Chapter 5: Meeting Turtle Mother

Sarana's Gift will officially launch 1/29/2016, a day of creativity and joy! I hope you enjoy reading this segment.  Also ... I would love to hear your comments and thoughts about the story. The next chapter will post on 2/3/2016 ... or, from now till 1/29/2016, you can get a complete copy of the story by leaving a note on the Email Us form on the right.

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Sarana's GiftChapter 5: Meeting Turtle Mother(Available here until 3/2/2016)

From: proyectobaulaostional.blogspot.comGradually my descent slowed and I struggled upward toward a faint light glowing in the distance. I fought to hold the air in my burning lungs which now felt like they would burst. Just when I thought I could stand it no longer, I broke the surface and gasped air and freedom in equal gulps.

My heart soared as I realized I was out of that endless, dark tunnel and then plummeted as I gazed around at the somber, tangled jungle that surrounded me.

“Wh ... where am I?” I sputtered, spinning around through the dead leaves and twigs that covered the pool. I treaded water as I studied the thick jungle beyond the pool which was ringed with gray, porous rock. The air was hot and moist, and mud sucked at my feet when I tried to walk. I heaved myself onto the bank, exhausted.

Questions buzzed through my mind like the insects around my head. “Where am I? What is this strange place? How can I get back? Why is this happening to me? Who will help me?” Nothing made any sense.

My body ached and my eyes were so tired that I finally curled up in a ball and folded my hands under my head. The earth resonated softly ... music ...

a melody, caressing me, lulling me, pulling me toward warmth, a fire, and the smell of roasting food. I follow the music to a clearing where I see a white house surrounded by a picket fence with welcoming light pouring from the open door and windows.

I step onto the wooden porch grayed with time and see several small burros sleeping in clumps. Cautiously, I enter the house. A deer walks around in the dining room. There is a dark spot where it peed on the carpet. I gently guide it toward the open door. It walks out and down the porch steps.  

In a small bedroom, there are piles of blankets on the floor. I lift one and see sheep and deer all sleeping together. I go into the next room and there are more, fifteen in all.  I wake them up and shoo them outside.

I return to the living room and sit on a stool by the fire. A man hands me soup and lavender and then gently kisses my forehead and murmurs, “Go if you wish; take what you left behind.”

The rising sun woke me from the dream. I felt confused and unsettled at not knowing where I was. The thick jungle extended as far as I could see. When I shook my head to clear it, those odd words from the dream came back to me. “Go if you wish? Take what you left behind?”

“What an odd dream,” I thought. The words from the dream echoed again in my mind: Go if you wish, take what you left behind. I hugged my knees, wondering what that meant. Confused, I just wanted to retreat back into sleep and pull one of those dream blankets over my head.

“No, I can’t do that,” I thought as I stood up and walked around the rocky pool, aimlessly touching trees, feeling the dark, rough bark with my fingertips. Something called me to the edge of the dense jungle. I squeezed through the trees as if something was leading me.

The trees, the pool, everything around me felt familiar, like I had been here before.
From tree to tree I drifted, touching, caressing each one until a sudden jolt shot up my arm when my hand slipped into a hole in a thick trunk. It was filled with soft debris and sparks tingled through my fingers as I brushed away feathers, leaves and twigs, digging deeper into the depth.

Something cool and smooth met my fingers and I pulled it into the light. It was a round disc that easily fit my palm and reminded me of sky in early morning. It was turquoise inlaid with a spiral symbol. A flash of recognition surged through me as I ran my finger along its surface. I didn’t know how, but I knew it was for me.

“Go if you wish,” the words from the dream repeated. “Go where?” I wondered. “And, why?”

I sat down on a log and held the turquoise amulet while endless questions poured into my mind. “Why should I go somewhere? I don’t even know where I am. What would happen if I go? What would happen if I don’t?”

The one thing I knew was that I couldn’t go back into that dark tunnel. “I just can’t!” I said as I stood up. “I don’t even know how to get back there anyway. I can’t stay here either though ... wherever here is.”

The amulet hung from a leather strap and I absently put it around my neck. A tremor of energy ran through me. I felt alert as I turned in a slow circle to look once again at the jungle. “Something about those trees,” I thought, pointing in a direction that just seemed to feel right.

I walked into the green, leafy jungle, through dappled, white-yellow beams of sunlight. I walked all day, struggling through the undergrowth. That night I climbed into the crook of an owl's tree and rested uneasily as the terrifying sounds of the night never stopped and unseen bugs tormented my skin. The damp air was thick and smelled primal, like compost mixed with cat urine and plumeria.

The next day, weary and hungry, I walked on again, pushing through the trees and vines that grabbed at my arms and legs until I came to a pebbled rivulet. After I rested and drank, I followed the stream until it reached a long, black-sand beach and blue water as far as I could see.

There I dropped onto the sand near the edge of the beach and could see an enormous black and white-speckled turtle watching me from the edge of the dunes. It was the biggest turtle I had ever seen, easily as long as I was tall, with ridges running down its back. Its shell appeared soft, almost rubbery, and pale spots covered its face and clawless front flippers.

I hesitated, afraid to move toward the huge animal whose black eyes locked onto mine. The words “Turtle Mother,” floated into my mind. The turtle continued to look at me with those dark, bottomless eyes and then slowly nodded her massive head.

" good … winter daughter ... here."

I fell back, startled at the soundless words. Her words were halting as they continued “… long journey ... fear ... dark tunnel ... sky stone … walk day ... walk day again."

Tears sprang to my eyes, “She knows. Somehow she understands where I’ve been and what I’ve been through,” I thought.

"daughter ... grow strong," the silent words continued, "danger ahead ... listen ... listen … babies crying ... crying ... red death coming ... save babies."