Heavenly Spirit

Heavenly Spirit

By Kimberly Kay

I had always known that my son was a little different than the other children - a little more ornery, a little more advanced, a little more knowledgeable, a little more connected to what I would have called the higher realms back then, than the majority of society as I had observed and discounted over my years thus far.

At 8-months old, M had devised his plan with the knowledge and feat of strength that it would take to climb up and out of his crib, to then repel himself down so as not to take a tumble on the other side. By 9 months, he was a pro escape artist, not just from his crib, but also through the baby gate that was intended to keep him safe in his room. By 10 months old, he was curious about how toys were constructed, where each and every screw went into its design, and how this correlated to the world around him. This was about the time that I would find him staring at the wall, or the corner of the room, babbling on intelligibly. By 11 months he was full on sprinting and getting into anything he could get his hands on. He understood math before he could read and was tuning into others’ energy and feelings before he could talk.

We certainly were not well-off. We lived in a small two bedroom apartment in a less than desirable area of town. The building was old and rather unimpressive, it was a decade and a half past time for upgrades; however, it was warm and provided security for a place to rest our weary heads after a long day’s work. The center of the complex however, held another world. Situated in the center of our apartment complex was a lavish pond that boasted it’s own island in the center full of wonder. Trees and a small grassy knoll, flowers that excited the senses with their intoxicating beauty. A mysterious presence fell around the island within the pond.

A walking path surrounded the water and at one conjunction, nearest to our particular building, extended out to a small dock that overlooked the water. This path was used frequently by my little family, though not by many others. Many evenings and most weekends we spent walking that path, enjoying the peaceful moments on the dock watching the fish flutter by and occasionally getting a glimpse of one jump from the water to snatch up that tempting insect flitting above the water. While we may not have had much by way of monetary effects, we certainly had an abundance of wealth all around us that we kept dear to our hearts.

M was just shy of 4 years old and his baby sister, J, had just crossed the year old threshold at this stage of our lives. We all loved to be outside, taking in the fresh air, the beauty of the sights and sounds all around us in this heaven get-away tucked in our so-called backyard.

After several months of daily visits, our little haven was on the verge of being forgotten to a cold barren landscape. The weather was changing as the cold breezes began flowing in from the north. Autumn in Colorado came with unexpected turbulent swings from warm days that ended with a frigid snow into the evening. Autumn and winter also brought in an antsy-ness from M who was itching to get back outside to visit the pond once more. Pleads turned to shills. No amount of indoor activities were filling the void that was growing within him. When the evenings were just warm enough, we would go for a short stroll out along the path and once again reconnect with what we had all been missing.

One late spring morning I was awoken in the early hours of the morning by the sounds of toys clunking in the next room. Knowing that M liked to bounce around the house, even while the rest of us would like to sleep a bit longer, this was of no concern to M. I pulled myself out of bed to check on M and J. As I peaked into their room, J was fast asleep in her crib and M was absent from his bed, which was not unusual at all. I figured he had gone out to the bathroom or even the living room to turn on cartoons while he waited for us to grace him with our presence. No sign of him in the bathroom, nor was he in the kitchen. I made my way over to living room that was silent and continued on to the balcony where he also liked to sneak off to no matter how many times I had asked that he not go out there without someone being awake to ensure his safety - that was of no concern of his. I unlocked the balcony door and peaked outside, no M. I figured at this point, he must be in his room, likely under his bed playing with his toys, a place that I had found him in mornings past.

As I crossed back through the living room and started to turn down the hall to go back to his room, a gentle knock on my front door startled me. It was just after 6am and it was impossibly rude that someone would be knocking on our door at such an early hour. Curious, I unlocked the front door and opened it. What stood before me was absolute shock and confusion that must have read all over my face in an instant.

The woman, young with an unexplainable vibrant glow about her, spoke softly with a smile on her face, “He said this is where he lives, I found him wandering the halls.” As I looked down and saw M, an extreme gratitude came over me and I knelt down to hug him tightly and check him over. His expression was confused as to why I was making such a big fuss about him.

In the mere minute that I had taken with my full attention on M, I stood up to thank the woman and she was gone. Just gone. Confusion and shock once again washed over me. Where did she go? We live at the very end of the hallway opposite from the stairs and there was no way that she could have vanished like that without running down the hallway, the floor was not quiet itself with the echoes of the smallest sounds that would bounce off the walls. All was silent.

I regained my composure, got us inside, closed and locked the door again. As I turned to M to ask him what in the world was going on with a hint of frantic vibration to my voice. He hugged me tightly, “I just wanted to go see the pond.”