Part 38: The First Incredible Adventures Of The Girl With No Shoes
Chapter 6: The Seven Ponds
In the middle of summer, Anne woke in the middle of the night to the sound of her name being called. She sat up in her tiny bed and listened to the darkness around her. She could hear no sound except for her father’s light snoring in the other room. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and pulled her blanket tight up against her. She listened to the quiet of the house.
“Anne Of The Light.” The voice whispered again. Anne couldn’t figure out where the voice was coming from. It seemed as if the voice spoke directly in her ear but there was no one near her. The voice did not sound like her mother, or her father and she knew that Jubilee couldn’t speak yet.
“Who is there?” Anne whispered back, “Where are you?”
For a long time, there was no sound, then again, the whisper said, “Anne Of The Light.”
Anne pulled her covers up tighter around herself. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness in her room, and she searched every corner for anyone in the shadows. Anne had never really been afraid of anything. She knew her father could take care of her if she was really in danger, though something about this voice was kind and peaceful. To Anne the voice didn’t sound angry or dangerous.
“Anne Of The Light, it’s time for your adventure.” the voice whispered all around her.
Anne pushed her blankets down and got out of bed. Her bare feet hit the wooden floor with a light thud. The cold, wooden floor felt good on her feet, and she smiled.
“Hello? Where are you?” Anne asked in the silence of the small room. “What adventure are you talking about?”
“Anne, it’s time for you to come now.” The voice came again and this time it sounded like it was outside her room.
Anne walked slowly across her room and out into the small, dark hallway of the old house. “Hello?” She whispered. “I’m coming. Tell me where you are?”
“Anne Of The Light.” The voice whispered as it seemed to rush around her now like a breeze and it blew through her hair. “Come.” It said again.
“Where? Where are you? Where are we going?” Anne asked again, she had turned toward the direction the wind had blown and saw the large, wooden front door of the house in front of her.
There was a crackle of excitement in the air. ‘What mystery is this?’ Anne thought to herself. She felt she was very much in need of an adventure, and she needed it badly. Life in the old house with her mother and sister had become a bit dull as the summer months had dragged on. Life in the big city was always exciting with the many sounds and endless lights that seemed always to be on. She missed her friends and their families. She hadn’t made any new friends in this new city; everyone was much older than her here.
“This way.” The voice said and Anne heard the large metal latch on the front door draw back. The big wooden door swung open slowly and a light wind from the cold night blew in the house. Anne listened for the sound of her father stirring but he slept on. His snoring continued. She walked toward the now open door and stepped out onto the porch. The door slowly closed behind her with a light thud, and she heard the latch slide back in place gently. Anne waited, sure now her father would come running from his bed, but there was only more silence. Her parents and of course Jubilee slept on.
The voice whispered in the night air, “They will be fine. Don’t worry about them. You’ll be back before they wake up.”
“I don’t know who you are.” Anne said aloud and then asked, “How do I know you won’t hurt me?”
There was a long stretch of silence then the voice whispered, “You will have to learn to trust me and I will have to learn to trust you, Anne Of The Light.”
Outside the house was almost pitch black. The canopy above the wall of trees that surrounded the house blocked most of the light of the moon from shining down. Anne searched the tree line. She saw no movement in the surrounding forest. She listened but didn’t hear even the sound of a near or distant bird. It was absolutely and quite strangely quiet. She thought she should be scared of that quiet, but somehow this quiet was more… she thought of a word to describe this quiet to herself… then she knew… this quiet was respectful. The sound that was always present in the world had bowed itself to this stillness, to this quiet.
“This way.” The voice said. Anne looked in the direction of the sound of the voice and saw a light to her right around the side of the house. She stepped down the three steps of the porch and her feet met the dirt. She slowly rounded the house and saw the light was brighter now. She could see that it was coming from a way off through the trees ahead of her. She walked a bit quicker toward it.
“I’m coming.” Anne said aloud. “Please wait, I’m coming now.”
When Anne reached the tree line she turned and looked back toward the old house. There was no movement. The house sat dimly in the night fast asleep. Anne wondered for a moment if her parents would wake up and miss her, but she quickly dismissed that thought. She turned and pushed past the underbrush and into the forest following the light’s distant glow.
As she walked through the forest, her bare feet stepped on branches, moss, dirt, and rocks. She always enjoyed the feeling of the ground as she walked. Somehow it made her feel connected to all the life around her. The touch of that life was joy to her feet. She felt very alive.
“Hurry now!” The voice said louder and now Anne could tell it was a woman’s voice.
“I’m coming!” Anne all but shouted into the forest. She picked up her pace as she sped forward. The light grew brighter and brighter until she burst out into a wide clearing in the trees. And she saw them… scattered around the clearing were seven small ponds. She saw that the light was coming from the pond in the very center of the clearing. The source of the light she saw was the pond itself. Its glassy surface glowed up into the dark of the night illuminating the clearing. The light was almost as bright as daylight. Anne stopped and stared in amazement. She had never seen a pond that glowed brightly before. She walked toward the central pond and stood near its edge.
“Here! Come closer! In the water!” The woman’s voice called from the pond.
Anne walked up to the edge of the pond, got down on her hands and knees, and looked down into the water. Anne expected to see her own reflection on the surface but instead she saw a beautiful woman wearing a beautiful crown of gold staring back at her from below the water. She saw the sky around the woman and some trees above her. It was as if she looked into another world. Anne realized that the pond wasn’t glowing at all but the sunlight from that other world was shining up into her own world.
The woman had long, curly, and blond hair and wore a simple crown of gold on her head. Her face was painted lightly with exquisite patterns almost like the tattoos that Anne had seen the people in the carnival wear. Her lips were bright red, and her eyes were a deep green. Anne had never seen such piercing eyes before. She wore a purple velvet overcoat that was beautifully embroidered with images of deer and flowers. “A queen.” Anne thought.
“Hello.” Anne said down to the queen who smiled back at her from the other side of the water. “What is this place?” She asked the queen.
“Hello, Anne Of The Light,” The queen replied then asked, “Are you ready?”
“Ready for what?” Anne asked, puzzled.
“Ready for your adventure?” The queen replied with a laugh. “I’ve been calling you for quite a while now.”
“Why were you calling me?” Anne asked. She looked around the pond-lit clearing. Nothing moved. No sounds at all. She looked back at the way she had come but could only see the tree line of the clearing. Then she looked back down at the queen.
“You have to make a choice my dear,” The queen said. “You have to choose this adventure for yourself. I cannot make that choice for you. If you choose to travel the journey before you it will cost you everything.” The queen’s words hung in the air of the clearing. Anne thought about them for a while. She knew that this was something she had to do, but she didn’t know why.
“I choose to take this adventure.” Anne spoke the words slowly and carefully, as if to record them in her mind forever.
The queen smiled and put out her hand towards Anne. Suddenly it came up through the surface of the water. The queen’s hand wore two bright gold rings. “Take my hand dear. Come here. I’ll explain everything. You have to hurry.” The queen said.
Anne thought for a moment. “Was this a dream? She didn’t normally dream this vividly. And if it was a dream, why did it all seem so real?”
As if suddenly deciding that this adventure would be more exciting than anything the old house could offer her, she reached out and took the queen’s hand. The queen instantly gripped her hand tightly and pulled her very hard toward the water.
What happened next Anne couldn’t really understand or explain. One second the water was coming up towards her and she expected to feel the cold wet surface hit her face and then the next second she was being pulled up out of the water onto the banks of a small pond. Grassy fields were all around her now. The sun shone brightly above her head. Birds flew around the sky. Anne looked down, touching her clothes and to her amazement they were dry. She turned and looked down into the pond but only saw the bottom of it. A small fish swimming just under its shiny surface. Once she had regained her composure, Anne looked around and took in this ‘other world’.
Check back tomorrow for the next chapter!
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TBOBK Ministries - Benjamin Potexana Kareth 
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