Blue Oyster Cult: Heaven Forbid. 1998 CMC International Records

A Review

The Old Man sat in his one good chair and watched the dust covered second hand of his wall clock follow it's well worn track in a race against nothing. Around and around it went as he stared mesmerized by it's predictable course. He thought about getting out of that chair and going into the "out there", but the dullness in his mind kept his energy levels from gaining any momentum, and he sat and stared. The "Device" at his side that once buzzed and twitched with excitement had long since fallen silent, and the layer of time that had settled over this once amazing machine was deep enough to muffle any words of hope it spoke to The Old Man.

He heard the footsteps on the stairs and closed his eyes. This would be another attempt for them, he thought. They would bring him their latest findings from the "out there", things they would be wild-eyed about and their voices full of promise and excitement. Once again the Old Man would turn them away. For ten long years now he had listened to their ravings, and for ten long years he had sent them back up and into the "out there". Don't come back until it is REAL, he would tell them. But still they tried, and now they were coming again. It was all so predictable.

The Old Man waited until the Older Man was right beside the chair before he opened his eyes. Without turning his gaze from the clock he said in a voice that sounded like it didn't want to hear itself, "Leave it and go".

The Older Man moved closer to the chair and put a hand on the Old Man's shoulder. "Not this time, old friend", he said, "this time it is different. This time it is REAL."

"Real?", said the Old Man, "You and others have come before claiming it to be real. What you brought me each time was a mere drop to keep me hanging on for a few more years, to keep me waiting in this chair like a prisoner. You bring enough to keep me alive, but never enough to let me LIVE."

"The last few visits gave you no hope?", said the Older Man. "Was it not enough for you to know that they were still alive, and that they were trying to make it real again?"

The Old Man closed his eyes again. "They were about as alive as I am now", he said, "Do I look so alive to you?"

"Old Man, look at me.", said the Older Man.

The Old Man opened his eyes slowly and turned his head. Even with the dull gray light that barely illuminated the room he could see that the face of the Older Man had changed. Gone were the deep recesses in the skin, the painted folds of time that told the story of the great waiting that the Ancient Ones had endured. The deathly hue was replaced by a youthful glow, and the Older Man's eyes danced merrily with a carefree innocence. "It is REAL this time.", he said with a conviction that the Old Man simply could not ignore.

The Old Man's eyes widened at what he read on his friend's face. "But how can this be?", he demanded. "The Brothers are gone, it can never be what you suggest without them."

The corners of the Older Man's mouth lifted into an impish grin as he reached into the many hidden folds of his long coat. He pulled out a sealed disk and held it up for the Old Man to see. The Old Man stared at the cover with a look of revulsion across his face. The Older Man said, "The picture says it all my friend. Yes, The Brother's have moved on, and it looks doubtful that they will ever return. But you see that it does NOT matter anymore. They are disfigured from the split, and they wear the scars from that painful separation. But no longer will they hide in the recesses of darkness. Never again will they hide their twisted faces from their Followers. As marred as they may be, they walk proudly among us again. And they show no fear!"

The Old Man's fingers reached out hesitantly to the disk, as if with a mere touch of his withered hand it would all vanish and he would wake soaked with sweat in his one good chair, as had happened in the past more times than he could count on his gnarled fingers. He took the disk in his trembling hands and turned it over. "Ten new offerings I see, one for each year I have waited.", he commented, "Yet what is this eleventh offering that bears a name from The Ancient's past?"

"A new twist on an old theme", The Older Man said with a playful laugh, "which is surely what the ten new offerings are in their own right."

The Old Man could not take his eyes from the list that was laid out on the disk's cover. He let the titles play with his mind and his emotions, and the dullness began to fade from behind his eyes as he began throwing questions of hope at the Older Man. "What of the Shaded One?", he said, "He was beginning to sound as weak as I feel, surely he has followed in the footsteps of The Brothers by now."

The Older Man stated with confidence, "The Shaded One will not be silenced again."

As the Old Man began to open the disk slowly, almost afraid to look at what lie inside, he asked, "And the Smoking One, he too is still among us?"

The Older Man's smile faded, but only a slight bit that the Old Man barely noticed. "The Smoking One is back, yes.", he said, "but strangely silent. There are hopes that in future offerings he will be more outspoken. But yes, he is still with us."

The Old Man swallowed and looked back up into his friends youthful eyes. "Lord Dharma?", he whispered reverently, "What of Lord Dharma?"

The Older Man threw his head back with a swift and sudden motion that disrupted the silence of the room and blew out a hearty laugh that startled the old man and nearly altered the well worn course of the second hand on the old clock. The Old man knew then that his prayers had been answered and that the aching fear in his heart could start to heal. For the first time in ten years he started to smile.

"Lord Dharma has NEVER been more powerful!", The Older Man laughed, "He has given hope to all of us! He, along with The Shaded One and The Smoking One, and two new members in our cause, have saved us all!!" It was when the Older Man's laughter finally stopped and the Old Man noticed that his eyes were wet that the Older Man placed his hand gently on his friends shoulder and said, "Use the Device old friend, it has been silent too long."

The Older Man turned without saying another word and left the Old Man in his one good chair. The Old Man never heard his friend on the stairs as he left, never heard the footsteps of someone leaving that for ten years had hammered into his mind that once again the Ancient Ones had tried and failed. He removed the disk from it's case and as he held it up saw his reflection in the smooth mirrored surface of it. What he saw there made him chuckle in his throat as he bent to blow the layers of dust off the Device. When the disk was fully inserted into the Device, the Old Man took a deep breath, and with a trembling hand switched on the Device.

The moment the Old Man heard the sound coming from the Device he knew that this time it was Real. Rising from the chair on hinges and joints that screamed with a decade of stillness, the Old Man walked slowly to the door. He stood and looked at the stairs for a brief moment, and suddenly with a sound in his throat that sounded like a madman's cries on a still night, he ran up the stairs three at a time. By the time he reached the top of the stairs, the brittle wings that he once kept hidden and folded carefully under his long coat had torn through their concealing fabric and felt the full light of day hit them. His heart still racing, the Old Man took to the air and was gone, never seeing the Others that had begun to emerge from their prisons and gather around at the sound that poured forth from the Device.

This time it was Real.

Robert "Torgo" Sedler