The PureLights of Ohm Totem (6 page)

A warm feeling of love suddenly washed through her. She straightened up and smiled. She loved animals and wondered how she could ever have felt scared of this one. This elephant was beautiful and seemed very friendly. The young man she had heard from beyond the tunnel exit must have trained this elephant well.

She knew now that this creature was as harmless as a fly and all of her fear melted away. “Aren’t you just a beautiful looking elephant?” Her voice was like a child talking to a baby.

The elephant looked to the left, showing his profile, and then to the right, showing his profile again, almost as if he was posing for her.

He turned in a circle, wiggled his rear end, and then turned all the way around again, until his gaze met Zoey's. Then he smiled. Zoey blinked a couple of times to see if her eyes were tricking her.

“Well, thank you for saying so,” said the elephant. “I think I’m a rather fine looking fellow, if I do say so myself.”

Zoey yelped, dropping to the ground and backing away.

The elephant flinched at Zoey's startled fright, looking confused. “Oh, yeah,” he stammered, “sorry about that.” He cleared his throat, just like a human would do. “Ahem.” He proudly pulled himself up taller and opened his mouth. “Meeeeeeeooooooooowww?”

If Zoey hadn’t been so startled, she would have burst out laughing.
A talking and meowing elephant?
However, this bizarre behavior prompted her to resume her backward crawl.

“Wait, no, no, no.” The elephant tilted his head and let out a reasonably convincing, “Mooooooooooooooooooo!”

He looked intently at Zoey, waiting for another compliment. When none came, he asked, “Isn't that the sound I'm supposed to make?” He frowned. “Did I do it wrong?”

But Zoey had bolted, and was already past the halfway point in the tunnel. She looked behind her to see the elephant simply disappear, vanishing into thin air. The shadows from the blackberries were blocking out the sun and the normal air had re-introduced itself. Zoey ran the rest of the way out of the tunnel, back to the Snow Tree, as fast as she could.

Panting, she threw herself onto the Snow Tree’s knot, landing with a loud thump.

“What…was…that?” she gasped.

“That was an elephant,” replied the Snow Tree.

“Yes, I could see that! But it talked!”

“You had a glimpse of Ohm Totem—the land beyond the Cornell Forest. It’s a place, just like this, teeming with life, emotions, lessons, and experiences.”

Zoey looked up at the branches. The sun glimmered against the green leaves and the squirrel that she had seen earlier jumped from tree to tree. “Huh? Ohm Totem?” She shook her head. “But the elephant talked!”

“That place is different than this one. The elephant you met is a Being called a PureLight. The PureLights have many human qualities, especially speech.”

The squirrel jumped from another branch and glared at Zoey. It made a high-pitched chattering noise, the sound they usually make when annoyed or protecting their territory.

The Snow Tree shuddered, dropping snow onto the squirrel, and on Zoey. The squirrel raced off to a higher branch, busying itself by staring at the cedar tree many yards away.

“That’s Dinzy. He was telling you not to climb my branches. I reminded him that it’s not up to him.”

“Oh,” responded Zoey, somewhat bewildered and wanting the Snow Tree to explain more to her about Ohm Totem.

“Ohm Totem,” continued the Snow Tree, “can only be reached by going through the tunnel hidden within the blackberry patch. This is the only entrance and exit to Ohm Totem. Otherwise, it’s concealed from this land, covered by a thin shroud.

Puzzled, Zoey raised her eyebrows. “Shroud?” she asked.

“Shroud means hidden or covered by something, be it rain, a cloth, and in this instance, spirit. When you saw the elephant, you had walked through the Shroud of Ohm Totem.

“For example, if a waterfall was safe enough to walk through, you could walk through it and see that it actually conceals a rock wall. The water acts as a shroud concealing the rock wall hidden behind it. Does that make sense, Zoey?”

“I think so.”

“The waterfall is like the shroud that covers Ohm Totem.”

Zoey’s attention was momentarily distracted by an unusual beetle crawling toward the tree. “But an elephant talked to me,” she persisted. “How did it do that? It meowed, too! How weird is that?!”

“That’s something you’ll learn about, soon. Remember this—not everything is the same from one place to another, or one time to another. Everything is always changing, sometimes in small ways, and other times in big ways. Before today you didn’t know about a talking elephant. Now what you know has changed, and as a result, you have changed, too. Many people fear change, and fight against it. What people must realize, even you Zoey, is that change is the only thing that you can count on in life. Nothing is ever exactly the same from one moment to the next.”

Zoey was still having a hard time with the idea of a talking, meowing, and mooing elephant. “But, since when do elephant’s talk? I don’t get it.”

“You will, Zoey. This I promise.”

She sat on the Snow Tree's seat and took a breath as the world opened up to her again. She saw the blue, white, and purple balls flying around, dodging each other as if they were playing. She saw the wind's slight breezes nudge the leaves and plants. She saw that all of the forest glimmered with joy, in constant motion, living peacefully under the sun's rays.

“Wow,” she said in a whisper. Then she noticed that the sun was starting to drop lower in the sky. It was later than she thought and she needed to get home.

“Yes, it's time to go,” said the Snow Tree, as if reading her thoughts. “Tomorrow your mission begins, as does your brother’s.”

“Okay, I don't know if he'll come, but I'll try,” replied Zoey, turning to go home.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” promised the Snow Tree.

“There’s no such thing as a talking tree,” Coda protested, as he and Zoey entered the Cornell Forest that began at the end of Cornell Avenue, one block away from their home.
She’s always making up fantastic stories for attention,
snorted Coda, rolling his eyes.

It was a vast forest rich with 144 acres of trees, such as Ponderosa Pines, Western Hemlocks, and some well-established clusters of Oaks and Cedars.

Zoey jumped onto a large rock. “I swear, Coda.” She hopped off the rock and picked up a pine cone off the ground. “She talked to me and she wants you to come with me today.”

Coda’s blue eyes flashed with anger and he scratched his tousled brown hair. “I know mom talked about the walking trees in Jamaica, but they didn’t really walk. It was the way their roots grew that made them
look
like they were walking.” He scratched his head again. “Maybe you heard the roots making sounds?”

Coda was tired of his sister creating stories that weren’t true. He stopped in stride, pointing his finger at her. “No, you’re making this up,” he said sternly, sounding just like their dad. “You always make things up.”

“No, I don’t,” Zoey said, stamping her foot on the ground. Then she started walking, following the dirt path that led from the paved street to the creek. At the creek, it forked into three directions. She turned left to follow the same path she had taken yesterday, when she had met the Snow Tree for the first time.

The sun pushed its light through the many branches hanging above, dappling the path with bright shadows from branches and leaves. Today was going to be another hot one, thought Coda. At the triple fork, he planted his feet firmly on the ground. “I'm not following you.”

Zoey started to sing one of her made-up songs, clearly ignoring him. Coda frowned.
Zoey’s ignoring me?
She had walked away without any hesitation, when in the past she'd always follow Coda, doing what
he
wanted to do when
he
insisted.

Coda shrugged his shoulders and followed her. He wasn't going to let her off the hook that easily.

“Why are we going to see a stupid made-up talking tree?”

“She's real!”

“You don't have any friends because you make everything up,” Coda badgered.

“I do not, Coda!”

“Yes you do, Zoey!” he insisted, and laughed obnoxiously to really get on her nerves.

Zoey scowled, but didn't reply. They walked in silence on the skinny dirt path. Coda listened to the sounds of the creek, its water curling around roots and splashing against rocks, making him yearn to jump into the water to escape the heat of the day.

It was too hot for Coda and the last thing he wanted to do was go with his sister to see an imaginary tree. If his parent's hadn't made him go out, he'd be back at home playing with his Legos in his air-conditioned bedroom.

They walked past light green ferns and orange and yellow wild flowers, until they finally came to the spot Zoey had found the day before.

“Right there!” she proclaimed, pointing at the tree.

“What? That's it? It looks like the cherry tree at Michael's house.”

Just at that moment, a ray of sunlight lit up the tree.

Looking closer, Coda could see that the tree stood proudly by itself, glowing more brightly than the other forest trees. It twisted in a spiral all the way from the base of its trunk to its top branches. The limbs from the tree dazzled in the light as the wind nudged its bright green leaves, making it look as if the tree was waving at them.

“OK, that’s a weird looking tree,” Coda admitted. He’d already forgotten about Zoey's story and ran toward the twisted tree to climb it.

This is perfect for climbing
, he thought. His legs brushed against a myriad of ferns that covered his path to the tree as he ran.

“Wait for me, Coda!” yelled Zoey, chasing after her brother.

“You can’t get me!” called Coda. He looked behind to see his sister closing in on him fast.

“Let’s play hide-and-go-seek,” said Zoey, as she got closer.

“No, let’s play tag and you’re it!” Coda sliced through a narrow crack between two large bushes that lined the path. Then he stopped with a quick jolt. He was just a couple of yards from the weird tree when he felt a wave of different sensations running throughout his body. “Whoa!”

Zoey caught up to him and gently touched his hand as she stood next to him. She stared at the tree along with her brother. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Do you feel that, Zoey?” A tingling sensation started to play with the crown of his head and a soft, almost feathery touch tickled his arms, hands, legs, and feet.

“Oh, that’s the Snow Tree. I told you about it. She gives off that feeling.”

Coda screwed up his nose, something he always did when he was unsure. He looked up and saw the Snow Tree’s branches directly above him. “I d-don’t know, Zoey.”

“Seriously,” said Zoey, walking over to the Snow Tree and sitting on its knob. “It’s okay. Come and…” she stopped talking and pointed at Coda, her mouth wide open in surprise. “Oh, my gosh!” She was staring at a spot just over Coda’s right shoulder.

“That’s his spirit animal. It will be with him for his entire life,” said the Snow Tree. “You have one, too.”

Zoey pointed over Coda’s right shoulder. “Coda, look! That’s your spirit animal.”

Coda stood perfectly still. He was confused. He had heard a voice talking to Zoey, but where did it come from? He could feel a strange tingling sensation on the right side of his face and ear. He twisted around to look over his right shoulder, but couldn’t see anything.

“He’s touching you!” yelled Zoey. Her eyes glowed with utter delight. “He's a big black panther!” She laughed, “He's standing on his back legs, with his front paws on your shoulder. He's licking you!”

What's she talking about?
Coda nervously whipped his head from side to side, seeing only the forest around him, not a big black cat leaning on him.

“He’s purring,” Zoey added.

“Who’s touching me?!” yelled Coda.

“Your spirit animal. He's always at your side,” answered the Snow Tree softly.

Coda froze. He could hear a woman’s voice speaking to him, but only Zoey was there. Still, for some strange reason, he didn’t doubt that the tree was talking and he didn’t doubt that a spirit animal was next to him.

“He's simply you in another form,” explained the Snow Tree.

Coda’s eyes squinted as he looked off into the distance. “Me—in another form?” A small breeze ruffled the leaves above Coda as a calmness settled over him.

“Yes,” replied the Snow Tree. “Your spirit animal will help you with your journey in more ways than you could ever imagine.”

Coda looked to the ground, scuffing the dirt with his shoes. “Um...okay.” His mind raced as he remembered the voice in his ears from yesterday. It, too, had talked of a journey, but he didn't show any outward sign that he remembered it.

“Who are you?” asked Coda.

“I am the Snow Tree. Come and sit next to your sister.”

Zoey scooted over, and then got up so Coda could have the whole knob chair.

“Look around,” said the Snow Tree.

Wide-eyed, Coda looked around, but saw nothing but squirrels playing, birds taking flight, and trees all around.

“Close your eyes, Coda, and take a deep breath,” directed the Snow Tree.

Coda wriggled a bit, and then closed his eyes. As he took in a deep breath, he felt a tingling sensation surrounding his body. He began to smile as a sense of joyful energy entered him, pushing away the nervousness he had felt only moments before. He opened his eyes to see a completely different world. A world he thought existed only in cartoons.

He saw blue, green, white, and purple balls of light floating over and around trees, bushes, ferns, and everything growing in the forest. Some of them were traveling fast, some were slow, and others were stationary, hovering over large and small plants. He noticed that the stationary balls were beaming white light into the plants.

“Those are the caretakers of the forest,” said the Snow Tree. “They’re called orbs. Now, focus on an orb and tell me what you see.”

Coda had completely forgotten his objections to Zoey about a talking tree as he eagerly put all of his attention on a green orb a couple of feet in front of him. It was hovering over a strange long-leafed plant with purple flowers. Without warning, the image faded into the background and he could only see Zoey sitting cross-legged next to the plant, her face illuminated with exhilaration.