“So now what are we going to do?” Erwin asked.


    The two had been admiring the Cork Boards bolted to Erwin’s living room wall. There were 12 boards in total, 4 side by side and 3 high, each. There was room for 15 more boards, but they only had enough categories and clippings to fill 12 boards for the time being. At first Erwin was reluctant to make such drastic changes to Mother’s house, but once the boards were up with all his clippings and they had run multi colored strands of wool indicating a cross reference, from one board to another, it was pretty much his idea of heaven. He could stand and stare at those boards all day long.


    “We’re going to tell the story of the CounterCulture,” Ethan replied.


    “What? Write a book”?


    “Yeah”.


    “What about Soul Force?” Erwin asked.


    “That is the story,” Ethan replied. “The first wave of Soul Force came out of the CounterCulture and we have to tell the future how to recognize it when their time comes to use it”.


    “So, we’re not just going to archive all this information”?


    “No,” Ethan replied. “Everything’s being archived now. All the newspapers and media clips. Everything will be kept waiting in the future for people to go back and reference. What we have to do is tell the story to motivate them.


    “How are we going to tell this story”?


    “I’m not completely sure yet. We have to show how protesting and not accepting the status quo overcomes tyranny and creates positive change. Maybe tell a bunch of smaller stories and hope they come together to make the bigger story,” Ethan replied. “Soul Force is our species'' next Evolution. Martin Luther King Jr is one story. Terence McKenna is another. You know McKenna pretty much figured everything out before he died, and in the future there will be all kinds of media on him, showing what he learnt and his conclusions and understanding. In the future, a day comes when we recognize with certainty our leaders are taking us down a destructive path. When we do, we will reference the roadmap left behind by true leaders like MLK Jr., and McKenna whose voices resonate into the future.


    “You know,” Ethan continued. “The CounterCulture really defines the repeat cycle that led to our Enlightenment. Everyday people driven to rise up and defeat the continued Abuse of our leaders. It happens Erwin. Soul Force is everywhere during your time period. The nonviolent marches of Martin Luther King Jr., a girl offering a flower to a soldier, even burning your draft card. These are all nonviolent acts of resistance”.


    “Hmm,” Erwin murmured agreeably, confident his wall of boards and clippings could tell the story.


    Just then, the phone rang and Erwin walked over to answer it”.


    “Hello,”


    “Hello. Erwin?


    “Yes”.


    “It’s Terence. Is Ethan in”?


    “Yes.”


    “Can I speak with him”?


    “What about?” Erwin was hoping they were done with Terence McKenna. He was of the opinion that although the Magic Mushroom trip was not as horrifying as he expected, he was glad it was behind him.


    “We’re going to the lake for a picnic, and...”


    Ethan grabbed the phone from Erwin. “Terence. What’s up”?


    “We’re going to the lake for a picnic and I was wondering if you and Erwin would like to join us”?


    Erwin, being close enough to overhear, and wanting nothing to do with it, was aggressively waving his arms and mouthing, “No”.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    “A picnic in January”?


    “Yeah, it’s something we do, to greet the New Year. A few of us run into the lake and wash away our sins from the past year to cleanse ourselves for the year ahead. We’re supposed to do it on the 1st, but organization is not our strong point”.


    “We’d love to,” Ethan replied. “I don’t think Erwin has a car. Can you come get us”?


    “Yeah, we have a big old bus. We’ll swing by and pick you up”.


    McKenna rolled up. He was driving, and the Merry Pranksters had nothing over this busload. In addition to Terence, there were seven other people, including the Tea Goddess from the other night. When Ethan and Erwin got on the bus, they were greeted with clapping and cheers. Everyone was glad to see them.


    There was no wondering where to sit. The young Indian woman, with the extreme exotic sexiness vibe, walked up to Erwin, took him by the hand and led him to a seat on the bus.


    “Oh, my friend from the other night,” She said, leading him to a seat. “Are you feeling better”?


    “Yes,” Erwin replied shyly, almost obediently. Now that he wasn’t tripping on Magic Mushrooms, he wasn’t the charmer he had been the first time he met her.


    “Come,” The young woman said. “I will feed you”.


    “Well just as long as you don’t give me any more of that tea,” Erwin replied, as the young woman guided him to one of the vacant bench seats. “I do not want to go through that again”.


    “No baby,” the young woman replied, “Just some grapes and cookies”.


    “Well, okay then,” Erwin said, as the woman slid up close. “Just as long as there’s no more tea”.


    “That’s Priya,” Terence said. “She takes in stray animals”.


    “She found a good one,” Ethan replied, taking the seat across from McKenna so they could visit.


    It was quite a drive. Terence had chosen a different lake to go to because Erwin lived at a place that took them off course from the lake where they would normally go. No one seemed to notice the long drive. These were Children of Nature. They were called Flower Children, and even their age was part of it. Young and ready to challenge every moment of life. They had plenty of time and good company was all they wanted as they sang, clapped, and then pretended the aisle in the bus was a runway, and showed everyone how they would walk if they were a model.


    That’s how they arrived. Everyone was happy and not put out a bit by the length of the drive. Ethan had a wonderful time too, listening to Terence point out various features of the area even though his knowledge of the area was limited. Terence loved nature and was quite knowledgeable about it regardless of where he found himself. His enthusiasm was infectious when he talked about it.


    They parked close to a camp area that was close to the beach and had plenty of abandoned fire pits. Being it January, no-one else was there and they chose a nice pit close to a number of picnic tables and not too far from the water. It was a beautiful day. There was no wind and the sun was shining for a change. It was still cool, and you needed a jacket.


    When Erwin got off the bus, Ethan noticed he had a goofy grin on his face, and seemed in much better spirits than when Terence picked them up, and Ethan almost had to drag him on the bus. He didn’t even notice Ethan as they filed past. He was preoccupied, holding onto Priya’s shoulders and dancing like he was in a Conga line.


    The first thing they did was get the fire going. Terence was in charge making sure they had the proper kindling and whatnot.


    “No. That branch is too green,” he’d say and they’d take it away and come back with another one.


    Soon, the fire was a roaring blaze with veggies packed in tin foil having been thrown directly on it. These were intended to share but mainly for the Vegetarians The others went hunting for a hotdog stick. Everyone was very proud of their stick, and thought privately theirs was the best. Maybe even Erwin did too, but his was obviously the worst stick of the bunch. He chose a sapling, too weak to hold the weight of the hotdog and it was always springing up and then down into the fire. It was pretty funny watching the hotdog bob up and down, especially because Erwin was laughing the hardest. He didn’t quite connect that he was the reason for the bobbing hotdog. In his imagination, it was doing it on its own, and everytime it dropped into the ashes, he’d burst into laughter, causing everyone else to laugh too.


    After lunch, someone suggested they take the plunge into the lake, which was the purpose of the picnic. Everyone was in good cheer, especially after Erwin’s antics, and they all cheered as they stripped off their clothes. Terence and Ethan were standing a little back from the group, and it was Ethan who noticed it first.


    “Check out the unit on Erwin,” he said.


    “What?” Terence mumbled, confounded by the perplexity of the button and zipper on his jeans. He looked over to where Ethan was pointing and after a moment commented. “I would not like to see that angry”.


    “No kidding,” Ethan replied, nodding his head and still staring at Erwin’s dick.


    “You coming in?” Terence asked, noticing Ethan was not taking off his clothes.


    The truth was, Ethan didn’t see the logic in freezing his ass off in a half frozen lake. He wasn’t a full fledged hippie yet, and didn’t get the idea of doing things just for the fun of it.


    “Not after seeing Erwin, I’m not”, he replied.