Many Beds, One Sleep | By: Lu Meng | | Category: Short Story - Fantasy Bookmark and Share

Many Beds, One Sleep


Many Beds, One Sleep

"The Dao (Tao) produced the one. The one produced the two. The two produced the three, and the three produced the ten thousand things"
- Chinese Philosopher Laozi (Lao Tzu)

Prologue
The Only Son

( In New York County Family Court)

The humidity in the courtroom is intensifying the tension in the air.

My dear readers, at this moment, our camera is focused on three persons, not one, but three young men who are standing in front of the judge. From their outlooks, we can tell, two of the three men look exactly the same, they must be twins. Another young man looks different, but his manner, his posture, and his eyes remind people of another person, one of the twins?

The case is about physicist Wilson’s only son. Right after Wilson’s wife gave birth to their only son Iggi, a volcano eruption broke up the family, they lost their son. 25 years later, at the same time of period, in the same city, three young men come to Wilson and claim that they are Iggi, the only son. Let’s name these three men as IggiOne, IggiTwo and IggiThree.

In the past two months, the detective Earnest whom Wilson hired, has been doing day in and day out investigation of the three men. The interesting findings are: Although IggiOne and IggiTwo look like twins, they have absolutely different personalities, opposite values and diverse behaviors. While, IggiTwo and IggiThree almost act as a same person, though they look differently, they speak the same, they love doing the same things, they think the same, they are falling in love with the same woman. And when Earnest interviewed with their girlfriend, the girlfriend said, “ It is really bizarre, after I dated with them, I feel I am dating with the same guy, just their looks are different, I feel the same when we kiss, when we look into each other’s eyes, or when we make love, no difference at all.” Actually, IggiTwo and IggiThree hang out together, and when they meet people, they talk as one person, one is just another’s duplication.




(Back to the Courtroom)

Earnest: According to my investigation, IggiTwo and IggiThree have identical behaviors, thoughts, emotions and actions, which means their existence at every moment has the identical effect on the society, I conclude,
IggiTwo and IggiThree are the same person, they are one.

People are shocked by Earnest’s words.

However, something flashes into Wilson’s mind.

“IggiTwo and IggiThree, my son,” the old man cries, “ you two are my only son Iggi. Around the time you were conceived, I was doing penultimate experiment with double slits. My mind must be manifested and you were slit into two.”

What a happy ending!

And since then, a new law is effective:

“ Two persons or more with identical minds are considered as one.”

Main Body
Many Beds, One Sleep

My dear readers, do you like stories? Here is a one, close your eyes, just listen, listen to the story, listen to the voice, do not use your visual mind unless you have to, there comes a conversation in the darkness.

A child,“ Mom, I am afraid of darkness, I can’t sleep, I do not want to be alone.”
Mom,” Come on, sleep with me, I will tell you a story.”

The child sleeps with Mom in her bed, listening to the story and falling sleep. After a while, the child wakes up in another bed, Bed One, not mom’s bed.

The Child, “ Mom, I had a dream, it is so real, that in the dream, there is a man, his name is Adam.”

Mom,” Do you enjoy it?”

The Child,” Yes, I want to have more dreams.”

The child falls back asleep and wakes up again.

The child,“ Mom, in the dream, I see another woman, her name is Eve.”

Amazingly, this time the child finds another bed, Bed Two, and another child is in the bed, Child Two.

The child at the beginning of the story becomes Child One now,” Mom, who is this child in Bed Two?”

Mom,” That is you, my only child, Child Two is dreaming the same dream.”

Child Two,” Mom, I had a dream that there is a man and woman whose names are Adam and Eve.”

My dear readers, have you been confused a little bit when you are listening to these lines? Let me remind you the Prologue you read before, at the end, there is a law,

“ Two persons or more with identical minds are considered as one.”

You see, Child One and Child Two are one Child, and that what is the Mom Says.

Now, you probably have the idea what is going on in this story.

Dreams continue, more persons appear in the dreams, with one more person in the dream, one more child is born, one more bed shows up. But these children are dreaming the same dreams and they are the only one Child.

Bed Three, Child Three, Bed Four, Child Four….thousands beds, thousands children…same dreams…

However, Mom’s stories are too fascinating, and the dreams are too fascinating, the children do not want to wake up, they slip into the dreams, endless sleep…

What happens if they are not awake?

Child One is not dreaming a man called Adam, but thinks he is Adam, Child Two is not dreaming a woman called Eve, but thinks she is Eve…

Mom says,” My children and my only child, when you wake up, you will know you are dreaming the same dreams as I do, you simply enjoy the dreams, tragedy and comedy, good and evil, you and me will become one.”

My dear readers, here I have to remind you of this sentence again.

“ Two persons or more with identical minds are considered as one.”

Dear friends, whoever you are, Mike, Marry, John, Jenny, ….etc, you are dreaming that Mike, Marry, John, Jenny…etc are reading a story by Lu meng, who is dreaming that Lu Meng wrote a story. The bottom line is, you and me are dreaming the same dream, that Mike, Marry, John, Jenny…etc, are reading “ Many beds, one sleep.” by a writer, Lu Meng.

We share the same minds.
We are the Only One Child.

“Our truest life is when we are in our dreams awake.”
-- Henry David Thoreau

Note: Mom represents Dao in Chinese and Sheckhinah in Jeiwsh.

Iggi means “Only Son” in African.
Earnest means “ Truth” in German




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