by D. B. Magee
“Don’t worry,” Ryan said, “we won’t be making that mistake again.”
“What about this Summerland you mentioned?” Lisa inquired again.
“Ah, yes,” Auris said, suddenly looking off to the side as if he had just received a message from someone. “Summerland is the name of that place for which you seek. Now,” he added, quite abruptly, “I must return to my task at hand. So, one, two, three, off you be!” And with a slight wave of his hand, POOF! Ryan, Lisa, and the twins instantly vanished.
Summerland
POP! Without warning, the four space artists instantly arrived into a brilliant new world that was bathed in a warm, golden light that didn’t seem to have a source. Cries of joy erupted from each of the children as they gazed far below. A mighty ocean rippled below them, but they could see through its transparent surface into the depths, to a vivacious and living seabed streaked with varicolored reefs branching out from a grand circular island, like tentacles from an octopus.
Above the island, but below the kids, the sky sparkled with a variety of flittering, floating, and flying fauna beyond imagination. Varying in size and shape, these aerial animals radiated with a range of colors unknown on earth.
Lisa shrieked with delight at the fabulousness of the fluorescent hues emanating from these ethereal creatures.
Stacy took off excitedly toward the island. “Come on!” she called over her shoulder. “Let’s take a closer look!”
The others wasted no time in following.
Soon, details of the island began to take shape. The beachfront all around the island’s perimeter glistened with the appearance of silky white sand.
Stacy shrieked with delight. “Look at that beach!” she shouted. “It almost looks like it’s made out of diamonds.”
Lisa moved up next to Stacy and pointed to the dramatic green and brown mountain range bordering the ring-shaped beach, on the inland side, and dotted with a diverse wealth of wondrous waterfalls, some spilling inward, others outward to the ocean. “Have you ever seen so many waterfalls in your life?”
The rest of the island’s terrain was varied. Interspersed between large, lush forests were open fields of variegated wildflowers, lustrous lakes, meandering streams, rolling hills and dales, and spacious parks.
Nearing the island, it was impossible for Ryan, Lisa, William, and Stacy to see its extent due to the enormity of its size, but if they could have, they would have witnessed joyous spirits in every section of the island enjoying the perfect tropical environment.
Continuing their leisurely descent, it was apparent that the four astral adventurers had entered the fly zone, as the space around them suddenly exploded in an exhibition of colors.
Stacy cheered as a flock of hummingbirds filled the sky, darting to and fro. These were no ordinary hummingbirds, however. These little creatures changed colors independently and at will. Their display was reminiscent of the grand finale of a great fireworks show.
“Have you ever seen such a sight?” Stacy’s voice shrilled.
Lisa didn’t respond. She was spellbound by an entirely different flock of birds that were gliding gracefully and majestically below her. The regal characteristics of these fascinating fowl, with their rainbow-colored plumage, wide wingspans, extremely long tail feathers, and prominent crowns suggested they were not only a variety of, but probably the most magnificent, bird-of-paradise species ever created.
Off to the side and continuing his slow descent, William spied a kaleidoscope of enormous butterfly-like creatures cruising leisurely about. Each one was slightly different in style and color from the next, yet all of them had long, striking, whip-like tails that complemented their luminescent bodies and gossamer wings. They brought to William’s mind an image of a hybrid between the Lunesta butterfly and a Pandoran Banshee.
“Wow! I wish I could ride one of those,” William said to himself.
Then, as if answering William’s call, one beautifully yellow-hued specimen broke from the swarm and turned straight up, looking somewhat like a thin door hinge on end. A moment later, an explosion of color filled the sky directly below William. His heart jumped as he felt a bump under his caboose, and then a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as his body was pushed forcefully higher into the air. It took him a moment to realize that he now happened to be sitting upon the object of his desire.
SWOOSH! With one flap of the creature’s whopping wings, William was whisked skyward.
Stacy gasped and stared in disbelief after William, who had vanished with his aerial abductor into the radiant sky.
Lisa clasped her hands over her mouth. “Wow! Did you see that?”
Lisa’s excited exclamation startled Stacy out of her bewildered gaze. “Why did that – thing—take my brother?” she demanded of no one in particular.
Ryan laughed. “It must’ve known that Willy was the weakest flyer out of all of us and decided to . . .”
Ryan didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence, as from high above he was interrupted by euphoric shouts from William, whose mighty mount turned sharply and began a downward spiral toward a profusion of other mounted creatures.
“Yee ha!” Ryan hollered, waving his hat at his friend. “Ride ‘em cowboy!”
Lisa suddenly pointed downward. “Hey look! There are other kids riding those things!”
“Hooray!” Stacy shouted. “We found them! We found the kids!”
Sailing gracefully high above the island, William sat ecstatic on his winged wonder. His ceaseless ear-to-ear smile silently communicated his joy to all of the other fun-faring aerial riders whose colorfully fledged mounts filled the sky around him.
“Welcome, my young visitor, to Summerland.”
Startled, William jumped and looked quickly from side to side. “Who said that?” he asked nervously, addressing the unknown voice in his head.
“My name is Felicity, and I am the one on whom you ride,” answered his escort. She turned her large furry face back to peek at her passenger.
William stared in amazement at this royal-looking creature that appeared to be more animal than insect. Although her body had the general shape of a butterfly, her head and legs appeared almost as if from the feline family.
“You—you can talk?” William stammered.
“Of course I can,” she replied. “Most creatures here can communicate.”
William’s mind began to swim. He suddenly found himself doubting everything around him. This is all too much, he thought, shifting anxiously on the back of his gracious guide. I must be dreaming.
Picking up on William’s thoughts, Felicity glanced back at her guest once again. “I am pleased to inform you, young rider, that you are, in fact, not dreaming.” She lifted one of her legs into William’s line of sight, and then extending her claws, clicked two of them together. “Would you like me to pinch you for confirmation?”
William shook his head rapidly. “No, no. That’s all right,” he insisted. “I’ll take your word for it.”
Felicity laughed heartily. “So be it,” she said, retracting her claws. “Now then, who might you be?”
“Oh!” William said, pausing to sort out his many and varied thoughts. “My name is William.” And then thinking back to Felicity’s opening comment, he asked, “But, how did you know I was a visitor?”
“Well, most recently, from your doubt in our reality,” Felicity said, warm humor in her mental voice. “But originally, from the direction you and your friends entered, and the fact that you all arrived here unaccompanied, not to mention the way you are all dressed.”
She continued, “If you were arriving as new residents, you would have been escorted.” She lifted a wing and turned sharply, in order to direct William’s attention to a different section of the island. She slowed and stayed on this new course so that William could watch the scene before them. “Do you see the line of children off in the distance, coming down from above?”
William looked far, far out to the other side of the island.
“All I see are a bunch of tiny lights raining down from the sky,” he said.
Felicity looked again. “Oh my, yes! To you they would look like lights from this distance, wouldn’t they?” she said, with a little laugh. “I sometimes forget that you material-world beings don’t have the same eyesight as those of us created here.”
William gazed curiously at Felicity. “You were created here?” he said, dumbfounded. “Didn’t you live on Earth, or some other planet, before dying and coming here?”
“Heavens, no!” Felicity replied. “I and my kind are spirit creatures called Nabiyali, also known to the children here as Yali Gliders. We were designed and created for the enjoyment of all who come to Summerland, and we are very happy to be of service.”
William began to consider the idea of being created simply to serve, but decided to set it aside to ponder another time. He returned his attention to the long stream of lights descending onto the island. “So, those lights are all kids who have, have . . . died?” he asked, solemnly.
Not understanding William’s distressed feeling, Felicity did, however, realize from dealings with newly arrived children that material-world beings do view this process as a loss, and feel a sense of heartache and mourning over it.
“Well, the dim lights you see are new arrivals, yes,” she said, as sympathetically as she could. “The brighter lights are their Guardian Angel escorts.” After a brief pause she proceeded. “Summerland receives about twenty thousand new arrivals daily. But they have not died, young William; they have simply transitioned to the next phase, a better, more real phase of their existence, as everybody does.”
Felicity dipped her wing and resumed their descent toward the island. “Now, young Sir,” she said, “I have a few questions for you, if I might?”
William looked down at Felicity’s glowing visage. “Sure,” he said, “what would you like to know?”
Felicity slowed her descent to allow time for her questions before they should reach the island. “If you and your friends aren’t new arrivals,” she said, “I mean, if you’re not dead, as you would put it, how is it that you were able to enter the spirit world? And—how did you find your way to Summerland?”
William spent the next few minutes telling of the Frequency Glasses and how he and the others had come to be here. Somewhere in the middle of his story there was a flash of light; not blinding, mind you, it simply caught his attention. In a brief few seconds it was followed by a message from his sister.
“William, where are you?” Stacy’s voice sounded in his mind.
After replying to Stacy’s thought-message, he turned to his fuzzy companion and inquired about the flash of light.
“That light, my dear William, announces an incoming distant message, as you have just experienced. Its purpose is to give the receiver and others around a chance to pause their conversation so that it might be delivered.” Felicity proceeded to enlighten William further. “Spirit life is essentially an existence of mind. Thought is the predominant force; it is powerful and concrete.”
William looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“Take for example your hands,” she said. “They are used to create and build, among other things, correct?”
“Yes,” William answered.
“And your mouth and ears, they are used for communication, and your feet for mobility, right?”
William answered in the affirmative once again.
“Well,” Felicity continued, “here the spirit world we can do all of that, and more, simply by thought. Some of this, though, takes time, effort, and specialized training to learn. Communication and travel are two functions of thought that are simple to comprehend and effectuate, as you and your friends have already discovered. Others are more involved.”
Felicity neared a woodland area somewhere over the interior of the island. “How would you like a tour of Sunny Island?” she offered.
William looked confused. “I thought you said this was Summerland?”
Felicity stopped midair and hovered. “Summerland is the name of this whole world or sphere. Sunny Island is one of three islands in this realm for children. The Isle of Concordia,” she said, pointing with her left wing to some unseen island far out on the horizon, “is for older kids, and Melody Islet,” she pointed with her right, “is for younger children. You and your friends were quite fortunate, it seems, to have arrived over the island most suited to children of your age.”
William thought back to Auris the messenger, and wondered if it was coincidence or luck that they arrived where they did. He squinted and peered in each direction, trying to catch a glimpse of the other two islands.
“Shall we commence our tour?”
“Yes, please.” he replied.
And with that, Felicity once again proceeded with her steady descent across the island.
Nearing a lushly canopied forest of varying hues, Felicity slowed to a stop. Her long aeriform tail snaked gracefully behind her. Scores of children were now visible, scattered throughout the woods. Some played on land, some in the air and others in the trees.
William watched, intently, a group of three children playing some sort of game in the branches. Two of the children stood high up on a limb with a space between them. The third child was on the ground, with his back toward them. As one of the children on the limb called out, the grounded child attempted (without looking) to instantaneously transproject himself into the space between the two on the limb. In this particular instance, William noticed with great amusement that the trans-projecting child had missed his mark and materialized right smack into one of the other children, knocking him, laughing and heckling, off the limb. No harm was done, though, as he simply hovered until reclaiming his place on the branch.
Tearing his eyes away from the game, William saw that there were also groups of children with their teachers on what appeared to be field trips or nature hikes. Glancing over these children, he realized that they share some interesting similarities with Auris. For one, they dressed weren’t in earthly clothes, but in robes and togas of different lengths and styles that seemed to be part of their bodies in some mysterious way. Also, a soft, faint luminescence seemed to radiate from within each of them, not as bright as Auris, but there just the same. William and his group had no such radiance, though their astral bodies were similar in most other respects.
Curious as to this strange phenomenon, William addressed his aerial usher. “Felicity,” he said. “Why is it everybody and everything here seems to glow?”
“That is the light of life,” she states. “Everything in the spirit world is alive to some degree. Even the buildings are made up of living material that responds to the energies of the people and environment around them. As far as people go, the brightness of their internal light reflects their spiritual progression and goodness.”
William sat in silence for a moment, pondering all this newfound information, as Felicity continued their journey.
Up ahead amidst the trees was a bright clearing lit by the golden rays of light emanating from everywhere—and nowhere—like magic. This wondrous clearing was filled with vivid and exotic flowers and plants unknown to material man, and in the middle lay a large, lazy lake, crystal clear to its fun-inspiring, multicolored sand bottom.
As they approach, William witnessed a group of children, in and out of the water, staring out at many small boats gliding freely across its surface.
“What’s going on down there?” he asked.
Felicity soared to the left and circled slowly overhead, giving her guest a bird’s eye view. William watched with intrigue as Felicity explained. “Here, you are observing a perfect example of thought control. These children below have decided that when they grow up they wish to own full-size boats of their own, which takes a lot of training and concentration to move and maneuver. Here they learn and practice on small-scale models.”
William burst with excitement. “You mean they’ll be able to drive real boats with just their minds?�
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“Absolutely!” she said, nodding her fuzzy head. “With thought being a concrete force here, there is no need for motors, engines or even wind for locomotion.” She returned to level flight and continued with the tour.
William twisted around and watched the scene until it was out of sight.
A little farther on, William saw splotches of color sprinkled far and wide throughout the forest. Felicity once again slowed for her rider’s benefit. William smiled to see thousands of little cottages looking like they’d come straight from the pages of children’s storybooks. These diminutive houses with their beautifully crooked timbers, bright red roofs, and lattice windows were each surrounded by their own charming little garden of colorful spirit flowers.
Williams’s mouth dropped in shocked surprise as he witnessed children running around and playing with pet pumas, tamed tigers, and loving lions.
“Felicity!” William cried, pointing below. “Those cats, aren’t they dangerous?”
Felicity grinned. “No, my young inquirer, nothing is dangerous in the world of love and harmony.” And with a mighty flap of her wings Felicity proceeded onward once again.
Adventures of Sunny Island
Slipping down through the Nabiyali fly zone, Ryan, Lisa and Stacy continued their leisurely descent toward the island, a little way inland from the base of the ringed mountain range. Directly below them was a large, grassy-knolled park filled with children and adorned with fanciful flower gardens, with sculpted plants shaped into fun geometric shapes. Meandering rows of trees grew together, creating long-tunneled pathways. Within these pathways, at intervals, stood ornamental benches created from live intertwining plants.
Throughout the park, hundreds of spirit children frolicked merrily within its confines, playing a multitude of games and activities. On the ground and in the air children zipped about, chasing one another, while others tossed balls and flung disks and other objects back and forth.
