Chapter 16

 

It was late when Paige got home. She decided to go to sleep and look at the files tomorrow with fresh eyes. Her head was spinning with David’s success and Jay’s problems. It was good for her to think of other things for now and to begin looking at the case files again later.

She took her shower, put on the silkiest pajamas she could find and went to bed.

As she drifted softly off to sleep, she dreamt of a tank of bright orange goldfish. She was watching them swim peacefully through the tank. The only care they had in the world was when the food was going to be dropped into the tank the next time. Their long golden fins moved gracefully through the water, pushing them along from one side of the tank to the other. Paige felt as if she floated along with them, feeling the water gently brush her skin. The dream then drifted to a beautiful waterfall that fell from a very high cliff. The water was only a small stream and fell gently on the rocks below. She could hear the sounds of the water and feel the mist on her face as a breeze gently moved the air around her. She noticed a bright rainbow extending from the base of the waterfall that seemed to reach out forever. Each color vividly displayed. Lying on the bank of the river below the waterfall, she allowed the mist to fall over her and it seemed to wash away all of her cares and fears. The bank became like a cloud as she felt as if she were drifting into the sky. Peace, such wonderful peace. Flying high above the world, all of her troubles, all of the pain, seemed so far removed from her. The warmth of the sunshine made her feel safe, secure.

The alarm clock rang intensely on her night stand and she had to struggle to wake up. “It can’t be morning already!” Paige complained as she placed her feet on the floor. The coolness of her hardwood floors helped to bring her to consciousness. Stretching her arms in the air, she stood up. She felt wonderful this morning. The stiffness in her body was gone and she was struggling against the urge to crawl back into bed and relax more. She remembered her dream and thought about how nice it was to not have nightmares. She exhaled a long breath and decided to make coffee. “I’ve got a long day ahead of me,” she thought.

After strolling into the kitchen, she grabbed the newspaper from the door step as Harry ran out. Her mouth dropped. On the front page was David with a long haired blonde on his arm. They looked like they were trying to avoid having their picture taken. It reminded her of the cover of a tabloid. She could not see the woman’s face in the picture as she was obviously trying to hide it under her hair and she kept her hand between the camera and her face. The caption read, “Local writer scores big.” The article was about David’s success with his book, The Artic, but it didn’t mention who the woman was. Paige tried to push this out of her mind. It could have been anyone. She was proud of David and what he had finally accomplished and she was not going to mess things up with him by worrying about a picture in the paper. It could be anyone, a publicist, fan, anyone. She sat the paper down and decided to get ready to go to work.

As she walked by the kitchen table, she remembered the letter. She pulled it from her briefcase and read it once again. As she was thinking about the contents, there was a knock on her door. She peeked through the curtain to see a small, brown haired woman standing there, wearing a short gray business suit that fit her small frame beautifully. Her hair was neat and tidy and the glasses she wore made her resemble what Paige would picture as a librarian, so she opened the door.

“Can I help you?” she asked the woman.

“I believe I’m here to help you,” she said as she held out her hand. “I’m Junna Breck.”

As Paige started to reach for her hand, she pulled back momentarily.

Catching her breath, she timidly shook her hand. “What is it you want to help me with?” Paige considered shutting the door in her face.

“I want to help you with your memories. I can see what you are going through,” Junna didn’t smile. She only stood there confidently.

“I don’t understand. What is it that you think you know?” Paige asked nervously, once again wanting to shut the door in her face.

“Let me start by saying that I know you dreamt about goldfish and waterfalls last night.”

Paige turned from the door and sat down quickly at the kitchen table, leaving the door open. “May I come in?” Junna asked her as she poked her head around the open door. Paige could only nod. Junna walked in and slowly sat down at the table. “I have a lot to tell you. I’m sure you won’t believe me at first but I have to try.”

Paige cast a puzzled glance. “How did you know my dreams? Don’t tell me you are some kind of psychic!” She sounded agitated.

“No, I’m not a psychic. I can’t see into the future, just the present, like you, only at a different level.” She reached for Paige’s hand and Paige quickly pulled it away.

“Relax Paige. I need you to do something first.” Junna placed both of her hands flat on the table. “Please, just think outside yourself. Don’t form words or pictures in your mind. Just let yourself understand what I tell you without thinking in words. Can you do that?”

“I’m not sure I understand,” Paige looked at her and somehow a feeling of trust came over her.

“That’s it. Just feel things. Don’t think them. The words and pictures in your mind can be read by some people. Feelings cannot be. They can only be guessed at. Right now, I can tell you are feeling something and you just thought of how crazy you think I am.”

Junna was right. Paige blushed because she was saying to herself that Junna was crazy. But then again, who wouldn’t? It was an obvious guess on Junna’s part. Paige rubbed her face with both hands and ran her fingers through her hair.

“Clear your mind Paige and just listen to me carefully.” Junna paused for a moment, looking at Paige. “There are three levels of consciousness that all of us have. One level is the one of words and pictures in our thoughts and dreams. These are in the collective conscious. It’s like a dimension for our thoughts. We all share in the collective conscious.

The second level is one of our feelings and only we can see that clearly.

Others can get a sense of it, but only we, ourselves understand it. That is like knowing something is wrong with someone, but you can’t put your finger on it.” Junna then touched Paige’s hand again. “The third level is that of our immediate surroundings like what you see and touch. Only those around us can share in that with us. But they can’t experience them like you do unless you form the words in your mind.

Am I making sense?”

“I think so.” Strangely enough, she did.

“There are people that can tap into the collective conscious at will.

They can hear the thoughts as the thoughts pass through it. They are called readers. I am one of those. That’s how I knew about your dreams.

You can stop me by clearing your mind and by only feeling, hearing, seeing, and touching things. Don’t think about them or form words and pictures in your mind. As soon as your thoughts go through the conscious they are gone. They do not stay as if they were permanent record of what you were thinking. Then they become part of you memory and can only be brought back by you thinking about them again. Someone has to catch them at the precise time you are thinking them. Do you understand?”

“I think so,” that seemed to be the only words that Paige could form.

“I can’t tell you anymore now, Paige. I can help you but I need you to learn to block me from your mind. If you can block me, you can stop anyone from reading you. I am going to leave you with this. Try to clear your mind as often as possible on things you do not want anyone else to know. Say things out loud instead of thinking them. That way, they are part of your surroundings and not in the collective conscious.

When you are ready, I will come back. It was a great pleasure meeting you.” With that, Junna took her hand from Paige’s and walked out the door.