Chapter 27
The cave-
When we put the boat back in the shed, Peggy noticed my luggage out there.
“I thought I remembered you taking that upstairs, and Mike yelling at you for it. What is it doing out here?” she asked.
“Alashia and Emma took over my room, so I came out here.”
“They can’t kick you out. Don’t worry, there is room for you. Emma and Alashia can sleep together on the top bunk, and I will put you in the lower bunk.”
“I thought foster kids were supposed to have their own rooms?” I reminded her.
“It’s a technicality, dear. If they ever ask, tell them you do.”
Peggy reached for my bag. “Let me help you in,” she generously offered.
I grabbed the bag from her. “I am fine. I think I will sleep out here.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Because it is nice out here.”
“Where would you sleep?”
“On the cot.”
“What cot?”
I looked at the cot next to the four-wheeler. Peggy parked the four-wheeler next to the cot every time she returned it.
“I didn’t know we had a cot,” she said.
She knew she did. She had woke me up on it many Sundays, but I wasn’t about to argue it.
“Don’t be silly, there is plenty of space in your room for the three of you.”
“Please, I actually like it out here.”
“Well, if you don’t mind. This can be your room until you start back to school. Oh, I guess unless you go to Harvard, then it is your room until you leave. Don’t tell Child Protective Services about it. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“Come on, Taz,” Peggy said as she left the storage shed.
“Can you leave her out here?” I asked.
Peggy bent down and baby talked Taz. “You wanna stay with Alora, huh, you want to stay outside?” Peggy let Taz give her a sloppy kiss on the lips.
After Peggy left, I realized I was hungry again. I took one of the fish I had caught, and instead of heating it on the electric grill, I added heat to it from my Zen. Within seconds, it was hot and ready to eat. I put it on my homemade plate and had a nice meal.
As I lay on my cot, I was glad for the choice I had made. The family still had problems, but I hadn’t necessarily returned for them. I had returned for Mantua. I had returned for the nightly fishing trips. I had returned for the nature and outdoors. I was kind of glad the girls had taken my room. I liked being out in the shed so much better than their toxically dirty house.
The next morning, because I had been so tired, I had slept in. I went into the house and found I had missed breakfast. I looked around and found a half-eaten pancake on somebody’s plate. I took the plate and pancake out to the shed. With my Zen, I turned it into scrambled eggs, ham, and cheese. It was so good.
I tried to stick around the house seeing if anyone had missed me and wanted to talk with me. None of the kids had. They seemed so interested in fighting with each other, they really didn’t acknowledge me. It wasn’t until Tuesday when Cordon had heard about my camp. “You were gone for a whole month? No way, I don’t believe you. You have been here this whole summer.” -Another hurtful comment from a Sanibel. He hadn’t even noticed I had been gone.
I joined the dinner battle as we pushed and prodded for a scoop or two of casserole. I guess because I was so angry, I fought hard and ended up with two full scoops on my plate.
At dinner, the floor was open for discussion. For the first time, I had something to talk about.
“I would like for the family to go camping,” I said.
“Where?” asked Peggy. Had she really asked that?
“There is a camp ground right in Mantua,” I said.
“That’s news to me,” she responded. The next fifteen minutes turned into a debate between the family if there really was a campground there or not.
“I know for a fact there isn’t one,” Peggy stated abruptly.
“You willing to bet on it?” Cordon asked.
“Sure, what’s the ante?”
“If I am right and there is one, then you take us camping next weekend,” he said. Whoopee! He was on my team.
“And if I am right and there isn’t one, you clean the house for a week,” Peggy said.
“Deal,” Cordon replied.
After dinner, the family decided to drive to the camp ground to see who the winner would be. Cordon and I won. I was so pumped we would be going camping!
That night, Peggy and I went out on the boat. We didn’t catch much fish, and I talked very little. She had hurt me, and since I wasn’t going to tell her about all the new stuff in my life, I really didn’t have anything to talk about.
The next night when we went fishing, I decided I wanted to see how many fish I could catch. At summer camp, I had heard one of the boys talk about using trout roe as excellent bait. When Peggy wasn’t looking, I used my Zen and changed my worm into trout roe. It didn’t take long until I was reeling in a nice size rainbow trout. I made more roe and chummed the water with it -another trick I learned from the boy. I couldn’t keep up with the fish. I kept pulling them in. Peggy caught three, but she was frustrated by my never ending success. She kept asking, “Are you sure you are using the same worms as me?”
Thursday at dinner, Peggy had made a great big pot of fish soup. The family adored her soup and they were madly diving into it. When it came my turn, I only got half of a cup. I watched as the greedy little mongrels snorted down my soup so fast, they didn’t even have time to taste it. I say my soup, because it was my fish they were consuming. I regretted not keeping the fish for myself as I watched them pig it down. They didn’t pause for breaths. Sloppy broth rolled down chins. They grunted and pushed as they defended their food from each other, reminding me of a pack of dogs. They disgusted me. Hungry, I used my Zen to expand the amount of soup in my bowl, giving me enough to eat.
…
Friday, pizza night was postponed to Saturday night in lieu of our camping trip. Besides the cot in the storage shed, the Sanibels didn’t have a lick of camping equipment. Thankfully, they knew the whole town and they had been able to scrounge up enough gear for all fourteen of us, even Mike came, leaving his precious XBOX behind, alone in the house with no one to molest it for the night.
The campground host made us get three camp sites. Two were together, and the third was four spots over. I ended up being in the one four spots over. I shared it with Alashia, Emma, and Angela. When the tents were all set up, Peggy had us help her make Dutch oven chicken and rolls. She had never Dutch oven cooked before, having no idea what she was doing. I don’t think she fired the briquettes long enough, because after she had spread them on the ovens, they barely stayed warm. Three hours later, the chicken was still pink inside. Her and Mike ended up in a big argument about how inept Peggy was. It was late, and I was starving. While they fought, I used my Zen and heated her three ovens.
“I think it’s done,” I said.
“There is no way it is done,” Mike barked. “Your idiot mother didn’t heat the briquettes long enough. Now we are all going to starve.”
“I really think it’s done,” I tried again.
“It’s not going to be done. Oh what are we going to do? I don’t have any more briquettes,” Mike whined like a baby.
“We could run to Burger King,” Angela said, looking for an escape to civilization.
“Can I check it?” I asked.
“You’re wasting your time,” Mike said.
“I don’t mind.” I said as I went over and grabbed the lid. I really hadn’t been thinking, for the heat seared into my hand, instantly burning it. I dropped the sizzling lid into the dirt and ran to the stream next to the tent to cool my hand in.
While I had my hand in the stream, the family noticed the chicken was fully cooked. Like ravenous vultures, t
hey huddled around the ovens to take all the food. I knew my chance was lost. They would fill their plates and devour the food before I could get to the ovens. The aroma was heavenly and there was no way I was going to miss out. I had a plan. I had to stop them. Every time someone reached into an oven, I sent a volt of energy into them in the form of an electric shock.
“Ouch,” Peggy screamed as she dropped the black spoon in the dirt.
“What did you do that for?” Mike growled. “Now we can’t use the spoon.”
“Ouch!”
“Ooohh!”
“Oweeeiie!!” others screeched as they were zapped. They kept trying for the food, but reacted upon the painful stimulant. After several shocks, the family backed away from the food, eying it like it was demonic.
When my hand had cooled, I walked over to the table and grabbed a plate. Everyone watched me as I made my way over. And for the first time among the Sanibels, they parted to let me at the food. All were watching, waiting to see me electrocuted. I reached in with my spoon and took three huge towering scoopfuls, plopping them on my plate. I then sat down in a camping chair. Everyone watched in silent amazement, wondering how it was I didn’t get shocked.
Traydon decided to brave it again. He ever so carefully reached into the dish and grabbed the spoon. Nothing happened. He carefully scooped out some food. Nothing. Since he had no competition, he too took three huge spoonfuls and came and sat by me. He smiled at me, as if we were in a class of our own, a class untouchable. Within seconds, when the rest of the family found the danger of electrocution was gone, they were back pushing and fighting to fill their own plates.
Mike tried to build a fire for us to gather around. He was horrible at it. No one had brought lighter fluid, and every time he got a small flame under the wood, it went out. I didn’t know anything about constructing fires, but I was sure there had to be a better way. I was weary of watching him struggle, so I sent a little heated energy at the wood and it went up in flames. Mike, proud of his fire starting-skills, danced around the fire, hollering loudly. His enthusiasm was catchy and got the family going. Before anyone knew it, all fourteen of us were wildly dancing around the fire. We sang, chanted, and let go of our inhibitions. That night will always be one of my favorite memories.
After our dancing died down, Cordon and Angela brought out the guitars and we all sang songs around the camp fire. I noticed the aura connecting us was violet, flowing in a wave around and above us, uniting us all together. The energy field was strong as it radiate in and out of us. I never wanted to leave.
…
The next night was Pizza Saturday. I swear, every child living in Mantua was there. We helped Peggy make six pizzas. There was no way everyone was going to get a chance to eat. The home filled with the savory aroma of baked cheese and tomato sauce. I was salivating as I waited for the last two to finish cooking. I wondered if I was going to be lucky enough to get a slice.
“Now, no one take a piece until I give the okay,” Peggy said as she pulled the last pizzas out of the oven and brought them into the dining room. “You gotta be quick, because I am sure there ain’t enough to go around, and I ain’t buying or making more.”
We hovered around the tables. Already, there was pushing and shoving as we waited for the go ahead to fight to the pizza death. Somehow, I found myself getting pushed farther and farther away from the pizzas. “Now, I am going to take a piece and the moment I step over this line,” she said pointing to a part of the floor where there was a large dried paint spill. “When I step over, it is everyman for their self.”
Peggy went to the pizzas and grabbed four slices; four! Mike quickly broke through the crowd and stood by Peggy.
“Hey,” the kids screamed. “Mom didn’t step over the line yet.”
“My money bought this, so I get free reign.” He scooped up the rest of the pieces from the pizza Peggy had dipped from. Now there were only five pizzas left. My stomach screamed at me to do something. Peggy stood there taunting us, acting as if she never planned to cross over the line. The anxious energy among us was thick, the group aura was brown. I had an idea.
With my Zen, I collected the anxious energy and catapulted it down the hall, into the family room and up the stairs. On the top of the stairs, there had been a bowling ball which had been hanging out there all week. I am not sure why there was a bowling ball there, but we had to step over it every time we went downstairs. I took the energy and slammed it into the ball. The ball barreled down the stairs, creating a bang, sounding like the stairs were getting ripped apart. Then a split second before the noise stopped, there was a crash of glass. The pizza was forgotten by most as they ran into the family room to see the cause of the noise. I stayed behind and grabbed three slices of pizza. I wasn’t the only one who did. Three other kids were wise and grabbed pizza while they had the chance. I heard Peggy scream in the other room and start crying about her smashed TV. I could hear Mike yelling at the kids, demanding to know which kid had left a bowling ball at the top of the stairs. With great satisfaction, I took my pizzas and went out the back door to my storage shed.
…
“Time to get up and get ready for church,” Peggy said, shaking me in my cot.
Sleepily, I peered at her. I wasn’t ready to wake up yet. “Hey, doesn’t your religion believe in free agency?” I asked.
“Of course we do,” she said.
“Well, then don’t I have the agency to skip church?”
“Sure you do, but free agency doesn’t mean you can skip out on consequences.’
“What do you mean?”
“Well, let’s say you want to steal a candy bar from the store. You have the free agency to do it. But, when they haul you to jail, you don’t have the agency to escape the punishment. Does that make sense?”
“So what is the punishment if I don’t go to church?” I asked.
“Oh, I wouldn’t think of punishing anyone for not going to church.”
“So, you don’t mind if I don’t go?”
“I don’t mind at all, for you have free agency,” Peggy said.
“Good,” I said rolling away from her. “Cause, I think I am going to stay home today.”
“That is fine, but don’t bother coming to family dinner tonight. Those who skip church miss dinner.” As she was walking out the shed, she must have spotted the boat. “Oh yeah, and those who don’t go to church, don’t get to go out on the boat.”
When it came time for church, I was ready to go with the rest of the Sanibels. I guess I was glad I did, because I learned some good stories about service. At one point, I even almost cried.
That night, Peggy was particularly sour when she realized she couldn’t watch her Sunday night program. No one had cleaned up the shattered TV. It laid sprawled across the family room with shattered fragments everywhere. I noticed when the bowling ball had rolled down the stairs it must have crashed through the wooden banister directly above the TV. Because Peggy had nothing else to do, she went to bed early. I felt a bit ripped off, because she didn’t take me out on the boat. I went to church so she would take me and she didn’t. I should have skipped it.
I wanted to be bitter about going to church, but I didn’t get overly upset. I had actually liked what they talked about. They taught about serving others like Jesus served us. I would look for ways to serve others.
The next night, the family decided to go to Brigham City and get a Busy Bee Snow Cone. I heard they were really good, but I wasn’t in the mood to go. The family had gotten on my nerves and, I wanted some alone time.
Alone, I rested on the couch. As I relaxed, my hand throbbed where I had burnt it with the Dutch oven on Saturday. I noticed it was inflamed with a big blister on it.
If I could control energy and matter, why couldn’t I heal myself? I had healed the toddler. I sent my Zen to my hand and watched as the skin renewed itself. My flesh returned to a soft pink. I
jumped-up hyper. I had done it, I had healed myself! Imagine the good I could do for the world. I could become a doctor and heal whoever came into my clinic. I would charge a very small fee, thus allowing my services to everyone. I was so excited. I went to run into the bathroom, when my foot got caught under a shoe, and I tripped into a pile of dirty rags mildewing in the family room. The black growth from them had moved into the rug. It made me sick, but it gave me an idea.
They had talked about service in church. I had wanted to do some type of service. Now was my chance. What better service could I offer than to clean the Sanibel’s pigsty home? I remembered I had vowed I would never clean it again, but this time, I would use my Zen to clean.
The first thing I did was gather the energy around me, compacting it tight together, then, with great force, I released it. I traveled around the house with my Zen. Trash disappeared, clothes became clean, crisp, and hung in closets. Dressers were fixed and lined with socks and underwear. I took all the stains out of the carpets and fixed the multiple holes in the walls. I brightened up the paint. On the couch and recliner, I made the material new and clean. In the kitchen, all the dishes were washed and stacked in their respected shelves and drawers. I was impressed by my work. I had even fixed the TV. The whole house looked like it had a major makeover. It didn’t even look like the same pigsty from an hour before.
As I sat on the couch admiring my handy work, I looked at the TV. “Why did I fix that?” I wondered. I carried it out to the outside trash and threw it away. Peggy would be better off without it around to distract her.
I was still outside when the Van pulled up. I stayed to the side of the house until the family had gone inside. Falling in line, I walked into the house with them. I didn’t want them to know it had been me who had fixed it up. I hoped they hadn’t realized I hadn’t gone with them earlier. And I was right. No one had noticed I hadn’t been there.
As the family went in the house, I heard all the oohs and aahs.
“What happened in here?” Peggy exclaimed.
“Everything is new!” Angela said.
“Oh my heck, the walls are fixed.” Mike shouted. “I could kiss who ever fixed the walls. I had been meaning to do that.”
“Mercy, mercy, mercy me!”
Everyone walked from room to room in utter shock. All the auras were light green. I loved their reaction as they tried to decide how their house had gotten so clean and repaired. Some guessed church members, some guessed friends or family. Some guessed miracles. No one guessed me.
Before we went to bed, I said. “Hey, I have a suggestion. This is the best I have ever seen your house.”
“This is the best I have ever seen my house,” Peggy said.
“Why don’t we All try to keep it that way? Other families do. Why don’t we, for instances, put garbage in the trash cans instead of the floor? Why don’t we wash our own dishes after we use them? Why don’t we do what we can to keep this place nice?”
Everyone happily agreed. I believe it was because they all enjoyed the calming energy coming from the clean house.
…
The next day was a long, boring summer day with nothing happening. I lazed around the house, seriously under stimulated. I had spent my time at Harvard with every second of my time accounted for. Now, I had nothing going on. I wasn’t complaining. It was a nice break, but it still made me restless. Peggy didn’t take us out on the boat that night. I think she was still loathing about having her TV gone.
Wednesday, I woke bright and early. I had a plan. I wanted to go exploring. I had lots of maps in my head of the mountain terrain. Despite my bad experience before, I hitched hiked to Logan Canyon. It took some doing, but I was able to get the driver to drop me off in the middle of the canyon. It had been a really nice old woman who was on her way to Bear Lake.
“I don’t feel good about leaving a kid alone in the canyon. What if something bad happens to you? I would never forgive myself,” she said when I had her pull over on a shoulder next to a trail.
“Remember, I told you my uncle has a cabin up the mountain from here.”
The old lady looked at the high peak. “It looks too rocky for a cabin.”
I pointed to a small dirt trail. “Oh, but he does. He’s been sick, and I am going to take care of him,” I lied.
“How does he get things to his cabin on that small trail? Like furniture, for instance?”
“Oh, there is a small service road that comes from the other side of the mountain that leads to the cabin, but it is really far from here. I go the way of the trail because it is much faster and closer.”
She looked like she accepted the idea a little more, but then she said, “I don’t feel good about this.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said, as I climbed out. “And I promise you, my uncle will thank you for this.” I hurried and closed the door before she could protest anymore. I quickly bounded up the small dirt trail. She sat in her car watching me until I was out of sight.
The reason I had come out, was because I wanted to explore my abilities more. I knew I would find a nice, safe place up in the mountains. I had studied the topography maps in my head, and I knew where a cave was.
The side of the mountain had been way steeper than I had anticipated. To my knowledge, I had never climbed a mountain before, and I was way more inexperienced than I had expected. The steeper things got, the harder it became. My feet slipped often, and I kept scrapping open my hands. I would heal them with my Zen, and turn around and it do it again. I soon came to an edge where I had to reach high and over to grab a protruding rock. I held to it and proceeded to pull my body up. Only halfway over the rock’s lip, I found myself stuck. I was in such a position I could not go up and I couldn’t go down-but I was stuck- my arms were the only thing keeping me there. As I held on for my life, my arms tired soon, burning as I tried to keep myself in place. They ached and screamed at me, and my fingers started to slip. I tried to reposition my hands, but that was foolish. I lost my hold and I fell. My hip banged into a boulder, then I went straight down, with no rocks to stop me or to crash into. I could tell I was about a hundred feet off the next ledge of rocks as my body somersaulted down the mountain. As I rushed downward, dread filled me. I suddenly remembered how I had made Nathan fly. I grabbed the energy field around me and lifted my body up in the air. A couple of bushes from the ground scratched me as I rose above them. I had almost collided into the bush, but I hadn’t! My Zen had saved me. I couldn’t believe it! I hadn’t crashed. I had saved my life, and I had learned to fly!
Flying wasn’t like I had imagined. I had always thought if one could fly, then they would will themselves to do it. But that wasn’t how it worked. I was flying by the collection and movement of energy around me. It took constant vigilance to make sure the energy was always there. When I would get tranquil and distracted, the momentum would disappear, and I would begin to plummet down. Besides the work it took to keep me in the air, it was the most amazing experience, to be able to fly above the ground, to feel the wind rush through my hair. I felt a freedom as the laws of gravity seemed to disappear. The weight of my body withdrew as I moved around in midair. It sort of reminded me of moving underwater. It was something I wished everyone could have the chance to try.
I spent the next few hours mastering and perfecting the gift of flight. When I felt pretty confident of my skills, I decided to go to the cave like I had originally been planning to. It was probably a good thing I had learned to fly, because there was no way I would have been able to make it to the cave otherwise. The mountain was too rugged and steep for my skills. I flew myself to the cave and went in.
It was really dark inside. I gathered the bands of light from outside and brought them in, illuminating the cavern. I was a bit disappointed to find the cave wasn’t very deep. I had read a story back at ACYI about a girl who took a great adventure in a cave. She had
explored many caverns, each one more glorious than the next, but in my cave, there were only three rooms.
For the longest time, I had wanted my own space, a place I could call my own. I guess in a way, I already had it out in the shed, but I wanted a place I could experiment in, and in the shed, I couldn’t do that. There was too much of the threat someone would walk in. I figured between the plants, the soil, the rocks, and the air, I had all the elements on the mountain to do whatever I wanted.
With my Zen, I dissolved bonds, and recreated bonds, and restructured molecular elements. I became the master of the atoms around me. I decided to make me a bedroom in the first room. I took some of the rock from the cave wall, and brought it out and up, creating a rock-bed. I was so a fluttered at what I had done. I looked at the cold, hard bed. It would need a blanket. I ripped a small strip off my shirt then with my Zen categorized the base elements within it, and took from the elements around to make a simple blanket for the bed.
I went into the next cavern and created a living space. I reshaped some of the rocks in the cave and made two couches in there. They were hard, rock couches, but they were so awesome looking with their marbled rock design.
In the last room, I created a dining table out of rock.
If someone had been watching me, they would have thought I had magic. I had seen several movies about witches who could do anything with magic. I knew all those shows were fantasy, but if they weren’t, maybe magic meant the power to control the atoms and molecules and create them in to things. If one could believe in magic, then surely they could believe in my abilities to form molecules into whatever I desired. I did not use some unknown, mystical force, but I used math and science. For me, it really was pretty simple. I was sure glad I had taken the time to learn all the molecular structures of things back at Harvard.
Finally, my cave was completed. I decided to refer to it as my castle. I went from room to room pretending I was a princess. I had servants and animals. It was so much fun getting lost in my fantasy. As the evening approached, I realized how far I was from home. I probably needed to start making my way there. As I left the cave, I realized I had played. I was being a kid! Rapture filled my soul. It felt good to know I was doing what normal kids did.
I went to an open space outside of the cave. I practiced creating fire, when I heard some birds up in the trees. Listening to them made me wonder if I could make something living. I gathered the elements together from all around me, and I formed them into a small bird. I was stunned at how real the bird looked. Had I really done that? It was beautiful without blemish, every feather perfect. I turned it over and over in my hand, but there was no life to it. It was more like a toy than something living. I might be able to manipulate elements, but I didn’t know how to create life.
Alora Funk- The Deliverance: Book 1 Page 28