CO VET

Written By: Orlon Braem and Co Vet

PART ONE

This composition is in two parts. Part One was written by me, Orlon Braem, and Part Two was submitted by Co Vet, a nineteen year old whom I’ve never met. It seems Co Vet had wished to visit our city recently, but was denied entrance herein by our mayor George Jennifer who apparently had done a background investigation concerning him. And my involvement in these matters began when the mayor turned his findings about Co Vet over to me, and asked me to write what’s turned out to be, I fear, a somewhat staid Part One of this disclosure.
Thus, the following is what I’ve learned concerning Co Vet and his desire to come to our city. He turned nineteen recently. And apparently many people had laughed at him years ago, but aren’t laughing at him anymore. “I’ll change the world someday,” he used to boast, but few knew he’d affect that change before he left his teens.
And at birth he’d been given a name his parents felt would symbolize his later accomplishments. There had been an established trend for males in his family, i.e. they’d all become military men. Hence, it was thought that his first name Co would align him with his familial predecessors, while the second moniker Vet would of course represent his state of being after his time in the military had ended. Yet, Co Vet had always had a mind of his own. And he felt his future lay in matters concerned with the health of mankind. Thus, one day he told his parents that he was leaving their military dream for him behind, and that he was going viral instead.
Nevertheless, today Co Vet finds himself in anticipation of his next (twentieth) birthday, rather than in celebration of this his final year as a teen. But don’t get him wrong, he’s not proud of what he’s done thus far; still, he can’t overcome the symbolism and/or foreshadowing which exists within the fact that the world around him entered a decade of twenties without waiting for him to reach that same milestone.
And, just a few days before his nineteenth birthday, he contacted our city’s mayor George Jennifer, and asked permission to celebrate his birthday in our city. “Why do you want to come here?” asked the mayor.
“Well, I’ve been spreading myself pretty thin over the last few months, and one place I still haven’t visited is your city,” replied Co Vet.
“Well, frankly, people like you aren’t welcome here,” replied Mayor Jennifer. “But I tell you what I’ll do for you. Send me, via whatever means you wish, some words of advice and/or knowledge, and if I find them to be worthy, I’ll have my friend Orlon Braem edit them, and send them off to his readership. But that’s all I can do for you.”
“That’s fair enough,” replied Co Vet. “Expect my words in a few days.”
And indeed Co Vet did send his words to our mayor who then turned them over to me for my perusal. And in fact Mayor Jennifer told me he hadn’t even read Co Vet’s words, although he’d told him he would. Instead, the mayor told me he wanted me to handle those words completely on my own. So, that’s what I’ve done. And in the next paragraph you’ll begin to read them, unedited except for two spelling mistakes. And as a personal aside, judging from his words, maybe Co Vet should pursue literature as his life’s calling rather than either medicine or the military.

Part Two

I think I can truthfully say, without being egotistical, that there are a lot of things that could and should be said about me. But perhaps the most important are these questions: First, how and why did my reign of terror upon mankind actually begin? And second, what will the world as a whole do if it discovers I was not accidentally loosed upon it? Nevertheless, whatever my truth may someday be found out to be, it’s my wish that if I ever do fade into a subdued existence, mankind will remember who it was that sent me out upon it. And I’m hoping that the next time anyone tells anyone else how grand it is to live left of center politically, they’ll remember an unfortunate Co Vet who never wanted to become a military warrior, but became, whether he wished to or not, a medical one instead.
And here’s a secondary wish, which perhaps I don’t fully understand myself. I know the people of the states united are justifiably concerned about, and must take action against foreigners living illegally within their borders; but maybe, if it should be that my presence serves no other useful purpose, perhaps states people will now realize what it’s really like to work and toil on the farms, and in the factories and meat packing facilities in which their food is produced.
But my journey in life thus far has actually been a sad and fairly lonely one. And I didn’t tell this to Mayor Jennifer when I asked to visit his city, but I had hoped to attend an Easter morning church service or mass there. Yet, I’ve been told by various elected officials that my presence in their midst is actually akin to them being visited by a plague upon their land! So, imagine that! I guess many feel I wasn’t sent to them from above, but from below instead!
Still, regardless of their feelings about me, my thoughts often stray to what I consider to be the most basic matters concerned with life on planet Earth. And whether you’ll believe this or not, or whether you’ll wish to be told this or not, I believe that circumstances unsanitary, leftist politically, anti-religious, but hopefully not intentional, were what granted me a worldwide stage.
Oh, and you know, sometimes the effects of what I’ve now infected myself with also overwhelm me. And they sometimes lead my thoughts off into areas of near insanity, as I fear you’ll now experience.
Today, with a mind, body, spirit, and tragically also soul heavily burdened by all I’ve become, I’m striving for liberation. And I’m asking those of you who read this to recall the day the planners said they’d wait for us by the garden gate, where a huge stone began the stone terrace which should have extended off to the right, but didn’t. And remember also that as we left that day those self-serving manipulators told us they were certain we’d return someday from our journeys in beckoning meadows. And don’t forget that it was all so much quieter then, even though no freedom from problems could be found in any earthly realm - even then!
And yes, I think it can be said that we were guided then by some sort of automatic pilot. And we paid both heartfelt and lip service to directional alterations. We believed in the Master, and existed within, but nonetheless investigated changes and time advancements. And it always seemed as though we were, as a poet once said, “Waiting for summer’s return, yet fearing it would appear enshrouded in wickedness.”
And we knew that many believed wayfarers could never return home again. Still, we did come back. But those who said they’d wait at the gate were long gone then. And the large stone which began the terrace had been rolled away. And at that time a massive pestilence was terrorizing the land.
Yet, there was still, for some reason, a Roman centurion guarding the area there. And as we approached him he said to us, “Your friend left here after being behind the stone for three days. But why he was brought here, or why he left from here, is unknown to me. Still, I know now I’ll always think about him whenever the Christian holiday of Easter approaches.”
But then, sometime after that encounter, day and night time dreams began to visit our minds like the wild winds that blow outside of Eden. And those dreams often brought images to us of what some call reality. And one day, in what must have been the real world, a call was received by me from the communalists. And those champions of the communistic lifestyle then asked me “What about all the contradictions that exist in relation to the question of all that an individual might have done in his or her lifetime?”
And I answered: “Because many mortals have never learned how to properly tread upon life’s straight and narrow path, numerous pitfalls and plagues have surfaced along that roadway. And it’s easy to offer questions, answers, and excuses in defense of oneself, and it’s also not difficult to blame either individuals or groups for all that’s amiss, yet, the bottom line remains: Did my life upon planet Earth help mankind and serve the eternal Master, or didn’t it?”
And you know, I’ve often wondered if anyone could ever grab hold of a revolving wheel and spin it backward to its first revolution. We were born. We grew somewhat older. And then one day we were what society calls a man or woman. But we trusted others older than ourselves during those years. We had to. Our minds weren’t sufficiently developed yet then to know much more than the basic rights and wrongs.
Still, usually we proceeded successfully, although from time to time there were problems. Sometimes some of the things we learned were corrupt. And other times certain of us were simply, for one reason or another, unable to graduate out of the human condition which features vast numbers of people as perpetual students of life’s highway.
But I’ve always believed that every mortal can eventually find what I term “clarity of existence” if he or she wishes to. Sometimes though, some need the council and prodding of those who’ve already found it. Oh, and yes, I’d also personally like to help those who are in search of modern day clarity, but for some reason, most people try to avoid me.
And in closing, I’d ask you who read this to not be fooled by political leftists who are now trying to use my presence to their advantage. Had they had the responsibility of handling me, they’d have done a far worse job. And if anyone should know that for certain, it’s me – right?