| Clouds hold a special attraction for me, | | | | mystical than he was and under their tutoring |
| especially when I'm flying above and can | | | | and guidance,I had learned much about the |
| enjoy them from this unique perspective. They | | | | higher perspectives of the confusing |
| seem so angelic, so pure, so easily shaped | | | | experience we call life. So strange and |
| into sculptures of the imagination wherein | | | | mysterious were their appearance and behavior |
| one can read all sorts of strangetales. I | | | | that at times, I didn't even believe that |
| watched the Volkswagen beetle cloud as it | | | | they really existed! Yet, I have with me, to |
| began shifting its form into wispy little | | | | this day, the books1 in which our earlier |
| alphabet letters. At first, vapory patches | | | | adventures were chronicled. As we moved |
| seemed to break away and almost disappear | | | | through time into evening and through space |
| before my eyes. This strange cloud seemed to | | | | toward the east coast of North America,I |
| have a will of its own, changing shape again. | | | | recalled how I first met them and what |
| How amusing! It may have been the angle or a | | | | remarkable personalities they were. Through |
| trick of the light. Parts seemed to be | | | | the tough times of the past, from the loss of |
| forming the letters . . . G...D ... N. Then | | | | all my material possessions through the death |
| they vanished, changing forms like some | | | | of my wife, Mardai, and from a condition of |
| animated caricatures in the process. It is | | | | utter despair to a situation full of promise, |
| fascinating how the analytical computer of | | | | Gideon and Marla would appear in an almost |
| the mind connects random thoughts and | | | | magical fashion to administer a sorely needed |
| pictures to other thoughts and experiences of | | | | dose of hope and spiritual vision, then, just |
| the past. The letters GDN following the | | | | as magically, disappear. They were truly |
| Volkswagen cloud brought to mind a | | | | angelic beings come to earth. |
| half-forgotten incident of long ago where I | | | | |
| had seen the name GIDEON on the license plate | | | | Lecturer, entrepreneur and MBA business |
| of a Volkswagen. Mind accessed memory banks | | | | consultant, John Harricharan is the author of |
| and connected the dots as I recalled the | | | | the award-winning book, "When You Can Walk on |
| adventures a mysterious friend of mine named | | | | Water, Take the Boat. |
| Gideon shared. His friend Marla was no less | | | | |