by D. B. Magee
Aphelia put her hand above her ear. The little creature fluttered over and dropped ever so lightly into her palm. “This is my friend, Fayette,” Aphelia said. “She comes from a planet in my galaxy, called Alida.” She extended her arm, giving Lisa a closer look.
Lisa bent down close and squinted, trying to make out the details of this new visitor.
“Here, let me make it easier for you,” a gentle voice resonated in Lisa’s mind. All of a sudden, Fayette enlarged herself to about twelve inches tall, about the size of a fashion doll.
“Remarkable!” Lisa exclaimed, leaning back out of the way. Then, studying the luminescent little fairy, Lisa saw that she wore a yellow, tight-fitting gown. She also noticed that Fayette’s long, red-orange hair was crowned with a tiny floral garland, and that her dainty, full-length wings were multihued, with exquisite irregularly curved edges, resembling French curves.
“You are adorable,” Lisa complemented.
“Thank you,” Fayette said. You are lovely, also.” Then, returning to her former—and more comfortable for her—size, she said, “May I ask your name, and which world you hail from?”
“My name is Lisa, and I am from Earth.” It suddenly dawned on her that she was conversing with beings from another planet. This excited her tremendously. “Do all species, uh, races in the spirit world speak English?” she asked of Aphelia.
“No,” Aphelia answered. “We speak in our own tongue. A condition of the spirit world is that we all understand each other’s thoughts in our own language.”
“Wow! Automatic translation,” Lisa said, bubbling.
“I am surprised this concept is new to you,” Fayette commented. “Are you new in spirit?”
“Uh, no. I am not dead,” Lisa attempted to explain. “I am still alive on Earth. I am just—uh—sightseeing, you might say.”
Fayette giggled. “Do you mean to infer that we are dead? Do I look dead to you?”
“Um, no. I mean . . .”
Aphelia laughed. “I think what Lisa is trying to say is that she is still in material form, yet comes to our world as an astral visitor.”
“Yes! That’s it.” Lisa said, thankful that Aphelia had intervened, and thus preventing her from tripping any further over her tongue.
“Ah! I see,” remarked Fayette. “Then I bid you welcome, Lisa!” She flew from Aphelia’s hand and kissed Lisa on the cheek. “Enjoy your visit. Maybe we will meet again.” And with that, she darted off toward a group of girls hovering in the distance, playing a game of musical ball.
“You know,” Lisa said, “I have never encountered beings from other planets before. She lay down once again on the cushy outcropping. “Does everyone from your galaxy have wings?”
“Yes,” Aphelia replied, her own wings fluttering softly in the light breeze. “The name of our galaxy, in your language, is called Aldora and means gift of wings. My planet is named Alleta and means winged ones. Fayette’s planet, Alida, means small winged ones.” Aphelia twisted around, peered out at the sparkling pond, and then looked back at Lisa. “I don’t see any right now, but there are some other delightful creatures that come from a world in our galaxy called Nixie, meaning water sprite. They too have wings, and can live in and out of water.”
“I wish we had wings on our planet,” Lisa admitted, staring out at the jubilant children playing in the plunge pool. “It sure would solve some of the congestion in our larger cities.”
“I’ll be right back,” Aphelia said, and without further explanation, she flew off.
Lisa closed her eyes and daydreamed while she awaited her winged friend.
In a short span of time Aphelia returned, her arms full of bunches of grape-size, ruby-red fruit. “Would you like some?” she asked Lisa, setting them down gingerly atop strings of vines.
Lisa sat up, a look of pleasant surprise on her face. “They look delicious, thank you.” She picked a couple from the bunch and started to pop them into her mouth.
Aphelia laughed. “No, no. Like this.” She held a few close to her nose and mouth and inhaled deeply. Instantly the fruit dematerialized, looking like pixie dust as she breathed it in.
Lisa’s eyes almost sprang out of her head. “You just snorted fruit!”
“That’s how it’s done here,” Aphelia stated. “Remember, we don’t have internal organs anymore, so there’s no need to eat them.”
“Then how do you enjoy their flavors?” Lisa said, scrutinizing their luscious-looking bounty.
Aphelia picked another small handful. “Try it, you’ll see.”
Lisa rolled the samples she still held between her fingers, squeezing them ever so gently to test their solidity. “But—how do they just dissolve like that?”
“Just as there are laws on your world, like the law of gravity, similar laws exist here, and one of those has to deal with the consumption of food.” Aphelia inhaled another handful of the delectable fruit with a satisfied smile.
Looking over at Aphelia, now lying on her back, nestled within her wings, Lisa said, “Honestly, I’m surprised that spirits require nutrition at all.”
“We don’t, really. We do it for the pleasure and other benefits it provides us,” Aphelia said. “Are you going to try it? It’s very refreshing.”
Lisa took one last look at the berries and raised her hand to her mouth.
“Right, now just inhale,” Aphelia urged.
Lisa took a deep breath, and as she did, the fruit in her hand magically dissolved and flowed effortlessly into her nostrils. Her eyebrows flew high, while her body was filled with a tingling and refreshing energy that spread all the way to her toes. “Wow!” she shrieked. “I feel so—so . . .”
“Refreshed?”
“ALIVE!” Lisa said passionately. “It feels like all of my senses have just been awakened.”
For a few minutes, the girls said nothing while enjoying their snack. Finally, Lisa addressed Aphelia in a more serious tone. “Do children from all planets come here when they die, uh, I mean leave their material bodies?”
“Here, to Summerland?”
Lisa nodded.
“No. This place is for the children of your world. It teaches them what they should have learned on Earth, and what they will need to know in order to progress in this world. Each planet has its own spirit world of progression.”
Lisa looked around the area, studying the various children. Many of these kids were from other planets, as was evident by their outwardly appearance. “If Summerland is only for Earth children . . .”
“Then why am I, and others like me, here in Summerland?” Aphelia said, finishing Lisa’s question.
“Yes.”
Aphelia slid up behind Lisa and began tying her hair with one of the vines from their snack. She added a small leaf for decoration. “Part of our education,” she began, “is spent visiting other schools in order to learn about other races. Think of it as a foreign exchange program, except that we visit many schools, and not just one or two.” She finished Lisa’s makeover by wrapping another vine around the girl’s ankle as an accent. “There! What do you think?”
Lisa smiled as she admired her new look in the reflection of the pool. Looking up, she saw the group of girls from the musical ball game descending all around her. It was a bit crowded, but they all found space atop the mossy boulder.
“Are you Lisa?” one of the girls asked.
Lisa looked surprised. “Yes, but how . . .?”
“Fayette told us,” another girl chimed in. “She said that you are an astral visitor, and still live on Earth. Is that true?”
Lisa nodded. “Yes, I do.”
Quickly the girls sat themselves all around Lisa and Aphelia and scrunched in tightly. Lisa noticed that they seemed to arrange themselves in order from oldest to youngest.
“Hi, I’m Julia,” said the oldest girl, the one who had approached Lisa first.
“And I’m Ann,” the second one introduced.
The rest of the girls quickly took their turn in
order.
“I’m Lily.”
“I’m Sophia, but my birth name was Rebecca. I changed it,” this one whispered shyly. “I like Sophia better.”
“I like Sophia better, too,” Lisa whispered back with a warm smile.
The last girl leaned forward. She was adorable, and appeared to be about eight years old. “I didn’t have a name when I was on Earth, because I left as soon as I was born, so the angels named me Olivia. Do you like it?”
“I love it!” Lisa said with a wink.
Nonstop chattering broke out, and Lisa couldn’t believe the questions or the curiosity of these poor, information-deprived children.
“Please tell us about our world,” Julia asked. “We don’t know much about it. Can you tell us about the time you live in?”
“Um, ok. Where should I start?”
“Do all of the girls wear those types of garments?” Ann asked, pointing to Lisa’s clothes.
“What topics are you learning in school?” Julia asked, without waiting for answers to the previous questions.
“Is it true that you aren’t able to play with some kids on your world because of distance and language barriers?” Sophia inquired.
Lisa tried to answer. “Yes, but . . .”
“That’s so sad,” Sophia added.
“Well, they’re so far away that …”
“Why are there language barriers?” Lily asked. “Can’t you all understand each other’s thoughts?”
“We don’t communicate by thought.”
“I don’t think I would like it there,” Lily admitted.
“Can you tell us about family?” Olivia asked softly.
Suddenly all the girls became silent. “Yes, tell us about family,” they all probed.
Lisa felt a sudden stab of emotion, and a tear tugged at her eye, at the thought of what these children had missed out on. Taking a deep breath, she settled in and began to indulge their curiosities, as best she could.
SPAZ is not just a game
“Where’re we headin’ Stacy?” Ryan asked, holding onto his hat with one hand while Stacy dragged him through the air by his other.
“There’s some sort of festival on the other side of the island,” she said. “I want to check it out, and you’re coming with me.”
Ryan chuckled. “Sure, why not? I’ve got nothing better to do.”
Side-by-side Ryan and Stacy soared through the air as weightless, wispy, astral travelers, over the expansive and beautifully variegated Sunny Island. Nearing the other side, they saw in the distance a bustle of activity.
Stacy pointed. “There,” she said, “That must be the place.”
They arrived, a minute later, at the edge of what looked like a very packed Renaissance fair. They continued on floating slowly overhead until reaching the center of the fairgrounds, where finding it a great vantage point to the majority of the festivities they stopped and hovered above the boisterous merriment. Everything was so pristine—no dirt, garbage or ugliness anywhere. The expansive grounds were bordered by perfectly trimmed hedges, and covered by an immaculately manicured lawn, not that you could see much of it, mind you, through the crowds, attractions and amusements.
Trailing off into the distance, on both sides of the main grounds, were winding pathways leading off in opposite directions. At the end of one pathway lay an expansive fenced in wilderness area. From this distance, it was hard to tell if any life forms were occupying this area. The other pathway terminated at a large lake being enjoyed by scores of people, in and out of the water. Straight ahead, beyond the festival, were the mountains that surrounded the island, and beyond that, the ocean.
Below, the grounds were filled with children and some very strange-looking animals. Most of the children were spectators, while a number of them seemed to be the owners and presenters of these performing animals. A number of the fantastical creatures whizzed about through the air, while the rest scampered over the ground, around their owner’s feet.
“Let’s go down there,” Stacy said, indicating a small group of children crowding around a boy and his dancing pet.
Ryan followed, and together he and Stacy joined the kids who were now laughing and pointing at the encircled pair.
“Have you ever seen anything so crazy-looking?” Stacy said of the performing critter.
Ryan poked fun at the chimp-like animal that also sported a long trunk, big ears, and wings. “What is it, a flying monkey—or an elephant-bird?”
Stacy laughed, as did some of the other kids.
The boy, dressed in a green knee length tunic, smiled at their mockery as his Monkeyphant sniffed the crowd. He grabbed the creature’s snout as it gazed back at him with large, welcoming eyes. “If you think the trunk is too much,” he said, looking at Ryan, “I can get rid of it.” He raised the animal’s snakelike appendage into the air and held a threatening pose. A mischievous grin crossed his lips.
“Go for it,” Ryan said jokingly.
Stacy threw her hands on her hips. “Don’t you dare!”
The boy looked back at his pet. “I’m sorry, Wimbley. The cowboy said get rid of it.” Suddenly, the boy jerked down hard on the poor critter’s trunk.
Stacy screamed.
In the boy’s other hand, unseen by Ryan or Stacy, he simultaneously manipulated a palm-sized device. Poof! The long snout vanished.
Stacy stood horrified, hands cupped over her mouth.
“Whoa!” Ryan exhaled. “I didn’t see that coming.”
Stacy backhanded Ryan’s shoulder. “You told him to do it!” Then, expecting to see the poor animal in agony, she looked back, only to see the boy grinning cheerfully. What had been a solid, lifelike animal a moment ago, was now a floating light image, something like a hologram.
Ryan passed his hand through the airy model. “Neat toy,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” the boy said, smiling at Stacy, “it’s not real. It’s just a model. I could tell you two were new, and thought I’d have a little fun with you.”
“Well—that was just mean,” Stacy huffed.
The boy manipulated his control once again, and the monkey’s trunk reappeared. Then, wagging his finger between Ryan and Stacy, he said, “Why are you two still in your Earth clothes? Didn’t your guardians supply you with new attire upon arrival?” Before Ryan or Stacy could answer, a small flash of light appeared before the boy. “Will you excuse me?” he asked apologetically. “I’m being summoned.” He shut down his simulation and took his leave.
“Come on,” Ryan said, “let’s mosey around and see what other cool stuff we can find.”
Stacy’s face was aglow with delight as she followed Ryan through the festive crowd.
Up ahead was a model of what looked like a tribrid of a dog, a lion and a scorpion. “That’d sure make one great guard dog, don’t you think?” Ryan said, hurrying up to it.
Stacy winced at the thought of that thing in the house. She shook her head in disapproval and turned away to survey more attractions. It’s then that she saw an object that pulled at her heart strings. “You can keep your watchdog. I want one of those,” she said, watching a fuzzy red panda with rabbit feet hop around under the control of a young girl.
Near Ryan, a different boy manipulated a whimsical-looking creature with a pointed head, pointed ears, pointed chin, and a long, pointed nose that looked like it had crawled right out of some fantasy novel. Even its tail and the back of its feet were pointed.
On Stacy’s left, sniffing its way toward her, was a cute Aardvark-type animal with two snouts, balloon feet, and two long narrow tails that ended in thorny balls. She watched with intrigue as it approached.
Ryan touched Stacy’s shoulder. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s see what else we can find.” They left the central part of the grounds, with all the real-life models, and headed toward the exhibit and display section.
Stacy was full of wonder as she glanced around the various animal design simulators and holographic displayed. Every booth and st
and they passed was surrounded by groups of children crowding to see. Some kids even hovered overhead for a better view.
Stacy approached one exhibit that didn’t have too many spectators. Hovering above the counter was a lifelike model of a comical-looking Manta Ray with oversized eyes and a goofy smile. A sign read: Moody the Air Fish – Stroke my back and I’ll cheer you up.
“May I?” Stacy asked of an older boy who was attending the display.
“Absolutely,” the boy replied, stepping forward. “That’s what it’s there for.”
Stacy stroked the model’s back, and giggled as its face contorted into many comical expressions. Its body and wings also animated amusingly.
“My proposal,” the boy said, “is to incorporate these into the Orientation Department, to be used as a mood enhancement therapy for new arrivals.”
Stacy looked confused. “Why would children need mood enhancement therapy here in Summerland?”
“Most children, when they first arrive,” the boy said seriously, “are not in a good place, emotionally. They miss their family, their friends, and their entire life. They are all alone and lost, initially. They do receive orientation by their guardian angels, and counseling by their spirit guides, and after a while they accept the inevitable and eventually thrive here. This,” he said, stroking Moody the Air Fish, “is just another tool to help them.”
Stacy’s face suddenly drooped. “I never thought about that,” she said sadly. “I sure hope your project gets accepted. Good luck.” She raised her hand in a quick goodbye and walked away, feeling very disheartened about all the children who were torn away from their families. For a few moments, she wandered about aimlessly, considering how she, herself, felt at having lost her parents. At least, with the Frequency Glasses, she thought, I can see my parents whenever I want.
A little way ahead, and just beyond the exhibits area, Ryan stood staring at an oddly shaped, futuristic building, constructed from a substance resembling shimmering pewter. Seeing Stacy wandering his way, he called to her. “Stacy, take a gander at this!”