Sisters of Light Mystery Series
Introduction
Elli Robbins, a sixteen-year-old junior at Willow Bend High School, has always wanted to be a healer. That's why she was so interested when a new massage therapist, Victoria Smith, moved to Willow Bend and set up offices in a little cottage near the center of the town‹especially after clients left Victoria's Golden Light Massage Studio feeling wonderful. Some people even claimed that Victoria's hands positively seemed to glow!
And with good reason, as Elli came to find out after Victoria accepted her as an apprentice and shared her secret‹Victoria Smith was, in reality, a young girl named Lumina, from Lumenor, a dimension where everything was made of light, and who had come to Earth disguised as an Earthling, to do research as part of a school project.
Elli, with Victoria's blessing, shared the secret with her two younger sisters, 13-year-old Maggi and 10-year-old Cristi, but didn't tell anyone else‹not even her parents, Red and Molly Robbins, or her boyfriend, senior Hap Rogers.
On Saturdays, when Elli came to Victoria's studio to learn more about healing, Victoria used to let her listen in as Victoria reported back home to her friend Lumen, using a special Light Wand. But one day, when all the cats in Willow Bend had mysteriously disappeared, including Regina, Victoria's own cat who was also from Lumenor, Elli discovered another use for the Light Wand.
Find out more, by reading the following exciting Sisters of Light
episode : The Case of the Purr-fect Crime!
"The Purr-fect Crime"
990125/jdr
I.
Elli Robbins always loved visiting the Golden Light Massage Studio, the cozy little cottage where Victoria Smith received her clients. There wasn't the nervous, slightly uncomfortable feeling that so many doctors' offices have. Even Doc Wurlitzer, Elli's favorite doctor in Willow Bend, had an office that always smelled like rubbing alcohol, and always had dumb magazines in the waiting room.
Victoria's waiting room was filled with lush green houseplants, and nice paintings, and of course, plenty of light‹what would you expect from someone whose real name is Lumina, and who comes from a dimension mostly made of light?
"Hi, April," Elli said to April Holliday, the receptionist, "is Victoria in?"
"Oh, hi, Elli," April replied. "I expect you're here for your Saturday practice session?"
"I sure am."
At sixteen, Elli was already fascinated by healers of all kinds, and hoped one day to be one herself. She was thrilled when Victoria offered to teach her some of her techniques. Of course, since Elli wasn't from Lumenor, she couldn't make her hands glow like Victoria, but she was still learning a lot about all the different complaints people have, and different ways of helping.
"Well, Victoria's in her massage room, but I'm afraid she's not feeling too well. Her cat's been missing for two days now."
"Regina's missing?" That was unusual. Regina was Victoria's fluffy white kitty‹also from Lumenor. Regina was always snoozing on a windowsill in the office when Elli visited.
"Hi, Victoria?" Elli partly opened the door and peeked in.
"Oh, hi, Elli, come on in." Victoria was sitting in the chair by the window, just kind of staring off into space. "I'd forgotten today was our day."
"I just heard about Regina," Elli said. "You don't have any idea where she might be?"
"I've looked everywhere. It's so unlike her, I just can't imagine where she's gone. I was just about to use the Light to call Lumenor, to see if maybe she slipped back through a Portal when I wasn't looking."
"You know, come to think of it, Hap said his kitty has been gone for a few days, too." Hap Rogers was Elli's boyfriend. "And he said that he'd heard of other missing cats, too. I wonder what's going on?"
"I don't know. I'm pretty worried, actually, it's so unlike Regina."
"Can I stay while you talk to Lumen?"
"Sure. Why don't you lock the door, and turn off the lights."
"All right," Victoria said finally. "I think you're right. Lock the door."
Elli did so, while Victoria unlocked the drawer on the very top shelf of her cabinet that contained the Wand of Light that allowed her to contact her friend Lumen across the dimensional Void.
"Ready?" Victoria asked.
"Ready," Elli said, returning to her seat.
Victoria held the Wand out. Elli wrapped her hand around the lower half, while Victoria held the upper half.
"FOR ALL WHO STRIVE TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT!," she intoned, with eyes half-closed, "ON EVERY REALM, LET THERE BE LIGHT!"
No matter how often Elli had watched the metamorphosis of Victoria Smith into Lumina, she was still amazed as Victoria's skin began glistening, then glowing, and then finally shining, so brightly it always took Elli's eyes a few minutes to be able to discern Victoria's features in the Light Being that was now seated before her.
"Lumina?" Elli heard a voice in her mind, and then, in the space of air between she and Lumina, the sparkling figure of Lumen appeared. "Oh, hi, Elli."
"Hi, Lumen," Elli replied by thinking the thought in her mind. Lumen was actually a child, just like Lumina, though Lumina appeared as a grown woman in her Earth form.
Elli heard Lumina's reply in her mind.
"Regina's missing, Lumen. I thought she might have slipped back into Lumenor."
"No sign of her here, and besides, the Portals won't be opening for another month or so. Are you sure she isn't asleep under a bed somewhere?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Lumina replied, somewhat sharply.
Lumina and Lumen continued their conversation, but most of what they talked about was over Elli's head. Lumina was a kind of researcher, sending data back to Lumenor about Earth. Elli had discovered her secret sometime ago, and Lumina had ended up confiding in the whole Robbins family. But they were the only ones in Willow Bend who knew‹Elli hadn't even told Hap.
Elli kept her hand on the Light Wand, and gradually, as she tuned out the conversation between the Lumenoreans, a vision began forming in her mind. She saw a whole room, full of cats, all hooked up to some totally weird machine of some kind. She even thought she recognized Regina!
But then the vision faded, as Lumina signed off.
"Bye, Elli," Lumen said as he vanished into the air.
Lumina turned the Light off, and slowly came back to being Victoria Smith again. She looked at the clock. "My goodness, I've got to get ready for my 12:00!"
"Victoria!" Elli said, suddenly excited, "while the Light was on, I had this vision, of all these cats. There were in this room, somewhere, and Regina was with them!"
"Is she all right?"
"Yes, I think so," Elli replied. "You know, I've had this experience before, when I touch the Light, that I kind of like, see things, you know? And feel what other people are feeling. You know what I mean?"
"Yes, Elli, you call it intuition. It's how we all communicate, in Lumenor. Since the Light Wand is from Lumenor, I guess it's not too surprising that it has that effect on humans."
"Victoria," Elli said, a bit nervously. She just had a great idea, but now she had to figure out how to get Victoria to agree. "I was wondering, I mean, I know we've never done this before, but I was thinking that maybe if I had more time, you know, with the Light, then maybe I could get a clearer picture of where the cats are."
"You want to borrow the Light Wand, is that what you're asking?"
"I... I guess so... I promise I'll be careful with it, and everything, I mean, I know it's how you report back to Lumenor and everything." Elli suddenly feared that she had asked too much. Victoria had been very generous with Elli, but letting her use the Light Wand?
Victoria was silent, thinking it through in her own head.
"Well," she said at last, "I guess it might be worth a try. I'd do it myself, but it doesn't seem to have the same intuition boosting effect on me. Intuition, after all, is very similar to empathy, and‹"
"Maybe it's just kind of a human thing," Elli finished her sentence with a smile. "So, could I borrow it? Just for tonight?"
"Well," Victoria said, "if it will help get Regina back safe and sound, I guess it couldn't hurt. But there is one thing," she added.
"What's that?" Elli heard April's voice outside the door, greeting Victoria's next client.
"I'd feel better about it if you didn't use the Light too much by yourself, at least in the beginning. I think it would be better if you and your sisters used it together. Is that OK? And don't leave it on too long, at any one time, until we know what the effects are."
"Sure! Oh, thanks, Victoria!" Elli gave her a big hug, and slipped out the door, practically running into Doc Wurlitzer, who was there for his weekly treatment.
She could barely contain her excitement as she rode her bike home, the Light Wand safely tucked away in her backpack. Wait till Maggi and Cristi see this!
II.
After lunch, Red and Molly Robbins weren't too surprised to see their three daughters rush up to Elli's room. They were always up to something, especially on weekends.
"Wow!" 10-year-old Cristi said, "she let you have the Light?"
"Not to keep," Elli replied, as the three girls sat on Elli's bed, with only a candle to light the darkened room. "Just to use until we find Regina and the other kitties."
"It's so weird," 13-year-old Maggi said, "how could all the cats in Willow Bend just disappear all of a sudden?"
"Let's turn the Light on!" Cristi said, grabbing for the Light Wand in Elli's hand.
"Wait!" Elli said. "Victoria always does the Oath of Light first. I think it's probably kind of important. Plus we need to be really clear about what we want to find out."
"So the Light really helps you read minds?" Maggi said.
"I'm not really sure," Elli replied. "I think it's more like, it helps you read people's hearts."
"Wow," Cristi repeated. "Can we turn it on now?"
"But how will that help us get the cats back?" Maggi asked.
"I'm not really sure," Elli answered. "But while I was holding the Light Wand with Victoria, and she turned into Lumina and was talking to Lumen and everything, I got this very clear picture of the cats. I think somebody's been taking them, for some reason. I think if we all hold the Light Wand, and focus our intentions, I'll get a clearer idea of where they are."
"Let's do it," Cristi said. "Let's get the kitties back."
"I'm game," Maggi said. "What do we do?"
"OK, first we hold the Light Wand, all together, OK? Maggi, you put your hand over mine, and then Cristi puts her hand over yours. Just like that, right. Then we say the Oath of Light. It goes like this:
FOR ALL WHO STRIVE TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT,
IN EVERY REALM, LET THERE BE LIGHT!
"Then we turn the Light on, with this little switch here, and... we see happens after that."
"Should we close our eyes?" Cristi asked.
"Probably. That might help us see things in our minds better. OK? Everyone ready."
Everyone was ready, so together, the three sisters spoke the Oath of Light, and Elli switched the Light on, and instantly the room was dancing with sparkling rainbow colors.
"Wow!" said Cristi.
"OK, everyone, let's concentrate," Elli said.
That was easier said than done. After all, it's not so easy to find just the right thought out of all the ones in your head. It's like trying to find just the right dress in a closet with your eyes closed, after you haven't cleaned your closet in three weeks.
The more Elli thought about it, the more thoughts she kept having. But with a little more concentration, she did notice a different kind of thought. It wasn't the same kind of thought as whether she should close the window, or what someone had just said, or what their Mom would fix for breakfast tomorrow. In fact, it was more of a feeling than a thought. But the more Elli focused on it, the clearer it became.
It was a face‹the face of an old man, all wrinkly and unhappy. The feeling Elli got was that this person had felt a great sadness for many years, a sadness that had grown terribly bitter as the years had passed. Somehow, Elli knew, this was the person who had kidnapped the cats.
"It's that old guy that lives in that spooky mansion on the other side of town!" Maggi said suddenly.
"You see him, too?" Elli said.
"Me, too," Cristi said.
"He looks familiar," Elli said. "Who is he?"
"I told you, he's the mad scientist character," Maggi said. "I can't remember his name right now."
"You mean Professor Weevil?" Elli asked.
"That's the guy!"
Oh my goodness, Elli thought, as she turned the Light off and the sisters released their grip on it. Professor Weevil was kind of a legend in Willow Bend. He lived in a huge old farmhouse on a hill just north of town, and people told all kinds of stories about the strange experiments he did there. Elli's Dad, Red, had taken some classes from him at Riverside College, many years ago. Red said he was a brilliant scientist, but he had very peculiar interests and a reputation for being odd. He was retired from the College now, and lived as a hermit in his old mansion, a place that most people avoided, especially at night.
"That must be where the cats are," Elli said. "He must be using them for some experiment."
"That's terrible," Maggi said. "What a creep!"
"Should we call the police?" Cristi asked.
"Not yet," Elli said. "We don't really have any proof. And what are we going to tell them? That we used a Light Wand from another dimension to find out? I don't think so."
"Let's ride out to his place, and look around," Maggi said. "And if we see anything suspicious, then we can call the cops."
"Right," Elli agreed. She put the Light Wand in her backpack. "This may come in handy," she thought to herself.
III.
The afternoon sky was dark, and Elli hoped it wouldn't rain as the three sisters rode their bikes out past the edge of town, toward Professor Weevil's mansion.
"This place gives me the creeps!" said Maggi, as they hid their bikes in the bushes outside the front gate. The mansion itself was a three-story farmhouse on the very top of the hill, which looked to be in a terrible state of disrepair, and was surrounded by a high chain-link fence topped with barbed-wire. The front gate was locked and bolted.
"How will we get in?" Cristi asked.
"I know a way," Elli said. "I've heard kids at school talking about how they used to sneak in, using a hole in the fence. We'll just have to find it."
"Before Old Man Weevil finds us!" Maggi added.
Using the bushes as camouflage, the sisters began to walk around the fence, looking for anything that might appear to be a way in.
"I found it!" said Cristi. "Look under there!"
Indeed, there was a small opening in the fence, where someone had apparently used boltcutters to cut the links. A patch job had been attempted, but did not prevent Elli or her sisters from squeezing their way through.
"This is getting just a little bit spooky," Cristi said.
"Don't worry," Elli said, "we won't stay long. The minute we see any kitties, we'll get out of here and let the police handle it."
They crept closer to the mansion. Elli noticed a light on in a basement window, and motioned her sisters to follow her. She gasped when she peered through the window.
"Oh, my goodness!"
The cats were there, all right. Lots of them, in special cages, hooked up with all kinds of wires running everywhere.
"There must be at least a hundred cats down there!" Elli said.
"I just had a terrible thought," Maggi said. "Maybe it's just like 101 Dalmations! Maybe Professor Weevil wants to make coats out of their fur, or something!"
"Not quite!"
The girls were startled to hear a gruff voice behind them, and turned around to see Professor Weevil himself standing there, with two big goons behind him.
"Tie 'em up, boys," he said, with an evil glint in his eye. "Since you little girls are so curious, perhaps you'd like to come inside and find out more about my little experiment."
The sisters tried to run, but they were trapped, and soon found themselves tied to chairs in Professor Weevil's basement laboratory.
"You'll never get away with this!" Elli said, as the Professor busied himself at what appeared to be a control module. "Our parents know where we are, and if we're not back soon, they'll call the police!" This wasn't exactly true, unfortunately. Oh why didn't we tell our parents the whole story, Elli moaned to herself.
"Oh, I don't think that will be a problem, young lady. You won't be here that long, and when you return to Willow Bend, you won't remember a thing about what you are soon going to witness‹one of my little inventions does a nice job of wiping away troublesome memories."
"What are you doing with all the cats?" Cristi demanded to know.
"Well, now, that does seem to be the question of the day, doesn't it?" Professor Weevil said, rising from his chair and coming closer to the sisters. "I suppose there's no harm in telling you, since you'll soon forget this whole afternoon anyway."
"If you hurt so much as a hair on those cat's head‹" Maggi began.
"Hurt them?" Professor Weevil smiled again. "I wouldn't dream of hurting them."
Close up, Elli could tell from his eyes that the old man's mind was dangerously imbalanced. A thought suddenly came to her‹what would Victoria do, to heal him? Massage? Herbs? Crystals? All three? The first step, Elli thought, would be a straitjacket.
"Well, if you're not going to hurt them, why don't you let them go?" Cristi said.
"Oh, I will , I will," Professor Weevil replied, "but not before they help me perform a little experiment."
Through a large window between the rooms, Elli could see into the room where the cats were kept. Each one was in its own glass cage, and each wore what appeared to be a special collar around its neck. Otherwise, they appeared relatively unharmed. Each cage had a strand of wires running from the top to a large machine in the corner of the room. Next to the machine sat a special chair, with wires running from the machine into a large cone directly above the chair. It all looked like a bizarre version of the kind of chairs with built-in hairdryers they have in beauty salons.
"I see you've noticed the cats in their little boxes," the Professor said to Elli. "Would you like to see how they work?"
Elli just looked at him, not playing along with his little games.
He moved to the control module. "You see, I've built these cages to be the ideal environment for the cat. Their food bowl never runs out of food, the temperature is never too hot or too cold, they can sleep as many hours of the day as they like. And watch this!" He flipped a switch, and in each cage, a small arm came out and actually scratched under the cat's chin!
"Why have you done all this?" Maggi demanded.
"Well, now, that's rather a long story," Professor Weevil replied. "Let's just say that my life has grown rather burdensome to me. In short, it's become almost impossible for me to find pleasure in anything I do. Now, it's not really fair, is it, that I, Walter Weevil, a world-renowned scientist, should not enjoy living, while mere cats wallow their lives away in their pleasure-filled pursuits? No, it's not fair. And so, since I have so little, and they have so much, I decided to take some of theirs."
"You're totally crazy!" Maggi said.
"No, no," Professor Weevil smiled again, "Not totally, no. If I was totally crazy, I'd never have been able to invent this marvelous machine. Speaking of which," he said, rising again from the control module, "allow me to explain just how it all works, and perhaps gain just a bit of your admiration, before your memories of this day are taken from you. You see the cats in their little cells, don't you?"
Professor Weevil walked over to the window between the rooms. "These cells are designed with one purpose, and one purpose only in mind‹to make these cats purr. Rich, glorious, magnificent purrs! But of course, that's only the beginning. Due to my invention, the details of which I'm sure would bore you, the energy of the cats' purring is then fed into that machine in the corner, which amplifies and modulates it, and sends it down through that headset in the chair, directly into‹my brain! And voila! I feel wonderful again! Or at least," the Professor added, a cloud of uncertainty suddenly clouding his face, "that's how it's supposed to work. To be honest, young ladies, I'm still working the bugs out of it."
"How can you expect these cats to enjoy being cooped up in a cage!" Elli said, the anger rising suddenly within her. "You kidnap them, take them away from their owners who love them, you force them to live in these little glass boxes, you scratch them with little mechanical arms‹you may know a lot about machines, but you nothing about cats! Or feeling good, for that matter!"
"We'll soon see about that, young lady," Professor Weevil snapped. "And now, enough talk, it's time for my next session with the little creatures. Feel free to watch."
Professor Weevil left the three sisters alone as he entered the other room, and sat down in the special chair next to the giant machine with all the wires running in and out of it. In all the cages, mechanical arms began attempting to scratch the cats, most of whom did their very best to avoid being touched by the weird contraptions. Elli saw Regina in one of the cages, batting her paws at the device.
"What are we going to do?" Cristi said.
Suddenly Elli remembered the Light Wand. "Maggi," she said, "see if you can reach into my backpack!"
"The Wand!" Maggi said.
"It got us into this," Elli said, "maybe it can get us out."
Maggi and Elli hopped around in their chairs until they were back to back. Maggi managed to free her hands just enough to reach in and bring the Light Wand out, so both girls could hold it.
"Well, here goes," Elli said.
FOR ALL WHO STRIVE TO DO WHAT'S RIGHT,
IN EVERY REALM, LET THERE BE LIGHT!
And she turned it on. And nothing happened. At least for awhile. Elli's mind was terribly scattered, and nothing she did seemed to calm it enough to listen to the small voice that seemed to come through the Light Wand. But gradually, she saw again the face of Professor Weevil. But this time, it was a young Professor Weevil. He was in a church, dressed in a fine black tuxedo, but he was crying. His wedding day, Elli suddenly realized, and the whole picture emerged in her mind. He had been left, standing at the altar, while his bride-to-be ran off with another man!
And from that day on, he had never known happiness.
"That's so sad," Maggi said, seeing the same picture.
"The poor guy," Elli said, "but it still doesn't mean he gets to steal everyone's cats!"
And then the picture of the young Professor Weevil faded, and in its place was the white fluffy face of Regina, Victoria's cat.
"Regina!" Elli said. "We're in contact with her!"
"Great," Maggi said sarcastically. "Ask her if there's anything else the Professor can do to make her feel better."
"Wait, I have an idea," Elli said. "What if the Professor's machine actually works? What if it worked so well, in fact, that all the cats started purring so much, that all those purr vibrations made him actually feel good? Maybe that's all he would need, to see the error of his ways?"
"Brilliant," Maggi said, still sarcastically. "But even so, how are we going to pull that off. The cats don't seem to be enjoying the Professor's little set-up at the moment."
"I don't know, maybe Regina can help," Elli said. "She's from Lumenor, after all. Maybe she's super-intelligent, or something. Maybe she can telepathically convince all the cats to purr."
"Wow!" Cristi said.
"Worth a try," said Maggi.
So Elli and Maggi, still holding the Light Wand, concentrating on sending the message to Regina.
And Elli watched, as Regina quit trying to bat the mechanical arm away, and instead allowed it to scratch her, under the chin, right where Victoria always did. And then another, and another.
Elli looked over at Professor Weevil in the chair, with the contraption on his head, and a growing smile on his face. It was working! More and more cats were purring now, obviously allowing themselves to enjoy the pampering of Professor Weevil's ingenious invention. The Professor himself was now grinning from ear to ear. Elli started wondering, hmm, I wonder what that feels like?
But then, as more and more cats closed their eyes, and surrendered to the petting, the machine next to the Professor started smoking, and sparks flew from the wires, and Professor Weevil himself started shaking, his arms and legs twitching in the chair, until he looked like someone being electrocuted!
The cats were overloading the circuit!
Professor Weevil tried frantically to control his arms, in a desperate attempt to escape, but it was no use, he was trapped. A prisoner of his own device.
Luckily for him, that's when the police burst through the door, followed closely by Victoria.
"Elli! Maggi! Cristi! Are you all right?"
"Yes, we're fine," Elli answered. "But boy are we glad to see you."
"How'd you know we were here?" Maggi asked, as the police shut off the machine, and tried to revive Professor Weevil.
"Regina sent me a message," Victoria replied. "Once you turned the Light Wand on, she was able to let me know where you were."
"Wow!" Cristi said.
"This guy had quite a set-up down here," Detective Blake said, as his men dragged Professor Weevil into the room.
"I hope you're not too hard on him," Elli said. "He's really just a very unhappy man."
"It's true," the Professor said, slowly regaining consciousness. "I... was just trying to make myself feel... good for a change. But it was wrong to do what I've done. I see that now."
"Well, at least it doesn't look like any of the cats were harmed," Detective Blake said.
"Actually," Victoria said, coming back into the room with Regina in her arms, "it looks like Regina's gained a little weight!"
And everyone laughed, including Professor Weevil, who later agreed that, instead of going to jail, he would convert his mansion into a homeless animal shelter.
And so that's what happened. And it turned out, that caring for all those animals gave him something he'd been missing for a long time in his life‹happiness.
And the people of Willow Bend were reunited with their cats, and Victoria and Regina settled back into their comfortable lives together as Victoria continued to gather information about Earth for her research project.
And Elli, Maggi, and Cristi? Well, they went on to have many further
adventures, in their peaceful little home town of Willow Bend.
2nd Episode:
I.
"Well my goodness, Elli," Molly Robbins said, losing her patience, "when is this Portal going to open? It's almost midnight, and you've got to get your sleep, young lady. After all, you've got to be fresh for the school play tomorrow, don't you? And two performances, no less."
"The first show doesn't start till the afternoon, Mom," Elli replied. "Besides, it's going to happen any second now, isn't it, Lumina?"
"Seems like it should," Lumina replied. She was sitting in the old easy chair in the middle of the workshop, the same one in which she'd first appeared, three months earlier. "You never quite know, though. Space-time can be just a little random, sometimes."
"That's certainly true," Red agreed. "I'd sure like to know more about how the whole thing works."
"I'd like to go to Lumenor someday," Cristi said. "Do you think I can, Lumina?"
"Well, maybe so, Cristi," Lumina smiled. "I'd love to show you around. We could go swimming in the Ocean of All Possibilities."
"Can I come?" Maggi said quickly.
"Now just a minute," Molly said, "I'm not sure I want my daughters wandering off into other dimensions‹at least until they finish high school!"
Molly laughed. "Besides, what if you couldn't get back?"
Red and Molly were sitting on a sofa against the far wall of the basement. The three sisters were kneeling, next to the easy chair in the center of the room where Lumina sat. Otherwise, the room was filled with all of Red's scientific equipment, full of dials, blinking lights, digital readouts and monitors and so on. The easy chair itself, that Lumina sat in, was surrounded by crystals. A huge crystal hung suspended above her. (Red had been working for years to communicate with other dimensions, using a synthesis of electrical, magnetic and crystal energies-- could this be why the Portal from Lumenor chose his basement to appear?"
Gradually, a humming begin to fill the room, the crystals began glowing, and then even Lumina herself was glowing, returning to her natural radiance.
Green Eyed Monster
Sisters of Light Episode 3
jdr/990302
I.
"What's wrong, Elli?" Victoria asked. "I've explained the principles of
deep tissue massage to you three times now, and you keep asking the same
questions over and over."
"I'm sorry," Elli answered. "I just can't seem to concentrate this
morning."
They sat in Victoria's massage room. Elli was there for her regular
Saturday morning lesson at Victoria's Golden Light Massage Studio. It
was a glorious sunny day outside, and Victoria's fluffy white cat,
Regina, soaked up the warming rays in her favorite place on the
windowsill.
"That's not like you, Elli. What's bothering you?"
Elli thought for a few moments before answering. She wasn't sure she
wanted to share her problem with Victoria. She wasn't even sure it was a
problem. But finally she made up her mind to speak. Victoria did seem
genuinely interested, and after all, maybe it was something about humans
that Victoria could include in her next report back to Lumenor.
"Well, it all started when the new family from Guatemala moved into town
last week."
"Oh, I think I read about them. Aren't they the Mayan family that came
here seeking political asylum from the terrible situation down there?"
"Yes, the Riveras. The father is actually a college professor. They
have a son who's in college. But it's their daughter, Maria, who's the
problem."
"Why?"
Elli suddenly felt very embarrassed. She wasn't exactly proud of how
she felt. "Well, it's nothing she's actually doing. She's just very
attractive, and ever since she showed up at school, well... Hap just
seems very interested her. He's always asking her if she needs anything,
and showing her around school and everything."
"Maybe he's just trying to help her adjust to her new life?" Victoria
said, going over to the window to pet Regina.
"Yeah, right," Elli said, some of her anger starting to show. "He's
barely said two words to me since she showed up."
"Elli, I've never seen you like this before. What are you so worried
about? Hap's your boyfriend, isn't he?"
"Well, officially, anyway," Elli answered. "But it's not like we're
married or anything. And even if we were, these days it seems like you
just never know when things can change. Oh, Victoria," Elli sighed, "I
hate being jealous!"
"Jealousy! So that's it," Victoria said, coming back over to sit next
to Elli. "I've always wondered what that is."
"You mean people don't get jealous in Lumenor?" Elli asked.
"If you mean, do we get angry or hurt when our friends spend time with
someone else, then no, we don't."
"Well, Lumen's your boyfriend in Lumenor, right?"
"Right."
"Don't you ever wonder what he's been doing all this time you've been on
Earth? I mean, who he's spending time with, and everything?"
"Elli, Lumen and I have been matched by the Elders of Lumenor. Everyone
knows we're meant to be together."
Elli stretched herself out on Victoria's comfortable massage table, and
gazed up at the ceiling, letting her mind drift. One good thing about
this conversation, it was taking her mind off her own worries for the
time being.
"But how can you be sure he's being faithful to you while you're gone?"
"Faithful?"
"You know. I mean, he could be spending all his time with another girl,
right? Since you're not around."
Victoria was quiet for awhile. "Yes, I guess he could be. Although why
he would want to, I don't know."
"Boys are just like that, sometimes," Elli sighed again. "At least,
that's what all my girlfriends tell me."
The room grew quiet as each became lost in their own thoughts.
No matter how hard Elli kept trying to think about other things, the
same terrible thought kept returning. What if Hap asks Maria to the
Senior Prom?
The jerk! How could he do that to her?
II.
"So, are you going to the Spring Fair, Victoria?" Doc Wurlitzer asked,
as Victoria worked the trapezius muscles on top of his shoulders that
always seemed to hold so much tension for him.
"I don't know," she replied, "I really haven't given it much thought."
Normally she didn't mind clients talking to her while she massaged them,
but now it was distracting her, and she wished that the Doctor would
simply lay still.
"Well, I must say," he continued, as she dug her fingers into his back,
"I'm surprised nobody's asked you."
"Asked me what?"
"Why, to go the Fair, of course!" he chuckled (which is not that easy to
do lying face down on a massage table with someone pressing down with all
their might on your back.) "Honestly, Victoria, I'd swear there was
something on your mind today. Are you sure there isn't a special someone
you're thinking about?"
"Well, there is someone," Victoria replied, forcing herself to hold up
her end of the conversation. "But he's back home."
"Back in Canada, eh?"
That's where everyone in Willow Bend thought Victoria was from, and
Victoria just nodded. Then she realized Doc Wurlitzer couldn't see her
nod, so she simply said "Yes."
After the Doctor left, Victoria sat for a long time in her massage room,
wondering what to do.
"Well, Regina, what do you think?" she finally asked her cat, who jumped
up into her lap to be petted. "Should I call Lumenor and see what
Lumen's up to? Or am I just being silly?" Regina simply purred. "Well,
you're certainly no help."
Why couldn't she get Elli's words out of her mind? She'd never before
felt the slightest concern over Lumen's activitites while she was gone.
Why should she? But... come to think of it... he hadn't even shown up to
talk to her, the last time she made her report to Lumenor. Or the time
before that, come to think of it. Was he so busy he couldn't even make
the time to talk t her?
Now, Lumina, she said, calling herself by her real name, you are really
being totally dumb about this whole thing. Weren't you just telling Elli
that people in Lumenor don't get jealous?
But, on the other hand, what would it hurt to simply call Lumenor, and
just to talk with Lumen? There's probably a simple explanation for his
absences. And Victoria finally decided she was quite ready to hear it.
From the special hiding place on the top shelf of her cabinet, she got
her Light Wand out and prepared herself to call Lumenor. Besides locking
the door and shutting the blinds of the curtain so no one could peek in
and see her change into her true form, the main part of the preparation
was quieting her mind and focusing her intention. Her mind was unusually
restless today, however, ever since Elli's visit, and it took her longer
than usual to be ready to speak to Oath of Light:
For All Who Strive To Do What's Right,
In Every Realm, Let There Be Light!
And the transformation began. The Light Wand glowed, and slowly
Victoria began to glow as well, until she returned once again to the
radiantly shining form of Lumina.
Gradually the window into the bright realm of Lumenor opened before her
eyes, and she was gazing out over the golden sands of the shoreline of
the Ocean of All Possibilities (sometimes also known simply as the
Sparkling Sea.)
Whenever she called Lumenor, whoever of her family or friends who
happened to be nearest the beach appeared first to greet her. This time
it was her older sister, Raya.
"Hi, Lumina!" she said, or rather, thought, since Lumenoreans
communicated telepathically. "How are things on Earth?"
"OK, I guess," Lumina answered without much enthusiasm.
"Didn't you just send your last report?" Raya asked.
"This is about something else," Lumina answered. She knew it was
frowned upon for Education Abroad students like Lumina to call home too
often, since every contact with dimensions at lower octaves tended to
create disturbances in the Sparkling Sea, so Lumina got right to the
point.
"Raya, is Lumen around? I just wanted to talk to him a little bit."
"Sorry, Lumina, he's on an expedition. He and Fabula went exploring on
a two-week trip to an island on the other side of the Sea. It was for a
science project they were working on, I think."
"A science project, is it?" Lumina tried not to let her anger show. "I
didn't know Lumen was all that interested in science. "
"He wasn't, before he met Fabula. She's a real whiz at it."
"Is that so? Well, that must be why he's never around when I call
anymore."
"Lumina, I seem to be picking up abnormal amounts of static in your
mind. Is some kind of disturbance on the Earth plane interfering with
your signal?"
"There sure is," Lumina replied. "A kind of disease we don't have in
Lumenor, but which seems to be quite common on Earth. I'm afraid I'm
coming down with it myself."
"Fascinating! You'll have to include the details in your next report."
"Oh, I will, I will, don't you worry."
"What's it called?"
"Sometimes they call it the Green-Eyed Monster," Lumina said, as she got
ready to sign off. "Otherwise known as a bad case of jealousy."
III.
On Saturday afternoons, after her regular meeting with Elli and her
session with Doc Wurlitzer, Victoria usually enjoyed riding her bike
along the path that followed the Willow River as it slowly wound its way
through Willow Bend and down through the outlying farmlands. Then
afterwards, a nice long, hot bath, and she and Regina would curl up with
a good book, or maybe watch television. Her teachers and friends back in
Lumenor were continually asking her for more information about humans'
fascination with the little box of colored lights, and it was becoming
more and more of a topic in her reports back.
Soon after Lumina had first arrived in Willow Bend through the Portal
from Lumenor, and had taken the name Victoria Smith, she had begun to
attract a lot of attention from the eligible young bachelors in town. At
first she did accept some of their invitations to go out on dates, but
soon stopped when she noticed that the men she went out with got very
angry with each other, and with her, (now she understood a little more
why that was!), and eventually she just found it easier to tell everyone
she had a boyfriend back in Canada. Besides, none of them really seemed
capable of understanding her, and since she didn't want to reveal too
much about herself anyway, it just turned out that she spent most
weekends with Regina. Which was fine.
Except for today. Now it felt like there was a big kettle of water in
the pit of her stomach that was slowly coming to a boil, and her mind was
too clouded by the rising steam to let her relax, so she rode out to the
big, two-story Robbins farmhouse on the edge of town hoping someone could
help her.
"Oh, hi, Victoria, come on in," said Molly Robbins, Elli's mom, when
she saw Victoria appear at the front screen door.
"Hi, Molly," Victoria answered. "Where is everybody?"
"Well, Red and the two younger girls have gone to the Spring Fair
already, and Elli's upstairs, getting ready. I'll let her know you're
here. Are you going to the Fair?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Elli!" Molly shouted up the staircase. "Victoria's here."
Victoria sat on the couch next to the fireplace while Molly brought some
lemonade from the kitchen.
"I just made it," she said, handing a glass to Victoria, "Let me know
what you think. I used some of the first of this year's honey."
"It's wonderful, as usual," Victoria said, trying to sound more cheery
than she felt.
"Is something bothering you, dear?" Molly asked. "I don't mean to pry,
but you seem rather...subdued, if you know what I mean."
"Well, as a matter of fact-" Victoria began, when she was interrupted by
Elli's arrival.
"Hi, Victoria!" she practically chirped, "did Mom tell you already?"
"Tell me what?"
"Hap asked me to the Senior Prom! He called right after I got back from
seeing you."
"That's great, Elli," Victoria said.
"And to think I was all worried about him," Elli laughed. "It turned
out that Hap's church group had asked everyone to do their best to make
the Rivera's feel welcome in Willow Bend, and Hap was doing his part.
Isn't it funny how mistaken we can be about things sometimes?"
"Just hilarious," Victoria agreed without much conviction.
"Victoria?" Elli said, noticing for the first time the pained look on
her friend's normally bright face. Elli looked at her for another few
moments, as Molly poured Elli a glass of lemonade. "Uh oh," she said at
last. "You look just like I did this morning. Don't tell me you caught
it from me?"
"I'm afraid so, Elli."
"Caught what, dear?" Molly asked.
"Mom, remember this morning when I was all worried about Hap paying so
much attention to Maria? Well, I was still thinking about it, all through
my lesson with Victoria. I was just getting more and more jealous,
dreaming up all the terrible things that Hap was doing behind my back. I
asked Victoria if she ever got jealous of Lumen, and I think I planted a
bad seed in her mind."
"It's like I don't have any immunity against it," Victoria sighed.
"They warn us about this kind of thing, picking up foreign moods and
things when we go to other dimensions. They took all the usual
precautions, but nobody on Lumenor ever dreamed of a dimension where
people get so jealous. So we don't even have any inoculation for it."
"Like the measles the Europeans brought over to the New World," Molly
said, nodding her head.
"Mom, we've got to help her," Elli said. "What can we do? Mom, have
you ever been jealous of Dad?"
"Oh my yes!" she said, a dreamy look in her eyes, "but it was a long
time ago. Before we were married, in fact. Six months after we'd been
dating, his old girl friend moved back into town. I remember being just
frantic with worry that he wanted to start seeing her again. Every night
I'd lay awake in bed, wondering if he was calling her, if they were
making plans to get back together, and so on. My word, it was just
horrible!"
"What cured you?" Victoria asked.
"Well, finally, I was just about to go crazy, so I finally just
confronted him about the whole thing," she laughed. "Poor Red, he had no
idea what I was talking about. That's how men are sometimes, they just
have no clue. Red used to say he wished I was as easy to fix as his
jalopy!" Molly burst out laughing, followed by Elli and even Victoria.
"Anyway, two months later he proposed, and he's never given me any reason
to worry since."
"That's great, Mom, but how is that supposed to help Victoria?" Elli
asked.
"Well, why don't you just call Lumen up on your Light Wand, dear, and
talk to him directly?" Molly said to Victoria.
"That's just the problem," Victoria replied, "he's never around. When I
called today, I found out he's on some kind of a trip with another girl."
"I know!" Elli said, "you can come with us to the Spring Fair! I'm sure
you'll meet somebody there. You need to have an adventure, just like
Lumen's having! Two can play that game, after all!"
"Now, Elli, really," Molly began.
"But Mom, Victoria never goes out with anyone, and besides, aren't you
supposed to be studying humans and all our little customs and
everything?" Elli said.
"Well, yes, I guess so," Victoria replied.
"Well, next class begins in an hour. Let's get ready!"
IV.
Naturally, when Lumina first arrived on Earth from Lumenor, she didn't
have many clothes. In fact, she wore only the same simple white gown
that all Lumenoreans wear as they travel between the dimensions. As
Victoria Smith, she had always tried to choose clothes that would not
make her stand out, so she could pursue her research without people
paying her anymore attention than they would normally pay to a beautiful
young lady with long, flowing blonde hair.
When she and Elli had gone shopping, soon after her arrival, Victoria
had turned down most of Elli's more flamboyant selections for her
wardrobe, except for one special dress they had seen in the window of a
vintage clothing store on the outskirts of the main business district.
The gown was satin, in a soft lavender color, with golden sparkly threads
interwoven all through it. Victoria had fallen in love with it the
moment she tried it on, and bought it on the spot. She had never worn it
since- except for tonight, for the Spring Fair.
"You look simply fabulous," Elli said, as she, Victoria and Molly got
out of the car and walked through the parking lot on the way to the Fair.
"You certainly do," said Molly. "The young men will be circling you
like moths to a flame!"
"Is that really such a good thing?" Victoria asked. She was having
second thoughts about the whole adventure. She really had no romantic
interest in Earth men, and she had already seen how seriously they take
such matters.
"Relax," Elli said. "It'll be fun. Honest!"
Molly paid for all three at the entrance, and they were inside.
And it was fun. For the next few hours, as the late afternoon turned
into a warm, starry evening, Elli and Victoria rode the Ferris Wheel, the
Tilt-a-Whirl, and the Merry-Go-Round, they watched jugglers and clowns,
followed wandering troubadours, and even won a teddy bear prize when
Victoria, to everyone's surprise, gave a mighty sledgehammer blow that
made the striker rise all the way to the top of the tower and ring the
bell!
Then Elli saw Hap, who invited them to go dancing in the ballroom in the
center of the Fair.
"It's a really cool swing band," Hap said, smiling his usual goofy
smile. "I know some of the guys in it."
The band was already playing as Elli, Hap and Victoria walked in. The
ballroom itself had been built around the turn of the century, with a
huge chandelier over the center of the dance floor. Elli's parents,
Molly and Red, had danced in the same room when they were young. Now it
was Elli and Hap's turn.
Elli was having so much fun dancing with Hap, she wasn't paying much
attention to Victoria, although from time to time she would see her,
dancing with first one, then another, then another. Victoria never
seemed to dance with the same person twice.
Until one young man appeared, and seemed to be winning her favor. Tall,
dark and handsome certainly described him; wavy black hair, warm tan
skin, and serious, dark eyes.
"That's Santiago Rivera," Hap said. "He's Maria's older brother. I
talked him into coming here, since he doesn't know too many people in
Willow Bend yet. Looks like he and Victoria have hit it off well."
"It certainly does," Elli answered, smiling. Then, a bit later, when
she looked again, the two had vanished.
V.
They made a striking pair, as they sipped their glasses of wine on the
terrace of the little restaurant near the edge of the Fair. Santiago's
dark features contrasted well with Victoria's golden blonde hair. Their
eyes sparkled as they talked in soft tones, with the rushing waters of
the Willow River below them.
"Guatemala is a very beautiful country," Santiago was saying. "Very
green, with many volcanoes. I will go back there, of course, once I
become a doctor. There is so much work to be done there. And you?"
"Me?" Victoria had fallen under the spell of his words, and was just a
bit startled to have to think of something to say. "What about me?"
"Well," he said slowly, with just the slightest trace of a Latin accent,
"you are not from here, that is true? What is your native country like?"
"Oh, it's very beautiful, too. Lots of light, and a great Ocean full of
colors, called the Sparkling Sea."
"The Sparkling Sea. I have not heard of this place. Is it very far
away?"
"Very far," she replied, her eyes growing as starry as the night sky,
"very, very far away."
What was she feeling now? Was it the few sips of wine, or the warm,
fragrant night, or the attentions of this handsome, well-spoken man?
Her head felt light as a feather, her heart was dissolving in warm honey,
and she couldn't take her eyes off Santiago as he continued to share
stories of his native land, and of his plans to help his people when he
returned.
Oh, my goodness, she thought to herself. Is this what I think it is?
Am I falling in love? It felt wonderful, but at the same time there was
the tiniest little thought in the back of her mind that this could turn
into a really, really big problem.
What if she did fall in love with him? She would have to tell him the
truth about herself, wouldn't she? They were not only from very
different backgrounds, not to mention different religions, but they were
even from different dimensions!
And what about Lumen? She hadn't thought of him for hours, she realized
suddenly. Well, Elli's cure for jealousy sure worked. Now Victoria just
hoped the cure wasn't worse than the disease.
Santiago suggested a stroll along the banks of the river, and Victoria
accepted. The crowds were thinning out, and now there were mainly
couples walking arm-in-arm through the Fair, or trying to win prizes at
the booths. It seemed like a natural gesture when Santiago put his arm
out, and Victoria put hers through his, as she had seen the others do.
And then, just up ahead, Santiago and Victoria saw the sign at the same
time- The Tunnel of Love. A small, slow-moving channel of the Willow
River had been enclosed to create a romantic gondola ride.
"Shall we?" Santiago asked, a light smile playing over his lips.
"If you like," she replied, trying to sound nonchalant.
While waiting their turn in line, Victoria's mind feverishly debated one
question. Should I tell him? What if he falls in love with Victoria
Smith, the disguise? Would she always have to keep her true identity
secret?
No, she finally decided, as they got into their gondola and began to
float into the Tunnel, I'll have to tell him everything. That's the only
way. And if he's going to love Victoria, he'll have to love Lumina, too.
But how to tell him? They were snuggled together in the gondola, with
Victoria in front, and Santiago's arms wrapped lightly around hers. She
could feel the beating of his heart as she began to speak.
"Santiago," she said, hesitantly at first, "I think before we go any
further, I mean, you know, as friends and everything, there's something I
should probably tell you about myself."
"There's no need," he replied. "There's no need to tell me anything you
don't want to. Tonight, just being together, here in this moment. This
is enough."
"No," she said, gathering more courage, "I think I really should tell
you."
And, after getting him to promise not to tell anyone what he was about
to hear, she proceeded to tell him the whole story, about coming from
Lumenor, doing research for a school project back home, arriving through
the Portal into Red Robbins' basement workshop, and so on. He never
interrupted her as she went on and on, getting it all out there. Well,
almost all- somehow she never managed to mention Lumen.
"Well, that's quite a story," he said, when at last she had grown silent
again. "And I thought being from Guatemala was pretty impressive."
"You don't mind?" Victoria asked. "I mean, it doesn't bother you, or
make things too weird, or anything?" Suddenly it occurred to her, what
if he thinks she's just totally mental or something? This was getting
way too complicated.
"Why should it bother me?" he said, holding her closer. "It's a big
universe out there, full of mysteries that no one will ever know. And I
suppose that, in a way, both you and I are strangers in a strange land,
aren't we?"
It was that easy? Well, it was almost that easy, because it just so
happened that Lumen picked that very instant to call her on the Light
Wand she had tucked into her purse. Suddenly rays of rainbow lights
sparkled in the darkness of the Tunnel.
"Ay, Santa Maria!" Santiago said. "What is that?"
"That," answered Victoria, "is my Light Wand. It's how I communicate
with Lumenor. Someone's trying to call me." She knew it was Lumen
because his face appeared in her mind at the very instant the Light Wand
came on.
"Well, aren't you going to answer it?"
"Umm, sure," she said, "I guess so. I've told you everything else, you
might as well meet Lumen."
"Meet who?"
"Lumen. He's like my, well... he's what I guess you'd call my
boyfriend, back in Lumenor." There, she said it.
Then she raised the Light Wand, and allowed herself to accept the link
between the worlds by beginning the transformation, until the Tunnel was
illuminated by the shining presence of Lumina, and the image of Lumen
shone, suspended in air, in front of the gondola.
"Hi, Lumina!" he said brightly. "Sorry to bother you, but I heard you
were trying to call me. I just got back from an expedition, and boy did
we have fun!"
"I'll bet you did," Lumina replied, starting to remember her jealousy,
"I'll bet you and Fabula just had a wonderful time."
"Well, actually Fabula had to leave early. She went back to help look
for her boyfriend, who had fallen into a wormhole somewhere and nobody
could find him for days."
"Her boyfriend?" Lumina said. "Nobody said anything about Fabula having
a boyfriend."
"Who's your friend?" Lumen asked.
"Oh, right," Lumina said, her head spinning. If Fabula had a boyfriend,
then Lumen and she weren't...fooling around, and so that meant that there
was no reason for Lumina to get jealous, and that meant that-
"Hello," Santiago said, not waiting any longer to be introduced. "I am
Santiago Rivera."
"Hi, Santiago. I'm Lumen."
"Now, Lumen," Lumina said hastily, "this is not what it looks like. I
mean, it is, kind of, but not really. What I mean is, Santiago and I
just met, and we were just, kind of, spending a little time together, you
know, getting to know each other."
"Sounds great, Lumina," Lumen replied, having no real idea what she was
all worried about, since of course he, like everyone else in Lumenor, had
no idea what jealousy was all about. "Listen, is there something you
needed to talk about? Because otherwise, I've got to get back to work
here. I'm preparing my whole report on the expedition."
"Uh, no, not really," Lumina said. "I just, you know, hadn't talked to
you for awhile."
"Well, now you have. I'll talk more later, when you make your next
report, OK? Nice meeting you, Santiago. Bye for now," and he vanished.
The Light Wand stopped glowing, and slowly Lumina did too, until once
again, she was Victoria Smith, and they were emerging from the Tunnel of
Love together.
"Well then," Santiago said, as he helped Victoria from the gondola.
"That was quite a ride, wasn't it?"
VI.
"And so what did he say when you turned into Lumina?" Elli demanded to
know, as she and Victoria drove home with Molly after the Fair.
"He didn't say much of anything," Victoria answered, her head still
swirling with all that had happened. "He introduced himself to Lumen.
That was about it."
"Wow," Elli said. "So, you told him everything, and he even met Lumen.
When are you going to see him again?"
"Now, Elli," Molly said, "don't pry. Everything in its own time."
"Well, actually," Victoria said, "the truth is, we'll be friends, but
it's not like we'll go out on dates or anything."
"Why not?" Elli demanded. "I mean, he's totally gorgeous, isn't he?
And you like him, don't you?"
"Well, for one thing," Victoria answered, "I do have a boyfriend
already, remember? But besides that, it turns out that Santiago has a
girlfriend, too, back in Guatemala."
"A girlfriend?" Elli said. "Well then what was he doing at the Fair,
flirting with you?"
"It was Hap's idea," Victoria answered. "He had been feeling a little
sad and lonely, and Hap was just trying to cheer him up."
"Sounds like Elli and Hap think alike sometimes," Molly said with a
smile.
"Well, all I can say is, it worked," Victoria said. "I don't feel
jealous anymore, and I've got a new friend. In fact, he's going to come
in to my massage studio and teach me some of what he's learning in
medical school, and I'll teach him stuff I've learned."
"Great!" Elli said. "All's well that ends well!"
"But in the future," Victoria said, "whenever you get into one of your
moods, Elli, warn me ahead of time. I think I'll spend all day tomorrow
curled up with Regina in front of the television, watching human emotions
from a safe distance!"
And that's just what she did.
