Night Vision

     Footfalls behind him alerted him to being followed. The streets were empty. Chain link fence caught blown newspapers and trellised weeds. Few buildings, fewer windows with glass intact offered no chance to catch a reflected glance behind. Instinctively keys took their place between fingers curled into a fist. Movement through the dappled shadows he wasn't even certain at first he saw materialized into a jaguar. Sleek and purring like a speedboat, she was there one second and gone the next. The industrial chime of chain link punctuated with a thud or a moan, or both. He kept moving, but the footfalls ceased. 

     When he turned to look there was nothing to see. No human. No wildcat. All he could see was what he had walked by moments ago. 

     

Out of Back-To-School Chaos Comes Delight

     While doing errands this afternoon, I happened upon an elementary school social to welcome parents and children back to school. Nice. Except for one thing. The party wasn't inside or even on the playground. It was on the city sidewalk. There were various vendors there including an ice cream truck, two different ladies with their refrigerated carts selling flavored ices, along with a couple other vendors. The scene was a tangle of adults and children. I couldn't tell which child belonged with which adult. I couldn't even distinguish a parent from a teacher from a stranger who had no business being there. There was a single disinterested police officer standing at the outer edge of the sidewalk. Anyone could have posed as any adult role model and the group would have been hard pressed to make any identifications later had they proved necessary, and that includes the cop who wasn't watching anything that was happening.
     What a perfect time for a pedophile to infiltrate. He could pose as a teacher to the children and a parent or two. He could be a parent to a couple of the teachers. When everybody is happy and having a good time, it's easy for a stranger to learn a few names. To present one's self to a disorganized crowd as someone who loves being around children is ridiculously easy. Nothing was going to happen today. Today was for surveillance. To see where the vulnerabilities are. To become familiar. To plant a few seeds. 
     Crimes against children are the results of a waiting game. The is no rush. The pedophile has nine months before summer vacation roles around again. In the meantime, there are other plays to make. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Holidays where the kids from underprivileged or broken homes will feel left out, sad, lonely. An adult who understands and gives them candy, little presents, attention will be a hero. 
     The game has begun. The children don't know they're the prize and the parents don't even know they're competing. The best thing parents can to is to be present and attentive to their children. Put the phone down when the child is trying to talk to them. If the child has reason to believe he is the most important person in his/her parents' life, there will be no attraction to a stranger who tells the child s/he is special.
     As the Turkish novelist Elif Shafak wrote, "One thing in the Universe is the answer to something else."
     Synchronicity like people can be manipulated.

The Elephant God

     Leaves shaking, not just rustling. Twigs and branches snapping like bread sticks. The noise was so loud the entire jungle was being ripped asunder. The young man sprang from his pallet on the floor of the house on stilts to discover the source of the commotion and to evacuate if need be. Just the vibration of the sound already shook the structure. He looked out of the window in time to see a magnificent snow white elephant emerge into the clearing. The elephant wore a glittering golden and jewelled headpiece. The elephant trumpeted his arrival as though he were calling the young man who now stood in the doorway of his house. The elephant walked up to the house and knelt down. The young man started down the ladder, but the elephant raised his mighty trunk as a stairs for him. The young man cautiously stepped onto the trunk, carefully moving toward the elephant's enormous head. At this point the elephant pushed him onto the place on elephant's neck where he could sit comfortably as the great elephant carried him away through the jungle.

     Even though the young man had meditated and prayed to Ganesha to rescue him, he never expected his mantras to be fulfilled in such a dramatic way. He gave thanks and asked how it could get better than this. The elephant trumpeted again, and began to gallop.

Moments of Gold and Flashes of Light

     Looking into a mirror in the dark, old lovers come waltzing into reflection. One-two-three-one-two-three. The soundtrack of favorite songs peppered with the lyrics of words spoken in the moment. Words of love. Words of anger. Final word. Good-bye. Music fades to a single, plaintive saxophone.
     He gazes at the coffin. He can't believe it's finally over. The love and laughter, the anger. What was all the drama about? Oh, yes. The playback, reversed. The ending is the beginning so that people that pushed each other away now embrace, love passionately. They kiss sweetly then move away shyly. Awkward once again not knowing what to say or how to act. Forgetfulness is the blessing that edits out everything except those moments of gold when lightning struck. Elemental changes occurred in them both.
     

Daniel and Dreams

     My namesake, Daniel, of the Old Testament was an interpreter of dreams. The son of wealthy Jews, he was sent to Babylon for his education. After interpreting dreams for several people, Daniel found his way into the Royal Court because of his special talent. The Queen sent for him when she awoke to find strange writing on her bedroom walls. After all, if he understood the messages sent through dreams from the Other World, certainly he could decipher this mysterious message. Turns out the Archangel Gabriel had been busy overnight. Daniel read the writing on the wall and translated the message for her. The King was going to die in battle that day.

     Last week I replaced the RAM in my Mac notebook and the computer died. All of my efforts to comply with the message "You need to reset your computer failed." I was at a loss because all of my writing notes, the writing platform I use for my novels, everything is on that Mac. I was facing a $199 service fee to have it checked out and repaired. Not an easy surprise in my already tight budget, but a necessary expense.

     Yesterday I repaired the problem and the computer is working better than ever. You see, I dreamed about the problem and discovered the solution. I pay close attention to my dreams whether they are simply entertaining or problem solving.

     Weeks ago I dreamed I had the winning lottery numbers. For once, the dream was vivid enough that I recalled the numbers upon waking and wrote them down. I'm still playing them. Still waiting for my big win. Sometimes dreams come true, sometimes they are reflections of wishful thinking. However, it pays to be attentive either way.

Voice in the Night

     "How can it get any better than this?" he learned to ask.

     The man standing in shadows at the foot of his bed grinned and whispered, "Wait and see."

The Synchronicity of Gratitude

     We all appreciate someone saying thank you for a gift we have given or a favor done. When the receiver doesn't acknowledge our efforts, we can feel taken for granted or not good enough. Sad.

     Meister Eckhart is quoted as saying thank you is the only prayer people need to learn. Thank you is certainly a powerful phrase. Not only does it make the giver feel worthy, but it also motivates him or her to want to give more. Think about a time when you spent time and money to give a  gift to someone and that person never said a word of appreciation about it. Your thought was probably something on the order, "That's the last time I go out of my way for her (him)."

     I recently watched a YouTube video of a Lilou Mace interview with Dr. Dain Heer. The take-away from this interview for me was a reminder to always say thank you to the Divine, the Universe, whatever name you use for your Source and to follow it with a question: How can it get any better than this? The Divine or the Universe as no choice but to answer the question. The answer will come in the form of a greater blessing. I'm not suggesting that we use an expression of gratitude as a means of manipulation. All I'm saying is there is a synchronicity between giving and getting. It's called Gratitude.