DEEP READER part 3

Copyright (c) 2016 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.

DEEP READER

Part  3

“A land of orchids”

By R. Peterson

You and I are about to go someplace special … together. No bags need to be packed, no airline tickets purchased and no passport; I have everything you will need, well almost everything. You will need a glass of water (half-filled) sitting next to your computer. You won’t spill it … trust me. Go get the water now before you continue … I will wait.

A writer has the greatest job in the world; you can go anywhere … do anything … all it costs is imagination. When we return … you will be different … and so will I. This was written in your past … therefore I am speaking to you in my future … how cool is that? I can’t promise you the riches of the world … only that you will feel really good for a short time … please trust me.

There is balance in all things in our universe … love and hate, pain and euphoria, friends and enemies … our quest is to shift the balance radically in our favor … and we must not … so we will not fail. This is the journey you and I have waited for all of our lives. If you have read Deep Reader parts one or two then you are probably ready to go again. There are terrors and dangers ahead … but also joy and love … one does not exist without the other. This isn’t like some pragmatic self-help, one-way-highway-book that promises if you’ll only smile … things will get better. To Hell with someone’s idea for making money off from other people’s troubles. This goes in the opposite direction … very quickly … and it is all about magic, imagination … and flying with our minds.

            I will ask you to do very simple things as you read. When I ask you to do something it will be in bold print like this. Don’t worry … the things I ask you to do can be (must be) done in secret to have the desired effect. This is about you and me … no-one else. If you find yourself reading ahead without doing what I asked please back up a paragraph and read (do) again. This is very important. If you trust me, I will take you to the very depths of your mind to retrieve something that you have lost … or perhaps you never knew you had. When we finish, you will be on an emotional rocket-ship, soaring higher than any drug in the world will lift you. Are you ready? Blink once … and we will begin.

            It is the cool of the evening after a long, hot day. Warmth still radiates from the soil, but a slight breeze blows from the south … and you have caught your second wind. We stand at the edge of a vast forest. Darkness descends over an ocean of trees but at the same time a full moon rises in the east and illuminates a well worn dirt pathway. Wiggle the toes on your right foot and then wiggle the toes on your left.

Our journey has begun.

            Most people get tired when they do any kind of exercise … but not this time. Each step you take into the forest along this well-worn path sends a tiny pulse, an euphoric electrical current, up your leg and so every step brings you more and more restless energy. After a few steps … it feels so good you want to run … but not yet. Keep walking. The ground beneath your feet feels so wonderful that you stop and take your shoes off. You are beginning to feel so marvelous… and you are trying not to smile … but you can’t … so go ahead … and let it go. Smile now … ever so slightly … and ever so quickly. You walk through dark sleepy shadows and across bubbling streams filled with tiny goldfish. The bubbles tickle your nose and the fish do the same with your toes … and you laugh just a little … without making a sound. The moon becomes a multicolored spotlight illuminating the most pleasant props … from the ever-changing stage of our dreams.

 We leave the forest behind now, as the path winds through meadow after meadow filled with rare Moth Orchids. The fragile-as-a-whisper white petals on the magical flowers shimmer in the moonlight. The only sound is the chirping of crickets … and a small noise, just out of audible range, like muted singing. Touch your earlobe with your finger.

If you are in an office and supposed to be working … they will never know … and I will never tell. Don’t worry … it’s only me and you.

            Your hearing is now becoming magnified, doubled … and then tripled … ten times what it was … now a hundred times. You can hear the blood pumping through your veins like a raging river. It roars like a waterfall as it rushes from an artery and enters your heart … but that is not what we want to hear. Rub your earlobe several times with your finger.

We must tune out the sound … so that another becomes clearer. Everything is quiet now … but you begin to pick up other noises … tiny voices becoming louder. The sound is coming from a beautiful orchid … you are drawn to it … you stop walking … and lean in for a closer look. The scent is like a meadow after a summer rain … and it also reminds you of something very pleasant from your dreams.  Take a deep breath … through your nose.

You still feel exhilarated from walking … pulsating sensations of pleasure still race up and down your legs … but now a slightly painful lump is forming in the back of your throat. It is not a bad feeling … it is the way you feel when someone that loves you very much is doing something special … just for you. Slowly count to three in your head.

The painful lump in your throat is stronger now, but it still feels marvelous. Does that sound strange? If you’ve ever listened to John Mellancamp sing Hurts So Good … then you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you are not familiar with the song … just relax and go with the flow.

You can almost see tiny things moving on the flower petals. Bugs? No this is something magical. Softly scratch the skin beside your right eye. Your eyes have now become magnifying lenses. The things you saw moving on the orchids were clouds. Your eyes are now magnifying lenses as you zoom through the clouds and tiny tree-tops and then fields appear … becoming larger as you get closer. Two winged creatures (fairies?) stand beside a wagon pulled by some kind of caterpillar. In the distance, a large door stands carved into the side of a mountain. The creatures are loading drops of dew, shimmering like pearls, into the back of the wagon. You take a deep breath and hold it … as you listen to the tiny voices.

“Are you sure the door can’t be opened?”

“Only water will make the hinges move.”

You release your breath and move past them … unseen as a breeze toward the stone door. The doorway carved into the side of the mountain is magnificent. Ancient runes form double arches over a crescent moon shape etched into granite, an ancient language lost to the ravages of time. There is no handle, there is no lock. This door can only be opened with magic. Take the glass of water that you set beside your keyboard earlier and drink it now!

            A clap of thunder splits the sky above and suddenly there is darkness. Rain pours from the sky in never-ending torrents. You hear a roar like a freight train jumping a railroad trestle at high speed. A huge wave of water appears between two mountains and rushes into the valley.  There is no time to run. Take a deep breath and hold it.

            You are submerged in water and are swept toward the door along with hundreds of tree trunks and other floating debris. Cold grips you like a frozen glove. The stone door bursts inward and you are swept by the raging torrent into a narrow winding passageway. There is only darkness and then suddenly you see light above you. Wiggle your fingers and your toes.

            You slowly rise to the surface. Release your breath.

            You are floating in a cavern so vast that water vapor has turned into clouds, they swirl across the ceiling above. A shore with trees looms in the distance. Each breath you take makes you more and more buoyant. The water is now warm and very pleasant on your skin. You feel completely relaxed. Wiggle your toes.

Slowly you glide toward the shore. You are drifting in a sea of ecstatic pleasure and you don’t want it to stop. A shoreline with flickering lights appears and you walk onto a beach. The sand tickles your toes like an army of ants armed with hummingbird feathers and you want to laugh … but you resist. So you grin.

            The flickering lights are thousands of fireflies … and they line both sides of a trail winding up the side of a mountain. You stick out your arms and try to touch the tiny lights as you walk up the trail. Spread the fingers of both hands as far apart as possible.

            Each time a firefly touches one of your fingers … the sensation is incredible. Tiny pulses of pleasure run through your fingers to all parts of your body. Relax your fingers.

Dense vegetation on both sides of the trail is getting thicker. Several times branches snag and then release you as if they were somehow alive and trying to stop you from reaching your destination. You feel a large root come growing up out of the ground at an incredible rate and it tries to wrap around your leg. Lift your right leg off the floor and quickly put it down.

            You jump over the root and suddenly you are staring into the dark entrance to a cave. Fear sweeps over you as you notice two glowing lights inside the cave. As you move closer you notice that they are eyes glowing with hate and malevolence. You stop and are afraid to venture any farther. Close your eyes and remember the happiest day of your life. When you have imagined it as vividly as possible take a deep breath and open your eyes.

            The terrifying eyes have disappeared. They have been replaced by two massive white candles. Set in elaborate golden holders, they are pillars of wax that rise from the floor to chest height. Between them, a round table covered with a red cloth and a fine layer of frost. The air is crisp and your feet make a crunching sound as you walk toward the table. The cave is like being inside a giant walk-in freezer. Three tiny coin-sized objects are placed side by side on the table. They all look to be made of … glass?

The first is three tiny diminishing white circles placed on top of each other like a miniature snowman. Eyes and a smiling face are etched into the top ball. You notice that a black stove-pipe hat on top is actually a bottle lid. You very much desire to drink what is in the bottle. You have thirsted for what is inside the bottle … forever.

The second is a music box, and looks to be also made of glass. A tiny silver key protrudes from the side. Your ears vibrate in anticipation of the delightful magical sound the box will make. It is the sound you have always needed … hoped for … and always wanted to hear.

The third object is a tiny picture frame, lying face down on the cloth. A lost memory from the dusty corners of your mind whispers that the magnificent picture in the frame … is what you have wanted and prayed to see all your life.

Each of the objects is a king’s treasure of impossible worth. You can only choose one. A drop of water drips onto the floor and you realize the coin-sized objects are made of ice … and they are melting. From somewhere in the vast chamber a bell chimes. At three strokes all the objects will vanish. You close your eyes and try to decide whether to take the bottle, the box or the photo … and the object that you most desire appears in your mind. The bell chimes again. You open your eyes and grab the object you imagined. It is not made of glass but of ice … it is quickly melting. The object is wet and slippery. Close your fingers into a tight fist to keep it from slipping away.

The bell chimes a third time and everything inside the cave is melting. The table legs collapse and the two remaining objects shatter on the floor. You run across the sand. Everything is heating up. The ants that tickled you toes have now become fire ants burning your feet with torches. Heat waves rise in the air and you feel the object slipping inside your fingers. Squeeze your fingers as tight as possible.

The growing tree root that tried to grab your leg before has now become hundreds … a mine field of tree roots trying to snag your feet and make you drop your treasure. Lift one foot and then the other … and you jump over every grasping root.

The flickering fireflies have now become mosquitoes biting your face and hands. You can’t slap them away without releasing the magical object in your hand. You can feel it melting! Squeeze your fingers together tighter!

You reach the water’s edge but the water is now almost scalding hot. The magic object will never survive the swim. You decide to run around the lake. You can feel the object getting smaller. Wiggle your toes on both feet. You are now running like the wind. The rushing air helps cool your hand but the object is less than half the size it was. You must not lose this treasure. Squeeze your fingers tighter!

The stone doorway that the flood waters crashed open looms in the distance. You can feel yourself growing. If you don’t make it to the door in time you will be too large to fit through. Wiggle your toes again. You are now traveling at the speed of a bullet as you squeeze through the doorway … just in time.

The two fairies who had previously loaded dew-drops into a wagon are now very large and thundering down a road toward you. The caterpillar pulling the wagon is like an out of control locomotive. Close your eyes and grit your teeth.

The wagon rumbles over you the huge wheels barely miss rolling over you and the ground shakes. From the distance you can hear laughter … and it is not nice. The frozen object in your hand is only a quarter of the size it once was … you must hurry. Water runs down your arm. Squeeze your fingers tighter!

You are now running across fields of clover. You look upward and see not clouds but the bottoms of Moth Orchid flower petals. Take a deep breath and then another.

As you breathe-in air you begin to float. Each breath you take … makes you rise higher and faster.

The object in your hand is no larger than a frozen drop of water when you find yourself lying in the meadow. Your face is just inches from the white Moth Orchid blossom. You sit up and look around. You feel wonderful. The world is now a much more beautiful and exciting place. Slowly open your fingers.

The object in your hand has dissolved to almost nothing … but magic is very powerful. The tiniest bit can change my world and yours. You feel the slightest breeze on the palm of your hand as the object you chose drifts slowly away. It is not lost. You have given it life. You have been on a journey into the dark depths of your mind to bring that one special wish to the surface that has been locked away forever. Only you know what it is. No matter what you chose … it is now free … to come true. Did you feel it? Did you feel the ethereal vapors leave your hand?

If so … then congratulations … you are the Deep Reader.