sky to heaven - the invisible life.

A palace of gold and metal, the center of the government, the house of power. The floors, walls, and ceilings were made of beige marble, and everywhere there were gilded columns, majestic staircases, and lush water fountains. But although the palace exuded wealth and power, it seemed dead of love. For there were no windows, no plants, and no apparent signs of life. The only light came from the sun, through huge glass ceilings. It was the most beautiful palace and prison I had ever been in. And me, what was I doing there? How did I get here? Did someone put me here? I could only feel I did not belong there. In this palace, I was not a person as we would normally think of people. I was half-person, half spirit. When I looked at myself, I could see the bare outline of myself, but other than that, most of my substance had disappeared.

And then I saw them. Two, large spiders – the color of benevolent grey. They were furry, and very, very big - almost the size of a small car. And they, too, were like me, only more so: half there, and half not there. They were spirit spiders. And they were important, but I did not know in what way. It seemed they could read my feelings. They could sense things. They had what we would call “supernatural” powers, but what kinds, I did not know. They were from Nature, but I didn’t know how or why they were here. I knew so little. They were scampering around a little bit nervously, looking for something, perhaps a way out.

And then I saw them. The agents. They wore black suits and sunglasses – as if the light were too bright for their eyes. These agents were people who seemed to have no spirits. They were flesh and blood people – normal people. But also not like normal people. Because I saw in their eyes what they wanted. They wanted to control the spiders, to study and acquire their powers. This is why the spiders were in this palace. They had escaped the cages they had been put in, but they had not yet escaped this palace, which was their prison. It was difficult for them to escape, since the palace also had powers of its own, which drained the powers of the spiders, and made them vulnerable and weak. And these people, they were the agents of the government - they were the government, and they were carrying a type of gun that could stun the spiders.

And seeing those agents and their weapons, it was then that I remembered my purpose here. I, and others like me, had originally planned to infiltrate the palace to free the spiders. Me and the others like me, the spirit people, who I could sense were nearby, but they were not in visual range. Our purpose was to save the spiders by using our combined mental powers to help the spiders become invisible, and to guide them towards the outside. And as we harnessed that energy, the spiders became invisible, and they gained more energy and quickly made their way to the entrance of the palace.

But as they were doing so, some of us were spotted by the government agents, those with bodies but no spirits. And as our group were spotted, they were shot by the stun guns, captured and arrested; and their energy was subtracted from the total group’s energy. As more were arrested, the spiders once again became visible. One of the government agents saw one of the spiders nearing the entrance of the palace. As the spider was making its way out, I dove, and put myself in front of the spider, and the agent shot his gun. The charge hit me, and I dropped to the floor and blacked out.

And when I woke up next, I was no longer in the palace, but next to a pond in the middle of the woods. I don’t know how I got there, or how I had been rescued. And I could see the two spiders, resting on the other side of the pond, on a mountain of fallen tree logs, which might have been one of their nests. I asked, “What am I doing here?” And a serene female voice, which I knew to be that of one of the daughters of Mother Nature, said, “Others like you, saved you and brought you here– just as you helped to save the spiders. Because of you and those like you, the spiders are free once more. You are now one of their guardians, if you so desire to be. They have asked you and a few others to protect this sanctuary and to live here in this place, if you so desire.

“The spiders are the keepers of Wisdom on this earth, and the children of Mother Nature. Without the spiders on this earth, there can be no wisdom - for they are Wisdom. Those who would seek to kill them, are those who would destroy Wisdom. But as you continue to protect them, so their wisdom will become your wisdom – their gifts will become your gifts. That is the gift they have given to you, if you so choose to accept it. Where the spiders are, so is the future of your human race.”