Miguel’s police instinct kicked in and his hand immediately moved to his own holstered pistol.
“NO!” Shima shouted as she turned the gun on Miguel and squeezed the trigger. The bullet caught Miguel in the shoulder and threw him to the ground. Amelia dropped beside him, grabbed Miguel’s face in her hands and looked deeply into his eyes.
“You’re not going anywhere,” she insisted. Amelia looked down and pressed her hand against the growing blood stain on Miguel’s shirt. “My dream of you alive is bigger than her shot at you.”
Miguel looked at Amelia remembering how he had gone to her bedside when she coded.
“I’m staying,” he promised.
Jojo stared at Amelia leaning over Miguel. His eyes darted from his stepfather to Nick to Shima standing with the gun trained on Trisha. In a moment he was transported to a time almost before memory when his mother had fallen in front of him on the street outside their apartment building. His mind locked on his mother’s face, his body was filled with rage and resolution. He wasn’t going to let anyone else get hurt.
Jojo pounded his right hand to his upper left chest and imagined he hit the communicator button that connected him with the snailing vessel he believed was orbiting around the planet. “Sir Galahad!” Jojo shouted. Everyone's attention turned to the boy. “I need you to get down here…. NOW!”
Amelia watched as Shima focused her attention on the sky with Jojo. She knew Shima was seeing something that had not yet become apparent to her. Of course just about everything she thought had been apparent turned out not to be. So she just knelt on the ground next to Miguel and watched in rare silence.
An eerie sound filled the air not unlike that of Amelia’s coffeemaker or more likely, twin turbo engines coming in for a landing. But nothing appeared to be coming down the landing strip. One by one the attention of each person standing on the tarmac was called upward. One by one each individual added to his or her dream the sight of a giant snail falling out of the sky, throttling toward them, underside first, at rocket speed.
In the amount of time it takes for an eight year old boy to blink his eyes, Sir Galahad landed squarely on top of Trisha, Shima, Nick and Darius leaving only their legs and arms visible as they stuck out from under his belly. Sir Galahad looked at the mangled mess of human extremities beneath his soft underside and curled his upper lip with an expression of disgust. His long tubular eyes stretched down to ogle Jojo.
“You rang?” he calmly checked in.
The luggage clerk looked at the mess of arms and legs extending out from under the talking snail. Amelia couldn’t believe what she heard next. “They’re dead!” the baggage handler exclaimed in a Munchkinland voice. He looked at Amelia, Miguel and Jojo. “You’ve killed them!”
Whirl, whirl, whirl…
For a moment Amelia felt as if she was caught up in some grand reversal of the tornado scene that had delivered the house atop the wicked witch of the east. All of the scenery faded and blurred. Miguel and Jojo went sailing past her peripheral vision. She thought she saw Shima fly by on a bicycle, followed closely by Trisha riding a broom and donning a deep green tint to her skin. She heard arguing and awakened to find she was standing with Jojo and Miguel while Shima, Trisha, Darius and Nick stood by and watched speechlessly as Hrim, Jahni and Tetta scolded the huge snail that had landed on them.
“You’re not allowed to interfere!” Jahni threw up his hands in the air and turned around in circles. “What are we going to do?”
“I didn’t interfere!” Sir Galahad defended himself. “Jojo called and I answered.”
“You smooshed four people to death!” Hrim pointed up the long tall neck of Sir Galahad as his long eye tubules bent down to see him.
“It’s not my fault the transporter beam can’t support the weight of a ten ton snail!”
“Dumbo!” Jojo shouted gleefully and ran toward the snail smiling from ear to ear. “You did it, you’re my hero!”
“Not now kid.” The snail muttered out of one side of his mouth. “I’m having a little trouble here.”
“Tetta,” Amelia appealed to her one-time guru, “I know this probably is a little out of line, but isn’t it true that Sir Galahad isn’t exactly responsible for their deaths?” Tetta considered it was actually the belief of the victims that had brought them to their demise within the context of their own dreams. In thought she weighed in with the other guides to see if it was necessary for her to provide this information to the recently departed. In a moment she turned to the foursome.
“You all have been killed off in your dreams. If any one of you knows of someone who would have a stronger dream that you might remain alive, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
Trisha looked at Nick and hung her head knowing he would not dream her back to life. Shima looked at Nick and knew she never got a chance to share such a dream with anyone in her life. “Nick,” Shima offered, “I can dream you back to life.”
“To spend it in prison?” He looked at Miguel. “I don’t think so.” His attention fell to Darius who was strangely quiet. His eyes were fixed on the radiant glowing figure of a woman standing a few yards away. Nick recognized the light-flooded face of Tonya Lovelle as she gazed upon Darius. Slowly Darius began to slump to the ground until he fell to his knees.
“I’m sorry.” Darius broke down. “I-I’m so sorry. I’ve been terrible. I let you down. I hurt your son. I’ve missed you so much, Tonya.”
The glowing woman smiled at Darius and Nick. Tears stung at the edges of Nick’s eyes. Inside his head he heard the soft voice of a young woman.
You tried too. Now you must forgive yourself. Nick fell to his knees like Darius. The woman turned to Jojo and held out her arms bending low to the ground. Trisha and Shima looked at each other with the jealousy of jilted lovers.
“Momma!” Jojo ran to his mother and buried his face in her long hair. Miguel and Amelia looked on in amazement as Jojo reunited with his mom.
“In the Wait Zone,” Hrim explained to Miguel and Amelia, “there are victims’ rights. When those who have harmed someone arrive in the Wait Zone, their victim may greet them. Tonya has the final say on certain issues. She is forgiving Darius and Nick even though neither of them has been able to forgive themselves for their shortcomings.”
Tonya looked up at Miguel and Amelia as she placed her hands on Jojo’s shoulders, and kneeled down in front of him to size him up. “You have turned into such a fine young man,” she whispered lovingly. “I have always kept an eye on you, baby.”
“You have?” Jojo’s eyes widened in the light radiating from his mother.
“Yes, and I would really like to see you improve that math grade.” Jojo’s expression went bashful as he turned to Miguel and Amelia. “Did you hear that? She wants me to do my homework.”
“You have been very good to my son.” She smiled at Miguel and Amelia. “I am asking that you continue to care for him as his father will be staying here now.”
Miguel nodded and Amelia felt a tear come to her eye as Tonya pulled Jojo toward her and hugged him close.
Jahni tilted his head forward as if he had been downloading information from the Akashic. He looked up at the giant snail and ordered Galahad to disembark the shell. Slowly the snail began to shrink. As it plummeted toward its original smaller than half dollar size, a lanky, middle-aged man with dark, slicked back hair, a five o’clock shadow and a cigarette in his mouth was revealed. None of the dreamers had ever seen him before. Despite his less than angelic appearance, he was wearing a white robe and sandals similar to Hrim and Jahni’s.
“Used to be an off-Broadway director,” Hrim commented to Miguel. “He still thinks he can make up his own ending.”
“You are now responsible for mediating the karmic outcomes between these four,” Jahni motioned with his left hand, “and this one.” Trisha, Shima, Nick and Darius audibly groaned as David stepped out of the shadows of the Wait Zone.
“It’s all your fault.” Shima glared at T
risha.
“Your fault,” Trisha argued.
“It was your brilliant plan,” Nick sided with Shima.
“It’s ev’rybody’s fault that we gotta’ keep on dealin’ with Pretty Boy here,” Darius nodded at David.
“Do I have to?” Galahad whined to Jahni and Hrim.
“That should keep you busy for centuries.” Hrim nodded emphatically. Galahad started to usher his new assignments toward the orientation room as they continued to argue.
“Hi. My name is David.” David tried to introduce himself to Nick. “And you are?” Everyone groaned in unison.
“Wait!” Amelia called out. She turned to Tetta. “Can I dream Shima back to life?”
“Don’t do me any favors.” Shima sharply cut at Amelia.
“But…”
“Nothing. You can’t make up for it Amelia. Your dream really isn’t stronger than mine. When you gonna learn that?” Despite her words Shima’s eyes glistened with tears of gratitude that Amelia would consider trying to help her at all.
“It isn’t fair.” Amelia argued. Looking at Shima in the Wait Zone she saw the truth of her father’s deathbed confession and felt the shame of his need to keep Shima secret even as he tried to honor her murdered mother. As she tapped into this truth another woman appeared on the scene. The resemblance was undeniable.
Amelia watched as Shima recognized her mother and became uncharacteristically vulnerable and innocent. Shima looked back at Amelia as she placed her hand in her mother’s hand. Behind Amelia stood their father. Shima waved to him and Amelia, unaware of his presence, waved gently in return, as Shima and the others disappeared from sight.
Hrim bent low, picked up the snail from the misty cobblestones, and joined Amelia and Miguel. “Your wound is just superficial dream stuff,” he said to Miguel. “There will be no physical evidence.”
Hrim walked over to Jojo and Tonya Lovelle and waited while they completed their conversation.
“Do you live in heaven, Momma?” Jojo’s eyes reflected the radiance of her figure.
“Well, now I guess that depends on what you believe.” Tonya smiled. “If you think heaven is a destination where you just lay around and do nothing forever, then no, I do not live in heaven.”
Jojo frowned as he had always pictured his mother wearing wings and playing a harp while sitting on a cloud. Tonya tipped her head low and caught his eye.
“But, if you believe heaven is a way to learn about living and grow to become a better person, then I definitely am in heaven most of the time.” Jojo bounced on his feet nodding his understanding. “And you can be in heaven most of the time too young man, when you are committed to do the same everyday.”
“I will Momma. I am!” Jojo threw his arms around his mother’s shoulders and she hoisted him up as she stood and turned to Hrim.
Jojo dropped to the ground and accepted Dumbo as Hrim handed him the snail. “Take good care of that,” she smiled, “and don’t forget, your momma loves you very much.” Jojo watched as his mother spoke quietly with Hrim for a moment, waved, and faded from sight.
“I want straight A’s this year!” Tonya Lovelle’s voice whispered in a fading tone.
Jahni and Tetta joined Hrim and led Jojo back to Amelia and Miguel. Jahni shook Amelia’s hand. “It’s been a lovely project, really, I hope to see you at University. I think we’ll be able to get you some life credits for this experience.”
“University? Life credits?” Amelia looked at Hrim and Tetta.
Hrim laughed and winked at Amelia.
“I’ll explain it all next time I see you,” Tetta reassured Amelia.
“Can you tell me just one thing?” Amelia begged Hrim to scan the Akashic for her.
“I’ll do my best.” He nodded once.
“So...” Amelia stammered, “David and Trisha?”
“Nope, just business.”
“And Shima, she didn’t either?”
“Nope, just Nick.” Hrim didn’t even have to scan.
“But who was the SHE that David kept referring to?” Amelia begged to know who David declared his undying love for just before he died.
“The store, dear.” Tetta leaned forward and whispered to Amelia, “Perhaps you should take that as a hint, dear, and maybe look for a man who truly loves you, not just your shoes.” She nodded at Miguel. Amelia blushed and glanced down at the gold lamé shoes. She had grown accustomed to them. She looked up expectantly.
Hrim acknowledged the sign that their business was finished. He looked at his wrist as a watch appeared. He turned his head and nodded at Tetta. The guides took a step back as Amelia, Miguel, and Jojo instinctively joined hands.
“Repeat after me.” Hrim smiled curiously at Amelia. “There’s no place like home!”
Discussion Points
(There just happen to be nine. They are not organized by chapter.)
1. Zeke explains to Amelia that he knows the dream they’re experiencing is hers because he doesn’t have an accent in his own dreams. How can this compare with how we relate to others in our day-to-day life?
2. During the moon lesson, Tetta teaches that it is the human form that creates the illusion of “other” and “duality”. How is her explanation of how consciousness works different and similar to Zeke’s lesson on dreams?
3. How could Hrim’s philosophy of right and wrong taught at the university, improve the condition of our daily life?
4. When Tetta is asked if she is something “other than” human she talks about the illusion of duality and how it affects human life. How is duality used by humans to produce both positive and negative experiences?
5. When Jojo has a traumatic experience with the clown, his imagination produces a unique hiding place. His imagination also puts him in some precarious situations as on the mountain trail. What could we teach Jojo to strengthen this ability for good rather than be only the affect of living in a traumatic environment?
6. The Law of Attraction says we attract what we focus our attention upon. How does Miguel’s experience in the coffee shop with the spoon in particular, relate to how this idea does and sometimes doesn’t seem to work?
7. Lucid dreaming is explained as awareness that a dream is occurring. Several characters in the book posit the idea that everything is a dream. How might lucid dreaming work in daily “waking” life?
8. At varying levels of consciousness certain characters are visible or invisible to others. What are your thoughts on this multi-dimensional existence? Is it real or imagined?
9. Various characters have differing opinions of what heaven and hell are all about. Whose ideas have you shared at some point in your life and with whose are you most closely associated with at this point in time?
About the Author
Pic Michel is an artist and writer living with her family in Cincinnati, Ohio. Pic conducts workshops to facilitate professional and life-skill development of the creative process for adults and children. Her interest in the practical application of the spiritual, quantum physical, and psychological aspects of life permeate her art and workshops. More may be learned by visiting Pic’s website at www.enlightenmeant.com
Gold Lame' (That's le-mayy) (Gold Lame' Series) Page 20
