Rosemma trailed her grandmother and Jack Chang into an almost empty cabin
behind the long house used for community gatherings.
Seated in a chair was a tall upright old man, who watched them enter in silence and a somewhat stern expression. That was until he saw Jack Chang. Then a great smile crossed his
face. Which he then stifled again.
As Rosemma stood blinking in the dim light, she saw a younger slender man with glasses
who stood back a bit behind the older man as if in respect. He was watching all of them intently
and really was staring at her.
She blushed and suddenly wanted to run out the door and hide.
The older man spoke "Jack Chang, greetings!, and I am honored to meet you again
Magnolia after all these years. And this must be the young newest singer, the child we have heard so much of."
Jack grinned from ear to ear, "Oh yes, my great granddaughter, a chip off the old block, and as sweet and good a girl as they come, very talented too.." He paused to grab a breath and Bertola jumped in.
" Well, this young man is Charles Beartracker, also a grandchild and also talented, and
since he has come with his grandfather, we could spend all day bragging up the kids, but let's not."
" There is work to do, and I have other things to go off and do now, and I suggest that we let Charles proceed with his testing of Rosemma."
At this Bertola nodded her head at the others, and left.
Rosemma really was edging towards the door, not sure why or how she had to be involved with this test. Charles watched her, and when he finally spoke, she froze.
"Rosemma, please do not be afraid, it will be a very simple thing, and you do not have to fear me."
"Please come closer." At this he pulled chair out for her, and then one for himself and sat down, motioning for her to sit across from him. She did, compelled by his words.
He pushed his glasses up his nose and smiled at her. She cracked a small one back at him, studying his face. Dark skin, long black hair, braided down his back, nice features,
not like any of her peers, Tall, lean, his eyes were a dark liquid brown, and very kind, with a gleam of mischief at that moment. He was older, but not that old, older than her sisters, but not
older than her oldest brother.
He was studying her intently, and looked into the bluest sky eyes he had seen
in a long time. A little upward tilt, but not like her sisters. He knew them from some time back,
suffered some at May Lings cruel words, and gotten over both of her sisters. Not a flashy beauty this one. But so different, freckles, curly fire red hair, and utterly a child, but also
there was an energy all around her, she was gifted in more ways than one.
Charles turned his head to his grandfather and Jack Chang. " Could be a while here, you two wanna go catch up?" And then adressing Grandmother" Madame, we will be taking our time slowly, I promise you I will go slow with her, and so if you have errands, or things to catch up, I will bring her to you when we are finished."
Grandmother pursed her lips, but got up and nodded. Jack and the older
Beartracker grinned and quickly left, slapping each other on the back , as they went. Grandmother made a disgusted noise in her throat and disappeared down the steps.
Charles smiled at Rosemma. "Now move your chair close to mine, until our knees touch. And I don't bite, or have bad breath,"
She blushed, pretty he thought. "Now that will never do, this is a child, and I am going to take her into a trance state."
Where they would both be very vulnerable, and he was the one with experience, no distractions.
" Please put your hands in mine, Rosemma, and lean forward and put your forehead against mine." She complied, and trembled a bit.
" I want you to go back to the time you saw the whale, calm your mind."
" Think of the water and the whale, open your eyes and look into mine,
Rosemma, please." She did.
Up close her blue eyes could drown someone, he took breath. "Match
your breathing to mine, and feel the floating on the raft, gently moving up and down with the
swells, up and down, breathing with me."
She caught her breath, and he curled his fingers around hers gently,
breathing slowly. she relaxed and felt herself drifting away from the chair.
Suddenly they were both on the raft, on the ocean and the whale was there. Singing, the song triggering pictures in her brain, in his brain. They were sitting
forehead to forehead, and she lifted her head and looked at the whale. The whale looked back.
She could see images of not just the snow the whale had shown her falling from a few months earlier, but a land, a shore line, and it was covered in snow. The sky
was dark and lights danced in the dark sky, and something else. A huge beam of pulsating
light, with a circular motion that seem to cut straight up into the night sky, and she felt fear.
The whale drew her closer to the shore. Charles patted her hand, it was then that she realized he could see what she was seeing. He smiled and nodded at the whale.
She turned her head back. It was if she was on it's back, and as they approached the shore, her breath caught. There was nothing , life, all life, trees, and the shore itself had decay upon it. Burned for miles around the pulsating light, and only the light frizzing with an energy from some unseen source seemed to be alive.
The whale moved back away from the shore, but swam along moving
slowly, flashing images of rusted machines, buildings falling down from rot, all the old things from a time well before Rosemma was born, before Charles was born.
They both watched the light clearly visible even as they got further up the shore, snow falling now as they traveled with the whale.
Then the scene changed, and the whale seemed to move into a different
time, people were moving on the shore, and the snow was gone. Machines, and men drifted about strong and dominant buildings, busy with their activities. And there was no beam of light.
Suddenly they seemed to move again into a different scene.
The men were intensely watching the sky, and then the beam shot up into the sky. And a horrible thing began to happen. Men began to cry out, and fall down
shaking their arms and legs, some screaming before they lay still.
Rosemma gasped and Charles put his hand on her temple, murmuring soft words as to a frightened child. "Rosemma, take a breath, stay with the whale, stay with me."
She breathed a ragged breath and felt the whale reach out and soothe her, and she found the strength to stay there.
It was not easy. For next the whale moved them back to the raft, and pushed them in another direction, and they moved again back in time.
They moved closer to a coast that Rosemma knew, and she saw
more people falling down, flaying in spasms before they stopped, all ages of people, men, women and children.
Her eyes filled with tears, but then she saw some of the people move, and eventually get up. Very few. And they were confused, and cried out in pain at what they saw.
Charles spoke " Rosemma this was the time of the Great Death, and so these were the surviviors. Whatever knocked them down, did not kill all of them. Most of them, but these were the ones who are our ancestors. Only a few generations back."
At this point, Rosemma also looked about the ocean and saw other victims and survivors. The whales, the Nommos had suffered greatly too. Death floated all around them in the ocean, and she looked into the great creatures eye and saw sorrow there.
"Charles, they lost their loved ones too, and so did all creatures that lived here!" It was a revelation, she saw the whales as they were, intelligent, loving,
with families, and a connection to each other, and they had suffered the blow and had reached out. To them, to humans out of such a loneliness so deep, and sad, they put aside all of their fear of humans to make contact. And some of the humans had changed, could hear them, and feel and see what they sang about.
She reached over and put her hand on the whale, and shed tears, the tears falling on the wet skin of the Nommos. The creature began to sing to soothe her, and Charles sat in awe.
Finally he spoke, "Rosemma, I think you should say goodbye, and let it be known we will be back to visit. We will both be very tired, and so will the Nommos." He
gave a smile to the great creature, it was an honor to just be included in this contact.
Nose running, Rosemma whispered" Goodbye, I will come to see you again, I will come to find you, I will try to travel to the ocean when the weather is better, or go southnow if I have to to see you, you would find me? The Nommos sang back in agreement, and she kissed it above the eye.
"Goodbye, dear one until then."I will come." And she broke the contact.
They were back in the cabin, sitting knee to knee. Rosemma rubbed her palms on her knees and spoke.
" What did we just do?" Charles rubbed his eyes, fumbling around trying to find his glasses. "I am a singer too, but I hear other creatures most of the time, I have only heard a whale once in a trip to the coast with my grandfather."
"But I learned to vision quest and travel between when I showed some
abilities as a child, and was apprenticed to my own grandfather, who is a shaman. Just as your
great grandfather is a a magician, and wizard, I suppose."
She looked around the room trying to help him locate his glasses. They were in the corner, how they ended up there, well she could put that to right. Reaching out her hand, she moved them from the corner right into her palm.
Charles sat startled. " Well it looks like there is more than meets the eye with you , young lady. A talent very few possess. Telekinesis indeed."
Rosemma grimaced, " Please don't tell anyone, I am afraid one of the
teachers will want to make me their apprentice, and it is not that I don't like them all, but I am
happy where I am, with Grandmother and Jack Chang."
" Well, dearest girl", that gleam of mischief was back, " I think I can find someone who may just be the one to teach you, but first you'll be happy to know, you passed the test with more than the highest colors. Funny phrase, that."
"I guess I am glad, but still, I can't sit in classes any more than I do now. I love some things, but do not like sitting so long. I just can't." Her eyes looked strained and her mouth drooped from exhaustion and the emotional burden left over from the visions she had seen.
" Listen, I will teach you, and no sitting for too long. I am claiming you as my apprentice, you have a special gift, and need special training. My grandfather will be there to keep us both out of trouble, that is if he and Jack Chang can keep themselves out of trouble."
" It won't be easy, we will have to learn what that great beam of light is."
Rosemma looked drained as she almost slid out of the chair to the floor, and Charles caught her and half carried her out into the fresh air. They sat down on the steps, and he made her put her head down. Then he stepped to get her a drink of water.
She drank and gratefully smiled a thanks up to him. He smiled back.
"What did I just do, claiming her as my apprentice, here I am charmed by her already, dear
spirits, how do I go from here?"
behind the long house used for community gatherings.
Seated in a chair was a tall upright old man, who watched them enter in silence and a somewhat stern expression. That was until he saw Jack Chang. Then a great smile crossed his
face. Which he then stifled again.
As Rosemma stood blinking in the dim light, she saw a younger slender man with glasses
who stood back a bit behind the older man as if in respect. He was watching all of them intently
and really was staring at her.
She blushed and suddenly wanted to run out the door and hide.
The older man spoke "Jack Chang, greetings!, and I am honored to meet you again
Magnolia after all these years. And this must be the young newest singer, the child we have heard so much of."
Jack grinned from ear to ear, "Oh yes, my great granddaughter, a chip off the old block, and as sweet and good a girl as they come, very talented too.." He paused to grab a breath and Bertola jumped in.
" Well, this young man is Charles Beartracker, also a grandchild and also talented, and
since he has come with his grandfather, we could spend all day bragging up the kids, but let's not."
" There is work to do, and I have other things to go off and do now, and I suggest that we let Charles proceed with his testing of Rosemma."
At this Bertola nodded her head at the others, and left.
Rosemma really was edging towards the door, not sure why or how she had to be involved with this test. Charles watched her, and when he finally spoke, she froze.
"Rosemma, please do not be afraid, it will be a very simple thing, and you do not have to fear me."
"Please come closer." At this he pulled chair out for her, and then one for himself and sat down, motioning for her to sit across from him. She did, compelled by his words.
He pushed his glasses up his nose and smiled at her. She cracked a small one back at him, studying his face. Dark skin, long black hair, braided down his back, nice features,
not like any of her peers, Tall, lean, his eyes were a dark liquid brown, and very kind, with a gleam of mischief at that moment. He was older, but not that old, older than her sisters, but not
older than her oldest brother.
He was studying her intently, and looked into the bluest sky eyes he had seen
in a long time. A little upward tilt, but not like her sisters. He knew them from some time back,
suffered some at May Lings cruel words, and gotten over both of her sisters. Not a flashy beauty this one. But so different, freckles, curly fire red hair, and utterly a child, but also
there was an energy all around her, she was gifted in more ways than one.
Charles turned his head to his grandfather and Jack Chang. " Could be a while here, you two wanna go catch up?" And then adressing Grandmother" Madame, we will be taking our time slowly, I promise you I will go slow with her, and so if you have errands, or things to catch up, I will bring her to you when we are finished."
Grandmother pursed her lips, but got up and nodded. Jack and the older
Beartracker grinned and quickly left, slapping each other on the back , as they went. Grandmother made a disgusted noise in her throat and disappeared down the steps.
Charles smiled at Rosemma. "Now move your chair close to mine, until our knees touch. And I don't bite, or have bad breath,"
She blushed, pretty he thought. "Now that will never do, this is a child, and I am going to take her into a trance state."
Where they would both be very vulnerable, and he was the one with experience, no distractions.
" Please put your hands in mine, Rosemma, and lean forward and put your forehead against mine." She complied, and trembled a bit.
" I want you to go back to the time you saw the whale, calm your mind."
" Think of the water and the whale, open your eyes and look into mine,
Rosemma, please." She did.
Up close her blue eyes could drown someone, he took breath. "Match
your breathing to mine, and feel the floating on the raft, gently moving up and down with the
swells, up and down, breathing with me."
She caught her breath, and he curled his fingers around hers gently,
breathing slowly. she relaxed and felt herself drifting away from the chair.
Suddenly they were both on the raft, on the ocean and the whale was there. Singing, the song triggering pictures in her brain, in his brain. They were sitting
forehead to forehead, and she lifted her head and looked at the whale. The whale looked back.
She could see images of not just the snow the whale had shown her falling from a few months earlier, but a land, a shore line, and it was covered in snow. The sky
was dark and lights danced in the dark sky, and something else. A huge beam of pulsating
light, with a circular motion that seem to cut straight up into the night sky, and she felt fear.
The whale drew her closer to the shore. Charles patted her hand, it was then that she realized he could see what she was seeing. He smiled and nodded at the whale.
She turned her head back. It was if she was on it's back, and as they approached the shore, her breath caught. There was nothing , life, all life, trees, and the shore itself had decay upon it. Burned for miles around the pulsating light, and only the light frizzing with an energy from some unseen source seemed to be alive.
The whale moved back away from the shore, but swam along moving
slowly, flashing images of rusted machines, buildings falling down from rot, all the old things from a time well before Rosemma was born, before Charles was born.
They both watched the light clearly visible even as they got further up the shore, snow falling now as they traveled with the whale.
Then the scene changed, and the whale seemed to move into a different
time, people were moving on the shore, and the snow was gone. Machines, and men drifted about strong and dominant buildings, busy with their activities. And there was no beam of light.
Suddenly they seemed to move again into a different scene.
The men were intensely watching the sky, and then the beam shot up into the sky. And a horrible thing began to happen. Men began to cry out, and fall down
shaking their arms and legs, some screaming before they lay still.
Rosemma gasped and Charles put his hand on her temple, murmuring soft words as to a frightened child. "Rosemma, take a breath, stay with the whale, stay with me."
She breathed a ragged breath and felt the whale reach out and soothe her, and she found the strength to stay there.
It was not easy. For next the whale moved them back to the raft, and pushed them in another direction, and they moved again back in time.
They moved closer to a coast that Rosemma knew, and she saw
more people falling down, flaying in spasms before they stopped, all ages of people, men, women and children.
Her eyes filled with tears, but then she saw some of the people move, and eventually get up. Very few. And they were confused, and cried out in pain at what they saw.
Charles spoke " Rosemma this was the time of the Great Death, and so these were the surviviors. Whatever knocked them down, did not kill all of them. Most of them, but these were the ones who are our ancestors. Only a few generations back."
At this point, Rosemma also looked about the ocean and saw other victims and survivors. The whales, the Nommos had suffered greatly too. Death floated all around them in the ocean, and she looked into the great creatures eye and saw sorrow there.
"Charles, they lost their loved ones too, and so did all creatures that lived here!" It was a revelation, she saw the whales as they were, intelligent, loving,
with families, and a connection to each other, and they had suffered the blow and had reached out. To them, to humans out of such a loneliness so deep, and sad, they put aside all of their fear of humans to make contact. And some of the humans had changed, could hear them, and feel and see what they sang about.
She reached over and put her hand on the whale, and shed tears, the tears falling on the wet skin of the Nommos. The creature began to sing to soothe her, and Charles sat in awe.
Finally he spoke, "Rosemma, I think you should say goodbye, and let it be known we will be back to visit. We will both be very tired, and so will the Nommos." He
gave a smile to the great creature, it was an honor to just be included in this contact.
Nose running, Rosemma whispered" Goodbye, I will come to see you again, I will come to find you, I will try to travel to the ocean when the weather is better, or go southnow if I have to to see you, you would find me? The Nommos sang back in agreement, and she kissed it above the eye.
"Goodbye, dear one until then."I will come." And she broke the contact.
They were back in the cabin, sitting knee to knee. Rosemma rubbed her palms on her knees and spoke.
" What did we just do?" Charles rubbed his eyes, fumbling around trying to find his glasses. "I am a singer too, but I hear other creatures most of the time, I have only heard a whale once in a trip to the coast with my grandfather."
"But I learned to vision quest and travel between when I showed some
abilities as a child, and was apprenticed to my own grandfather, who is a shaman. Just as your
great grandfather is a a magician, and wizard, I suppose."
She looked around the room trying to help him locate his glasses. They were in the corner, how they ended up there, well she could put that to right. Reaching out her hand, she moved them from the corner right into her palm.
Charles sat startled. " Well it looks like there is more than meets the eye with you , young lady. A talent very few possess. Telekinesis indeed."
Rosemma grimaced, " Please don't tell anyone, I am afraid one of the
teachers will want to make me their apprentice, and it is not that I don't like them all, but I am
happy where I am, with Grandmother and Jack Chang."
" Well, dearest girl", that gleam of mischief was back, " I think I can find someone who may just be the one to teach you, but first you'll be happy to know, you passed the test with more than the highest colors. Funny phrase, that."
"I guess I am glad, but still, I can't sit in classes any more than I do now. I love some things, but do not like sitting so long. I just can't." Her eyes looked strained and her mouth drooped from exhaustion and the emotional burden left over from the visions she had seen.
" Listen, I will teach you, and no sitting for too long. I am claiming you as my apprentice, you have a special gift, and need special training. My grandfather will be there to keep us both out of trouble, that is if he and Jack Chang can keep themselves out of trouble."
" It won't be easy, we will have to learn what that great beam of light is."
Rosemma looked drained as she almost slid out of the chair to the floor, and Charles caught her and half carried her out into the fresh air. They sat down on the steps, and he made her put her head down. Then he stepped to get her a drink of water.
She drank and gratefully smiled a thanks up to him. He smiled back.
"What did I just do, claiming her as my apprentice, here I am charmed by her already, dear
spirits, how do I go from here?"
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