Chapter 15: Recovery from a Loss

Sean was cold. He was lying on a bed of snow, but the realization seemed to be a distant thought. It was a troubling thought, too. He was dimly aware of tendrils of smoke behind some of the people standing in a circle around him. How could he be lying on a bed of snow if the ground was smoking?

The people standing in a circle were chanting something, but Sean couldn't understand the words. He didn't know why he couldn't understand the words. The words could be in a language that he didn't understand. Another possibility was, his mind was simply too fuzzy to understand any language.

Sean's mind seemed to be wrapped in a cotton shroud. Only the most basic tendrils of thought were able to coalesce into something understandable. Cold, light, smoke, and awareness of people seemed to be the limit of his understanding. There was no thought that he was in danger or needed to do anything to escape. He couldn't even generate enough motivation to stand so that he could escape the cold.

Shadows seemed to be slowly oozing from the ground all around the little group. More shadows emerged from the edge of a canyon that was also the source of the tendrils of smoke. The first hints of concern were generated in his thoughts. Smoke was one thing. Shadows that seemed to come from nowhere wasn't right.

Sean's concern increased when the shadows started joining together. His apprehension wasn't acute enough to spur him to action, but it did focus his thoughts. His sluggish thoughts couldn't remember seeing shadows combining like drops of quick silver on glass. The shadow continued to fuse together until they took a shape that was roughly humanoid. The first twinge of fear ran through his mind.

He could see another small group people, in the distance, through the legs of the circle of people around him. One of them pointed towards him.

"Hurry," Sean thought as the shadow creature leaned towards him.

Sean didn't know what, or who, he was urging to hurry. He didn't know what action he was urging to happen faster, either.

An arm of the shadow reached towards his head and Sean felt terror rising within him. He tried as hard as he could to pull back, but he couldn't move. His mind felt like it was helplessly scrabbling at a smooth wall as it franticly clawed, trying to escape. He knew that if that shadow touched him, something terrible would happen. He also knew that resistance was futile. There was no escape from the approaching doom.

Just before the shadow touched him, Sean dropped to the ground. The snow had disappeared from under him, and there must have been a lot of snow. The drop was over three feet. He was aware of the people in the circle around him stumbling and the chant being disrupted, as the snow disappeared from under them, too. Sean felt more than heard a scream of denial from the shadow.

Sean bobbed up on a cushion of air before flying across a canyon. The movement was so fast that Sean felt more than heard the snap of air that filled the void where his body had been. The scream of denial quickly faded into the distance. His body reached the group that he remembered seeing in the distance. He was wrapped in a warm cocoon of air. He recognized them, but wasn't sure from where, or when. Sean knew he was safe with them. The cocoon became denser and seemed to compress around him. Then the scene, the world, disappeared in a blinding flash of light.

"That is for later," a strange sounding voice said in his mind. He knew, then, that he was in the Dream.

The voice didn't sound like anything Sean remembered hearing before. The tonal qualities of the voice almost sounded like many voices blended together, but, it was still one voice. He was sure that he could hear David's tenor tones in the voice. Sean could also hear a bass tone in the voice, that he was sure belonged to his father. Sean didn't know how it was possible to recognize his father's voice. His father had died on the day he was born, but before he was born. How could he know his father had a deep, bass voice? Sean had never heard his father speak, but he was sure of the source of those bass tones. He also heard the resonances of his mother's soprano tones in the voice. Her voice was another voice that he had never physically heard. There were other tones in the voice as if a legion of souls were supporting his mother, father, and David in their communication.

"There is no need to be concerned with future events, for now," the voice, voices reassured him. "For now, learn. For now, prepare. You and yours will face many challenges. Worrying about them will not help you, though being aware of dangers can help you in your preparation. Learning and preparing will help you meet those challenges. Your actions have pushed back the Shadow Dream, for now. You have a few years to prepare. Use them well," the voice said before fading slightly.

After a pause, the voice continued. It was the same voice, but different. The high pitched soprano tones of his mother had moved to the forefront of the voice. The bass of his father and David's tenor were still present in the tones, but had receded in some way, as she said, "You are loved. You will see clearly because of my love."

"You are loved," the voice said again, but it had changed again. All the mixed tonal qualities were still there but the bass of his father had moved to the forefront, saying, "My love will give you strength."

"You are loved," the voice said one last time. The tenor tones of David had now moved to the forefront of the voice. "My love will help you protect our people."

The Dream faded and Sean's eyes opened. Sean had vague memories of smoke, fire and cold. Prominent in his mind was the message the voice had given him. It was as clear as a printed page.

He was loved and that love would help him. The Nightmare had been pushed back and Sean now had time to prepare. Sean frowned as he tried to connect the memories of smoke, fire, and cold. He finally gave up in frustration and got out of bed.

Sean thought about the message from the Dream as he climbed onto a foot stool in front of the bathroom sink and looked in the mirror. He couldn't reach the faucets without the foot stool.

A boy with a wild red hair and bright green eyes stared back at Sean from the mirror. The red of his hair seemed to be a balance between copper red and the red of a strawberry blonde. However the color was described, there was no denying that it was wild. His momma, Martha, had almost given up trying to tame the wild mop. His eyes were the green of the deep sea, and they seemed much older than an eighteen month old should be. Sean wondered if his father had green eyes. He had been told that his father had red hair but no one had mentioned the color of his eyes.

Sean washed his face and hands as his thoughts continued to mull over the Dream message. By the time he climbed down from the foot stool, Sean determined that he had received two different messages. The last message was personal. He was sure of that and didn't know if he should share it with anyone. The first message was general information, and he needed to pass it on to the family. He nodded to himself as he left the bathroom and went downstairs to breakfast.

Breakfast was a somber meal. Ben, Liz, Cory and Brennan had returned to the ranch for breakfast. The family had to organize and determine on their next steps.

"Udit, have you reached David's family?" Seth asked.

"I reached his dad," Udit replied. "His mother died, and his father remarried."

"And?" Seth asked impatiently. Normally, Seth had the patience to deal with Udit's oblique way of answering questions. But, a lot had happened in the last twenty-four hours and it had been a short night. The coffee wasn't having the invigorating effect he remembered from twenty years before.

Seth took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Udit. I'm still tired and my nerves seem to still be a little tight. What do they want to do with the body? What do we need to do help them."

Udit nodded in acceptance of Seth's apology and said, "The body will be shipped back to his father's home in Longview, Washington. He will be buried there. Other than a small memorial service in Longview and the funereal, there won't be any further services at this time."