Island of Aquarius, pp. 25-41<\/strong><\/p>\n So here we are, in Jonestown\u2014er, I mean in Fake MacKenzie\u2019s model Ohio village on the South Pacific island of Aquarius. Now that they\u2019ve been given a tour of the village, Jay walks over and asks about a path \u201cturning off into the jungle.\u201d<\/p>\n MacKenzie looked strangely alarmed. \u201cOh, don\u2019t go that way!\u201d<\/p>\n Jay stopped short and stared at MacKenzie in bewilderment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s not safe, Fake MacKenzie explains, adding to the many things that are weird about this island. He starts talking about mysterious evil, \u201cpowers, forces, ancient traditions here that are still beyond our understanding,\u201d at which point Dr. Cooper reminds him that he\u2019s supposed to be a Christian and that God is stronger than any evil powers.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all very boring, really.<\/p>\n Oh hey guess what! I\u2019m going to try adding sub headings!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Someone steps out of a house and asks Fake MacKenzie to come in and help him check his supply inventory\u2014some things are missing. Fake MacKenzie tells Dr. Cooper, Jay, and Lila not to go anywhere.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy do I feel so funny about all of this?\u201d Lila asked very quietly.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope you two have been observing everything,\u201d Dr. Cooper said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Free Lila!<\/p>\n At this moment, Jay notes that they\u2019re being followed; Dr. Cooper says it\u2019s probably the same guy who burst out of the brush momentarily when they were on their boat in the cove. And indeed, it is!<\/p>\n Suddenly a very eerie voice called from the jungle a short distance behind them, \u201cHellooooo \u2026 strangers! Visitors! Over here!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNever a dull moment \u2026\u201d said Dr. Cooper. \u201cStay close behind me. Jay, watch for MacKenzie.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Dr. Cooper is wary enough that he\u2019s setting a watch for Fake MacKenzie, but you just know<\/em> they\u2019re not going to leave this island when they have a chance.<\/p>\n \u201cYour name is Cooper?\u201d the man asked, his big dark eyes glimmering in the dark.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Remember, all of this is taking place after dark. In fact, it was already after dark when their boat arrived at the island.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s right. And yours?\u201d asked Dr. Cooper.<\/p>\n A bony hand shot out. \u201cAmos Dulaney, former professor of geology at Stanford.\u201d All three Coopers mouths opened, but Dulaney blurted, \u201cPlease, no questions! Just listen. You must<\/em> get away from this island immediately! And please, take me with you. We can leave tonight. I can meet you back at the cove.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But alas! Dulaney has been noticed, and all hell breaks loose!<\/p>\n One of Fake MacKenzie\u2019s followers grabs him and drags him out of the jungle; the townspeople run for their guns; Fake MacKenzie bursts out and declares \u201cMoro-Kunda!\u201dAt that, the men holding Dulaney drop him as if he \u201cwere a hot coal or a bomb about to explode\u201d and retreat to a safe distance, pointing their guns at Dulaney. Some of this is a bit confusing. We go from one man grabbing Dulaney and dragging him out of the jungle to a \u201cstruggling mass of men\u201d holding him. How<\/em> is unclear.<\/p>\n What is<\/em> clear is that the townspeople believe strongly in the powerful \u201cMoro Kunda\u201d curse Fake MacKenzie is spreading. When Fake MacKenzie yells \u201cMoro-Kunda!\u201d they freak out and refuse to even touch Dulaney.<\/p>\n This is not going to go well for Dulaney.<\/p>\n \u201cThe island is doomed!\u201d Dulaney shouted. \u201cAll the animals and birds have fled, the tides are flooding the lowlands, the quakes are getting more and more severe\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI said be quiet!\u201d MacKenzie shouted. Then, to some of the men, \u201cTom and Andrew, bring protectors! Move it!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you hear me?\u201d Dulaney continued. \u201cGet away form this island while you still can! Kelno is lying to you!\u201d<\/p>\n Tom and Andrew came running with what looked like several red scarves. They tossed the scarves to their comrades and every man whipped his scarf about his neck. Then, as if by magic, all the men grew brave again and moved in to take firm hold of Dulaney.<\/p>\n \u201cTake him away!\u201d MacKenzie ordered.<\/p>\n The guards carried the struggling, screaming Dulaney away.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The idea that people could be convinced to imbue a red scarf with this sort of power is perhaps the most believable thing about this whole book so far. Cults can be trippy<\/em>. The power of suggestion is real. And people, when isolated the way Fake MacKenzie has isolated his followers, can be extremely<\/em> suggestible.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n After Dulaney is taken away, Fake MacKenzie turns to Dr. Cooper. Dr. Cooper is not impressed, and he says as much.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to have all that explained to me,\u201d he said very firmly.<\/p>\n \u201cMoro-Kunda\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want more than that!\u201d Dr. Cooper snapped.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t tell you any more!\u201d MacKenzie replied. \u201cWhat do you want me to say? It isn\u2019t a disease, it isn\u2019t an infection \u2026 it\u2019s \u2026 it\u2019s an evil, a madness, an invisible, c reaping curse that gets into a man who sets foot in the wrong places, or samplers with objects that are sacred, or defies the powers that rule here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re supposed to be a missionary of the gospel of Jesus Christ,\u201d said Dr. Cooper, his eyes burning. \u201cTonight you\u2019re sounding more like a witch doctor! Now if it\u2019s a disease call it a disease, iff it\u2019s insanity call it insanity, but don\u2019t expect me to accept some vague, unknowable trick of pagan medicine!\u201d<\/p>\n MacKenzie\u2019s eyes grew very cold. \u201cOnce I believed as you do, but I have learned much on this island. There are many things you do not understand, Doctor \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen enlighten me.\u201d<\/p>\n MacKenzie glared with growing anger at Jake Cooper.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Fake MacKenzie tells Dr. Cooper that Dulaney was once \u201can upstanding member of this brave community\u201d but has become a \u201craving madman, with delusions of doom,\u201d and \u201cby tomorrow morning he will be dead!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNothing can violate the spirits that rule here,\u201d said MacKenzie. \u201cNot even the gospel of Jesus Christ!\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Cooper was speechless.<\/p>\n MacKenzie only gestured to the Coopers to follow him. \u201cI\u2019ll see that you\u2019re made comfortable. You can leave in the morning.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Do that, do that!<\/p>\n They won\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Fake MacKenzie takes the Coopers to the \u201cguest hut\u201d and leaves them there. The Coopers get to talking. No one feels good about this situation.<\/p>\n \u201cSomething is desperately wrong here,\u201d Dr. Cooper whispered.<\/p>\n \u201cMoro-Kunda!\u201d Lila said with disgust. \u201cWhat kind of goofy game is MacKenzie playing?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI really didn\u2019t see that much wrong with Dulaney,\u201d her father stated.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Dr. Cooper notes that they saw the tides overflowing in the lowland, which seems to confirm Dulaney\u2019s claim. He points out, too, that while Fake MacKenzie said he wrote the note found on the dead man on the raft ages<\/em> ago, the date on that note was only six weeks old. Jay points out that Fake MacKenzie said they have no weapons here, and then suddenly they all had guns. Lila points out that Dulaney called Fake MacKenzie \u201cKelno.\u201d<\/p>\n Jay goes to the window and peers out.<\/p>\n \u201cDad!\u201d Jay whispered excitedly. \u201cLook at this.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Cooper and Lila joined him at the window.<\/p>\n \u201cKill that light!\u201d said Dr. Cooper, and Lila clicked it off.<\/p>\n They stood in the dark, peering out into the black, silent jungle.<\/p>\n In the distance, twinkling and blinking as it passed among the trees and vines, a floating, bobbing point of light moved silently along, the only thing visible.<\/p>\n \u201cCandle \u2026\u201d said Jay.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s he doing out there at this time of night?\u201d Lila asked.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Just how far through the jungle can they see?<\/em><\/p>\n Look, this is remarked on a number of times in this book\u2014this idea that the Polynesian man is out there at all hours just \u2026 walking around. We later learn that he\u2019s actually doing<\/em> something. But if what he\u2019s doing is secret and involves stealth\u2014which it is and it does\u2014the fact that he can be seen from nearly anywhere on the island by virtue of the torch mounted on his head seems \u2026 odd. At some point, in order to stay hidden, he puts his candle on a stone, so that he can\u2019t be followed\u2014but I ask you again, how big is this island? How thick is this jungle? This just seems off to me.<\/p>\n But they\u2019re about to notice something else:<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWait a minute,\u201d said Dr. Cooper. \u201cJay, open the window a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n Jay cranked the window open. They all stood silently, hardly breathing.<\/p>\n They could hear it now. A kind of chanting, and wailing, and every once in a while a chorus like cheer. The effect was eery.<\/p>\n \u201cAre they having a party out there?\u201d Jay asked.<\/p>\n \u201cOut there, where it\u2019s supposed to be so dangerous, where there\u2019s supposed to be something evil lurking about \u2026\u201d Dr. Cooper mused. He listened for a while, then drew a deep breath and said, \u201cAnybody here want to go for a hike?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d said Lila in horror.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right!\u201d said Jay.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Team Lila! Of course,\u00a0Dr. Cooper never actually gives them a choice. His question was more rhetorical than anything else. This is going to go great. I\u2019m sure they won\u2019t do something stupid like\u00a0split up.<\/em><\/p>\n By the way, part of my huge Team Lila push is due to having reread Trapped at the Bottom of the Sea, in which \u2026 wow. I kid you not, the whole book is about how Lila told her dad off and he immediately put her on the first airplane out of dodge because he can\u2019t handle his emotions and the airplane\u2014which was actually on a top secret military mission\u2014ends up crashing and Lila ends up trapped in a metal capsule under the ocean, giving her lots of time to think about what a bad, selfish person she\u2019s been, and how she never should have told her dad off, even though everything she said was\u00a0true.<\/i><\/p>\n So basically God had a hissy fit too, and trapped Lila in a sealed metal pod on the bottom of the ocean until she was\u00a0super super sorry\u00a0<\/em>for telling her dad off for selfishly dragging her around the world on dangerous missions regardless of her own wishes. Because that\u2019s selfish! And in this world only adult men are allowed to be selfish, not teenage girls!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n So, they head into the jungle.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll have to divide up,\u201d said Dr. Cooper.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Somehow this feels predictable.<\/p>\n They\u2019re in the jungle, in the dark, see, and they came to a fork in the path. Jay takes one, Dr. Cooper takes the other, and Lila is left at the fork to \u201ckeep watch\u201d and \u201cgive us a signal if anyone comes from behind.\u201d Give them a signal how?<\/em><\/p>\n Lila starts hearing weird noises and then she is ATTACKED oh no!<\/p>\n Her light went tumbling end-over-end into the bushes and she was knocked to the ground, entailed in roots, vines, leaves, and tendrils.<\/p>\n Something had her by the legs! She grappled, kicked, clawed at the branches and roots. She cried out, but her scream was swallowed up by the soft mossy ground.<\/p>\n She tried to kick again, but now her legs were caught tightly. Something heavy had her, pulling her, clamping onto her body, grasp by grasp, inch by inch.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The first time I reread this, I shit you not, I thought she was being swallowed leg-first by a giant snake. I mean, isn\u2019t that how this reads? \u201cPulling her, clamping onto her body, grasp by grasp, inch by inch\u201d? But no!\u00a0Lila figures out how to scream and after what seems like forever Jay and Dr. Cooper reemerge from the jungle. And what do they find?<\/p>\n The weight was snatched away very suddenly, and she looked up just in time to see her father heave something aside as if it were a rag doll.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Dr. Cooper trains his gun on the \u201csomething\u201d but then stops and sets the gun aside. The \u201csomething\u201d is Dulaney! Oh, and he\u2019s dead now!<\/p>\n Dr. Cooper went over to where he had flung the thing and turned it over. They all shined their lights on it.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Dulaney!\u201d Lila exclaimed.<\/p>\n He was quite dead, his mouth still frozen in a scream, his eyes wide and gawking with horror.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Dr. Cooper examines Dulaney and finds the same symptoms as were on the guy on the raft: \u201ca separation of the blood, severe dehydration, and a burning of the flesh and skin\u2014madness, panic, bizarre behavior.\u201d\u00a0Moro Kunda.<\/em><\/p>\n Lila asked, \u201cSo what was he doing to me? He wasn\u2019t, you know, attacking me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI would say he was panic-stricken, Lila, clinging to you as a drowning man would cling to his rescuer. He wasn\u2019t responsible for his actions.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n At this point Fake MacKenzie comes up and is all \u201cdo you believe me now,<\/em> huh?\u201d Dr. Cooper says he is definitely impressed. No one says anything about the fact that\u00a0these children have just witnessed death.\u00a0<\/em>That does something to you! I was a teenager the first time I was in the presence of death, and I didn\u2019t sleep for days. It stayed with me, it clung to me, it affected me, it<\/em> mattered. Maybe Jay and Lila have already seen so much death that one more does not affect them, but if so I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a great thing\u2014and they could probably benefit from having someone to talk to about it!<\/p>\n When Dr. Cooper asks Fake MacKenzie about the chanting, he says the jungle plays tricks on people. He takes the Coopers back to the guest hut and leaves them there.\u00a0The Coopers sleep in shifts that night to keep someone on watch, but Dr. Cooper never asks the kids if they\u2019re okay.\u00a0They just\u00a0witnessed death.\u00a0<\/i>And it\u2019s worse for Lila. A man clung to her\u00a0while he died.\u00a0<\/em>Dr. Cooper asks if she\u2019s physically okay\u2014if she was injured\u2014but that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n A man they talked to not an hour before, and man they watched being taken away at gunpoint, is now dead, died in front of them,<\/em> and it\u2019s treated like it\u2019s just another day in the life for the Coopers.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In the morning, they hear Fake MacKenzie berating his followers over some stolen supplies. He claims the thief has angered \u201cAquarius itself\u201d and will pay the price. Lumber is missing, and nails, and caulking, and more things.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you are the thief, come to me and implore my mercy. If these items are returned, I\u2019m sure the powers all around us will be merciful. If you continue in your stealth and your robbery, what could prevent your being cursed? What can even prevent \u2026 Moro-Kunda?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And on and on Fake MacKenzie goes, extremely unhappy with the thefts. The Coopers listen, from inside the guest hut, and talk amongst themselves.<\/p>\n Dr. Cooper says Fake MacKenzie reminds him of the antichrist referenced in Second Thessalonians. (Yep, they spell out \u201cSecond\u201d.) Of course they\u2019re not saying he\u2019s\u00a0the\u00a0<\/em>Antichrist. They\u2019re just saying he\u2019s\u00a0an\u00a0<\/em>antichrist.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just like a miniature antichrist\u2019s kingdom here, a miniature world dictatorship: one man ruling over everyone, everyone wearing his Aquarius medallion, and everyone afraid because of his great deciding powers. It\u2019s almost a direct copy of Revelation 13!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\nWeird Things Start Happening<\/strong><\/h4>\n
The Big Bad Moro-Kunda Argument<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Conversation in the Guest Hut<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Death in the Dark, Dark Jungle<\/h4>\n
The Morning After<\/strong><\/h4>\n