Rambler of the Riptides

A Story by Jared Moss

Two children from a commune fall into a religion from the 1960s.

The Rambler of the Riptides was something no one had been told about. Alexis had simply discovered it for herself by accident. However, she meant to pursue the man that he seemed to be, as it was an entirely entrancing experience. It had to start, of course, with at first looking at him.

The time was May Seventh, nineteen-hundred and sixty-nine, and Alexis had decided she would rather not want to be involved with a commune lifestyle. She claimed to her troop, only other children at the commune at the time, that the Rambler of the Riptides told her she should be different.

“I thought it was too dangerous for us to try that stuff until we’re older,” said one of the children.

“I thought that too,” said Alexis, “but I realized I was only sleeping when he told me this.” This bewitched the children with her stories. Alexis didn’t see the Rambler after that, though. But she thought it meant more than a dream because it felt new to her. Everything around her was supposed to be new though. The people there claimed to be experiencing new things of freedom and love, and especially peace. She knew that Peace was something new in their world. So, if those people were all so wise, how could the Rambler be wiser?

Alexis tried desperately to find the Rambler again, even by going into the ocean. It all seemed practically impossible except for the small following of children who listened to her. They all wanted to find out more about the Rambler and expected her to find something new. Thankfully, that came along soon after.

“He speaks to me about a visionary,” she said. “A man of music and… magic, who taught our parents how to be free. As he is the son of Man, the Rambler has told me about the grand visions he had for our freedom”. She never finished this though, as one of the children yelled her down before she finished-

“THAT’S WRONG.” It came from a shorter boy with an annoying Texas accent called Indigo, who would elaborate later. This was as soon as Alexis stopped running away from him.

The boy told Alexis about how he knew who the Son of Man was, and how he was someone quite lethal.

“I’ve met him before”, said Indigo, “and he killed my parents. He flaunts about how much of a savior he says, and how he’s greater than anyone else in the entire world. But his name isn’t even the Son of Man. It’s Davis Manson, and he only has all of that big-headedness because of his stupid last name”.

This was a problem for Alexis. Fortunately, she could feel traces of the Rambler when Indigo talked. This was something good guys did too, not just people who wanted to make things good.

“I liked who you’ve been talking about, though”, Indigo told her. “I think he can help me with something”.

He kept asking about the Rambler, and it seemed that he met someone like him before. This warned Indigo about the danger of Davis Manson, though he never seemed to be that useful before. But Alexis wasn’t in danger. So, Indigo didn’t mean anything to her.

After that, Alexis thought about the Rambler a lot more often than she had before. Nearly picturing he was living in the commune with her, he would always complain about the way people lived there. Talking about how confined the tiny community was, how much there was that she wouldn’t end up seeing, how dangerously protective the adults were over anyone doing anything “un-peaceful”. While Alexis enjoyed life inside mostly, she began to wonder how someone like Indigo had seen so much if he was still young like she was.

“You wouldn’t want to have lived how I have”, he said. “Smart child-brain scientists have told me living somewhere away from all the dangerous people would be the best place. I can’t see why it wouldn’t be the same for you”.

“But I keep hearing the Rambler telling me to get away from here. What if I find someplace safer for you, or learn more than anyone else here ever will? It seems pretty dangerous here anyways. The president doesn’t seem to like people here very much for a reason, so”,

“Yeah, well what does he have to do with anything?” Indigo angrily argued. He seemed to hate anything political and was even more fumed by religion. When Indigo mentioned finding a church outside of the commune, he wasn’t able to contain his manners when saying-

“WELL WHAT TYPE OF JESUS DO THOSE PLACES HAVE THAT WE DON’T, OTHER THAN A WAR-MONGERING VILLAIN OF A SAVOIR?!”

This hadn’t pleased her. And though she wanted to be on a better basis with Indigo, the Rambler wouldn’t stop pestering her about leaving somehow. She also seemed to have a following, since there seemed to be a group of kids always walking around her. Everything except for their guardians eventually noticing allowed her a perfect escape. But she still didn’t do it.

A few weeks later, after the other kids had left her and her mom was too deep in a daze to notice, Alexis started walking away. Not too far, but she let herself get to the road. She had never been this close to outside things by herself, though there wasn’t much of it. She still liked the people who could drive by her, and the people who stayed in the small shops or restaurants she saw from there.

Alexis was still standing at that hill by the time the sun had gone down. And unlike she had expected, people were still very well awake. The hippies weren’t the only ones who took advantage of their time, to her surprise. So, she began to wonder what would happen if she spent a night in one of those shops. Maybe even in an entire street? No, that could never happen to her. She would drown in that, surely.

“You can’t drown on life,” scolded the Rambler. He was reading her thoughts again. She didn't talk back much, but Alexis thought she should now.

“Well it isn’t water, but there are all sorts of things those people could be doing. I could easily live too much life like that”. She felt queasy thinking about that. She knew the Rambler couldn’t feel any of that, though. He was so insensitive about those things he felt like dangers were something to celebrate.

“Well, any life you end up living would surely be worth it if you wanted to do it. Now, you know you wouldn’t choose to stay in your confine forever. People there definitely know how to have fun when they’re older, but they’re still missing out”.

Alexis didn’t talk about this. After all, she was still trying to decide what was fun. Would it be a book? Or maybe to know a lot? She guessed that even if she just stayed in the same place forever, she’d have to have fun somehow. This wasn’t her life though. What she was doing then was something most definitely hers. It felt more fun than anything the adults had ever done.

“What if I just look in the woods for tonight? I’ve always liked them, anyway. Would that be okay?” She would have tried going there whether or not the Rambler okayed it. It just felt nice asking. It seemed a lot of people did anyway. There was an entire flock of them walking there, some of them were even her age.

“You should be cautious just being near them, Alexis. The streets are an established part of civilization, while you don’t know what this could be”. She understood what he meant by this. It wasn’t valid though. He rambled the riptides, which could kill him just as easily as anything else. If he was an example to her, shouldn’t she feel okay doing stuff like him?

“If I don’t go in there now, though, none of us know what I could be missing out on.” This made her decide she would let herself experience. Though, this meant she had to forget any danger she was in. That feeling didn’t last incredibly long.

She followed the people into the woods and grew less nervous as she recognized more. It even opened up to a nice-looking man playing something softly. He was the centerpiece of these people. Staring down on everyone there, beaming down the image he was giving them.

“Good evening, children,” he started. “I hope you’ll enjoy the blessings I have for you all today, especially all the quaint little new members. And as it looks like we’ve got quite a few today, I thought I’d share a message we all know. Something about the truly splendid nature of Grace”.

The guitar kept playing while he was talking, almost like it had to be there. Alexis felt welcomed here by the man, though it was peculiar. And he got her to listen to everything he said. Such a nice thing, she thought then.

“You see, children, this world is far eviler than some may take it to be. It’s easy to know, simply looking around at all the wicked people outside of the safe havens we’ve made for ourselves. But, children, I feel we ought to know by now how to make the world better. This is what Grace is. The gift I will give to you to rid the world of wickedness and make it a pure land for the beautiful of us. And I will provide for your every need if you only help to clean this world”.

These words made Alexis feel almost like he was a ghost. An airy, friendly presence, only that they tried loving everyone instead of scaring. But everyone was a lot of people to Alexis, there must have been some reason why he wanted his audience so large. Before she could figure this out though, the man started dream-speaking again.

“If you follow the guidance I give you, children, you shall receive blessings beyond this world’s materials. I will give you paradise. Save you from your abandonment, your depression, your illness, every flaw in this world, and yourself will be saved by my Grace. You will live too; I shall see to that. Now, will you pray on that, children?” He spoke like an enchantment. Giving his people a tender glance, his peaceful serenades, and comforting presence. If he invited Alexis into a life with guaranteed fulfillment, there was every reason she had to listen to him. It was only that the Rambler seemed unsettled by him. He told Alexis that her own life should be chosen by herself, even if she was young. These choices would guarantee better freedom than what the man had. Still, Alexis hadn’t listened to him. She tried asking around to figure out how to find the man, yet he came to her on his own.

“Greetings, little child. I’ve noticed you’ve been wondering about the ways of these happy people if I’m right”. He kept the comfort he held during his time. It felt as if he had wanted to help her and take what she had lost. It was something incredible to Alexis. The best present she knew she could have.

“Yes sir, I would think you’d be a busy man and wouldn’t have much time to stay around here, though. I’d love to follow the things you teach, but I know my parents would want me staying here”.

“Well, the honor you show your elders is admirable, little child, but�"your revelations of the world I know you have witnessed require greater things from you than that. You will need time to decide for yourself, though. I know you are eager, but I am not one to restrict others' agency. It is only in time that I will leave this place. You will have decided by then where you should take yourself”. His speech gave Alexis full confidence in her thoughts. So much that she never wondered again about leaving her home. She knew she would. And the Rambler’s ideas were then ignored.

At the commune, people began noticing Alexis acted differently. It was only Indigo who talked to her about this, though. It came especially as a surprise when he did because she had acted unusually before. She mostly went to the Rambler since she heard about him, but he had been quiet recently. Indigo seemed intriguing anyways.

At first, they just sat in Alexis’ tent without looking at each other. She didn’t feel strange about this. The guitarist was certainly more welcoming, but this felt smarter.

The boy started things odd as if he felt the same stiffness. He was around adults most of his life, so he had trouble talking to a kid so closely. Thoughts got mixed up before words came out, though thankfully, Alexis talked first.

“Do you think I’m in any sort of danger?” Alexis started. “Did you come here since I might be?” Her peace in the woods didn’t feel right with someone like Indigo. Physically, Alexis felt guilty about being around him. She didn’t care about why then, but friendliness seemed like the cleanest option. Perhaps not the most liked one, but she wanted to decide well then.

“Well… I guess before you say anything too deep to me, you might want to know my name. It’s Alexis, age ten, born October fifth, nineteen fifty-nine, in Kaliflower, San Francisco, California. I haven’t um... been around much else, but I’m still young, so I’ll probably see some stuff after a while”.

The boy wasn’t as nervous now. He almost had no nerves. The boy didn’t feel this a lot. And it was the only time he knew he could do this.

“So um … I noticed you were with the people who were coming out of the woods yesterday and thought you should now… you don’t need someone to lead you. People to help you and make you feel better sometimes is fine, but you still need to make your own decisions.”

Alexis liked how this sounded. She liked herself being so responsible, but she was still unsure.

“Well…perhaps you could come with me a few times there. We’ll sort of figure out what type of thing it is before making any super thoughts on it, alright? I felt pretty nice there, and I feel like it would suit me well.”

Indigo’s past with messiah leaders had made him nervous about this endeavor. His guardians weren’t guarding him well, though. So, the next few days left the kids planning out their trip and scheming several methods of adolescent survival. Soon enough, they saw a crowd fly to the woods, signifying the point of their grand decision, and both managed to come unto the strange spectacle which had captivated so many minds.

The Man stood over the crowd especially long this time. Indigo felt that his stare was being plastered on to him, yet not unwelcome.

“I am most pleased, more than these words will say, to know my children seek my guidance once more,” the man started. “And today, I feel my place here has become great. This is why, if you choose to come, I will let you children of my light see greater things than these. Believe me, if you will, there is more to come than you could know. If you only follow, will you see.”

The children left their impressions on this man. Even what Indigo saw was influenced by him. Recognizing who he was, the boy couldn’t help but let himself listen. So, the man convinced the two children to leave. Their homes didn’t mean much to them. Their liberty was different, though. Even if this meant sacrificing some, the two knew by the time they had left that they could keep making decisions. It was only less welcome than at home by the time the man had led his people to the Large Home.

At this time, the kids hadn’t heard from the Rambler. The guitarist had treated them all very well since they arrived, but they had to stay inside the Home. The splendor of their life grew cheap after so long to them, and the guitarist wouldn’t change anything. As a night grew on Alexis’ thoughts, she could tell that something different had started to creep in. She was perfectly awake with this feeling of newness inside a mansion of monotony.

“This was never what you had in mind”, the thought said. “You never wanted to know you were a kid, dude. You know who you are”.

She sat there, on her bunk in the room with more bunks. This room was the exact opposite of what she wanted. Her freedom, though; this was something she desired most of all, even for herself to only feel its desire. She knew the mansion wasn’t very loving to her. It was only useful. It was something that she had used far up.

The Rambler kept telling her, day after day, that she needed to find something different. His ideas were outrageous, though, saying she should run away to Alaska if she could, even by herself if she had to. She wanted to support what the Rambler had to say because she knew there was something better. There was just a complete lack of any sense she could find.

“Has he told you anything since we came here?” she asked Indigo the day after. “The Rambler, not the guitarist”.

She didn’t need to specify. The Guitarist hadn’t been seen by anyone after they finished settling. The two children were the only folks there sensible to know each other, anyways. They held quite a sense of pride for the Rambler.

“Well, he’s the only adult-seeming person I’ve talked to since we came here. Like I thought anyone with sense would, he doesn’t like it here.”

The rambler wasn’t very sensible. He was incredibly cautious, however, and was always aware of everything. Though the Home wasn’t fatal, the Rambler didn’t mind itself. He made the children skeptical of the guitarist instead.

“He’s said the same thing to me too,” Alexis told him. Indigo stared at her in response. “So do you… think we could um…”. A leave wasn’t mentioned. But that was where they reached. They had this idea with them, as children who only wanted to be. This thing was greater than them, though, something far beyond the home, or any camps or tiny adventures.

When the children saw the sky they could see, this gave them the idea. A sky of color, with life beyond their world. They thought if the guitarist saw these lives. If he even knew there was anything except his own. They knew this thought was theirs, though. Not even the Rambler could say it was his. They knew it was peaceful. That it would always be there. So, they followed it.

At a time when they could, the children climbed down the mansion’s wall, by the ivy which coated this exaggerated figure. When they took their first steps away from that place, the children felt more things of what they are than anything could ever tell them. So they came towards people’s lives, down into the cities where they now lived. Into a place of reality, which kept its corruption and dangers open to anyone who looked. The children did this, and they saw. They lived, though. Something worth quite a deal more than lonely peace.

The children would have been found by someone else in enough time, they knew this. But, instead of letting this happen, they didn’t. They would hop on trains for miles at a time, skipping towns and doing the jobs they could until they knew they could settle. After this though, when the children had seen for so long and knew so much, they didn’t venture anywhere else. The Rambler had left them because he knew he had done the best job he could. Giving these children themselves and letting them realize a life they held. They had become better than him. He didn’t go, though. He only let them do their job.