Within the Crystal

by Kat Blak

  After glancing around the tree, her eyes shoot back to me. “It's time to leave, but daughter, remember I have seen your future and I have faith in you.” After giving Tanzanite a final tickle under the chin, she leans down looking at the sugar glider in the eyes and whispers, “Longest friend of mine, take care of her. Her soul is young and still needs much help. Her path may be a difficult one, but with your wisdom and guidance I know she will be in safe hands.”

  The way that Mother Nature is looking directly into my eyes, as if she is searching my soul for the answer to the universe, makes me feel so completely exposed. I know if she does happen to ask I will have to reply with something funny, maybe just tell her it’s forty two. Instead when she questions me it’s with something slightly less intense, “Are you ready? Just remember, the hardest choices require the strongest wills.” I can't decide if she's asking me if I'm ready to be sent back or am I ready for the challenge ahead of me. Because the answer to both of those is a definite no! I have a room full of guys waiting for me, that I may or may not be attracted to, and a mission that goes against my wonderful ability to be a sloth.

  With a quick nod of my head, whilst my mind screams no, she brings up the heel of her palm and pushes it against my forehead. A blinding light envelops me, instantly causing me to close my eyes, and I know that when I wake up at home I'm going to do so with a banging headache and a new friend.

  Chapter Nine

  Coming back around from the calmness of the forest feels like all my senses are on hyper alert. Before I even open my eyes, I can hear my mom calling my name, but everything feels too bright from the inside of my eyelids. My body feels heavy against the wooden floor, but I can feel that I'm laying down flat with a pillow propping up my head. The smell of burnt sage and cotton penetrates my nostrils. Opening my eyes, I see four heads directly in front of my face.

  “Ahhhh!” I respond, startled. I force my eyelid to close again. Don't get me wrong, they are some fine ass faces to wake up to, but when a face is too near it tends to look crazy. There is no way that one eye is where the cheek should be and their lips are on the chin. All in all, it's a damn scary image to wake up to. “Can you guys give me some breathing space by backing the fuck up?” I say through gritted teeth. When I have felt the air around me shift, I know they have all moved back several spaces. Taking a deep breath, I open my eyes and try to stand up in a rush. The world tilts around me and the floor starts to rush towards my face. I know this is going to hurt and I don't need a crystal ball to tell me I'm about to break my nose.

  I’m stopped mid fall, by two iron arms holding me up. Glancing behind me, I see that Tek has managed to grab my shoulders just in time.

  “Take it slow, honey. You have been gone for quite a while,” my mother responds, walking back into the room holding a cup in her hands. The smell of ginger helps clear some of the fog in my mind, but the pounding continues.

  “YOU HAVE A RAT ON YOU!” Suddenly someone screams at me from inside the circle. This of course scares Taz who decides to run up my chest and hide on my neck behind my hair.

  “Ok, point one, SHE is a sugar glider, my new familiar. Two, don't shout like that. My head feels like I’m on a come down after a five day long drinking bender. I need to break this circle down so we can get out and I can go to bed. I need sleep,” I voice wearily.

  “You need to tell us what happened,” Cal pleads with me, he's eyes begging for information. I climb to my feet with the help of Tek and his large biceps. Hmm, how have I never noticed how big and strong they were before? Do you think he would mind if I licked them? Woah, Alex, eyes on the prize: circle, tea and bed. In that order. Walking over, I pick up all the crystals and thank them for their service. My mind seems to be running a mile a minute, with everything that’s just happened. Once I make a parting in the circle, I step out, followed by the guys. I place all the crystals on the table in piles, linked by their type of stone.

  “You guys should take these crystals home and place them around your houses. They will help disperse your energy,” I state, slinking down to the couch. When I broke the circle it was like the last of my energy was sucked out of me. Mom walks over to me and hands me the ginger tea.

  “Drink this honey and get some rest. With the way those crystals were glowing, you have obviously used too much energy,” she advises me. “You are going to need at least twelve hours of rest,” she hums. Something in my brain clicks and the hair on my neck stands to attention.

  “Did you just say twelve hours of rest?” I splutter.

  “Yes, honey, I believe I did,” she says, with a far away look on her face. The guys are watching the exchange between us like a tennis match; their heads going back and forth between us.

  “That is the exact same number Mother Nature said I would have to rest for. Have you spoken to her, too?'' I accuse her through slitted eyes. The guys seem to go into an uproar around me, shouting questions and demanding answers. But I keep my eyes locked on my mother’s, searching for any tell that she has more information than she is letting on. “Mother, tell me what you know,” I state calmly. She looks like a frightened rabbit about to bolt. Jasper starts to shake me as I have been ignoring them all bar my mother. My eyes are like laser beams on her, looking for any movement. I realise she is not going to give me anything and so I decide to calm down the guys instead.

  Releasing a huge sigh that I hadn't realised I had been holding, I say, “Ok, I will tell you what I can for now, but no one interrupts me till I’m finished and I can only tell you what I know at the moment.” While I had been dealing with my mom, the guys had moved all the furniture back around in the sitting room. I can feel my energy waning. Taking sips of the tea to help ease the vice that seems to be tightening around my brain, I can feel that I don't have much time left before I crash.

  “So, as you heard, I met Mother Nature. She controls everything; life and death, past, present and future. She also helps to keep the balance between light and dark.” I see Nunu's mouth open, no doubt about to ask me a question, so I quickly hold up my hand to halt anything he's about to say. “She poured everything that she wanted me to know into my mind, and I need to go into a deep sleep for twelve hours for my mind to unjumble everything before I can start accessing the visions. She gave me our pasts and our future. Something big is coming, and it's linked to you four and me. All I know at the moment is that I have to lead you on a path of enlightenment.” The last of my energy is seeping out of me. My eyes start to feel like concrete and my head feels like it's being weighed down by a sand bag. I lay my head down on the back of the couch while closing my eyes, unable to stay awake any longer.

  Before I can fully slip into the nothingness that comes with sleeping, I can hear the whispered words going on around me.

  “You guys honestly can't believe all the shit she is sprouting?” comes an angry voice.

  “But you have seen everything with your own eyes. From the crystal exploding yesterday, to all the crystals glowing today. You watched her eyelids moving while she was under today,” a voice says with awe.

  “All of that can be explained with lights, a sleeping potion and small explosions,” accuses the angry voice.

  “I don't know, it's all so much to take in. Maybe we need to hear what she has to tell us tomorrow?” this voice seems to be right next to my ear.

  Suddenly, I feel a weightlessness hit and I'm held against a hard warm chest. I can hear the steady beat of a heart, which pulls me the rest of the way into unconsciousness.

  Chapter Ten

  When I finally come around from my deep slumber, I find myself in my bed in a pair of sleep shorts and a vest top. I have a hazy memory of being carried to bed, but not of being undressed. Hopefully it was Mom who changed me or that is going to be rather embarrassing next time I see the guys. It's not like I can just turn around and say ‘so, which one of you fuckers undressed me’, is it? Well, knowing my lack of filter, it is a possibility. All I want to do right now is stay in bed and hid
e.

  I know the guys want answers as to what happened yesterday, but I think Mother Nature picked the wrong person for the task. I'm not made for this, as I have pointed out on more than one occasion, my spirit animal is a sloth. I'm happy just bumbling through life with no purpose. Well, fortune telling gives people small amounts of happiness and hope, so I guess that's kind of my purpose. I have never wanted any more than that.

  The task that I have now been given is huge. Mother Nature was right when she said it is life changing. The guys will never be the same again. The worst part of all of this is that Mother Nature never told me which path to take to get them there. She only showed me the final destination that she needs us to achieve. What happens if I do something wrong and it takes them down the wrong path? This is a lot of responsibility for little old me. I don’t think I'm made to do this. There must be someone better qualified for the job.

  While I’m wallowing in my haze of self pity, I feel a rustling just above my head on my pillow. Taz decides to take that moment to walk over my hair, onto my face and peer into my eyes. She places one of her tiny feet in between my eyebrows and sends an image into my mind. It's me standing tall, wrapped in power, surrounded by the guys, who are also wrapped in my power. She makes us seem so intimidating and we look badass. It's strange as on the outside I don't look any different, but I exude this new found sense of confidence, which makes me look formidable. This image that is now imprinted in my mind gives me the strength to peel myself out of bed. Plus, I think my mother and I need to have a little conversation about what she knows.

  “Thank you, Taz. I needed that,” I say to the sugar glider, with genuine gratitude laced through my voice. Shit, it's only just dawned on me, I know nothing about keeping sugar gliders. Like what do they eat, do I need to get her a cage and stuff? How do I make sure that she stays alive? I’m guessing that Mother Nature would be pissed if I fed her the wrong food and it killed her. Well, it looks like a Googling session is also in my future.

  Removing my bed covers and standing up, Taz decides she is staying on my shoulder and that’s fine by me. Heading out of the bedroom, I go in search of tea and Mom; two things I'm desperately in need of right now.

  When I arrive in the sitting room, I find Mom meditating on the floor in front of our altar. Well at least none of the guys are here today. That's a bonus, I guess. Heading over to the kitchen, I plan to make tea while I wait for her to finish. It's not wise to disturb a Seer while they are meditating as you could break their focus when they’re concentrating on something important. It could be life changing for someone.

  “Good morning, honey,” Mom cheerily greets me from the floor, a little too happy if you ask me. She seems extra chirpy this morning, causing me to squint my eyes at her in suspicion. I know this woman is hiding something from me and I don't like it, I don't like it one bit. But like me, she won't say anything till the timing is just right. It's the second lesson you learn as a Seer, timing is everything. Tell someone too soon and it could change the future just as much as if you tell someone too late. So I will just have to wait her out. I know it’ll be killing her not being able to tell me, just as much as it kills me knowing that she knows something. We have always been very close. After Grandma died it was just the two of us and that forms a different sort of attachment. Something more than mother and daughter. It becomes a combination of mother-daughter and best friends. To me, her opinion is the only one that matters.

  However, we can be close in personalities, but can also be extremely different. Just like it has always fascinated me how someone like her can be this bright eyed and bushy tailed all the time. I wonder if my father was grouchy and smart mouthed like me. Me and Mom are polar opposites where attitudes are concurred. She is very happy-go-lucky, whereas I am more dark and grumpy. I do try and be more cheerful but my cheeks start to ache from smiling so hard.

  “Morning, want a cup of tea?” I ask back.

  “Oh yes please, I‘ve been up for hours,'' she says. This is a normal thing for her, she likes to be up before the birds. Claims it's the best time of the day for meditating as everything is quiet, whereas I'm more of a night person. I like the quietness that the dark brings, the thought that everyone is fast asleep and I'm not.

  Realizing I have been standing staring at the kettle for a while now, I reboil it. Grabbing our two favourite cups out the top cupboard, I place the tea bags in. Mom’s cup is black with Witch’s Brew in gold swirly lettering on and mine is black with This is my resting witch face on it. I had them made to sell in the shop. People loved them and they flew off the shelves. The click signalling the kettle has finished boiling is enough to pull me back to the moment. Pouring the boiling water over the tea bags, I'm hit with the smell of peppermint. It's one of the best herbs to use to help energies. Green tea also helps, but we are not lovers of green tea. Grabbing both of the cups, I head over to the couch and sink down into its cushions.

  Watching Mom uncurl herself from the lotus position, she stretches before heading over to me, taking her cup and sitting down on the sofa too. “Come on, you need to talk about this,” she advises in a stern voice. She knows that if I don't talk about it, I’ll only obsess over it.

  “Ok, well, you heard what I said to the guys, all our fates are joined. In our future I see us all together, like in a relationship. I'm dating all four of them,'' I respond with embarrassment. I've barely dated one guy let alone four. Plus, it’s hardly the traditional style of relationship that Mom probably expected me to have. “I wouldn't even know where to start?”

  “Well, that one is easy. I’ve signed you up to be my TA. When I told the Dean that this year's intake had doubled and I needed help, I suggested you. You have all the qualifications in astrology, just not those of a teacher, but that can be taught and they agreed,” she responds, but this only confirms my suspicion that she had a vision about this.

  “Mom,” I say on a sigh, “Did you have a vision about this?”

  “Like you and your Grandmother, I too have met Mother Earth. She told me many years ago, before you were born, that my daughter would carry the weight of the world on her shoulders and that it would be a time of great change,” Mom says proudly.

  “Was that everything she told you?” Not that I don't believe my mom, but sometimes she will give only the information she thinks I need. She still sees me as a child that she needs to shelter, but I’m not. I need to know what she knows.

  Mom takes one look at me and knows that she has to give me more. “She also said that I would need to stand by your side and help guide you through the many different paths in front of you, and help you decide on which path to take. When the world becomes too much to hold, I’m to help you hold it. That is all,” Mom finishes with a weary sigh and a blank look on her face. I'm kicking myself that I didn't notice the toll this is taking on her. Looking more closely, I can see the deeper set of frown lines she now has between her eyebrows and the darker than normal circles under her eyes. I have been so wrapped up in myself I didn't notice. It must be awful for her to know that I have such a big task ahead of me and that she can’t shield me from this. I feel like a shitty human for not seeing it sooner and an even shitter daughter.

  Raising the cup to my mouth, I take a big gulp of tea to calm my nerves. Mom had known this was coming, why hasn't she given me a forewarning? Why am I only hearing about this now? “Honey, you know I can't tell you Fate’s plan, I can only help you down the path you want to walk. Fate may have an end goal for all of us, but that doesn't and shouldn't take away your free will and how you choose to reach your final destination,” she says calmly, like she can read the inner turmoil all over my face.

  “So, what do I do now?” I ask with a small voice, the guilt of not seeing her pain still riding heavy in my head. Taz decides at that point to come out from behind my head to inspect my mom, who holds out her palm for Taz to walk onto. Mom has always had this sense of calmness about her. She never gets angry or mad, even when I do the dumbest
shit. To be honest I had completely forgotten Taz was in my hair.

  “What do you think you should do now?” she asks, with a slight smile on her face while giving Taz some under the chin tickles that are clearly going down well.

  “GAH!” I should’ve known that's what her response was going to be. I know I have to do the right thing, I just don’t like it. “I'm going to choose to run towards my problems and not away from them. Because that... that is what heroes do!” I say whilst nodding my head. “I guess tomorrow is going to be my first day as a teaching assistant. What does one even wear as a TA? There is no way I can cover up all these tats, and I sure as hell ain't going to go without my bracelets.” As soon as the words had left my mouth I was kicking myself again. My words felt and tasted like ash. My mind is freaking out with all the changes and challenges I’m going to have coming my way. However, instead of freaking out about the things I can't control, I decide to freak out about the things I can control. I know it sounds crazy, but I can control what I wear and how people perceive me, I like having that choice. What I can't control is the plans Mother Nature has for the guys and I. Everything about this goes against my basic needs of wanting to be a sloth and to bask in the shade, but if there is one thing I have learnt in this lifetime, if we ignore the signs from the universe, we can miss out on some truly magical things.

  Take star gazing as an example. I knew we were going to have a meteor shower this one night, but instead of being on the roof watching it, I had been curled up in bed sleeping. The next day it was all over the news that it had been one of the most stunning meteor showers this millennium and my lazy ass had missed it.

  Fuckity Fuck Fuck Fuck, looks like my lazy ass is going to be busy for a while. No way can I ignore Mother Nature, who knows what the consequences would be.