A New Journey

 I was lying in my hammock strung between the crabapple trees, listening to the mourning doves in the fir tree and thinking peaceful summer thought when I noticed a new noise. It started out like a mosquito, a kind of whining humming noise. Then it got louder and I though that maybe it was a humming bird finally finding the feeder I put up the day before. Then it got louder still. I opened my eyes and looked around. I couldn’t see anything. I turned and sat up on the edge of the hammock. Still I couldn’t see anything. I stood up and looked around. There, underneath the hammock, was - well, it was something. I wasn’t sure just what it was, but it was humming and looked like a hole of some kind. It had swirls of color in it, and as I watched it with my mouth hanging open, a huge cloud of butterflies burst out of it. They fluttered up and through the holes in the rope hammock, filling the air with color. Then they swirled around me, landing on me and tickling me with tiny legs and wings. The air filled with sparkles and color, and I heard a voice talking to me.

“She Wolf, would you like to come on an adventure, down the Serpentine Road and to destinations unknown? Summer’s a good time for adventures, you know…”

I laughed delightedly and replied, “Enchanteur! I should have known! Of course I want to come!”
“Then grab your back pack, but hurry! I’ll hold the portal open for you!” came the reply.

I changed into traveling clothes and grabbed my backpack full of paper and pens and my camera and some socks to knit, and then I added some basic gear like matches and a pocket knife and a water bottle. Finally I put in spare clothes and a jacket and rain poncho. I knew I didn’t have all I needed, but this was a start. I needed to hurry - Enchanteur was waiting. I ran back to the hammock and the butterflies. They swirled around me again and then landed on me once more. I heard Enchanteur’s voice again. She said to take a deep breath and let the butterflies take me.

The world exploded in all the colors of the butterflies’ wings. It was magnificent. The scents of the summer flowers in the garden flowed past me and then I plunged into a darkness punctuated by pricks of starlight. The butterflies were still all over me, all around me. The colors swirled again and then suddenly I was standing on a grassy bank by a stream. The butterflies flew up and filled the air in a huge cloud of color and wings before they disappeared. I smiled and called out, “Thanks!” as they left.

Over the rushing of the little stream, I could hear the sounds of people talking and donkeys braying. I followed the stream through a small grove of trees and saw a huge wrought iron gate with a big wooden chest beside it. The donkeys were on the other side, along with quite a few people.  

I walked up to the gate and tried to go through. Somehow, something stopped me. It was like walking into a clear wall made of rubber. I just bounced right back.

“Surrender,” a voice said.

“Huh?”

“Surrender.”

“I give up?” I said.

“Surrender.”

“What do you mean, surrender?” I was thoroughly confused now.

“Surrender.”

One of the donkeys spoke up. “I believe it wants you to leave something you need to get rid of  in the box by the gate. Not the sort of something in your pack, just something you don’t need anymore.”

I remembered that Enchanteur had done this sort of thing before. “Oh, okay, I get it now,” I said. I rummaged around inside myself. It didn’t take long to find a lot of things I would be better off without. It was kind of discouraging, really, because I distinctly remembered getting rid of these things more than one time in the past. Still, I pull out fears and self doubt and procrastination and dumped them all in the box. I held them down while someone else put a few things on top of them and then slammed the lid shut. That should hold them - for a while, anyway. I stepped through the gate with a lighter heart.

She Wolf (c) 2007