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And they are told: “Wen considered the nature of time and understood that the universe is, instant by instant, re-created anew. Therefore, he understood, there is, in truth, no Past, only a memory of the Past. Blink your eyes, and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, he said, the only appropriate state of the mind is surprise. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now, you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. Be glad of it.”
surprise is the nature of the universe.
Most people have some means of filling up the gap between perception and reality, and, after all, in those circumstances there are far worse things than gin.
Susan stopped. Of course someone would be that stupid. Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it saying “End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH,” the paint wouldn’t even have time to dry.
“Oh,” he said, and added with sudden certainty, “you’re Death, right?” YES. I AM SORRY THAT I AM LATE. The spirit formerly known as Shoblang looked down at the pile of dust that represented his worldly habitation for the previous six hundred years. “So am I,” he said. He nudged Death in the ribs. EXCUSE ME? “I said ‘I’m sorry I’m late.’ Badabing-badaboom.” I BEG YOUR PARDON? “Er . . .you know . . .sorry I’m late. Like . . .dead?” Death nodded. OH, I SEE. IT WAS THE BADABINGBADABOOM I DID NOT UNDERSTAND.
Lu-Tze looked impressed, and said so. “I’m impressed,” he said.
She’d met War, a big fat man with an inappropriate sense of humor and a habit of repeating himself, and he certainly didn’t personally attend every minor fracas.
Among the very worst words that can be heard by anyone high in the air, the pair known as “oh-oh” possibly combines the maximum of bowel-knotting terror with the minimum wastage of breath.
“Then tell me where to run, speedy boy!” he shouted. “There’s more to you than meets the third eye, lad! No apprentice should be able to find Zimmerman’s Valley! It takes hundreds of years of training! And no one should be able to make the spinners sit up and dance to his tune the very first time he sees them! Think I’m daft, do you? Orphan boy, strange power . . .what the hell are you? The Mandala knew you! Well, I’m just a mortal human, and what I know is, I’ll be damned if I’ll see the world shattered a second time! So help me! Whatever it is you’ve got, I need it now! Use it!”
The Auditors had tried to understand religion, because so much that made no sense whatsoever was done in its name. But it could also excuse practically any kind of eccentricity. Genocide, for example. By comparison, a lack of tea drinking was easy.
IN ORDER TO HAVE A CHANGE OF FORTUNE AT THE LAST MINUTE YOU HAVE TO TAKE YOUR FORTUNE TO THE LAST MINUTE, said Death. WE MUST DO WHAT WE CAN.
“In life, as in breakfast cereal, it is always best to read the instructions on the box,” said Lu-Tze. “This is the Iron Dojo, wonder boy!”
