Jane, however, could hardly contain her excitement. “Joshua spoke!”
“When?” Dr. Mendez asked.
“During his drawing assignment, about twenty minutes after his controlled breathing exercise. In fact,” —Jane’s attention now focused on me, causing a wave of skin prickles to skitter across my scalp and neck— “it concerns Miss Veil.”
The doctor knelt next to Joshua and tousled his hair. “How is that?”
“He called her ‘Sunwalker.’”
A full body shiver. Oh God. Not him, too.
The doctor’s eyes met mine. “How do you know he meant Miss Veil?”
“He drew a picture of her,” Joshua’s companion said, pointing at the sheet of paper dangling from the child’s hand. “Show them, Joshua.”
Joshua held up a drawing of a woman washed in sunlight, her blonde hair lifting in the wind and her hips cocked, with a leg thrust forward in superhero fashion and an orange-stoned ring flashing on her right hand like a DC Comic identity-usurpation weapon. She looked kinda silly, though, wearing khaki slacks and a blue blazer instead of a skintight, super-powered unitard.
“Did he say anything else, Mona?” the doctor asked.
“No, just ‘Sunwalker.’”
Dr. Mendez draped his arm around Joshua’s shoulders before turning his intense focus on me. “Our friend here has not spoken in over a year.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered as comprehension set in.
“Joshua likes you,” Mona said, her switch from disapproving bodyguard to proactive fairy godmother so incongruous it brought to mind some kind of multiple personality disorder.
The boy walked up to me and held out his hand, revealing what appeared to be a tiny mouse made of smooth, brown stone.
“It’s his totem,” Mona said. “He wants to give it to you.”
No way could I accept anything from this child when I had nothing to offer him in return, least of all something he would treasure enough to carry with him like a favored toy. “I don’t think so . . .”
Joshua raised his hand and looked at me as if I were the superhero in his drawing.
I knelt in front of him. “Sweetie, I can’t take your totem.”
He caught my left hand and pressed the stone mouse into it.
I felt a wave of something I’d never felt before—a thawing that made me want to cry. As I reached to touch his totem, my opal ring attracted the hallway light and sparkled as if spitting out fire.
Joshua’s eyes widened.
Fire opal, symbol of faithfulness, assists wearer with finding true love. I slid the ring from my finger and handed it to the child. “My totem.”
His smile came so unexpectedly and so transformed his face that I was captivated. A fragile bubble of joy grew inside of me, quivering, shimmering, unpredictable as a kaleidoscope. But then Joshua cupped the fire opal in his palm, closed his eyes, and broke the spell.
I turned to the doctor. “What’s he doing?”
“He is activating the stone by thinking and feeling love into it.”
Joshua’s lids flickered several times before parting. He then pointed at my hand, indicating it was my turn.
I shut my eyes and wished love into my new totem—his gift.
When I’d finished, Dr. Mendez escorted me to an exit door opposite from the one I’d entered. “Something important has just happened here,” he said, “probably for you as well as for Joshua.”
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked, surprised by my concern. “Will he be okay?”
“I hope to have some answers upon your return.” He opened the door, giving me no choice but to step through it. “Go taste the freedom you so desperately crave.”
The sudden step from artificial lighting to bright sunlight was blinding. About to reach into my purse for my sunglasses, I realized that I still held the stone totem in my hand. Birds sang, insects hummed, and the scent of freshly mown grass wafted in the air. I scanned my surroundings, wondering what had changed.
🗲🗲🗲
This time, when I sensed the Voice coming, I was ready. I sat on a narrow stretch of grass bordering the sidewalk and took out my journal and a pen.
Caged heart.
Shadowed soul.
You have so much to learn.
Time passed and darkness grew, yet I remained seated. Only when my jeans became uncomfortably damp due to the moist grass, did I head home to process what I’d learned.