for our loves we live a fantasy where we want all of us to remain as we are forever. This is definitely the influence of Robbie at work - and as females we are supposed to be more practical and down to earth, so I don’t understand why we are like this.</h4></p>
<p><h4>Robbie called from Brindizi and we all acted like babies and cried, but we soon returned to our routine, trying not to feel too much. As the days went by, I realised something, but kept the conversation for our bedroom. “I’d never realised how boring life is without sex.”<br>
Of course they laughed at me and made jokes, but then Dommi said, “How is it you only realised it now? There have been many times, especially when Roberto was ill, that we did not have sex for weeks at a time.”<br>
I shook my head. “It is not the same, there is no potential of sex now, while, even when he was in a coma, it was always possible for us to fantasise about him waking up and wanting some wild and passionate sex - and part of the excitement of the fantasy was that we’d each imagine how wonderful it would be that he has chosen ‘me’ to be the first one - without it upsetting us when he chose Cherine or Aganthi or someone else to be first.” I nodded. “With Rob here, it means we have to block off the need completely and it makes it worse for me.”<br>
Cherine nodded. “Little Cherine is certainly not helping with her willingness to share him with us - I bet she is like that because she wants our Robert to make love to her.”</h4></p>
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<p><h3><center>1322</center></h3></p>
<p><h4>Dommi emoted displeasure. “Cherine, I’m surprised and disappointed in you. Your observation shows you have only taken a shallow look at how Cher really feels. Yes, she may want our Roberto, but she would not agree to him making love with her, she loves her own Robert too much to be unfaithful to him. As for us making love with him, she is trying to make herself feel it is right, but she hates the idea.” Dommi chuckled. “She is a Cherine, how could you expect her to be otherwise?”<br>
Even if we’d not had the conversation, I am certain not one of us would have wanted Rob, but I’m also glad we did have the conversation. I also liked what Wendy said.<br>
“I feel sorry for those couples who are only two. When they are apart, it means they are alone. At least with us, we can sleep in twos and threes, holding on to someone we love and who loves us.”<br>
Rosie pedantically teased her, “The word couple means only two, we don’t qualify, we’re a harem.”<br>
Claudia laughed. “Harem, shmarem, who cares, we’re the best!”<br>
For the first time since Robbie left, we each slept feeling warm and loved.</h4></p>
<p><h4>The next attack was the worst we’ve experienced. I’m guessing that with so many of their operatives being neutralised, they were worried about any attack of theirs leading to them being found and burnt out, so they came up with an attack which was devastating, damaging many of us - both physically and mentally, but luckily, not severely, while minimising the time we would have for finding them.<br>
Within only one minute we were attacked by at least forty different kinds of powers, each lasting only a second or less, but repeated a number of times. It meant that the protector and the Sparklers did not have time to trace their way back to the attackers, which I’m certain will help our enemy recover some of their self-confidence.<br>
Only their first attack was effective, for the protector saw to it that we are instantly protected by a shield of energy and we could barely sense their next attacks.<br>
After a couple of days of peace, a new attack took place, but it was not against us personally. They had never bothered with our doppelgangers, obviously not attacking them because they could sense the actual person still in our home. Then they must have realised that if they can destroy our ability to interact with the world, especially for those who have to go to work and Alki who needs to stay in contact for earning money, they will be damaging us.<br>
The first doppelganger attacked belonged to Perikli.<br>
Luckily for us and Perikli, they destroyed it while it was still at home, in his apartment. I think they could have caused us much more damage by destroying it while it is at work, for then Perikli could not have put in an appearance again. Perikli was so furious that he jumped to his apartment in a rage, as if he was about to meet a normal assailant that he could literally rip to pieces. Cherine was really fast. She called to all of us to jump to his apartment so that the protector can come with. The instant we appeared she grabbed hold of him and called for us to return home immediately. We had acted fast enough to prevent them harming him and the refrigerated cell bank was not harmed.<br>
Perikli was thrown off balance, mentally and emotionally, but quickly realised how foolishly he’d reacted to their attack and was apologetic.<br>
“Alki, they’ll probably attack your doppelganger next, since it is the most important one.” She turned to Perikli. “Do you know how they killed yours?”<br>
“I think they teleported a hand grenade…with the pin already drawn out.”<br>
“Protector.” She stood waiting until it gave in and created an image for her to talk to. “Can you watch us and his doppelganger? It might make them think twice if you can return the hand grenade to the person who telekinetically sends it. The less powers left to them the faster the war will be over.”<br>
“While I’m watching it, my protection of you here will be weaker, but, the moment I need for delivering the hand grenade, you’ll be without protection. I cannot do it.”<br>
Cherine was obviously ready for his answer, for she did not hesitate. “Enter the mind of Rob and help him acquire the power needed for protecting us here - it is very important we stop the person who can send bombs telekinetically, so we’ll all help Rob while he is left alone to protect us.”<br>
“I can also help him!” Little Cherine said.<br>
“Of course you can.” Cherine soothed her.<br>
If our Robert had given the order, I do not think the protector would have obeyed him, but it agreed to do as Cherine asked.<br>
I was curious. “Protector, could you open any powers in the doppelgangers? That way they could help us by defending themselves.”<br>
The protector disappeared for about half a minute. Even as it returned we saw Alki smile.<br>
“The doppelgangers cannot think for themselves Samantha, but if Alki is consciously sharing with it and he senses an attack, he can project his own abilities to it - but not as quickly or as strongly as he can directly from his own body.”<br>
Cherine hugged me, “Robert is really going to love you - you have found a way to make us all safer.”<br>
I grinned. “It was you and the protector who started it - maybe he can learn to love his protector?” We were all surprised to see the protector give me a smile of amusement as it faded from view.</h4></p>
<p><h4>We’ve worked out the reason why they attacked the doppelganger of Perikli at home. I should first give an explanation of how they work, so that my explanation makes sense. Doppelgangers are linked to their creators-source at all times. When there is some form of physical action necessary (taking part in a conversation qualifies as a form of physical action), the doppelganger requires input from its source. However, there are certain autonomic actions, such as breathing, sleeping and slightly less autonomic actions which are habitual, such as bathing, going to the toilet, dressing (though the choice of clothes does require a conscious decision) which a doppelganger learns to do without a high level of thinking being required.</h4></p>
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<p><h3><center>1323</center></h3></p>
<p><h4>We’ve come to the conclusion that because they do not want to risk their operatives, they deliberately chose to attack at a time Perikli would not be actively linked, just in an autonomic fashion, which means he could not instantly react to the hand grenade arriving.<br>
We are all training hard to increase the range of actions our doppelganger can take, which means they have to become capable of thinking more complex thoughts than we’d wanted - as it will feel like murder when we let them ‘go’, if they become reasoning beings. Before Perikli was allowed to recreate his doppelganger, we spent hours trying to form the image of it in his mind with closer connections to his gifts, especially those of an aggressive nature which the protector was able to find doors for in his mind. We’ll only see how successful the attempt has been if it is attacked again.</h4></p>
<p><h4>The doppelganger of Alki cannot be attacked with the same impunity during the hours Alki is not fully linked, for it sleeps in his house, which being next to us, means that the protector can watch over it. Alki did not want it to be attacked at work, so he arranged for the office telephone lines he needs to remain in contact with to be diverted to his home number - at his old house, and his doppelganger now works from there and sleeps and eats there, so that it cannot be attacked in public while travelling. If I were the spider, I would be wondering why, surely it would make more sense for Alki to use the house next to us for work also? The truth is, not only did the spider not think of asking the question, the rest of us also did not. I’ll add here, though it belongs later, I’m amazed that Marian did not.<br>
Our pappou sat with his children around him, having explained to them that he is too tired to hold any of them on his lap. He looked half asleep, with his eyelids drooping, when he suddenly jumped. We instantly wanted to follow, but what of the protector was with us was strong enough to delay us while it joined Alki. The protector took the hand grenade within itself and jumped. It let the hand grenade go and returned to be with us. Alki returned, his cheeks red with anger.<br>
He shouted at Cherine, “You tell that pousti (the protector) not to interfere next time!”<br>
The protector shared with Cherine, for she paled and looked at Alki with huge eyes. “Pappou, the hand grenade exploded inside the protector while it was still in your house, next to you - it only managed to hold the force of the explosion until it arrived in the room the hand grenade was thrown from. They timed the sending so that it explodes within a second of arriving, you would not have had time to protect yourself.” She glanced at me. “The protector says the person who sent it was not in the room anymore.”<br>
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, they now know we can get back at them, so they won’t try to the same trick again.” I grinned. “A pity, we needed a few more tests so that we can hone our controls over our doppelgangers. I wonder what they’ll think of now.”<br>
Many of them shook their heads as they stared at me and Keith said, for them, “You’re just as bad as Robert! This is not a game Samantha.”<br>
Suddenly Alki laughed and grabbed me, squeezing me tightly as he told everyone, “No, it is not a game, but she is a pallikari!” I guess that if Robbie can’t be here to give me a hug, a hug by Alki is the best.</h4></p>
<p><h4>They had the decency to give us a few days of peace and rest (lol), but not one of us was in the mood to study. We were not in the mood to play, either, so we must have behaved like adults - it is good that Robbie could not share that time with us. As our male Greek Cherinians mostly play tavli, our Chinese men also learnt to play it. At this time Alki is the champion, with the second best title fluctuating between Mihali and Niko (I don’t know how he found the time to become so good a player, since his wives don’t leave him much free time - unless they spend all those hours in their bedroom practising with him. Hmm, with the glow they have on their tiny faces, I guess they must be winning all the games). https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmP5H1D6xHL3i4tMsYdnzH9X8Ge4FwtMKer3TbPFoX178a/LC-smilie_reg-grey.png<br>
Angelo wondered whether he can leave the house without them sensing him if he keeps his mind blanked. We were caught by surprise when Perikli told him to try it. He asked that Mihali teleport with Angelo and, leaving him at his destination, teleport back again. He thinks only this would prove whether they can sense Angelo, since they could be physically watching the house - probably with one of those horrible cameras governments are placing everywhere, with the excuse that they are only using them to spy on criminals and terrorists. Of course they never answer when they are asked why they don’t delete the videos after a period, whether three or six months (they say they do, but it is well known from whistleblowers that they do not). All children can see through their excuses and their need for total power, so it makes me wonder why so many adults can’t.</h4></p>
<p><h4>Angelo returned two days later, looking really smug. He confessed he’d used the opportunity to meet with friends, go out for a few meals and dancing at the bouzoukia (Greek folk music and dancing club). As a peace offering, he brought us three kilos of mini eclairs from Cherine’s favourite patisserie.<br>
Angelo offered to help us blank our minds as thoroughly as he does whenever we want to go out, but we decided we must not make use of his gift often, as they might sense that some of us are missing from our home and, thinking those left behind might be weaker, attack. Now that I’ve written it, I’m wondering, what if more than half of us, the strongest of Cherinians, blank their minds but stay here? I am certain they would not be able to resist…nobody else likes my idea.<br>
If anyone is thinking we are going stir crazy, stuck as we are in our home all day and night, they have not been to visit on the world of Meli. The rich variety of desert, coastal land with all the tropical fruits we love, the mountains and, most important of all, the company of Daniel and his people, with ales and heavenly food for us to indulge, is enough to keep us happy. The protector watches over our bodies, as do our healers, with the healers slightly stimulating our minds so that our presence can be registered by their spies, and nobody seems to suspect we are gone for hours at a time. Even the youngest of us can now last out of our bodies for at least three to four hours. A note of explanation: when we are in Meli’s world, our brains do react alongside with our reactions to stimuli being experienced, so the healers only slightly exaggerate what is already happening in our brains so that it creates the impression our minds are here - the truth is, we cannot say that our minds are or are not here. We don’t really understand how it works…for instance, if someone were to enter the home and make a noise or touch me, I would instantly be yanked back to my body - unless I was expecting such a noise or touch.<br>
Drunk on the rich colours of emotions from visiting her world and almost dreading the mundane hours ahead of me in this world, I stupidly asked Meli to take us to another of her worlds for us to have some extra variety of experiences, but she refused me, for she wants that Robbie is the first to visit any and all of them. Afterwards she became depressed, for I’d made her feel just how much she misses him and Bernie was angry with me for being thoughtless. Meli did what she could to calm her sister and then hugged both of us. Not long after, she was back to writing-living a story of hers and none of us dared emote anything that could distract her.</h4></p>
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<p><h3><center>1324</center></h3></p>
<p><h4>Candy (she’s allowed to say or do anything she wants, nobody ever gets angry with her - and she is very rarely refused, for she is so filled with joy, when Robbie is with us, that she does not ever seem to want anything, so we are just happy if she asks for something we can do or give her), sensed that Meli is finished for the moment and back with us, so she sat next to her and looked up into her face.<br>
“Are we allowed to ask what another of your worlds is like, or must we wait for Robert to see it first?”<br>
Meli cuddled her as she asked, with a grin, “Do you want to learn about the planet which doesn’t have continents, just islands which only exist for eight hundred years, stop existing for about fifty and then exist again for another eight hundred years? Or, would you prefer to hear a story about the world that never looks the same as it did or will?”<br>
Sweet Candy could sense some wanted the first one and others wanted the second one and she struggled to make up her mind. Marian asked everyone to stop their emoting so that her daughter (Candy) can choose for herself. I was pleased when she chose the second one, for I was intrigued by her enigmatic description of it.</h4></p>
<p><h4>Meli kept her eyes fixed on Candy, as if she were telling her story to only her - but she could sense us and as she talked, we could feel that she enjoyed our reactions.<br>
“This world is not really made up of one planet, it started life as three planets, two of them belonging to one sun, and the other to another sun. The sun which had only one planet got bored of looking after its son planet and it slipped away, disappearing into another part of the galaxy. <br>
The son, just like many sons, was a tiny bit naughty and it tended to act before thinking. It was lonely and feeling very cold as it wandered on its own. Then it saw another sun was drawing close and it had two daughter planets. As he drew closer, he sensed the girls were having fun as they raced around their mother, playing games and giggling. They felt free to enjoy their existence for they felt loved and were warmed by their mother sun. The little boy planet got jealous and without asking rushed in to join them, his molten heart crying out to be allowed to play with them.<br>
Candy, have you noticed, when we see children playing in the park, how boys seem to bump into each other and the girls, because they are not watching out for the others? It was the same with this little boy planet, he was over-excited and in his exuberance miscalculated and bumped into the one girl planet. She was a pretty pink and red planet filled with many kinds of beautiful life.<br>
She was knocked out of her orbit and as the boy planet chased after her to apologise, for he could see a few pieces had been knocked out of her - and himself - she bumped into her sister, causing more damage to herself and to her sister. Just like a billiard ball, she caromed off her sister and smashed back into the boy planet. This time they smacked into each other with lots of force and they both broke up into pieces and those still very large pieces smacked back into the second sister and she also broke up, until the three of them no longer existed as planets, only as hundreds and hundreds of islands in orbit around their mother the sun.<br>
The mother sun helped herd all the islands so that they floated close to each other - those of the boy planet also, and so they were able to hold on to their air - their atmospheres. Although there was enormous loss of life on all three planets, or, what remained of them, most lifeforms survived in one way or another, adapting to the new conditions.<br>
I think that maybe in a million years the islands will stabilise and each one will know where it belongs, but for now they keep affecting each other, their slight gravities affecting the others so that they seem to be constantly jostling for a better position - which is why I said they never look the same as they did or will. The best positions are those that are not in the shadows of the others and can enjoy the love and warmth of their mother. By the way Candy, just like any true mother would, she adopted the little boy islands and it has become very difficult to tell apart the pieces, for life has crossed from one to the other and though they look different from each other, there are also a few similarities - just like all children in families.<br>
A little bit of magic happened and to tell you the truth, I don’t know whether it happened by itself or by the mother sun showing them how. Do you remember how I told you the islands kept their air? As they jostle each other, passing close to each other again and again, some for a time racing ahead and then slowing down so that they fall back, the islands began to share their air, with the result that they all float within one atmosphere now - it is as if they have one enormous sky they belong to, the total of the gravity of three planets holding it in an ovoid bubble which also constantly changes shape and size.<br>
This explains how the islands exchanged lifeforms. Some were by spores, some by seeds that float, just like our dandelion seeds, and other tiny forms of life, like insects and even small birds. Not only did they slowly change to suit the islands they landed on, a few also began to adapt to living in the spaces between the islands.<br>
Then one of the large forms of life learnt how to glide from one island to another and their migration became a deliberate thing; not just blind nature defining their future - just as it is with the Cherinians, someday thousands of species will be in control of their own evolution because of becoming Cherinians. You see Candy, for people to be in control of their future, I think they first have to use their Cherinian gifts to learn all they can about themselves. It is the greatest gift Cherine passed on to us under the guise of empathy.”</h4></p>
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<p><h3><center>1325</center></h3></p>
<p><h4>Meli sat with her long dark hair covering her face, obviously lost in thought, so though we each had a need to exclaim with awe or ask questions, we controlled ourselves and waited for her. I will mention one thing which will explain why she was affecting us so strongly - as Melina spoke, so did she see within her mind the worlds and the teeming range of millions of kinds of lifeforms she spoke of. As we know from Meli, she is in constant touch with all her planets - is aware of them in the background of her mind - and when something needs her attention, she then focuses on that world.<br>
“All that I have spoken of happened a very long time ago and the Puerpep became the nomads of their island worlds about two and a half thousand years ago - measuring time as we do. Akleet and Reveena, brother and sister who were dedicated by their parents to having a family of their own when they are physically mature enough for their mating to result in children, lived at that part of the early history of their people.<br>
Because of our family, I’m guessing you’ve misunderstood what I’m telling Candy. It was and still is tradition that when two families wish to join their bloodline because it is foreseen such a joining will enhance the following generations, their son and daughter, respectively, are committed to mate when they are old enough. Until the time of mating, they are named brother and sister, both of them adopting the other as a sibling. It is actually quite a lovely way for them to grow close to each other and it might explain why couples rarely part.<br>
We have a reason for concentrating on Akleet and Reveena, for they changed the history of their people. Candy, should I continue or are you bored?” Her question is what is called theatre - she could sense all of us, including Candy, hanging on to every word of hers with fascination.<br>
“I’m not bored!”<br>
Meli grinned at her, “And how would you prefer I tell their tale? From the viewpoint of Akleet or Reveena?”<br>
Wendy whispered in Candy’s mind, <i>*Which would you prefer?*<br>
*Maybe Reveena?*<br>
*Most of us want the same as you, so tell Meli. You know, I think she would also prefer the female point of view, being a girl it will be easier for her.*</i><br>
“Reveena?”<br>
“Right. First of all, let me say this about her - she is quite a timid girl, but she has a naughty soul. She would hardly ever tell Akleet what she wants, but she’d egg him on with little suggestions and hints, making him think the ideas are his - just like any female with common sense does.<br>
Akleet, at the start of the story is a soft and slightly spoilt boy, which in his case is fortunate, for it leads him into dreaming impractical dreams. If he had been brought up correctly, he would never have dared make the dreams he did - and Reveena would have settled for the kind of mate she has, as have so many other females throughout history.<br>
Although they do not have much technology, their population on their home island is fast reaching the time when it will not be able to sustain any further growth. The island, so that you have a point of reference, is about three quarters the size of Australia, but you must at least double the area since the island is populated on all sides. The thickness varies, at the thinnest about twenty metres and at the thickest, about six hundred kilometres. Gravity peaks at 0.46 and at the least (I’m trying to give an average for the entire island, all its surface), about 0.084 Earth gravities, depending on its neighbours, since their pull has the effect of lessening the effective pull of gravity…even though the theoretical gravity remains constant.” Meli gave Keith a grin. “Even if my theories are wrong, it is how it works, since it is all within my mind.”<br>
Keith kidded her in turn. “You should not be addressing me, I’m not a scientist, you should perhaps explain yourself to Samantha?” I dare not tell him I <i>owe him one</i>, or else they will kill themselves laughing at me!<br>
Claudia asked, “Meli, I don’t want to spoil the story for Candy, but can I ask a question?”<br>
She gave Candy a smile and answered with a question, “About their sun?”<br>
“When we are on the world of Daniel and Lua, we can see a sun, but Robert said that from space there is no sun. Is it true for all your worlds?”<br>
“I wish I knew how it can be, it’s driving me crazy!”<br>
Candy piped up, tugging at the collar of Meli’s blouse. “Why don’t you ask Samantha? She can think of any answer.”<br>
“Candy…” Her blue eyes looked at me with absolute trust and I gave up, protesting would only disappoint her. She is not a girl of five, but the way she looks is damn convincing, messing with my instincts. I desperately tried to imagine a scenario that could make some kind of sense, even if only vaguely. An idea came and I asked the protector to call Ordinx and Solomon. From everyone feeling relaxed and amused, suddenly everyone was tense - even Meli. I grinned when Cherine tried to cheat by looking in my mind, but kept her out. Hope she is not annoyed with me afterwards. Our friends arrived and I shared all that had been said, especially the story by Meli and the question by Claudia. Only then did I start expounding on some bare-bone ideas which had been tickling my mind, leaving it to everyone else to find or not any logic in them.<br>
“I know that I don’t have the answer, but I wanted to share my thoughts and where my wild imaginings led me. First of all, I tried to deal with the simpler question: are the planets in or within the mind of Meli? If they are, how can it be and what does it indicate the mind is? I think I have a couple of answers that might have some truth to them. The first one is, what if they are like everything we see in our dreams - only real in the dream, but not in our reality? I like that theory as it simplifies everything…including the question regarding the suns. However, Lua refuses to allow me the comfort of that theory.” She gave me a startled look, so I sent to her, <i>*Your existence proves that theory is not correct - or at the least, not complete.</i>* She nodded in agreement.<br>
“My second idea - I’m not certain I can grace it with the title<i> theory</i>, is that her worlds do not exist in her mind, that they are linked to her mind, but are in a separate reality - which maybe is still forming and therefore malleable and thus the wishes of Meli are able to affect them. If this is closer to the truth of how it is, then, how do I explain the simultaneous existence and non-existence of the suns?”<br>
Of course Rosie just had to cut in, “You are asking us? I thought <i>you</i> were going to tell us!” I chuckled as everyone reacted to her sally, so she was satisfied and did not require an answer.</h4></p>
<br>
<p><h3><center>1326</center></h3></p>
<p><h4>“What if her planets are linked to suns in a normal reality - ours or a parallel universe? Maybe each in different alternate realities? Perhaps they are meant to belong to those suns and as the mind of Meli helps provide them with the substance needed, they will suddenly become part of solar systems outside her mind? If so, it then suggests to me that her planets do not begin their existence in her mind at the same time - therefore some planets are more ‘real’ while others are still more like ghostly formations, dream bubbles, which can only survive in the safety of her mind. Oh, another thought - we all know that apart from the pull of gravity by our sun, which holds our planets in orbit, there is also the pull of gravity from our galaxy and, very weakly, from all the other galaxies of our universe. Just-taking-form planets, or bubble planets as we’ve called them, even without a sun of their own, could not exist under even such slight universal gravities, so I’d guess Meli, that maybe your mind is the womb of worlds, some existing now and some to be formed over the rest of your life?”<br>
I felt my ideas are stupid, just fanciful ideas I’d made up so as to meet the challenge of Candy’s confidence in me (unfortunately it seems I’ve had the effect of helping her trust in my abilities bloom), so I could hardly credit the excitement and arguments they provoked. I told myself that I’ve provided everyone with enough entertainment and reasons for them to laugh at me, since even I can see the weak points in my arguments, so I clammed up. If I wasn’t so keen to hear the rest of the story, I would have found an excuse to stay by myself for a few days.</h4></p>
<p><h4>It was late, early hours of the morning, when I felt the touch of Meli’s mind and woke up. I saw she was putting on her robe, so I followed her and once I was wearing my slippers she led me to our games room. The night light was on and the glow was strong enough for both of us. Meli sat on a stool, knees primly together, and she waited for me, her eyes following my every movement.<br>
“You are a puzzle Samantha - I think I like best the name I gave your mind tonight. I think of it as the kaleidoscope mind of the Teller family. With every turn it lights up a new corner of our minds with ideas we would never have imagined.” She paused. “You frightened me today, Sam.”<br>
“Everyone wanted it of me, including you Meli - so I performed.”<br>
“This is a way of thinking you learnt from Robert - and I don’t like it. He has his reasons for being as he is, but you don’t! Why do you find it necessary to continually mock yourself?”<br>
I grinned. “Because I’m usually good at it?”<br>
“How can my worlds be connected to suns in other realities?”<br>
I shrugged. “Meli, you are taking what I said too seriously - I was only playing around with ideas.”<br>
She stared at me. “Do you really feel that if you can make up some explanation for what puzzles you, however outré it is, you are better off than having none?”<br>
“Of course. The worst thing is having no ideas. Once an explanation presents itself, the way towards the real explanation is unblocked and trial and error of thought will create a path leading me to at least one answer. Haven’t you noticed that most people are shy about telling us their solutions to a problem because they are afraid we’ll think it is stupid? With me giving the wildest ideas, they then open up and tell us their own.”<br>
She nodded. “I understand what you mean, sometimes it is like that with my writing. It does not matter what I write, what matters is that I write, so that ideas can be born out of the meaningless start.” Hardly bothering to hide her anxiety, she bit at a nail as she asked, “Sam, will you try to follow - or create - the path to the answer? I need to know, they are all waiting for me to make planets available for their people and I don’t know how.”<br>
“I don’t know enough to do as you ask, my love. However, I promise, as soon as I do, I will work hard at finding what you need, whether it is a comfort or not. Will you understand, if it is not?”<br>
“I promise I will, for I never feel any stuttering in the love your heart sends me every day.”<br>
I laughed. “No, it only stutters when I ask it to send some of its store of love to me.”<br>
She put her arms around me as she pulled me towards the door. “I’m glad you are so weird, I don’t think I could have loved you this much if you were not.” I heard the laugh of Cherine in my mind, but I tried to ignore her for those moments I crushed Meli to me.</h4></p>
<p><h4>After lunch, the protector gave us the all clear, so we brought Ordinx and Solomon and everyone gathered to hear more about Akleet and Reveena. Meli decided to start by showing us how they look, which we could almost see from her mind (I think her storytelling nature caused her to keep the vision vague so that we listen more closely to her telling - we must keep in mind, throughout the telling, that Meli is mainly telling a story to Candy, not to us) and the details and colouring were meant to be added by the words she used.<br>
“Both of them have very powerful legs and when their gravity is at its highest, they are still able to leap about five times their body height, which is close to one and a half metres when they are stretching upwards to see further. Each leap can carry them about forty metres and it gives them an enormous speed over uneven terrain, so that they are able to cover distances faster than a leopard can on even ground. <br>
Nature must have allowed the hunter species to die out at the time of the planets breaking up, for the only creatures that eat flesh are carrion eaters. They are revered and cared for, for it is known that they help prevent the kind of diseases which appear when carcasses are left to rot. Usually families have a small en-taxonomic clan of their own pet scavengers, of a taxon they prefer, usually belonging to the family for many generations, routinely cleansing their home and sewers and, most importantly, they are maintained with love so that their loved ones are not eaten by wild scavengers, but by beloved scavengers who also love them. Tame scavengers have been trained to avoid offending the family while they eat their recently deceased. Very well trained scavengers, usually of the more intelligent, sensitive and timid taxa, through their emoting can provide the family they serve with the feeling that the one they are eating is also becoming, in a new way, a member of the family again, and will be so forever - their spirit, content and happy, strengthening the family.</h4></p>
<p><h4>Reveena has a beautiful, fluffy head of hair, a shiny green and brown, which she keeps fairly short, while Akleet prefers to allow his hair to grow almost to the ground, a decoration of brown and almost a bright yellow that makes it hard for him to hide when he does not want to be seen. He is proud of his rich head of hair and is willing to put up with whatever small inconveniences it causes.</h4></p>
<br>
<p><h3><center>1327</center></h3></p>
<p><h4>The faces of all their people are wide, with eyes that can see forward and to the sides - which suggests that their early evolution took place when they were prey and hunters stalked them. I think that their method of locomotion under the full weight of their original planet must have been comparatively slow and maybe even awkward looking, and their massive thighs must have developed as a means for escaping from predators - and were probably deadly weapons. A high leap that also carries them a few metres in distance must have been an advantage, or else they would surely have been extinct before their planet was splintered into floating islands.”<br>
Diana asked, “If geologists go to the islands, do you think they would be able to work out which islands belonged to the same planet?”<br>
Meli shrugged. “I have no idea.”<br>
Ordinx said, “It should be possible, but I don’t see what advantage such knowledge would provide us or the inhabitants. Are all the…humans of one species Melina?”<br>
“Yes.”<br>
“Then all the islands are their home, they do not need to know which were of their original planet.” Diana nodded in agreement, so the subject was not pursued, but it left me wondering, for I know that if it was me, I would like to know. Meli’s large dark eyes rested on my face and I quickly masked my thoughts with an outpouring of love for her. With a twitch of her lips, Meli looked away and continued her story of Reveena and Akleet. </h4></p>
<p><h4>“Their limbs are four, just like us; they have two arms and two legs. Their hands each have seven fingers but their feet each have nine toes - which are very long and can be used for manipulating objects, the same as their fingers. Perhaps their colouring is what overwhelms the eye, rather than their shape, for they have patterns of colours which don’t make sense if they really used to be prey. The patches have the same lacquered quality and sheen that we’ve seen on the antique pocket watch Themi sometimes wears, but there are none of the bright colours, mostly they are blanched colours like gray, various dull greens, black, browns - from almost ochre to chocolate and burnt almond. The preponderance of certain colours over others tend to depend on the family and when a future mating is being considered, they will also study what the colouring of the offspring will be. Being rather conservative, they do not wish to give birth to children of exotic colouring.<br>
When they are not stretching their bodies, they mostly are under a metre tall and they have what looks like a ring (or roll) of fat around their middle, which is partly made up of something between flexible cartilage and tendons, surrounded by a lot of muscle. The colours on the roll tend to be brighter and are important for attracting the eye of the opposite sex. The shinier and smoother, the more attractive they are considered to be. There is a strange difference between them and us Terrans, worth noting. The appearance of the face has very little to do with their attraction to each other, though the rare person who has pink and cerise eyes fascinates all, both male and female.</h4></p>
<p><h4>Let us now begin with what led to their story becoming so important to the history of their people.<br>
While growing up as children, our two protagonists often heard debates between the adults centred on the problems coming into existence for the first time in their history, which are caused by their population growing to the point where there is not enough space left for growing ample foods. The younger adults seemed to be more pessimistic than the elders, for the elders find it difficult to believe there will someday soon not be enough food for everyone. The younger adults, those with children, sometimes cannot bear their anxiety and whisper among themselves that the situation could lead to strife and deaths if not dealt with early enough, for they recognise the possibility of a drive rising within them that would compel them so that each parent will become determined to ensure their own children will have enough food to survive, irrespective of traditions and ethics.<br>
Reveena worried about the overheard comments, but Akleet tended to lose himself in daydreams, imagining he’ll find a way to save his people. He did not fear and because Reveena could sense it, she also calmed down, despite her not having any particular high regard for his abilities - it is mostly an instinctive reaction females have. Akleet talked to her about his dreams and she naturally ignored him, without it making her feel any guilt, for he was not even close to finding a solution.</h4></p>
<p><h4>There is a tiny corner on the roof of their home which is the private place for Reveena to be when she needs to be alone and nobody ever intrudes upon her thoughts when she is there. It was therefore a shock when fingers intertwined with hers and Akleet spoke. ‘Onn-Revee (my Reveena), I have found the way and we will be able to have our children without fear of them going hungry.’<br>
She almost asked him whether it is another daydream, but then she saw the eagerness and excitement in his eyes and could not hurt him. ‘Tell me.’<br>
‘I was at the top of our tree, struggling to find a way for us to have lots of food, when I saw the long thin island racing past us. I wondered why it always seems to be in such a hurry and then I waited for its brother, the lazy one that seems to almost come to a stop each time it comes close to us. I thought to myself, if the slow-land would come as close to us as the fast-land, we would have plenty of time to swim to it within the center of weakening of gravity.’<br>
‘Wishing can make it come closer?’<br>
He laughed. ‘Ahh tingly Onn-Revee, you are laughing at me? Would you like me to give you a hint of how I can bring it closer?’<br>
He took her to his tree and persuaded her to climb halfway with him. She watched as he wrapped the rope around himself and then swung out to the landing platform of the neighbouring tree. He immediately swung back and, landing before her, he stood waiting, his broad face split by a foolish grin.<br>
Reveena, smart girl that she is, hid her grin and earnestly asked, ‘You want to grow a tree tall enough for us to swing from it to another land?’</h4></p>
<br>
<p><h3><center>1328</center></h3></p>
<p><h4>Certain now that his brilliance would be appreciated, Akleet told her, ‘We have a tree tall enough, Onn-Revee, what if we can make a rope long enough for it to reach from the fast-land to us? We shoot the rope with an anchor as the fast-land travels past after its next great orbit and then the next time it comes past us we grab the rope. I saw it in my mind, when we are pulled off our land and we rise outside our gravity, the speed of the fast-land will whip us around, behind it, so that we are travelling towards the place the slow-land will come to when it completes its small orbit.” He frowned at her, hiding his teeth. “It will need a lot of courage to let go the rope at the right time, because missing the slow-land means dying in the emptiness.’<br>
‘I’m not clever enough to see in my mind how your idea will work, but I do see that the slow-land will be close enough for it to be seen from out there, so it will not need so much courage. What I would not have the courage to do, is to let the gravity of the slow-land grab me and smash me to its surface.’<br>
He thought about it a moment. ‘Why can’t we build wings like the qurilts, which use them to glide from high trees?’ Delighted by what he saw in his mind, he told her, ‘We can build wings and practice by jumping off a cliff. Once we learn how to glide correctly, we’ll know we can land safely on the slow-land.’<br>
One of the rules of <i>all</i> societies I know of, demand in no uncertain terms that all ventures thought up by the young must first secure the approval of their elders, for only adults are mature enough to see all the faults in the plans and what dangers await. It is also seen as an unfortunate and unspoken rule of such societies that the young mostly do not obey the other rule, which often causes either great harm or death. However, such spirit produces the possibility of great changes; for mature adults would never dare the unknown risks of such change.”</h4></p>
<p><h4>The written word, right now, feels like a miserly medium, not conveying much of what is experienced. Although what Meli told us until now during this session seems short, her words were stretched out to give us time to sense from her mind images and meanings her words were not able to convey on their own - bear in mind that this is Meli we are speaking of, whose life is dedicated to using words for conveying her thoughts and imaginings. The preceding is an apology for my shortcomings as a writer, compounded by the changing of my words every day - I wish Robbie was here to do the writing, as he has the patience to deal with the way our words are changed in our diary.</h4></p>
<p><h4>If the spider is trying to lull us, he is not succeeding - if he wishes to lull us, he should try returning our Robbie to us. Apart from Robbie’s one phone call from Brindizi, we haven’t heard from him. Cherine demanded the protector finds out for her that Robbie is well, but it told her it cannot sense him - but that its existence proves he is still alive. After the disappearing tricks Robbie has pulled on us in the past with the protector remaining to protect us, we are not reassured.<br>
Ordinx let us know that since Robbie left, another two hundred and forty four operatives have been neutralised. I’m guessing that the spider is wasting resources and ignoring us because he is trying to find a way to stop our attacks on his operatives.<br>
The van from the local supermarket was busy delivering perishables, such as fruit, vegetables, bread, milk and a few other items we were running short of, when Claudia called to us. The adults were handling the delivery anyway, so we went in to Robbie's office to find out what Claudia wanted.<br>
As we filed through the door she called out, her voice excited, “Come check this out! I found a new site created for a new religion! It already has over two hundred thousand members from all over the world. They claim that the time for the Second Coming has arrived and that they have seen the proof.” She looked at us and we could see the awe in her eyes. “They have seen the Sparklers and the Anadir and our Worlds during their sleep and are convinced that what they see are visions, not dreams, and they think the Sparklers are angels and the Worlds are the fiery vessels God will be using to transport them to Eden.”<br>
All the other families joined us and for a brief moment there was a lot of wonder and laughter in our home again…and then the protector flared in our minds.<br>
Cherine exclaimed, “Wow! That was the shortest attack ever! They sent a fireball to burn us and our homes, but the protector wrapped itself around the fireball and put out the fire!”</h4></p>
<p><h4>I am troubled, but do not want to speak to the others about it, for I see no profit in making them worry about my theories. The adults think that the lessening of the number of attacks, plus their relative weakness, prove that they are no longer a threat to us, because his organisation is collapsing and the few operatives still holding powers are afraid to use them. I remember how Robbie kept on harping about the spider, about two facts he considered important. The first is, to be the leader, he must be far more powerful than those under him - which means the danger is far from over. The second, even though not relevant at the moment, Robbie is determined not to lose him; a person with so many powers could help the Cherinians grow in abilities - as long as we are careful of what doors we allow him to open for us. Because nobody else can even imagine allowing such a person into their mind, they do not see it as a possibility and are blind to the reasoning and dreams of Robbie. To be absolutely honest, I cannot claim to be totally not-blind, but I can see that part of it comes from present fears and I trust myself to fight them when the time comes.</h4></p>
<p><h4>We had an early supper so as to be free afterwards for listening to Meli tell Candy her story - which we know is not a fictional story. Early suppers are not part of the Greek way of life so I guess we’ll be having a second supper late tonight. With our Cherinian appetites, it is very expensive keeping our tummies happy J<br>
Dommi has suggested to Meli that she limits her storytelling to one and a half to two hours a day, so that we have something every day to take our minds off our worries. With her eyes enormous, Meli asked for how long must she keep telling us stories about her worlds. Dommi hugged her and told her that when she is tired of doing so, someone else is bound to volunteer to tell us an anecdote or two, so she mustn’t worry.<br>
“Are you going to tell us a story, Dommi?” Cherine asked her, a mischievous look in her eyes.<br>
Dommi grinned, calling her bluff, “Oh, I’ll tell stories if you want - but I’ll end up telling them to an empty room, so you’ll have to tell them stories while I’m doing so, to keep them entertained.”<br>
I glared at Cherine when she shrugged and said, “We won’t have a problem, when Meli wants to stop, Sam can tell us lots of stories.”<br>
Meli gave me a hug, kept her arm around me as Candy settled next to her, and she continued with her tale.</h4></p>
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<p><h3><center>1329</center></h3></p>
<p><h4>“Cherine tells us that Robert only has to think he can do something and he can do it and we joke about it being an immature way of thinking, but are awed that it works for him. I bet everyone present has tried it secretly a few times.” Everyone chuckled, for she was right. “I find it is, to an extent, the same for Akleet, though it does help that his people have a remarkable instinct or gift for mathematics, solving equations without doing it step by step, and on our world they would be called savants or mathematical geniuses. <br>
I’ve been thinking about it and this is what I thought and it still puzzles me. If their worlds had existed in normal space and at the time of the planets breaking up normal space got rid of them by sending them into another dimension, which is where it seems I keep my worlds, then the laws of the universe they came from would have been well established and immutable and it is likely Akleet would have failed in warping his reality to his beliefs. If that did not happen, if the three planets existed in my mind - or the dimension of my mind - then it is frightening, but it would explain his ability. Samantha and Robert believe the suns do not exist within my mind-dimension because their violent energies would damage me…or at least, my mind-dimension. Since so many of my planets are still so fragile, I think I agree with that theory.<br>
If the three planets smashed each other within my mind, which would explain why the laws of the universe are still mutable for Akleet, there must have been shockwaves spreading out from the blows, plus, as the molten cores were exposed, energy, in the form of heat and as a force, must have ripped throughout my mind-dimension. If that is so, why weren’t I and at least my newer worlds, not damaged?” She was still holding me, so she looked down into my eyes, hers almost pleading for an answer. I hid my face by letting my hair cover it as I closed my eyes in thought.<br>
“There are a number of questions it seems you did not ask yourself. For instance, all the smashing and so on, as with the development of all your worlds, must have happened over hundreds of millions of years ago, if not over billions of years. Meli, I don’t think your previous incarnations held these worlds, at least Daniel and his people never met her or him, and as far as I know, you are not a billion-year-old baby.” When I’m analysing and talking, as I was now, I rarely try to be humorous. Sometimes what I’m saying, or rather, the way I’m saying it, comes out funny or else the idea catches them by surprise and they laugh. They say that what makes it funnier for them is the startled look on my face as I realise I was inadvertently funny and managed to make them laugh. I admire those people who can come up with a witty quip at the drop of a hat and the sad thing is, when I do try to be amusing, everyone just stares back at me with a quizzical look, as if they are trying to work out what is going on within my head - and should they call for Themi.<br>
“As if all I said is not confusing enough, Daniel tells us that their world has always been your world, that they have known of you for many generations! This suggests that when your soul chose this life, it retroactively returned in time by billions of years and creating the dimension - and claimed or created the worlds within it. The possibility of something like this happening without external help is too close to zero for there to be any possibility of your soul succeeding on its own.<br>
Robert has told us he does not want us contacting the person who is writing in our diary until the war is over. I suggest we leave our questions about your worlds for the day we can meet him and ask our questions without him thinking we are just characters in his story and thus not requiring the truth from him.”<br>
“You think he is linked to my worlds?”<br>
“I don’t know - maybe even he doesn’t know at this time.”</h4></p>
<p><h4>Meli seemed to accept my ideas, for she said to Candy, “Do you want me to continue as it happened, even if the facts are wrong or do you want to wait?”<br>
“I like the story and I want to know what they did. Isn’t jumping off a cliff with wings they’ve never tested too dangerous?”<br>
‘”That is exactly what Reveena thought, especially as Akleet was determined to try it on his own first. She demanded they speak to the adults about the idea of gliding, even if they don’t mention the idea of hopping from island to island. Her request made sense, so Akleet spoke to an elder who has studied the engineering side of flying. He explained to them that many have thought of gliding like the qurilts, but nobody has succeeded. Akleet asked for and was allowed to study the past glider designs and then he studied the actual qurilts. He was surprised to see that they are not really wings, they are only membranes. Once he thought he understood how and why they work, he messed around with dozens of ideas until he decided he has something that has a better chance of holding them aloft, while also allowing them to manoeuvre. He asked Reveena to meet with him under a tree by the lake.<br>
‘We might succeed if we become one flying creature, instead of staying two, as we are.’<br>
‘I’ve told you I will not until we are mated officially.’<br>
He grinned. ‘I’ve made some sketches of what we would look like - would you like to see?’<br>
She almost felt offended, not by the idea of watching such sketches, but by what it said about the way he thinks. ‘Do you really expect the sketches to tempt me?’<br>
‘I’m certain they will. Let me show them to you and I’m almost certain you won’t need me to explain how it works.’<br>
‘Are you teasing me?’<br>
‘A little. Take a look.’<br>
She did and almost instantly understood what he wanted to do. ‘I would have to remain stretched for the entire flight? What is that thing around my body? Do we really need two glide wings?’<br>
Pleased as he was that she’d understood, he did not want to take a chance of her misunderstanding some important detail, so he explained. He had decided they need more length, as their bodies are too short for them to get the wingspread they need, which was why he’d added an extra wing for balancing them, as most of their weight is centred around their hips and legs. In his sketches, he joined the two of them by having her sit on his shoulders, her strong legs tightly holding him to her. Since her legs are stronger than his and her eyes see more sharply, it made sense that she be ahead. He designed two lengths of thick canvas with laces for tying it tightly to the body as a corset around the stretch bulge - once it is stretched and flattened. The canvas had pockets all around, some matched by pockets at the other edge of the sleeve and some not. Those that were not paired were matched to pockets on the other sleeve. The short pairs were for poles to be inserted to hold their bodies stretched without them having to strain. The unmatched pockets were for poles from her sleeve to his, helping to hold them as one. Those poles could also hold small packets so that they can take with them food, water and tools.<br>
Reveena ignored the wings for the time being, for she saw he had recognised the problem, the reason others had failed, but that he had taken it to an extreme, making the solution more complex than needed, which actually would lessen their chances of surviving - and this was more important, to her way of thinking, than the strange design of the wings. For the sake of their love she had to find a way to help him see the correct solution without telling him.</h4></p>
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<p><h3><center>1330</center></h3></p>
<p><h4>That night, Reveena did not sleep well, waking again and again to search for the proper solution. The only answer she could find, she hated, but in the end she accepted the inevitability. She then, finally, slept well at dawn and Akleet felt hurt that she would oversleep on such an important morning.</h4></p>
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<p><center><a href="https://steemit.com/sfandf-fiction/@arthur.grafo4/little-cherine-book-02-bpost064"> Next [Book 02] - Post 064</a></center></p>
<p><center>I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love.</center></p><br>
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<h6>Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου<br></h6>(Alexander Zenon Eustace)<br>
<sup>7th July, 2019</sup>
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* posted on Steemit: 7th July, 2019<br>
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