HERE AND THERE… AGAIN

 

PART ONE

The Journey Begins

I don’t exactly remember what really happened....all I remember was that I was pleasantly plodding to the bus stop to go to my friend’s house to feed her lovely elegant kitty as she and her hubby were on a little holiday escape. But then, as I was meandering along, I suddenly felt myself being severely hit on the head… and I felt myself being heavily plastered to the ground so that I instantly fell in a rather very inelegant manner… as I always do. Following this procedure I saw lots and lots of people gathering close to me and talking all at once… talking to me, talking to themselves and talking into their cell phones. I remember thinking… why are these people hovering so close to me and I was wondering… who they all were and thinking how very exhausting it was to look at them. I remember one man though, I thought he was my Prince Charming, he was asking me helpful questions and I tried to answer him back but talking was far too problematic for me and the pain in my head and back was so immense and so awful. Finally the man, Prince Charming, put me in a much quieter place but then everything went slowly and totally and completely dim and I heard a voice screaming for me to come back. Come back to where? The voice just began to get fainter and fainter and suddenly everything went blue then foggy grey and then black and my dear friends and gentle readers, I was not able to remember a thing. I just wanted to sleep and to keep my eyes shut forever in that warm, black and safe place.

But, all too soon, I woke up and found myself on a rather small but loud bus carrying only a few people who were all screaming and talking very loudly in an utterly unfamiliar language.

My thoughts, ‘What am I doing here and who are these people and how in the world did I get here in this noisy place?’

         As no one was taking any notice of me at that moment… I began to look at these people who were acting like a bunch of rowdy little boys and girls… well… one girl. I was sitting in the middle row of the bus and next to me was Robby… my dearest Robby who I hadn’t seen in years! Robby was a good family friend… actually not really family but almost like family. Robby was my best friend’s son and Robby’s sister, Inez, was also my best friend but, at the moment, the two Robby ladies were not on the bus.

In amazement I thought to myself, ‘What is Robby doing here… didn’t he die on some hike? I thought he was dead. I remember being so devastated when I heard the news and both his mother and sister could not stop from crying. It was a truly sad day… I will never forget the day of the funeral… the music and so flowers were so beautiful but everything was so deeply sad. But here is Robby sitting right next to me!’

 In the drivers seat was a very handsome and dashing man screaming, yelling, and laughing in an un-sanely rough and shrilling voice… well… not yelling in a mean way but just in a rather in an alarmingly loud way with some grunts in between… a good looking guy with an ear-splitting voice. I clearly remember thinking, ‘Boy… I do wish he’d stop shrieking before my head begins to burst.’

 Next to him was another man… an extremely good looking man… the dangerous kind you’d never want to meet because he’d be nothing but troubles and heartaches. The fun guy who would come with an array of exotic flowers in his arms and a charming smile upon his lips showing a gleam of flashing white teeth but then the misery, despair and grief would arrive… no… my young damsels… this is not the man you would desire. Well… he was chuckling and giving light snorts of laughter and then turning around to say something to Robby in that strange language that I couldn’t understand.

Then I, the surprised one, looked at Robby and thought, ‘Wow… I didn’t know that he could speak that language… or any language except for English.’

In the row behind where Robby and I sat was a young man and woman who gave ecstatic smiles all the time and never stopped babbling and talking and clucking to each other about how beautiful everything was… the view, the ‘this,’ and the ‘that.’ They smiled wildly at the driver in a very overly smiley way, which was kind of silly. They were both quite nice looking and both dressed in matching hiking attires, which I thought was kind of silly too.

Then way in the back of the car was another person I hadn’t even noticed because… well… besides being so very quiet… he was completely hooded and robed in some odd looking material and never, ever laughed or spoke or gave any slight grunts or smiles and the only reason I noticed him at all was because the handsome and loud driver had asked him or her, the quiet one, a question and everyone at that very moment had turned around, like a bunch of love parrots or a bunch of meerkats, and looked way back to see who the driver was actually speaking to and everyone, quite taken aback at seeing this hooded and robed person, were eagerly awaiting the answer of the man of total silence. The quiet one answered using his hands, which, I noticed were the only parts of his body that was not covered, robed or hooded. For some strange reason I felt sorry for this quiet person as everyone, except for Robby, gave a light snigger, which I didn’t think was very kind of them at all. I looked at the quiet ones hands and they were rough, big hands, calloused from hard work, brown with pinkish-white fingernails… clearly hands of man from a different world. The others all has rough, brown hands but not calloused and they all had long slender fingers… of course… not Robby or the young couple. Robby’s hands were big and slightly pudgy and his fingernails were always too long… he once told me that his fingernails grew way too fast… ahh… I see. The couple had very nice and well-manicured hands.

I thought to myself, ‘What am I doing in this rattling bus with all these good looking men and that quiet one and the odd couple? I am not in the habit of being around good-looking men to begin with because they make me rather nervous. Robby is a very handsome sweetheart but he is good ol’ Robby and never makes me nervous... ever. Boy… was I so completely relieved to see Robby right next to me… at least I knew him and know that he was also a genuinely nice and patient guy. Sigh… but what am I doing here and why am I not with Inez and her mother taking a nice walk in the woods or something? Why am here with all these guys??? And that quiet guy… boy… he makes me so, so nervous… if I’d known that he was coming along… I’d never have gone with them? Boy… this is all so utterly crazy… actually I’m the real crazy one to have gone! But I’m so happy to see Robby!’

 Then out of kindness and because no one was taking any notice of him… I turned around to face the quiet guy or gal and gave a nice smile and said, ‘Hi, my name is Josefina… but you can call Josy, Josetta, Jo or Jojo.’

Well… to my total surprise… a very large and fierce looking yellow dog shot up in the car seat and looked at me in the most alarming and shocking way. He then barked so loud, as if there wasn’t enough loud, shrilling and clucking noises everywhere, and everybody turned around and screamed at me and the barking, more like a growl, got even louder until the quiet guy put his hand on the dog and gently whispered something in the dogs ear. Whatever the quiet guy said to the dog finally calmed the nerve wracking dog… oh man, oh man was that a shocker. I just shrank back as far as I could from that evil dog and these men… I almost cried and quickly grabbed Robby’s hands for safety.

It was at that moment that Robby and the men noticed me. The driver said something… something I certainly didn’t understand and instantly I looked at Robby with beseeching eyes asking, ‘Robby… what did the guy say???’

Dear, good Robby glanced at me and said, “Wow… Jo… you sure slept through everything… we couldn’t get over this deep sleep of yours. I thought you might have died or something because we sure screamed loudly… the bus drove right under this waterfall and none of us could believe that you could sleep through all that rumbling noise. Then we were stopped by a mountain lion and Wild, that’s Silent One’s dog, was about to jump out of the bus and fight the lion but then Silent One got out of the bus and whispered something to the lion, man…the lion was a big guy but so beautiful, and so the lion left us alone… man… Jo… you would have loved this lion… he was a real beauty!’

‘Oh… a lion?’

‘Yep… a real spectacular vision.’

Robby could see the alarm on my face… he quickly put his arm around me and said in a very sweet voice, as if to a child, ‘Here… let me introduce you to everybody. This here is Tito… he is our driver and our guide. And this is –’

‘Our guide… a guide for what?’

‘Yes… we’re on a hiking tour.’

‘A hiking tour… me on a hiking tour… why would I want to be on a hiking tour? But Robby… you know that I’m a terrible hiker!’

‘Yes… I know. Believe me… we were all so completely whacked. Mom and Sis thought you had to be joking but you were so insistent and dead serious about this and said that you just had to go and that was that… even Matio thought you were purely nuts… he told me in English, that it was a really adrenaline hike with lots of rocks ravine and mountain lions and vultures and he could see how totally unstable and wobbly you were.’

‘Why would I say such a thing?’

‘Honestly… Jo… I really don’t know why but let me finish the introduction. OK… so this is Matio, he is Tito’s assistant on these trips. And this is Mr. and Mrs. Nameless—

‘Their names are what???’

‘Jo, stop interrupting me… you’re making me lose my train of thoughts. You did this when I was little and you are still at it… sigh…really Jo.’

He shook his head back and forth then continued, ‘So… Mr. and Mrs. Nameless are hikers just like us and they came to look at the stunning view, like we are doing. And this is the man who never seems to talk, everybody calls him the Silent One and he is Tito’s assistant too, I guess, even Matio’s not quite sure what he does… but he always comes along… they say that he’s good on these trips because he’s never seems to be afraid of anything. And this is Wild… the Silent Ones trusty dog.’

‘Oh…’ I shrank away from the dog, ‘that dog… he looks more like a lion… and that bark was more like a growl. I’ll never get near him.’

‘Oh… well… you’ll get used to him. He’s certainly not like Happy, Mom’s golden retriever.’

‘No… he is not.’

Robby stopped talking but still had his arms around me. I guess he could still feel my nerves rattling away from shedder nervousness and to keep me in a calm state told me in his soothing voice to look out the window and scan the beautiful and ecstatic view. Well… like a humble child I let my gaze wander to the somewhat muddy and wet window and what a sight my gaze saw! Nothing but grey rocks, boulders, nasty looking ravines and more evil looking rocks. The bus was driving on a very narrow dirt road with livid looking sharp rocks on either side. The vile looking rocks were going straight upwards and downwards… they had the resemblance of long crooked fingers with scaly razor sharp fingernails telling us all to come into their dark dens… ugh. There were no trees or flowers bewitching this gloomy place into a place of Paradise. Not too far from us I did see a powerful looking waterfall, the only thing that was somewhat beautiful, but no majestic and noble eagle or any bird flew by in the bluish-grey sky. This was not at all a beautiful view! It was more like the being in the land of purgatory… a land of pure suffering.

I looked at Robby and said in the most shocking voice, ‘Robby… this is not a beautiful place at all… this is a dreadful gloomy, barren and scary place! Robby… honestly… a hiking tour… here… and you are telling me to look at the scenic view???? Robby… where is the beauty in this horrible? I don’t see it.’

‘Well… we are pretty high up but, hey, see that waterfall… that’s really gorgeous… a real stunner.’

Not very far from us was that powerful waterfall that I’d seen. Well… I didn’t want to hurt Robby’s feeling but honestly… I didn’t think the waterfall was THAT beautiful… I mean it was nice… a true powerful gush but it looked more like the waterfall wanted to kill us all rather then have to be beautiful for us to look at. The waterfall began its forceful flow from somewhere up even higher and came streaming down right on to the road that the bus was driving on. The waterfall was stunning to look at… I admit… but there was something frightening about this… the whole place was kind of creepy. I really could not see the beauty at all… no not at all.

I glanced at Robby and said, ‘Well… it is sort of majestic looking waterfall but it’s in the way. How are we going to drive by or do we have to walk under this waterfall it? I am NOT going to walk near that waterfall… no siree… I’ll just stay in the bus and wait until you all get back.’

‘Oh… I think the bus is just going to drive through like with the other waterfall that you slept through. Wait… let me ask Tito.’

Then Robby quickly asked Tito, in that unknown language, how we were going to pass the waterfall. Tito in return answered Robby back.

Then Robby looked at me and told me, ‘Just as I had thought… we’re going to drive through the waterfall… you’ll love it… it’s lots of fun … you’ll see Jo.’

‘What! We are driving through that? Tito must be crazy… out of his mind… sorry… but this is just pure nuts… not realistic thinking and so NOT safe for him or for any of us!’

‘No… it’ll be fun… you’ll like it. Tito’s a great driver… you can hold onto my hand or grab my arm if you want.’

‘What… fun? No I will absolutely despise every moment of this. You know very well Robby how I hate these adrenaline things… I’m NOT adventurous like you! Remember those frightening roller coaster rides you made me get on when you were a little boy? No, no, no, no, no.’

When I said no, no, no, no, no…everybody looked straight at me and probably wondered why I was saying all these no’s. Robby simply looked at me and said, ‘Well… why did you come on this hiking tour?’

Good question I thought but all I replied was, ‘You know… I truly and absolutely don’t have a clue.’

‘Well… we’re driving through and that’s that.’

And with that Robby simply turned around to look at the waterfall and ignored my almost crying face.

‘Are you mad at me… Robby?’

‘No… of course not but I just don’t get it… why you wanted to come on this hiking tour so badly. You were pretty adamant about this… Mom and Sis looked at you and both of them thought that you were nuts to go along… they told you that it was going to be a killer of a hike but nope… you told them that you had to go and that was it. I was super happy about you coming along but not Mom and Sis.’

‘Oh dear… did I really say this… was I honestly adamant about going along?’

‘Yep.’

Then suddenly the bus ride was getting mighty bumpy and super rocky… I mean crazy R-O-C-K-Y… and I decided to look outside the window to see why everything had become so wildly jolty and jumpy… … we were seriously all being pushed and jerked violently out of our seats. Well… guess what darling readers… we were right under the crazy waterfall… and let me emphasize to everyone how very powerful… no powerful is too tame of a word… it was absolutely violent, scary, savage and truly ferocious. I thought the roof of the bus would rip apart or simply break into a thousand pieces and we would all be thrown mercilessly down into the steep gorge into some murky wet dark pit and thus die forever… ahhh… and the noise… the ear-splitting vicious noise… like a roar of thunder right in your ear and like millions of people moaning and screaming for help. No… this waterfall did not sound right… it sounded more like wailing… like many people weeping and pleading in sheer anguish! I remember thinking how truly sorry I felt for anyone who had taken a wrong step and died instantly on this dangerous trail. We were just steps away from the main gush of the waterfall when Tito, our guide, began blasting to everyone to get ready for this rollicking bus ride and for everyone to make sure they had their rain jackets on. All this was, of course, yelled to us by Matio… in English… so that I could understand this because it seemed that we were all in the midst of having some dangerous fun, which is what everyone was looking for except for me. I remember how shocked I was that everyone was smiling! Suddenly Tito stopped the driving the bus for a moment so that everyone could put on their rain gears and scramble around in their bags for their plastic hats but I simply sat there in a complete daze in my seat… too shocked and stupefied to do anything.

‘Come on, Jo, quickly put on your stuff… don’t just sit there… or do I have to do it for you? Boy… what a fun hiker you are! Here… you can wear my other rain jacket… honestly… I can’t find a reasonable thing in your backpack… all you have is red lipsticks and sunblock and romance novels… man… Jo… these are not hiking stuff!’

The minute Robby threw the jacket on me… Tito started the bus… he was not a very patient fellow as I was quick to notice… and everyone then screamed in sheer giggles and jovial glee… like a bunch of hyenas… while I screamed in total fear whilst holding Robby’s arm… I thought if I was going to die then I’d like to die with Robby.

All at once… the bus stopped and Tito drove back… away from the powerful waterfall and I though, ‘Oh good… he’s finally got some sense and we’re going to drive away from this horrible waterfall and from this horrid place.’

But no… he looked at all of us and yelled out some order in his bizarre language. Instantly, the quiet one and Matio opened their bus doors and jumped out of the bus. Then Matio simply told everyone, ‘Out… everyone out.’ Utterly terrified and very sick of this trip… I looked at Robby and said, ‘Oh dear… what did Tito say?’

          Robby looked at me and replied, ‘He just told us all to get out of the bus and take our belongings with us. Let me ask him what’s really going on… this was not part of the trip… something must’ve gone wrong.’

As Robby was telling me all this… I noticed that Matio and the quiet one were all tying big heavy ropes around our waist and attaching us all to the other person… so no one would get lost. I did not have happy thoughts when I saw this… nope… it looked more like we were all going to do some real hiking.

Then Robby walked back to me after having a talk with Tito and Matio and said, ‘Listen Jo… bad news… the bus is broken… the guys guessed it was the waterfall that did it and so we’re all going to walk… but the good news is I’ll walk right in front of you and Matio will be right behind you so you’ll be OK. So… don’t worry… you’re in good hands.’

‘What… walk?!?!?!’

‘Yep.’

‘No, no, no I’ll go right back in the bus and just wait until you all get back or someone can come and get me… no… I will NOT walk Robby! You know very well that I can’t walk like that… I am NOT a hiker like you!’

Well… Robby didn’t have to translate all this to Tito or Matio… the guys all knew how I felt about this hike. I had made myself very, very clear to Robby.

‘Jo… I wish you could just stay in the bus and wait for someone to come and save you but you cannot stay in the bus… Tito said that bus is just not going to make it. He told me that the waterfall is so strong that it must have eroded part of the road… the roads is not wide enough for the bus to drive under the waterfall… so we’re all going to just have to buckle up and walk under the waterfall.’

‘What… walk under the waterfall??? This is insane… absolutely insane… no, no, no… absolutely and definitely no!!!’

Meanwhile Tito, that guy who was supposed to be a bit more patient with all of us, was getting increasingly more impatient with me… this hysterical hiker.’

Robby noticed this too and had an enormous sigh and said, ‘Jo listen… you have no choice… you just have to trust me on this and come on. Oh… Matio just explained to me that the quiet guy could carry you just until we get pass the waterfall but then you’ll have to walk like the rest of us… oh and Wild will walk right next to you so you can hold on to him. Matio said that the quiet one and Wild are very strong and patient.

Totally aghast, dismayed and shocked by everything and still so fearful of that quiet person with his hysterical barking and large beast… I screamed in reply to Robby’s bewildered face, ‘Oh … very kind but no thank you… I think I’ll manage somehow. Can I hold onto to you?’

‘Wow Jo… you know… it’s really an honor to have the quiet one and Wild with us… they are strong and patient and both great hikers. I know the quiet one looks kind of scary with his outfit and all but he’s really a nice guy and Wild is big but he’s a really good dog! About walking… sorry but I really need to focus on me… we all have to focus on our steps, Jo, its really slippery and slimy. Let me ask Tito what’s best for you… to hold onto me or to the quiet one.’

Startled… I simply stared at Robby and said with all firmness in my voice, ‘Robby… of course you will hold onto my hands just like I did when you were a baby and took your first steps!’ But I just waited until he got his good advice from our tour guide, Tito.

After Robby asked Tito he faced me and said, ‘OK…so this is the deal… I can hold your hand and Matio will hold your other hand. OK Jo, come on we have to go… Tito’s getting impatient with you… he doesn’t know you even bothered to come with us… sigh!’

There was no time for me to think of something to say to Robby about what I thought of this terrible and impatient tour guide or how insanely dangerous this whole trip was or how I couldn’t imagine why I had so wanted to come on this wacky and nutty hike… the men both grabbed my hands and we went and walked right under the waterfall. The noise was absolutely staggering and I screamed like a hyena myself but the men took no notice and with this overwhelmingly loud noise…  no one could hear me. Robby ignored me completely and simply pulled me and Matio nudged me and Wild kept looking at me. Actually… the men kept clutching onto my hands until we finally had a little rest much later. I think Robby was very determined to get me going. After we passed the deafening noise of the waterfall… we all pretty much walked in dead silence. The only one making any noise was me saying ‘Huh?’ or, ‘Ouch!’ or, ‘Sigh’ or, ‘Eeek’ or ‘Oh’ or, ‘Can we take a little rest my feet are killing me?’ … which no one bothered to listen to… not even Robby. I never bothered to look at view, as I was so busy trying to not slide, slip or fall which I was doing a lot, but what I saw were rocks, rocks and more rocks… no vegetation… no beautiful flora, not one green tree and I heard no birds, no eagle swooping in the air, no swallow to announce of the upcoming clouds, I saw no butterfly fluttering by or some little porcupine or wild roebuck. Somehow this all made me sad… it seemed like some foreboding feeling was in the air… I thought… ‘Why does Robby want to be here on this hike with all these strange, funny, odd people… they are not Robby’s kind of people?’

Finally after hours of silent tramping in this ever so hideous place… Tito turned to face us all and blared something to us and everyone, in one accord, instantly flopped on to the ground.

I looked at Robby and asked him, ‘What did he say?’

‘He told us that we could take a little rest and to drink lots of water and to eat some chocolate and bread as we still have quite a hike until we get to the Tea Rose Cabin where we can stay for the night.

‘Oh… good… I’m deadbeat for a rest. But what is Tea Rose Cabin?’

‘Oh… you’ll see… you’ll love it… it very Jo-ish… very nice and clean.’

Robby left me and walked over to Tito to find out what was next. As for me… I was so purely exhausted and my feet were hurting and burning… I completely flopped on the dirty ground, threw my boots off my feet, boy they stunk and were so sweaty, with great haste and closed my eyes to have a wee catnap. But all too soon a very wet and slobbery nose came to sniff me. I woke up with an unglamorous jerk and scared stiff out of my mind. I quickly opened my eyes and saw that it was some yellow and large beast with gleaming white teeth, an extremely large nose and, what looked to me like crystal eyes. I sat up straight into a sitting position and gave an alarmingly loud shriek. Instantly everybody who had been enjoying a few moments of peaceful rest, looked at my way to see what terrible thing had happened to me. The quiet guy shot up in the air and grabbed Wild who was very close to me.

 Robby ran over to me in one big stride and yelled in a frightening way, ‘Jo… are you OK… what’s wrong now… what in the world happened?’

Long, long silence.

‘Jo… come on… what’s up with the big scream… eh?’

Still long silence while my eyes never left Wild.

‘Jo… you’re making me nervous. Jo… come on have a drink of water and some chocolate and smell this… this is my little Goody bottle… kind of like a small flask of healing oil for injuries and scared people like you. Come on… it’ll calm you down. Then I want you to tell me everything… OK?’

Like an obedient child I drank the water, ate the chocolate, which was extremely tasty and gave me some strength and then inhaled the oil, from the little bottle, which had a very sharp and sweet tingly smell.

Robby always had some kind of healing oil nearby.

After I had done all these things Robby, in a kind and concerned voice look at me and said, ‘OK now Jo… look me straight in the face, stop looking at Wild, look at me and tell me what happened?’

I opened my mouth but nothing came… then I covered my face with my hands and simply cried for reasons even I do not know but what I had seen was both frightening and beautiful and I knew no one would believe my story of what I had just seen.

Under his breath Robby said, ‘Man oh man, I wish you had stayed with Mom and Sis.’

As I cried I could hear everyone coming up to Robby and asking concerned things in that odd strange sounding language. I thought, ‘Poor Robby has to deal with crazy me.’

I finally looked at him, held his hands tightly and said, ‘OK… I’m ready to talk but first, get that dog far away from me. Robby… I know this seems or sounds totally crazy but when I took a little rest just now… I’m sure that Wild came up to me and sniffed me… when I opened my eyes I saw him but he looked different… I know this is going to really sound utterly crazy and nuts but it’s what I saw… he had a big nose… really white teeth… and his eyes were all glittery… like he had crystal eyes.’

Now Robby was the one with the very surprised face… he didn’t say anything for a long time then suddenly… to my biggest shock and astonishment… he threw his head way back and had a good and hearty laugh… not a snicker or a chuckle or a chortle of a laugh… but a good roaring, like a-rolling of the thunderous waves, laugh! Everyone, very interested by this little dramatic scene, gave a light smile.

 I was so vehemently hurt and shocked by his sudden howl of shrieking laughter. He had always believed in me when he was a child and always had listened so attentively to what I had to tell him and still, as an adult, had always continued to give me so much confidence in what I had to say. So when I heard his mocking laugh… so loud and so harsh… I had a silent sniff and looked away from him… and from everyone else. I was so tremendously hurt and again thought why was I in this most horrible place and why was Robby being so unkind to me. Suddenly… Wild strode to me ever so quietly and gently… the Quiet One was not looking and no one else bothered with me anymore … sat next to me and I… suddenly having no more fear feeling no more fear of him… put my hand on his tan-brown fur which immediately made me feel better and I saw that Wilds teeth were yellow-ish white and his eyes were normal brown eyes… with no crystals.

After Robby’s taunting laugh he told everyone what I had told him or so I thought because everyone had a good sniggering laugh too… only the Quiet One did not laugh which was a bit of consolation to me.

After this little mortifying moment… Robby came back to me and said, ‘Man Jo… you are so funny… I mean… Wild is just a simple dog! I know he looks scary but look… he’s sitting next to you… he’s just a dog!’

Wagging his head back and forth Robby continued saying, ‘Jo… you’ve got to get a life. Here… eat some more chocolate and drink the rest of the water before we head on.’

‘But what is going to happen… what did Titus say?’

‘Oh I almost forgot to tell you about that. We’re going to follow that trail and-.’

‘What trail… I don’t see any trail?!’

‘That narrow trail over there.’

‘What… is Titus insane!?!’

I saw a very, very narrow trail and on both sides of the trail only sharp jagged boulders going straight down to some everlasting hideous ravine with nasty looking cactus plants everywhere.

I looked disbelieving at Robby and screamed, ‘What? No way am I walking on that narrow trail… I mean… if anyone should just slip… they’ll slide right down and meet their death! No… absolutely not!’

‘Relax… Jo. We’ll all be attached with strong ropes, you know around the waist and you’ll be walking between Matio and me,’ then in a much softer tone he said, ‘Man Jo… why didn’t you just stay with Mom and Sis.’

‘You know… I truly and honestly don’t know myself, Robby.’

Well… everyone seemed jolly about tramping on this narrow hideous trail and thought of it as no big deal. We all got hoisted up with ropes and got our back packs settled onto our backs… then we all walked very slowly and carefully and with firm steps up and down and around this ridiculously narrow trail… that is everyone walked nicely but one could hear me slip, fall, and grunt. Everyone walked in golden silence but you could hear ‘ahh’, ‘ohh’, ‘ouch’, ‘uh this is horrible’, ‘Eek what is that?!?’ all uttered from me.

Finally… our tour guide… Tito… blasted something I couldn’t understand and everybody sat on the ground munching on the rest of the bread and chocolate. Well… I guessed this was another little rest period for us but unfortunately not a long one because everyone shot up and started marching again.

I looked at Robby and said, ‘Why are we stopping only for such a short time? Does Tito think I’m a machine? I’m so tired and honestly so dead!’

‘Oh come on Jo… get up. He said that we’re almost at the Tea Rose Cabin. There you can have a long rest. Jo… let’s go… Matio is waiting for you… sigh.’

We thus continued on this tiring tramping trail in total silence except for my unceremonious grunts. So I got up and was wedged between Matio and Robby… as before but there was a slight change, which struck me as totally odd. Wild, the huge dog began walking right next to me… on my right side… where the rocks went straight down to an everlasting nothingness. A dark place just waiting to swallow its poor victim.

With great concern I said, ‘Oh Robby… Wild is going to fall down!!!!’

‘No he’s not. He’s a great walker. We’ve been on this hike before. And look… he likes you!’

‘Oh!’

From quite a distance I finally saw the cabin. Boy… was I happy about seeing that but my next worry was, ‘How is everybody going to fit in that cabin… it’s only a shack… a tiny hovel… how--?’

So I yelled to Robby, ‘Is that the cabin… that tiny house… but Robby it’s only a shack… a dirty little shack?!?

 

PART TWO

The Tea Rose Cabin

‘Oh Jo… you’ll be fine… come on… stop complaining and just walk. And you’ll be very surprised by this dirty little shack.’

I ignored his fine words and, again, looked at this ridicousely small cabin and just shook my head in complete awe. Then I looked at all the steep boulders I still had to climb before even getting close to this dismal cabin… and my heart simply began to sink when glancing at the boulders and sharp rocks. The others were almost by the cabin… the only ones still below were Robby, Wild and, of course, me.

‘Come on Jo… sigh… grab hold of my hand and hold on to Wild’s fur… he’ll get you up there.’

So… determined as I was to get up there I took Robby’s hand and with my other hand held onto Wild’s tan-brown fur and started clumping up, more like schlepping myself up this steep and nasty looking hill. As I trampled uphill… I noticed that Wild’s fur was ever so soft and had a very cooling effect on me… I mean cooling effect as in a very refreshing way and this refreshing effect went through every part of my tired, limp and exhausted body. After a bit, I simply sat on a rock without telling Robby that I deeply needed a wee rest but it didn’t really seem to matter, as he was halfway up by the cabin anyway… we had somehow stopped holding hands. Wild just sat on his haunches looking at me. I realized then and there that I was totally and completely alone with this enormous dog and should be afraid but I felt absolutely no fear… no fear at all.

‘You are helping me, aren’t you Wild?’

Wild just looked at me deeply and steadily with his brown eyes.

‘I read somewhere that when a dog looks at you so deeply and intently it means that the dog has true and loyal love for its owner. But honey, I’m not your owner.’

But Wild kept looking at me so deeply, solidly and strongly with those magnetic but loving eyes of his and would not leave my side.

‘Thank you sweet Wild.’

Our magic doggy-human spell was suddenly broken by Robby’s loud yelling, ‘Come on Jo… man you are a real slow poke!’

I looked at Robby and thought, ‘What’s up with him… why is he so unfriendly?’

Giving a loud sigh I looked at Wild and said, ‘Come on Wild we’d better drudge up this rocky hill.’

I held on to Wild’s fur and noticed that there were suddenly no more boulders for me to scramble up to. I looked up and saw that a young man was standing next to Robby. I also saw that this young man was clutching on to something in his hand. I saw that Robby pointed his hand toward me and the young man ran towards me. The thing he was holding in his hand was a cup… a cup of some liquid. He had a very nice and youthful and very fresh face and a truly lovely smile.

‘Hello, Jo… we have all been waiting for you… I mean everyone at the cabin. Ah… I see you have met our loyal Wild… hello Wild,’ upon seeing the lovely young man Wild sat up and ran to the him barking and licking his hands.

The young man spoke again in his beautiful sing-song voice, ‘Jo, I know you must be very tired so I ran down to greet you with this special welcoming tea… it is our Rose tea that everyone drinks before they come into our home. It also freshens the weary travelers and I know that you must be exceedingly tired as you are not used to such a long journey.’

I drank the tea and suddenly felt quite fresh and frisky. I ran up the rest of the way with Wild at my heels, eager to get to the cabin and be with Robby, stepped up the few steps and suddenly felt the welcoming kind sun on my back and could smell the fresh air of a clean breeze coming from behind me and was able to smell the fresh smell of grass. When I arrived on the porch I quickly noticed all the beautiful red geraniums in their flower boxes.

I thought, ‘Wow… this looks just like in the mountains of Swizterland.’

I looked at Robby, who looked somewhat different, and smiled.

‘Oh Jo… that’s the first smile I’ve seen on your face today!’

And I thought,  ‘And this is the first time I’ve seen Robby being a bit nicer to me like just like when he was a young boy and looking more relaxed.’

I sat down on the wooden bench, noticing all the beautiful carving that was so lovingly crafted by someone. I noticed an adorable little grey kitten that ran straight to Wild who so affectionately lay down and began licking the tiny creature… it was a truly a sweet thing to see… we all looked at this picture of complete love between a small kitten and a huge and dangerous looking dog. I was suddenly aware that the wooden walls of this cabin, actually the whole outside of the cabin or house, whatever one would call this place, was made of the most beautiful wood with lovely carvings everywhere… as I had once seen a long, long time ago somewhere in a different place at a different time.

       Suddenly the darling kitty jumped on to my lap and snuggled right into my arms. Quickly Wild walked to me sat next to me and I put my arm around Wild letting him know that I loved him as much as the little grey kitten. I felt so enraptured by this little scene. During this time two other unknown and handsome people stood by the door smiling at me, Robby and the young man who held the cup of tea that was now empty. Suddenly I felt a rush of solid quietness and quickly looked up at Robby who was smiling… something I myself have never seen. I swiftly turned my head to see why Robby was smiling so charmingly. I saw the two beautiful human beings… and they were really beautiful. A man and a woman… clearly the parents of the young man… whose name I still did not know. The man had dark hair, very beautiful alluring green eyes, and a dashing powerful smile that showed rows of sparkling white teeth that a dentist would have been proud to look at. He stood there tall and strong like a prince or a warrior. The young lady had long dark waving hair with a barrette attached to either side of her head and like the man she had truly beautiful eyes but they were a sky blue in color, she was very tall too and had very long slender fingers that held a small harp, she had a radiant smile like the young man who had brought me the tea. After a very long silence I slowly put the kitty down and stood up on my wobbly legs holding onto Wild who had walked right to my side to support me. All the travelers suddenly appeared, looking very happy and relaxed, from every part of the cabin.

Then the lovely lady finally opened her mouth and spoke in a most splendid and rippling voice, ‘My name is Chanelle, this is my husband, Luminaso, and my son, Teano. We are so pleased to welcome you all to our cabin… and you my dear Jo… we have all been waiting for you and are so happy to see that you have made it here. As a welcome my husband, son and I would like to sing a song that we have rehearsed for all of you.

Luminaso walked with lovely, elegant strides across the room and fetched his beautiful golden brown violin and Teano strode to the beautiful inky black grand piano that appeared out of nowhere and Chanelle sat on a small chair with a charming harp cradled in her arms. We all just sat there waiting with great intensity for the musical thrill to begin. I made sure that my ears were wide opened and that my musical doors were not closed and I hoped that everyone was doing the same. Suddenly Chanelle opened her mouth and out came a voice of unbearable beauty accompanied by her husband who sang so charming clarity… it made me cry. Teano with his graceful piano playing truly swept my heart away like a strong wind. I don’t know about the others but I was so mystified by the song and the beautiful instruments. I felt so strongly that, while listening to the music, there was some unknown memory that I was supposed to have sensed or some unknown treasure that was to come. The song was long and very beautiful… it was a story of someone, someone that no one knew. But this someone who we would all get to know very soon would… one day… bring us the sun and the flowers to this dismal land… if only we could find out who this someone was. I felt the song was a bit wordy and complicated but such ravishing music and exquisite singing kept me spinning and floating. When the song was over we all just sat so entranced in complete silence… even the singers were all silent. Then the Silent One rose up from his wooden chair and began setting the table for dinner. Chanelle got up too and told everyone to go to their rooms and to freshen up and told everyone that Teano would show them the way to their designated rooms. I simply looked wide-eyed and wondered where these mysterious rooms could be.

Chanelle looked at me and smiled saying, ‘And Wild will show you to your room. For the rest of the trip he will be your dog.’

‘Oh… OK. But doesn’t Wild belong to the Silent One?’

‘That is alright… the Silent One does not mind.’

So… Wild took my backpack into his mouth and showed me to a darling room all made of dark and beige wood. There was a small wooden table with pink and white flowers and a small lovely handcrafted wooden chair beside the table and a nice window draped on either side with pale yellow curtains. Upon looking out the window I saw a magnificent lake dotted and speckled here and there with white, light pink and dark pink, lavender and pale orange water lilies that looked very much like stars in the water and a very enchanting little garden, decorated with roses and lilies and morning glories, stood nearby with willow trees grazing the emerald green grass and the little creek. I looked at this breathtaking sight and almost cried… then I looked at Wild and wondered realistically how all this splendid beauty could be here… when earlier this morning, I had been drudging uphill on craggy rocks, covered in a layer of sweat and trying to get to the Tea Rose Cabin which looked nothing more then a messy, schlumpy and seriously shaggy shack.

I looked at Wild and as if he had understood me I said, ‘Wild… really…how in the world can I see all this beauty when before… we were walking up this very hill and there was nothing but grey rocks and thorns? I honestly did not see all this beauty. All I saw was a grey maze of fog and all these horrible jagged boulders… then I was finally able to see this cabin. And when I looked at the cabin… it was just a regular shaggy little cabin? But this cabin is so not that… no… it’s beautiful and big… it’s like a small castle! How can this all be? I have to ask Robby or Chanelle. Everything here is far too pretty… this is a bit spooky. But if I ask Robby he’ll probably think I’m talking no sense at all… so I won’t ask him…I’ll ask Chanelle… she seems to be more patient.’

I quickly took a long shower… boy… they really had a nice bathroom here… equipped with clean, fluffy white towels… and equally nice wash cloths… nice smelly soaps and fancy perfumes and exotic oils… just like in a hotel… even the bathroom floor was heated… wow…and all the lovely bathroom stuff that people love and changed into the beautiful dress that was laid out for me on my bed. Wild had very quickly made himself at home by lying on the rug next to my bed all curled up. It was nice to have him… I felt extremely silly that I had been afraid of him at first. I was then ready to put on the dress but upon looking at the very fine and delicately made dress… I though that this was a truly not-me-dress but when I put it on and looked at myself in the full length mirror… I was fully blown away and didn’t think that this could possibly be me. I looked quite pretty… actually beautiful… a princess out of a fairy book. At home I have no full-length mirror as there is no room. I only have a half mirror and that is in the bathroom… and every time I look into the mirror I see a very plain face… with blotchy freckles and masses of crispy wrinkles… dull green tired eyes with no lovely eyelashes or eyebrows… a buttoned up mouth surrounded by more crispy wrinkles and brown curly hair showing white hair underneath.

A little bell rang and a voice called everyone to dinner. I immediately came down with Wild and noticed that we were the first ones to arrive. Shortly after us came the Silent One and I couldn’t tell if he had freshened up or not as he still had his layers upon layers of white-ish brown bandages covering him up from head to foot and he still had on his brown coat and his black hiking boots. I did wonder how he was able to breath under all those bandages as I couldn’t see any little holes. There were two small holes for his eyes but no holes for his nose. Over his mouth he had a patch that could be snapped and unsnapped but it wasn’t big either. I felt sorry for him because no one really spoke to him much and he never seemed to ever speak back to anyone and all he really had was the big dog Wild but now Wild only seemed to pay attention to me and not to him. Poor Silent One… were my thoughts.

Then came the couple… Mr. and Mrs. Nameless. Well… they looked quite different… all dandied up and in lovely attires. For the first time I had a real good look at them… it had been so hard to really look at anybody while hiking on that crazy dangerous trail with that demonic waterfall gushing muddy water down on all of us and walking by all those ghastly and alarmingly steep hills with their scary looking cactuses that were draped in razor sharp needles just ready to stick their needles in you. So… I looked at Mr. and Mrs. Nameless, very odd names, and smiled at them which, was kindly returned. I noticed that both of them were tall and slender with very kind but extremely pale faces. Mr. Nameless had brown hair down to his shoulder but it was very nicely braided and in a festive ponytail. He had on black pants and an elegant black shirt on with beautiful buttons. Over all this simple, but elegant, outfit he wore a very beautiful dark green, with graceful designs everywhere, robe which I had never seen him wear before. His wife was dressed in the same black pants and elegant shirt but her robe was a lovely blue and around her neck was a golden chain festooned with little flowers. I could not keep my eyes away from the chain of flowers… there was something quite magical about them.

Mrs. Nameless saw this and told me in a half whisper, ‘These beautiful robes and my delicate chain were on our beds when we arrived at our rooms. To honor our lovely guest we put these attires on over our black pants and shirts.’ Yes… come to think of it Mr. Nameless had a very beautiful golden chain around his neck too but with no flowers.

I smiled back at her and gave a very long, ‘Aaaaaahhhhh….’

Mrs. Nameless continued as if I wasn’t a bit bewitched by her necklace and that of her husband as well, ‘We have gone on this trip before but we have never gotten this far… I mean… we have seen the cabin from afar but have never been able to enter it… we… all of us… have never had a meal like this in the Tea Rose Cabin… actually I don’t think any of us ever entered the cabin. It is such a beautiful place here.’

‘Oooooohhhhh,’ is all I could say back to her.

Moments later Matio came down the stairs looking quite stunning. I’d never seen him like this… looking almost like a movie star… almost like a happier and younger version of Al Pacino with more hair. But, oh my, his face was very pale… just like Mr. and Mrs. Nameless. Matio was also in black pants and black shirt but his robe was a divine red with small shimmering silver stars on the edges of his sleeves and around his collar and on the bottom of his robe. He almost looked like a king but something was missing. Even though he had that younger and happier look… something was definitely missing. He smiled at Chanelle and sat next to her.

After him came Tito from a room by the hallway. He also looked so different... almost handsome but he had a very long nose and it was often runny but instead of wiping his rather long nose with his brown and raggy hankie or his shirt sleeve… he had a pretty plain white handkerchief. He reminded me of a very pleasant dwarf… a rather handsome dwarf with a long nose. He smiled at Chanelle and said thank you for the nice clothes. Uh… that was very nice of him I thought since he had never appeared very nice to anybody during our horrendous journey… all he had done was yell out orders to everyone. He had white pants and a white shirt on but no robe but he had the most elegant and beautiful boots I had ever seen. Like everyone else his face was quite pale but his smile was very pleasant. Come to think of it I had never once seen him smile throughout the whole trip. No he just kind of yelled out orders in that odd language I could not understand. With a jovial smile he sat next between Mr. and Mrs. Nameless.

Last came my dear Robby. I was so very excited to see him and thought he would be sitting next to me but I was surprised. He came from near the kitchen and he looked very, very different. Again… I couldn’t say what was different about him but he looked like another person. Yes… his face was pale like the others but he had always had a pale face. Like the others… he had freshened up and wore something very similar to Tito… white shirt and white pants but he had a nice and smart jacket on… a jacket with gold buttons and gold buttons by his sleeve and a high festive looking collar. He said hello to everyone and thanked both Chanelle and Teano, who had just walked in with a bowl of steaming greens, for the beautiful jacket. I think his intentions had been to sit next to me but Chanelle told him to sit between Matio and the Silent One. Robby never looked at me nor did he once smile at me as both Luminaso came in carrying the rest of the dinner. I was a little hurt by Robby coldness… yes… he seemed a bit cold and polite to me. As his wife and son… Luminaso was also very handsomely attired. To my total surprise both Chanelle and Teano sat on either side of me and Luminaso sat at the head of the table. The dinner was an astoundingly delicious but I have no idea what we ate and everyone made pleasant conversion but, again, I had absolutely no idea what was spoken and if I spoke at all or if we spoke in my language or theirs. I honestly don’t know. I was just so blown away by how different everyone looked, especially Robby. The others, however, were not distant like Robby… no it was only Robby being like that towards me but he was very friendly towards the others… especially to Chanelle, Teano and Luminaso. Also… there were only nine of us around the table but it felt, to me at least, as if there were fifty other people there. And… again… my big question… why did the cabin look like a small dingy cabin from the outside when really it was a mansion in the inside?

‘You seem very quiet and look quite thoughtful,’ suddenly a voice… it was Chanelle.

‘Oh… I am enjoying the food, it is so delicious… thank you.’

‘Well… I am glad you like the food. But you seem so extra quiet? Is something on your mind? Robby told me that you are otherwise very chatty.’

‘Oh… well... I’m just thinking how different everyone is and especially Robby. And this place… when I walked here this cabin was just a small cabin but it’s really like a castle… and everything seems so lovely and strange.’

‘Ahhh… I understand. We will have some herbal tea and dessert… Teano made a very tasty cake for us and then we shall have a charming concert and listen to some lovely music played by our good friend and neighbor, Ursena, and then if you are not too tired, you and I can go to the front porch and look at the stars… they are all so special tonight… and there is something I must tell you before your journey tomorrow.’

‘Oh… will I go home? I’m dying to get home to my kitty. I don’t know how I got here in the first place!’

Chanelle simply smiled at me… stood up and began clearing the dishes with the help of Teano and Luminaso.

Yep… I was completely puzzled by all this mysteriousness but little did I know what was about to happen.

 

PART THREE

The Big Surprise

So… after our delicious dinner and after our most divine desert and our superb tea… I went to front porch, which was now a very pleasant porch when earlier, upon my arrival, it had been a shabby porch. I thought, ‘Boy… that’s weird.’ Wild went into the kitchen and then came back later and sat by my side. Shortly thereafter Chanelle came with a cup of tea and more tea for me. We sat quietly smelling the fresh warm evening air then Chanelle spoke.

‘I hope you are enjoying your stay here.’

‘Oh… very much… thank you. Everything is so beautiful and so unreal. I mean… well… it’s hard to explain.’

‘Ah… I think I understand what you mean… things are not so pretty and then they suddenly appear almost too beautiful and everything is a bit different… is that what you are trying to say?’

‘Yes… exactly… I think that’s a very good way of putting it. But why is that?’

‘ Ahhhhh… I couldn’t explain but I must talk to you.’

‘OK… fire away.’

‘Tomorrow you will be traveling on to another cabin… it is called The Lavendel Cabin.’

‘What?! I thought I was going home!’

‘No… I’m afraid not yet… you see you have a mission to fulfill… a small but very important mission.’

‘What… me??? You have got to be kidding… me??? That can’t be... I am just a plain simple person.’

‘No Jo… you are not a simple person… you are wise and very thoughtful. Robby has told me how truly wonderful you have been to him and his family. Harold, remember young Harold... the disabled child you helped during his hospitalization and remember Tina who lost mind… her brain was on fire and you helped her to stay calm and her sad parents? Don’t you remember all the children you helped and all the smiles you gave to the poor and the homeless?’

‘What?’

I thought of Robby and his family, I did remember young Harold but he died so long ago and yes… I remembered Tina and what she went through but then I lost contact with her and her kind parents… but smiling to the homeless and the poor? Well… I did work at a hospital but that was ages ago.  I always smiled… it was my natural thing to do… but that is no big deal. What is Chanelle talking about?

After a long silence broken by me I said, ‘Chanelle… what are you getting at…what are you trying to tell me? Please tell me… and PLEASE do not get all-mysterious about it… I’ve had enough mysterious things happening to me in one day.’

‘Alright… I will tell you. You know the Silent One?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well… we do not know his name or where he comes from and why he is here.’

‘Oh--kay… and?’

‘And we were all hoping you would find out what his name is, where he comes from and why he is here and we do not know anything about Wild either. The Silent One and Wild just appeared to us one day simply out of the blue. It was the king and queen, from our world, who told me this.’

‘Oh…………!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Me… why me?’

Chanelle could see my extremely stupid and dumbfounded and wildly flabbergasted expression on my face and knew that she had a lot of explaining to do for me.

So she went on and Wild snuggled closer to me and the stars shone brighter and looked very much like little crystals and the big silver moon became rounder and shinier and the beautiful flowers seemed to get very twinkly and the gorgeous trees began to gently sway and I could crickets singing a song.

‘Remember when you were on the bus and you did not know how you got on the bus and you were so very surprised to see Robby?’

‘Yes.’

‘Dearest… you were put on that bus for a reason.’

‘Oh! Really… but me… me?????????’

I was very, very heavily confused and totally befuddled and I did not want to hurt Chanelle’s feelings but I really did not have the slightest clue of what she was talking about. She must have seen my complete blank face because she began again from being very patient to becoming even more patient saying, ‘Alright… let us go to a different subject… before you found yourself on the bus with Robby and all the others. Do you remember walking… no crossing the street… and then having an accident… a car hit you from behind and a motorcycle was just about to turn and didn’t see either you or the car and both the car and motorcycle hit you and you were badly injured?’

A very long silence followed. I was racking my brain trying to remember anything.

All I remember at that moment was Wild coming to me even closer and my right fingers grabbing his soft fur for security and help.

‘Do you remember that… Jo?’

I tried to remember but only looked at her and shook my head as in ‘No.’

‘Many people came running to you and tried talking to you. Both the man from the motorcycle and the man from car ran towards you? The ambulance technician man came too and tried asking you questions but talking was very hard for you. Then the hospital paramedics arrived and instantly put you on the stretcher.

         Long, long silence. I was far too speechless to say anything as I could not remember any of this happening to me at all… nope… my head was in a very dense fog at that moment.

Again Chanelle looked at me very kindly and patiently and said, ‘But let us go farther back to the part before you arrived at the bus stop… before you crossed the street. You were thinking of flowers… do you remember that part… Jo? Because right after that thought you stepped off the curb at that précis moment and then the accident happened…. you were hit by a car and a motorcycle all at once?’

         ‘Huh?’

‘Yes it was quite something… the noise was very explosive and loud. It made everyone jump and stop and run towards you. Both the men from the car and from the motorcycle, who were both OK, ran towards you in great alarm when they both saw your still and lifeless body lying on the ground. Several people called nine-one-one. There was lots blood everywhere. Your eyes were big and round with shock and your face was white as a sheet of paper. Someone from your building came and asked you some simple questions but you could not talk. I knew you wanted to talk but the words could not come out of your mouth.’

‘Sorry… I really can’t remember any of this or you must be thinking of someone else. Were you there?’

‘Yes… I was there but no one knew that I was there.’

‘Yes… now I very vaguely do remember the accident but I thought it was just a bad fall on my part. Sorry I honestly cannot remember anymore.’

After another very long silence I said, ‘Ohhhhhhhhh… I do remember seeing someone that looked a lot like you and I thought you had a nice face but that’s it.’

‘I don’t know why you cannot remember everything as your mind, body and soul were clear as a bell that day. Here… let me give you some Remembering Tea and some lovely homemade Awareness cookies that Teano just made this morning before you all arrived… it might help you to remember… it has helped so many others.’

‘Remembering Tea and Awareness Cookies???’

‘Yes… you will like it… the cookies taste like chocolate chip cookies and the tea has a divine aromatic smell and a taste of honey, lavender and rose and the are very small bits and pieces of Memory herbs that only grow up in the highest mountains.’

‘Oh… wow!’

‘Sweetheart… it is very important that you do remember something more about the accident because it will bring you home. You do understand, don’t you, how truly important this is? And your kitty is very homesick for you.’

‘OH YES!!! I have to get home to my kitty. By the way who is looking after my kitty?’

‘Oh… a kind nature spirit but not to worry… time is very different here then it is over there but that is another story. Right now we must focus on your memory of that day, darling.’

Well… as there were tons of surprises on this strange and bizarre trip… I thought that another supernatural surprise would certainly do me no harm… the cookies and tea surprised me a whole lot.

Chanelle went into the kitchen and returned with a very beautiful teacup full of the special tea and a matching plate with the special cookies. I drank the aromatic tea and ate all the yummy cookies in one mouthful… it was totally yum! After I ate and drank the divine specialties I kind of thought it would be wise to let my tummy have a little digestive rest but Chanelle looked at me and asked, ‘So… are you feeling anything?’

Oh my… my… my… this was really working fast… quite fast to my surprise… my stomach started making bubbly sounds and my head began to spin back and forth in a light swingy jerk.

‘Wow… this stuff is powerful… yes I remember everything now… oh yeah… it’s all coming to me… oh my… wow… huh… I can’t stop burping!!!’

‘Oh good… tell me what you remember… and the burping will gradually stop!’

‘Well… like you said… it hadn’t rained in so long and the grass was turning into yellow hay and I thought it was such a shame… no green grass… no flowers to look at. Then I stepped off the curb to cross the hectic street and then I felt a big smash on my head and a strong push on my back and then I was suddenly on the floor covered in red blood. I remember lots of people crowding around me and all talking to me at once and I just looked into their faces and wondered who in the world they could be and I couldn’t understand a word they were saying.’

Here I had to stop to think… my mind was slowly getting a bit foggy and slightly dense in a very dancing but muddy way… suddenly I remembered what had happened after that. I was dying to remember everything so that I could return home to my kitty. OK… so back to that day that led me here… my body was hurting viciously… especially my head and my back. Not many minutes passed and I began to remember everything that had occurred after the accident, after seeing the crowds of strangers, I remembered seeing no familiar faces. But then I did remember seeing a very handsome and kind paramedic and that was as far as I got because suddenly everything dimmed and became dimmer… then solid black… the pain was so excruciating that I had to close my eyes. All this I told to Chanelle.

She smiled and said to me, ‘When everything turned black that was when the transition moment began to happen… when you were transported onto the bus.’

‘Oh… who did this transition?’

‘I did. Don’t you remember that I was there too during the accident… did you not see me in the crowd? I think you did just moments before everything turned black.’

Again I had to rack my brain and think and try to remember again.   

And again not many minutes passed and I gave a light sharp shriek, ‘Oh yes… now I remember that I did see you. It was the flower in your hair… it was such a gorgeous purple-blue… such an alluring and striking color… it was the only true beautiful thing that caught my eye in all that frantic and chaotic mess… it was all such a loud pandemonium of a mess and the beautiful flower and your kind face were the only calm and organized things I could really remember before my eyes closed. I was in such amazing pain that I forced myself to see only those two things, your shining face and the lovely flower in your hair.’

Chanelle smiled again, ‘Yes… that flower was a very special flower… I was so very sorry to do all this to you.’

‘Do what?’

‘Cause such a horrific accident.’

‘What… you? I am confused.’

‘I caused the accident because you needed to be completely blacked out so that the transition could be performed smoothly. We could not afford to loose anymore time… the king and queen,’ here she gave a slight nod of the head and continued to do this every time she spoke of them, ‘said so with great intensity in their voices. But they said that not one bone in your body would be broken. When you go back home you will see. You will be your normal self and the doctors will all be very surprised.’

‘Oh… well… wow! Really?’

I was truly and dumbfoundelty stunned by all this fascinating yet unreal news. I mean… wouldn’t you be too?

Chanelle looked at me very sympathetically saying, ‘I know this sounds all so unreal to you but believe me please! For the sake of Wild, whom you now dearly love, try to find out who the Silent One is and who is Wild… the king and queen told me that they, the Silent One and Wild, were not who we think they are. And we must help the two unknown visitors… so that we can put the Silent One and Wild back in their rightful places so they can go home too and… again the king and queen told me that you were the only one who could find this out because of your heart.’

‘My heart?!’

‘Yes Jo… your heart is a heart full of gold… your heart is full of compassion and only that heart can help the Silent One and Wild return to their homes and the only way that Silent One can get his bandages off. And, we believe, that Wild is not just a dog but something more and, I know, you can and will find this out because you love Wild and he so loves you and also this will bring you home.’

‘Oh. Did I ever know the Silent One before?’

‘No… a little person told you about his hands.’

‘What?!?!’

‘You will find out… I know so.’

‘Mmmm… well… I don’t know about all this.’

 

PART FOUR

 Again?

After my long and somewhat bewildering and magical and befuddling conversation with Chanelle… we both went to our designated bedchambers. After a quick brush of the teeth, a swift wipe of water crossing my face, a speedy slip of the clean white nightie, I sincerely flopped onto the fluffy bed, with Wild at my side, and I instantly fell fast asleep and dreamt of a beautiful purple blue flower that turned into a bejeweled butterfly and of a strange green tree that suddenly burst into a thousand green humming birds flying everywhere.

The next morning Teano gently woke me up saying, ‘Jo… Jo… time to get up… your clothes are all on the chair… Chanelle put them there and when you are done then just come downstairs where your breakfast will be waiting for you in the breakfast room right next to the kitchen.’

As he spoke… Wild trotted over to me and licked my face… I was amazed at how soft his tongue was.

I got up and quickly dressed into clean strong hiking attires and next to my windbreaker was a pair of new hiking boots. I looked at them and thought that they were not mine at all. But they were very soft and flexible and sturdy and when I put them on they were a perfect fit… so I decided to leave them on. I looked very closely at them and suddenly noticed that there, by the heel, was a small button. Out of simple curiosity I pressed the button and, you will not believe this, little wings shot out which gave me a little jump and underneath the boots was yet another little button. I pressed that one too and little jagged nails jotted out from the sole of the boots. I didn’t know what the little nails were for but I thought to myself, ‘Mmm… I thought I was going home today but it looks more like I’m going on another hike… must ask Chanelle.’ I was getting used to big and small surprises.

When I was done both Wild and I trundled down the stairs. As I walked into the kitchen… I noticed windows… lots of windows everywhere… windows that I hadn’t even noticed last night. Outside the windows the weather seemed so beautiful… not like yesterday. Yesterday had been very grey and amazingly heavy misty mist carpeted the grey grass and the grey dirt that lay on the ground… grey cactuses and sharp jagged grey unfriendly boulders were to be seen everywhere. Yep… yesterday was truly a grey day. But today… my eyes beheld a different story… a story of many windows showing only emerald green grass decorated with beautiful red and orange flowers and majestic tall trees standing as tall elegant angels and it did look real. My eyes sight is very good and I stared out the windows ever so picky just to make sure that this ravishing sight was real and not phony. Nope… it was not phony… there was a breeze and I could see every blade of grass and flower moving… so no… it was real alright.

When I arrived into the lovely kitchen there I saw Teano, Chanelle, Luminaso, the Silent One and Matio all sitting around the beautiful wooden table on equally beautiful wooden chairs. They all smiled… not the Silent One because he was, as always, covered in bandages. Luminaso was the first one to rise from his chair and say, ‘OK… now that Jo is here… let us all go into the morning room… have some breakfast and talk about the day.’

‘Hi everybody. But where are the others and Robby?’ I said.

Chanelle looked at me with a gentle smile and replied to my question, ‘They had to leave very suddenly and they took a shortcut back to the bus.’

‘What… a shortcut… to the bus… and without me???’

‘Yes… it was all very sudden and you were still sleeping… Robby received a message from the hotel, where his mother and sister are staying, saying that his mother was not doing too well and so Tito went with him because of the bus not being too stable and he is the only one who can drive that bus. And Mr. and Mrs. Nameless…they so enjoyed meeting you Jo… they decided to go as well because their dog, Namefull, was not happy and they missed him.’

‘How can anyone drive in that crazy bus? Oh dear… no Robby… this is really upsetting. He always helped me to understand what was going on. I’m a terrible walker, you know. Chanelle… maybe you should take me back too… I don’t mind having to be on that nutty bus again.’

‘Not to worry Jo, both the Silent One and Matio will help you and you know, Wild, will never leave your side and remember you have a mission to fulfill.’

‘Oh.’

But I was so not happy about this change of plans. I adored Wild but was still not very comfortable with Matio… although a handsome fellow he had such an awful stern face and rarely talked or even smiled… yep… he made me honestly crazy nervous and the Silent One… well… I don’t want to be nasty and all but he was just plain creepy with all those bandages and never talking and seeing his bandaged hands waving so wildly was making me just jittery edgy.

I think Chanelle could feel all this because she said with a light chuckle, ‘Oh Jo… it won’t be so bad… you’ll see… these men can be quite charming too just like Robby.’

Luminaso and Teano and the others had all been busy getting breakfast ready and bringing it to the morning room, which was truly beautiful and sunny, another room I hadn’t noticed last night.

It was a simple and most delicious breakfast of bread and butter and a lovely cherry jam. There was porridge with rich cream and we drank lovely hot coffee with steaming milk… something I hadn’t had in a very long time. It was all so extremely yummy. After our sumptuous little breakfast Teano played a farewell tune on his violin and both Luminaso and Chanelle sang. The song was so beautiful and, again, I had that strong feeling of wanting something so badly but wasn’t too sure what it was.

After this little concert Chanelle produced some hiking boots… out of nowhere… saying that all three of us had to wear the hiking boots because they would keep us all walking in the roughest areas. The men seemed fine and loved their new boots and thanked her wholeheartedly but I looked at Chanelle and said, ‘But aren’t we, or me at least, going home? And I already have new boots on, see!’

Chanelle said, ‘Ah yes… I forgot I already put out your new shoes when you were still sleeping.’

I looked at Chanelle and said with my overly worried tone, ‘Roughest areas… where am I going? Yesterdays journey was rough enough… I thought that was it.’

Chanelle looked at me and smiled, ‘Ahhhh You will be fine and the boots will work wonders for you. Did you see the little buttons?’

Yes I did notice the buttons.’

‘They will help you and in no time you will be on the other side.’

‘Other side… other side of what?’

The men had all gone to the porch to say their goodbyes and I saw Teano and Luminaso giving the Silent One and Matio cookies, bread, chocolate, raisins, nuts and three very gorgeous apples. While the men gave each other hugs, not the Silent One… he never gave hugs and stood a bit apart from everyone… I don’t know why though… Chanelle put her arms around my shaking shoulders… I hated saying goodbye… and said in her gentlest voice, ‘You will be very, very fine and remember what I told you… you have to find out who the Silent One and Wild are then you will instantly be at the hospital bed… next to your divine niece… and you will taken home by her and her mother and all this hiking will also help you to get home even faster. Trust me Jo… you are much stronger then you think and look… Wild will never leave your side… the men won’t either. They know that Robby, your loving guide, is not here.’

She, Teano and Luminaso all kissed me goodbye. It was very, very hard for me to say goodbye… it was so deeply emotional… I ended up shedding tears and turned around to make myself move forward faster all the while holding onto Wild’s soft fur.