H.E.A.R.T. Saga: The Children

by Linna Drehmel

  “I will be happy to, but what is it that they might be doing? I’m not sure what I should be looking for,” he said, feeling a little unsure of his new task.

  “Don’t worry, JorRobert. You will know it when you see it. Don’t hesitate to message me. I am needed in my community, so message me there.” The lovely First Councilor walked over to the small HEART stone altar, pulling her traveling stone out of the pocket in her robes. With a singsong voice, she enthusiastically recited the prayer for travel. She disappeared in a flash of blue energy.

  At the sight of the First Councilor’s departure, a hot feeling began to grow in his chest. How could she leave him to a task that he had no idea of what he was really doing? “DraDonna and DraDevon have gone energy mad; it’s all their fault. Now JorMelony will be even sicker when she hears this,” JorRobert thought bitterly to himself.

  The more he pondered on the whole situation that he was mixed up in, the more this hot feeling grew, and the pressure of it inside his chest needed release or he felt like he was going to explode.

  Without thinking about it, he picked up a large yellow ceramic cup that was on the desk and threw it against the wall where it smashed into a thousand pieces. The cup, much like the pressure in his chest, was smashed… but it was still there, only now it was in a thousand sharp and dangerous little pieces in his soul.

  News

  10

  JorMelony left the office of the PNL and started on the path to her home. She did tell her husband that she was going to the PHY office, but she had a feeling that she needed to go see SolKaren in the PNL office. The HEART’s energy showed that the reason for her sickness is because she was with child again.

  SolKaren had been coldly polite, but JorMelony didn’t care. The energy helped her with the sickness and the thought that she was with child again brought her so much joy. JorMelony hoped with all her soul that this child would live. She was told by the HEART that she and JorRobert could still have two children. She wanted more than anything to have both a boy and a girl. She loved her sister very much, but she had secretly wished that she had a brother as well.

  Feeling much better and bubbling over with excitement, she entered her home. “JorRobert, I’m home. I have good news!” she called excitedly. “Hello?”

  She looked in all the rooms of her home for her husband. He was nowhere to be found. His percussion stones were still by his chair along with his music, so she knew that he had not gone to practice with the other members in their band.

  “I wonder where he went,” she said to the empty house.

  Wanting so much to share her good news with someone, she decided to tell her parents. She also wanted to tell DraDonna her happy news. The last time she tried to have a baby, it had ended in a stillbirth; DraDonna took the loss of her nephew very hard.

  Thinking of her younger sister reminded her that she needed to tell her parents about how DraDonna and her husband were missing. JorMelony wanted to be sure that she told them herself and not let them hear it from idle gossipers.

  She walked over to the HEART stone altar, knelt down and placed her right hand on the stone, reciting the prayer for sending energy messages: “I strengthen my parents NayLara and NayMichael in all my conversations, through the HEART.”

  The light gathered around her right hand but stayed on the stone. It flashed once to signify that one of her parents was at the HEART stone altar in their home.

  “HEART’s greeting. Hello Mom and Dad; it’s me, JorMelony.” She waited for a reply.

  “HEART’s greeting. Hello JorMelony. This is your Mom. Your Dad is in a class with young men. I hope all is well with you today.”

  “Mom, it has been a busy day. I have some news for you; good news first. I have found today that I am with child again. I hope with the grace of the HEART our MOTHER, this one will make it. But SolKaren said that there is a good chance that this one will die, too. She told me that there hasn’t been a live birth in several years.”

  “JorMelony. SolKaren is fine PNL but she has never liked our family. This is truly a blessing of the HEART. I know that this child will live. I feel it in my soul. Have you told your husband yet?”

  “I have the same feeling. Please share this good news with Dad. I have not told JorRobert yet. I could not find him. Have either of you seen him?”

  “No. We have not seen him since yesterday at the punishment gathering. Is anything wrong?”

  “JorRobert is fine. But there is something wrong. DraDonna and DraDevon are missing. After the solace gathering, First Councilor Jude, JorRobert and I went down to their house and they were just gone.”

  “Where did they go? What solace gathering? There has not been a solace gathering in more than 50 years.”

  “Don’t you remember the solace gathering this morning? DraDonna and DraDevon decided to go on a couples’ solace and the gathering was this morning. How could you forget that?”

  “I remember there being a gathering. You played your tallice beautifully. I remember a very strong energy from the Ambassador and Second Councilor Fredrik. But that’s about it. Your Dad and I went home. We took a nap. Then we had classes. DraDonna is missing?”

  JorMelony was beginning to feel frustrated with her Mom. She wasn’t getting anywhere. Her Mom just didn’t remember the reason for the gathering. It was so odd, but JorMelony didn’t have time to think about it. She wanted more than anything to find her husband so that she could share the good news with him.

  “Don’t worry about it, Mom. Don’t say anything to Dad about DraDonna being missing because I’m sure everything is fine. She and DraDevon probably were so excited about going on their couples’ solace that they left early. It’s so odd that you don’t remember that.”

  “Well, don’t you worry about it either. You know DraDonna; she has always done things her own way. Besides, worrying isn’t good for you or the baby. You need to take lots of the energy and get lots of rest. Do what SolKaren tells you.”

  “I will, Mom. I just wish there was another PNL in our community. SolKaren says the meanest things about DraDonna and DraDevon. You’re right about DraDonna. They probably were just excited about going on their couples solace.”

  “I have to go soon JorMelony. I have a class of little ones to teach.”

  “I need to go, too. I need to see if I can find where JorRobert is so I can tell him the wonderful news. Give Dad my love.”

  “I will do that. I love you. HEART’s blessing.”

  “I love you, too. HEART’s blessing.”

  The words and the light of the energy retreated down inside the stone. JorMelony stood with renewed joy in her soul. She was going to have a baby and this time the baby was going to live.

  She had such a strong desire to find her husband and tell him all about the good news.

  Looking over at their musical instruments, JorMelony thought that the best thing to do would be to check with all of the people in the band. “I hope this doesn’t take too long,” she said to the empty house. “I’m hungry.”

  Notebook

  11

  DraDonna and DraDevon removed their hands from the HEART stone after energy travel for the second time that day. Looking around they saw that they were in another perfect cabin that was identical to the first one.

  DraDonna took a deep breath and said, “I don’t think that we should unpack anything. We should keep our packs here by the altar.”

  “Good idea,” DraDevon agreed. “I also think that we should err on the side of caution and have a look around outside.”

  “While we’re out there, I need to get to work and see if I can figure anything out,” she said as she pulled out the small notebook from her little pouch. “We also need more Traveler’s Joy, my friend. There isn’t much left in my pouch, and we need to keep eating it so our minds stay clear.”

  “That’s my wife, always thinking. Let’s go,” he said as they walked out of the cabin together.

  The lake was right in front of them when they
walked out the door. It was beautiful and still. The surface of the lake was as smooth as glass with nothing to disturb its perfect surface. Even though there was no direct light on it, the lake’s smooth surface shimmered.

  “Beautiful,” DraDevon breathed out.

  “But too quiet.”

  “Well, we are kind of far out from all the communities.”

  “That’s not the kind of quiet I was talking about,” she said. “I just thought that there would be more animals and insects, and the plants… they all look the same as they do in our community.” DraDonna’s voice revealed her confusion.

  “Speaking of plants my love, don’t forget to pick us some more Traveler’s Joy while you are figuring out why things are too quiet. I’m going to have a look around and then maybe sketch the image of the lake and the cabin in my notebook.”

  “Here. Take this,” she said, reaching into her pack. She pulled out a small sprig of the vine. “This is all I have left. I will bring you another bigger one in a few moments.”

  “Thanks, my beauty.” He took the plant from her, kissing her lightly on the lips. DraDevon reached up to caress her copper locks.

  Unable to resist his sweet gesture any longer, DraDonna stepped closer to her husband and reached up to run her fingers through his silky black hair.

  “You know I love the feel of your hair, too, my welder man,” she said with playful affection.

  “Oh really?” he asks her with an impish grin on his handsome face. What else is it that you like the feel of?” he asked, grabbing her hips and pulling her against him.

  “Your lips are quite nice,” she said softly, channeling the little bit of energy she had left in her toward her right hand, running her fingers across his full lips.

  DraDevon drew in a ragged breath and said with eagerness in his voice, “I love it when you do that.”

  “Yes, I know. That’s why I do it,” she replied with a bright smile on her lips.

  “Well… you’d better stop or we’re not going to get anything done,” he said without much conviction in his voice just before kissing her firmly on the lips.

  Even though she knew that she needed to get to work, DraDonna wanted so much to indulge in the addictive heat that her husband sparked in her soul, kissing him back with enthusiasm. She slid her hands around his neck, then down to his well-toned shoulders.

  Reluctantly DraDevon pulled away from her, kissing her ever so lightly on the forehead. “I love you so much lady, but we’d better get to work.”

  “You’re right,” DraDonna said with a sigh. “Besides, I’m not sure I’m comfortable doing this with you outside.”

  “Oh? Have you suddenly developed a shy side after nearly a year of being married?”

  “Well kind of,” she answered him as she gestured at the sky. “I have the feeling that we’re being watched by a lot of people.”

  DraDevon laughed and released her hips, “Remind me not to make love to you outside.”

  Laughing, she turned to walk away. “I love you, my welder man. I’ll be back with more Traveler’s Joy in a few moments.”

  “Sounds good, my lover wife.” He walked toward an embankment by the lake.

  Not far from the cabin, DraDonna spotted a small thicket of trees with the pointed hand shaped leaves. She walked over to see if she could find any Traveler’s Joy. Just as she suspected, she spotted the vines winding around the bottoms of most of the trees, vines with white flowers and vines with purple flowers. She picked one of the vines with the purple flowers and ate it right away. The sharp sweetness spread quickly to her head. DraDonna picked more, enough to fill the small pouch at her belt.

  She picked two extra vines, one more for each of them to eat. As DraDonna walked in the direction that she last saw her husband go, she looked up in the sky. “I’m trying,” she told the squirming mass of cloud-like souls. “Please help me. Tell me something, anything that will help me free you.”

  She kept walking, feeling a little silly for talking to the clouds even though she knew what they truly were. The silence made her feel like a fool. She approached the cabin and saw DraDevon sitting on an incline next to the lake. “Did you find anything?” she asked as she approached him.

  Looking up from his notebook, he smiled at his wife and said, “No, I think we may be in the clear.”

  “Good to hear,” she said as she handed her husband a large sprig of the vine with white flowers on it.

  Looking at the flowers he said, “Do the vines with the white taste any different?”

  “Not that I’ve noticed.”

  “Good,” he said as he ate the vine with a sigh. “I think that I actually am getting to like the taste.”

  DraDonna spotted the notebook in his lap and asked, “May I see what you’ve sketched?”

  “Of course, my love.”

  Looking at the image on the page, she once again felt amazed at the talent it took to do such a thing. “DraDevon, this is so beautiful.”

  “It needs more work, but I’m mostly pleased with it.”

  Handing the notebook back to him she said, “You should be pleased; it looks great. I, on the other hand, am not getting anywhere. The only thing I’ve noticed is that everything is the same everywhere. It’s all the same kinds of trees and plants and bugs. I was hoping if we went to different cabins we would see different things.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, I am going back to that small thicket of trees to see if anything else comes to me. I’ll come and get you shortly for our afternoon meal.”

  “Sounds good, my beautiful lady,” he said with affection in his voice.

  DraDonna walked back to the thicket deep in thought. Tatiana told her to notice everything. But she also said that what she needed to find was in the ground. DraDonna looked up into the clouds and asked, “What is in the ground?”

  Again, her answer was silence. She sat down on the ground just outside of the trees. Once again, she took out her notebook and wrote down how all the trees and plants were the same. She set the notebook down on the ground next to her.

  “It’s in the ground; it’s in the ground,” echoed over in DraDonna’s head; it was all she could think of. She ran her hand over the ground. Finding a soft spot, she dug her hand in and let the soil fall through her fingers. She scooped up a big handful and brought it closer to her face to get a closer look.

  It was the same as everything else—just like the soil back in her community: perfect dark soil that makes all the perfect plants grow. But it was too perfect. How could this world be too perfect?

  She retrieved her notebook and wrote this down, feeling like she was close to something. “How can the world be too perfect?”

  She began to feel her stomach rumble to tell her that it was time to eat. With a sigh of frustration, she pushed herself off the ground and began to walk to the cabin, thinking that she might check to be sure that the MDC was working properly before getting DraDevon.

  The advice that Tatiana had given her kept playing in her mind. It’s in the ground. Almost automatically, she looked down at the ground while she was walking and then stopped. Coldness gripped her soul. There was another set of footprints just outside the cabin door. She was pretty sure that those were not there earlier… and that they didn’t belong to her or DraDevon.

  Quietly, she backed away and ran behind the cabin, then toward her husband who was sitting on the other side of the lake, hoping maybe it had been DraDevon who was looking for her and making extra footprints in the dirt.

  “DraDevon!” she called when she reached his spot on the incline of the lake. “Have you been looking for me?” she asked.

  “No, I’ve been here since you left,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”

  “DraDevon, I don’t think we’re alone anymore. I was heading back to the cabin, and I found another set of footprints right outside the door.”

  A look of urgency and alarm flared in his eyes as he quickly placed an energy stamp on the image and snapped the notebook closed. “Let�
��s check this out. But carefully,” he said, standing up.

  They walked swiftly and silently to the side of the cabin and carefully looked in the window to the main living area of the cabin. “It’s her,” DraDevon said. It was the same woman, the one with long dark blonde hair, who had tried to stop them from leaving the last cabin.

  “What do we do?” DraDonna whispered back.

  “Let’s wait and see what she does first.”

  Kneeling at the HEART stone altar, the woman placed her right hand on the right corner of the HEART stone.

  They heard her recite the prayer for communication with the temple office.

  “I wanted to report to you that I have found them again. Tracking them was fairly easy with the stones. They’re not in the cabin at the moment, but I went through their packs and I’m pretty sure they’re doing what we’ve thought. What have the stones revealed to you?”

  She paused silently for a moment as she read the message that appeared on the HEART stone.

  “Then it’s confirmed,” she paused again for a few moments more. “I found him in cabin number one of Ambassadors Mountain. They had beaten him up pretty badly. He was bound hand and foot, but he’s now resting comfortably there.”

  She was quiet as she read what was written on the HEART stone.

  “No, please don’t do that. You know that my loyalty to you goes deeper than that. I will stop them this time, but please send me some help.” She paused again. “Okay, good. I can use the help. HEART’s blessing.” She ended the message.

  Before she got to her feet, blue light surged and ran up her arm as she took in a dose of energy.

  “DraDonna, I have an idea,” DraDevon whispered.

  “What is it?”

  “It will take too long to explain. Follow me to the front door and play along.”

  DraDevon grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and began to yell, “So you’re the one I’ve been looking for! Where is your husband?”

  “I don’t have to tell you anything!” she yelled back at him, understanding what he was planning.

  He winked at her and mouthed the word sorry, and raised his hand to strike her.