A Peek Inside
ELKE'S MAGIC
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The Prologue
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Once mutual vows and simple rings had been shared, there was time only for a quick yet tender embrace. Apprehension mixed with relief as the hurried and clandestine ceremony concluded. Afterwards they all went about their day as if nothing out of the ordinary had even occurred.
They had to. No one outside of the immediate family could know what had transpired that morning. The consequences alone of what they had all been part of had created complications too unbelievable, too illegal, to explain.
MANDY'S DREAM
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December 23, 1973
Into space she fell, weightlessly tumbling over and over until landing in a pile, encased in ebony nothingness. Surrounded by the silent solitude of the aftermath, she curled into a self-soothing fetal ball, waiting for something, for anything. Muffled sounds emanated from somewhere, sirens in the distance gradually increasing their volume. Attempting in vain to stifle the unbearable cacophony, she pressed her little hands over her blood dampened ears. Seconds morphed into hours before a streak of golden white light pierced through the darkness. Jerking her bright blue eyes open, she saw a shadowy mask-like face emerge. A voice sounded, murmuring at first, and then shouting. “She’s alive! She’s ALIVE!!!”
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THE RULE OF THIRDS
Illustrated by Cathlyn A. Driscoll
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New Endings
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Through the veil they observed her as she raced across the verdant field, hands outstretched toward them. Disappointed though, they realized that they were not the ones for whom she was seeking. Approaching the girl came the intended target of her affection, cutting quickly across the pasture at a clipping trot. Once joined, the two both arrived at a skidding halt. Bowing down, both in reverence and necessity, the giant creature enabled eye to eye contact with the much smaller being before her. Nose pressed against nose as two tiny hands reached up to gently clutch the long silky mane. Suddenly, for an earth-timed second, the little girl pulled away. With a bright beaming smile, she looked happily skyward, giving the beings the solace they sought.
Abruptly, the curtain closed as their window of time came to an end. Reluctant, although understanding the rules laid before them, they began their dissolution into the celestial sphere. Embarking on their final journey back, they were finally now at peace.
THE FINAL CANOE RIDE
Opening passage:
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Pines lean gently, trained by the prevailing north wind, dotting the shoreline of rocks impressionistically stroked in pink and beige.
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Cool lapping water repeats its rhythmic pattern against the edge of the lopsided dock, breaking the surrounding silence. Toes dip, swirling in half circles.
Incessant banging snapped away the cerebral escape, whisking her back on an unwanted return trip. Headphones only slightly muffled the erratic noises echoing around her and through her. Trying to combine the sounds into a song, she counted the beats in order to count the seconds that made up the minutes. Ten more minutes, they told her, and she would be free from this claustrophobic shell.
SPLIT SOUL
The Prologue
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Sparkling, prismatic waves lapped and swirled as the red canoe turned around and headed back to shore. Moving methodically, its passengers paddling rhythmically, the vessel glided gently through the water. Above the tumbling waves, she could look down now as though she were on a plane taking off. Gradually the waters of the bay grew further and further away, becoming simply the lesser part of the whole. Evolving into the lake, the little patch of blue then grew smaller and smaller as she rose higher and higher. She said her final goodbyes silently into the void.
CIRCLES
The Morning Before
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Rhythmic rolling coils of water cycled their way to the shoreline, gradually drawing the waters in, creating their patient and continuous pattern. Tides high then low, the same water, over and over made its journey in, only to head back out and repeat the cycle once more. Again and again.
Standing, feet in the foam, at the edge of the most recent lapping wave, she realized that the waves themselves gave her the explanation she sought. Waves and life are both in constant renewal. If one believed in such things. And she most certainly did. Life was indeed one big repeat of itself. Forming and then reforming. Over and over and over. Souls coming and going, and then coming back again. And again. Until each individual soul finally got it right. The revolution, leading to the evolution of the soul.
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BACK IN THE BEFORE
Illustrated by Cathlyn A. Driscoll
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In The After
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I have recently taken my eighty-seventh trip around the sun. Never boring, my life has taken many a turn, but nothing in my existence would ever prove to be as fascinating as what happened to me almost forty years ago. Never will I forget each and every aspect of this miraculous incident, or rather, this series of incidents. Perhaps I may have been part of the cause, perhaps much more than that. Suffice it to say, I have told a few others this story, and lately, I have been encouraged to finally write it all down before I become too forgetful. Anyway, I will admit that over time the exact details might have evolved quite a bit. And yes, there is a strong possibility that I have embellished a few aspects, but then again what story teller does not pad a tale a bit?
You can believe this story or not. But I assure you that the events I have written down on the following pages did indeed unfold. Well, at least some of them did.
CONNECTIONS
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The Dream That Came Before
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Taking her hand, the tall redheaded man led her up the deeply wooded path, heavily strewn with newly fallen leaves. Other than a few determined golden oak leaves still clinging to branches, the trees were all stripped bare, allowing the bright afternoon sun to fully pierce through the forest. As they headed higher, the light became more diffused, magically transforming sunbeams into starlike bursts of light.
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Stopping only once to place a chaste kiss on her forehead, the man said in a gently accented voice, "Let's hurry! She's waiting for us!"
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"But where are you taking me? And who is it that is waiting for us?"
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"You will see. Soon enough." He smiled back at her.
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