The Guardian of Threshold

by A. A. Volts

  “Right, just like when you thought that building a model rocket was a piece of cake?” asked Carla, referring to the time Jonas blew up his model rocket before the school science fair had even started.

  “It would have worked if you hadn’t persuaded me to change the design and the size of the motor,” Jonas said, not convincing anyone except himself.

  ***

  “Follow me, I want to try something fun,” said Carla.

  “Oh boy, here we go again,” said Jonas. “I see trouble in our future.”

  “What do you have in mind?” I asked.

  “We should fly outside,” suggested Carla.

  “Hmm, that might be cool,” Jonas said.

  Carla had decided that in order to go outside, we should pass through my bedroom wall. Personally, I didn’t mind it too much, but for the record I didn’t think it was a good idea for Jonas’s sake, especially because we were on the second floor and all.

  Even though I was used to flying, I had to admit that I was a bit nervous. After all, this would be a much different experience. For starters, I wouldn’t have a powerful engine to propel me forward, only my thoughts.

  I tried to voice my disagreement, but the twins didn’t care to listen.

  “Okay, ready?” asked Carla, looking as though she was ready for a rollercoaster.

  “Ready as I ever will be,” I said, expecting the worst for Jonas.

  “Ready, I guess,” Jonas said, not sounding as confident. “I hope it isn’t too high.”

  “Okay, on the count of three, think about flying through the wall,” ordered Carla.

  Carla counted until three, and almost immediately I was propelled forward, quickly heading straight toward the wall. I felt butterflies in my stomach. I hadn’t felt this way since my first airplane lesson.

  As my speed increased, my heart seemed to be involved in a race of its own. By the time I reached the wall, my heart felt like it was ready to jump out of my throat.

  “Oh God!” screamed Jonas, diverting my attention from the imminent collision with the wall.

  By the time I looked back, the wall had completely covered my field of vision. Worried but determined, I reinforced my thought and intention of passing through it.

  When my body made contact with the wall, I was surprised to meet a rather soft and tingling material instead of solid wall. I slowly started to pass through the molasses-like substance, and as I did, every atom in my body tingled with excitement, as though I was vibrating at a much higher frequency than the actual wall.

  In fact, I suspected that was exactly what had happened. Because my astral body vibrated at a much higher frequency than the physical wall, I could pass through it.

  Passing through the wall took a bit more time and effort than I would’ve imagined.

  When I finally reached the other side, I was surprised to see how magical everything looked. Each snowflake was charged with powerful energy. The same was true for the trees, bushes, and plants. While normally dried up for the winter in the physical, in the Astral they blossomed with life. Trees had what seemed to be electrically charged leaves, plants glowed, and flowers could be seen emanating light from within.

  However, I only saw Carla next to me. Jonas hadn’t made it outside.

  “Where’s Jonas?” asked Carla.

  We both looked at each other, perplexed.

  “I should go back inside and find out,” I suggested urgently. Before I thought about going back to my room, I was immediately pulled through the wall. This time, passing through it was a breeze.

  Once inside, I found Jonas stuck in the wall once again. He was clearly frustrated.

  “Again?” I asked, laughing.

  “I hate these damn walls. This is what? The third time I got stuck?” Jonas complained.

  “You must be doing something wrong,” said Carla, emerging from the wall right next to Jonas. “You’re the only one having a problem.”

  “Oh God, please stop popping up like that.”

  “Perhaps the wall is the astral lover you were looking for,” I said, laughing.

  “Very funny. Why don’t you guys help me out of here?” Jonas asked.

  “Fine, but this is the last time I’m helping you,” replied Carla. I think she was joking.

  “Seriously, though, Carla is right. You must be doing something wrong,” I said.

  “I don’t know, but as I approached the wall, I kept feeling like I was going to crash into it. I was worried it was going to hurt,” described Jonas.

  “That’s your problem right there,” said Carla.

  “Yes, that would do it,” I added.

  “What?” Jonas asked. “It’s kind of hard to head straight toward a wall and not feel like I’m going to crash into it.”

  “That’s exactly what you need to do. That is, if you want to stop crashing and getting yourself stuck,” said Carla matter of factly.

  “I’ll try,” replied Jonas, sounding embarrassed and uncertain.

  “This time, why don’t you go first?” I suggested. “Try not to think about crashing. As matter of fact, try not to think of anything other than going outside.”

  Jonas let out a heart-shattering scream. I saw his blur zoom past me, heading toward the wall.

  “Holy crap!” I heard him scream from outside.

  “I guess he made it,” I said as we rushed to his aid.

  “Oh, my God!” Jonas was screaming when Carla and I arrived outside.

  “What?” Carla asked, unable to contain her laughter.

  “This is freaking high,” he said loudly.

  “You’ll get used to it, just try to relax and take a few deep breaths,” I said.

  “You can look at it this way. If you really want to, you can just fly closer to the ground and never get over your fear. Or you could deal with it and win over your fear. Either way, the fact is that you can will yourself to move closer to the ground anytime you feel the need to,” Carla explained.

  “Thanks, Sis. I’ll try,” said Jonas.

  As we gently flew through the air, we looked and felt like ghosts of the night. It was hard not to wonder if that was what death felt like. On one hand, it felt like I had died, but on the other, I had never felt more alive in my whole life.

  If death was anything like this, then death was more real than being alive. I could smell, feel, sense, and do all those things much better than in the physical realm.

  I wasn’t sure if what was happening to us was real, but something inside me told me it was. It was as though my physical body was nothing but a piece of used clothing that I needed to move around the physical world; my true self was unrestrained.

  In this fluid form, I felt truly free, truly alive. There were no meaningless limitations to hold me back. I could go anywhere and everywhere I wanted to. I could do anything I wanted. Everything felt more vivid, more real than waking life.

  Outside, the weather still raged as blobs of snow and ice passed through me, sending shockwaves of energy through my being. Each snowflake glowed with unknown energy, healing and reinvigorating our planet as the ground absorbed its energy.

  At that moment, I realized how much I didn’t know about how things worked. Before, I had felt as though there was nothing new left to be discovered about my world. I thought I knew it all, when in fact I didn’t know anything. The world was still full of wonderment and mysteries yet to be discovered. Behind seemly insignificant and small things, there was a complex and often hidden greater purpose. I always liked to watch the snow falling—when I was a small child, I used to think snowflakes were magical. Little did I know then that I was right. They were a gift from the Creator himself.

  “I can get used to this,” said Carla, laughing. I looked around and found Carla flying up and down, making loops around my house.

  “The snow feels weird,” complained Jonas. I think he was still trying to get used to the height because he hovered just inches from the ground.

  “Ah, stop complaining, you’ll g
et used to it,” I said.

  ***

  “I have an idea… we should go somewhere really fun,” suggested Carla.

  “Yes, but where?” I asked. It was amazing how hard it was to decide where to go when the whole world was at your disposal.

  “I know! Let’s go to the moon,” offered Jonas, excited and catching us by surprise.

  “What? You’re afraid of being fifteen feet in the air and you want to fly to the moon?”

  “Fly? Who said anything about flying? I wouldn’t mind teleporting there, though. Besides, I’m already getting used to this height thing,” replied Jonas.

  “I’m not sure…” replied Carla, pausing slightly. “I guess it would be fun to try and see what happens.”

  “That’s just insane,” I said.

  “How is that any different than what we’re doing right now?” said Carla.

  “Point taken. But how are we going to get there?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” said Carla. “Probably the same away we got outside.”

  “I think it may be best to stick together, that way we can’t get lost, or in Jonas’s case, stuck,” replied Carla, looking as beautiful as ever.

  I offered my hand to Carla, and we held each other tightly.

  I concentrated as hard as I could on the moon. Jonas appeared to be doing the same, although he was trembling slightly. Carla had her eyes closed.

  We waited a few seconds, but nothing happened.

  “It’s not working,” said Jonas.

  “You don’t say, Einstein,” replied Carla.

  “Are you guys concentrating on the moon?” I asked.

  “Maybe we should picture ourselves already on the moon,” I suggested.

  “Sure, let’s try that,” Carla agreed, smiling at me.

  We held hands again, but this time instead of picturing the moon, I pictured my friends and I standing on the lunar soil. I concentrated so hard I could feel the dry lunar dust under my feet.

  After a few seconds, I started to feel even lighter than I already felt. My body started to lift much higher than before. At first, we moved upward slowly, like a hot air balloon. Just when I was getting used to the renewed feeling of weightlessness, our speed increased tenfold. After a few more seconds, our speed increased yet again. Every time I thought we were going as fast as we possibly could, there was another sudden burst of speed.

  Jonas screamed the whole way, especially when our speed increased. Carla, on the other hand, just squeezed my hand really tight, radiating a warming feeling from within. She was apparently enjoying the wild ride.

  “I don’t think this was a good idea,” Jonas complained.

  “Stop being a baby, we’re almost there, see?” said Carla.

  The moon was getting bigger—much bigger than I was used to seeing it—doubling in size every few seconds. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t have guessed how fast we were traveling.

  At some point, I closed my eyes because of the increasing speed, and the abnormal size of the moon was making me sick to my stomach.

  When I opened my eyes, I saw what had to be the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen. Just below my feet, floating peacefully and surrounded by darkness, was our marvelous and beloved blue planet. Upon the realization that I was floating way above Earth’s atmosphere, I felt cold but my hands were still warm. I suspected that was because I was still holding Carla’s hand.

  There was something completely different between knowing the Earth was round and actually seeing its roundness with your own eyes.

  As soon as we stopped moving, Jonas stopped screaming.

  “Wow, this is beautiful,” said Carla, pulling me a bit closer to her.

  “What? Are we on the moon?” asked Jonas, still shaking.

  “Open your eyes, or you’ll regret it the rest of your life,” replied Carla.

  “Oh my God, this is really high,” complained Jonas as he opened a single eye in order to peek.

  “Only a privileged few have seen this in person. This is definitely the best night of my life,” said Carla.

  The view was so gorgeous that even Jonas got over his fear and opened both eyes to take in the sight.

  “Where is the moon?” Jonas asked, perplexed.

  “Look behind you,” replied Carla.

  “Wow, that is huge,” said Jonas as he turned to see the immense, dark mass behind him.

  “Can we land on it?” asked Carla.

  “I suppose so,” I replied.

  As soon as I said that, I felt myself being pulled onto the moon. After a few seconds, my feet touched the cold, dry, and densely packed soil.

  For the next minute or so, we just looked around in utter silence.

  “Where is the sun?” I asked in awe.

  “Wow! It’s beautiful, I’d never imagined it to be this amazing,” Carla said.

  “Holy cow!” was all Jonas managed to say.

  “I guess we must have arrived on the dark side of the moon,” I said as I took my first barefoot steps on the moon, a feat that not even astronauts could dream of accomplishing. And there I was, walking barefoot on the moon, feeling its frigid dust between my toes. If I were to die at that very moment, I would die a very happy man.

  I remembered a story my mother used to tell me about the moon. She used to say that when the moon was full and the sky was clear, she could see the shape of a dragon slayer on top of his white horse, killing his prey with a spear. She used to say that’s where Raphael got the idea for his famous painting, “Saint George and the Dragon.” I never forgot that old story. Since then, every time I looked into the moon I saw that image.

  Memories in the Astral weren’t like normal memories. I didn’t just remember things. I actually relived the moment, as if I was there in person. I could smell the smells and feel the wind and the coldness of that particular night. I could smell my mother’s favorite perfume as I watched her carefully hold five-year-old me on her lap and point to the moon. She then proceeded to tell me that story as a bright and lively smile decorated her face, a smile that showed without words how much she loved me and how much she enjoyed that moment.

  “Are you okay?” asked Carla.

  “Hum?” was all I could manage to say.

  “Are you crying?” said Jonas.

  “I was just thinking of my mother… actually, I was reliving a memory of her. It was as if she was there. I saw her, holding me…”

  “Seems like there are a lot of new things about this realm we have yet to discover,” said Carla with a tender smile.

  “I just hope they’re all good things,” added Jonas.

  “What’s that?” I asked, pointing toward the horizon.

  In the distant horizon, a long sliver of golden light started to grow larger and larger. I took me a few seconds to realize it was the sun peering over the lunar horizon. It was a view none of us could have even dreamed about witnessing.

  If someone told me I was going to stand on the moon and watch a lunar sunrise, I would have called them insane. But there we were, standing side-by-side on the moon watching the most amazing sunrise. Several minutes passed, and none of us dared to say a word, probably afraid that we would wake up.

  “It seems alive, doesn’t it?” said Carla, finally breaking our awestruck silence.

  “I think that it may be. There’s so much raw energy in our solar system. What a beautiful thing, so dependable and necessary,” I said.

  For the first time I could look straight into the sun without having to squint or shield my eyes. I could see the sun in all of its glorious beauty without pain, and it looked even more marvelous than it did from Earth. Its corona spewed life-giving radiation that traveled billions of light years throughout space into eternity.

  “We should go back soon,” I said, worried that Phasma would find us.

  “I’m ready to teleport out of here anytime,” said Jonas as he jumped in and out of a small lunar crater.

  “Teleport? I don’t think it’s that simple,”
said Carla.

  “What you mean?” asked Jonas.

  “In case you forgot, we didn’t exactly teleport up here. Besides, even if we could teleport back, I wouldn’t. There is no way I’m missing the experience of flying back to Earth,” replied Carla.

  “Hello! I’m afraid of heights, or did you forget?” Jonas said, already looking pale. “I think the lack of oxygen is starting to get to you. And if I remember correctly, objects are supposed to burn up upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.”

  “Only if you have a physical body or a space shuttle, and we don’t have either,” I said, laughing.

  “This was your idea. If you don’t like it, feel free to stay here,” added Carla.

  She didn’t wait for a response and started to float away.

  I waited until Jonas was following her, then I propelled myself off the lunar surface.

  Carla and Jonas were far ahead of me, so I sped up a bit. It wasn’t long before I was following them closely.

  As soon as we began to reenter Earth’s atmosphere, all hell broke loose. A wave of dense air hit us, and I immediately felt like hundreds of pounds were added to my body.

  We lost control and tumbled toward the ground. Jonas screamed at the top of his lungs. Even Carla let out a couple screams of desperation.

  As the ground fast approached, I desperately thought about floating up, going to the moon, and even going to the sun… but nothing worked. I was still falling fast. We all were, some of us with more class and control than others.

  “Oh God, this is the end!” screamed Jonas louder than ever before.

  I couldn’t see anything except a green haze that grew larger and more defined with each passing second. Out of nowhere came a thundering noise. It was the sound of Carla’s body hitting the ground. My heart literally stopped beating. My life no longer mattered. A world without Carla didn’t make any sense at all. To think everything had been my fault was simply too much to bear.

  A couple of seconds later, I heard another thud, followed by complete silence. Even Jonas’s screams stopped. The only noise I heard after that was a half-thud. That was the sound my body made as it crashed into bushes and trees and then… nothing… only blackness and utter silence…

  I don’t know how much time passed before I could open my eyes. I felt my back and legs sear with pain.