Public Enemy Zero

Prologue

The Naked Man in the Forest sat on a rotting ash tree trunk and stared at a tangle of vines on a nearby oak. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting thousands of pinpoints of light on the ground like tiny golden stars.

He could feel insects crawling over him. The moss under his scrotum was making him itch. But he remained still. Even as mosquitoes landed on his bare flesh and drank from him, he did nothing. He was waiting for Her to appear. Sometimes she made him wait hours. It was her way.

He was tiny and insignificant in her presence. He thought he had sinned in her eyes. He’d gotten lost in his Otherself and forgotten who he truly was. Birds chirped and forest things went about their work in the brush around him. He sat quietly, thankful that She had let him sit in her garden.

He watched as the vines on the oak began to undulate. Green leaves formed into supple lips. White flowers formed her eyes. Moss and twigs formed the bridge of her nose, and her beautiful face formed before him.

Hello my child.

Tears welled in his eyes. He was always happiest in her presence. Without her, he was nothing. He was worse than nothing; he was a pestilence. Something wicked and dark.

Why are you crying my child?

The naked man cleared his throat. Guilt stifled his words. Her face, so perfect, so wise, encouraged him.

“Earth Mother, I have sinned,” he said, his face filled with shame. “I have forgotten who I am. I let … I let the Otherself lead me astray.”

He wanted to look away but couldn’t bear not experiencing her presence. He looked down at his pale skin. “I feel like I’ve lost my way.”

Oh child, your path is a difficult one. But you’re here now. You haven’t lost your way. The Otherself can be confusing, but where are you happiest?

“Here, Earth Mother.”

And who do you love?

“You, Earth Mother!”

And you have earned my love. I’m so proud of you. You’ve gone so far. We’ve come so close. So very close.

“How much longer must I be the Otherself?”

When my eggs are ready for the world. When the time of the cleansing is upon us. Until then, you must be the Otherself. You must continue to build trust. You must protect my eggs.

“Yes, Earth Mother.” He wiped away tears. “I know your suffering is so much greater than my own. Being apart from you is just … I feel so vile.”

I know, my child. Soon your suffering will be over. The darkness will be gone, and you will live in my garden for all of eternity.

The Naked Man in the Forest watched the vines slide away and her face fade. She wasn’t truly gone; she was still all around him in the trees, the birds, the dirt beneath his feet. Her mother face was just a way for him to look upon her and know she was looking back.

When he was the Otherself, he forgot what her presence really meant. Although the Otherself was doing her bidding, he loathed that being to the core.

The Otherself was everything that was wrong with the world. The Otherself was why Earth Mother suffered. Otherself and all its kin were the darkness casting their shadow on Earth Mother. Soon, she promised, soon that would change. He could cast aside the Otherself once and for all and be the child of Earth Mother forever.

The Naked Man in the Forest walked back to the clothes the Otherself wore. He brushed the itchy moss off his backside and pulled on his underwear. When he picked up his pants, a small Ziploc bag fell from his pocket. He picked it up and tossed it aside.

It had been over a year since he’d had to take the blotters of LSD to clearly see the Earth Mother. Now she came just as vividly as ever without it. Of course, in the forest was the only place he could see her. But he could hear her all the time telling him what to do.

The Naked Man in the Forest put on the rest of his clothes, and the Otherself walked back to his car.