| Clouds hold a special attraction for me, especially | | | | Mind accessed memory banks and connected the |
| when Im flying above and can enjoy them from this | | | | dots as I recalled the adventures a mysterious friend |
| unique perspective. They seem so angelic, so pure, so | | | | of mine named Gideon shared. His friend Marla was |
| easily shaped into sculptures of the imagination | | | | no less mystical than he was and under their tutoring |
| wherein one can read all sorts of strangetales. I | | | | and guidance,I had learned much about the higher |
| watched the Volkswagen beetle cloud as it began | | | | perspectives of the confusing experience we call life. |
| shifting its form into wispy little alphabet letters. At first, | | | | So strange and mysterious were their appearance |
| vapory patches seemed to break away and almost | | | | and behavior that at times, I didnt even believe that |
| disappear before my eyes. This strange cloud seemed | | | | they really existed! Yet, I have with me, to this day, the |
| to have a will of its own, changing shape again. How | | | | books1 in which our earlier adventures were chronicled. |
| amusing! It may have been the angle or a trick of the | | | | As we moved through time into evening and through |
| light. Parts seemed to be forming the letters . . . G...D ... | | | | space toward the east coast of North America,I |
| N. Then they vanished, changing forms like some | | | | recalled how I first met them and what remarkable |
| animated caricatures in the process. | | | | personalities they were. Through the tough times of |
| It is fascinating how the analytical computer of the | | | | the past, from the loss of all my material possessions |
| mind connects random thoughts and pictures to other | | | | through the death of my wife, Mardai, and from a |
| thoughts and experiences of the past. The letters | | | | condition of utter despair to a situation full of promise, |
| GDN following the Volkswagen cloud brought to mind | | | | Gideon and Marla would appear in an almost magical |
| a half-forgotten incident of long ago where I had seen | | | | fashion to administer a sorely needed dose of hope |
| the name GIDEON on the license plate of a | | | | and spiritual vision, then, just as magically, disappear. |
| Volkswagen. | | | | They were truly angelic beings come to earth. |