Comrade Cookie Monster
"… Comrade Cookie has brought peace, but at what cost? The masses stream into the city, holding bundles of rags. How many more destitute people can we feed?
Cookies for the needy stream out of the bakery doors. Under the benevolent gaze of the blue legend, our beloved leader, Comrade Cookie Monster, a military mastermind whose genius knows no bounds. Who brought about the end of the war through decisive action, he brought peace through generosity. But how many more can we feed? This city is bursting at the seams.
The downtrodden are everywhere, except the palace… “
This excerpt comes from the letters page of The Peoria Star Journal. In another reality, the Peoria Star Journal has become the most important newspaper in the nation. Since the war’s end, it has become the only trusted news source and one of the few daily newspapers left in the nation.
Science says that it is possible that there are an infinite number of realities. In one reality, we all live in peace and harmony. In our reality, we do not. Our reality prefers disorder and dispute, while in another reality, every day feels like a Muppet movie. Full of fun surprises and interesting people. In our reality, we try to avoid each other and don’t want surprises; it’s always bad news. Do we live in one of the bad realities? That’s my day ruined.
The assumption is that these parallel existences don’t intersect, but what if they do? What if they could mingle or even intersect? As different realities bump up against each other, could they leave scuffs and dents? You may have experienced this. That book you’d left somewhere turns up in your living room. The phone you were sure was still at school appears in your car. The man that caught your eye at lunch, you thought you knew him. Perhaps you did in another place or time. Or maybe you backed into his car in the dollar store parking lot, and he’s about to come over and let you know he knows.
Is it possible that the Mandela effect is nothing more than people noticing these scuffs as the timelines bump back and forth?
Such a scuff may have appeared briefly in Illinois in 2020.
Standing on the corner of NE Adams Street and Spring Street, Peoria, IL. The nondescript building that housed Pedi-Cabs Peoria is either the convergence of two realities or the site of the greatest prank Illinois has ever seen.
Joshua Hawkins, an artist, was working an art show five or six years ago when he was approached by a man who went by the name of Nate Comte. They exchanged contact info, and that was all Josh heard from him until a year later when Nate sent him an email asking if the artist would paint a mural on the side of a building,
A giant Russian propaganda-style mural of Cookie Monster.
Who wouldn’t agree to do that? So Nate sent him the design that had already been made up by Nate’s own graphic artist. The text at the bottom of the mural reads “Peace, Land, Cookies,” a play on words of the slogan used in the 1917 Russian revolution, “Peace, Land, Bread.”
Russian propaganda isn’t the artist’s usual style, but Nate was paying above the going rate, supplying the paint, and paying cash. Joshua hired three helpers, and they got to work. Nate wanted it painted over a long weekend, and by the end of the weekend, it was done.
It’s at this point that things become strange.
Once the job was done, Joshua wanted to get in touch with Nate, but Nate never answered his phone or replied to his voicemail. The number Nate had supplied turned out to be a Google number. It was like he didn’t want to be contacted.
That was when Joshua Hawkins got a call from a very angry man claiming to be Nate Comte, the owner of the building, wanting to know why Josh had painted a mural on the side of his building and threatening to press charges.
Joshua believed Nate was pulling his leg but soon realised that wasn’t the case. This Nate Comte was the real Nate Comte, owner of the building. The man who had now disappeared was the prankster, and the real Nate Comte wasn’t impressed.
When Joshua offered to paint over the mural, the real Nate Comte hung up on him and covered the art piece himself.
Since the events of the mural took place, the real Nate Comte has been interviewed by The Peoria Star Journal, stating he has been on the receiving end of criticism about covering up the mural and has decided he wouldn’t be pressing charges.
But that isn’t the end. The fake Nate, the man who met Joshua a year before and emailed him about painting the mural, had involved someone else and had taken his plan to the next level. Unbeknownst to anyone except fake Nate, he had someone else work on the mural. A clear coat had been placed on top of Joshua’s work. The mural was gone, but after heavy rain, it came back.
Who ordered the artwork? Joshua believes it was someone who knew the real Nate and was playing an elaborate prank. Or was it the scuff mark of another place in which we owe our freedom and safety to Comrade Cookie Monster?
Was fake Nate interacting with our timeline from within his own? Was this a mandala effect at the point where two realities briefly touched? Do the citizens of Peoria in fake Nates’s world talk about the mural that used to be painted on the side of a building but is subtly different now?
If you’re interested in Joshua Hawkins's art, you can see his other work on his Facebook page. Visit his gallery at 606 W Main St, Peoria, IL 61606-1454, or visit his online store
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