Chapter 2 – Fears and Warnings
Fears and Warnings
Next morning Jesse went to join his playmates in the village. They played for hours in the snow. Some of the boys decided to take a walk to the river. As they all trudged down the snowy pathway, Jesse’s thoughts turned back to the words of the Lady of Light. He needed to talk to someone about it. Bob was the oldest. He acted as if he knew a lot. So Jesse quietly confided to him his secret about his meeting with the Lady of Light.
Bob was excited: “What!? Jesse, tell us all about it.”
They all crowded around. Bob announced loudly what Jesse had said. Questions came one after the other.
“Who is she? What is her name?”
“How did you meet her?”
“Let’s start from the beginning,” Bob said. “What kind of clothes was she wearing?”
“Uh… Her clothes looked like they were made of something like the snow when it glitters in the sun.”
“All white? Like a bridal gown?”
“And what did she say?”
Jesse didn’t want to tell anything about that.
“Never mind.”
“And then what? Where did she go?”
“She disappeared.”
“Just like that? You mean, she appeared and disappeared? Each time?”
“Yes.”
“This sounds spooky to me.”
“Maybe she is a ghost. I know someone who was seeing ghosts and talking to them. They locked her up in a mental hospital. She never came out of it again.”
“Or maybe she is a witch? Maybe she is going to cast a spell on you!”
Another boy declared: “I know! I bet she is an extraterrestrial! I read a book about them. You had better watch out! She could kidnap you and take you away on her spaceship.”
Jesse protested: “No! You got it all wrong! Nothing scary like that. If only you could see her even for just a moment, you would never be afraid!
“Yeah…sure…You don’t know anything. You are just a little kid”
Heavy clouds appeared in the sky and were covering the sun. A strong wind began to blow. Suddenly all the playmates decided to run home and in a few moments they had all scampered away. Jesse trudged through the snow, alone. The icy wind was cutting right through his winter coat. He felt terrible.
“Why is everybody so scared? Why are they imagining all these terrible things? Why? What should I tell them?”
That night, after dinner, Jesse’s Dad took him aside for a serious talk.
“Jesse, I have heard some rumors about you from the people in the village. What is this I hear about this . . . er . . . this Lady of Light? Are you serious about this?”
“Oh, yes! She is real.”
Dad cleared his throat, “Jesse, this just doesn’t make any sense, you know. Listen to me. You are a growing boy now. Dreams like that are for babies. You don’t have to imagine things like that.” His voice grew stern. “Do me a favor, don’t talk to anyone about this again, will you? The whole village is talking about you now. They are wondering about you.”
Jesse nodded. He didn’t want to speak about this to anyone ever again.
Satisfied, Dad tapped Jesse on the shoulder:
“That’s my boy. When you grow up, you will learn many important facts from science. You will remember the funny dreams of your younger years and you will laugh.”
Jesse’s Dad was usually a very busy man as the assistant Maire of the village. He usually came home from work late at night. Jesse wished he could be with him more often. But know he couldn’t share his most important secret with him.
~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~
One night, Jesse woke up and looked out of his window. The moon was shining brightly over the meadows and trees, blanketed in bluish, glittering snow. So beautiful, so magical. Jesse had an idea:
“Maybe now…maybe if I walk to the same spot where I saw her, she would come.” He quietly put his coat, pants, and boots on and slipped out of the house.
Everything was so silent, so majestic. Millions of stars were filling the sky. Jesse could sense the mystery and infinite vastness of unknown worlds above…the wonder…and the peace…
Suddenly his father’s angry voice was calling in the distance.
“Jesse…Jesse.” Jesse knew he had to turn back and walk home. Both his parents were up and waiting for him. Father spoke:
“What is going on with you? Why in the world are you wandering in the middle of the night all the way out there?”
“I wanted to see the moonlight shining over the snow, and also all the stars.”
“This is crazy! You could get lost in that snow! And what about the worry you are causing us? Get to bed right now and don’t do that ever again to us!
Stars!”
The winter months went by, but Jesse never gave up his hope: somehow, some day, he would find the gate to the Kingdom of the Worlds of Light. Oh! How he longed to solve this mystery!
~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~
One day he went for another search further down the valley. On his way he saw Bob and some other children walking toward him. They grabbed him by the arm.
“Hey! Look who is here! The weirdo kid! Looking for your ghost Lady, hmm? Watch out! She’s going to put a spell on you!”
“Let me go!” protested Jesse.
“ Forget it!” said the older one. He is just a crazy kid.”
They let him go. Jesse ran and ran. Then he sadly walked home under a frozen grey sky. An icy wind was blowing. As it was getting dark he finally arrived slowly home. His body was numb with cold. His parents were waiting for him at the door, and his father spoke first:
“Where have you been?”
“For a walk,” Jesse meekly answered.
“For a walk!” Dad thundered in anger. “You have been wandering around like a lost soul looking for this crazy fantasy dream of yours! What good does that bring you? None of your friends are playing with you any longer. To them you are just “the weird kid who is talking to ghosts!”
Jesse couldn’t hold back his tears. His father took him by the shoulders and spoke earnestly:
“Don’t you see? This dream of yours is not real. It has nothing to do with the real world. It is only causing you trouble. The only thing to do is to give it up now…once and for all!”
“For goodness’ sake,” Mother pleaded, “first let’s warm him up. He looks frozen, poor thing.”
That night, as Jesse was sobbing under his pillow, he thought in despair:
“Too hard…too hard for me. I’m just a silly little boy. I am not good enough for this. The Lady of Light has given up on me for sure.”
The next morning he got up, determined to forget all about his dreams. He went to play with the children in the village and they accepted him back into their games. From that day on he didn’t allow himself to think about the mysterious encounters with the Lady of Light, and life went on as it had before.
