by D. J. Holmes
Snow Flower reaches out to him, “Son, we know that you have strong feelings for Diana.”
“Mother, I love her just as Father loves you. How can you ask me to leave her?”
“Gray Wolf, this is not our choice. Daniel has reminded us that we all need to live in the dimension that we are born in.”
“I can’t leave her, Mother… I’ve got to talk to Diana and then I’ll talk with you again.”
“We’ll be here, Son.”
Blue Cloud and Snow Flower sit down in the sand.
“It hurts twice as much when you see your own child hurting, doesn’t it Blue Cloud?”
“Yes, sweetheart, it’s extremely painful.”
Gray Wolf goes back to the fire. “You were right, Diana… Daniel has asked them to take me back to the Beach House.”
“When do you have to leave, Gray Wolf?”
“They didn’t say, but I don’t want to leave you, Diana.”
“I don’t want you to leave either, but if Daniel has asked them to bring you back, he knows what is best. He has helped me, my mother and Jody, and through us, we have been able to help others. You see, life is never about one person…that is why you were sent here Gray Wolf. Think about all the people that you have been able to help. We are all God’s helpers. Life is all about what we can do for others to help them to return to the place that we all came from.”
“But, how can I leave you, Diana? I don’t even know Daniel. How do I know what kind of man that he is….”
“You will always have my heart, Gray Wolf.”
“You want me to leave?”
Diana begins to cry. “No… I don’t want you… to leave…” she takes a breath, “but Daniel knows what is best for all of us.” Looking at his face she adds, “The fact that he knows where you are and has sent your parents to get you… tells me that he knows you, even though you don’t know him. You must go with your parents, Gray Wolf.”
Looking into each other’s eyes, both Diana and Gray Wolf begin to cry as they hold each other tightly.
“We must trust in Daniel, Gray Wolf.”
“Diana, I’m so torn… I can’t bear to leave you, but if I must leave, I need to leave now or I’ll never be able to do it…” Putting both of his hands on his head Gray Wolf explains what he is feeling. “My mind is frozen Diana, I can’t make this decision. If we could just stay in this moment, everything would be fine…”
Reaching over to comfort him, she speaks softly, “My love, if we stayed in this moment, then how would we be able to have a family and watch them grow? Time, with its continual march forward, is the instrument that helps each human to continue to move toward their destiny. If we didn’t have time, there are many wonderful moments in life where we would never want to move again, times when we would want life to stand still. But that isn’t the plan. We are not meant to stand in one spot and never move again. We are meant to move forward with time and to experience life and all that it has to offer; because of this we must both be strong.”
“I hear your words, and I know that you speak the truth, Diana. Since my mission is complete in this dimension, I must return with my parents. Will you tell everyone that I wish them well…. Tell my crew that it was my pleasure to be their captain…” Tears come to his eyes as he touches Diana’s face, “and you, my love, I will never forget… forgive me… if I don’t go now I’ll never be able to leave you…” Turning around he walks to where his parents are waiting.
“Where is the portal? We have got to go now!”
“It’s right behind the statue of Diana’s grandmother.”
Quickly and quietly, Gray Wolf walks with a long stride full of focused determination.
***
“Daniel, Gray Wolf and his parents will be at the portal in one minute.”
“Open it for them Treysen and tell Running Deer, Jehanne, Jon and Julia that they will arrive any minute.”
“Yes, sir…”
***
Walking through the portal, they are finally in the Hall of Corridors as Daniel stands waiting to greet them.
“It’s nice to have you back.”
With grief and pain etched on his face, Gray Wolf asks, “Are you Daniel?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Why is it that I had to leave the only woman that I have ever loved?”
“We must all live in the dimension that we were born in, Gray Wolf.”
“Yes! But if you remember, I died in the dimension that I was born in at the hands of my own uncle.”
A light goes off in Daniel’s head. “Could this be an exception?” he thinks as he watches Gray Wolf storm down the hall toward the double doors leading to his clinic.
As Running Deer enters the hall way his face is extremely happy as he watches the return of his brother. Walking toward him his body begins to feel a sense of caution as he notices a huge black eye looking into the hall from the ocean portal.
Gray Wolf is in so much pain that he isn’t thinking about anything except walking forward; one more step and he will be in front of the ocean portal. Running Deer begins to run trying to warn everyone of the danger that is lurking behind the refracted waves. Jon, Julia and Jehanne have just entered the hall. Gray Wolf’s parents have been apologizing to Daniel for Gray Wolf’s actions. Blue Cloud notices that Running Deer is running toward his brother with fear on his face. Knowing that he is the closest one to Gray Wolf, he sprints toward his youngest son.
Through the refracted waves the tail of the fish enters the hall just in time to wrap around Gray Wolf’s right foot. Blue Cloud leaps forward and wraps his arms around his son, trying to hold him from being pulled into the ocean. The fish is too strong, pulling both father and son through the portal and into the deep, bone crushing ocean water.
Struggling with the cold water and the movement of the fish’s tail forcefully holding onto Gray Wolf, Blue Cloud is finally able to loosen the grip it has on Gray Wolf’s foot. The fish has pulled them into the water at least 100 yards (9 meters) and they struggle to swim back to the portal as the intense cold excruciating pressure of the water makes it impossible. The fish feels satisfied and swims away into the cold dark ocean water.
In shock, Running Deer questions, “Daniel, what can we do?”
Before Daniel can answer, Jon asks, “How deep is it?”
“It is at least 150 feet (50 meters) deep. If they go any deeper they could feel 400 times the pressure that we experience here on the surface of the Earth.”
“How can they survive that much pressure?”
“They can’t.”
***
“Commander, you will never believe what has just happened…”
“Quickly, tell me. I’m in the middle of a meeting.”
“I have been watching the area where I saw the ‘guardian’… a fish just put its tail through some type of wall and the next thing I knew it had grabbed a man’s foot and was pulling him into the water. Another man was holding on to the first one. Once the fish’s tail is made to let go of the man’s leg, it swam into the dark abyss leaving the two men in the water.”
While the midshipman is talking to his commander, a strong movement of water causes the hover ship to quickly circle several times as it is swept away by the movement of something large and dark swimming above it.
“What in the heck is that!!!” the midshipman wonders, full of fear as he tries to keep control of his ship.
***
Everyone in the Hall of Corridors runs to the refracted waves of the portal, hoping in some way to help Blue Cloud and Gray Wolf. Fear strikes their hearts as they watch a huge whale open its mouth wide enough to scoop up Blue Cloud and Gray Wolf and swim away.
Fear over takes everyone, except Daniel.
“DANIEL, A HUGE FISH JUST GOBBLED UP BLUE CLOUD AND GRAY WOLF!”
Calmly Daniel responds, “I know… Please go to the Security office and ask Treysen to put the monitor, that he is watching the fish, onto the huge screen. This will l
et you know what has happened…. It will be easier for you to see, rather than for me to explain it to you.”
***
“Are you still there Mandar?”
“Yes, sir…. Now that was a scary experience.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. My ship just started circling and circling around and around, quickly moving away from my position… I’ve got it under control now… But because of this experience, I have it all figured out.”
“You have a plan?”
“Yes, sir… I have a plan to get the ‘guardian’ !”