The Temple Read Free Page B

very thick, at least a thousand pages he decided. He wasn’t
much of a reader so he quickly put the book back and closed the
drawer. He tried the TV but there was no reception. “Nothing’s
perfect, I guess. I’ll just ask Jeremiah to fix it.”
    In the evening there was a knock
at the door. Sycko opened and saw a young woman roughly his own age
smiling at him. She was carrying a tray with food and drink.
    “Hi,” she said. “Jeremiah
thought you might want dinner in your room today as you’re not
feeling so well.”
    “Oh yeah, hey thanks. Just come
right in.”
    She put the tray on the table.
“Enjoy your dinner,” she said in a pleasant voice and left the room
before Sycko had time to say anything.
    “This is just getting better and
better,” he said. “Almost like in a hotel. I’ve really hit the
jackpot this time. I’m almost grateful to Judas.”
    There was even some aspirin on
the tray. He took one and then lay down to sleep the first night in
his grand new life.
     
     
     

A
Clean Slate
     
    Even noble souls
    can be corrupted
    with wrong education.
    Plato, The Republic
     
    The next day was a Friday. Sycko
woke up early. For the first time in many a year he was looking
forward to the day to come. On the chair he saw some new clothes.
Someone had come at night to make sure he could dress in the right
way. There was a white shirt and a black suit. “Not my style
really,” he said, “but what the heck. If life in paradise means
wearing this stuff then I’ll wear it.”
    He left his room and was
surprised to find everyone else up too.
    “Awake already,” a voice behind
him said. He turned round and saw Jeremiah.
    “Excellent,” Jeremiah said. “I
trust you had a good night and you’ve found your new clothes.
Splendid, new clothes for a new life.”
    “Good morning,” Sycko said.
    “And a good morning to you, my
friend, though around here we prefer to say ‘Good morrow’. But
let’s not stand around here. It’s time for breakfast. I trust you
have a good appetite after such a long sleep. There’s nothing like
a hearty breakfast to start the day. Eat well and live well is what
we say, wouldn’t you agree?”
    Sycko consented eagerly and
followed Jeremiah to the common dining hall. There was a long black
table with chairs all around it. At the far end was a chair with a
much higher back than the others had. Jeremiah headed for this
chair and motioned Sycko to take a chair to his right. There was
absolute silence in the hall even though there was someone standing
in front of every chair.
    “Good morrow, brethren,”
Jeremiah said loudly.
    “Good morrow, Master Jeremiah,”
the reply came.
    “Pray be seated,” Jeremiah said.
When everyone was firmly ensconced in their seats Jeremiah looked
each one of them in the eye, one by one. “As you know we have a
newcomer in our midst, my young friend Sycko here,” he said patting
him on the shoulder. “I bid you all to be warm and welcoming to our
new friend. He is here to learn our ways and to begin a new life.
When the slate is wiped clean and we can start all over again it is
a tremendous opportunity as well as a responsibility and I ask each
of you to shoulder your part of that responsibility.”
    “Hear, hear,” the reply
came.
    “Excellent,” Jeremiah said. “Now
let us thank the Lord for the bounty of the land that He has so
magnanimously bestowed upon us. Let us pray and drivel.”
    They said a short prayer in
silence and then pushed saliva out of a corner of the mouth till it
was drooling down onto their white shirts. Sycko felt rather silly
doing this but decided he had to join in. He didn’t want to stand
out and not doing so might have been seen as being ungrateful.
    Jeremiah noted how fast Sycko
joined in the drivelling and was satisfied. When everyone had a wet
stain on their shirts Jeremiah gave the signal to start eating and
soon the room was filled with quiet voices and the clanking of
cutlery on crockery.
    After