Microcosm views or Not?

Below is an excerpt from my book: After reading the excerpt, please ponder this questions?

Question # 1: Do we consider ourselves " in the dark", so to speak, in regards to other cultures? I am not comfortable using the verbiage different "race," to the first question posed in my blog. Since a friend, Sharon B., has always pointed out to me, we are all one race that embodies different colors and pigments.

Question # 2: Do we embrace people of different cultures as friends, and thereby invite them into our circle, homes, and lives? If not, why?

Question # 3: Do we have any pre-conceived notions or stereotypes about different cultures? If so, why?

Question # 4: Do we keep an open mind about different cultures? Since there is good and bad people in all cultures, do we allow ourselves the opporunity to get to know the person first, before passing judgement? If not, why?

Question # 5: Would you be comfortable befriending or dating someone of a different culture? If not, why?

Once we begin to realize that we are all human beings, much of whom share the same hopes, dreams/aspirations, traditional values, desire for close friendships, and a desire of a special bonding with a true love; we can begin to see that there is little to no different between us. We can begin to process and understand, that we are not different from the rest of the world. The microcosm we create around ourselves is a false sense of ego, which does not benefit us. Once we begin to release that part of the ego, we can begin to understand ourselves and others more fully.

Chapter 2: The Connection Between Rick and Therese

Ricardo who went by Rick rubbed his forehead and eyes. He had awoken in the middle of the night. Things just had not been right with him since he had met Therese. He lay awake thinking of ways of to try to forget her and his past. However, his dreams haunted him. Last night’s dream brought the past back to him. He relived the violence he had witnessed under the Communist regime.

As a youngster, he had consciously tried to suppress the memories. He was quite young when he had left Cuba with his father. He recalled some of the history that his father had told him.

It was 1944; Sergeant Fulgencio Batista had been defeated in a political election, and Grau San Martin was elected President. However, Batista would still remain in the picture. He would assume control of the island in various roles throughout his twenty-five-year political career. During that time, various gangster-style opposition parties had developed and threatened a coup d’etat. One of the political gangsters was named Fidel Castro. In July 1953, Castro planned an attack on the Moncada barracks. The failed attack lead to Castro’s imprisonment. Two years later, Castro was released from prison and left for Mexico.

In 1956, Fidel Castro returned to eastern Cuba. He took to the Sierra Maestra mountains and waged a guerilla war. In 1959, Castro lead a nine-thousand-strong guerilla army into Havana, forcing Batista to flee. Castro then became the Prime Minister. During the next year and a half, Fidel Castro consolidated power and seized all properties on the island.

By 1966 the Cuban Adjustment Act was signed into law, which enabled over a million and a half Cubans the means to seek political asylum in the United States. Rick and a family member had been a part of that wave of immigrants who sought to escape. Lucky for me, he thought sarcastically. He chided himself for being ungrateful in his sentiment toward his new homeland. He went back to reading the newspaper.

The very next day brought a heat wave; it was July 2, 2010. Rick awoke from a recurring dream. Unbeknown to him, Therese had awakened from the same dream as well. In both of their dreams, Rick and another fellow traveled to Therese’s home for dinner. Rick introduced his friend as his lawyer. They all chatted during dinner. During the course of the conversation, Rick announced that he had gone into the woods with a woman named Therese. In the woods, he saw a creek or outlet of water. However, he felt scared and confused in the woods.

Therese had started to ask him questions. “Was Therese me? Please tell me why you were scared.”

Rick could not answer her questions, so her curiosity made her leave the dinner in a hurry. She told Rick that she needed to see the place that frightened him.

Once she found the wooded location, she saw that it was beautiful. It was mysterious, alluring, with the most splendid green and foliage. There were sparkling bronze- colored fountains of water surrounding a main fountain. The main fountain had branches of water descending outward. Therese immediately took off her shoes and splashed her feet in the soothing water. The water was crystal clear and warm. The sky held billowy white clouds. The scenery and soothing water made her feel blissfully content and rejuvenated.

However, she remained confused as to why Rick had felt scared, so she asked out loud, even though he was not present, “Rick, why does this place scare you?”

He was still at the dinner party across town, but he heard her question telepathically and answered, “It’s dark there and unfamiliar.”

Then, as she splashed her feet about, a light-bulb moment occurred. She realized she went there in the daytime, but Rick had gone in the nighttime, and there was darkness all around. Therese quickly returned to the dinner to be with him, only to be told by a family friend that he had left. The family friend said he had waited some time for her return, but it took too long, so he left. She felt mournful; she wanted to explain to him that she needed to locate the place in order to understand him better.

She talked telepathically to Rick. “I can understand the reason for your fear. In your nighttime travels, you could only look at the unknown variables of that place and of the women named Therese. However, if you choose daytime travel; you will clearly see all the beauty that the scenery and company holds for you.” That statement occurred at the end of his dream. Simultaneously, it was the end of Therese’s dream as well.

Rick pondered, Why do my dreams matter now? Therese is gone now. I need to move on. What is this recurring dream telling me? Am I in the dark about my life? I hate to think so. She was a very beautiful, alluring woman. But she was curious and suspicious by nature. I had no choice but to leave her to protect her. I never want her to learn my true identity; it would be dangerous for her to know.

He silently cursed himself for starting a relationship with her. He should have known better. But there was something about her that tugged at him to get closer to her. She had been everything to him, but in the end, his need to protect her outweighed everything.

Two decades ago, he had worked as a border cop in Mexico. After that job, he secured employment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and then with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The US government had paid him a $500,000 bonus over his salary for the last ten years to become a career informant, an uncover informant working for the FBI.” He earned enough favor with the US government to be granted a promotion. He knew that if she found out that he had been paid to set up whistle blowers that reported corrupt political officials, it would go against the very fiber of her being. She would report the cover up to the legal authorities, and that could place her in harm’s way. He could not live with that outcome.

She would also lose respect for him. He knew she would have every right to do so. His job was to set up previously employed ICE agents who turned whistle-blowers against corrupt political officials. His last assignment really cost him his conscience. He disliked the American justice system; he felt it was not much different than Communist Cuba in some ways. Some agents turned, as the government trained their men well, but did not warn them about the pitfalls of inside corruption or teach them how to transfer between two entirely different worlds: being an everyday citizen and being a federal agent. Rick had been trained well, but he knew he was not completely defused. Most nights he could hardly sleep. He was afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder. He also began to develop a conscience of sorts. The event that triggered his last dose of guilt was when the US Court of Appeals failed to overturn the lower district court decision in regards to the last whistle-blower he had set up. He became sick upon hearing the verdict.

He knew he changed since meeting Therese. He learned many things from her. But most of all, he learned about love and peace. She said she loved him, and he believed her. He knew she was not always all peaches and cream to deal with, as she firmly spoke her mind. She did not hold back. He found that quality in her a turn-on. She was both soft and tough in her own way. He liked everything about her. She was one incredible lady, but she would sometimes place other’s people’s needs before her own. He tried to help her recognize her strong areas and her more vulnerable areas. He told her that she needed to take better care of herself. She quickly dismissed his advice, saying she was okay. But the way her eyes smiled when she stated, “Thank you,” told him how she grateful she was for his attention and caring ways.

Rick wondered what triggered his attraction to her. Their personalities seemed quite opposite from each other. Additionally, they both had different backgrounds growing up.

When he was a young child, back in his Communist country, he saw many Cubans executed for their defiance to government rule. Those haunting memories were etched in his mind. The world became a mournful, unsafe place to him. With her, he found a nook of security and comfort. He quickly pushed away from it and from her. He learned early in life that being vulnerable would cost him greatly.

Struggling to suppress her essence from his thoughts, he asked his job for a leave of absence. The higher-ups at the agency agreed. He looked like hell, and they felt time off would do him some good. The head of a Newark regional FBI office was named Bill Murray. He had liked Rick from the start, and they had become close friends. He also knew about Rick’s past romantic entanglement. He had met Therese once and realized this was no passing fling for Rick. After working with Rick for several years, he began to read his friend quite well. He would have never guessed Rick to have been the type to fall in love. After all, he specialized in FBI profiling, and frankly, Rick was not the lovey-dovey type. But now, looking at Rick, he saw firsthand how Cupid’s arrows were quite unpredictable.

He patted Rick on the shoulder and said, “Take it easy, buddy; feel better, and call this number.”

Rick nodded and said, “Thanks, Bill,” as he headed out the door.

Rick got into his Jeep and glanced at the business card in his hand. Bill had given him the number to a goddamn shrink. He did not need a head shrink.

#Sightseeing