Boating In The

Territory

  by Bonzai Yak

  112 pages

Chapter 6: Territory Stories (part g)

 

There's a very big Hole in the Territory and Camels are always attracted that way, they slip through that Hole every chance that they get. This Hole is like an oasis for them and it acts that way for us boaters as well if we ever can find it and climb down inside. The Hole is a strange sort of inbetween way where emptiness tends to take on shape and pass itself into form. Form does the same in the opposite way so there's a whole lot of stuff going on you might say. You might say too that there's nothing going on, but however you say it you'd have to agree that the Hole is a windy place.

Now there's Holes and holes so don't get me wrong, but you don't have to find the one big Hole to enter into the windy way. All the little ones you come across are really the big Hole anyway. Holistically speaking it's all the same thing, so ride on a Camel and you can go into one anytime that you choose. Actually holes are the only things that are really there in the Territory. All the islands and other terrain have formed around holes that have opened and closed and re-opened again. Holes are a lot like volcanoes in fact, the form that flows out of a hole like that leaves a residue that forms into islands. So if you look at the Territory maps you can see where some holes are and where some holes were and you might even see where a few might appear sometime soon. And there are lots of holes of a different kind that are holes on a whole different scale. Boats are holes you can carry around, The Border's a hole that can always be found if you stalk it carefully. You and me and the other guys, we're islands too in our personal way with our own little personal holes inside that bring form to our whole personality.

A whole lot of holes and they're everywhere, but still even so there are always a few quite dependable ones that are always kept open. The Ghosts take care of their own special three. The Happy Ghost House has a hole inside, and if you go there and visit a while you'll climb inside it emotionally. The last time I went it was quite a show. The Happy Ghosts like to celebrate so they always have holidays every day. But one time I was there they had every one all at once at the very same time. It was everyone's birthday and Christmas as well, Thanksgiving, Easter and Halloween, Flag Day, Valentines, Hanukkah too, Canada Day and the Fourth of July, Bastille Day, Remembrance Day, Labour Day, Simcoe Day, Fathers Day, Mothers Day...you wouldn't believe what we had to go through cause the way that they had all their holidays it wasn't the same as the everyday world. For Boxing Day they got out some gloves and had a big fight with a whole lot of pillows. They chose me to be their Thanksgiving Turkey and gave me a roast in a big cooking pot.

Now the Hungry Ghosts have a hole of their own and if you visit their Hungry Ghost Hotel you will see how to climb in a different way. The Hungry Ghosts know lots of special techniques for climbing with ropes and grappling hooks that you won't find in books no matter how long and hard you may look. They'll show you some ways you can fish in a hole, you'll haul up enough stuff to stuff a museum. They'll teach you good ways to fall into your dreams and be wide awake while you're fast asleep. And in their Hungry Ghost Gallery you'll step right through all the frames hanging there and into the paintings themselves.

Spend the night at the Dangerous Ghost Hostel if you want to see the hole they keep free. Be sure to come with your appetite, a Dangerous Dinner can be quite a highlight if you like to play with your food. Everything is exaggerated when you eat with the Dangerous Ghosts. You never speak but you can always burp so long as you do it thoroughly and you don't really mind if they all join in. Rolls might fly and fruit might roll, but the goal of it all is to do what you do if you don't stop to think about manners or rules. Any tricks that you manage to try are always appreciated. But don't be surprised if the Dangerous Ghosts try them again in their own certain style that often involves a few acrobat moves while throwing some grapes at the hole in your face. After dinner the real fun begins. These Ghosts like to dance any time that they can and even sometimes when it seems that they can't. They'll put on a show with you as the star in their operating theatre. And if you're patient you can be the patient and even the doctor too.

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