Acid Rain by R.D Rhodes (ebook reader txt) 📕

thought of vacuum hoovers that just suck up and absorb everything. So that is what I am doing? It was amazing to think that had been said, or was in a part of my subconscious.

Harry’s fine. Don’t worry. He has some things he needs to do.

I hadn’t even been thinking of him, really. It was the third full day he’d been gone. But being there, feeling what I was, I didn’t feel lonely and didn’t miss him too much. I just wanted him to be okay.

What is he doing? I asked the tree.

Family things.

Oh, I thought.

Have a seat. Close your eyes. Sit with me. The tree said.

I sat down in the soft moss, and I looked at the tree one last time, then gently closed my eyes.

Eat frugally. Live frugally. Simplify. Simplify. Simplify, was in my head.

I breathed the wind in through my nose, and out through my mouth, letting go of the noise in my head. A reminder of my meditation at the hospital flickered before me, but I let it pass away.

I kept my eyes closed. I focused on my breath. The wind hushed louder…

I was before a field, a yellow oat field, in my imagination. There was a gate before me, and I opened it and stepped through.

The oat sticks came up to my waist as I trekked up the incline of a hill, then at its top, I came to a little river on my right, with beautiful, colourful trees on my left. Except I wasn’t walking, or trekking, I didn’t take steps, and I observed that I must have been floating, slightly above the ground.

I floated along the path under the branches, till I came to an old, little stone bridge that crossed the river. I waited on the bridge and looked down at the running water, seeing images of all the river connotations- tides, erosions, the sea, the fish- express themselves in front of me. Then I crossed over to the long stone wall at the other side.

The wall stood way above my head, about sixteen feet high, and I walked along it till I found a set of wooden doors with an iron horseshoe puller. I pulled it, then pushed it, and the door swung back. Before me was a massive, beautiful, green garden, and in the middle of it a gigantic, beanstalk-like tree stretched up so high into the sky that I couldn’t see its top.  Spaced out around the beanstalk were pink and white cherry trees with their blossoms blowing all over the trimmed lawn, and there was a mix of other trees too, some of which I’d never seen before, even on TV. There was a big mansion house on the left, looking out over the grounds, and all over the grass groups of people and people on their own were walking and laughing and talking and playing games. And they were all filled with such joy.

I went in further, going over the grass and observing with delight all the strange happy people, it was almost like a perfect summers’ day in a park, and they all seemed so content and comfortable with each other that they could have all been families or very close friends. Most of them were adults but there were children too, and I watched as two adults chased two of the little kids, all of them laughing and with big wide smiles on their faces.

I noticed a bench across to the left, in front of the mansion. I went towards it and saw a man with a white hat sitting on the far side. He had a cane propped up to the left of him, but didn’t turn to face me as I got closer and sat on the near side.

We watched all the people. The man was almost ageless, he could have been fifty or he could have been seventy. His face on everyone was serene and calm. His eyes were warm with love and contentment. I stared at his side profile then watched the others again, and I became aware that he knew perfectly well of my presence, he just didn’t need to look or say anything; and I noticed that as he was laughing to himself, he was sharing his joy with me- I could feel it.

I loved sitting there. But then I saw someone else coming over the grass towards us. A woman of about forty, her skirts draggling the grass as she swept towards us. Her long black hair draped over an animal skin shawl- though I couldn’t tell which animal- which in turn hung down over her knees. A white feather poked up from behind each of her ears, and she wore three different stone and jewel necklaces around her neck over the shawl.

She stopped before the bench and looked down at the man with a smile. He didn’t respond, just kept sitting there grinning blissfully at the people. The woman turned her blue eyes upon me.

Hello, Aisha! Welcome! Her mouth didn’t move, but the words transferred.

She had very high cheekbones below her absorbing, almost opaque eyes.

Thank you, I said. Is this heaven?

Do you think so? A warmth, and enjoyment spread into me. It is if you want it to be.

I didn’t feel like asking any more questions, though, and just sat there. I looked away at the people in the garden.

Would you like to come with me? Or stay here? You can do whatever you want, her voice sounded, in a similar way to that omniscient voice in the dream of the mountain.

What do you want to show me? My brain asked.

What do you want to see?

I looked up that huge beanstalk, its bottom covered with hair like a lime tree, then I looked at her again. She was waiting so patiently.

I stood up and followed her