The Heart Fountain

 
On the Edge of Somewhere
My body aches and throbs as I awake.
I’m lying on something cold and hard.
I open my eyes, but I can’t see.
Where am I?
I turn my vision to the energy world.
What is this place?
I’m in the middle of an energy sea, on a platform that rises high above it.
The platform is covered [...]

Isolated
I awake again, and I still can’t open my eyes.
Was the last awakening real, or some kind of dream?
I open my vision to the energy world.
I’m on a bed.
The bed rests on a platform in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by a crystal sphere.
There is no land in sight.
My energy body looks strange.
It’s [...]

Eyes Open
The air rushes by me as I fall.
The 600 feet to the ocean will vanish in seconds.
I love this feeling of falling free.
But then I remember that this child’s body will not survive the fall.
I could hide from it all, and just wait for my end to come.
But instead, I open my energy [...]

 
Free for a Moment
I love flying.
Even with all the thoughts of loss and doubt that drag me down.
Keela is annoyed with me.
She wants me to fly quickly and directly with her to the cave of the old ones.
Is she afraid of this strange child’s body that I have?
If the armband fails, my eyes will destroy [...]

 
The Forest: Prologue
The fog in my mind lifts slowly, and I find myself in a young boy’s body.
I hear Jaina’s thoughts, and feel his feelings.
His senses are mine.
But he does not hear my thoughts, or feel my feelings.
And I have no power to act.
The old ones call this “traveling as a witness.”
What will it be [...]

 
Death, Feelings, and Fire
The climb takes 5-10 hours for those who see the top.
There are places to practice.
We climb and crawl through narrow spaces.
We practice without water or food.
We climb on sharp rocks and learn to climb, bleeding, and in pain.
We rub our skin with the bark of the felik bush.
It toughens the skin for [...]

Five Days
I am 14.
This is the most important hunt of my life.
There are five of us, all the same age.
We go to the low country to hunt a Vigla.
The Vigla are strong and wild.
Sometimes they walk on four legs, and sometimes on two.
They rise twice the height of a man when they stand on [...]

 
The Love of Chiefs
The chief is a great man.
Powerful, smart.
He loves children.
He fights for his people like each one is his child.
I am his nephew, but he treats me like a son.
Tonight I am fifteen.
We feast after a great hunt.
I think of another feast to come.
In a month, we gather with the people of the [...]

 
Children’s Children
I am 50 today.
The years run quickly.
And the village changes.
So big, and filled with children.
Soon the village will split.
Villages must be small to know everyone.
This is our way.
My sister, Shanir, is in both councils.
Like elder mother before her.
I whisper to Shanir that we must go climbing together.
Become children, again.
She laughs.
And then the smile fades.
A [...]

 
Return
My mind slips back, falling down an endless hole.
Until the body lands solidly in my awareness.
The warmth of the liquid in the vat surrounds me and supports my body.
How long have I been in the vat?
No way to tell yet.
The vat feels smaller than before.
I slowly stretch my muscles.
I feel relaxed and well rested.
Not sore, [...]