by D. J. Holmes
“Do you know why I love to cook, Julia?”
“I would imagine that it’s because you excel at it.”
“I’ve become an excellent cook, Julia, because I had to.”
“What do you mean that ‘you had to’?”
“The only time that I have for myself, is when I’m in my kitchen. I use this time as a type of rejuvenation, so that I can regain the emotional strength that I need, to help all those that come to the Beach House.”
“I never thought of it that way, Daniel. I mean, I never thought that you could get drained just from helping people.”
“I don’t know if it happens to other people, but I do know that I need time to myself.”
“Would you like me to leave?”
“By all means, no, you are my guest. I don’t have to be completely alone. What I was trying to say is that I need a break from continually being of service to other people. I need time so that I can help myself also.”
“So, by cooking, you gain the strength that you need. And in the process, have become an excellent cook.”
“…Exactly!”
Julia continues to watch Daniel for a few minutes and then asks, “What do you think of Evan’s phone call yesterday? Do you think that he will be ok?”
“He’ll be fine, Julia, if he can get to the very top of Big Wild Horse Mesa.”
“To the top of a mesa, what is a mesa?
“It is an elevated area of land, with a flat top and sides that are usually very steep cliffs.”
“How tall are they?”
“This particular mesa is 4,510 feet above sea level.”
“And, Evan is going to climb it? How does a person climb something that high?”
“When Evan returns you’re going to have to ask him. He’s the expert on climbing that mesa.”
“Do you mean that he has climbed it before?”
“Yes, several times as a young boy.”
“He did? Do you think that he’ll be able to climb it now at his age?”
“He’ll have to get to the top, so that my staff and I will be able to help him and bring him back here.”
“Ok. I’m just trying to figure this out, Daniel. If Evan is almost there, and he is in Utah, and you and your staff are still here in California, how are you going to make it to the top of the mesa at the same time that Evan does?”
“There’s a portal there. We’ll go down the Hall of Corridors and through the Goblin Valley portal.”
“The Hall of Corridors, that hall downstairs that I was about to turn into, just as you rounded the corner with Jon?”
“Yes, Julia.”
“What is a portal?”
“A portal is a doorway.”
“…A doorway, a door to Goblin Valley?”
“Yes, a door to Goblin Valley.”
“I’m having a hard time grasping what you are saying, Daniel. You have a doorway, downstairs, that you can be hundreds of miles away the moment you open it?”
“Actually, you have to walk through it. And yes, sometimes it’s thousands of miles or even more.”
Julia’s mouth drops open and her eyes widen in a state of shock. As she starts to ask Daniel several more questions concerning this recent revelation, a bell rings.
“I’m sorry, Julia, I’ve got to go. A new patient has just arrived. We’ll talk later.”
Julia watches Daniel as he walks toward the stairs and down to the clinic. Her head is spinning, trying to make sense of the things that she has just heard.