This is Installment Four of the novel Rose and Justice.   It includes Chapters II.i and II.ii.  It is 4,138 words long.  As installments are posted, links for each will be added under the tab labeled “The Novel” at the top of this page.   Enjoy!

II.i

            D.C. felt restless all the time.  No one seemed to notice this; they just thought he was an antsy kind of guy.  He had held 14 jobs in the first six years of his marriage until he finally landed a position in the Cullman Water Department.  He hated it, but he had seemed to hate everything else he had done as well, so he made the water department a career.  He had also grown tired of the endless lectures from his father about “being a man” and “providing a good living.”  The security of working in city government held his father’s tirades off, and besides the benefits were good and he made enough to keep them about average in the Cullman social hierarchy.  The problem was that D.C. hated average, hated Cullman, and hated just about everything else about his life.

The kids were o.k.  After Daniel Christopher Carter, III, or D.C.3, had been born, Sandy seemed to be pregnant or nursing all the time.  Mary Jo followed D.C.3 by 16 months and Clinton followed her by two years to the day.  Then came the twins – Curtis and Carl.  D.C. was probably the only man in the world who had slept with his wife a grand total of four times and had five kids.  All four times, D.C. had been drunk.  It was the only way he seemed able to show Sandy any affection at all.  He was kind to her, she deserved at least that much, but she wasn’t much more to him than a casual acquaintance and the mother of his children.

God knows why, but Sandy adored D.C.  She was a loving and supportive wife and never seemed to be too concerned about their non-existent sex life.  She was really far too good for him, he thought, and therefore he lived with continuous guilt.  He was a pretty good dad, but wasn’t in the running for any father-of-the-year awards.  All in all, D.C. was pretty average himself, and he hated that most of all.

Mostly, he had never felt connected.  Not to his parents, not to Sandy, not to his hometown, and not even to himself.  He felt like the real D.C. Carter was out there somewhere waiting for him to join up and see the world.  When he was a senior, a few of his buddies talked him into skipping a day of school and going to Birmingham with them.  It was the only time in his life that he had ever been out of Cullman.  In retrospect, it was also the only time in his life when he had ever felt alive.  He had probably been the only man in America who wished he could go to Korea, but a bum knee from his football days made him 4-F.  His life here was like living in someone else’s skin, someone he didn’t even like.

He showed up to the right functions, went to the right church, signed his boys up for summer baseball leagues at the Dixieland Ballpark, and went to his daughter’s ballet recitals.  Most people seemed to like having him around, but didn’t go out of their way to make sure he was there.  He really wondered if anyone would miss him if he were gone.  He knew he wouldn’t miss anyone here.  Sure, he loved his kids, but they never really felt like “his.”  Not that he thought Sandy would ever fool around.  He knew she hadn’t.  His kids just seemed like strangers to him.  And it wasn’t just his kids.  He felt like he lived in the midst of strangers, even around friends he had known since kindergarten.  Or, more likely, he was the stranger, and everybody else was right at home.

He had never fooled around either, though most wouldn’t believe that if they knew about his sex life at home.  He’d had opportunities but never followed through on them.  He didn’t seem to care enough to do so.  Besides, every time he had ever had sex, it had been less than memorable and only increased his burden by one or two more mouths to feed.  No, Daniel found his release in other ways.

Every now and then, not in a regular sort of way but when the mood hit him, he would awaken before anyone else, throw on some pants and a shirt, and walk into the woods behind their house.  About a mile into the forest was a small bluff overlooking a cleared valley below.  It was a peaceful place, completely isolated, and as far as he knew no one else ever came here.  He would sit on the edge of the bluff and watch the sun rise directly ahead of him.   He never consciously understood what happened here, nor could he have explained it if he did, but in this place, watching the eastern sky begin to fill with light, he felt less alone.  The bluff at sunrise was the only place and time when he didn’t feel like a misfit to his own life.  He would alternately watch the streaks of dawn run across the sky and close his eyes to try to see the something else he felt was also here for him to see.  He retained just enough hope to believe that this couldn’t possibly be all there was, that a life experience as expansive as the early morning sky was available to him.  And as he sat there, D.C. would imagine the other part of himself he knew was out there somewhere.

II.ii

            “How much longer?”  Juliet asked with incredible regularity.  The answer was always the same – “Soon enough.”  Hal was vague in his answers, yet as precise as he could be.  He didn’t really know much better than she how long it would be, although he knew it would be here much too soon for him.  She felt stronger every day and knew so much more than she would have ever thought possible.  She was ready.  At least, she felt ready.

With each passing day and with everything she learned, she grew to love Romeo more and more.  She ached for him inside and felt incomplete even with all the beauty and perfection around her.  Sometimes her heart burned like it was on fire and she knew there could be no greater pain than living without the only one who could truly heal her ache.  Hal was a comfort to her, but even he knew that he could only do so much.  She would live with this burning until she could find her Romeo again.

“I think it won’t be long now.”  Hal’s answer finally changed.

“Why?  Why do you say that?”  Juliet became excited and started shaking Hal’s arm.

He smiled.  “Because the light is starting to shine from you.  You will hear from the light very soon.  I think, perhaps, it’s time to see the alchemist.”

Hal had told Juliet about the return process.  When a being was due to return by order of the Light for continued learning, they were sent back to a group of Beings they had known in previous incarnations in order to continue the work they had already done together.  After being contacted by the Light, the being would report to the return tunnel and wait for further instructions.  In these instances, you were pretty certain about the world you would return to and the people you would know.  But, if you were choosing to go back, you had no control of where you would end up.  You could simply show up at the return tunnel and request a trip, trusting that wherever you ended up would work out.  But, that was much like playing a huge Roulette wheel, and Juliet wanted to give herself a little better odds.  To accomplish this, you had to visit the alchemist who would work the appropriate magic to get you into the best place and situation for achieving your desired goal.

The path through Mystic Wood seemed to go every direction.  Up and down, left and right, circles around immense primeval oak trees, angular turns with mountain on one side and ravine on the other.   For awhile they followed a river that was singing an ancient Celtic song.  Juliet looked for another source for the music, but Hal confirmed it was indeed the river.

Large boulders rounded by years of river wear formed a natural stepping-stone bridge that Hal and Juliet used to cross the water and move deeper into the wooded mountains where the alchemist was said to live.  The alchemist was a master of transformation and must be consulted for a voluntary return trip.  Shifting from Here-spirit-being to Earth-human-being required a bit of magic.  Most beings never met the alchemist.  Even Hal had to ask directions from a seraphim who lived near the edge of Mystic Wood.

Juliet felt as if they were just going in circles, though she was too disoriented to be certain of even that.  Suddenly Hal stopped.

“There it is,” he spoke more to himself than to her, and then, as if trying to remember.  “From the gray-speckled boulder, 12 paces along the path, 90 degree right turn and six paces to the patch of clary sage, turn three complete circles, look directly over left shoulder and walk seven paces toward the first mountain laurel bush you see, left turn four paces, right turn three, bend down between the two large elderberry trees and wait.”

Hal seemed to have ended up about two small steps away from where he began.  Juliet watched him with questioning eyes.  She wanted to trust him completely, and she did in her heart, but this was beginning to test the strength of that trust.   Hal remained crouched in his spot like a large toad.

Just as Juliet was beginning to think she might need to take over the task of leading them out of there, a small moss-covered door opened in the ground beneath Hal.  It had been invisible just the second before, perfectly camouflaged by the intertwining of mossy tendrils.   A small man about six inches tall with emerald green knickers, a blousy shirt of creamy eggshell, a plaid vest, and a black velvet jacket emerged from the door by way of a ladder and stepped gingerly out onto the mossy carpet.  His mop of curly hair fell around slightly pointed ears.

“Good day.”

Hal straightened up, but remained on his knees.   He didn’t seem to be the least bit surprised to be addressed by such a small person.  He cleared his throat.  “Good day.  My name is Hal, and this is Juliet.  We wish to see the alchemist.”

“Of course you do.  It’s about the only reason your kind comes into the Mystic Wood anymore.  We used to be overrun with Beings like you, but then most of you stopped vibrating at our frequency.  My name is Bernard Oxley Millwright IV, and I shall show you the way.  Follow me.”  Bernard turned briskly on his heels and, as he did so, revealed two neat, tightly folded wings tucked close to his back.

Juliet was delighted by this little man and enchanted by this place.  The Eternal Here had flowers and trees and dirt, but this place seemed earthier, somehow, more moss, more mushrooms, more mud.  “Is this . . . is this earth?”  She just knew it couldn’t be so, but didn’t know what else to make of it all.

Bernard Oxley Millwright IV looked at her over his shoulder, but kept walking as he talked.  “Earth?  Sure, why not.  It’s all earth if you get right down to it.  There really isn’t a here or there or earth or not-earth.  There are just different speeds of vibration.”

“So, when you say that you used to be overrun with Beings like us . . .”

“Yes, well, apparently it used to be much easier for Beings in the human form to visit us.  We would make friends and sit and talk along the banks of the Singing River.  Then it seems the ones who couldn’t make the leap from human vibration to Mystic Wood vibration began telling those who could that they were a bit off in the head, as it were.  Fewer and fewer humans came to see us.  The last one I saw was a little girl, and that was many, many moons ago.  She told me herself that her mother had told her I wasn’t real.  I asked if she could see me, and she said yes.  I thought she believed me, but then I never saw her again.”  Bernard stared off into the woods and became misty-eyed for a brief moment.  “At any rate, humans will come back to us one day.  I’m sure of it.”

Hal and Juliet followed Bernard in silence for a few more minutes until he stopped at the base of the sudden rising of a hill.  He turned to Hal, “Reach down to just in front of where I’m standing.”  Hal reached down for the ground, not at all certain of what he was reaching for.  “There, do you feel it?  There’s the handle.  Now, pull.”

Hal pulled up a much larger door, but one hidden invisibly in the mossy ground the same way Bernard Oxley Millwright IV’s door had been.   Inside the door, they could see steps descending into the hillside and nothing beyond that.

“There you are.  Good day to you.”  Oxley fluttered his wings for the first time, shook a few drops of dew from them, and then lifted off the earth and flew away with his arms crossed in front of him and his feet crossed at the ankles.

Hal and Juliet watched him with their mouths slightly open, then Hal came back to the moment.  “All right, then.  I guess we should go see to your future.”

Juliet led the way.  They stepped through the doorway and descended 13 steps until they reached a large room which, although sensibly should have been a cave, was lit by the natural light of several large and inexplicable windows.  The only furniture in the room was a roll-top desk against the back wall, several long wooden tables, and bookshelves from floor to ceiling on two walls.  The tables were littered with open books, scales, mortars and pestles of various sizes, vials of bubbling liquids squatting over candle flames, and smudged sheets of aged parchment scattered about.

Beside the desk was a t-shaped perch on which sat a large Snowy Owl.  He seemed unreal, but then moved his head slightly and Juliet realized he had been watching them from the moment they entered the room.  The owl’s eyes were golden and unblinking and watched the two Beings in a such a way that Juliet knew there was a keen intelligence behind them.

Hanging from the high ceiling were orbs of various sizes hanging from mobiles and spinning and circling each other.  There was a large yellow orb with nine or ten smaller orbs circling it.  And there were other yellow and bright white orbs circled by countless smaller ones, every size, every color, forming an entire universe on this ceiling of this almost invisible cave.

This place was different from anything else Juliet had seen Here and felt quite certain she was not technically still Here.  It felt strangely familiar, as if she were seeing for the first time a place she had visited yesterday.

From one wall hung a considerable tapestry woven with the design of an astrological chart, except that rather than 12 signs there were 40 or 50 at least.  Next to the tapestry was a giant gong on a stand.

The air was hazy with candle smoke and incense.  The smell of patchouli and dragon’s blood mingled in the expansive room and permeated the wood of the furniture.  The alchemist rose from her writing desk as Hal and Juliet approached.  She greeted them with a warm smile.  “I am Maria Claricy.  And are you Juliet?”

Juliet was surprised beyond speech for a few seconds, but then found her tongue.  “Yes.  How did you know my name?”

Marie Claricy twitched her nose and crinkled her brow as if this was an odd and silly question and the answer all too obvious.  “The runes told me, of course.”  She turned to walk away, then looked back over her shoulder.  “Well?  Are you coming?”

Juliet turned to Hal who gestured her forward to follow Maria Claricy.  She trailed the alchemist across the huge hall that seemed to grow bigger the more her eyes were able to take it all in.  Juliet studied the woman in front of her as they walked.

Maria Claricy looked surprisingly young for someone so versed in her craft.  Juliet would have expected a decrepit crone leaning on a crooked walking stick, a large wart on her nose and missing teeth.  Maria Claricy was the polar opposite.  She had long blond hair, mounds of it, loose strands interspersed with random braids, billowing about her shoulders and down past her waist.   It seemed more than a head of hair; it seemed a visible, touchable aura that hovered about the upper half of her body.  Her clothes were layers of fluttering diaphanous purple and gold scarves tied and draped and twisted over a tie-dyed shift of deep blues, greens and reds.  She fluttered as she walked, her scarves like gossamer wings moving through the air.  Bangles and bracelets of silver and amethyst clinked on each wrist and from each bare-footed ankle.

From out of the hidden depths of her hair and across her forehead lay a silver chain with a single white Selenite stone resting directly above and between her vivid green eyes.  She smelled of lavender and rosemary and pine.  Her energy was warm and gentle, open and accepting.  Being in this room and in her presence felt like being hugged by the earth, and for a moment Juliet remembered her former home and all of its splendor.

Maria Claricy led Juliet to a small round table near the astrology tapestry.  In the center of the table was a large crystal globe.  Beside it sat a calico cat and a set of worn Tarot cards.  Maria Claricy shooed the cat off the table and motioned to a chair on the opposite side for Juliet.  When both women were seated, Maria Claricy clasped her hands together, her baubles tinkling around her wrists, and smiled broadly.  “So, now, tell me about this return trip you’re wishing.”

Juliet was still a bit overwhelmed with the trappings of the laboratory.  “Do you believe in all these tools of divination?”

“I believe in energy.  And evvv-rything is energy.”  Maria Claricy drew out the word with great drama.  “I could use the wag of the cat’s tail for divination if I so chose.  But when I use the Tarot or the runes, I am able to combine my energy with the ancient energy of countless oracles, alchemists and seers who have done this work before me.  So, why re-invent the wheel?”

“How are these things going to help me get back to Romeo?”

“I have no idea.  Once you,” Maria Claricy continued, “tell me what it is you want to do, then I’ll know what kind of magic we will need.”

Juliet paused.  She wanted to be sure she remembered every detail Hal had coached her through.  “I need to return to earth, the earth-plane, to meet again with my true love, Romeo.  He is there now.  I must return to that plane before he returns Here.  So, Hal and I have determined a meeting place.  St. Simon’s Island, Georgia.  I need to go to St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, and Hal will direct Romeo to request the same location for his next trip.”  Juliet paused, and then added more softly, “He’s been looking for me for 400 years and I’ve . . . been asleep.”

Maria Claricy sat back in her chair and crossed her arms.  She studied Juliet’s face intently, as if trying to decide something, then suddenly leaned forward and looked deeply into the ball.  “You do understand there is no guarantee you and Romeo will meet in this next incarnation.  We can put you in the same vicinity, that’s not a challenge at all, but once you have both become incarnate your paths may cross or may not completely at the fancy of destiny’s wind.”  Maria Claricy studied the crystal ball as she spoke, not really looking at Juliet or seemingly aware of her at all.  “Ooh, knife wound.  You must have hurt deeply.”

“I still do,” Juliet whispered.

Maria Claricy glanced at Juliet quickly, then back to her crystal.  “It seems that St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, is a bit of a resort area.  There are year-round inhabitants, but not many.  Metropolitan areas are so much easier.  Of course, if you’re not picky, I could probably get you in the mainland city of Brunswick with no problem.  Your first choice is not impossible, mind you, just fraught with more obstacles.”

Damn Malcolm, Juliet thought.  “What kind of obstacles?”

Maria Claricy lifted the crystal and sat it aside.  She pulled out a bag of runes and tossed them two by two on the table, studying the runes’ symbols and direction intently after each toss.  “Well, there is a greatly reduced chance that you will actually know the family into which you are born.  They may not be in your soul group.  Sex?”

“Um, excuse me?”

“Sex.  What sex would you like to be?”

Juliet wasn’t ready for the question, but tried to adjust.  “Female, please.”

“As suspected.  You do know I cannot guarantee the sex of the person you are trying to meet, nor can I guarantee that you will be female, although I will do the best I can.”

Juliet nodded.

Maria Claricy swept the runes off the table and back into their pouch.  She turned to a bookshelf behind her, opened a drawer, and pulled out a scroll of yellowed parchment.  She opened the scroll and spread it across the table.  “This is a list of women on St. Simon’s Island of child-bearing age.  Those who are married, involved, getting serious, or having an affair are noted as such.  Do you have a preference of anyone on this list?”

Juliet studied the paper closely, not sure what she was looking for.  “I’m. . . I just don’t know.”

Maria Claricy leaned forward and placed her hand tenderly on Juliet’s arm.  “If you knew anyone on the list, then you would recognize a glow from the name, even if it is different from when you knew them.”

“Well.  I guess any one will do them.”  Juliet gave a tight-lipped smile and shrugged slightly.

“Oh, don’t make it so easy on me.  I would normally love this situation where I could slough somebody off on one of the lesser desirables.  But, I like you.  And 400 years is a very long time to wait.”  Maria Claricy’s smile was that of a beautiful young maiden and a mother all at the same time.  “I can see you haven’t heard from the light yet, but your glow is getting strong.  It should be any day.  I’ll begin working on the spell and you let me know the instant you hear from the light.”

“Is that it?”  Juliet asked.

“For now.”

“But, one question.  If the person I’m trying to meet and I end up the same sex in this next life, will it create a problem?  I mean, if one of us isn’t . . . you know, . . . open to that?”

Maria Claricy reached across the table and took Juliet’s hand in her own.  It was electric, form on form.  The energy was completely different from when she had touched Juliet’s arm earlier.  “My beautiful girl, we’re all open to that.  Trust me, if you are able to find the person with whom you share a true love, you’ll adapt.  Anything else?”

“Once I hear from the light, how soon can I leave?”

“It’s best if you wait a complete nine earth-months.  You may override at any time, of course, but that’s very risky.  After seven earth-months, you’re pretty safe.”

Juliet and Maria Claricy rose and walked arm-in-arm slowly back toward Hal.  They had quickly formed a bond, much as a mother will bond with her child upon first sight.  Before leaving, Juliet hugged Maria Claricy for a very long time and with a very tight squeeze.  “You will help me, won’t you?  You will help me feel all put together again, won’t you?”

“Oh, my dear.  I will do my part, and you will do yours, and Romeo his.  And then there are the stars.  But, I will do my part, of that you can be certain.”

© Deborah E. Moore – 2011

This is Installment Three of the novel Rose and Justice.   It includes Chapters I.v, I.vi, I.vii, and I.iii.  It is 5,254 words long.  As other installments are posted, links for each will be added under the tab labeled “The Novel” at the top of this page.   Enjoy!

I.v

            Nancy Carter squeezed the hand of her husband, then the nurse made Dan leave the room.  In the years of The Great Depression, it was unheard of for a father to watch his children being born.  Nancy’s last pain-free moment seemed so long ago she could hardly remember it.  The bright, bare bulbs of light in the delivery room at Dr. Clifton’s clinic added to her physical exertion and made her sweat all the more.  Perspiration ran down her face and dripped off her chin.  It coursed between her breasts like a river.

She was tired, but Dan found that hard to believe.  She still had the energy to grip his hand until he thought the bones would snap like dry twigs.  He hadn’t left her side since he had driven her to the clinic over 24 hours ago.  When he was finally asked to leave the room, he grinned and backed out the door knowing the wait was about over.  This was their first child, and Dan wouldn’t listen when the doctor had tried to convince him to catch a few minutes rest.  Just a month ago Dan’s aunt Nelly had studied the position of the bulge on Nancy’s abdomen and predicted a boy.  She hadn’t been wrong in over twenty years, and Dan Carter wouldn’t miss the birth of his son for all the cotton in Alabama.   He paced back and forth in the waiting room, absentmindedly fiddled with the cigars he had stuffed in his shirt pocket, and listened intently for anything he could hear from the other side of the door, for the infant cry he knew was to come.

“We’re almost there, Nancy,” Dr. Clifton said calmly.  “Just a few more pushes and it’ll be all over.  Let’s go.  Let’s have another big push, Nancy.”

Nancy Carter bellowed as she tensed her body for another push.  At this point, she just wanted this thing out of her so she could rest.  Her last thought right now was on her baby.   Her pregnancy had been perfect.  Why was the birth taking so damn long?

“One more, Nancy.  One more and we’ll have a baby.  C’mon, give me everything you’ve got now.”  Dr. Clifton loved this part of the delivery as much as new mothers hated it.  Within a matter of seconds, he would be holding a new life in his arms.  Some doctors grew immune to this over the years, but not Crandall Clifton.  He felt like the luckiest man alive because he had been the first person to hold 346 babies.  This would be number 347.

Nancy rested for a brief second and gathered every ounce of reserve and focus she had left.  If this push didn’t do it, she didn’t know if she would have any more to give.  She bore down on her abdomen and screeched.  If there had been any other patients in Dr. Clifton’s two-room clinic, the closest thing to a hospital that Cullman, Alabama had, they wouldn’t be getting much rest with all this commotion.  Nancy pushed long and hard.  She kept pushing until Dr. Clifton stopped her.

“All righty then!  Here we are!  Would ya’ look at this!”  Dr. Clifton held up a bloody, mucus-covered, screaming baby boy.

Dr. Clifton’s words seemed to give permission, so Nancy fell back hard against the bed, collapsing under the exhaustion she suddenly felt clearly, then struggled to crane her neck forward, to look over her still distended belly to the wiggling, slimy being cradled in the doctor’s hands.

“Oh, lord, he’s so beautiful!”  Nancy started to cry because she was so happy and so relieved at the same time.

Dr. Clifton washed his hands and arms in the sink by the door, then went out to tell Dan the good news.   Dr. Clifton’s nurse, Delores, cleaned up Daniel Christopher Carter, Junior, measured and weighed him, and put his first diaper on him.  She wrapped him tightly in a blanket and laid him in Nancy’s arms just as Dan entered the room.

“For the record,” Delores spoke, “little Daniel weighed in at 7 pounds, 12 ounces, is 22 inches long, and entered this world at precisely 5:17 am, April 12th, 1932.  You’ll have all of this on the birth certificate, of course, but I thought you’d like to know.”  The nurse smiled and left.

Daniel slept and suckled intermittently, lying securely at his mother’s breast.  Nancy and Dan just stared at him.  They were in awe of this tiny wonder and treasured these first precious moments with their child.  The nurse would be back soon to take him to the makeshift nursery set up in an empty examining room so Nancy could get some rest, but for now he was all theirs and the Carter family held closely to each other without saying a word.

Dr. Clifton had delivered both Nancy and Dan.  Delores Jackson was a personal friend of Dan’s mother.  Dan and Nancy knew everybody in Cullman so it seemed, and they loved it here.  It was home.  And now they had a son.  He would play baseball, catch frogs, and learn all the words to “Dixie” right here in Cullman.  And, Dan and Nancy assumed, he would also fall in love here, marry a local girl, and give them lots of Cullman grandbabies one day.

The baby started to stir and Nancy adjusted to give him better access to her swollen breasts.  He began to cry and, being new parents, Dan and Nancy felt helpless as to what to do.  The baby reached a tiny arm out from under the blanket and opened his eyes for the first time.  Unable to focus yet, he looked at the only thing he could distinguish.  Through the window of the delivery room, Daniel Christopher Carter, Junior saw and reached for the rising sun in the eastern sky.

I.vi

            Juliet and Hal sat in a meadow with a sumptuous picnic feast spread out before them.  Silver platters were heavily laden with fruit, cheese, bread, honey, and some sort of delicious creamy spread which tasted good on everything.  Two goblets of wine washed down the food.  Juliet felt famished, yet all she could do was to stare at the horizon flooded with light.

“My dear, you must eat.  Even Here one needs nourishment, you know.  It will help your awakening.”  Hal directed her.

“I’m sorry.” Juliet responded absentmindedly and reached for a small slice of apple.  She put it between her lips and sucked lightly.

“You can bite the fruit.  You won’t hurt it.  When you eat fruit, you help it to fulfill its destiny.”  Hal explained.

Juliet put the apple slice down.  “Hal, is this heaven?”

Hal laughed.  “You young ones!  Still so wrapped up in human ideology that you must have polarization to provide definition.  Black and white, good and bad, heaven and hell.  Yes, in your way of thinking, I suppose this is heaven.  However, sometimes things which seem or feel bad happen here.”

“Like what?”  Juliet looked at Hal in surprise.

Hal reached over and took her hand. “Like saying goodbye to Romeo.”

“Oh, yes, that.”

“So many people arrive here thinking that because earth was imperfect, this place must be perfection.  But the fact is that this place and earth are not separate at all.  We are simply vibrating at a higher frequency than the incarnated beings.  They are all around us and we are all around them, just on different planes of existence.  Perfection is available to everyone at any time.  In fact, we always already possess perfection.  We just forget that in the fog that is known as being human.”

“After I return to earth, I mean, the earth-plane…”

Hal smiled.  Of course she had already made up her mind.  He would have been foolish to think that she would want it otherwise.  He could hope, though, and to have her stay would have been his hope.  He loved her in the purest way, a love created in the heart and needing no other definition or logic.  So many people on the earth-plane created love out of image or actions, looks and even clothing, things so far below unimportant that they didn‘t even register on that scale.  His love was total and unfettered.  This kind of love could happen in the blink of an eye.  It only needed the recognition of a kindred soul to spark it into a flame.  This kind of love happened to a lucky few on earth, but usually everyone else thought they were crazy.  His love for Juliet made no demands and sought no selfish reason.  He didn’t even think of expressing it in a sexual way, although sex was certainly a part of this almost perfect world and could express the greatest love almost as well as a smile or a hug or a sacrifice even.  He knew that she would give her body to no one but Romeo.  Hal’s perfect love wanted her to return to Romeo more than anything in this world.  Hal’s perfect love would keep him from ever being happy until Juliet was happy.

“After I return to earth,” Juliet repeated, “will I know any of this?”

“You will know the most important things somewhere deep within you.  You may live your entire life being driven to something with no logical explanation.  But, that drive is the very soul of you trying to take you where you need to be.”

“Will I be Juliet?”

“You will always be you.  But, chances are slim that you will be named Juliet.”

“Has Romeo arrived back there yet?”

“Yes.”

“Is he…is he a boy?”

“Yes, he is, although he could have been female.  That was a very astute question, my dear.”

“What is his name?”  Juliet asked in an almost whisper.

“Daniel.  His name is Daniel.” Hal hesitated.  “Did you know that name means brave?  It’s quite fitting.  Romeo has been very brave in his search for you.”

“Will he love another while he’s there?”

Hal hesitated.  He knew he must answer this question carefully.  “He will love many.  Just as you have loved many.”

“I have only loved one.  Only Romeo.”  Juliet insisted.

“Only Romeo in the way you love Romeo.  Juliet, do you love me?”

“Of course I do, Hal, but it’s different.”

“But, no less.  Am I right?  Different, but no less?”

Juliet thought for a moment.  “No.  No less.  Different, but not less.  Odd, I wouldn’t have thought that possible.”

“Most people on earth can’t conceive of it.  They believe that love is one portion they receive and any love subtracts from other love.  Love grows exponentially.  The more you love me and the more you love others, the more you will love Romeo.”

“So, Romeo will love others the way that I love you?”

“Romeo will love in his own way.  There are as many different loves as there are combinations of beings.  Each being is a force of love.  When two beings connect with their forces of love, the love they create is totally unique, unequalled anywhere else.”

“Will he love someone more than he loves me?”

Hal smiled.  “I can promise you this, my dear, Romeo will never love anyone like he loves you.  You are his soul’s mate.  You are his completion.  His creation cannot be finished without you.”

I.vii

            “Daniel!  Daniel, you’re going to be late!”

“O.k., mom!”  Daniel screamed from his upstairs room.  Then under his breath,  “Sheez, I’m almost ready.  Leave me alone, would ya’?”  Daniel tried to tie his bowtie for the third time.  The salesman at the tuxedo store had shown him how, and it had seemed so easy then.  Now he just wanted to rip the damn thing off his neck.  He was sure it would choke him.  Or maybe he was hoping.

D.C. Carter, Jr., had turned 18 three weeks ago, had graduated from high school four weeks ago, had impregnated Sandy Jenkins six weeks ago, and was getting married today.  He always knew that he would marry someone from Cullman, settle down and raise babies.  He just couldn’t fight the idea that what he had always known was not what he had always wanted.  He wanted to see the world.  He wanted to be free from responsibilities and family.  Mostly, he wanted to see any place but Cullman, Alabama, outside his window each morning.  All of the things that were happening to him seemed almost out of his control and certainly against his wishes.

When D.C., Sr., heard about the upcoming grandchild, there had been no other choice.  Daniel would marry Sandy and that was it.  Not only that, but Daniel would be as happy about this new arrival as his daddy had been when he was born.  In 1950, it was the unwritten law of the land in Alabama and especially in the Carter household.  The worst part was that he hadn’t even wanted to lose his virginity to Sandy.  She had seduced him so strongly that he would have looked like a pansy if he had refused.  But, no one would believe that now, that he hadn’t wanted to have sex, hadn’t wanted to make a baby at all.  Sure, it had been fun, but it sure as hell hadn’t been worth this.

“Daniel!  Get down here before Sandy and the whole crowd at the church start panicking!”  Nancy Carter yelled with a woman’s fervor.

“I’m comin’, ma” Daniel said as he ran down the stairs two at a time.  As he reached the ground floor, Nancy Carter met him with a beaming smile.

“Oh, baby, you look so handsome.  I remember the day you were born.  And now here you are, minutes away from bein’ a married man.”

Daniel forced a smile and swallowed hard.  “C’mon, ma.  We’re gonna’ be late.”

D.C.’s knees locked and he could almost feel the blood flow being restricted as he stood at the front of the church waiting for Sandy to come down the aisle.  Daniel, Sr., was best man, a tradition in the south for all but the most unloving of fathers and sons.  Three of D.C.’s football teammates from high school made up the rest of the groomsmen lined up nervously behind him.  Sandy’s mother had insisted upon a large church wedding regardless of the fact that Sandy was in a family way, and Nancy Carter was pleased by the decision.  Daniel had been her only child, and she wanted this wedding as badly as anyone.

Sandy’s younger sister was the acting maid of honor, even though Daniel knew for a fact that she was neither a maid nor honorable.  A trio of Cullman High School pep club members filled out Sandy’s side of the church platform.  Most of Cullman was crowded into the First Baptist Church and most of Cullman, including the minister performing the ceremony, were fully aware of Sandy’s condition.  No one could pin down where the information leak had come from, but news seemed to get around by osmosis in Cullman.

There was no denying that Sandy made a beautiful picture as she slowly walked down the aisle on the arm of her father, a stern man who looked even more so in this situation.  Even D.C. forced a smile when he saw her in her white gown and veil, however inappropriate they might be.  He bent his knees slightly to avert a possible blackout and nervously moved his weight from one foot to the other.

Sandy wasn’t so bad.  He could certainly do a lot worse in Cullman.  But, Cullman wasn’t the whole world and, for some reason, he seemed to be the only person in this god-forsaken town who realized that.  In many ways, he felt like he was attending his own funeral.  D.C. Carter, Jr., would disappear today and in his place would be a respectable family man who looked remarkably like him.  But, that wasn’t all.  D.C. couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was going away today, something far deeper than anything he had ever felt before.  He had figured it was just pre-wedding jitters.  But, today the feeling was so strong that he almost had a hard time breathing.  All he knew right then was that Sandy suddenly looked like a stranger, even though he had known her since kindergarten.  He had this odd thought that he had never met her before in his life.

Sandy and her father reached the front, and she smiled a photograph smile at D.C.  The preacher asked who gave her away and her father made the standard reply.  She kissed her daddy’s stony cheek, then turned to Daniel.  She took his arm, but he kept it hanging straight down at his side.  They faced the minister.  Daniel remembered nothing of the ceremony except that somehow he was able to repeat after the minister in the appropriate places and that he was eternally grateful when the Rev. Maynard said, “Do you, Daniel, take Sandy …”  Sandy!  That was her name!  He had completely forgotten.

The reception was held at the V.F.W. hall.  Any wedding was almost countywide news and the place was packed with Cullmanites eating finger sandwiches of tuna fish on slightly crusty triangles of white bread and white cake with white icing that was not much more than molded sugar.  Everyone seemed to be having a good time so D.C. resigned himself to do the same.  His buddies had packed a small trashcan with ice and Budweiser and hid it under the head table where the new Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Christopher Carter, Jr., sat while everyone stared at them.  D.C. discreetly poured the beer into a plastic cup and drank it like it was water.  He had learned long ago to hide the signs of intoxication from his strait-laced mother, so no one knew that he was getting quickly numb.  The worst parts of the evening were when some jerk would start banging a spoon on a glass, then others would join in and wouldn’t stop until D.C. leaned over and kissed his bride.

After the party, D.C. and Sandy retired to their room on the second floor of the Midtown Hotel.  It was a plain, monkish room with no paintings and drab brown drapes. A queen-sized bed took up too much space in the small room and a ceiling fan only seemed to stir up the smell of mildew.   Sandy excused herself to the ladies room, giggling like a schoolgirl, and Daniel sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands.  This, he thought dreadfully, was the horrible beginning to the rest of his life.

All too quickly, Sandy emerged from the bathroom wearing a slinky red negligee.    Daniel wasn’t the least bit turned on, but suddenly felt a little sorry for her so he managed a smile.  The movement of the smile was all he needed to instantly realize he was drunk.  The room began to spin, and he fell back on the bed.  He woke up in the same position, still in his tuxedo shirt and pants, eight hours later, demons in his head banging on the walls of his skull to get out.

I.viii

            Juliet and Hal were spending most of their time in great leisure.  Their main activity was talking or, more precisely, Hal teaching and Juliet learning.  She had acquired so much information that she was truly amazed at herself for remembering it all.  The most awe-inspiring part was that the more she learned, the more she realized how much there was to learn.  She still knew relatively little in regards to the entire world of knowledge and truth.

She did know that somehow Hal was keeping tabs on Romeo.  He often gave her small tidbits about the current incarnation.  She also knew that there was a great deal he wasn’t telling her.  When she would push him for more information, she would receive less.  When she asked the secret of how Hal was getting this information, he would clam up completely.  He just kept saying that he would only tell her what she absolutely needed to know.  She knew his name was Daniel, he was an only child, and he lived in a town even smaller than Verona.  She knew his birth date and time and she also knew that he was deeply unhappy, although Hal refused to give her any reasons for this.  She simply chose to believe that he was miserable because she wasn’t with him.  She wasn’t far from the truth.

She was beginning to feel very awake and worried that she would have to go back before she and Hal figured out their strategy.  Hal told her not to worry, they still had plenty of time, but he did seem diligent about formulating a plan.

Hal was rightly concerned that “the east” was inadequate direction for a potential rendezvous.  He decided right from the start that he and Juliet would determine an exact location, then he would give Romeo his instructions when he returned, after Juliet was gone.  After all, what was the east exactly?  The Orient?  Eastern Peru?  East St. Louis?

Verona would have been ideal, but it was in the middle of northern Italy, a country in Western Europe, and failed to meet the east requirement in any way.  Venice was the closest place to Verona that might qualify, sitting precariously as it did on the east coast of Italy, half swallowed by the Adriatic Sea.  The possibilities were endless, but a specific place had to be chosen.  Since Juliet was not yet totally aware and still knew relatively little about the earth and its geography, he felt this decision was primarily up to him.  It seemed a small item, yet he took it very seriously.  Hal felt that the environment must be just right for their long overdue reunion.

Juliet didn’t really care.  She just wanted him to hurry.  She wanted every detail in place as far ahead of time as possible.  This was the conversation they had time and again.  It was their current topic of discussion as they sat on the banks of a river skipping rocks.

“Well, if it isn’t Socrates and Plato with their heads together once again.”  Malcolm had ambushed them from behind and proceeded to sit down without invitation.

“Malcolm, no offense, but we are discussing something of some importance here.  Would you mind?”  Hal tried to be polite.

Malcolm knew they wanted him to leave, but he opted to decipher the request in his own manner.  “Not at all.  What’s the problem?  Maybe I can help.”

Juliet showed less restraint.  “It really doesn’t concern you, Malcolm.  Now, we have a lot of work to do and I would appreciate being alone with Hal, if you don’t mind.”

“Well, I do mind.  And furthermore, I find both of your attitudes to be less than loving.  Perhaps I should tell this to the light.”  No matter how Malcolm tried to live in the light of love that defined the eternal Here, he couldn’t seem to shake an essential combativeness to his nature that seemed a thick leftover residue from previous lives.

“And what would the light say?”  Hal, ever the teacher, was asking a leading question.

Malcolm sulked, then answered less assertively, “To mind my own business.  Why are you always pointing out my faults, Hal.  That isn’t very nice.”

“Sometimes it’s the nicest thing that can be done,” Hal responded.

“I swear you’re trying to get me kicked out of here.”

“I don’t have anything to do with it.”

“All right, I’m going.  But, first, just tell me what you two are talking about.  Please?  I get left out of everything.  Just this once and then I’ll leave.  I promise.”  Malcolm was probably the loneliest being here, but he only needed to look inside to find out why.  His insistence on struggle was a weapon that could inflict pain on anyone around him if they allowed it.  Perhaps realizing that the struggle was an illusion would be his lesson on his next trip, which was quickly becoming inevitable.

Hal looked to Juliet.  He would never tell her business without her permission.  Juliet sighed, then hoping it would actually get rid of him, told Malcolm about the dilemma of the future meeting place for her and Romeo.

“Oh, please!  As if that’s a problem!”  Malcolm was never satisfied.  “Just pick a spot.  How about Four Corners?  You know, where the states of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado meet in a perfect corner.  You can’t get much more distinct than that.  There‘s not a single other thing there so it wouldn’t be hard to spot each other.”

“It has to be in the east.”  Hal held up his hand to stop the next question.  “Don’t ask why, it just does, that’s all.”

“Well, that’s eastern Utah.  But, I understand why that really won’t work.  So, somewhere in the east.”  Malcolm mused over the situation briefly, obviously certain that it was up to him to solve this problem.  “Well, since Hal’s last three trips will have been in the “New World,” he’ll feel more comfortable there.  That rules out eastern Bangladesh.  New World on the east coast would seem the most logical answer, but where?  D.C.?  Nah, too political.  Boston?  Umm, too stuffy.  Philly, New York, Cape Cod, … none of those sound quite right either.  Oh, wait a minute.  I’ve got it!  St. Simons.  It’s a lovely little island just off the coast of Georgia. And you can‘t get any more east than an island off the eastern coast.  I was there once and would highly recommend it, although not under the circumstances I was in.”  Malcolm stood up and dusted himself off.  He was greatly pleased with himself.  “Well, I can see that my work here is done.  If you need me further, I shall be at the baths.”  He smiled triumphantly and left.

Hal and Juliet looked at each other.  Juliet didn’t know enough about it all to pass judgment.  Hal gave a reluctant grin and said, “It’s really not a bad idea.”

Juliet smiled.  “It’s settled then.  St. Simons Island, . . . where?”

“Georgia.”

“Georgia.  St. Simons Island, Georgia.  I like the sound of that.”

Malcolm dance-walked to the baths in the center of the village.  “The baths” were really one large pool surrounded by columns and statues.  All four sides of the pool had steps leading into the water that was infinitely deep.  The water was continuously any temperature you wanted it to be.  Malcolm liked luxurious warmth so the water was always about 102 degrees for him.  The bodies of the beings up here were like nothing anyone could imagine on earth – a combination of the physical and the spiritual.  One could feel sensations like hot and cold, wet and dry, but one could also control those sensations by a willing of the spirit.

Malcolm entered the pool at the end farthest away from the huts and gathering halls and lounged on the steps so that he could see the comings and goings of the other beings.  For Malcolm this place had been truly heaven when he discovered that gossip and scandal still existed Here.  The beings did all the things they would do on earth, except Here there were no excuses.  Because the spirit was in complete control, a being couldn’t act out and then blame it on alcohol or the weather or any of the others in the myriad of reasons incarnated humans give for their behavior.  One could drink as much as they wanted Here and never get drunk.   Here nothing outside of beings had an impact not approved by their intention.   All outside forces were controlled by their own wills so it was impossible to do anything but take full responsibility for all words, thoughts, and actions.  That was often a burden for Malcolm, but he was so grateful to know that the beings around him could still give him conversational fodder that he accepted the less desirable parts of his life here.  Just last week Peter The Great (yeah right, thought Malcolm) had called Napoleon Bonaparte an overrated strategist and a midget mind.  This started a verbal brawl which soon drew a small crowd.  Malcolm was pleased to find out that the root of the entire debacle originated in a testosterone war they were waging over the affections of a certain former Somali princess.  It hadn’t been decided yet, but the odds were 2 to 1 that both would be sent back.  Malcolm thought it was a good bet.

As Malcolm relaxed in the water, he noticed several fine-looking young beings stroll by naked.  He loved the acceptance of nudity Here and could wile away hours watching the scenery.  Sex was readily available, but much different than it had been on earth.  It was much less complicated.  You could still engage in the activity for mere immediate gratification, but only if both partners had the same expectation.  Love was such an overpowering concept in this place that Malcolm had learned very quickly how much it enhanced even the physical pleasure in love-making.  This was much different from his experience on earth. On earth, he had only known sex for the sake of sex.  Here, he had at least begun to learn love.

It was still difficult though, and he often allowed less than loving thoughts to enter his mind.  This happened as he lay in the baths lazily watching the passersby.  He began to think about Hal and Juliet and the way they had attached themselves together, always away from the others and talking for hours.  He knew Hal loved Juliet deeply, but that it wasn’t sexual.  He also saw how Juliet turned to Hal for knowledge and approval.  He wanted to be a part of their grand schemes, but they wanted no part of him.  He was instantly filled with intense jealously.  In several of his most recent incarnations, Malcolm had been driven by a strong ego, a need to be in charge, and an intense feeling of misfortune when he was not.

He thought it was very unloving of them not to include him and make him feel welcome.  If it were up to him, he’d send them both back today.  The idea that they were considered much more advanced than he bothered him even more.  He knew that if any one of them got sent back it would most likely be him.  He could live through that.  He’d taken the trip many times before.  But, he hated the idea that any beings could think themselves superior to him.  He didn’t know that Hal and Juliet didn’t think themselves superior at all.  They were far too advanced for that.  Malcolm also didn’t know that he felt they were superior only because he thought of himself as inferior.

He seethed in the pool, building up their “transgressions” in his mind until he had thought them into evil twins.  He envied their enjoyment of each other and would make them pay for it dearly. He felt a familiar tug inside of him pulling him to war and knew that he craved the battle as much as he feared its outcome.  He was going on the offensive and would attack when they least expected it.  He wasn’t sure how he would go about it.  But, somehow, he would make them aware of him in a way that was sure to get their attention.

© Deborah E. Moore – 2011

This is Installment Two of the novel Rose and Justice.   It includes Chapters I.iii and I.iv.  It is 3,951 words long.  As other installments are posted, links for each will be added under the tab labeled “The Novel” at the top of this page.   Enjoy!

I.iii

            It took Hal several hours to tell Juliet about Romeo.  She was trying desperately to remember.  She told Hal about the pain in her chest and he explained how she had killed herself by plunging Romeo’s knife through her own heart.  As Hal explained, self-inflicted wounds took longer to heal, and a blow to the heart was the most tragic kind.  That was one of the reasons she needed 300 years of sleep.  She asked what Romeo looked like, but Hal was too far removed from the physical world to give an accurate description.

“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” she asked.

“You obviously don’t right now.  But, you will.  You’ll remember any moment now.  Besides, the truth is all I know.”

“Why did our families fight?”

“No one remembers.  That’s the way it is with most arguments.  The passion of the fight lasts a lot longer than the injustice.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?  I still don’t want to go back.”

“You will.  And I’m telling you because you need to know it, and you need to know it sooner than you will remember it on your own.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”  Juliet was getting frustrated.

Hal looked at her for a long time.  He really preferred that she stay.  Even this perfect world could use all the extra beauty it could get.  But he knew that he would tell her what she needed to know.  On this plane, the truth was not an option; it was the law.  Arguing against truth was a futile exercise entered into only by those on the earth-plane.  Despite Hal’s personal desires, he was incapable of considering anything else.

“Romeo is looking for you.”

“What?”  Juliet didn’t understand.

“Romeo is looking for you.”  Hal didn’t want to continue, but he did.  “He’s been looking for you for these 300-plus earth-years.  He’s already gone back three times, just to look for you.  He didn’t have to.  It wasn’t required.  But, he won’t stop until he finds you.”

“He’s . . . looking for me?”  Juliet asked.

“Yes,” Hal whispered.  “He traveled to the new world, he fought in two wars, he pioneered the American west, all in an attempt to find you.  When he was there, he didn’t know that was what he was doing.  But, it’s worth saying that he has never married in those three relatively recent adventures.  Even those who go back for love often take misguided paths along the way.”

“Is he back there now?”

“No.  He’s Here.”

“Well, take me to him!”  Juliet was excited.

“You have to remember first.  And I have to help you.”

“Why do you have to help me?”

“Because,” Hal paused, “he’s due to go back within an earth’s day.”

“He’s going back?”  Juliet became frantic.  She still couldn’t remember, but at least she was starting to feel a love in her heart like she had once known.  Her pain had eased with the beginning of this remembrance.  “Well, take me to him.  I’ll go with him!”

Hal laughed.  “Oh, my dear, you’re still quite young.  A long sleep needs a long awakening.  You won’t be fully aware for another 50 earth years at least, and you can’t go back until you have awakened completely.”

“Well, let’s find him.  We’ll tell him to stay.”

“He can’t stay.  Once a decision has been made to return, it’s irreversible.  He’s leaving within 24 hours and nothing can stop him, not even himself.”

Juliet became silent and then felt a tear fall down her cheek.  It felt strange to cry in such a perfect place, but she was losing a love she didn’t even have time to remember fully.  Not only was she losing this love, she wouldn’t even have the chance to know it fully before Romeo would be gone again.  If she could have awakened sooner and remembered, Romeo wouldn’t have to go back to the world of pain.  “Why did you tell me this?” she asked between weeping breaths. “What am I supposed to do now?”

Hal was almost sorry he had said a word, but he knew that he’d had no other choice.  He had to get Juliet to Romeo before Romeo returned to earth.  “Juliet, we must find him.  You have to tell Romeo where you’ll meet him in the life after this.”

“Why can’t I just wait for him to return?”

“Because unrequited love can only be completed back on earth.  You have to fulfill your passion in the physical world before you can live with it forever in the spiritual world.  You and Romeo must find each other again on earth.  Now, we must hurry.  We must catch him before he leaves.”

“Why?  If I won’t be fully awake for another 50 years, then we can’t find each other on earth until he returns Here and then goes back again.  We can tell him when he comes back from this next incarnation.”

“No, Juliet, we must tell him now.”  Hal took Juliet’s hand and lifted her to her feet.  “You need to trust me.  Let’s go.”

Hal held Juliet’s hand as he led her swiftly through the woods.  He had been aware when she heard the thoughts of the panther.  He only hoped against hope that she could not read his thoughts now.  It was always easier to read the thoughts of the animals.  They didn’t try to cover their feelings or control their mental output.  With any luck, Juliet could not yet hear the thoughts of spirit beings.  If she could, she would know that Hal was thinking about the possibilities that existed; the possibilities that were always present when a lover returned to earth.  If they didn’t get to Romeo in time, he might return to earth and find someone whom he believed to be Juliet.  Granted, it wouldn’t be Juliet and it wouldn’t be his soul-partner, but the distraction could keep him off track for centuries.  And Juliet couldn’t take that.  Not once she remembered. 

 

I.iv

            As they dance-walked swiftly through the forest, Juliet noted that the touch of Hal’s hand on hers was indeed electric, more electric than touching herself even.  She wasn’t reading his mind because she had forgotten that it was a possibility.  She was just watching everything around her – the trees growing out of the light, the mossy ground giving off the radiance of the light, everything everywhere simply being the light.  She watched Hal dance-walking quickly in front of her.  He had once been only a distant figure, shapeless and colorless.  With each passing moment, he was becoming more vibrant to her eyes.  He wore a yellow tunic like nothing she had ever seen, if she had actually ever seen anything; she still wasn’t sure.  The tunic was formless and without a single stitch anywhere.  However, it seemed to fit the form of his being perfectly – loose, yet contoured to his body.  His tunic was the color of the sun and she remembered then that she knew what the sun was.  There was no sun here.  The light did not seem to need a source.  It was everywhere.  His pants were of the same form – perfectly fitted in a loose, flowing way.  They were purple.  He wore no shoes, and she noticed that neither did she.

Now that she could see colors besides the green of his eyes, she looked down at her own clothing.  She wore a gauzy shift which stopped at her knees.  It was a creamy white and so soft that she was not able to feel it against her skin.  And her skin, her skin was almost the same color as her dress – just a little darker and a little more vibrant.  Her skin glowed and she decided then that she must indeed be a light source just like everyone and everything else in this place.  The light came from deep within her and suffused her with energy.  With each step she was growing stronger.  The pace was not tiring to her at all.  Rather, it seemed to invigorate her.  Her breathing was still deep and slow, even with the briskness of her movements.

As her breaths increased her energy and color came alive around her, she began to regain an awareness of her broader knowledge.   Concepts were becoming a part of her understanding as if they had always been there, just asleep, but she still had a lot of questions.   She thought that it might be possible to talk while they moved so she asked Hal the question still on her mind.

“Why must we hurry?  Can‘t we wait for his next return?”

“No, Juliet,” Hal replied.  He hesitated, then decided she should know at least one of the reasons for their haste.  “When a being chooses to return for reasons of passion, they only have a short span of time after they have fully awakened to make that decision.  Once that window of time has closed, they may never return again.  That is why Romeo has kept going back.  If he hadn’t, he would have been stuck here forever, never able to find you in the world where passion must be fulfilled.  He knew you were Here and would awaken eventually.  And he knew that you would come looking for him just as he has looked for you.  So he has always requested the return trip as soon as he was fully awake.  Your window of time will happen when you completely awaken.  And, Juliet, you may have to return to earth before Romeo returns to this place.”

“But, I feel awake now.  How will we know when I am fully awake?”

“You will hear from the light.”

Juliet mulled this over for a moment.  “I don’t understand.  What do you mean, ‘hear from the light?'”

“The light is the source of all life.  Most humans have created a being to represent it.  It’s very sad that they have placed the light so far away from themselves.  It is in you and around you all the time.”

“Even on earth?”

“Everywhere.  The light will speak to you when you have awakened.”

“Can I speak to it?”

“Of course.  You can speak to it now.  The light is always with you.  But, in order to hear the light, you must be fully awake and aware of your role in the system of love.”

Juliet thought quietly for a moment.  She had forgotten that Hal was reading her thoughts constantly and was unaware that he was smiling privately at her musings.  “So,…we have to get to Romeo and tell him where to meet me in the life after this.  Is that right?”

“Exactly.”

“How long is my window of time?”

Hal smiled.  “About nine months, earth time.”

“Oh, like a pregnancy.”  Juliet noted.

“Exactly like a pregnancy.”

Juliet stopped.  Hal felt her energy stop moving forward and instantaneously stopped beside her.  “Wait,” she said.  “There’s so much I need to know.”

“You will know it all soon.”

“Is that coincidence?  The window of time and pregnancy being the same length?”

“Of course not.  There is no coincidence,” Hal explained.  “When a being fully awakens, the choice may be made to return.  The time that you are in right now is the learning period where one contemplates options and makes decisions.  That decision is what initiates a new life on earth.”

“What about miscarriages?”

“Early in the pregnancy, or window of time, you may reverse your decision.  Of course, when you do this, you may never return again.  That’s why relatively few ever make that decision.”

“All right then, what about an aborted pregnancy?”

“Oh, my dear, you will know all of this very soon, and now we must hurry.”

“Just that one more question.  Answer that and we’ll continue.”  Juliet insisted.

“All right, I’ll explain it very quickly, but you still may not understand until the answer comes to you later.  I wish you would just trust me.  You will know everything very soon.  But, as for your question, it involves a concept that very few people on earth understand.  You see, there is nothing that can be done to you without your acceptance.  On earth, many do not realize that they accepted their destiny long before they were born, or even conceived.  Many beings agree to go to a life that will be aborted for a myriad of reasons.  Perhaps a young mother needs a lesson.  Perhaps a family needs a challenge to help them learn what they have returned to learn.  The reasons are many and very complex, but trust me, there is always a reason.  The light has an infinite number of ways to teach people.  Now, can we go?”

“All right,” Juliet replied, looking at Hal warily.  She wasn’t buying all of this yet.  However, she was receiving information now faster than she was aware.  She was already cognizant of so much more than she had ever known as Juliet.  Perhaps she should trust Hal.   It seemed as if, for the time being, she had no other choice.

They continued their fast pace through the woods.  The browns of the tree trunks and the greens of the leaves were growing more vibrant with each passing minute.  What had once seemed a palette of true and solid colors was melting into subtle shades and an infinite number of hues.  Juliet asked one more question as they ran.

“How big is this place?”

Hal looked back at her and grinned.  “Oh, my dear, big is not the word for it.”

They were running now.  They had stopped the dance-walk and were simply running, like racehorses going from a canter to a full-speed gallop.  They were moving at a speed unattainable for a person on earth.  The forest whizzed by, and yet Juliet was conscious of every plant and every animal that they passed.  She tried to hear their thoughts.  When she did so, the sound was a cacophony.  A rabbit said hello.  A squirrel asked if they had seen any nuts around.  A parrot asked if anyone had seen Richard.  Ants marching were chanting “hup-two-three-four” in a chorus.  And Juliet could swear that a philodendron told her to have a nice day.  She soon realized that if she focused on one being only, thoughts from others would disappear.  However, they were moving at such a clip that her conversations along the way were reduced to small talk.

She tried to focus on Hal.  There was nothing.  She wondered if she just couldn’t hear him yet.  She tried calling to him in her mind.  Still nothing.  She had almost given up when suddenly, as if he had sneaked up on her in her own mind, she heard Hal’s voice in her head.

“How are you?”

“Fine.”  She thought back.  “Have you been listening to my thoughts the whole time?”

“Of course, my dear.  By the way, Richard is a skunk who lives in the valley we just passed through.  He and the parrot are very close friends.  After we complete our task, I’ll go back and tell the parrot that Richard was sent back as a lawyer.  By the way, I’m glad we can talk this way now.  Welcome to my mind.”

“Me, too.  I didn’t think I could do it at first.”

“You couldn’t,” Hal’s thought answered back.  “This takes a lot of concentration.  When you are first awakening, all of your mental capabilities are concerned with simply figuring out what the hell’s going on Here.”

“Should you cuss in this place?”

“Why not?  Do you think I’ll be sent to hell or something?”

“Is there a hell?”

“Yes.  But only on the earth-plane.  And no one gets ‘sent’ there.  Beings send themselves by making choices not in line with truth.  Trust me, cussing won’t send you there.  Anger and bitterness will.”

“About Richard . . .”

“Yes?”

“Can humans go back as animals and animals as humans?”

“And plants as fish and reptiles as arachnids.  All of life is interchangeable.”

“Was I ever an animal?”

“Of course, my dear.  We’re all animals, if you want to get technical.  However, in the human way of thinking about animals, yes, you were a rabbit to start off, then a calico cat, and then you moved right up to chimpanzee, a very impressive leap if I must say so myself.  From chimp, you went right to human.”

“Is there anything above human?”

“We don’t think of one life form being ‘above’ or ‘below’ another.  There is no above or below.  There is only Here.  Every being serves a valuable purpose and is involved in personal and universal evolution.  But, most highly evolved beings tend to select reincarnation as a human.  Humans are the only beings on the earth-plane with a highly developed language system and, having forgotten that they can communicate perfectly well with their minds, spoken and written words come in handy.  Language assists in the evolution and therefore returning as human is preferred.  But, of course, when humans evolve completely, they come Here and live forever as spirit beings.”

They were silent for a few moments as Juliet pondered all of this.  Hal listened in on her innocent ponderings and chuckled inside.

“Stop laughing at me.”  Juliet thought.

“I can’t help it,” Hal replied.  “You’re precious.”

They came out of the forest into a large meadow.  On the far side of the meadow, Juliet could see many other human-type beings dance-walking around.  When they arrived at the gathering, Juliet saw that they were on the edge of a town or village.  There were small huts and large meeting places.

“Why are there huts?  I would have thought that everyone here would have a castle.”  Juliet thought to Hal.

“Everyone has everything they need here.  On earth, people need large houses because they are consumed with the idea of possessions.  Here, no one owns anything and therefore, everyone has access to everything.  Evolved life is always the simplest life.  Besides, what is wrong with a hut?”

They reached the crowd and slowed to a dance-walk again.  Hal said hello to everyone they passed.  Juliet smiled and nodded.  Many looked at her as if she were a new spectacle, which she was.  They were all friendly and made nice comments to her.

They dance-walked through the village.  On the other side was a sparse-looking field.

“How much farther?”  Juliet asked.

“We’re almost there,” Hal replied.  “The tunnel is on the far side of this field.”

“The tunnel?”

“Yes,” was all Hal offered.

“What tunnel?”

“The return tunnel.  The giant birth canal in the sky, if you will.  That’s where we’ll find Romeo.”  And then he added, “If we’re not too late.”

Juliet felt his urgency and increased her pace, coming up beside Hal.  The field was expansive and it seemed they would never reach the other side.  In the distance, Juliet could see a large hole, like the entrance to a great cave, and around the entrance the wind was swirling like a small tornado.  Walking towards the tunnel was a being.

“That’s him,” Hal said.  “Call to him.  Call loudly.”

Juliet opened her mouth.

“No, call with your mind.  It’s much stronger than your voice,” Hal interjected.

Juliet began calling in her mind, not even fully aware of what she was doing any of this for. “Romeo!  Romeo, wait!”

The figure kept moving toward the tunnel entrance. The swirling wind was beginning to block him from view.

“Call stronger!”  Hal said firmly.

“Romeo!” Juliet willed.  “Romeo, please wait!  I have to talk to you!”

The figure kept walking.  In a moment, it would be too late.

“You must call out stronger.  If you don’t reach him now, he will be gone.”  Hal warned.

“Romeo! Please stop, Romeo. It’s Juliet!”  Juliet focused every bit of energy she had on the willing of her thoughts.

The being stopped and turned around slowly.  He was slender and strong.  He had brown hair that fell around his face in wavy curls.  His eyes were gentle like a doe’s, yet piercing like a hawk’s.  He was so beautiful that Juliet gasped.  When she gasped, every memory came rushing into her being like a flood.  She was a Capulet again and Romeo a Montague.  She remembered in an instant that he had been the god of her idolatry.  Their love had been forbidden, yet could not be denied.  She remembered the words that had been spoken.  Had she said them to him or him to her? It didn’t matter; they had both meant them. “I will but love thee better after death.”  It was true.  She remembered now the love they had once shared and also knew that she loved him more now than she could have dreamed in Verona.  She also knew that his love for her had grown in the same way.  She was stunned by the onslaught of pure emotion created by this perfect connection, for in the moment of her recognition she felt no distance between them.  She stared at him as the winds whipped his tunic and pulled him into the tunnel.  He stretched his arm towards her.  The light from this world was behind her, sending only a silhouette of her to him.

Romeo fought the wind and tried for another look at her.  He could see nothing but her shadow, but knew it was her.  It was his Juliet.

Hal whispered to Juliet,  “Now, Juliet!  You must tell him where you’ll meet him!  Hurry, tell him now!”  Hal had not even considered that he should have helped Juliet determine this.  He assumed she would choose a spot in Verona that they would both know, a place familiar to them and already charged with the energy of their love.

Before she could respond, Romeo spoke, his arms stretched out, reaching toward her against the powerful wind.  “It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.”

“Tell him!  He’s going.  Tell him now!”  Hal insisted.

But all that Juliet could do is smile, and all she could say was, “The east, the east.”  And then he was gone.

Juliet stood perfectly still, staring at the entrance to the tunnel for a very long time; perhaps moments, perhaps hours, perhaps days, she wasn’t sure.  Hal stood just behind her, as motionless as Juliet.  As her teacher, he would wait there with her as long as it took.

She was staring at the tunnel, but in her head she was seeing visions of a different time.  As the memories kept cascading through her soul, she saw each one clearly and had absolute recollection of each moment.  Every memory held Romeo; every feeling, every heartbreak, every passion she had ever known was Romeo.  She remembered the party where they first met.  She remembered that he courted her unashamedly.  She remembered the tomb and the knife she plunged into her tender breast.  She remembered how it hadn’t mattered; Romeo was dead and no pain could ever be more immense than that.  Releasing herself from a life without Romeo had not been a choice, it had been her destiny.  There was no life without Romeo.

Seeing him leave her again left her almost as empty as holding his limp body in her arms.  At least this time there was hope that they would be together again.  She turned slowly to Hal.

“You remember,” he said softly.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“He’ll be back,” Hal said soothingly.

Juliet looked down timidly at her clasped hands, then back up at Hal, sheepishly, like a child.  A tear came streaming down her cheek.  It shone like a diamond in the light.  She asked quietly, “But, where will I be?”

© Deborah E. Moore – 2011

This is Installment One of the novel Rose and Justice.   It includes the Prologue, Chapter I.i, and Chapter I.ii.  It is 3,406 words long.  As other installments are posted, links for each will be added under the tab labeled “The Novel” at the top of this page.   Enjoy!

JULIET

            Art thou gone so, love-lord, ay husband-friend?

            I must hear from thee every day in the hour,

            For in a minute there are many days.

           O, by this count I shall be much in years

           Ere I again behold my Romeo!

ROMEO

            Farewell!

            I will omit no opportunity

            That may convey my greetings, love, to thee.

JULIET

            O, think’st thou we shall ever meet again?

ROMEO

            I doubt it not; and all these woes shall serve

            For sweet discourses in our times to come

 Romeo and Juliet, Act III, Scene v

PROLOGUE

            Oxley sat on the edge of the footstool transfixed by the vision of Lord Montague sitting in the chair before him.  Oxley’s face was a muddle of consternation and anticipation.

Lord Montague spoke.  “For I will raise her statue in pure gold, that whiles Verona by that name is known, there shall no figure at such rate be set as that of true and faithful Juliet.”

In less than an instant, the figure of Lord Montague morphed magically into that of Lord Capulet.  “As rich shall Romeo’s by his lady’s lie – poor sacrifices of our enmity!”

Lord Capulet’s image disappeared into the face and caped splendor of Escalus, the Prince of Verona.  “A glooming peace this morning with it brings.  The sun for sorrow will not show his head.  Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things; some shall be pardoned, and some punished; for never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.”

The Prince faded slowly away like lights going down on a stage and Maria Claricy now sat in the chair before Oxley.  She slowly closed the book on her lap and crossed her hands on top of it.  “You’ve had your story.  Now off to bed.”

“No!”  Oxley cried out and stood on the stool, his arms akimbo.  “I don’t like that ending.  That’s a horrible way to end a love story!”

Maria Claricy smiled, and it seemed that so did the Snowy Owl perched just behind her left shoulder.  “But, that is how it’s written.”

“And why, I ask?  Why should there ever be anything but happy endings?  Whose idea was that?”

“I believe we can blame that on humanity.  They have such little capacity for understanding that stories never really end.”

Oxley sat back down and crossed both his legs and his arms.  Tucked tightly behind his back were two translucent wings which shimmered purple and pearl in the firelight.  “And it’s just a story, right, Maria?  It’s not really real.”

“Oxley, I’m surprised at you.  Of course, it’s just a story.  Evvv-erything,” she drew the word out dramatically, “is just a story.  The human imagination is so much bigger than their rational minds, however, that they have difficulty accepting that their thoughts are as real as their experiences.  More so, in fact.  So, they have visions of other realities, ascribe them to pure fancy, and sometimes share them with others and call it fiction.”

Oxley tapped his index finger against his right temple, just in front of his slightly pointed ear.  “And so, if the human imagination is as real as anything, and if stories never end, then this story, Romeo and Juliet’s story, is not . . . over?”

Maria Claricy smiled.  Her green eyes sparkled a little more brightly.  “Oh, my dear Oxley.  It has only just begun.”

The Snowy Owl hooted, a deep, hollow, reverberating tone.

I.i

            She awakened, but not from sleep.

She awakened from an absence of consciousness.  It was a slow awakening, perhaps taking years.  She had no concept of time.  Her awareness began with the knowledge of a soft light.  It was light seen through a fog, and she couldn’t quite tell where it began or ended.  The light had no source; rather, it enveloped her completely and seemed almost to be a thing of substance.  She felt the light as much as she saw it.  The light grew gradually brighter until now it was so radiant that it should have burned her eyes, but it didn’t.  It had a crystalline sheen, the most beautiful vision she had ever seen, yet somehow familiar.

She sat up and tried to see beyond the light.  There was nothing.  She looked behind her to see what she had been lying on.  She simply wanted to see something, anything that would give her some sense of her surroundings.  But all she saw beneath her, beside her, all around her, was the light.

She seemed to be nowhere.

Somewhere deep within her chest she felt an ache that was painful and comforting at the same time.  It seemed that, for now, this ache was the only thing she possessed.  Her awareness of the light and the ache made her aware that she was a thinking being, but knowledge of anything else eluded her.  She didn’t know her name or even if she had ever had a name.  She didn’t know her most recent memory or even if she had any memories.

She stood.  Looking down, she saw that she was standing on the light.  She felt awake and yet knew that the awakening was still happening.  She could hear her breathing, feel it rush back and forth between her lungs and the light, and with each new breath she felt as if she was becoming more and more aware, more and more awake.  She took a step, then stopped.  She stood still for several moments or several hours or several days, she wasn’t sure, and pondered the idea that the same solid light she stood on was the same ethereal light she moved through.

As the breath moved in and out of her, each breath a conscious act, the light seemed to grow brighter and at the same time soften such that she believed she could see figures moving about in the distance.  She tried to call to the figures, but the sound of her voice disappeared in the light only inches from her mouth.  The act of calling depleted her energy immediately and almost completely.  She rested for awhile and watched the figures dancing in the light.  When she felt her strength return, she called again and thought that this time the sound had moved further, perhaps the length of her arm.

She began to ask herself questions, focusing as much on the asking as the search for an answer.  What is my name?  Who am I?  Where am I? What am I?  Is there a you?  Who are you?  And then she felt her mind shift into a new and yet familiar place.  Wherefore art thou?  That question sounded more comfortable somehow and she repeated it to herself again and again.  Wherefore art thou?  Wherefore art thou?   She could make words, sentences, questions, and thoughts, but she couldn’t seem to make any answers.  She pondered this for several moments, or several hours, or several days; she wasn’t sure.

She saw the figures now as beings who looked as she thought she must look.  She called out to them again.  Her voice seemed to travel much farther now, and she thought that one figure even turned to look in her direction.  But the figure turned back and kept dancing in the light.  She began to have the first traces of a memory.  It wasn’t much, but she was certain that she had experienced an awareness of this light before.  She thought that it might have been when she first came here.  But, where was here?  And from where had she come?  That, she did not know.

She danced for awhile as she saw the figures doing.  She thought that perhaps they would see her and join her in the dance.  Then she could ask them the questions and see if they had any answers.  It was not a dance, really.  It was more of a dance-walk.  The other beings were moving deliberately, yet did not seem concerned about getting anywhere.  Arms moved in huge swinging arcs leaving light trails.  Legs kicked high with the methodic motion of marching yet seemed as fluid as flippers flying through the surf.   She tried to dance-walk toward the other beings, but they seemed to remain the same distance from her no matter how fast she moved.  She intuitively knew that her own dance-walk was jerky and disjointed.  She rested.  For moments, or hours, or days.  She wasn’t sure.

She tried to call out to them again.  Three of the figures stopped dancing and looked in her direction for a long time.  She called out repeatedly as loudly as her strength would allow, but they stood like statues, looking her direction as if they weren’t quite sure there was someone there at all.  Her strength depleted, she sat on the light to rest, and the figures resumed their dance.

Her chest ached fiercely now and she clutched her hand to her heart.  Her heart!  She knew that she had a heart and in the same instant knew that it was the representative for all her feelings.  She looked to her chest.  She saw her own whispery form among the light.  It was difficult to tell where she began and the light ended.  It seemed as if she were not separate from the light, but rather a particle of the light itself.

She held her hand in front of her face.  The closer she held it to her face, the more distinct the features became.  But, when she held it too close, it disappeared altogether.  She stood there for a long time moving her hand from the point of too-close non-existence to as far as her arm would reach.  At the full length of her arm, her hand did not appear too distinct or too hazy; it simply looked like a hand.  She held up both hands.  She crouched down and examined her feet.  She touched her feet and experienced the sensation of feeling.  It seemed electric, even though she was not quite sure what electric was.  She decided that electric was the feeling of form on form.  She wondered if it would be electric if she touched one of the other forms dancing in the distant light.  She ran her hand slowly from her toes, up her legs, across her torso, over the hills of her breasts, and finally to her face.  The feel of her hand on her face was almost overpowering.  Even the light seemed to intensify when her hands were on her face.  She spent a great deal of time doing this.  It was much longer than moments, hours, or days.  It may have been years, decades, or even centuries that she spent discovering herself, relearning who she was and what she was.

When she finally looked up from her body, she was startled to find that the figures were dancing much closer to her.  She could almost reach out and touch them.  She watched them dance, then took a deep breath and called to them, desperate to have someone hear her.  The dancing stopped, and all the figures turned to her.

“You don’t have to yell,” one being retorted.

“Leave her alone,” another said.  “She’s new at this.”

“Well, she doesn’t have to yell,” said the first, a rather ill-tempered creature.

The second being ignored the first and turned to her. “How do you feel?  The awakening can be quite exhausting.”

“I… ” she hesitated, feeling odd that she was actually communicating with another being.  “I think I’m going to be alright.  Where am I?”

The kinder being smiled.  “You are Here.”

“Where is Here?”  she asked.

“Here is …Here.  Here is everywhere, but mostly Here is here.”  The being smiled again and she knew that this being would be kind to her.  His kindness radiated but seemed to originate in his green eyes, the first color she recognized Here.

“How did I get Here?”

“She’s still yelling.” the combative one complained.

The kind being turned to the other and communicated telepathically, “She doesn’t understand yet, Malcolm.  She hasn’t learned to share herself through thought.  Besides, no one could yell as much as you did when you first arrived.”

“Oh, yes.  Pick on Malcolm.  It’s so easy, isn’t it, Hal?  Just because I demand a little order around here.”

“Malcolm, quiet yourself.”  Hal, the kind one, said.

“How can I quiet myself when I’m not making any noise.”  Malcolm countered.

“Then stop thinking,” Hal said.  “I’m trying to welcome our new guest.  Besides, remember what Aristotle told you.”

Malcolm quieted his mind and slunk back into the growing crowd of twenty or thirty beings.  Aristotle had told him only that morning that an attitude like his would get him sent back time and time again.  Anyone who arrived Here knew that this was the best place to be.  Only an unlearned lesson could send you back against your wishes, and only a passion would make you volunteer for reincarnation.  Very few ever chose a return trip to the physical world and most of those who did met with pain and tragedy.  They were either assassinated or ridiculed for being heretics, demanding of the physical world what had been so easily attained in the spiritual world.  Malcolm had been through wars in his earth-times, and the memory of the incarnate struggle was still fresh in his spirit.  He would never choose to go back to a world that had caused him so much pain.  However, he knew that if he did not show love and wholeness, he would be sent back against his will to learn what every being must learn in order to live Here forever.  He had been warned once, and now Hal was warning him again.  If he was warned a third time, no being’s petition could keep him from going back.

“Now, my dear,” Hal directed to her.  “I believe your question was how did you get Here.  You were always Here, you just didn’t always know it.  At times your mind was preoccupied with being incarnate.”

“I don’t understand,” she said.

“I know you don’t, but you will soon.  Why don’t we take a walk, and I’ll explain everything to you.”

“But, who am I?  I have to know that now,” she said.

“You are you,” Hal smiled.

She was feeling exasperated.  “O.k., I am me and here is Here, but that doesn’t really tell me much.”

“You want to know who you were.”

She hesitated.  “Yes, who was I?”

Hal smiled.  “You, my dear, were Juliet.”

I.ii

            Hal and Juliet departed from the crowd, Hal dance-walking gracefully, Juliet flailing about like an eaglet trying to fly for the first time.  Where there was only light before, Juliet suddenly saw plants and trees, animals and birds and bees, mountains and streams.  Color came alive and was becoming more vibrant with each breath she took.  It was a perfect world.  There was no survival of the fittest.  Everything survived and everything was fit.  If a fly happened to land in a spider’s home, the spider patiently set the fly free then invited the fly to stay for tea.  Alligators offered rides across the river to piglets.  A lion sleeping in the shade offered his hind quarters as a pillow for a lamb.  It was the most beautiful place Juliet had ever seen, even though she really couldn’t remember seeing any place else.  Peace seemed almost tangible.  Peace was the law of the land, and love was the justice.

Juliet followed silently behind Hal until they came to a grassy bank alongside a stream that seemed a blanket of lush green suede.  Along the way, she had tried to hear his thoughts.  She understood enough to know that Malcolm’s irritation with her rested in her inability to communicate telepathically.  Either she still didn’t get it or Hal simply wasn’t thinking anything.  She heard only the quiet noise of whippoorwills and katydids.  As they reached their resting place, a panther darted out of the woods and almost ran into Juliet.

“Excuse me,” the panther said.

Juliet nodded and smiled.  Then she looked twice at the retreating panther.  Had he really opened his mouth and spoken?  She didn’t think so.  She had heard his thought!  And she wasn’t trying at all.

Hal motioned for her to sit on the grassy hillock.  “Awakening can be quite difficult.  It takes a lot of energy.”

“I keep feeling the need to rest,” Juliet explained apologetically.

“That’s understandable.”  Hal smiled.  He sure smiled a lot, but Juliet liked it.

“Do you know everything about me?” she asked.

“I know more about you than you knew as Juliet, but I know less about you than you know about yourself Here.”

Juliet laughed.  “I know nothing about myself.”

“You know everything about yourself.  You’re just still awakening right now.”

“How long does that take?”

“It varies,” Hal responded.  “For some, it takes no time at all. For others, it takes centuries.  It all depends on how much sleep you need.”

“I must have needed quite a bit.”

“Well, you did take a little longer than normal, but I’ve seen quite a few who took a long time.  It took Louis XIV more than 200 earth-years to awaken.  He’s back there now.  He’s still got a lot to learn.  That whole ‘I am the state’ thing guaranteed him a return trip.”

Juliet, oblivious to affairs on planet earth, asked the next obvious question.  “How do we get our names here?  Why are you Hal and Malcolm is Malcolm?”

“We really don’t need names.  Names are only useful when we are talking about someone who is not present at the moment.  However, for convenience’s sake, we generally take whichever incarnated name we liked the best.  For most, it’s the last one since we are simply more used to that one and since that is the lifetime in which we were usually the most evolved.  Malcolm was a soldier, a Scotsman who helped found a little town in Georgia.  That’s a place in the New World.  It was settled after you went to sleep.  I was a writer and philosopher in New England.  That’s also in the New World.  I died after a long life of trying to get people to understand just a little truth.  My sleep did not last very long.  I may go back someday, but I don’t have to.  Malcolm, on the other hand, is destined to return any day now.  If my heart was not ruled by love, I would suggest that we send him back as a mule.  Although he certainly doesn’t need to learn any more stubborn.”

Juliet was amused by the stories, but wanted to know more about who she was.  “So, was Juliet my name in the … last incarnation?”

“Yes.”

“When was that?”

“Earth years?”

“I guess.”

“1597.”

Juliet paused.  “And what year is it now?”

“1920.”

Juliet swallowed hard.  “You mean, I’ve been asleep for over 300 years?”

“Yes, my dear.  You really needed the rest.  You see, since time began, you have been an avid supporter of love.  It takes its toll.  Your last incarnation was especially hard.  Passion is always exhausting.”

“So, if I’ve been a supporter of love, then I don’t have to go back, right?”

Hal paused.  “No.  No, you don’t have to go back.  You can stay right here as long as you wish.”  He smiled at her, a gentle and loving smile.  Her auburn hair gleamed like diamonds resting in the clay.  Her eyes were the azure blue of the unpolluted seas.  She was without a doubt the most beautiful being he had ever seen.  Her beauty was only surpassed by the pureness of her heart.  She knew no malice and no shame.  She hadn’t felt a hateful feeling since a few hundred years before Jesus was born – and that was only because she was in deeply in love with a Greek man who preferred lovers of his same sex.  Even her last hate was grounded in her love and passion.  But, the hate had disappeared long ago and her love had grown ever stronger.

“So, I’ll stay,” Juliet said decisively. “I like it here and I like you.”  She smiled.

Hal green eyes flashed knowingly.  “I like you, too.  But, you won’t stay.”

“Why won’t I?”  Juliet inquired.  “What would ever make me want to return?”

Hal waited a long moment before he said,  “Romeo.”

© Deborah E. Moore – 2011