by John Nelson
After their arrival, and while Anna was taking her nap and Bodhi was being walked by her father, Maggie sat down on the patio with her mother for tea and to read Jill’s scathing emails. She could only shake her head.
“She’s always felt threatened by my Eastern spirituality and Anna’s blossoming has really pushed her over the edge.”
“Well dear, in all fairness, this is a lot to take in,” Grace added, while taking hold of her daughter’s hand.
Maggie laughed. “Tell me about it.”
“Your father is concerned about your welfare. There are a lot of religiously unhinged people out there.” Grace paused and looked Maggie in the eyes. “Do you feel safe there?”
“The mayor is a supporter of ours, and patrol cars drive by daily, and Anna does have a guard dog.”
Grace shook her head. “Who can be bought off by treats.” Maggie smiled. “Maybe you should consider moving back with us.”
Maggie laughed. “That would really drive Dad crazy, not to mention me.” She squeezed her mother’s hand. “We’ll be all right. I’ve heard from Thomas, who has apparently been updated on his daughter’s… situation, and said he might move back to America sooner.”
“Well that’s good to hear.”
“And, of all things, our next door neighbor, Bill Stevens, stopped by. Said he was a retired Navy SEAL, gave us his number, and said to call anytime we feel threatened or even pestered.”
Grace smiled. “Is he single?” Maggie rolled her eyes.
A few days later, Grace, Maggie and Anna went Christmas shopping at the Paseo Nuevo mall on the eastside of town. While Maggie shopped for gifts, Grace and Anna sat at an outdoor café sipping hot chocolates. Suddenly Anna put down her cup, closed her eyes, and then turned her head as she watched young Amir Kumar approach their table.
“Hi, Amir,” Anna said openheartedly.
Kumar stopped a few feet away and just glared at Anna.
Grace said, “Anna, do you know this boy?”
“Grandma, this is Amir, who used to be in our school.” Grace immediately made the connection to the boy and his father. She took out her cell phone and called her daughter.
“I found my own Joseph,” he spit out, “and he not like you. Promises to give me… powers.”
Anna squinted her eyes and could see the dark aura around Amir, and the cord to an even darker force in another realm.
“Amir,” Anna said with all the kindness she could muster, “love for others and self, not hate, is the way to such… powers.”
The angry little boy just shook his head. “We see.”
Maggie arrived on the scene. “Amir. What are you doing here?”
The boy smiled, as the darkness around him evaporated. “We’re visiting friends and Christmas shopping.”
Amir’s mother, Paramita, hurried over. “There you are.” She looked at the alarmed expression on the women’s faces. “What did you say to them?”
Amir just shrugged his shoulder. Anna looked up at her. “Hi, Mrs. Kumar. Amir in trouble. Need to clear his aura and break cords.”
Amir glared back at Anna with daggers in his eyes.
Paramita just shook her head and turned to Maggie. “I’m so sorry if he said anything inappropriate. I’ll have a talk with him.”
“Paramita, please keep your son away from my daughter,” Maggie said, surprised by her own rudeness.
Without saying another word, Paramita dragged her son away.
“Maggie,” her mother added after a moment. “That little boy is mentally unbalanced. You need to report him.”
Anna shook her head and interrupted them. “Light and dark play together. You see, Mama.”
Grace agreed not to mention this encounter to Mark, and the rest of their stay was peaceful, although several of her neighbors inquired about Anna’s availability to treat them. Grace told them in no uncertain terms to go to their doctor.
One bright spot was when they went for a walk on the beach with Bodhi. A man in a white suit and panama hat walked past them, and said with an Indian accent, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Maggie looked at him as he turned his head and she saw the characteristic hooked nose and bushy black mustache of Meher Baba.
“He look after us too,” Anna said, as Maggie glanced down at her daughter. When she looked up, the man or apparition had disappeared.
Maggie didn’t tell her parents this story; her father was already up in arms about “all this Indian guru malarkey.” But it was reassuring to her, and because of this lovely spirit manifestation, she was better prepared to return them to their life in San Luis Obispo, but could only wonder what the future would bring and how they would handle Anna’s new spiritual notoriety.
Acknowledgments
Spiritual or visionary fiction has always been a difficult genre for publishers, but I would like to acknowledge the pioneering work done in this genre by Robert Friedman and Frank DeMarco at Hampton Roads Publishing starting in the 1990s and continuing for years. They always felt that storytelling was a powerful tool for presenting cutting-edge ideas, be they metaphysical or speculative. I can still remember meeting with Bob forty years ago and passing him the manuscript for my first novel, Starborn, my little mystical tale, which he hoped would be another Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Its sales didn’t quite meet those high expectations, but I wrote two more visionary fiction titles for him, the last of which Matrix of the Gods Frank edited. In today’s marketplace, this genre is even a harder sell, but I appreciate that John Hunt continues to publish spiritual, visionary, and speculative fiction under his varied imprints. I can only hope that his faith in this genre will be rewarded someday.
About the Author
John Nelson is the author of the novels Starborn, Transformations, and Matrix of the Gods, originally published by Hampton Roads Publishing, and I, Human published by Cosmic Egg. He authored the nonfiction book The Magic Mirror, which won the 2008 COVR Award as best book of the year and best divination system, and more recently A Guide of Energetic Healing.
Nelson was the editorial director of Bear & Company in the mid-1990s and Inner Ocean Publishing in the early 2000s. He is the owner of Bookworks Ltd., where he edits fiction and nonfiction books for a variety of authors and publishers. This includes The Sacred Promise by Gary Schwartz, The White House Doctor by Dr. Connie Mariano, The 12-Step Buddhist, Yoga and the Twelve-Step Path, The Buddha Speaks, Bright Light by Dee Wallace, and the YA novel Avatar Magic.
Nelson has been a yogi and a meditator for fifty years and brings an expanded consciousness perspective to all that he writes. His fiction is usually a blend of hard science, science fiction, and psycho-spiritual insights, but The Miracle of Anna is strictly spiritual or visionary fiction. Nelson’s two nonfiction works are based on his own personal spiritual explorations. Visit his website at www.johnnelsonbookworks.com.
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