Just Visiting

Tauhm stopped on the sidewalk. He looked one way, and then back again. He scratched his chin.

A young woman passing by saw his confusion and stopped.

"Hi!" she said. "Are you lost?"

"Yes," Tauhm said.

"Maybe I can help. What are you looking for?"

"I’m trying to find the Unity Church."

"Oh, well, I’m heading there myself." She held out her hand. "I’m Kate, by the way."

He stared at her hand for a moment. "Oh! Right. You shake hands here." He stuck out his hand.

She shook it and asked, "What’s your name?"

"It’s Tauhm."

"Nice to meet you, Tom. Follow me."

She turned and started walking. He stepped along beside her.

"So, you’re not from around here?" Kate asked.

"No. I’m here on vacation."

"Visiting family? Where are you from?"

Tauhm cocked his head, trying to figure out which question to answer first.

"No, I am just visiting. I’ve never been here before. I am from, uh, Europe." He pronounced it ee-you-rope, with a long "o" in the last syllable.

Kate laughed. "You mean Europe?"

"Oh. Yes." He paused. "That was a joke."

"What part of Europe are you from?"

"Um, the north part."

She laughed again. "So, what brings you here?"

"I am curious. I want to understand more about church."

"Don’t you have churches where you’re from?"

"Oh. Yes. In Europe. There are churches, but not like this Unity Church."

"I’m pretty sure there are Unity Churches in Europe."

"Oh, um..."

Kate stopped. "Well, here we are. You can sit with me if you want."

"That would be nice."

* * *

Tauhm sat, feeling bewildered by the service he had just witnessed. Kate stood up and turned to him.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded.

"How about some lunch?"

"Yes, I am hungry. But I don’t know of any place to eat here."

"Come with me. I know of a nice, quiet deli nearby."

Kate ordered her usual – grilled cheese on rye, with a side of chips. No pickle. She paid for her order and then said to Tauhm, "I’ll be sitting at that table over there." She pointed.

Tauhm nodded.

"May I take your order?" the person behind the counter asked. Her name tag had "Alice" written on it.

"Oh, um, what would you recommend?"

Alice shrugged. "That depends. Are you a vegetarian? Do you have any dietary restrictions?"

"I don’t know."

"Well, do you want something hot or cold?"

"Something hot would be nice."

"Okay. We’ve got soup or grilled sandwiches."

"Grilled sandwich is what Kate got."

"Kate? Oh, the woman you’re with?"

"Yes. What is soup?"

"Well, we have several kinds."

"What is popular?"

"Tomato soup with grilled cheese is popular."

"I will have that."

"Great! What kind of bread and cheese?"

Tauhm scratched his chin. "Um..."

"Cheddar on white is a favorite."

"I will have that."

"And to drink?"

"Do you have water?"

"We have bottled water."

"Okay," Tauhm said hesitantly.

"That’ll be $14.32."

"Oh, right, payment." He pulled out his wallet and fumbled through the bills. He picked out a ten and a five and handed it to her. She handed him the change.

After a moment, she said, "You can go sit down with your friend. We’ll bring it to you when it’s ready."

"Ah. Okay."

Tauhm walked over to Kate’s table and sat down.

"So," she said. "How did you like the service?"

"It was interesting. I have some questions."

"Ask away."

"What is the purpose of... surrendering? Surrendering your choices to god?"

Kate laughed. Hard. "Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Don’t you believe in god?"

"We don’t believe in god where I come from."

"Ah. So, you’re agnostic or atheist or something?"

"Ye-es."

"So, which is it? Agonistic? Atheist? A different religion?"

Tauhm was saved from answering by the arrival of their food. Kate dug right in. Tauhm sniffed at the sandwich and soup. He picked up the spoon and tasted the soup.

"I like to dip my sandwich in the soup," Kate said.

"Ah." Tauhm dipped his sandwich and took a bite. "Interesting."

Kate swallowed another bite. "So, you don’t believe in god? A creator? A divine being?"

"We don’t believe it’s possible to know."

"So, you’re an agnostic."

"Yes." Tauhm drank some water. "The last musical piece--"

"Yes! Isn’t that a great song? It’s called ‘All This Joy’. John Denver sang it."

"John is a man’s name?"

"Yeah."

"But it was sung by a woman."

Kate nearly choked. "John Denver sang it originally. Like, more than thirty years ago."

"Of course." Tauhm smiled. "I was making a, uh, joke."

Kate shook her head. "You’re weird."

Tauhm took another cautious bite of his sandwich. "Why do you like that song?"

Kate looked up in thought. "Because it talks about the nature of existence in such a simple way. The yin and the yang of it."

"The ‘yin’ and the ‘yang’?"

"Yeah. You know, the dualism."

"Ah. The dualism."

"You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?"

"Yes."

"’Yes’ you do or ‘yes’ you don’t?"

Tauhm thought frantically. "The concept of interconnected opposites. Joy and sorrow. Promise and pain."

Kate nodded, frowning. "You are very weird. Where did you say you’re from?"

"North Europe."

"Hmm. Sounds like to me like you’ve been living under a rock." She wiped her mouth, placed a tip on the table, and stood up. "This is just too weird. I gotta go. It was nice meeting you, Tom, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your visit."

Tauhm watched her leave, and then looked at the money she’d left behind. He stared at it for a while with a puzzled look on his face. Finally, he nodded. Pulling out his wallet, he found some bills that matched the ones on the table. After placing them next the plate and returning his wallet to his pocket, he got up and left.

* * *

Tauhm sat down heavily in the passenger seat of the shuttle and let out a sigh.

"How was it?" Berht asked as he set course and took off.

"They have some strange customs," Tauhm said.

Berht nodded as he guided the shuttle through the stratosphere and into a high orbit.

"So I’ve heard," Berht said. "We’ll be docking shortly."

Tauhm nodded. "I’ll be happy to be back on my own planet and in my own house."

"Do you think you’ll visit Earth again?"

"No. Once was enough."

Berht chuckled as he guided the shuttle into the docking bay. "Well," he said, "Earth is our last stop. We’ll be heading home soon."

After several more shuttles docked, the cruise ship left orbit and headed out of the solar system.