WayFinder (The Fool's Journey)

Chapter 13: Fourteen Days

Over the next two weeks we turned our cave into a true home. Daniel set up the solar panels above ground and hid them behind some rocks near the back of the cave. The generators were charged consistently, even though the skies still remained cloudy and at times rainy. Not an ounce of true sunshine slipped through. 

Daniel had also created a rain catching system hidden within the forest. ‘Just in case’, he said. But I think he just liked rigging one up, seeing as how the underground spring provided perfect drinking water once filtered. Taylor was exasperated with him at this point. He'd be up at the crack of dawn working on his projects in one of the unused caves. But he was undeniably happy so she kept her exasperation to herself. This was his natural state. Taking care of those he cared about with the use of his creativity and intellect.

Him and Dante even renovated one of the caves into a full blown bathroom complete with two sinks, three makeshift showers, and three compost toilets, separated by Japanese privacy screens that were drilled into the floor. The two worked through several days so we would no longer have to use nature's facilities. My first true shower in days had been nothing short of remarkable, even if the water was lukewarm. I washed every inch of my body twice, shampooing and conditioning my dry curls as I went. It was a million times better than my small RV bathroom.

We were all benefitting from Daniel and Dante putting their skills to use, and it made me wonder what the others could do. So I surprised Jace by letting him know that I wanted him to start a garden in the last large cave on the main tunnel. He released a squeal that resembled that of one of the younger residents. I surprised him even further when I went to the storage and pulled out soil, top grade fertilizer, and a wealth of things he would and wouldn't need for the community garden. This included numerous packets of vegetable and fruit seeds and a ridiculous amount of heating lamps. He nodded enthusiastically when I pulled something out of the bin he would need, and laughed when I brought out something he didn’t. I shrugged at the latter. I had not one green thumb on my hands.

But gardening was obviously his passion. I felt the truth of it along our tether. His aura glowed white and rainbow hued as we kneeled next to the opened bins. It was the first time I’d witnessed someone’s aura in such clarity. I sat gazing at him for so long he had to wave his hand in front of my eyes. 

I was sure that at this point everyone had gotten used to my increasingly spacy moments, and they graciously waited for me to come back to reality. They probably thought I had some condition that made me this way and thankfully they did not attempt to discuss it any further. 

The truth, however, was that the energies had once again broken the barrier of what I thought was possible. Within me, new talents were revealing themselves and strengthening at a faster rate than they ever had before. Just two days ago I’d heard quiet angelic voices whispering down in the tunnel. They sounded as if they were outside of my consciousness, in the physical realm. When I lifted my tired body from the bed and looked outside the tunnel for any passerbys, I saw no one. 

I heard almost everyone still finishing lunch, so I chose that time to follow the sound of the voices. I turned right, moving past the other caves, and listened as the whispers grew a fraction louder. I continued going down the main tunnel in search of what the voices wanted me to find. It was when I got closer to the collapsed tunnel that the angelic voices grew even louder. As I rounded the corner to Jessie and Rachel’s room, I heard the laughs of two little girls in a place that they shouldn’t be. 

Evelyn and Andrea were exploring the collapsed caves, a place their mother was adamant they shouldn’t go. The smaller rocks were always sliding into the short tunnel, but we were worried that with too much agitation it could eventually send them all tumbling into the caves. As of now the girls were having a great time sliding the smaller rocks down themselves.