Murder Recall

Glass Wall

Gwen asked Shamina, "Maya's mother?"

Shamina answered, "Adoptive mother."

Gwen was confused. Without realizing it, without being aware of the mental process she was going through, Gwen was reconciling her memory of the last time she had been in the cabin, when she had played Memory, with her current experience. Gwen knew that Shamina was dead and no explanatory meaning was surfacing to resolve her lack of comprehension.

Shamina understood though and said, "Watch my hands." Shamina held the palms of her hands close together, palms facing Gwen within a hand's length of Gwen's eyes. Shamina moved her hands slowly in circles, each palm moving towards the center of Gwen's face, such that only one palm was in the center of her face at a time. One circle was ahead of the other, one hand mirroring the other, and passing between her eyes at equal time distances. Shamina was saying in a quiet tone that sounded chant-like, "Gwen, this is a time out of time, enduring for all and no time." They were standing at the side of the room, near the door. Gwen was not moving while she watched and listened to Shamina. Michi was in a deep sleep, breathing gently, comfortable in the baby sling hanging over Gwen's tummy. Shamina stopped moving her hands and instructed, "Stay still and don't touch the glass."

The glass was invisible but Gwen knew it was there because sunlit reflections flickered on its surface. Through the glass, Maya, Doug, Raya, Roger, Gwen and Michi were sitting around the table. It was like Gwen's memory. Maya had finished her card reading for Raya and Roger asked, "Please do a reading for me." For Gwen, seeing this scene was almost the same as experiencing a memory, except that she was observing herself and Michi on the other side of the glass wall, sitting at the table with the others, whereas on this side of the glass, she experienced herself inside herself, Michi cuddled against her, in the presence of Shamina.

Maya replied to Roger, "Sure, but first I would like to show you all something special about these cards." She laid all the cards on the table, face up, so that the pictures could be seen. Then she would turn a random card upside down and then after a moment turn it upside up and much to everyone's amazement, the picture on the face of the card had changed to another not on any other card.

Roger asked, "How can that be?"

Raya asked, "Is it magic?"

Maya answered, "There may be a logical or scientific explanation. I don't know what the cause of the cards changing is. Shamina may have known. The cards are responsive to who is interacting with them. It's very mysterious. I remember when I was curious about this, back when I was a kid, Shamina would say to me "A question may be asked of the cards, but don't question the cards' response". The art of interpretation requires life-long learning and reflective knowledge. Shamina was an amazing healer who had everyone's respect, although a few rare people hated her out of jealousy for her advanced knowledge. My own interpretation skills are a drop in the ocean compared to hers."

Maya repeated the same motions she had with Raya and Roger selected his three cards. All three were daytime cards. The one on his left was of a shadow of a man barely discernable exiting from an enveloping dark fog. The card in the center was a lightening bolt coming down from a blue sky without cloud that was striking a tree catching fire. The card on the right was of a huge black sinkhole and in the center a white spiral staircase rose from the depths of the hole to high in the blue sky to a castle on top of a beautiful white cloud.

Roger said, "I can guess what the cards for my past and present mean. The card for the future seems to promise dreams coming true after a very dark, frightening period."

Maya replied, "I can't disagree with that. Ultimately the reading is about you, so your thoughts matter most. Your memories of the time when your mind was controlled by the chip may never return. Don't worry about it. Live in the present and new memories will form based on your life after the chip removal. Memories of the time before the chip may or may not return as well and it will be hard to know for sure whether they are accurate. You must be patient, calm and happy. The card for the present suggests and warns that all these memories may strike you like a lightening bolt causing great change in you. The tree on fire is transforming from old growth. New growth will result, nourished by the ashes of what was. Keep the image of the card for the future in mind and as your future unfolds reflect on this image. Will you descend into the depths of the hole, find the base of the staircase and then climb up it, or will you find another way to reach the castle in the air?"