Paranormal Summer (Indigo Moon Rising)

by Sherry Guyberson

  "What, you thought we were scary? Pish posh!" Twilla giggled.

  Jillian watched all of remarkable things going on around her. "I don’t know why. I think it was because I just didn't know,” All of the sudden the connections seemed to get clearer in her mind.

  "The next time you start to get scared of something, maybe you’ll think about how you are judging what you don’t know!" Twilla said swaying to imaginary music. “That is a beautiful stone you possess," she said looking into Jillian's hand.

  "Thank you. Do you know anything about it? Is it special?"

  "Of course it is special. It belongs to you doesn't it?" Twilla said with a big smile.

  "Yes, it was a gift, but I don’t know how it can change my life."

  Twilla fluttered backwards a distance and looked all around her, “Maybe it is how you focus on the stone. What if you are the one to make it magic?”

  Illianna nodded her head in agreement.

  "We had better be on our way." Illianna said bowing to her friend.

  "If there is ever a time that I feel you need me, I will be there for you Jillian," Twilla said.

  "Good bye, thank you!" Jillian said as she and Illianna started to head back to the mouth of the cave.

  Jillian looked over her shoulder. How could I have been so wrong? Dragons, skeletons, vampires, zombies….she thought; how silly. As they walked the lights faded and she found they were back to where they started.

  Illianna looked at Jillian. Calmly she said, “Put your hand on my mane and close your eyes. Free your mind and just 'be.' Send your mind to where it knows it must go, and your body will follow. What you are seeking, you will find!”

  She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She relaxed her body from head to toe and held Illianna's mane. She could feel her heart beating in her ears. As she took another long breath it began to slow down. She sensed warmth in her chest. A dim light began to grow from deep within her. This light and warmth began to grow and ripple outward. It was extremely soothing, to just ‘be.’ In her mind’s eye she could see the darkness, she could feel the darkness. She began to feel the rumbling again. She trusted that this time she wouldn't be frightened. And the rumbling stopped.

  She opened her eyes and looked around. She was back in the field, next to the stream. Okay she thought. Wow what a dream! I have never seen anything like that before. Must have been the cake and ice cream, and everything else I ate at the party. She got up from underneath the knarley cherry tree and headed home for dinner.

  Aunt Jana and Tim were gone when Jillian got home but left a salad with some salsa and chips for her. She took it to her room and when she opened the door Tiffany Marie was sitting on her bed looking at her. Aunt Jana had made a little staircase of blankets for her to climb and had put her basket on the bed next to Jillian's pillow.

  "Aaahhh, Tiffany, I missed you!" Jillian said scooping her up and rubbing her face on to Tiffany Marie's cheek. "Aunt Jana was right about not taking you today. Maybe we do have to wait a while." She sat down on the bed with her and proceeded to eat dinner and tell her about the afternoon she had had. Tiffany Marie just listened as Jillian went on and on.

  She turned on her tablet and logged into Facebook. Staring at her profile. No messages? Her heart sank. Why do I even try? I don't think having friends is all it’s cracked up to be. Why should I care at all? I just get hurt every time. The story of my life. Oh, the journal! Jillian grabbed the journal and a pen. She opened it to the first page. Blank. Now, where do I start? The night I met Ryan and Sonya at the cabin. Then the regression, Ryan spilling his guts, what he saw in the field about a woman named Emmy. Oh, the birthday party, and the dream about Illianna and the cave. Holy cow! Now she was motivated! And so she began.

  After almost a solid hour and a half of writing, she was startled by the "Ding-dong ding-dong" from the alarm on her tablet. Sonya's beautiful, scary face was beside her chat. Jillian was elated!

  "Hi." Was all Sonya sent.

  "Hi, how r u doing?" Jillian asked pensively.

  "Good. Happy Birthday. Sry abt 2day, but Grandma Hilde needed me. We have a new couple that's gonna stay 4 a while. The house they r buying hasn't closed yet. Made some money helping them put things into storage. Did Ryan show up? Sonya asked.

  "Eventually." She answered, not knowing if she should share more. She hadn't told Ryan what happened with Sonya either. Since Sonya had told him about the party, had she told him about the regression? What a crazy mess, she thought.

  "Ding-dong ding-dong" her alarm sounded again. This time it was Ryan, his profile was a picture of an eagle’s head. "Anybody home?" was the message he sent.

  "Hi, yeah, talking with Sonya 2." She replied.

  "Can we all meet L8 2morrow afternoon?" Ryan asked.

  "Sonya, Ryan's on and wants to know if we can get together tomorrow afternoon. Would 5 at the library be good for you?" Jillian asked, as if she were leading a team.

  "Yeah, sure." Sonya responded.

  "Ryan, 5:00 at the library okay?" Jillian typed yawning.

  "Sounds good." Ryan responded, "Good night." And he was offline

  "Okay, we are set for 2morrow." Jillian told Sonya. "I gotta get some sleep. I even took a nap today."

  "K C ya 2morrow." And Sonya signed off.

  Jillian got her pajamas on, turned off the light and crawled under the sheet and put Tiffany Marie on her chest. She rubbed her ears; it felt so good that she cocked her furry little head, leaning into it. The tiny pink collar sported a tiny bell, but it needed a tag with her name too. I wonder if she minds being an only child now? Jillian thought. She was born in a litter, and when they get adopted out, do they experience separation anxiety? If she saw her mom or brothers and sisters later on would she recognize them? Would she instinctually know? Would she talk to them? Am I being a devoted mother to her? Leaving her to do other things? She is so young that if I took her with me I would have to keep an eye on her every moment. She remembered the story that her parents told her about how she walked away from her mom in a store one day. She just disappeared. Her mom panicked and called for help. Security shut down the store, and they made a line of people who walked 10 feet from each other to cover the entire store, to no avail. Then the officer got a call from another store in the mall that sold hats. They had found a little blond girl. It was her. Her dad used to take her to the hat store so she wouldn't get bored when her mom was shopping, so that day she got bored and went on her own. "Tiffany Marie, I promise I will never lose you!"

  She scratched behind her ears and could feel the divine vibrations of her purring throughout her chest. Now, I think this is what I would call heaven, she thought. They were breathing in unison, and soon it felt as if she were in sync with the whole universe.

  She opened her eyes. Illianna was looking at Jillian. Calmly she said, “Put your hand on my mane, and close your eyes. Free your mind and just 'be.' Send your mind to where it knows it must go, and your body will follow. What you are seeking, you will find!”

  She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She relaxed her body from head to toe and held Illianna's mane. She could feel her heart beating in her ears. As she took another long breath it began to slow down. She sensed warmth in her chest. A dim light began to grow from deep within her. This light and warmth began to grow and ripple outward. It was extremely soothing. To just ‘be.’ In her mind’s eye she could see the darkness, she could feel the darkness. She began to feel the rumbling again. She trusted that this time she wouldn't be frightened. And the rumbling stopped.

  She opened her eyes and looked around. They were at the edge of a lake. She could see the water, feel its coolness and smell it , too. She remembered that those tall, fuzzy, brown things were called cat tails and the green stalks were called snake grass. She could hear water moving like the stream next to the meadow, and an extremely loud bullfrog in the distance.

  Illianna looked around. "Which way would you like to go?" She asked.

  "I see a cliff," Jil
lian said nodding to their left, "let’s go that way." She began to walk along the cattails that lined the lakes edge. After a short distance Jillian came to a dead stop, and Illianna almost ran into her. "Are you okay?" Illianna quietly asked.

  "Yes, I'm fine," Jillian replied and stepped aside for Illianna to see. They had come upon a small sandy beach with a waterfall. This was not the only spectacular sight, but there were animals sitting on the sand watching the waterfall.

  "We have company," a turtle said as he slowly turned around. Suddenly a toad hopped towards them.

  "Well hello, hello, hello!" The toad said, bowing with much enthusiasm.

  The turtle, who was turning around as fast as he could, said, "Good day to you," bowing his head. "I am Zen."

  Jillian was transfixed on the waterfall. How peaceful. She took the pouch from around her neck and opened it to reveal the stone. Holding the stone in her hand, she found a clear spot in the sand and sat down between a salamander and a chipmunk.

  "Watch the falls. Relax! 'Just be.'” the chipmunk said. Jillian sat comfortably and stared at the falls. After a long while she shook her head and got up, "Did I fall asleep? It was so real. You know how dreams seem real? Like that."

  “Like dreams!” The turtle repeated.

  “Where do the things I dream about come from?” Jillian asked.

  “From your mind,” Zen said. “The world you find yourself in while dreaming or awake, everyone and everything you create first in your mind."

  "Oh!" She said nodding her head. "Well, this was like, I was watching myself. It was like an infomercial directed to me. Like how I am supposed to get over something. When I have thoughts that give me a hot, sick feeling. Like when I get mad, or when my heart hurts. I saw myself take a deep breath, standing with my feet planted firmly on the ground. Then I concentrated on my heart. As I focused on the light in my heart, it got bigger and bigger. Then I felt better and better."

  A blue damselfly landed on Jillian's head. She looked down and Jillian looked up. “Feel thankful now for everyone and everything you have. When you count your blessings, FEEL them. It’s the feeling that creates beautiful waves inside and around you. Then, remember that within each blessing there are the ones that made them possible, too.”

  The mist from the falls made a rainbow ending in the sand. Jillian walked over to where it ended. Now it was gone. She backed up, and there it was again. She knelt down. Gently she blew into the water and watched the waves ripple outward. Why was that so familiar? She heard a familiar voice. What you think makes the difference in how you feel. That made her think about the party, the disappointment. The hot, knotty feelings of anger and frustration started to well up inside of her.

  Jillian stood up and walked closer to the waterfall. There was a smooth portion where she could see her entire reflection. This was her, but it actually wasn't. She looked younger. There in the waterfall was a scowling, angry girl glaring at her. Startled she asked, “Who’s that? It sorta looks like me, but it's not. I am much older and more mature.”

  An owl sitting in a nearby tree offered, “That is what youuu are projecting, that is what youuu were thinking. When youuu think like that, youuu will feel like that, and youuu will remain that way.”

  Jillian’s mouth dropped open. She looked at the reflection, which now had her arms crossed, with a large frown disfiguring her sweaty, red face. Her toe was tapping as if she were waiting for something. “Is that really me?" Jillian said and looked back at the animals on the beach. “What do we do?” Jillian asked.

  “We can’t do anything except give youuu some guidance. Youuu are the only one that has the ability,” the owl answered.

  “It's sssimple,” a snake piped up as it slithered closer to Jillian. Jillian knelt down and looked it straight in the eye. “Sssimply change your thoughts.”

  Jillian took a deep breath and rolled her eyes up as if in thought. Think happy thoughts. Be grateful for what I do have. The blessings that are all around me right now. She closed her eyes and began to feel the things she was grateful for. She took another long, deep breath, and her face began to soften. Then a smile began to grow, grow, and grow. Then she began to giggle, and then she began to glow. She took another deep breath and looked around.

  Of course, all of the animals’ eyes were on her, and they were all smiling. Jillian turned to see her reflection. “Oh!” She gasped. Looking at her was a beautiful, confident, young girl smiling back at her. She seemed to glow. But was that her? Maybe the waterfall made you look younger. But it wasn't quite clear now.

  “Wow!” Jillian said as the animals began to applaud. “That was pretty simple!” She felt wonderfully full and content and even empowered. She looked at all of the magnificent animals and insects and birds around her. The sun must have been in a special part of the sky to make everything look so radiant. Everything seemed so much more dimensional, detailed, almost electrified.

  A large fluorescent green darner dragonfly had been watching from a nearby bush. He lifted off and hovered near Jillian. “When you feel love, that is your spirit talking to you. Your connection to spirit is always there. It is always available. It is always ready to help; you just need to ask."

  A hawk was soaring silently above them. The crowd was whispering and pointing. They seemed to be waiting his arrival. Landing on a boulder at the water’s edge, he bowed to the crowd and they bowed back.

  “I am Leonardo, the overseer of this land,” he said to Jillian.

  “That is a beautiful stone you possess,” he said looking at Jillian’s hand, and how it seemed to be glowing silver, gold and purple.

  “Thank you,” Jillian said eyes wide open looking at the stone. “Do you know anything about it? Is it special?”

  “Of course it is special. It belongs to you, doesn’t it?” The hawk said as he tilted his head slightly.

  Jillian started to nod and shook her head, “Yes, I am looking for the secret. That is why I am here.”

  “So then, what are your intentions?” He asked almost as if he were staring into her soul with his piercing eyes.

  “I don’t know,” Jillian replied wondering what he meant.

  “You must live with intention or you will be adrift, floating aimlessly. Decide what you want to do, and state your intention.”

  Jillian was getting a bit nervous. This was not making sense. A little skunk walked up to Jillian and tugged at her pant leg. “Before you get out of bed, say ‘I intend that I am making this a great day!’ Or think about how you want your next adventure to go. Then say something like, ‘I intend for this experience to give me the answers I need at this time.’ You can do this all day long,” the skunk said and scampered back to the crowd.

  “Oh, I get it!” Jillian exclaimed as she thought about how she could intend a lot of things. “I intend that I will keep you all in my heart,” Jillian said without even realizing it. Her eyes got wide as she blinked and looked around wondering where that came from.

  The animals all started to laugh at the surprise of her spontaneity. Jillian laughed too.

  “Do you think you are any closer to understanding the secret?” Illianna asked.

  Jillian looked down at her hand that held the stone. A pink light was glowing from between her fingers, “Yes, I do,” Jillian said. “Thank you all so much,” Jillian said, bowing to everyone. “You have given me so much to think about!”

  “You are very welcome,” Zen said. His smile was so wide he was squinting.

  “Thank you!” Jillian said. She and Illianna turned around and headed back to where they had started.

  When they reached the familiar place at the lake’s edge, Illianna said, “Put your hand on my mane and close your eyes. Free your mind and just ‘be.’ Send your mind to where it knows it must go, and your body will follow. What you are seeking, you will find!” Jillian took a deep breath and began to relax. To just 'be.’ In her mind’s eye, she could see the waterfall and sandy beach. She began to feel the rumbling again, and then i
t stopped.

  She opened her eyes, and the sun was so intense she covered her face. She heard a familiar sound, Tiffany Marie purring. She was right there on her chest, where she had put her last night. As she stretched, she thought, I have never dreamed like that before, except for the nap I took in the meadow.

  She put Tiffany Marie in her litter box and jumped back into bed, opened her journal and began to write down her newest 'dream.'

  Jillian arrived at the library quite early, but certainly not wanting to look anxious. Nice little place, she thought. So quiet. There is nobody else around, unless they're hiding. So, what do I do now that I'm here? She started looking through the selection of all 52 music CD's they had to offer. Then it only took a minute to browse the even smaller video selection, mostly all on VHS. She realized they don't have their books on computers? Card catalogs? I guess I will just start at the beginning. Me and Dewey! She thought when Ryan walked in. Jillian looked up at the clock; it was exactly 5!