Sharing
“You were so quick to sign the ticket; I never got the chance to tell you about the dangers. Either way, I’m glad you survived the fall, it seems like you’re a natural, finding the birds instinct in mid-air like that.” Jake poured more champagne into the glasses on the table.
“I didn’t even think that I would reincarnate, since it was a ripped out page. I don't want that to happen again.” Marcus looked at the sculptures and pieces of art on the wall, and they all had the Chakana on them. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed it before.
“Very well. The key to a successful reincarnation is control. If you’re writing a ticket to become an animal that behaves or moves in a way that might be difficult to master, such as flying for birds or swimming for fishes, you should practice in a controlled environment first. My suggestion is that you visit Thomas at his house; he knows pretty much everything about animals. I’m more of a people-person myself,” Jake had an ease in his voice, just like during his lectures. It was as if he had given this speech a million times, and Marcus thought that he probably had, too. He was paying close attention to Jake’s words.
“Another hazard in reincarnation is inheriting traits. If you stay inside someone’s head long enough, it’s bound to leave its marks. It all depends on the form. If you live as a blind man for too long, you might come back into your body and be blind here, too. If you’ve been a kangaroo, you might return and look silly, because you just can’t stop jumping. If you become a person with different morals than you, there’s a risk your personality will change, because just like the eagle’s instinct was instructing you how to fly, the minds of people will ‘talk’ to you in their own way. If they keep telling you something you don’t want to hear, you’ll have no way of avoiding it. Many shamans have been driven mad, hearing voices and becoming paranoid, thinking some other shaman is inside their head. Among us, we have the rule that no one is allowed to reincarnate as one of the others, and we trust one another in this. We hope that you will join that trust, Marcus. Let’s see . . . is there anything I’ve forgotten?” Jake looked around, and the only response he got was Thomas shrugging his shoulders. Marcus had a question:
“Have you inherited any ‘bad’ traits?”
To Marcus’s surprise, Thomas was the first to speak, describing his first reincarnation. He had lived as a sloth, enjoying a slow-paced life in peace and tranquility. He told Marcus about how his anxiety problems disappeared. All the stress of everyday life was released from him while hanging around in the trees around the Amazon River. When he returned from his month as a sloth, his speech and movement had turned slow. This had made him the perfect target for all sorts of bad people, like robbers and bullies. He stopped attending school and started his own business, an animal shelter. He explained how he felt that animals deserve love just as much as humans do, and maybe even more so.
Next in turn was Alexander, who told Marcus about the five years he had spent in the mind of an Egyptian Pharaoh. It was the only reincarnation when he had slipped out of control. The mind of the Pharaoh had been too strong, beating his psyche into submission, just like he had whipped the slaves to work harder. For five years, he had been hiding in the Pharaoh’s head, not speaking a word, in fear of the response. Alexander was still recovering from that journey.
Marcus felt safer now, hearing that the others seemed to know the feeling of falling. He was hoping that someone would continue with another story. He looked to Lola.
When Marcus met Lola’s burning red eyes, he saw that they were glossed with tears. She suddenly got up and left the room. They all heard her feet run up the stairs and then a door slam shut upstairs. Marcus turned to Jake, confused over what had just happened. Jake smiled bluntly and got up from the sofa, picking up his own and Lola’s glass in one hand and the champagne bottle in the other.
“It’s a personal choice to tell others about one’s journeys. It seems like Lola isn’t ready to share her story with you. In time, she might. I think it’s time we get you home, Marcus,” Jake said, putting down the glasses and bottle on the kitchen table and picking up the car keys. Marcus looked at the clock on the wall and it showed the time, as expected.
“Time flies when you’re flying,” he smiled at Jake.
“It sure does, Marcus. And you’ve only been on a test flight,” Jake said as he opened the front door.
Neither of them spoke a word during the drive to Ash Street, where Marcus got out of the car. He made sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, then shook Jake´s hand and said good night. The car rumbled off into the dark.
It was snowing heavily, and the flakes stuck on the cover of the book. Marcus was worried that it would be ruined, so he hurried to the house and quietly unlocked the door. He listened carefully to hear Jane snoring in the living room. Yes, she was still asleep. He walked up the stairs to his room, where Dog was sleeping on his bed. He lay down next to him, and didn’t even bother taking his clothes off.
