68 DATE WITH THE GODSworld, these units of energy already have been seen in
laboratories. This is not matter, connected to the atom in
a cellular or molecular form. This is the energy that
moves the elements of the atom. We can call it The
Force. Why don't we forget about Lobsang Rampa for
the moment, and try to understand this force."
"Let's stop for a while," I said. "My head is spinning.
You've given me a lot in a short time."
She agreed to an intermission. I walked to my car to
get my pipe. I had a feeling, or perhaps a hope, that any
minute she would say the whole thing was a joke. I
almost needed to hear that. I could think of no logical
explanation for the newspaper. It was real, no doubt.
Then there wa s the police motorcycle, and the way she
had shone like the Lady of Guadalupe when she had put
on that robe.
Everything seemed strange, unreal. I'd always been a
wise-guy type of person, able to spot a fraud in a minute,
always scheming for my own pleasures, with smart
answers for everything. But not today. At this moment,
I was totally confused and bewildered.
I tried to find a way to explain the things I'd been
seeing, to find rational explanations for what she wa s
telling me. I felt that if I believed her, my life and lifestyle
would be changed. Drastically changed. No, it was easier
to keep mocking the situation, hide my fears, forget her
and everything I'd seen and heard, and just return to the
world I'd enjoyed before meeting her.
I lit my pipe and began blowing puffs of smoke around
my head. She was a fascinating creature. Yet she asked
me not to tell anyone about her. Not yet, anyway. But
she'd also asked me to write a book, telling her story to
the whole world. What a crazy idea. I didn't know how to
write a book. It was ridiculous. I had a job, and a
reputation to consider. My weekend was almost over. In
five more hours I had to be back in Lima, driving through
these treacherous mountains before the sun went down.