The saga of Gilgimarsh (part six)

Generations came and went in the murky bright land of Gilgimarsh. The cattle remained sacred and fertilized the mushrooms which flavoured the pungent lasagna and left the toucan gods in an omnipresent state of mind. The tribe held its own over the millenniums, with kings and invasions and priestly type classes who kept the recipes and veneration for the worlds best lasagna up to date. They even built a road so Justin the Bieber could come by for his 4 a.m. cruises and snacks. But there always remained a sense of longing for the legendary days when Saint Josh had established an 'I – Thou' relationship with the land and inhabitants of Gilgimarsh. And so it came to pass that Saint Josh with his heart of gold and wide smile reincarnated in a manger full of fresh durum straw in the presence of the descendants of the very sacred and much revered Betsy. Now whether it was Saint Josh's sense of humour or the great sages thought it would be uplifting for humanity, Saint Josh came back as a little girl. And they named her Midge.

Midge grew up in a good home. She learned how milk the sacred cows, to curdle mozzarella, grow the juiciest tomatoes and garlic, and to roll out the durum dough just as the many generations before her had done. But she was infatuated with Justin the Bieber. She and her friends would hum his girly tunes while they worked and swoon every time they heard his hot car roar by at 4 a.m. And at the age of twelve she simply vanished. There would be many rumours in the years to come about Justin the Bieber's hot car and a chase through the desert with lights flashing and sirens blaring and the Bieber being hauled off to face charges of grand tom foolery. And there were hints here and there of another person with a rather mystical view on the creation and purpose of lasagna who had jumped from the car and had wandered for forty days and forty nights in the hot desert and had ended up in a strange land.  But none of these rumours were ever totally verified although many different versions have been written in the scrolls of history.

A decade later the cattle brought home rumours of a woman they called 'pearl of the earth' who lived in a cave way down Twisty Creek on the edge of Gilgimarsh. She wore a rather rough tunic held by a red cord and ate mostly vegetables and grasshoppers and wild honey. She had a caring heart and people with health problems would come to her and she would advise them not to eat so much lasagna and to try her simpler diet, and then she would take them down to Twisty Creek and wash them in it's purifying waters. And if she heard Justin the Bieber's car at 4 a.m. she would always go out and give him a big wave.

To be continued.