Prologue

Atlantis – 10,000 BC

                                     

     “You must not bring Hollina back! You know as well as I one cannot impose their will over another.” Jenielle held her hand tightly around Sylor’s wrist. Her fingers pressed deep into the turquoise material of the robe he wore. Her other hand touched the sacred medallion that hung at his chest. “You are a High Priest. You know it is against the laws.”

           Sylor’s grip tightened around the crystal he held in his hand; the crystal that would bring his beloved Hollina back to him. “I will bring her back. She belongs with me!”

     “Then why did she choose death? Why did she choose to end her own life by way of the transition chamber?”
     Sylor looked toward the ocean and watched a sea gull perched on a rock. A sudden gust blew his long golden locks away from his face, exposing his chiseled features. He closed his eyes and took a breath. He knew he could have stopped Hollina. He knew she had wanted him to stop her, but his pride would not allow it. Not until it was too late.
     “Hollina erred. Her mind will change upon her return.”
     “You selfish fool. The woman you summon will not be Hollina. You cannot reach your hand into the future and bring back the same woman. She will be different.”
     “Yes, she will be different, a different face, a different name. Only her soul is the same. Her soul is my soul, fused in spirit, only to be separated by two embodiments. One day, when you find the other half of yourself, you will understand.”
     “It may not work. She may not be able to return.”
     “I know that is your wish. I know your true feelings toward your sister, and you should be ashamed. Hollina will return. Do you not remember she mastered teleportation? I recall you made every effort to deter her from that ability. Because you were not at her level, you proceeded to hold her back. And you will agree one has no control over Hollina.”
     “Yes, one does not. Not even you.” Jenielle smirked and released her hold on his wrist. She looked into Sylor’s eyes. The threat that emanated from them did not compel her to look away.
     She moved in front of him and placed her hands on his shoulders. She kept her eyes locked with his, while her hands leisurely wandered up the sides of his neck. She moved in closer, and brushed herself against him. He swiftly removed her hands, dropping the crystal, and pushed her away. He felt she purposely fell to the ground and feigned injury. Sylor tried to stir up compassion for Hollina’s sister. That’s what Hollina would have wanted, but Jenielle’s drama left him cold. “I am losing patience. I know what it is you desire, and you will not have it. Not now, not ever! I belong to Hollina. Go now and begin preparing for Hollina’s return.”
     “She may not desire to return. She may not even know who you are. Or she may, and wish she did not, remembering the pain you have inflicted upon her, remembering what you have become,” Jenielle said sharply, as she picked herself up while eyeing the crystal still lying in the sand.

      “Do not!” Sylor reached down for the crystal. “Once this crystal is in her possession she will remember our love, and she will speak of this.”
     “Ha! You may not like what she speaks of.”
     “Long ago when our soul split in two, Hollina and I made a promise to always find each other if either of us were to become lost. It is the promise all twin souls make to each other. By becoming lost we must work through many experiences, and move toward becoming one soul with no embodiment to limit us. We must come together to blend, to merge, and be joined in unity with our one source. I will always keep my promise to her, as she would to me.”
     “You speak of promise, you speak of love. But inside you hold much anger, and little forgiveness. It is not up to you to bring her back. She left for a reason, you know this! You must wait for a future incarnation to reunite. Until then, I can take her place.”
     “No one will take her place! And I will not wait! She knows where she belongs. When she returns she will stay by my side, and live by my word.”
     “You are losing your knowledge of the laws. What you do is wrong, and it will have repercussions. Hollina was correct regarding the ideas of the north. Their controlling ways have influenced you. You are not the same. You are a fool!”
     “And are you not a fool? Are your desires not wrong? You, too, are forgetting the laws. Your sister loved you, but what you desire for yourself...”
     Anxiety colored Jenielle’s face. “You will not reveal this upon her return?”

     "For Hollina’s sake, I am grateful your intentions were shielded from her. No, I will not reveal your desire. Go now and prepare.”
     Jenielle moved closer to him, keeping her eye on the hand that held the crystal. He held onto it tightly, knowing it was his lifeline to Hollina. “Do not fight me! My mind, my heart, and the crystal will bring her back. My eye sees it clearly, and my will is strong. Her feelings will surface, and the connection will be made. Her desire will be most powerful. Nothing will hold her back.”

      Jenielle slowly circled him keeping eye contact. One side of Sylor’s mouth curled up slightly. She stopped, and again eyed the crystal. She mimicked his expression, and then quickly proceeded up the hill to the temple. Sylor watched her. He felt pity for her, but not as much as he knew he should.
     He turned to the ocean, and for a moment watched the lone sea gull still sitting upon the rock. He closed his eyes and envisioned himself holding Hollina in his arms again. “This time she will not leave me,” he whispered into the wind. He walked toward the water and stood where there was a distinct line between the wet and dry earth. He moved a few steps forward. Water rushed through his sandals, though he paid no notice. He gazed up at the orange orb suspended perfectly in the blue that matched his eyes.
     He majestically held the dome shaped crystal up to it. The crystal that had once brought joy now brought heartache. It was the crystal he had given Hollina when they were children. It was one half of a crystal ball that contained the essence of his love, his heart, his entire being. She had left it behind when she chose to end her life. Tucked away in his room at the temple was the other half, the one Hollina had given him which contained her essence. It was the only thing he had left of her. His eyes watered, the core of his pain clearly etched in his face. He would now give himself to her again.
     He brought the crystal to his chest, and affirmed in the deepest part of his soul that it would bring her back. It must! He believed what we hold in our mind and heart, with clear intent, must come to pass if it is written. Everything fit! He took hold of the gold medallion he wore with pride. Was he still worthy of this precious gift?

     He leaned back and eyed the horizon. “Come back to me Hollina!” he screamed as he thrust the crystal high into the air for it to plunge deep within the ocean where another of nature’s miracles would take over. Playing its part, the dolphin grasped the crystal in its snout, and vanished into the hole in time.

Chapter 1

Cape Cod – Present Day

     Again, she could see only the back of him. The long turquoise robe belted with a fine gold tie, the blonde shoulder- length hair, and his tall slim stature. She kept screaming at him, “Turn around, turn to me!”
     She could feel his arrogance, his ego in full bloom, as she eyed him up and down, all six feet of him. Again she made her demand. She longed to see his face, the face that roused the womanly flame inside her.
     As he was about to turn and grace her with his magnificence, she abruptly awoke. “Damn it! Not again!” Lisa Burke half opened one eye and checked the time; 7:23 a.m. She let out a deep breath and moaned. Four hours sleep was not enough. She turned over on her stomach, hugged the pillow, and began thinking about the recurring dream she’d been having.

     It started about a month before, ever since she asked Dave, her husband of twenty two years, to leave. The dream always left her with an ache in her heart. She could see the robed one clearly in her mind. She wanted so much to stroke his sunlit hair. There was something about the strands of shimmering silky light that beckoned her touch.

     Tears filled her eyes as she recalled standing behind him feeling his highly charged aura. A faint scent of vanilla permeated the air around him, making her breath deeper. She wanted to inhale his breath with him, so to take his essence into herself.

     The robe he wore seemed to naturally suit him, and would place him at another time in the past. Whoever he was, she knew she loved him deeply. But how could a dream, something beyond reality, bring up such intense emotion? How could she be in love with someone she had never seen…someone who wasn’t even real? Yet, a voice inside whispered to her that he was very real.
     Her petite body jerked when the phone began to ring. She wondered why the answering machine wasn’t picking up, and then remembered it hadn’t been working…like her life. As she reached for the phone her hand brushed against the quartz crystal she had found on the beach the day after Dave left. She shivered, remembering what had happened when she first held it.

     She had barely uttered hello when a deafening voice sang, “It’s time to wake up! It’s time to wake up!” The voice sounded familiar to her but, still being in the alpha state, Lisa’s left brain failed her.
     “Who is this?” 
      Still singing, the voice quoted Emerson, “It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
     “Karen! It is so good to hear from you,” Lisa said, half lying. Guilt befell her as she hadn’t been in touch with her childhood friend for almost two years. Actually, she was sort of avoiding her.
     “Oh sure it is,” Karen said snidely. “I haven’t heard from you since your last book came out. Don’t you ever answer your phone? And why haven’t you returned my calls? I’ve left at least a dozen messages in the last three months.”
     “I know, I know. I’m sorry.” Lisa rubbed her eyes and let out a sigh. She felt she didn’t need this first thing in the morning, especially with so little sleep, and before coffee! But, in a way she was glad Karen caught her. It had been too long.
     “So what’s wrong?” Karen asked.

     “What do you mean?” Lisa dreaded the thought of spilling her guts.
     “You haven’t changed a bit,” Karen said sarcastically. “Still clamming up when you have a problem. But thinking back on it I don’t believe you’ve ever had a real problem in your life anyway.”
     Lisa held the phone an arms length away for a few seconds, and wondered what was up with Karen’s attitude. She longed for a cup of coffee.
     “Well, what’s going on Lisa?” Karen sounded very impatient.
     She rubbed her forehead. “Oh, I don’t know…just stuff. I’ve had writers block for months, and I hate saying that, it sounds so stupid. My parents finally moved to Florida after driving me crazy for over a year debating whether or not they should go.” She hesitated, and blinked back the tears. “Then I had to put my dog to sleep, and now, well, Dave and I recently separated. So I guess it’s...”
     “If things are that bad, I’ll be right over.”
     “What?” Forgetting about the dream, Lisa jumped out of bed and scrambled for her clothes. She threw on the jeans she had worn the day before, took a deep breath, zipped them up, and then shook her head in disgust when it hurt to button them. She never had a weight problem in her life, but recently had gained nine pounds. She figured it was probably from eating too much pizza and ice cream. She managed to untangle her purple sweatshirt, and quickly pulled it over her head as she ran to the bathroom. She threw her half brushed, golden mane up into a ponytail, and splashed cold water on her face.

      Downstairs, she picked up some books and magazines that had been lying around for days, and threw them in a corner. She ran a finger across the glass coffee table and grimaced as she rubbed the dust particles between her fingers, then watched them drop to the cream colored carpet.
     In the kitchen, she scooped up the dozen or so M&M’s left in the candy dish, and shoved them in her mouth wondering why there were still some left. The dishwasher quickly disposed of the dishes that had been sitting in the sink from the day before. She had just finished filling the coffee pot with water when she heard the knock at the side door. Her stomach knotted up.

     She didn’t like this one bit. She had always been so together, decisive, and strong. She had always been the rock, listening to all of Karen’s problems when they were growing up, and helping her as much as she could. Now it was she that was falling apart, and hated the idea of having a witness.

     The knock came again, and quickly, another. “Gees, no patience,” she mumbled. She could partly see Karen through the glass door; something was very different. She took a deep breath to get her bearings, and then opened the door. “Karen?” Lisa stood frozen to the spot, not believing her own eyes.
     “Yes, it is I.” Karen stepped in passed Lisa. Lisa laughed as Karen began prancing and twirling just like a model would for a photo shoot. Karen’s body was adorned by a pair of tight jeans, and a light peach, waist-length sweater. Her once long, mousey brown hair was now shoulder-length, with a light touch of bangs, and some reddish highlights. Her glasses were gone; so was her humped nose. Her blue eyes couldn’t have looked more beautiful, Lisa thought.

     “My God Karen, what did you do?”
     “I found a new way of life, and lost seventy-five pounds.”
     “You look absolutely beautiful,” Lisa said as she wiped a tear and hugged her best friend, truly happy to see her. “I hope you’re staying in town for awhile.”
     “Oh I’ll be staying for a long while. I’ve moved back. I’m staying at my mother’s.”
     “That’s great!” Lisa said, feeling somewhat apprehensive. She knew she could be pretty intuitive at times, and she was feeling Karen’s return was going to create a whole new chapter in their lives, especially her own. They moved to the kitchen table, while waiting for the coffee. Lisa noticed Karen had a bandage on her left pinkie finger. That brought to mind how they had first met.

     They were both eight years old, it was summer, and Karen’s family had just moved from Rhode Island to Cape Cod. Karen had watched Lisa walk by every day to go to the little variety store at the end of the block. Too shy to speak, Karen came up with another strategy. She showed up one day on Lisa’s doorstep with a beautiful gray kitten in tow. Lose a kitten, make a friend. Lisa had felt honored until she found out there were four more that needed homes. Karen was no dummy.

     Two weeks later and heartbroken, Lisa had to say goodbye to ‘Charcoal’ because her older brother Kevin was allergic. In those two weeks Lisa and Karen had become inseparable. With an innate knowing that this was for life, they pricked their fingers and became blood sisters.
     “So you and Dave split,” Karen said dryly. “Where is he now?”
     Of course she would want to know about Dave, Lisa thought. “Let’s wait until the coffee’s ready, and then we can walk down to the beach and talk. The weather’s been so nice.”
     “Umm, okay, but do you have any juice? I don’t drink coffee anymore.”
     “What?” Karen related to her that she was into health and wellness. Lisa was stunned. Here she was planning for them to drown her sorrows that evening in beer and pizza. She could not believe she had lost her partner in junk food crime.

     No more would they be downing burgers and Twinkies. No more endless cups of coffee and beer binges. Now it was herbal tea and carrot juice, raw veggies and nuts. Nuts? That’s how she felt listening to Karen, believing some alien must be inhabiting her now slim body. Suddenly, she longed for the old days. As she walked over to the fridge and pulled out the carton of creamer, she informed Karen there was no juice or herbal tea, but would she settle for some bottled water?
     Karen took a sip of her water, and sat back. “You will never guess who I saw yesterday.”

     “Who?” Lisa shrugged.
     “Jimmy Rogers. The one I asked to the junior prom. Remember him?”
     Lisa leaned back against the counter, and frowned. She remembered being crazy about Jimmy Rogers for months and had planned to ask him to the prom herself, only Karen had beaten her to it.
     “Yeah, I remember him. He was a nice boy.”
     “Well that boy turned into a ‘nice’ man. He said to say hi. Didn’t you have a crush on him or something?” Karen smirked.
     “Yes, I did,” Lisa said, as she pulled a mug out of the cabinet thinking about the issue. Karen had known full well she did. She hadn’t stayed angry at her for very long though. She couldn’t. She had felt sorry for her because she had such low self-esteem, and no other friends, especially boyfriends. In fact, she was so surprised that a very shy Karen had gotten up the nerve to even ask a boy out.

     The prom issue was nothing anyway compared to what had happened several years later, Lisa thought. It was the big secret Lisa wasn’t supposed to ever know about; even now. Karen still had no idea she knew. It should have destroyed their friendship, but Lisa believed in forgiveness, and she loved Karen like a sister. Besides, that was over twenty-two years ago. They were young, and people do change, Lisa affirmed, with a funny feeling in her stomach.

     They took their drinks, and proceeded in silence down to the beach. For the first time in her life Lisa felt uneasy around Karen. As they walked down a narrow path, Lisa was a few steps behind her. This gave her a chance to really eye Karen’s slim figure. She really was happy for her, but Karen’s attitude towards her had changed. Lisa didn’t like the negative vibes she was picking up. But then, maybe it her imagination, like Karen used to tell her when she had a feeling Karen could be mad at her.
     Karen took in a deep breath, “Breathe in that Cape Cod air. It’s a far cry from L.A.”
     “Speaking of L.A., what made you decide to move back after all these years?”

     “Well, I’ve left nursing.”
     “Somehow that does not surprise me. I remember how your father pushed you into that. So what are your plans?”
     “Well,” she teased with a big smile, “I’m going to do something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m going to open up a bookstore.”
     “That’s great! I remember you used to talk about that in high school.”
     “Well it’s not just any bookstore. It’s a New Age, metaphysical type bookstore. There will be inspirational books, mind power books, self help, alternative medicine, meditation, reincarnation...”
     “Reincarnation,” Lisa interrupted. “I bought several books on that about a year ago, after I saw a past-life regression on TV. It’s something I’ve thought a lot about over the last few years. First, because it has always held my interest, and second, I thought it would be great to use in a novel one day.

     But I also thought that Dave and I had been together in another life, or lives. Remember we used to talk about all that stuff when we were kids? I used to say I had been a princess in a past life, which made you mad for some reason, and you’d say you had been Cleopatra. The whole concept has always made sense to me. Anyway, why did you decide on that type of bookstore?”
     “I was going through a bad time. I was still angry about my divorce. Then I was going from man to man looking for something, peace of mind, maybe. And, even though dad was dead I was still harboring a lot of anger towards him. I really needed to work on forgiving him. I finally got my butt into therapy and from there joined a meditation group. I learned a lot about loving and forgiving myself, as well as forgiving others. I’m still working on all that.”
     “From what I’ve read in those books, everyone needs to work on all that. To forgive is to heal. Aunt Bella used to say that forgiveness changes everything…if not for the other person, then at least for yourself.” Lisa took a sip of the lukewarm coffee, and listened as Karen continued.
     “True. Meditation, visualization, therapy, all these things helped me. I feel they can help others too. But, of all the things I’ve learned I find mind power the most fascinating. A lot of people would deny it, but we create our life by what we think and believe; both on a conscious and unconscious level. Thoughts really are things. They’re energy, and what a person continually focuses on, whether they’re aware of it or not, can manifest in their reality, good or bad. You can use visualization to help create the life you want.”
     “It sounds like that whole Law of Attraction thing which I’m not sure about. But at the moment it sounds great, where do I sign up? Life has really been the pits lately, and I am totally miserable if I can’t write.” Lisa gulped down the rest of her coffee. They found a spot to sit in the cold sand.
     “Never mind the writing. What about Dave? What happened?”

     Lisa figured she should get it over with. “Dave had been cheating on me for months. It’s funny, I guess in a way it’s almost a blessing. We’ve just existed together for years anyway. He’s away on business a lot, and I have my own life. Many times I planned to tell him I wanted a separation, but I didn’t know if I would be making a mistake. I’m still not sure. I needed to think things out so I asked him to leave after this.”
     “I’m sorry.”

     Lisa wondered if Karen really was. A few minutes passed. Neither of them spoke. She wondered if she and Dave could still work things out, even though she had spent twenty-two years in a marriage she wasn’t happy in, but just conditioned to it. She blamed herself. She knew she never should have married him in the first place. But she had made a commitment, and swore she would keep to it, no matter what she felt, or didn’t feel.
     “Do you still love him?” Karen asked.

     Lisa started digging a hole in the sand wishing she could shrink and jump into it. “No. But I do care about him. I always have. I always will.”
     “So…you are going to get a divorce, right?”
     “I don’t know...I’m not sure. Dave said it was up to me. Maybe we still can...”

     “But what do you want?”
     Lisa stood up, frustrated, hands waving in the air. “I don’t know! I don’t know what the hell I want. I feel empty and confused, and I feel like a failure. I mean, I made a commitment, and I let him down by not being what I was supposed to be, whatever the hell that was. I feel so guilty to think about ending it. I feel like I’d be making a mistake, that it would be the wrong decision. And, I can’t stand the thought of becoming another statistic. What are my parents going to say? They love Dave.”
     “Whoa. Wait a minute. I don’t believe what I’m hearing. You, of all people always knew what you wanted, and always did what you wanted; you only followed the crowd if it was something you thought was worth doing. You never gave a damn what others thought, not even your parents, who unlike mine always respected you for having a mind of your own. This does not sound like you.”

     “God, I don’t even know myself anymore,” she whispered with a lump in her throat. Karen put an arm around her. Lisa felt so needy, and she hated it.
“The only joy I have had in my life in the last few years was my dog, and my writing. I feel like part of me is dying,” she said starting to choke up.    

     “It’s okay to cry,” Karen reassured her.

     Lisa did just that, uncontrollably. She then jumped up, ran to the water, flung the coffee mug into the ocean, and cried more. Years of holding back; the hurt, the anger; the dam at last had burst. Karen ran after her. According to Karen, Lisa was releasing, and that it was a process of life.
     “That felt so good. It felt so good to really cry, to let it all out. I can’t remember the last time I’ve done that. Usually, if I get that feeling I put on Beethoven’s Fifth or Ninth and jump on the treadmill. Then I settle back with Pachelbel’s Canon. Music always helps me, but this time...”
     “Meditation can help you too. You can use it to relax, to get in touch with yourself, and you can use it for visualization. I have a basic meditation CD you can use. And, okay, don’t laugh but sometimes I even use quartz crystals to...”

     “Crystals?” 
     “Uh huh, I plan on selling them at the store. What’s the matter? You have a funny look on your face.”
     “I found one about a month ago. Right over there.” She pointed to the right a few feet away, near the shoreline. “It’s an odd shape. It looks like, well, it’s dome-shaped, and it looks like one half of a crystal ball, like the ball has been cut in two or something.” Chuckling, she added, “It makes me wonder what happened to the other half. But something strange happened with it.”

     “Strange? What do you mean?”
     “When I picked it up, I don’t know why, but, I held the crystal to my chest. I closed my eyes, and I could feel the crystal tingling. Then everything was quiet. I didn’t hear the ocean anymore, the sea gulls, or the wind chimes. I started to feel weightless and tingly. Then I began to see this light in my mind, and there was this strange humming sound. When I felt like I was starting to move, I quickly opened my eyes, and everything was just as it had been. I almost wish I had kept my eyes closed just to see what would have happened. I put the crystal on my nightstand and haven’t touched it since. Oh, and another thing, the crystal has this strange glow about it.”
     “It sounds like you were about to have an out-of-body experience.”
     “Wonderful,” Lisa said sarcastically. “Out-of-mind experience would be more like it, I think.”
     “What do you mean? That’s fantastic! I should be so lucky,” Karen said, pouting. “Some people try for years to have one, and you started to have one spontaneously. That figures.”
     “What do you mean, that figures?” Lisa asked defensively upon hearing Karen’s almost sarcastic tone of voice.
     Karen ignored the question. “Why don’t you come by the house tomorrow and I’ll give you the meditation CD?”
     Later, as they walked back to the house, Lisa joked about throwing the mug into the water, and how ridiculous she must have looked. She recalled how, as a child, she would throw things when she got angry. Then, she realized that it was Dave’s mug she had thrown. It was the one she had bought him when they were on their honeymoon in Niagara Falls. She mentioned this to Karen, who said nothing until they walked into the kitchen.
     “I take it you don’t normally drink out of that mug, right?”
     Lisa opened the cabinet and pulled out a mug with pink roses on it. “This is my favorite one. I use it every day. Why?”
    “Why did you use Dave’s today?”
     Lisa poured herself some coffee. “I don’t know. We were talking and I probably wasn’t paying attention and grabbed the first one. Why?”
     “Well, this may sound silly but...it’s very symbolic don’t you think?”
     Lisa shrugged, and shook her head. “I guess I’m a little slow here. What do you mean?”
     “Well, symbolism in a coffee mug. Think about it.”
     She did. Karen’s words cut right through her. At that moment Lisa knew her marriage was over. There would be no more trying to decide what to do. It was time to end it, and start a new life. That was a scary thought… exciting, too. But after all this was over, what did she want?
     “Don’t forget to come by tomorrow for the CD,” Karen said on her way out later that morning. “Once you get used to the session, try meditating with a crystal. Crystals are amplifiers of energy. You can use one to visualize. Oh, let me see the one you found.”
     Lisa rushed upstairs to get it from her nightstand. As she was coming back down she stopped suddenly. She had a flash of the man in the dream she’d been having. Feelings of sadness and longing came over her. She may never know who he was. Frustrated, she had to remind herself it was only a dream. “Here it is.” She held it in her outstretched hand. Karen’s eyes widened, and she took a step back.
     “What’s the matter?”
     “I don’t know. The shape, like you said, a half of a crystal ball. I could swear I’ve seen something like it before. But for the life of me I can’t imagine where. And it doesn’t glow, Lisa,” she snickered.
     “Can’t you see it? It’s subtle, but it’s visible.”
     “Have another cup of coffee, Lisa.”
     Later that afternoon, Lisa took a walk on the deserted beach. She smiled radiantly. She hadn’t felt this good in months. She enjoyed the beautiful and unusually warm April day. She felt a new freedom bursting forth inside herself. Life would be different now, she just knew it. She felt in heaven standing by the ocean, and loved feeling the moist, salty air against her face. She began thinking about Karen, and suddenly all those wonderful feelings dissipated. She couldn’t shake the funny feeling she had about Karen’s return.
     She walked over to her favorite place on the beach, the rocks on the east side. She climbed up at an angle about twelve feet high into the small cave-like nook. She loved the way it blocked out the wind, and also being high enough to get a good look at the waves rolling in.

     She positioned herself comfortably, and took a few deep breaths. As her body became more relaxed she started to focus on what she thought she wanted in her life. All of a sudden a man…a strange looking man, who seemed to come out of nowhere, caught her attention. He was about forty feet away near the water, and was doing a slow jog. He had a full head of gray hair, and a beard to match.

     From what she could see, his face looked old and weathered, but he had the body of a young athlete. He was wearing only a pair of running shorts. She thought it was still too cold for that. When he ran, his whole being seemed to flow. His motions were fluid, and like the crystal, he had a subtle glow about him.
     “What am I, able to see auras now?” He waved to her. She waved back, dumbfounded. Then he disappeared around the rocks. She quickly made her way down to see where he was heading. There was no sign of him, and there was nowhere else he could have gone that quickly. It would have been no big deal, except there was something familiar about him. He looked like something out of the Bible; Moses, perhaps? No. It was something else.     

     She was no stranger to witnessing unusual occurrences although she was always told it was her imagination. She used to think there was something wrong with her. That nagging thought still existed. But she knew she could not have imagined seeing the ghostly figure in her aunt’s attic when she was a child, especially since her aunt used to see it too.

     Then there was that other thing. It happened when she was five years old, and had something to do with a woman in a long, flowing white dress with pretty eyes. As hard as she tried she could not remember, but the feeling of it, though not a bad feeling, still haunted her.

Chapter 2

     As Lisa drove to Karen’s house the next morning all she could think about was the turquoise robed prince. The dream had come again and, of course, as he was about to turn and face her, she had awoken; 5:38a.m. She couldn’t get back to sleep, because she couldn’t get him out of her mind. She wanted so much to see his face. She wanted so much to wrap her arms around him.
     The ache in her heart was getting stronger. This was crazy, she told herself as she searched the pocket in her jacket for a tissue. She wiped her eyes, and wondered why she was angry in the dream. And, why did he give off this emanation of superiority? Who the hell was he? Now she found herself getting angry, and didn’t know why.
     There were so many emotions going on inside her that she had never felt before. She hadn’t thought much about other men. Well maybe a little in the last six months or so, since she hadn’t been able to write. As long as she could write she didn’t need a man. She suddenly realized that the writing had just been a mask, that there had been an empty place inside her for so long, and it had taken so called writers block for her to become aware of it.
     Lisa turned on the radio, and then turned it off. The last thing she wanted to hear was a love song. She began thinking about reincarnation, and tried to reject the notion that he was someone she knew from a past life. “Okay Lisa, get real. It’s only a dream,” she mumbled, as she turned off the ignition of the green Corvette that nearly matched her eyes.
     Karen poured her a cup of herbal tea. Lisa took a sip, “Yuk! This is terrible. How can you drink this? Isn’t there any coffee?”
     The phone rang. Lisa noticed Karen didn’t seem to want to answer it. When she did, it was in another room. Lisa wondered who was on the other end. Karen talked in a whispered tone, and then shouted, telling the other party that she was hanging up.
     “So when are you going to go for a divorce?” Karen snapped as she walked back into the kitchen. “You are going to get a divorce right?”
     Lisa bit the inside of her mouth, and under her breath counted to ten. She looked directly at Karen for a few seconds, and wondered where this was all coming from. “As I told you, Dave is leaving the option of divorce up to me. But, after yesterday’s mug incident, I know it’s time to end it. So yes, I’m going to divorce Dave.” Lisa let out a long breath, and rested her face in her hands. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, “I am not used to being up this early.”
     “Jesus, Lisa, it’s almost 8:30. I’ve been up since 6 a.m. I’ve showered, made breakfast, straightened up, and took Mum to work.”
     Lisa reached over and patted Karen on the back. The excess weight may have been gone, she thought, but her efficiency and organization were still very much intact.
     “Isn’t there any coffee?” Lisa pushed the cup of tea away.
     “You need to change your diet. And you shouldn’t drink coffee, that stuff will kill you.”
     “I’ll take my chances.” Lisa rolled her eyes, and almost wished Karen was only here for a visit. She hated all this childish bickering.
     Karen located some instant coffee in back of the cabinet. A few minutes later Lisa contently took a sip then asked, “What kind of woman goes out with a married man?”

     Karen nearly spit out the sip of tea she had just taken. “Maybe she didn’t know he was married,” she said quickly.
     “Yeah, she did, Dave told me.”
     “I know you said you didn’t love him, but it still must hurt.”
     Lisa pulled a napkin out of the holder and began twisting it. “Yeah, it does, but not because he was with another woman. It’s the lie. No matter how you feel about someone, nobody wants to be lied to.”
     “True,” Karen said, lowering her eyes.
     Lisa almost choked on those last words she herself had said. She felt her whole marriage had been a lie. She figured that the saying was true; what goes around comes around, otherwise known as karma.
     Lisa threw the twisted napkin on the table. “Do you believe in soul mates?”
     “You mean in the romantic sense?”
     “What else is there?”
     “Well, maybe you and I are soul mates, or you and your parents, or your brother. You and Dave could be, too. It’s not all about romance, but usually people do see it in the romantic sense. It can be a very strong connection with another of which you may have had many past lives.”

     “Oh, okay, I think I get that, but what about in the romantic sense,” Lisa asked.

     “Well, there is what’s referred to as twin souls or twin flames, as well. From what I’ve learned, in spirit the soul is actually one unit, and before it started to incarnate, the soul had to split in two, the masculine and the feminine. Everyone has a twin soul. Supposedly, our twin soul is our true love, and there is no love on earth like it.”
     “That sounds so beautiful,” Lisa said, relishing the thought.
     “If that’s what you’re looking for, forget it. It is very rare for twin souls to incarnate together. From what I’ve read they may start out together in one life, but then go their own ways for many lifetimes, to gain experience and soul-growth separately. They may come together at the end of a cycle of lifetimes. It’s rare to meet your twin.”

     “Okay, but what if my twin soul is alive and here somewhere?”
     “That’s very doubtful. If it happens that you are here at the same time, he could very well be on the other side of the world, as an eight year old, or an eighty year old.”
     “Wonderful,” Lisa said, and frowned.
     She began thinking about the dream, and drifted off into a little fantasy of the robed one being her true love, face unseen. She felt he had a powerful presence. And she knew she had to stop this before she really got herself hooked on a dream phantom.

     “Just the thought of being with someone, making love with someone where you feel so connected on every level…a spiritual connection as well as everything else, something so deep…” Lisa placed her hand to her heart.
     “You didn’t have anything like that with Dave?” Karen interrupted.
     “No,” she hesitated, “I didn’t.”
     “Come on, not even in the beginning? Dave practically worshiped you. You must have had that feeling, at least for a while anyway.”
     Lisa’s eyes filled up. She was sorry she had brought up the subject. All of sudden she felt like guilt was trying to make her confess, she didn’t want to open the can of worms. But she did.
     “I never had that with Dave…I don’t…because I don’t think I ever really loved him. I loved him in my own way like I do now, but not in the way…I didn’t feel what I knew you were suppose to feel.” Lisa lowered her head. “I never should have married him.”
     Karen abruptly got up from the table and slammed her tea cup into the sink. “Then why did you marry him? Why? How could you? I was the one…”
    Karen stopped herself mid sentence, and Lisa knew why. Lisa also knew why Karen was angry. It all came back to what had happened one night over twenty-two years ago, and everything that evolved from it. Lisa thought about telling Karen that she knew everything, but upon second thought, she knew it wasn’t the right time.
     All these years she had held in what she had just admitted about her husband, and she wasn’t sure she felt any better spilling it. She had always sensed that Dave knew.

     Karen relaxed and sat down again. “Why did you do it? Why did you marry him?”
     “I really did care for him, Karen, and I didn’t want to lose him.”
     “Lose him…to whom, to what? He loved you. I remember, I…never mind. It was a long time ago. We were kids. What did we know? We all do foolish things we end up regretting but seemed right at the time.”
     Lisa knew what had happened all those years before would come out one day, and she would tell Karen she already knew everything. Lisa had given her word to Dave to keep it a secret. If only Dave had not given her an ultimatum, their lives may have all been different. But then again, she had made her choices. No one forced her to do anything. And Lisa believed there is an underlying cause behind all things, that everything happens for a reason, whether we understand it, or like it, or not.
     Karen dropped the subject much to Lisa’s relief. She then pulled out the meditation CD, and handed it to Lisa. “The session starts out with a countdown to relax your body. Then there will be about twenty minutes of silence where you can do visualization, or affirmations, or do nothing and see what comes to you. It takes about thirty minutes.”
     “It sounds easy enough.” Lisa let out a yawn.
     “If you are going to use it for visualization to manifest something in your life, then you have to figure out what you really want. And I’m not talking about manifesting a new stove or new furniture, not that you can’t do those things, but I’m talking about something meaningful.

     So you might have to think long and hard about this, and whatever it is, desire it with all your heart. That’s important. Heartfelt desire is emotion, which is energy that can help manifest what you truly want. And then believe what you desire will come to you. Of course it should be of a positive nature. Never visualize for something bad to happen to someone, not that you would, but you’ll only create bad karma. You know, what goes around comes around.”   

     “I’m well aware of the phrase.”
     Karen continued, “Whatever it is you want, see it in your mind. See yourself having it. Use all your emotion as if you really did have it. Try to do this everyday if you can.”
     “Hmm, I’m not sure I know what I really want. I will have to think about that. Maybe I’ll meditate with the crystal I found too,” Lisa said eagerly.
     “No! The crystal must be left untouched!”
     Startled, Lisa sat up straight. A shiver ran though her. The voice she had just heard did not sound like Karen’s at all. For that moment it was as if Karen was someone else.
     “Why? You said…”
     Karen seemed to also be caught off guard. “I…I honestly don’t know why. I don’t even know why I said that. I think there is something about it. I can’t explain it, and I didn’t mean to sound so dramatic. But don’t use it. Just don’t use it.”
     Lisa said nothing and picked up a deck of tarot cards that had been sitting on the table. She starting shuffling them not really knowing what she was doing. One flew out of the deck and onto the floor. She picked it up and looked at it, then quickly threw it on the table. “Karen, it says Death!”

     “Oh, the Death card,” Karen smirked. “I wish you could see the look on your face. The Death card represents what you’re going through right now. It doesn’t mean physical death. It means the death of old ways, an old way of life, old ideas, how about the death of your marriage? And didn’t you say you felt like a part of you was dying?”
     “Yeah, and the ending of my marriage does feel like a death.”
     “That’s right. Look forward to the birth of a new life. The card means change, transformation. Shuffle the deck and pick one card.”
     Lisa reluctantly obeyed and picked a card called The Magician.
     “Great card!” The Magician creates. You can create. You can create the life you truly desire.”    
     Karen checked her watch. “I have an appointment to look at some rental space. It’s not exactly what I had in mind from what the realtor described, but I figured I might as well check it out. I also have another appointment later this afternoon. Want to come with me now? We can go to lunch after.”
     “Sure, as long as you don’t attack me when I order a burger and fries,” Lisa chuckled.
     As Karen drove Lisa picked up a book that was lying on the back seat. It was a book on crystals. She thumbed through it and stopped when she caught a word that evoked many emotions. “Atlantis! I haven’t thought about Atlantis in years.”
     Karen laughed, “I remember how you freaked out when you heard that song called Atlantis, when we were kids. I think we were babies when that song came out.”
     “Yeah, apparently, my oldest cousin had brought it by and left it. Years later Kevin pulled it out and played it a lot. It was by a singer named Donovan. I had never heard of Atlantis until that song. But the weird part was that I knew what he was talking about. I knew.” Lisa let out a sigh. “I knew, and I wanted to be there. I felt the sadness, the longing. I felt such a loss. It was as if Atlantis was buried in my psyche…as if there was a part of me that knew Atlantis, and I wanted to be there so bad. Imagine wanting to be in a place that supposedly never existed. That’s crazy huh?”
     “That was when you thought you had been a princess in a past life. Priestess would have been more like it. But somehow I could not imagine you being a priestess.”
     “Gee, thanks a lot.” Lisa began reading some of the contents. “God, Karen, it says here that crystals were used to generate power similar to electricity. It also says that certain ones could be used for thought amplification. The knowledge of this way to create was held sacred, and kept secret from those who would not realize the power, and could use it destructively.”
     Lisa’s stomach started to feel funny, and she continued on. “Apparently, the knowledge and use of this crystal energy was abused by those in power, and eventually led to the downfall and final destruction of a once peaceful and harmonious paradise.”
      “This is true! I know this! I don’t know how, but I do. Atlantis did exist. I feel it. I know it. It’s the same feeling I had when we were kids. I lived a lifetime in Atlantis. I’m sure of it.”
     “A lot of us did, Lisa. I’m sure I did too. It’s said that the United States is the new Atlantis, and you know about history repeating itself.”
     Early that evening Lisa decided to give the CD a try. She was able to relax quickly and easily. She had come to a point where she was nearing sleep when an image started to form in her mind. She became excited when she saw a man in a white robe, with a gold tie around his waist. Expecting to see the one in her dream, she was shocked when she saw what looked to be the face of the man on the beach. Mr. Moses, she decided to call him.
     She forced herself to keep focused on him. A deep love and caring emanated from this man, and she found she wanted to stay in his presence. She was about to ask him his name when she jumped up with her heart beating wildly.

     Someone was knocking at the backdoor downstairs. It was Dave, and he wanted to take more clothes. He and Lisa talked. He agreed it was time to end their marriage. She and Dave would part as friends. She wouldn’t have had it any other way. She did not want anything left undone. Believing in reincarnation, she knew if they parted as enemies or left the situation unresolved, they would have to work it out in a future lifetime. This much she had learned from the books she had read, and knew it felt right. She knew that all conflict must be resolved, and healed by forgiveness. She once read, ‘never die hating someone…you will be sure to meet them again in the future.’

      After Dave left, Lisa hesitantly opened the door to the bedroom closet. It was a big walk-in closet, and now Dave’s side was empty. Lisa’s heart nearly stopped. Everything was gone…every shoe, every dress shirt, tie, suit, baseball mitt, coin collection, hat collection…twenty-two years. She didn’t see it as more room for her clothes, but as emptiness inside herself.
     She pulled out a green, sequin dress, and a couple of other cocktail dresses. She had worn these to company parties. They were parties that she loathed with all the gossip and phoniness. She left the dresses out to give to Goodwill. She looked in Dave’s dresser…nothing but more emptiness. It finally hit her that it really was over.

     She dropped down on the bed and cried, thinking and feeling that she was so alone. Suddenly, she felt a calmness wash over her, and in her minds eye saw Mr. Moses. She distinctly heard the words, ‘One is never alone.’

     The next morning Lisa rolled over to press the snooze button when the alarm went off at 8:a.m. She had set it early to break herself out of the habit of sleeping late. She was sorry she had. The room was dark and dreary. The gloomy clouds hung above her bed through the two skylights, as the rain knocked at the glass. She dozed off, but a clap of thunder reawakened her. She pulled the blankets up to her neck, feeling disappointed she didn’t have the dream. The mystery man in the turquoise robe, she thought…her dream lover. “Oh, yeah right!” 
     Lisa herself out of bed, shivering, and threw on her pink, fleece robe. She could hear the wind picking up as she turned up the thermostat, and shook her head, “Crazy New England weather.”
     As she made coffee she thought of Karen and felt guilty, and then berated herself for feeling that way. She was not about to give up her morning cup of joe. The steam from the brew warmed her as she stood in front of the glass sliders in the kitchen. She sipped her coffee and watched the rain pound the deck.
     Entranced, she stared into the tiny puddles of liquid wishing her life was as clear to her as the raindrops. She had gone to bed the night before questioning what she really wanted in her life. She focused on one particular beaded mass of water, and she knew. And she had known all along.
     For months she had been visualizing it…unintentionally. She knew she wanted nothing more than to write a best seller, and to find the love of her life…no small task. It had always been there in the back of her mind, something she would only be semi-conscious of. Sometimes she would daydream and imagine this, but never realized what she was actually doing.

     But she wondered if it was really possible to create a reality you might desire, or was it already destined anyway. Are we just tapping or tuning into something that was already going to come to pass, which makes us just think we’re creating it? Maybe there was a script already written. Maybe there was even more than one. She had read that all time existed at once, and that everything has already happened, and we’re just living it out linearly.

     She continued gazing into the tiny puddles, and envisioned the turquoise robed one in her mind. Her desire for him was overwhelming. It was so much more than physical. She still didn’t know what he looked like, but her heart and her soul wanted this man. “This is crazy,” she said aloud.
     A chill came over her. She looked out into the distance near the shore. “What the hell?” It was pouring out and someone was running on the beach. She picked up the binoculars to see if she was hallucinating. She was not! It was him again, Mr. Moses, clad only in a pair of running shorts.
     As far away as he was, he seemed to be looking right at her into the binoculars. The hair on her arms stood straight up. At that same time, the phone starting ringing, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. She quickly caught the binoculars before they came crashing down on the floor.
     Karen had called to invite Lisa over for breakfast. She accepted, though she figured breakfast would consist of chamomile tea and rice cakes. Surprise! Freshly brewed coffee, and steaming blueberry muffins. “Gee, I almost stopped at a drive-thru,” said Lisa.
     “Sorry about the coffee thing yesterday. Sometimes I get carried away with wanting people to change the way they eat. I wasn’t in a good mood anyway.”
     “What’s wrong? Anything I can do?” Lisa asked, feeling like they were kids again.
     “It’s not something I care to discuss, at least right now. I have to deal with it myself. But thanks anyway.”
     Lisa thought that Karen sure did change. Now, who was the one clamming up when there was a problem?
     Lisa sank her teeth into the hot buttered muffin. “How did that other appointment go yesterday afternoon?” 

     Karen smiled enthusiastically. “The place was much too small. But on the drive home there was roadwork on Elm Street, so I had to take a detour down Lansing Avenue, and there it was. It’s the place I have been looking for. It’s exactly what I’ve been picturing! I have an appointment at 12:30. Will you come with me? We can go for lunch after. I’m buying.”
     “Sure. You know, I have a real good feeling about this. I bet this will be the one.”
     “I hope so. I’m dying to get this all going.”
     Karen went from joy to disappointment all in a matter of minutes upon arriving at the property. There had been a misunderstanding. The small building was not for rent, but for sale. Though she had some money saved, there was no way she could purchase the building, and the owner would not settle for renting it out.
     “I can’t believe this. It was perfect. Perfect!” Karen roared as she tore a garlic roll in half at the restaurant. Lisa took a bite of a fried clam, and nodded in agreement.
     “Well, I’ll just have to keep visualizing,” Karen said confidently. “Something else will come along, something just like it, or something better. But I still say that place was perfect,” she growled.
     “Well, so much for my gut feeling. Usually when I get a feeling that strong it pans out. Who knows? Speaking of visualizing, you said that I should know what I want. I’ve known it all along, but didn’t know it,” she said humorously. “I’ve always wanted to write a bestseller, and I know that sounds silly, because what writer doesn’t? But I never thought I could, so I never hoped for it. All my novels are so ordinary to me. This time I want to do something so different, really different, and I still want to write Romance, but I have no ideas yet. Then, she hesitated, “I want to find my twin soul.”
     “Lisa, I told you…”
     “Yeah, I know what you told me, but I don’t completely buy that. Maybe I’ll visualize him into existence. But I feel I need to do the book first anyway. Maybe I should start picturing myself on Good Morning America, being introduced as the best selling novelist, Lisa Burke,” she laughed.
    “Yes, that is what you should be doing.”
    “I’ve been visualizing all my life. From the time I was little I knew I wanted to be a writer, and always saw that in my mind. I did the same thing with my Corvette, and the beach house. It always came natural for me, but I’m sure it must for everyone. I always looked at it as daydreaming.”
     Karen started to laugh. “That reminds me of something. Remember when our fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Davis, would come and tap you on the shoulder? I think her exact words were, ‘Miss Burke, are you with us, or are you daydreaming again? Please keep your feet on the ground where they belong’.”
     Lisa placed her hand over her mouth trying to subdue her own laughter. “I never knew what she meant. I would look down at my feet and become very confused. I was probably dreaming up characters for my stories when she’d ask that.”
     “Oh yes, your weekly stories that you read to the class every Friday. I remember some of them being very good, and others put the class to sleep. Then you’d make some foolish looking drawing to go with the story.”
     “I suppose I was trying to be an artist as well as a writer.” Lisa smiled, feeling somewhat proud.
     Karen continued, “And there was that same character you would put in every story; the little blond boy with the sad blue eyes. The kids would want to know why he was in all the stories when he really had nothing to do with them. You used to say because he was good. I don’t remember what his name was, and you had him growing up as we were growing up. But you never wrote him into your novels.” Karen paused, “What’s wrong? You look as white as a ghost. Are you all right?”
     Karen’s voice sounded so far away, but Lisa had heard every word that was said. Her stomach turned, and she could feel the blood draining from her face. Lisa held her breath. Karen had said the right word; ghost…a ghost from childhood’s past.

     “I didn’t put him in my novels because he wasn’t good anymore.” A pained feeling came over her. “I haven’t thought about Jeff since high school. God, I blocked him out because he wasn’t good anymore.”
     “Okay, now you’re making him sound like he was real.”
     “I know this sounds crazy, but somehow he was real to me. He did seem to have a life of his own. Writer’s characters can take on a life of their own, but he was different. He was too real, and he had been with me since I was very young.”
     Karen leaned forward with a very baffled expression on her face. “What do you mean, been with you?”
     Somewhat embarrassed, Lisa said, “From what I remember I was about four or five when I started making up stories. Jeff was the very first character I had created in my mind. As I got older I used to fantasize about Jeff being my boyfriend. There was something about him. Maybe it was those sad blue eyes. He was everything I had ever wanted. I loved him,” Lisa cringed upon saying that.
     “Sounds like you had one hell of a fantasy life,” Karen snickered.
     “In high school I was still writing about him. Then it seemed like I couldn’t come up with anything new for him. It was around that same time I think, Dave had come into the picture. But it was as if Jeff was turning on me, rebelling, and I took it personally. It hurt. In my mind I put him aside…blocked him out…until today.”
     Karen slowly shook her head from side to side. “I don’t know what to say.”
     “Writers can have weird imaginations at times,” Lisa said trying to redeem herself. “Think I’m ready for a straitjacket or what?”
     “Einstein did say that imagination was greater than knowledge. Didn’t you have a drawing of that character, Jeff, on the wall by your bed? I think it was there when I had first met you. From what I remember the drawing was very life-like, almost as if an artist had drawn it. I know you were not…”
     Lisa stood up abruptly. “I need to go to the ladies room.”
She quickly locked the stall and sat down. She held her stomach and took deep breaths. It was all coming back to her. She was finally remembering the incident, the one that haunted her. It was the one that happened when she was five years old. She had never told anyone about it.
     One day up in her bedroom she had decided to draw a picture of Jeff. She had seen him so clearly in her mind. She had her drawing pad sitting up on a small easel, and her pencil. She tried and tried, and just couldn’t do it. She finally got so upset and frustrated that she threw the pad and herself down on the floor and cried.
     After she had her cry, she looked up and saw the room was filled with light. Out of this light a woman stepped forward. She thought that the woman would be very nice, and was not afraid of her. The woman wore a flowing white gown, and her hair was worn up in a Victorian style. Lisa saw that she had the most beautiful blue eyes, and wished her own were blue.
     The woman pointed to the pad that was still lying on the floor. Lisa picked it up and placed it back on the easel. The woman moved in back of her, and placed her hand over Lisa’s hand. Together they drew Jeff just as Lisa had seen him in her mind. They turned the drawing over and wrote something on the back, but even now Lisa could not remember what it was they wrote. After that, the woman smiled at her angelically and literally disappeared.
     Lisa came back to her seat and told Karen what she had just remembered. “I know I have that drawing somewhere. I’m sure I didn’t throw it out. Most likely it’s in the big walk-in closet in the upstairs hall. It would probably take me forever to find it, that closet is stuffed, and it would most likely be way in the back. I’ll have to look for it soon.”

     “But wouldn’t you have found it when you moved?”

     “No, my parents had helped us move when we bought the beach house. There were some boxes of childhood mementos and things they brought over that were left at their house after I got married. I just told them to put the boxes in the closet. I had never been interested in going through them, and never did.”
     Karen checked her watch. “We’ve got to go. I’ve got to pick up Mum.”
     It was just as well. Lisa figured the next thing that would be coming out of her mouth was that she was in love with some faceless guy in her dream, and that she kept seeing this Moses like character. Karen probably thought she was crazy as it is. Lisa was starting to wonder about that herself.
     Later that night Lisa decided to try the CD again. Her eyes became riveted to the crystal on her nightstand. She picked it up, tempted to meditate with it, but put it down remembering what Karen had said. She lay on the bed and turned on the CD player. After about a half a minute, she shut the player off and sat up. She picked up the crystal again.
     She wondered what would be the worst that could happen. She didn’t know what Karen was concerned with. What would be the harm in having an out of body experience? She felt she could use some adventure in her life. The last time she felt that way she had tried skydiving, and loved it. She had risked her life then. This could hardly be worse.
     Lisa instinctively placed the crystal between her breasts. She wondered about that, but something told her it was right. The woman’s voice on the CD was soothing, and she relaxed immediately. She reached the point just before falling asleep.
     She felt a fluttering in her heart, and she began to shake. She thought an earthquake was happening and jumped up, or thought she did. Everything was spinning around, and she found herself surrounded by millions of tiny points of light.
     An electrical sound invaded her head, along with a sound as if someone was crinkling cellophane. She was horrified and elated at the same time. She could not open her eyes. She felt like her body was breaking apart into tiny pieces. It didn’t hurt, but felt weird. The electrical sound turned into a low gentle hum. As suddenly as it began, it stopped.
     Lisa opened her eyes expecting to see the night sky through the skylights above her, but found herself standing in a tube-like device that looked to be made entirely of diamonds. Her vision was hazy, but she could see the colors of a rainbow reflecting off her body. A white light pulsated above her head. “Am I dead?” she asked weakly.
     A door about thirty inches wide slid open. Her vision still wasn’t clear, but she could see the outline of a woman standing before her.
     “We have expected your arrival,” the woman said in an acidulous tone. Before Lisa could speak, the woman shoved a gold chalice at her. “Drink,” the woman coldly demanded while Lisa stood dumbfounded. “Drink now!”
     Lisa slowly took the chalice, brought it to her nose, and sniffed the non-odorous liquid.
     “You must drink now. There is no time for foolishness.”
     Hesitantly, she drank the small amount of what tasted like water, and almost immediately, her vision returned to normal. Startled, she held her breath as she looked into the face of a woman who looked almost identical to Karen, except she had a Cleopatra-style hairdo with eyes matching her very dark brown hair. The woman wore a long sleeved, pastel blue gown, with a thick silver colored belt.
     Lisa thought this was a joke. Yes, she was dead, and this was the spirit guide from hell!
     “We have expected you.”
     “Who…me?” Lisa felt giddy, and proceeded to take a step out.
     “Stay where you are. You must stay in the capsule. You are not ready.”
     “Ready for what?” she giggled.
     “Your physical body is not ready for our rate of vibration. Your vibration is very dense. We are of a higher vibration here. It will take much time for you to adjust to the higher level.”
     “What?” Lisa asked, feeling like she was in the middle of a sci-fi movie, only no one had clued her in on the plot.
     “You must return to your level now before there is damage. Think of your level.”  Lisa had to refrain from laughing. She felt like she had drunk one too many shots of Tequila.
     “I don’t know what you mean. I…” The woman slammed the door shut. Lisa figured that the woman meant she should think of her home. “Oh God, I’m not wearing my ruby slippers!”