So Fu and Shiva began to slowly explore their feelings for each
other and instead of returning to the university, he stayed on for
weeks and then months. He took a leave of absence and studied with
her uncle, learning all that he could about Indian metaphysics and
plant spirits. The longer he spent in the desert, the more vivid his
dreams became and the closer he felt to the Mojave lifestyle. He
began to see grandiose puns virtually everywhere.
One day, Dreamwalker announced that he had set the marriage
date.
“Thanks a lot,” said Fu, though it seemed strange. Perhaps he
might have been consulted first. To make matters worse,
Dreamwalker insisted that before the sacred union could happen
they would both have to undergo a sacred Indian rite of passage.
“I’m in my fifties,” Fu said, “I think I’ve come of age already.”
“Until you make contact with the spirit world, your soul will be
isolated. It will be forever alone in the world.”
“It will be soul-o?” Ling joked.
“So low,” Dreamwalker added, pointing at the earth and
chuckled. They were birds of a feather, these two.
So they agreed to undertake separate vision quests in which they
would wander naked and alone into the wilds, without provisions,
until they each saw a vision of their sacred animal—the guardian that
would watch over them and their union.
As they ventured out from Dreamwalker’s small house, they
wished each other luck and kissed a long goodbye. What if one or
both of them didn’t come back? The spirit world was notoriously
capricious. Dreamwalker assured them they’d be okay. He’d be
watching over them from the Dreamtime.
Ling wandered in the wilds for days, drinking only water from
thin streams and descending into frustration and concern—nothing
was happening. What if he never saw the animal? What if he died
here? All he experienced was boredom and hunger and doubt. As he
grew weaker and weaker from lack of food, his senses started to come
unglued. On the fourth day, desperate, dirty and starving, he finally
passed into liminal space and beheld before him an unconventional
restaurant in the desert.
He stood up, walked in and sat down. Ling couldn’t believe his
eyes: not just because a restaurant appeared out of nowhere, but
because it was the strangest place he’d ever been to. It was as if the
entire world was mixed together in all its hideous splendor, a
H O L Y S H I T !
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