CHAPTER 4, page 1
FACING SUNRIZE
Now when morning came, Lali found herself alone. Hokami was gone. The sharp rays of the sun pierced the dark cave and Lali awoke. She was feeling somewhat better now, but her whole leg was swollen and very sore.
She lay there listening to the birds calling back and forth through the trees. They seemed to have their own language. She thought they were talking about her. They were laughing at her. Birds see and understand things we humans are not aware of. They feel our hearts, even when we try to hide inside them.
The wind had died down from the night before, and a gentle breeze replaced it bringing sweet fragrances into the morning light awakening Peaciwawala. Her head was pounding and she felt like throwing up. She pulled herself closer to the mouth of the cave. The fresh air made her feel better instantly. The sun was sparkling. It traced a golden lace border of light around everything in the moist morning air. She smiled with glee. She felt so free.
"Gee, this is a nice place to be," she thought. "I could live here, so close to the stream. She examined her leg. "Ouchie. Ohh," she cried. "Where did Hokami go?" she sighed, looking around. "Why did that nasty snake have to bite me anyway!" she pouted, beginning to cry.
Finally she got up and started limping down toward the stream. It was Spring, and new growth was everywhere. Even she was growing. The two brown nipples on her chest were sore and hard and had begun to swell. She was growing into a young woman at last! Lali could feel the rumbling of something moving, way deep inside herself, like a great body of water, rushing toward a gate at great speed. She had to catch her breath, for the feeling frightened her. But she liked the feeling too. It made her dizzy and tingly. She likened the feeling to loosing one of her baby teeth. It felt good to wiggle it, even though it hurt and made her gum bleed. It was a strange pleasure to be sure. She felt like flowing out into life...even as the fragrance of the blossoms flowing thru the air and into her heart... awakened the trees and flowers to make nectar, it also awakened Lali to a new sense of herself, and a new level of growing up sensuality.
As she went on, she noticed beetles and flying bugs she hadn't seen for a while, and some, she'd never seen. "Why you were in my grandmother's garden eating all the squash last summer," she scolded one bug. "And you...hmmmm, I don't remember you." She caught and stroked each one curiously, cupping them gently in her palms. "What marvelous creations you are, we all are," she exclaimed, exalting in the newness of her "feelings".
"It's so pretty here," she thought. "I feel pretty too!" Her mind exuded fragrance, the blossoms of consciousness wanting so much to be ready to open...to bestow it's nectar everywhere. She was looking all around, but not where she was going and stubbed her big toe on a rock hidden in the tall grass. This brought her back very quickly and she shrieked in pain, hobbling faster to the stream, where she immediately thrust her whole leg into the cold rushing waters.
When the pain began to subside, she began day-dreaming again. She pulled her leg out of the water and sat on a large flat rock beside the steam, laying her leg upon it also. As the hot sun beat down upon her, she again felt full of joy and beauty. Lali thought she would burst from this feeling. Her heart pounded happily. "Why did I come to this world," she mused. "Who am I? and what is this life supposed to be about?!" Lali pondered deeper than she had before. But soon tears came to her eyes when she thought about her mother and father. She had never known them. "Why did they leave me?" she thought sadly. "Aren't they ever coming back?...ever???"
But Lali couldn't stay unhappy for long in the pine tree forest. So much was always going on. She watched the chipmonks and birds fight and play. They made her laugh and forget her sorrow. She felt such a surge of energy within. Did she have some destiny to fulfill? Was she ever going to be special? What was the riddle's answer. She had to break through the illusion of time,and find the answer to her existence. But she didn't know how.
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Now Lali thought she saw something in the bushes reflecting the Sun. It was pointed and looked something like a teepee. But it had a square base. It was very hard to see through the thick growth, so she crossed the stream.
There was no trail through the matted tangle of branches and vines, so she limped further downstream and followed around the curve, taking the right bank when the stream forked at the huge boulder that forced the split. Earth and rocks had built up behind the boulder, forming a small island between the banks. Colorful flowers and unusual plants grew there. "After I find out what's shining back in the brush, I'll come back and explore the little island" she thought.
Lali found what seemed to be an old path finally, though it was almost completely over grown. She followed with some difficulty, but that made the adventure, more exciting to her. She could hardly wait to see what it was in there, and she tore her way through, jumping over fallen logs and crawling thru the vines, that tried to hold her back. A low rumbling in the earth, became a chorus of sounds.
The closer she got to the shining hut, she recognized it distinctly as sounding like the hooting of owls. The closer she got, the louder the hooting became, although still muffled. She strained to hear it.
Though the path had not been maintained for some time, the trees still kept their arching posture approaching the clearing where the hut was situated. Her growing excitement heightened to disbelief on arriving. All her senses were alive. She felt electrified. No longer afraid, she realized, she had dreamed of this place.
Now the hooting chant was so loud the earth was shaking from the sound. The hooting seemed to be coming from below the hut which was a small pyramid. The pyramid was made of a material unlike anything Lali had seen before. She thought at first it must be made of seashells, but the surface was continuous and smooth. It was so brilliant and reflected the Sun as if it were the Sun Itself. The surface looked smooth and glassy like water. She could see the sky and clouds moving on it's surface. Then she saw someone looking at her, copying her moves. But it was only her reflection. She was confused, but marveled at this structure, not knowing what it could be...and why it was hidden here, so far from her village in the depth of the forest.
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Amazed, she ventured further out into the clearing and approached the pyramid, touching the smooth surface with her palm. The earth trembled beneath her feet as the hooting continued from below. The rhythm of it made her sway, and she began dancing without realizing she was moving.
She watched her reflection, and giggled, twirling again. When she finished her spin, she was horrified to see, her reflection turn into a hideous beast with blood dripping from it's teeth. One eye bulged in the center of her forehead. Shrieking, she drew back in horror.
When she called for her grandmother, and stood perfectly still, her lovely image returned. "What a fun place this is," she thought delightedly, and continued to play with her image reflected on the walls of the pyramid.
While thus she was playing, Lali became distracted by the flapping of huge wings beating the air as they descended. Suddenly a shadow fell across her body. As she looked up into the great beak of a mother owl, sharp claws wrapped tightly around her body, immobilizing her on the ground. In the tree, the little owls chirped hungrily as they peered over the rim of their nest, watching Mother, hunt down their lunch.
The mother owl was enormous, and Lali was unable to move as the claws encircled her torso, pinning her arms down. Then before she knew what was happening, the mother owl tore through Lali's buckskin dress with her sharp beak, and was about to disembowel her immediately, when a piercing hoot startled them both.
Tightening her grip on Lali, the mother owl looked up toward the sound. Lali had been screaming for help, but also stopped now, and turned her head toward the sound in extreme fright and bewilderment.
Standing in the path, was the figure of an old woman with huge hands and feet. She was wrinkled and snarled with time. Her skin was golden brown,and she seemed to have feathers and down growing from it. The small figure approached.
Lali could see the old woman was blind and used a cane to feel her way. She frightened Lali, who began writhing helplessly in the giant owl's claws. The mother owl tried to fly away with it's prey, but the old woman grabbed hold of one wing and jabbed her cane into the bird's armpit rather sharply. The cane released a bolt of lightning, stunning the mother owl, who then released her grip on Lali and withdrew to her nest once more.
Lali rolled away quickly trying to hide behind a bush, but the old woman went straight to her and grabbed Lali roughly by her arm. This made Lali start to cry, so the old woman released her.
Now the old woman's manner changed, and she smiled kindly. As Lali looked at the old woman, she thought she heard a crackling sound in the distance, and saw sparks flying through the air.
The old woman went over to the pyramid now, and stood so that the sun reflected onto her from the shiny surface. She was repeating something in a language Lali had not heard before, but could almost understand the meaning of. As she looked at the old woman, she saw her becoming smaller and smaller. She was doing some kind of jig and as she was going around and around the pyramid, she was scratching the ground until she unearthed a golden orb.
The hooting from below the pyramid was louder now and the ground vibrated from it. Lali looked curiously at the golden orb, but was not close enough to it to examine the strange markings on it.
She was still hiding behind the bush. When Lali looked at the old woman again, she had turned into an owl about 6" tall. She was still hopping around the pyramid and hooting melodically.
Lali was very surprised and intrigued by all that she saw. Slowly she crawled nearer to the golden orb. There was still earth covering a part of it, so she brushed it off gently. As she did this, the little orb lifted up on hinges, revealing a tunnel leading beneath the mysterious shining structure. As the underground tunnel appeared, the hooting which had been muffled, was clear now and very close.
Please go to: Chapter 4, page 2
