Sara, Book 3 (3 page)

C
HAPTER
3

T
he next morning, Sara awakened with a happy heart. She stretched a nice, long stretch and sat up in her bed. But then she
remembered Seth and the new girl at school, and that tense, uncomfortable feeling washed right back over her. She flopped
back onto the bed and pulled the covers around her. She wasn’t ready to get up to face this day. What she really wanted to
do was fall back asleep, away from this awful feeling.

Her mother knocked on her door, opening it and walking in at the same time. “Sara, are you up? It’s nearly 7:30!”

Why bother knocking if you’re going to just walk right in anyway?
Sara thought. She felt extremely irritable. She didn’t want to get up—ever!

“I know, I know,” Sara grumbled. “I’m coming.”

“Everything all right, honey?” her mother asked. She hadn’t seen Sara in a bad mood for a very long time. It was actually
shocking to see this positive, sweet girl in such a terrible state first thing in the morning.

“Everything is just dandy,” Sara quipped sarcastically.

Her mother felt the sting of Sara’s response but decided not to reply and make it more than it was. She quietly closed the
door.

Sara sat on the edge of her bed feeling even worse because of her unpleasant response to her mother. “Geez, what’s wrong with
me?” she whined, flopping back on her bed and pulling the covers up around her again.

“I’ll see you tonight,” Sara heard her mother call out. “Your lunch is on the table.” Sara heard the back door close and the
squeaky garage door open. She heard the tires of her mother’s car crunching through the gravel driveway. Tears welled up in
Sara’s eyes.
I’m such a bad daughter,
she thought.
What is the matter with me?

Well, if I don’t get going, I’m going to be late for school.
Sara quickly dressed, grabbed the paper bag containing her lunch, and hurried out the door. She looked at her watch. “Ten
minutes ‘til the first bell. Well, if I run, I can make it,” she said, breaking into a gentle run. Her book bag swung back
and forth in a gentle rhythm, and as she ran, Sara’s gloom lifted.

As she came through the front gates, she heard the first school bell ring, and she broke into a broad smile. “Good job!” she
complimented herself.
Nothing like a little triumph over crisis to cheer one up,
she thought.

C
HAPTER
4

“S
ara, wait up!” Sara heard Seth calling from behind. She looked back over her shoulder as he ran to catch up with her.

“I’ve got something I want to talk to you about.”

Sara didn’t like the way that made her stomach feel.

“What?” Sara tried to sound calm and normal.

“Hey, isn’t this a great day?” Seth stalled.

Sara could feel Seth’s uneasiness. It was as if he knew that she didn’t want to hear what he had to say. Sara had a pretty
good idea what it was he wanted to talk about, and Seth was right—she didn’t want to hear it. She braced herself for his next
words. She deliberately remained quiet. She had no intention of making this one bit easier for him.

“Um, I wanted to . . . well, you know how we . . . well, there’s this girl . . .”

There it was. Sara was certain now that she didn’t want Seth to go any further.

“A . . . well . . .”

Sara didn’t say a word. She walked along holding her book bag in her arms in front of her, resting her chin on the bag while
she looked down at the path.

Seth stammered on a bit more and then just blurted out, “Sara, I want to show Annette our tree house.”

Well, there it was, right out in the open. Seth had a new friend. And obviously she was a special friend, because Seth and
Sara had promised each other that they would never, ever tell anyone else about the tree house.

Sara’s heart was pounding, and her mouth felt very dry. She tried to swallow. She didn’t want her words to come out sounding
as strange as she felt.

“How come?”

Seth slowed his pace. He hadn’t expected such a direct question from Sara. He had anticipated that she’d ask, “Who’s Annette?”
and then he would explain that she was a new girl in his class who sat across the aisle from him. But Sara’s question required
a careful reply. Seth knew that the truthful answer to her question wouldn’t set well with Sara.

“Why do I want to show Annette our tree house? Because she’s a great girl, full of life and fun, who would appreciate the
tree house as much as we do.” Seth didn’t think that was the best thing to say to Sara. He would never lie to her, but he
also didn’t want to upset her. What a terrible dilemma. How could he be truthful with Sara and not upset her, and still get
something that was very important to him? Then it came to him. He felt ease wash over him, and he said, “Because I remember
how hard it was to be the new kid in town, and then meeting you, Sara, made all the difference in the world to me. I just
thought that you could help Annette feel better about being here, like you made me feel better about being here.”

Seth was so intense and so sincere. Sara felt relief wash over her, and she looked up for the first time.

“Oh, well, then, I guess . . .”

“Okay, then, we’ll meet you by the flagpole after school tomorrow.” Seth ran up the steps of the building, and then turned
around and called back to Sara. “I can’t go there tonight. There’s something I have to do. Tomorrow. We’ll see you there tomorrow.”

Sara watched Seth scampering away from her—and then the full impact of what had just happened hit her.

“Seth, wait, what about . . .”

Seth bounded into the building and the big door banged shut behind him.

“Oh, man,” Sara whined to herself. “What is Seth thinking? What about Solomon?”

For the rest of the afternoon, Sara could barely focus on anything that was happening in class. All she could think about
was Seth, the tree house, and this new girl—what was her name? Annette? And what in the world would they do about Solomon?

Had Seth forgotten that the tree house was usually where he and Sara and Solomon met? Of course he hadn’t. How could he forget
something like that? So if Seth wanted to show the tree house to Annette, does that mean that he wanted to share Solomon,
too?

Sara’s teacher turned out the lights and started the projector. Light shot from the projector, and images danced on the screen
at the front of the classroom. Sara leaned her head against the wall, sighed deeply, and closed her eyes. What was she to
do?

She thought about how, as she got to know Seth, it began to feel logical to share her secret with him, but she still remembered
how risky it had felt, not only because he might not like her once he found out about Solomon, but she worried that he might
ruin everything for her.

How in the world do you go about explaining to someone that you speak, on a regular basis, with a talking owl named Solomon
who knows everything about you and everything about everything else, too? Sara was certain that for much less, they locked
people up and threw away the key. So she had felt overwhelming relief when Seth didn’t even flinch as she had revealed her
strange relationship with Solomon.

Sara tried to imagine Annette’s response to it all: “Oh, hi, Annette. Welcome to our tree house. And by the way, one day I
was walking through the woods where I met a big owl sitting on a fence post, and the owl said to me, ‘Hello, Sara, isn’t this
a lovely day?’ And I said, ‘Oh yes, isn’t it?’ And then my rotten little brother and his horrible little friend shot my owl
friend, but that was okay, because he came back to life again, with feathers and everything, and isn’t it your turn to swing
on the rope?”

Most people aren’t ready to hear that you have a talking owl for a friend who knows everything about everything! You just
don’t talk about things like this with just anybody. What could Seth be thinking? Why would he take a chance on telling someone
else about Solomon and spoiling everything?

Feeling exhausted, Sara put her head down on her desk and fell asleep. Immediately, she found herself inside a dream, sitting
in the top of the tree house alone with Solomon.

“Solomon, what in the world is Seth thinking? Why isn’t he keeping our promise?”

Well, Sara, I suspect that he’s thinking how happy he is that you shared your secret with him.

“But Solomon . . .”

The teacher turned the lights back on in the classroom, jolting Sara from her nap and from her conversation with Solomon.
As she opened her eyes, she heard Solomon’s voice in her head:
We are birds of a feather, Sara. All is well here.

C
HAPTER
5

F
eeling worried and uncomfortable, Sara made her way to the tree house. She didn’t know what Seth had to do that was so important
that he couldn’t come to the tree house today, but she was glad he wasn’t coming. Right now, Sara wanted to talk to Solomon.
Seth seemed determined to open their circle to include Annette, and now Sara knew that Solomon was in agreement, too.
I liked things the way they were.
Sara pouted.
Why does everything have to be changing all the time anyway? After tomorrow nothing will be the same.

She climbed the ladder and flopped down on the floor of the tree house, and looked up into the tree. As usual, Solomon was
sitting on a branch high up in the tree. He waited for Sara to climb the ladder and make herself comfortable, and then, as
he had done hundreds of times before, he glided down beside her.

Well, hello, Sara, isn’t this a wonderful day?

Sara looked at Solomon, but she didn’t speak. She didn’t think this was a wonderful day. And she knew that he knew that she
didn’t think that this was a wonderful day. She also knew that Solomon would never see any day as less than wonderful, which
only served to point out even more clearly to Sara that Solomon was, in this moment, on a very different vibrational wavelength
than she was.

Look at the glorious sky, Sara. Have you ever seen such a beautiful sky?

Sara hadn’t noticed the sky this afternoon—not even once. She looked off into the distance; a heavy bank of clouds was shading
her from the afternoon sun, and a beautiful rainbow of pinks and purples and blues was clearly visible from her tree-house
view.

“That is especially pretty,” she said, softly, feeling slightly better as she spoke.

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the sky look quite that way before,
Solomon said.

Sara agreed. It
was
different than she had noticed before, also.

I guess I’d have to call that a perfect sunset, Sara, for I’ve never seen one I liked more. How about you?

“Yep, I guess I’d have to agree with you, Solomon.” It felt odd to Sara that Solomon was now so intensely interested in the
sky when she had such a terrible knot in her stomach.
Seems like he should be helping me with my problem,
she thought.

I marvel at how perfectly lovely this sky can be, and yet how it’s never the same. It’s always changing. Have you noticed that, Sara?

“Yeah, I guess.”

Day after day I sit in this tree, taking in the beauty of this place, and I am amazed at the extraordinary variety of light patterns and breezes, and combinations of sun and clouds and blue sky that passes before me. And in all of the days I have been sitting here, not once have I seen a repeat of anything that I have seen before. The variety is remarkable.

Sara listened. She knew that Solomon was making an important point with her.

Yep, perfect in this moment, and ever-changing. I find that extremely fascinating. Well, Sara, I think I’ll go enjoy this perfect day from a higher perspective. Have a wonderful evening, sweet girl.

Solomon lifted, with his powerful wings, up into the sky. Sara watched as he made a large circle and then flew off into the
direction of the sunset. The sun was shining so brightly from behind the heavy clouds that they appeared to have a shining
silver ring around them. Sara watched until Solomon was out of her view.

“Okay, okay, I get it. Change is a good thing,” Sara said softly. “But I don’t have to like it.”