SARA, BOOK 2 (17 page)

CHAPTER
35

It’s Nap Time?

S
ara hadn’t seen Seth at school all day; she couldn’t believe that their paths hadn’t crossed. She wanted to see him so that
she could cheer him up if he needed it. She knew he was having a hard time holding himself in a good place with so much negative
stuff going on at home.

And then she thought about what Solomon had been teaching them about ignoring
what is
if it doesn’t please you and putting your attention on your dream or vision instead. She and Seth had been practicing it often,
but Sara knew that
she
was a long way from being able to always control her thoughts, and she didn’t know how Seth was managing it when he was living
right in the middle of it all.

Sara thought about what a good friend Seth had become, and for a moment she felt a big, awful knot in her stomach as she imagined
Seth no longer living in her mountain town. The feeling of emptiness was so severe it almost took her breath away.

“Whew!” Sara said out loud. “I guess it’s clear that this thought doesn’t match my desire.”

Sara breathed deeply and tried to find a better-feeling thought. Her mind went immediately to the tree house, and to swinging
on the big rope Seth had tied so securely to the tree. Then she thought about the platform, and them having been banished
from it all, and how wonderfully everything had turned around. She thought of sweet Mrs. Wilsenholm and her kitten, and gruff
Mr. Wilsenholm and the twinkle in his eye.

She thought of dear, sweet Solomon and the loving guidance that he always offered. She remembered how, when Solomon died,
she believed her heart would break . . . how, when the worst thing imaginable happened, she had still survived, and how, in
so many ways, things actually got better from that point. That point that seemed to be the absolute end of joy turned out
instead to be the beginning point for so much
more
joy.

A flock of geese honked as they flew overhead, and Sara smiled as she remembered Solomon’s earliest teachings about birds
of a feather flocking together. And that reminded her of her very first introduction to the idea of the
Law of Attraction.

“Boy, have we come a long way.” She chuckled.

Sara noticed how—in just a few minutes of deliberately choosing her thoughts—that awful feeling in her stomach had lifted.
She grinned as she realized that she was doing exactly what Solomon had taught them: She was setting her own tone.

“I’ll wait two more minutes and if I don’t see Seth, I’ll go on to the tree house. He may not have come to school at all today.
He’ll probably just meet me there.”

Two minutes passed and she headed for the tree house.

As Sara walked, her concern began to rise again. Hoping that Seth would be at the tree house but not knowing for sure only
reminded Sara how important it was to her that he’d be there.

Well, even if he isn’t there, that wouldn’t mean anything.
There are millions of things that could keep him
from attending school or from coming to the tree house.
That doesn’t make any difference,
she pretended. But her fear didn’t change at all. In fact, if anything, it got worse.

The more Sara struggled to release the idea of Seth’s moving away, the worse she felt. “This is ridiculous,” Sara said out
loud. “I certainly can control the way I feel.”

I need a rampage of appreciation.
(Sara remembered Solomon’s game.)
Let’s see, let me think of some
things I appreciate:

I appreciate how the
Law of Attraction
works for
me, and for everyone.

I appreciate how Mrs. Wilsenholm helped us get our
tree house back.

I appreciate how Mrs. Wilsenholm’s cat introduced
me to Mrs. Wilsenholm.

I appreciate how Mrs. Wilsenholm introduced us to
Mr. Wilsenholm.

I appreciate knowing Seth.
. . . Every time she thought about Seth, that sad, sick feeling rose up in Sara’s stomach again. A tear rolled down her cheek.
“Oh, Solomon,” she whispered, “what will I do if Seth moves away? How will I
ever
find another friend like him?”

Sara wiped her face on her sleeve and was mad at herself for giving in to her sadness. “This isn’t helping
anybody,”
she said out loud.

Solomon’s words were piling up in her mind: S
et your own tone . . . pay no attention to what-is . . .
hold your attention on a happy outcome . . . the
Law of Attraction
will do the work . . . don’t take score too soon
. . . be easy about this . . . all is well here.
Those words helped.

Sara climbed up into the tree house, but Seth wasn’t there. Solomon wasn’t there either.

“Where
are
you guys?” Sara said out loud.

Sara tried to find happy thoughts, but the
now
reality, and the absence of Seth, were too strong for her to overcome.

A nice long nap is a good idea,
Solomon said, dropping down from above to the floor of the tree house.

“
Solomon!
Where have you been?”

Everywhere.
Solomon smiled.

“Solomon—” Sara began.

Solomon interrupted.
Sara, sometimes the best
thing to do is to get your mind off of whatever it is you
are worrying about. The
Law of Attraction
is taking
care of things. Go home, sweet girl, and go to bed early.

Solomon flew up to the branch where the big rope was tied and then lifted up and out of Sara’s view.

“Geez, even Solomon can’t cheer me up,” Sara whined.

She climbed down the ladder and went home.

“I need a nap.”

CHAPTER
36

Remember Your Vision

T
his had been the first day since moving to Sara’s town that Seth hadn’t been at school. He had awakened to the sound of his
mother bringing boxes into the living room, setting them all around the room in readiness for packing.

“What are all these boxes for?” Seth asked, knowing very well what they were for. He stepped over them and around them, trying
to make his way into the kitchen.

“For packing. We’re moving on,” his mother said quietly. Seth could hear the disappointment in her voice. Although his mother
didn’t have much to say about anything, Seth sensed that she had come to really like this little mountain town; she had seemed
more content than Seth had ever seen before. And while she always stayed busy and worked harder than Seth thought she needed
to, this stay, in this house, with her husband making good money at the hardware store, had been a big relief from the hardworking
farm life that she’d been used to.

Seth felt sad as he watched his mother. He could feel her dreading the unknown future. (Or maybe it wasn’t as unknown to her
as Seth thought.)

“Start saying good-bye, son. Most likely we won’t be here more than another week or so.”

Seth felt a big lump forming in his throat. “Yeah,” he said, going out on the porch.

“Solomon,” Seth said softly, under his breath.

Remember your vision.
Seth heard Solomon’s voice in his head.

Holding on to the porch post, Seth closed his eyes and
saw
himself swinging on the long rope at the tree house. In his mind, he could
hear
Sara’s laugh, and he could
feel
the wind on his face. The lump dissolved. He instantly felt better.

Take it further.
He heard Solomon’s voice again.
See your mother.

Seth kept his eyes closed tightly. He
imagined
his mother working happily around the house; he
imagined
her feeling relief. She was smiling. He instantly felt relief.

This is good work.
Seth heard Solomon’s voice in his head.

Seth opened his eyes. He could hear his mother moving boxes about, but he struggled to hold his attention on something else,
anything else. He didn’t want to go back to the painful reality. He wanted to hold his attention on his own chosen vision.

“I don’t know where you’ve been spending your time, son, but wherever it is, you best go spend some time there now. While
ya can.”

Was his mother actually encouraging him to go to the tree house? It seemed so.

Seth bolted off the front porch and ran down Thacker’s Trail. Up, up, up into his glorious tree he climbed. Breathless, he
sat there alone and exhilarated.

Good things will eternally flow to you. Keep an eye out
for evidence of that.
Seth remembered Solomon’s words.

He smiled. His mother had just given him evidence that well-being was flowing.

Seth closed his eyes, and from his place of connection he imagined good things: He
pretended
that his father was happy. He didn’t try to figure out
why
he was happy. Only that he was happy. He
mentally
saw his mother smiling. He
saw
Sara smiling. That was easy.

Seth took hold of his swinging rope, and with eyes closed he leaped from the tree, swinging back and forth with the wind in
his face, feeling his flight, and knowing—at least for this brief moment—that all was truly well.

CHAPTER
37

Well-being Abounds

H
earing the cow bells on the front door clanking, indicating that someone had come inside, Seth’s father came out from the
back room at the hardware store.

“Can I help you with something?”

“Need some longer screws that’ll fit these cabinet knobs. Knobs keep pulling off of these short screws.”

“They’d be over here, then. Let’s see, I believe these would be the ones. Here. Try this one.”

The old man fumbled with the screw and the knob, making sure that it was the right fit. “Well, I believe you’re right. Thank
you, sir. You made this an easy job for me. I’ll need 24 of them. Better make it 30 in case I drop some in the straw. They’re
for the cupboards in the horse barn, and the straw’s deep in there. My clumsy old fingers are likely to throw a few of them
in the straw.”

Seth’s dad laughed. This was a likable man. “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. Looks to me like you’re doing just fine.”

“Well, I’ll be doing finer before long. I’m retirin’. Me and the missus are going to travel. I’ve been promisin’ to take her
to visit her family back east for years. Now we’re finally going to do it. Never felt like I could take the time away, ya
know. But now I’m ready. And she sure is ready, too. Patient woman. Sure enough.”

“What’s been keeping you so busy that you couldn’t get away?”

“Been foreman at the Wilsenholm ranch for years. Been a good job, too. Got no complaints. Pays well. Got plenty of reliable
men who do a good job. Gotta keep yer eye on ’em, you know what I mean? But they’re a hardworking bunch, and honest enough.
Boss says he really hates to see me go. Says I been making the place run for years, but he feels real good about a lead he
has on a man to replace me. Says he met the man and feels real good about what he’s seen. And he says he’s got the best recommendation
that anyone would need: a recommendation from the man’s own son. Well, I’d better get goin’. Wife gets unhappy if she has
to keep supper waiting on me. Thanks for yer help.”

Seth’s dad stood silent. It was as if a giant weight had lifted from him. He pulled the folded card from his pocket and reached
for the telephone. . . .

At that very same moment at the swinging tree, thrilling goosebumps popped up all over Seth’s body. He opened his eyes, realizing
that the rope had stopped swinging and he was hanging dead center in the middle of the stream. “Boy, I’m getting carried away
with this dreaming stuff.” He dropped into the water and waded back up onto the riverbank. . . .

Well-being abounds.
He heard Solomon’s voice in his head.
Well-being abounds
.