“Can you two talk?” I asked, wondering if
they shared a bond as strong as me and Landen’s.
“Why would we want to talk?” Preston asked
curiously.
I looked at Landen for help, but all I got
was a small smirk on his face.
“Alright then, show us,” Landen said,
looking at Preston.
Preston patted his crossed his legs, telling
us to do the same, then he folded his hands in his lap. Libby did
the same. Landen and I looked at each other before we complied with
the wordless direction.
“OK,” Preston said. “You can’t think, and
you cannot use any of your senses. If you hear, it has to be on the
inside. If you see, it has to be on the inside. Close your eyes and
breath.”
“What do you mean ‘don’t think?’” I
asked
“It’s just like when you go to sleep - but
you stay awake,” Libby answered.
“
Ahh, that makes sense. So we need to
focus on here, right?”
I asked Landen.
He looked at me with my favorite impish
grin.
“I suppose so,”
he answered.
“Are you ready?” Preston asked. We nodded
and closed our eyes.
I had taken a few yoga classed with my
friend Jessica a year or so ago. I wasn’t very good at it, but I
did remember that Jessica always told me to focus on my breath, to
imagine blue air coming in and red air coming out. I watched my
breath; not forcing it, letting it come as it would naturally. I
visualized myself in the meadow where I was and watched the blue go
in my body, and the red leave. I felt relaxed, almost weightless.
With each breath, I became more relaxed. Then it felt like my head
was not even there – like I was connected to something bigger than
me, bigger than the universe I was in. I let myself live in that
moment a little longer, not sure if I’d reached the point of
meditation. Taking in one more deep, cool blue breath, I opened my
eyes.
I was sitting next to my body. It was still
holding my posture, letting quiet breaths in and out - but what was
so remarkable were the colors around me. There was a white glow
surrounding me and Landen, connecting us. Around us individually,
close to our skin, was a very pure color of orange, and further
away from our bodies the orange faded into a yellow, then bright
green, giving way to a beautiful blue. The colors stretched several
feet from us.
“
Can you hear me?”
I thought to
Landen. I could see him next to his body and feel his awe as he
took in all the colors.
He looked up and nodded with an awestruck
smile on his face.
“I didn’t think that is was possible for you
to be any more beautiful,”
he thought, rising to come to my
side. Standing beside their bodies, Libby and Preston were watching
us both, and the same white glow that connected me and Landen
surrounded the two of them. The colors were not the same, though;
they had a beautiful shade of pink surrounding them that stretched
into a violet.
“
I wish we could talk to them,”
I
said to Landen.
Preston and Libby looked at each other and
smiled, then looked up at us. They raised their heads to the sky,
leading us to follow their stare. I slowly raised my head to see
the most amazing thing that I had ever laid my eyes on: the normal
sky was gone; it was replaced by a beautiful sea of colors. It
looked as if there were small pearls of light floating along an
invisible current. Where our bodies remained, the sea of colors
opened and let a beautiful glow of white light - more amazing than
diamonds - flow into our color.
Preston grabbed my hand and Libby took
Landen’s as we passed through the field. We weren’t the only one
that had colors; the trees, grass, and flowers had a glow of light
around them. I swear I could see nature take in the air and release
it. I’d always known that nature was life; I’d just never seen it
as a part of us. It was as if we’d been given new eyes to see what
we take for granted every moment of our lives.
I was staring down at the grass, mesmerized
by all the colors, when I noticed that when Preston passed through
the taller blades of grass - they did not move; when I passed
through the grass, though, it moved as if it were solid. I
stopped.
Landen was still looking up at the sky.
“
What is it, Willow?”
he asked,
feeling my shock.
“
Preston is passing thorough the grass -
we’re not,”
I thought.
Landen looked down at Libby to see her
standing in the middle of a row of flowers. It looked like they
were a part of her. They must have expected us to notice this.
Preston let go of my hand and walked over to Libby’s side. He
leaned down, picked one of the flowers, and held it as if it were
solid. Then he grazed his finger through it, making it look like an
optical illusion. Preston reached up and handed it to Landen. In
Landen’s hands, the flower was solid again. Landen raised his other
hand and tried to pass his fingers through the flower, but it was
still solid. Preston smiled and shook his head, then pointed to his
head.
“
I think he’s trying to tell you it’s in
your head...try seeing it as light,”
I thought, reaching down
to pick another flower. Landen looked at me and raised his
eyebrows. I winked at him, then looked down at the red flower in my
hand. I focused on the stunning white glow that surrounded it and
ran my finger through it. As I passed through perfect petals, I
felt the energy that the flower had and felt a tiny tingle ran
through my soul. I smiled at myself and looked at Landen; we
watched him as he tried to do the same. The first time, he found it
solid. Before he tried again, he looked up to the sea of colors in
the sky, then smiled at himself. The next time he ran his finger
through the energy of the flower, I was almost sure I could feel
the energy through him.
We smiled at ourselves, then joined hands,
following Preston and Libby through the field. They led us to Brady
and Felicity’s house, and we could feel that they had several
guests. Brady and Ashten were sitting on the porch; they both had a
white glow around them that stretched somewhere in the house. The
most dominant color around them was green, but it wasn’t as bright
as the one around Landen and me. Preston and Libby broke off from
us, laughing vigilantly as they chased each other through Brady’s
front yard. I followed Landen up the steps of the porch and into
the house. Aubrey opened the front door to call Ashten and Brady in
for lunch.
When she stepped closer to Ashten, the white
glow around him stretched to surround both Ashten and Aubrey.
“Did you see that?”
Landen asked, awestruck, as he watched
the glow connect his parents.
“
I think that’s the love we can feel
between them,”
I answered, looking at the one that surrounded
us. Ours seemed to be thicker than theirs; I pondered that it may
be because our love was newer.
We followed Brady and Ashten in the house.
Nyla and August were there, too. Nyla was setting the drinks on the
table, and there was a glow around her and August as well. I was
sure then that it was love that I was seeing. Felicity walked
slowly into the room, staring down at little Allie and kissing her
tiny head softly before sitting her down in a cradle beside the
table. Brady pulled her chair out for her. What was so fascinating
was that the glow around them stretched to Allie as she lie
sleeping silently beside them; it was breathtaking to be able to
see love connecting people so intensely.
Landen walked back outside, and I followed
him. It was easy to see that he was fascinated by the colors of
nature. Preston and Libby came to our side, and we walked through
the field back toward our bodies. As the birds would pass above us,
we could see a pure white glow around them. It was as if everything
and everyone was connected by energy; if everyone in the universe
knew this, loneliness would not exist.
Suddenly, I couldn’t feel Landen’s hand in
mine; he was gone. I felt myself panic and squeezed Preston’s hand.
He and Libby were calm. I brought myself back to consciousness,
desperate to find Landen. Back inside my body, I opened my eyes and
looked quickly to Landen. He was there, and so was Marc. Preston
and Libby opened their eyes as well.
“What are you guys doing?” Marc asked,
almost amused.
“Learning,” Landen said, slipping on his
shoes as he looked up to the sky.
I followed his stare; sadly, the colors were
gone. There was no longer a light stretching from the heavens to
us; yet, vaguely, we could still see the colors around everyone.
Marc’s shade was light brown, and the white glow that should
connect him to the ones he loved lingered around his body
alone.
“Learning what?” Marc asked, looking at
Preston protectively.
“To leave,” Preston said, smiling at
Marc.
Marc’s shade shifted to red, and I could
feel his disapproval. “You are teaching these children to walk
around without their bodies?” Marc said, looking sternly at Landen
with his eyebrows creased. His brown eyes seemed to grow darker,
and his jaw tightened; for a moment, the resemblance between him
and Drake seemed to be more clear. A shiver ran down my spine as I
remembered the moments Drake had held me.
As he felt it, Landen looked at me. I pushed
down the emotion and forced a smile.
“No, your little brother is teaching us,”
Landen corrected. “It seems Preston is miles ahead of us.”
Marc looked down at Preston “Who taught you
that? Drake? Mom?” Marc asked Preston.
“I learned all by myself. I’ll show you,
too,” Preston said, his smile lessening a little.
Marc shook his head in disbelief. “Is this
what you guys were talking about last night?” Marc asked Landen.
Landen nodded “You should have made me come; Preston is my
responsibility - not yours,” Marc finished.
Landen reached for Marc’s arm and pushed
much needed calm through him. Marc sighed, then nodded. His brown
eyes lighted slightly, taking the ghostly image of Drake away. “So
what triggered a late night discussion?’ Marc asked.
Landen looked down at Preston and
smiled.
You could feel the guilt coming from
Preston. “I was bad. I wanted milk, and I didn’t wait for Aubrey to
give it to me,” he said, looking down.
Marc looked at Landen for some kind of
clarity. “They can step inside people and take over,” Landen said,
keeping his hand on Marc to calm him down.
Marc looked at Preston. “That was not nice -
you know that don’t you?” Preston nodded.“You guys go play. I need
to talk to Landen and Willow,” Marc said, running his hands through
his hair.
They hugged me and Landen before running off
toward Libby’s house. We walked with Marc to our front porch. Marc
sat down in one of the chairs and sighed. “August told me about
Mercury. What’s our plan?” Marc asked, looking back and forth
between me and Landen.
“We don’t have one,” Landen said
blankly.
“You know he’s going to take someone, hurt
someone,” Marc said, the red around him turning scarlet.
“We don’t know that. The moon represents
family, friends; Mercury is basically communication. For all we
know, this time it will only involve me and Willow,” Landen said,
pulling me closer.
“If it involves the two of you, it involves
all of us,” Marc said protectively.
Landen sighed. “Maybe so, but you still have
plenty of time to go and look. Your beacon will be there - I’m sure
of it,” Landen said, changing the subject.
Marc looked up at Landen, shook his head,
then stood. “I’ll see you guys later. Let me know if someone
disappears – or if you see demons running around,” he said over his
shoulder.
I could feel a sting of regret and anger
coming from Landen. “Let it go, Landen; we can’t live his life for
him. He has a lot to work through. I’m sure whoever his soul mate
is, she’s patient.”
He smiled at me, then pulled me closer.
“That was so amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Landen
said, remembering the colors of energy.
“I can still see colors,” I said, looking up
at him.
He smiled. “I can, too...I wonder what they
mean.” He looked out at the blue sky. “The sky was amazing. Do you
think you could paint it?” he asked me.
I sat up quickly and nodded, then ran up the
stairs to the studio I’d made for myself. Landen followed me and
opened up the doors and windows, letting the light of day flood the
room. I pulled out every color and brush I owned, then went to
work.
Landen stood at my side, nodding as he
watched the scene in the field come to life. I painted the four of
us, the colors around us, the heavens pouring into us. I connected
me and Landen with the bright light, as well as Preston and Libby.
I don’t know how long it took me, but I could see that the sun had
fallen.
I felt my mother getting closer to the
house. She opened the front door and yelled, “Willow, I brought you
guys some dinner.”
I looked at Landen. “I swear, she doesn’t
think I can cook,” I whispered.
Landen tilted his head and smiled.
“Can
you?”
he thought playfully. I laughed out loud. He was right to
question me; I hadn’t even boiled water since I’d met him.
“We’re in the studio, Mom,” I yelled back. I
felt her putting the food away in the kitchen. She was happy I was
painting; it was a part of me she felt that she had helped
create.
When my mother walked into the studio, she
was surrounded by a beautiful color of pink and white. Her eyes
widened as she saw the painting, then she walked slowly over to the
canvas, looking past Landen and me. “Where is this?” she asked
finally.
“The side yard,” I answered, amazed at what
I’d seen that day. My mother looked at me.
“Libby and Preston showed us how to
meditate, and when we did, this is what we saw,” Landen
explained.