by Brandt Legg
“Aren’t I going to forget how to do all this stuff?”
“No, you won’t lose any of it. It will just keep getting stronger. You’ve always had these abilities, and now that they’ve awakened again, you own them.” He stopped and stared out at the ocean for a minute. “And Nate, remember not to discuss your father, Lightyear, or any of the things you’re learning with anyone. No matter how much you trust them.”
“Okay.” His words made me nervous.
I noticed more and more seagulls landing around us. I looked at Spencer.
“Animals are open to the universe. They have filters to block themselves. They aren’t trying to make sweeter soda or pills to make their pain go away. They don’t want the biggest TV. Animals just are. And because of that they are open. They immediately sense when a human is also receptive. And since this is happening right here in their domain, I think they are kind of welcoming you or saying hello. It’s hard to say, actually. There sure are a lot of them, aren’t there?” he said, turning and taking in what was now untold thousands of birds filling the beach around us.
We watched in silence as they landed. The black monoliths contrasted the countless white birds covering them. The hysteria of white wings against swirling blue waves crashing on the rocks was mythical. The area suddenly became warm and hopeful, as the beach was now more feather than sand. “What should I do?” I asked.
“I’m not sure really. I’ve never seen anything quite like this,” Spencer said. We continued to watch the beautiful spectacle, and then, as if by some secret cue, they lifted in a flutter of wings, soft yet deafening. Spiraling above the beach and out to sea, masking the sky, they quickly dissipated in all directions and were gone.
We walked on the narrowing beach as high tide culminated and made our way around a jutting cliff that was practically in the waves. I wondered if we would make it back.
“There are some things your Aunt Rose can teach you quicker because of your relationship.”
“Do you know her?”
“Oh, we met a thousand years ago.”
“You mean when you were both younger?”
“No, I mean we actually knew each other as Anasazi Indians around 1100 AD at Mesa Verde. We’ve also met a few times in this lifetime through your dad.”
“What should I ask her help with?”
“The color sparks you see, auras, and prophecy,” he said.
“Prophecy?”
“She uses a crystal ball, I believe. Any reflective surface will work. You can do it without any props, but it’s easier to use something. She’s also good at helping with guide writing, which is writing or typing what your guides are telling you. Especially early on, you’ll find this a great way to communicate with the other side.”
“So you still talk to my dad?”
“Yes.”
“Can I?”
“Not yet, but you’ll learn. He’s with you always. You’ve had many lifetimes together.”
“So, is he waiting to reincarnate again?”
“No. He’s currently alive in several different incarnations. There are no limits to the soul. We don’t just do one life at a time. We’re almost always living multiple lifetimes simultaneously, dozens.”
“Talk about schizophrenic.”
Spencer smiled. “We can cross-communicate between all these different existences and even knowingly, but usually unknowingly, interact with one of our other selves. It can be more than the mind can handle. Your dad’s soul can be with you, talk to me, watch over Dustin, follow every moment of your mother’s grieving struggles and live forty other lives all at the exact same time.”
“So he could be a cab driver in New York, a rice farmer in Thailand, a housewife in London and a homeless person somewhere else, all right now?”
“Yes,” he said. “And guiding you from the other side without any of those incarnations knowing about any of it.”
I couldn’t wait to tell Amber. “Speaking of all these lifetimes, you said you were going to show me how to control the Outviews so I wasn’t always dying.”
“We’ll meet back here again on Friday. It’ll have to wait until then.”
“No, I can’t take many more deaths.”
“Okay, it’s a huge topic, but I’ll tell you now how you can avoid that. Whenever you feel you’re about to enter a death, in your mind just turn around sharply.”
“That sounds pretty simple.”
“It’s not. It can be quite messy, but at least it should let you stay away from the deaths until we have time to go into it more. Explaining the time navigational aspects of astral traveling within the split realities of the multi-dimensional, soul-connected universe is time consuming.”
I looked up at him, then away. “Whatever.”
“We’ve just touched on some things, abilities that will help you manage the dilemma you’re in. There is so much more to explore. Eventually, you’ll be able to teach Kyle, Linh, Dustin, Rose and many others who are part of the wave. You are like the moon. As you do things that affect the wave, everyone on the planet will feel the effects of the tide.”
“I can’t believe how much I’ve learned today.”
“Don’t let your newly awakened abilities fool you. There are enormous powers swirling around in the world. You’re nothing near invincible, Nate. You need to practice avoidance, not confrontation.”
“Believe me, I don’t feel invincible.”
“Maybe not on this beach with me while all of this is still so new, but there will be times soon when you’re with your friends or your mother, and you feel like your abilities can allow you to do anything, like you’re a god. Watch for those thoughts and banish them. They will bring more trouble than you can dream. You are not a god, just a small fraction, incomplete without the rest of us. I know you think that you’ll never feel that, but you will, and that’s why you must spend the night alone in the woods. It will give you perspective. And when those feelings come, then you will have this night as part of you. It’ll give you something to draw from to stave off the erupting ego.”
“Are you crazy? I’m not spending the night alone in the woods. It’s not safe. And it’s totally unnecessary, I’m not like that.” I couldn’t believe he really wanted me to stay in the forest overnight!
“Nate, this is no small thing. I told you earlier today that this is an epic battle between good and evil. What I’m talking about is the technology of man with all its materialism and greed suppressing the power of our souls. It can go either way at this point. The numbers are on their side, in the short term anyway, or at least in this dimension. Neither side is organized in the battle, neither side acknowledges the war, yet it is happening.”
“What’s that got to do with me sleeping in the woods?”
“Your dad asked me to help you. I’m asking you to do this. You need to do this.”
He had shown me so much. I would have done anything he asked. I just needed to contain my fear. “Okay, Spencer.”
“Thank you,” he said. “Then it’s time. You need to spend the night in the trees and not on the beach.”
“What if I need you before Friday?”
“Trust the universe.”
“What am I supposed to do tonight?”
“Make it to sunrise.”
“Am I going to?”
“You need to talk to your guides. Ask for their help and protection. Tell them you’re ready. They will help you.”
“What about a tent, sleeping bag, food?”
He shook his head.
“Seriously?”
“You won’t need them.”
“And where will you be?”
“Somewhere else. You will not need me either.”
“Wait, I saw a mountain lion in the woods on the way down,” I said panicked.
“Remember, animals are open.”
“So they won’t hurt me.”
“I didn’t say that. A mountain lion is still a mountain lion and will eat you if it needs to. I�
�m just saying that you’re not defenseless against the animal instinct. There is more to it than that.”
“There’s always more to everything it seems.”
“Now you’re getting it.”
“So how do I stop the mountain lion or bears or whatever else from eating me?”
“Get that channel clear and keep calm. You should feel more at home and safer the deeper you are in nature. It will always be like that. Besides, the lions and bears will be the least of your worries tonight.”
25
“So this is goodbye until we meet again Friday,” he said.
“You’re leaving now? I won’t even see you in the morning?”
“I’m hungry. I need to go get a good warm dinner.” He laughed.
“No, really, I’m nervous about all this.”
“You aren’t scared?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m scared. Falling-off-a-cliff kind of scared.”
“The only way you’ll get into trouble is if you let that fear control you.”
“How the hell do I avoid it?”
“I can’t teach you that. You have to figure it out. The trees are kind,” he said pointing toward the forest.
I looked up at the imposing verdant canvas stretching along the cliff as far down the coast as I could see in either direction and headed in. The sun was already touching the ocean. I had maybe an hour of twilight left.
The trees did look gentle and ancient, wise giants protecting the coast. Moss covered lower trunks, fallen trees, rocks, everything. I crouched on the narrow trail, touching and reading the trees that bordered it, using my new Vising ability, watching who had come and gone over the days, months, and years before, not knowing when was when. I smiled, seeing Kyle and Linh as they had passed earlier.
Spencer had suggested heading north up the coast, so I navigated through thick undergrowth until darkness stole the last visibility. There was a trace of moonlight, but almost none filtered into the forest, and my sight was limited to less than three feet. “What am I doing?” I thought. It had been around seventy degrees during the day, but nighttime temperatures plummet to the low forties. There would be total darkness for more than nine hours. The clock was ticking. I had hiking boots, long pants, a T-shirt, and a fleece but was starting to feel the chill; there would be no sleep.
The coyotes announced their presence first, singing their manic songs. There were other animal noises and bug sounds I didn’t recognize, didn’t want to know. I tried to meditate to fight the growing tension and fear, and I reminded myself to breathe. “Go to the beach,” I whispered, the rumble of waves soothed me. Just walk downhill. “Was it high tide or low?” I wondered. No, Spencer was adamant that this was needed. He had said something poetic about it Linh would like; what was it? “You need a dark night of the soul.”
“It couldn’t be much darker,” I thought.
Then I remembered his parting advice, “Talk to your guides, stay in the trees.”
“Guides, I’m unsure how to do this, so I’m going to assume you can hear me. I’m just going to say that I need help. I’m scared. I’ve camped and hiked a lot, but staying out here all night alone with no light is kind of different. Really very different.” Then it hit me. I had a light, the one from that morning. I pulled the pack off my back, unzipped the outside pocket and “Yes! Let there be light!” I surveyed the area. It gave an extra ten feet but when turned off, nothing. It was five minutes before my eyes adjusted again, so I pledged to use the light only for emergencies.
“Back to you, Guides. Maybe you reminded me about my light. I sure would have felt stupid finding it tomorrow. Anyway, as I was saying, anything you can do to help me get through this night would be great. But I also could use help getting Dustin out and finding the guy who killed my dad. And you probably know I really need the most help figuring out how to do all this cool stuff Spencer has been teaching me or reminding me or whatever. I don’t want to blow it. I really think he might be wrong about me being one of the seven. Maybe he just said that to give me some extra confidence because I just don’t think I’m smart enough to do all this.” I waited for an answer. Nothing came.
My senses fell into crisis, a stunning feeling of fire grabbing, so hot, I tore at my fleece, wanting it off. A terrible haunting noise broke the night, drums echoed through the woods, loud, ceremonial, driving. I was running again, stumbling and dodging trees. What was this punishment? How many lifetimes have ended with me being chased to my death? Was it now or long ago? No way to know, I just had to run. Pursuers were closing in. Voices ordered a strategy to trap me. It was blisteringly hot, my skin slick with sweat. Running. Running. Why weren’t they shooting? The mob was so close now. Torches appeared in front of me. More came from the sides. I was surrounded. Surely they were about to kill me.
The heat stifled my thoughts. A desperate attempt at escape occurred in my last wisp of consciousness. In case this was a past life and not the present, I tried Spencer’s method of avoiding death in Outviews. I consciously and abruptly turned around. Instantly, moving back several years earlier in that life, I was younger and hiding in a tree. It was no longer night in the Outview; instead, the warmth of a balmy morning felt cool after the burning heat from before.
Seeing my hands holding onto the branches, dark and dry, I was African. Slave traders had just captured my parents, who were being loaded—chained and shackled—into wagons; a large ship waited in the distance. Although it was probably sometime in the 1700s, the devastation was total, as if they had taken Dustin and my mother. The modern-day me understood what awaited my African parents at the end of their voyage on the slave ship, if they were unfortunate enough to survive. The “me” in the tree just knew his parents were gone forever; it was a death.
A deer jumped over me so close that its hoof grazed my shoulder. I was no longer in the tree but back in modern-day Oregon. Before I had time to figure out why, the mountain lion was there. It stopped from its pursuit of the deer and faced me. I could see it from the outer limits of my vision, which was now maybe ten feet. I thought of the light in my pocket. It growled and shifted its weight. Our eyes locked. There wasn’t much time. I couldn’t outrun it, and climbing a tree to escape a cat is not an option. Suppressing panic became harder each second. Could I Gogen an animal, maybe a big log, a rock? Get it between us? No, too risky. I’d have to divert my attention for too long. Why would Spencer put me in this position? What had he said? Clear the channel and keep calm. He said I should feel safer in nature. The cat was moving now, a few feet to my left, stalking me. I kept my eyes on it and began to speak softly.
“I’m not afraid, you’re not my enemy.” It sounded corny and I’m not sure where it came from, but at least I was doing something.
It screamed as if to say, “You are afraid.”
“I’m not sure how to end this standoff. I’m only here for a night. This is your home. May I stay here tonight?”
It leaped toward me. In the millisecond I had, my only thought was, move. The mountain lion landed at least six feet to my right. Either I moved it or I moved. I had no idea which. Without stopping it turned and came again at full charge, screaming.
“Stop!” I yelled. And it did. What now?
It growled.
Something pushed me to walk toward it. There was no time to think of alternatives. I kept eye contact as I approached. With trembling hands, I slowly reached behind its ears and petted the big cat, sensing it was a female. Our eyes were just inches apart now and hers suddenly closed. When they opened the cougar screamed right in my face. She moved and through the momentum or some other force, my hand gripped the fur behind her ears flinging me around onto her back. I locked my legs around her and used all my strength to hang on as she went tearing into the blackness. I managed to get one arm around her neck. My vision adjusted just as we were sailing across a wide, deep ravine thirty feet in the air. Her speed was shocking. I’d ridden on a motorcycle once with a friend of Dustin’s and this was similar. The lion
was silent as she navigated the jungle, her muscles tensed and flexed, indescribably pure power. We came to a cliff wall, the first pause since my ride began ten minutes earlier. My thoughts caught up as I was about to get off she leaped straight up onto a ledge and was running again. I could now see about fifty feet ahead and the ground was less steep.
Flashes of the lion’s life came, a long series of hunts and kills. There had been cubs at some point, maybe two litters. Only one survived but was grown and gone. We ran another ten minutes. She stopped for no apparent reason and seemed to be waiting. I dismounted. A quick look at me, then she ran in the direction we’d been going, into the darkness.
I stood there wondering about the encounter. Would anyone believe I’d ridden a mountain lion? Did I believe it? It was impossible to imagine a greater thrill. But there was much more to it. A spiritual connection occurred between us. How did it happen? Do we reincarnate as animals? Was it real? If not, then why was I now so far from Tea Leaf Beach?
The questions would have to wait. It was suddenly very cold. How far had we come? I didn’t know it at the time, but mountain lions can travel thirty-five miles an hour. In twenty minutes at top speed, we could have gone ten miles. Hopefully, it was less than half that. A daunting task lay ahead, with so much ground to retrace through a black forest. At least now I could see farther; it was a useful new power that had surfaced without Spencer or my prompting.
I headed back with Spencer’s warning replaying, “Lions and bears are the least of your worries tonight.” My steps quickened, out of a mixture of needing to stay warm and concern about everything. Every few minutes I stopped briefly to listen. There was so much to hear: the distant ocean, crickets, and always the rustle of things moving, some a few feet away, others farther. I distinctly heard footsteps that stopped whenever I did. Animal? Human? Something else? I didn’t know but moved a little faster each time it happened. Soon I was running. After what seemed like hours but was probably fifteen minutes, I had to rest. My breath rapid, legs burning, I heard the steps stop again. Keeping my thoughts light to alleviate the rising fear wasn’t working. I got my flashlight and positioned it in my hand so any pressure from my thumb would turn it on. I had no other weapons, but in a dark forest a bright light could possibly save me.