SARA, BOOK 2 (4 page)
Authors: ESTHER AND JERRY HICKS
A Born Uplifter
I
t had felt like a very long day at school.
Sara knew that Seth was running to catch up with her, but she had decided not to stop and wait for him. She was still mad
at him for his awful prank yesterday, and she wasn’t going to give in to him so easily. In fact, she had pretty much decided
never to talk to him again.
Seth didn’t understand why what seemed to him like an innocent and potentially very funny prank had affected Sara so negatively.
He had no way of knowing that the spot he had chosen was the exact place on which Sara’s beloved Solomon had actually died.
Seth caught up with Sara. “Hey,” Seth said softly.
Sara didn’t answer.
They walked, neither speaking. Seth thought of many things he might say, but when he practiced them in his mind they all seemed
wrong.
Jason, Sara’s little brother, and his friend Billy raced by on their bicycles. “Sara’s got a boyfriend, Sara’s got a boyfriend,”
they chided in unison as they passed by.
“Shut up!” Sara yelled back.
A cat scurried across the sidewalk right in front of Sara and Seth. The cat startled Seth, and he jumped a funny little jump
in the air. Sara managed to contain her laughter, but she couldn’t stop her grin altogether. It broke the icy tension.
“That cat reminds me of one we used to have,” Seth said.
Sara watched the cat run off into the bushes. She had tried to catch that very cat many times, but never could. He was wild
and mangy and fast.
“Oh yeah?” Sara said, trying hard to stay mad at Seth.
“We called our cat Tripod,” Seth said, hoping to get some sort of response from Sara.
It worked.
“Tripod?” Sara questioned and laughed at the same time. “What a weird name.”
“Well,” Seth said, looking down with a very sad face, “he only had three legs.”
Sara blurted out her laugh. It wasn’t nice to laugh about a poor crippled cat, but the shock of a three-legged cat in combination
with his three-legged name was too much for Sara to contain.
Seth was very pleased that Sara was talking to him again.
“What happened to Tripod’s leg?” Sara asked.
“We never found out. Probably got caught in a trap or something. Maybe a snake.”
Sara winced.
“Yeah, we had a two-legged cat once, too,” Seth said with great seriousness. “We called him Roo, you know, short for kangaroo.”
Sara laughed, imagining a cat springing around on its back legs, but she was suspicious that Seth was making
this
one up. What were the odds of having a three-legged cat
and
a two-legged cat?
“Geez, your family sure was hard on cats!”
“Yeah,” Seth said, very seriously. “We once had a one-legged cat, too.”
“Yeah, right,” Sara quipped. Now she was sure Seth was making it all up. “What did you call
that
cat? Pogo stick?”
“Nope, we called him Cyclops. He only had one eye, too.”
Sara burst out laughing. It felt so much better to be entertained by Seth than to be mad at him.
They came to the corner where Seth turned off to his house. Seth grinned, feeling glad that he had managed to make Sara laugh
and play with him again. And Sara continued on down the country road toward her house. She laughed and laughed and laughed.
She wasn’t sure if Seth had a strange knack for turning tragedy into comedy, or if he was just the funniest person she’d ever
met. But in any case, Sara could not remember ever having laughed so hard.
He probably never even had a cat.
Sara grinned.
“Hey, Sara, was that your little brother on the bicycle?” Seth yelled back at her.
“Yeah, that’s him,” Sara called back. “I knew you’d meet him sooner or later. I just hoped it would be later.
Much
later.”
“Hey, Seth,” Sara called out loudly, not sure if Seth was too far away to hear her.
Seth turned around, smiling, and stopped.
“I thought cats are supposed to have nine lives.”
“Oh, we don’t kill ’em, we just maim ’em,” Seth called back. “And I think it’s more like 14, but I lost count on some of them.”
Sara laughed again.
“I think that goes for people, too!” Seth yelled.
Sara continued on down the road. She didn’t know what to make of Seth. His life seemed mysterious, and in some ways tragic,
but he was very interesting. And he was funny. Was he making it up to be funny, or was he making it funny to keep it from
being so tragic? And what was this business about having 14 lives? Was he kidding about that, too?
We are all birds of a feather, you know.
Sara remembered Solomon’s words:
Seth is an intense
seeker, a born uplifter—and a true teacher.
Sara smiled. “This is going to be very interesting,” she said out loud.
Solomon Peeks In
S
ara sat on her front porch enjoying being the only one home. Her parents were still at work, and her little brother nearly
always found something to do after school. She leaned against the post and thought about Solomon.
“Hi, Solomon, have you missed me?”
No, Sara, not at all.
Sara heard Solomon’s voice come right back to her.
Sara laughed. She and Solomon had exchanged those very words many times. The first time Solomon had responded in that way,
Sara felt surprised and even hurt. “What do you mean you haven’t missed me at all?” she had asked.
Solomon explained, then, that he was always aware of Sara. Even though she might not be thinking of him or talking with him,
he was always fully aware of her. Therefore, there would be no reason to miss her because she was never away from his awareness.
Sara liked that.
At first it felt odd for someone to be aware of her at all times. She didn’t much like the idea that no matter where she was
or what she was doing, Solomon was peeking in. But in time, once Sara got to know Solomon better, she found she didn’t mind
him peeking into her life at all, because Solomon always seemed pleased with what he saw. He never scolded Sara for inappropriate
behavior; he never seemed displeased with something she had done. Instead, Solomon continued to offer his unconditional love
and guided Sara only when she asked for guidance.
“How have you been?” Sara chirped, knowing full well what Solomon’s response would be, but wanting to hear it anyway just
because it always felt so good.
I am splendid, Sara, and I see that you are as well.
“Yep,” Sara answered happily. She could never remember being happier.
I have noticed that you and your new friend, Seth,
are having a marvelous time together. That is very
good.
“We are, Solomon. I’ve never had so much fun with anyone. It’s weird. He’s not like anyone I’ve ever known. He’s serious but
funny; he’s very smart but silly and playful; and he has a really hard life at home, but he’s light and easy when he’s with
me. I can’t figure him out.”
He is one of those rare humans who has learned to
live in the moment. Rather than carrying forward the
feeling from something that has happened before, he is
allowing himself to respond to the clarity of your moment
together. He likes being with you, too, Sara.
“Did he tell you that?” Then Sara laughed, realizing as soon as she spoke that Solomon didn’t have to have a conversation
with someone to know what they thought. He always knew what people were thinking and feeling.
Seth wants more than anything to feel good, and so,
being with you feels just right to him. You bring out the
best in him, Sara.
“Well, I want to. But I’m not
trying
to do that, Solomon. It just happens. I think he brings out the best in me.”
Well, I’m very pleased that you two are having such a
wonderful time together. It is always nice to meet another
who wants to feel good, too. When two people get together
and they both hold the same desire of feeling good, great
things always come from that.
You are both uplifters, Sara, and nothing pleases
an uplifter more than helping another feel better. That’s
what uplifting is.
You will have a wonderful time together, Sara. I am
certain of that.
Geronimooooo . . . Splat!
T
he last bell had rung nearly 15 minutes ago, and Sara waited by the flagpole in front of the school building. She watched
the big doors open and bang shut as student after student left the building. She had promised to wait for Seth; he said he
had something to show her that he was sure she’d really like. She looked at her watch, wondering if she’d somehow misunderstood
their meeting plans, and then, once more, the big doors opened and there was Seth. At last!
“Sorry, Sara. I made the mistake of saying hello to Miss Ralph, and she asked me if I could help her load her car. I said
I would, but I had no idea her car was parked a mile away, and I had no idea she had 47 loads of stuff. I knew as soon as
I said hello that I’d made a big mistake, but I couldn’t take it back.”
Sara laughed. She’d made plenty of those trips to Miss Ralph’s car herself. Miss Ralph was the school’s art director, and
it seemed to Sara that she hauled half of her possessions back and forth between her home and school every day.
“I never walk past her room,” Sara said. “I used to, but now I go way around.” She laughed again.
“I thought the hallway was strangely empty,” Seth said. “I guess everyone except me knew she was lurking there looking for
a helper.”
Sara really didn’t mind helping Miss Ralph. She had never taken one of her classes, but she was actually rather impressed
that this pretty new teacher was willing to work so hard to offer a good art program.
“I don’t mind helping her,” Seth said. “She sure works hard.”
Sara smiled. It was as if he were reading her mind.
“I just didn’t know it would take so long, and I didn’t like keeping you waiting. Ready?”
“Yeah,” Sara said. “What’s up?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“Tell me!” Sara blurted.
Seth laughed. “No, you have to
see
it. It’s not far from Thacker’s Trail.”
Sara felt a pang of discomfort again. Nobody else, as far as Sara knew, spent any time on or around Thacker’s Trail. And that
suited Sara just fine; she liked having it all to herself.
They walked down the rutty road and then ducked off the road onto Thacker’s Trail.
“You know,” Seth said, “we should find some other way in here. We don’t want this path getting too obvious.”
Sara smiled.
He does read my mind,
she thought.
Sara followed Seth single file down the narrow path. He held the branches back so they wouldn’t slap back into her face, and
occasionally waved his hands up over his head to knock a spider web out of the way.
“Hey, this is great!” Sara said.
“What?”
“Following you. That way the cobwebs end up in
your
hair, not mine.”
Seth laughed, pulling a streamer of spider web from his face. “You wanna lead?” he teased.
“No, that’s okay. You’re doing fine.”
They came to the first of several forks in the trail, and Seth led off toward the river. Sara followed briskly to keep up.
The trail became almost nonexistent, and Seth and Sara stepped high in the very deep, dry grass. And just as Sara was about
to stop to remove the thistle burrs from her socks, they broke out into the opening right at the edge of the river.
“Oh, this is a
great
spot,” Sara said. “I’d forgotten how pretty the river is right here. I haven’t been here in a long time.”
“Okay, here it is!” Seth said, proudly.
“Here, what is?” Sara asked, looking around to see what was different.
“Back here,” Seth said, guiding Sara around to the back of the tree. Sara looked up at the giant cottonwood tree. “Whoa!”
Sara exclaimed. “You did this?”
“Yeah, ya like it?” Seth asked.
“This is amazing!” Sara could hardly believe what she was seeing. Seth had nailed boards about every ten inches from the base
of the tree all the way up into the tree limbs. They were long enough so that they extended out beyond the width of the tree
trunk. They not only made perfect foot rails, but while you were standing on those below, you could use the ones above for
hand-holds. “This is the very best tree ladder I’ve ever seen.”
“I sanded them real good so you won’t get slivers in your hands,” Seth said proudly.
“This is great! Let’s go up!”
“I’ll go first,” Seth said.
Seth stepped up onto the first board and reached up to another one to pull himself up. He climbed easily up, up, up.
Sara giggled with delight. She loved climbing trees and could hardly believe that Seth had made it so amazingly easy to get
way up inside of this great old tree.
They climbed high into the tree. “I love this,” Sara said. “The whole world looks different from up here, doesn’t it?”
Seth agreed as he shimmied out onto a branch way out over the river. Sara noticed how sure of himself he seemed to be even
though the river was far below. Sara couldn’t see what he was doing because whatever it was, it was hidden by his body. And
then she saw a long, heavy rope drop down from the branch, almost down to the water.
“I don’t believe it!” Sara shouted, in glee.
“Wanna try it?” Seth could hardly contain himself.
“You bet!”
“How’s your balance?” Seth asked.
“Pretty good, I guess. Why?”
“Because now we have to get over
there.”
Sara looked to where Seth was pointing. “A tree house! Seth, you’ve made a tree house!”
“That is our launching pad,” Seth said, carefully crawling on this hands and knees out onto a large limb. He crawled a long
way out and then stood up.
Sara kneeled down and crawled carefully out to the tree house.
I hope it’s big enough for two of us,
she thought tentatively. But when she arrived and stood up, she was pleasantly surprised at how big it was. Seth had even
built a back railing for safety and support and two little benches to sit on.
Sara watched with pleasure as Seth demon strated how all of this worked. Wrapped around a nail was a thin twine. He unwrapped
it from the nail and then began winding it around a stick that was stuck in a crack in the bark.
“You’ve thought of everything!” Sara said in delight.
Seth had tied the twine to the bottom of the big heavy rope that was dangling down to the water below. As he continued to
wrap the twine around his stick, the twine pulled the big rope right up into the tree, right to where Sara and Seth were standing.
At the bottom of the heavy, long rope, Seth had tied a loop, and Sara watched as he sat on one of the benches and put his
foot in the loop. There were three knots tied in the rope above the loop. Seth took hold of the top knot and said, “Okay,
wish me luck.”
“Be careful . . .” Sara began, but before she could finish her sentence, Seth jumped off the platform. He swung way out over
the river, yelling, “Geronimoooooooo!” as he flew. It took Sara’s breath away just to watch. He swung back and forth, traveling
a little less distance with each pass.
“Now, here’s the tricky part,” Seth called. “You have to jump off before the rope stops swinging, or else you have to wade
out of the river.”
Sara watched Seth as he struggled to free his foot from the loop, locking his knees around one of the lower knots in the rope.
And as he swung out close to the riverbank, he leaped from the rope and tumbled into a pile of leaves. “Ouch!” Sara heard
Seth’s muffled voice. “This part needs work.”
Sara laughed, delighted at all that she’d seen.
“Okay, it’s my turn,” Sara said excitedly, as Seth quickly climbed back up the tree.
“I don’t know, Sara. The landing is a bit rough. Maybe you should wait until I figure—”
“Nope, I’m going. If you can do it, I can do it!” There was no possible way that Sara wasn’t going to swing out over the river.
Sara waited, excited, as she watched Seth climbing up into the tree.
He’s such a clever boy,
she thought, as she realized that Seth was carrying the end of the twine back up the tree with him so that he could again
pull the big, heavy swinging rope back up to the launching pad.
Sara sat on the bench and Seth held the heavy rope so Sara could put her foot in the loop. “I made
this
knot for you, Sara,” Seth said, pointing out the second knot that seemed just right for Sara’s body size.
“Okay, I’m going to go!” Sara said, still standing on the platform. “Okay, here I go . . . I’m ready now. . . I’m going now.
. . I’ll be right back . . . Here I go . . . I’m outta here!” Sara giggled. She wanted to go so much she could hardly stand
it, but the idea of jumping out of the tree made her stomach tingle with excitement—and she just couldn’t quite push off.
Seth watched and smiled, enjoying Sara’s excitement. He was not about to make this decision for her. “There’s no hurry, Sara.
This rope will be here tomorrow and the day after and the day after that . . .”
But Sara didn’t hear what Seth was saying, because in the middle of giving her an excuse
not
to jump, she leaped right off the platform and flew through the air.
“Geronimoooooo!” she squealed as she flew out over the river.
“All right!” Seth called, so pleased that Sara had taken the first big plunge, and remembering his own immense pleasure in
his first scary swing across a river. He could hear Sara laughing and squealing as she flew back and forth across the river,
and then he watched her as she pulled her foot out of the loop.
Thatta girl!
he said under his breath, pleased that she had learned so quickly how to dismount. But Sara’s arms weren’t as strong as Seth’s,
and once her foot was out of the loop she had a hard time holding onto the swinging rope. She managed to hold on until her
body was closer to the river’s edge, but then she let go, flying through the air into the muddy river bank. Splat! Water splashed.
Mud flew in the air. And Sara laughed. She stood up, soaking wet from head to toe and covered in mud, laughing and laughing
and laughing.
Seth watched in horror, and then he began to laugh in relief.
What a good sport this girl is!
He felt responsible for her ride and for her safety, so he was truly relieved that this was turning out so well.
“Seth, this is great! I can’t wait to do this again. You gotta show me how to get
off
of this ride, though.”
“It’s mostly about timing your jump. I got wet the first time I jumped off, too.”
“You did not.” Sara knew from watching Seth that he’d known exactly what he was doing. But she liked the idea that he was
trying to make her feel more adequate by appearing not quite so adequate himself.
“That’s okay. I’m glad you’re good at this. I’ll get good at it, too. We’ll practice every day. I love this, Seth! Thank you
for making this for us.”
Seth didn’t know what to make of Sara. She was so great to be with. She was eager and willing to do just about anything. She
was such a good sport; she laughed easily, and it didn’t bother her that someone else was better at something than she was.
Seth had never known anyone like Sara.
“I’d better get home. I’m a mess,” Sara said, dragging herself out of the water and tugging at her wet, muddy clothing. “I’ll
see ya tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow’s Saturday,” Seth reminded Sara, knowing that his parents wouldn’t permit his taking time away from the busy weekend
chores to play. He had built this tree house, mostly by moonlight, over a period of many weeks. His parents would never allow
this kind of frivolous behavior. “We can swing again on Monday.”
“Oh,” Sara said, disappointed. She didn’t know how she could possibly wait until Monday to have more of this fun. “Okay,”
Sara said, “but I think I’m going to come here tomorrow by myself and practice my dismount. By Monday, when I see you, I’ll
have it down.”
Seth did not like that idea one bit. What if Sara let go at the wrong time and broke her leg or hit her head or worse. “No,
Sara, you could drown,” Seth blurted, feeling a little embarrassed as the words left his mouth.
Sara paused and looked at Seth, hearing the intensity of his offering; he had projected his concern in a very loud, clear
way.
“No, Seth,” Sara said softly. “I can never drown.”
Seth saw an intensity in Sara that he hadn’t seen before.
How can she possibly be so certain that she
won’t drown?
“But I’ll wait until Monday. Since you went to all this trouble of making this great place for us, the least I could do is
wait for you to share it with me.”
Seth was relieved.
“I’ll see ya Monday,” Sara said. “I’ll wait by the first fork in the trail.”
Seth smiled. Sara had read his mind. He didn’t want their rendezvous to be so obvious that others wondered where they were
going. Both Seth and Sara liked the idea of keeping this great hideaway all to themselves.
