Scouting

(Cont.)

Then the volcano of potential addressed the multitude of workers, saying: “Who wants to engage in some espionage? I need one person from every division of our forces to go on a spy mission to Emerald City, which is a part of Eldorado, India – I want to find out what the place is like, before we officially visit, to see how much time it’s worth spending there; so I need a few of you to sneak in and then report back. Any volunteers?”

Now what follows is a lengthy list of names. These are all the brave souls who agreed to reconnoiter Emerald City on behalf of the working class, at the behest of the Volcano:

• Shalon from Dakota Hills Middle School.
• Regina from my 7th grade woodshop class.
• Kelly from the bus stop in Woodgate.
• Ikie Ess, my friend Brian Ess’s mom.
• That young woman who tried to sell me a magazine subscription at my parents’ house.
• The girl I met at the mall with Ron.
• Kym from my 8th grade choir class’s production of The Little Mermaid.
• Gretchen from Eagan High School, who told me about the poetry that she was writing when I happened to run into her at a retail store near home.
• Jenny, who sat at my table in English class; I don’t remember which grade.
• Melanie, my friend Joe’s sister.
• Sarah, who sat behind me in math class, 11th grade, also whose locker was next to mine.
• Haban from the Pentax Eyeglass Manufactory.
• And Becky from the Blonde Crew.

Those are the names of the daring agents who signed up to go on the spy mission. They went to search out Emerald City. Also, Yeshua the Zealot went with them. The volcano of potential instructed them: “Go to and fro in the land, and walk up and down in it, so as to discover what type of terrain it has, and how many people live there, and what they wear, and what type of foods they like; if they have any big hills there; what type of books they like, whether they be fans of surrealism and comparative religion; if they have seen any good movies lately, whether they enjoy films from the Golden Age of Hollywood; what type of dwellings they inhabit, whether tabernacles or strong holds; what the soil of the land is like, and what type of crops thrive therein; and whether they have good wood or not.” And he added: “Do not be afraid to pluck the fruits that you find growing there, if you see that they are edible, pleasant in appearance, and desirable to make one wise. Take, eat, and also bring many samples back for the multitudes, so that we who remain here at headquarters can try them, too.”

Now it was the time of the firstripe grapes. So the espionage agents of the workforce went up and searched the city, from the glowing homes of its green-light district, through the forests of the night, and over the gold roads of New Yoknapatawpha. Then they looked around in the south, and they came to Platonic Harvard, where all the hefty movers and shakers were. (Note that Platonic Harvard is the eternal ideal of the long-defunct Harvard in Cambridge.)

Then they came to a bubbling brook near the zone of Havilah, and they followed it back to its source in the river Pison. There, they found a garden whose trees were loaded with extraordinary fruit, all of different colors: some were white like pearls, and some clear and transparent as crystal; some deep red like rubies; some were as yellow sapphires, turquoise-blue, or purple as amethysts. In short, there was fruit of all colors. The scouts were so pleased with the variety, the beauty, and the extraordinary size of the fruit, that they resolved to gather a branch of every sort, to take as samples to share with the rest of the encampment. And these fruit-laden branches were so heavy that each one required two people to carry it.

Thus, after forty days, the team of spies concluded their search of the city, and they returned to the Volcano bearing grapes, figs, pomegranates, and many other succulent findings. And they came and greeted Moses and Bryan and the rest of the multitudes who were waiting there in the rolling plains; and the scouts relayed their report about Emerald City, and they distributed fruit unto all.