Characters
Jack Stern
the accomplished getleman
Born in a remote German village, his father was German and his mother a northern Italian.
When Jack was still young the family of three emigrated to the United States of America largely because of Jack’s father’s dubious past and once there Jack avoided the company of his parents as he thought them both strange.
Jack spent most of his time with his priestly Uncle Tom who officially baptized him into the Catholic Church and gave him the apt name of Jack Amadeus Stern which have the following meanings: God is gracious, Love of God, Star. Sensing that the youngster was unusual to say the least Uncle Tom proceeded to teach his young protégé the hidden, secret knowledge of the Catholic Church found only in the highly fortified bowels of the Vatican City the whereabouts of which are only known to the select few who wish it to remain so.
Everything that was presented to Jack Amadeus Stern he learnt naturally as he was more than an eager student for you see Jack from birth was profoundly gifted, all that he required was a Master to awaken his inner talents.
Under the guidance of Uncle Tom Jack matured and grew to become a tall elegant handsome man with a keen if not wicked sense of humour, he never took anything seriously especially himself.
It was a combination of his razor sharp mind, a highly developed intuition and readiness to help the weak that enabled Jack to reverse his poverty stricken origins and become a highly successful businessman. Global Balancing Act was his brain child; a private company that enabled inventors from all walks of life see their hard work and creations flourish in the market place without being cheated by unscrupulous multi-national corporations irrespective of their nationality. Jack meanwhile also benefited handsomely.
Jack quickly outgrew and surpassed in all aspects his Uncle Tom’s abilities, teachings and knowledge. It was not long before Jack acquired the power of telekinesis, the ability to assume invisibility and travel anywhere in the world in an instant by intoning Spiritus Ruah and become highly proficient in self defense both physically but more importantly mentally. Jack was immensely attractive to the opposite sex which he freely indulged in.
Along the way Jack single handedly discovered the whereabouts of the Genius Loci a mystical place where the finite meets the infinite but only allows the purest of hearts to enter. The Genius Loci was to become Jack’s home for all time. In it he acquired under mysterious circumstances a heavily jeweled and enchanted crucifix which had a mind of its own and strived at all costs to protect him from harm.
Unbeknownst to Jack his Uncle Tom had subliminally implanted suggestions deep into Jack’s makeup that would cause him to seek alternative means of entertainment that served a higher purpose and a greater good.
Jack’s Uncle Tom would often tell his nephew numerous funny anecdotes that provoked the youngsters’ imagination in an almost daring fashion to the point that it coerced Jack into acting out the context of the story if not immediately then perhaps later in life. This, one might argue is the basis and purpose of all fairytales.
Uncle Tom’s stories were invariably humorous and this in itself some might argue is the basis of all truth in other words every disaster or major event has as its origin something funny.
Uncle Tom concluded that Jack in a previous life was a highly evolved fox, a sacred animal of the Mesopotamian goddess Ninhursag and was complete with magical powers.
The bedtime stories that Uncle Tom told revolved around the adventures of two ridiculous fictional characters that he had created namely the Hairy Mongoose who was the fox in disguise and his sidekick the Hairy Caccaraci a somewhat overgrown cockroach with human features.
In one of their adventures Uncle Tom painted an absurd picture of the animal abducting a Catholic priest whilst he the animal impersonated a relief priest for the purpose of not only helping himself to the Sunday Offerings but challenging the Catholic Church’s teachings on various theological matters from an animalistic point of view. How long the Mongoose could get away with such a scam was in the hands of his audience.
Jack thought it plausible that it could last forever given the changing nature of the men that the Catholic Church ordained as priests but it was also dependent upon how convincing and authoritative the imposter could be.
It was not until Jack Stern the accomplished gentleman become partially bored with the achievements of his Global Balancing Act that he modified and acted out his uncle’s fairytale.
Priest
Brendan O’Reilly is a catholic priest raised by his mother to be pious and obedient to the extreme, never questioning the teachings nor the doctrine of the Catholic Church and at all times maintaining his innocence and virginity in the most naive fashion.
What he didn’t realise was that the Archbishop was using him, taking advantage of Brendan’s handsome looks and transferring him to various parishes that for want of a better word were in financial distress but once Brendan arrived things changed rapidly for the better. Women especially flocked in droves to see him and gave generously of their time and wealth. Amongst them were many black trackers who are women that go out of their way and employ every technique possible to seduce a priest.
Brendan’s sexuality was not immune to such attempts and his reproductive organ quickly rose to the occasion causing him much physical and moral anxiety which required enormous effort on his part to extinguish.
Brendan is transferred to the quiet town of Newburn to look after St Pious Parish but he doesn’t make it instead he finds himself running a brothel. Brendan is not much of a man he is more of a wimp afraid to question and make decisions, what saves him is his childlike innocence and the ability to see. At St Pious church Brendan encounters the ghost of a murdered priest who brings forth Brendan’s supernatural abilities which Brendan uses for his own benefit and that of others.
In the novel that follows Brendan employs his new found abilities to make a spectacular discovery on the island of Mauritius which promises to bring fame and fortune to all of its inhabitants something that the Catholic Church finds much disfavour with and takes steps to silence him once and for all.
The Fox
The Fox appears in many cultures all over the world. In Finnish mythology the seldom evil fox is a cunning trickster and whilst weaker it is able to outsmart both evil and stronger opponents. It symbolizes the victory of intelligence over malevolence and brute strength.
The fox is also associated with transformation. In Chinese, Japanese and Korean folklores foxes are powerful spirits known for their mischievous and cunning nature and often take on the form of female humans in order to seduce men.
The ancient people of Peru both worshiped and depicted the fox in their art. They believed the fox to be a capable warrior who only used his mind to fight with.
In Mesopotamian mythology the fox is one of the sacred animals belonging to the goddess Ninhursag whilst in Greek mythology the fox finds itself amongst the stars thanks to the God Zeus.
According to a myth the fox was sent by Dionysus to punish the inhabitants of the city of Thebes for a crime they had committed. Creon the regent of the city instructed Amphitryon to catch and kill the fox. Amphitryon commanded Laelaps a dog that was capable of catching any prey it sought to do the deed however a paradox was created namely: a fox that could never be caught hunted by a dog that caught anything and everything it hunted. Almighty Zeus seeing that the hunt would continue for an eternity turned both animals into stone and then into constellations. Laelaps became the constellation Canis Major and the fox became Canis Minor.
Given how many cultures have embraced and depicted the fox in numerous ways perhaps it is more than that. It might be argued that the fox is an advanced supernatural entity one that can only be accessed by highly evolved souls.
Where it lives is a mystery the fox sees everything only the gifted see it and become one with it provided they do not lose their state of innocence.
