The Wind Rose

by B. Roman

  THE MOON SINGER: The magnificent clipper ship Moon Singer is the manifestation of all that the three sacred artifacts promise. In her giant masts made of crystal is the source of all the knowledge found in the Singer, for it was from a piece of the mizzenmast the Singer was sculpted. Encased in the gold rings encircling the three masts is the same Trinity symbol that was carved onto the Singer's facet, thereby rendering them one and the same.

  The Moon Singer was conjured up by David who heard Saliana's celestial song. The ship transported him to other times and places, where the past, present and future were one. She tested him and protected him from harm. And when his mission was accomplished, she brought him safely home.

  And yet, the Moon Singer has a mission of her own, one so profound that her presence will be felt all around the world in just moments from now.

  * * *

  Because of his ownership of the three powerful artifacts, and because of the rapidity of his spiritual evolution, David is entrusted with another mission, one so enormously critical to everyone he loves, to his home town, and to the world itself, that he cannot falter or fail. If he succeeds everyone will benefit, and the Moon Singer will reappear. Will he be compelled to board the magnificent sailing ship one more time, see her sails billow out in a breathtaking expanse of silky white clouds? Or will this be the last time David's sees her? Will anyone else see her majestic presence? Or will he still be the only one?

  If he fails…

  But he dare not even think of failure or its consequences.

  Knowing the precise time that the professor will set off a chain of cataclysmic events, David is to arrange the three sacred pieces in a triangular formation. At the fateful moment, when the big clock's minute hand moves to the 59th minute of the 11th hour, and the second hand ticks the 59th second of the final minute of the century, the sound will resonate through each point of the triangle. The combined musical vibrations of the Singer, the Rose Crystal, and the Wind Rose compass will cause the earth and the universe to stand still. The Power of Three will become One, and what will be heard is the divine Cosmic Chord, the chord that sounded in the heavens the day that the world was created.

  There will be no destruction that day. Every disaster will be thwarted, every attempt by Dr. Ramirez to enact his revenge on a perceived enemy will not come to fruition. The Moon Singer will appear, her glorious visage will light up the sky and mark the dawn of a new age.

  As long as David remembers what he is to do and why he is to do it.

  Thirty-three

  It is 11:30pm. He has less than 30 minutes to accomplish his task. As briskly as he can, David climbs the stairs - all 20 floors - of the clock tower. Of course, the elevator would be easier and quicker, but he prefers no one see him. Without authorization, no one is permitted to access the top of the tower. People rarely take the stairs and he was counting on that tonight.

  But he didn't count on one person in particular.

  Moving stealthily in the shadows behind him, Dr. Ramirez climbs the hundreds of steps. Obviously not as young or agile as David, he is a few minutes and a few flights behind. It is pure coincidence that Ramirez and David are ascending the clock tower at the same time. The professor has malevolent motives for being there; he can't imagine why his protégé would be there at the same time.

  Nonetheless, Ramirez is cautious and quite curious to see what David is up to. Perhaps, Ramirez thinks, David is just a typical college kid, acting on a dare from his peers to get some video of the Millennium Ball from above as it drops. Whatever the reason, David's presence will interfere with Ramirez's plan.

  Finally, David reaches the top floor. He stops to catch his breath. Ramirez is just behind him, and comes through the access door to confront a startled David.

  “What are you doing here, Doc?”

  “I might ask you the same thing, David. I have permission to be here, to be sure my music chip will play on time when the ball drops. No one else has been authorized to be up here with me. So you'd better go before someone catches you.”

  With time running out, David has no choice but to tell the truth. It's too late to mince words and use psychology on a man who is truly demented and hell bent on carrying out a horrendous act of terrorism.

  “I'm sorry Professor. I can't leave you here alone. I know what you've been doing and I'm here to stop you from doing any further harm.”

  “Really, David. I don't know what you're talking about. What kind of nonsense is in your head?”

  “It's not nonsense. I know all about your music codes and the havoc you've been wreaking around the world. I won't let you destroy Port Avalon, too.”

  “You foolish boy! You know nothing about the world, and even less about the work I've been doing! It's too late for you to stop me now. You're neither strong enough nor clever enough.” Ramirez checks his watch to see that he has only moments to execute his final plan.

  “I don't want to hurt you, David, but if you won't leave willingly I'll have to make you leave.” He grabs David by the arm and tries to force him out the door so he can lock him out. But David pulls free and starts to overpower his mentor. Ramirez in turn pushes David as hard as he can, knocking his head against the wall. Stunned, David slumps down to the floor, blood trickling down his head from the blow.

  Ramirez threatens that he has created a new music sequence that is even more deadly than the one that David stole from his computer.

  Struggling to his feet, David warns him he will not get a chance to use it.

  Ramirez reveals a remote device that will go off at 11:59:59pm, just one minute from now. His finger moves onto the button. One quick push and it's all over.

  “No! Don't!” David yells. He swipes at Ramirez to grab the device. The professor loses his balance trying to hold on to the palm size detonator, but he loses his grip and the detonator drops swiftly over the side and down toward the ground. Frantically grabbing at it, Ramirez falls head first over the railing.

  David tries desperately to grab onto his mentor hoping to save him from the fall as well as from himself. He grabs at the professor's jacket. Holding on for dear life, David feels himself teetering over the edge. His right hand strains to maintain its grip on the smooth leather sleeve, while his left hand frantically grabs onto the rail trying to pull him back to safety.

  There is nothing he can do.

  David stands helplessly with the torn jacket in his hand as the screaming Ramirez drops 20 floors, his arms and legs flailing in terror, his screams unheard in the hubbub of New Year's Eve on Main Street in Port Avalon.

  Thirty-four

  At precisely 11:59:59 pm in Port Avalon, darkness comes at the same time to all nations and all time zones. The sun has retired itself, the moon has curtained its light demurely with slow-moving clouds, and the stars have dimmed behind an ethereal haze.

  To most, this change in the environment merely denotes the transition from day to night. And they eagerly anticipate the hour of midnight when they will join together around the world to celebrate a new era for mankind. They do not consciously note that all corners of the globe are experiencing the same phenomenon, the obliteration of time zones. They are all too caught up in their own local revelry to see that time has stood still at 11:59:59 pm.

  David has climbed to the top of the clock tower, with the three sacred pieces in hand. He has placed them in a triangular formation with the Singer at the Apex. His heart beats wildly with trepidation. He must do something that is purely intuitive. In a split second, he must remember exactly what he did to destroy the Glass Snake, escape the evils of the High Priestess Jaycina, save Saliana's life and in turn save his sister Sally from a cruel limbo.

  Just as he experienced on that fateful last day on the Island of Darkness, David is unexpectedly struck with a sharp, searing pain in his ear. The pain becomes an unbearable ringing and David reaches up instinctively. But on this night there is no hearing aid to pull out that will silence all the sounds of impending climatic destruction that
hovers over Port Avalon. On this night there is only the instrument that allows him to hear in his “real” world of family and everyday responsibilities. There is only the cochlear implant that separates him from this world and the “other” world where he can hear without a hearing aid or any other device; where he can experience a blissful serenity, and the past, present and future as one; where there is no judgment or criticism, but there is exhilaration in the revelation as to who he is and what he was meant to become.

  And so, in that last second before the almost unbelievable changes to occur, David moves the three artifacts into their synergistic position, and in doing so the implant's receiver is disabled. The din of celebration becomes a hum, then a soothing hush, like the tranquil ebb and flow of the ocean tides he loves so much. Just as on that auspicious day on the Port Avalon beach, where he aligned his crystals in the Star of David Grid with the Singer at the apex, and Saliana's song beckoned him to a world unknown, what he hears now will change his life forever.

  Immersed in this secure and familiar cocoon, it is not someone else's music that he hears, not Saliana's or Beethoven's or any of the great masters of divine music. What David hears is his soul code, the music that pulses in his brain, in his DNA, in his heart. And all becomes clear: the voices he hears and the messages they impart, are those of his own inner intuitions and yearnings.

  “I can't think of any words to describe this moment.”

  Other: There are no words needed.

  “Just the music of his soul. He hears it calling and it resonates out to those he loves.”

  Other: He is so close, so close to knowing, to understanding.

  “All he needs to do is let it play out.”

  Other: And recognize it as his own.

  Thirty-five

  One second later, when the Big Ball denoting the New Year descends, it is not the customary New Year's Ball constructed of a mere 100 incandescent light bulbs, iron, and wood. In its new incarnation it glows with 1000 multicolored LED lights and an outer surface consisting of triangle-shaped crystal panels.

  Simultaneously, the three mysterious images that people have been seeing for months in the far corners of the earth transform into enormous rings, towering masts, and a titanic hull. They move toward each other gracefully, then blend into one distinct image to become the Moon Singer.

  “And how shall I come to earth this time - in what form and in which incarnation…”

  She arrives in a river of diamonds and Pearls, a winged spirit of angelic vision, a magnificent light, the light of the eternal soul, almost too bright for human eyes. The face of God? David wonders. Is that what this beautiful ship really is?

  Then the Voice comes from everywhere and nowhere:

  “You have brought yourself to the brink, with unprecedented innovation, creativity, vision and skill, but you also have broken every universal law of cause and effect, without regard to the consequences. Over and over again you have chosen war over peace, violence over compassion, and greed over benevolence. And you suffer because you have not learned.

  God did not cause your misfortune, but neither could God stop it, for in having free will the choices that are good for one will hurt another. You've lost your sense of mystery and wonder. To find it again, you must go back to the Source. Each of you must discover the secret of life for yourself. Get it? Your mistakes will repeat over and over again until you Get it!”

  “Get it!” Isaac repeats. “That's what Bianca Creighton said.”

  “As long as there are people, there will be conflict,” the Voice continues, as if from loud speakers mounted on every corner of the earth and the heavens, “but if everyone with a peaceful heart lifted up a lantern of love at the same time, evil would be forever dimmed, and infinite good would shine brighter than human eyes could bear on this earth. This is why the Light is shown only to those who reach the portals of Heaven itself.”

  Isaac turns to someone in the crowd. A familiar energy attracts him to a woman with her back turned. She senses his approach and turns to face him.

  “Dr. Creighton?” Isaac addresses her.

  Bianca removes her head scarf and her golden blonde hair tumbles about her shoulders, wisping sensuously in the cool breeze. In unison, David and Isaac gasp as they each see someone they never expected to see again on this earth.

  “Mom?” David whispers, thunderstruck.

  “Billie?” Isaac calls her.

  “I am all of them. I am all of you,” she pronounces gently. “I've come to ease your heart and to say goodbye. Quickly now, there isn't much time!”

  Thirty-six

  “But where are we going?” David asks, as Bianca hustles him and his father along through the crowd.

  “I don't understand. I thought you were back in the Kingdom with Ishtar and Saliana.”

  “I came back with you, to be sure you got home okay and that all went as planned.”

  David thinks a second then is offended. “Wait. You mean you came back to – to spy on me?”

  “Good heavens, David. No. I didn't come back to spy on you or make sure you performed your task well. I knew you would.”

  “Then, why? I'm really puzzled as to why you are letting Dad see you!”

  “He sees me, but he doesn't really. I know it's complicated but he'll be with us, experiencing everything you and I do, and then forget pretty much what he saw. He'll think it's all a dream.”

  “You can do that?”

  “No. He'll do it for himself. Now get a move on so we can see Sally. We have but a few moments before I must return home.”

  “Home. You mean the Kingdom. Is - is everything okay? I didn't screw things up again, did I?”

  “No, dear boy. All is well in the Kingdom of Light because you have made everything right in Port Avalon. Now we must make everything right with Sally.”

  * * *

  She is sitting up in bed when they arrive at the hospital, but is in a drowsy twilight sleep. Bianca's breath catches when she sees her sweet daughter, Sally. For this moment, she is now Billie Nickerson, Sally and David's mother, and Isaac's departed wife. She takes Sally's hand in hers and the girl's eyes open.

  It takes a few seconds for the vision before her to resonate in Sally's brain. Then the full realization hits her. Standing before her is her beloved mother, the mother she lost in a horrible accident not so long ago. But how? How can this be?

  “You can't be here…this is a dream. I'm not really seeing you, am I – Mom?”

  “Yes, dearest. You are seeing me. You and David and your father.”

  “But I thought only David could see you. David,”she beseeches her brother, “are we all off on one of your Moon Singer fantasies? Please don't do this to me. It's too cruel.”

  Sally begins to cry and Billie embraces her, holding her fast and rocking her back and forth. “There, now. Don't cry. It's not a fantasy, Sally. It's me. It's Mom. I've come back one more time to help you understand what happened to me, and to ease any painful thoughts you have, any guilt you carry. Only then can all of you say goodbye and truly move on with your lives.”

  “No, Mom, no! Please don't come back just to leave us again! Please.” Sally is sobbing now.

  Billie smoothes her daughter's hair back tenderly, and wipes the tears from her cheeks. “It will all be all right, Sweetest. Trust me.”

  Billie then turns to Isaac and holds him near. Hesitantly at first, Isaac returns the embrace. Then, feeling her familiar warmth, he holds her passionately. After a lingering moment, Billie steps back and looks deep into his eyes, those sympathetic brown eyes that now concern her.

  “My dear husband, love of my life. It pains me so to know that you, more than anyone, carry such a deep burden of guilt in your heart. It was not your fault that foggy night that changed all of our lives instantly. It was just what it was, an accident. It had nothing to do with your rushing to get your designs in on deadline. It was fate that it was just my time.”

  “Your time!” Isaac's voice cra
cks with anguish. “What about Sally? Was it her time to be crippled forever?”

  “I know you can't understand this now, but I think David and Sally will. Her injuries served a higher good, for both of them. But it will all be over soon. Sally will walk again, if David has anything to do with it.”

  Billie turns to her son. “David, my precious, gifted, extraordinary boy. Life holds so much promise for you and for everyone you love, if you continue to fulfill your mission. I know it is a lot to ask of someone so young, and you were thrown into it unwittingly. But now you have conscious awareness of who you are and what you are meant to do.”

  “Everyone keeps saying that,” David replies, partly confused and angry, partly acquiescent. “I guess I don't have much choice but to go along.”

  She holds David's hand and take's Isaac's in the other, and tells David to take Sally's hand, so they form a complete circle.

  “My dear, precious family. I have missed you so much. I will always miss you. But it is time to say a final farewell. Know that I will always be with you, as you are with me.”

  Billie's image, encircled by Bianca's glowing aura, disappears into the ethers, and with her any memory Isaac and Sally might have of this moment.

  David will never forget.

  Thirty-seven

  The New Millennium

  Not everyone who experienced the Vision accepted it as a good omen. They went back to their normal way of living, being cynical and superstitious of everything and everyone. They thought it was some kind of trick, a New Year's Eve hallucination created by some tech savvy jokesters, mainly because there was no video or photo that captured even one frame of the image.

  Others became more tolerant and loving, believing they had seen a vision from “on high,” something angelic. Still others refused to acknowledge there was any vision at all.

  “Don't be silly,” they scoffed. “Angels can't morph into objects or people, if angels even exist at all.” To them, it was nothing more than the normal descent of the illuminated ball, marking the end of one year and the start of another.