Children of Paradise: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

pier, restrained only by the presence of the two guards assigned to accompany them. They see the captain again for the first time in weeks. He is glad, though he, too, keeps his enthusiasm from erupting in front of the guards. Nevertheless, they hug quickly. Each has to wrench away arms that do not wish to let go. Each pulls back from resting a head on a familiar shoulder for too long. The first mate joins in as well. The captain and the first mate shake hands with the guards, Eric and Kevin, who take turns announcing to Joyce within earshot of Captain and First Mate that relations should be seen as more formal between the commune and outsiders, no matter how friendly the outsiders. Joyce apologizes.
    The first mate unmoors the boat and throws the two rope anchors on board and hops back from the wharf onto the Coffee . The captain sweeps the vessel around and the river pulls at the craft and the engine goes up an octave as they embark. Parts of the river’s surface capture the faint blue that pushes through thin cloud cover. Parakeets swoop their rainbow banners left and right, moving fast in orchestration and with what might be construed as raucous group laughter.
    The captain and Joyce separately ponder the idea of more formality between them. Trina takes out her sketchpad and pencils and sits, looking all around at the shifting scene of the riverbank, the tumble of the water and the slide of sky, two skies to be accurate, and this starts her pencil scribbling, one sky above and another reflected on the river’s glass.
    Kevin and Eric look at their charges every now and again but mostly they chat with each other as they play cards for secret stashes of commune-proscribed loot. They confine their exclamations to outward apparel in lieu of mild cursing since none is allowed by the community.
    —Jacket!
    —Oh, skirt.
    First Mate Anthony demonstrates the latest disco moves to a bunch of eager young passengers, moves that he claims rule the clubs in L.A. and New York. He gets the passengers to begin a slow clap while he gyrates and thrusts out his arms and spins on the spot, and without knowing what unfolds there, a viewer might mistake the first mate for an epileptic in the throes of a seizure, being egged on by a set of cruel witnesses.
    Joyce launches into an attempt to convince Kevin and Eric of a cool impartiality toward the captain. She winks at the captain before she draws him into a typical debate between a commune devotee and an outside skeptic.
    —But Captain Aubrey, all this sensory stuff to do with the boat ride is an illusion.
    —What you call an illusion, all this, is all there is, Miss Joyce.
    —Paradise is all this and more, everlasting life, but you settle for material well-being, which is transitory, and sacrifice spiritual wealth.
    —Food, clothing, and shelter come before pursuit of an afterlife.
    —The only true calling is a study of the ways and means to get closer to God.
    —I run my boat and mind my own business and live my good life as best as I can.
    —Your so-called good life is nothing without a belief in paradise, why settle for less?
    —This life is rich and more than enough for me.
    —The reverend teaches us that the material pursuit is such a powerful illusion that those who believe in it cannot see beyond what is in front of their eyes.
    —I have my charts and a compass, and I know where I am going.
    —But you don’t have love in your life, you don’t have God, and you think that the life you see all around you is all the life that there is, and you are wrong.
    —No more wrong than those who believe in what they cannot see as the only thing to aim for in the blind belief that they will wake up and find it waiting for them. Meanwhile, they neglect the precious world around them or treat their flesh with disdain.
    —What’s flesh when compared with the spirit? Nothing. Spirit is everything.
    Both Eric and Kevin cast satisfied glances at Joyce and give the captain a triumphant