SEAN MCNULTY

 

For Dora do

 

For Dora do is a home for the spiritually enlightened that rests at the peak of a mountain in Northern China in case you’ve been wondering. Only finer minds are admitted and a charlatan wouldn’t last a minute.

Lynch did not profess intellectual prowess. The only books he read were bawdy comic romps by the writer Tom Sharpe. He was not very knowledgeable, but gently aware of things.

Lynch had recently concluded his relationship with alcohol. He was sitting on a barstool when a full-bodied ale was placed before him and he had a significant realization and said, ‘I wish to travel further.’ He left the ale standing and walked away. Many barflies questioned their lives that day.

For Dora do was paradise for intellects. For the wise, it was cloud nine. Lynch thought he would like to check it out. He had read a newspaper once. It was a lot of old cobblers but just by reading it he got a good sense of the wise. Just by reading a newspaper he was able to grasp attitudes, reasoning, society’s rules and ways and resolutions. Lynch was wise to the wise.

If Lynch had been a student and gone to college, he would eventually have been likened to Aristotle. That’s how right for For Dora do he was.

He left his hometown. It was bound to happen. With a place like For Dora do in the world, there was nothing to hold Lynch back. It took him a while to get to China, but he got there in time. Lynch was a patient man. He would have waited twenty years if demanded. He found the mountain of For Dora do and began his ascent. It was a big mountain.

Finally, For Dora do. It was quite a palace. Lynch could hear the buzz of many stimulating conversations inside. There was a lovely light wind in the air. Lynch didn’t think such light winds occurred on such high mountains. He decided to sit down outside and enjoy the light wind for a moment. He found a most comfortable patch of green grass gleaming under the noble Chinese sun.

Two days later, Lynch was still sitting outside. He hadn’t yet knocked on the door of For Dora do. He was contemplating his journey through life. There was no time for For Dora do.

Weeks later, Lynch was still sitting outside. He was hungry. He ate some leaves.

A month later, Lynch was still sitting outside. Inside For Dora do, a monk saying a prayer at his window noticed Lynch. He opened the window and called out. ‘Hello, individual. Are you quite all right there?’ Lynch looked up and answered, ‘Grand. Yourself?’

A year later, Lynch was still sitting outside. Some pilgrims came along. They were heading for For Dora do. They speculated on Lynch’s condition.

For years, Lynch sat outside. He became part of the legend of For Dora do. The management of For Dora do came out to him one day and they asked, ‘Would you like to come in? It’s really good inside.’ ‘I’m fine,’ replied Lynch. ‘This is all I need, just this.’

The management accepted his repudiation. They went back inside and went back to their wonderful conversations.

A boy genius inside For Dora do was fascinated by Lynch. He spent days watching the lonesome sitter from his window. A cult grew in the palace. The watchers of the sitter.

One day, Lynch stood up and went to the door of For Dora do. He started beating his fists against the door and banging his head against it. ‘Send me out a woman,’ he was shouting.