The Seventh Gift

• The air was crisp, but the chill didn't bother me. I could feel warmth radiating from my skin as I lay in the pillowy snow, looking upward into the night sky. Endless evergreen trees shrouded the land around me in darkness with the only light coming from the stars, which flickered through the barely visible, wispy clouds. Large, feathery snowflakes billowed all around me; if I focused on them as they fell, I could see them spinning slow and beautiful pirouettes, as if each were conscious of the others, dancing in synchronicity. Once in a while, I would blow on one gently, commanding the air around me to suspend it in place so I could marvel at its beauty and individuality. I couldn't do this for long though, it would cause a flurry of wind and the trees would quiver in fear of a wind storm. I hate upsetting the trees, they get a bit nervous at times despite their strength. Some of them are very old and fear that a strong wind storm might lead to their uprooting. I whispered a sincere apology to them, knowing that they could hear better than any animals and are always observing. The trees are also among the wisest of all living creatures for this reason. It's been only a year or so since I learned by accident that I could command the winds, but I have listened to the trees for about five years now. My first experience was around thirteen years old. Closing my eyes, I drifted into the memory.

The scent of hibiscus floated on the warm summer breeze, the grass in the meadows around me was knee high, and swayed along as it blew. Not far from the back porch of our old home, we had an old rudimentary rope swing that hung from a massive eucalyptus. I ran full speed and jumped on with all of my body weight hitting the seat at once, as I had done many times before. This particular time when I jumped on, I heard the branch it was suspended from creaking in a groan. It startled me as I was unsure if my ears were deceiving me. The groaning sounded like an elderly woman, making noise as she tried to pull herself up from a sofa, and I fell backwards off the seat. When my hands caught me on the ground, I suddenly felt as though my mind were pulled from within me and right into my palms where they came into contact with the tree's roots. My vision tunneled into a sparkling silver light, and I felt the world around me fall silent. All that I could see was an undulating silver light, while a peaceful yet electrifying energy entered into my palms and traveled through my arms, working its way up my torso, neck, then into my inner ears. A deep, but soft voice, much like a hum, spoke to me in vibratory waves across my whole body. I had neither desire nor ability to fear or draw my hands away. The same energy that pulled my vision into tunnels, held me as if by magnetic force. As I felt the words throughout my body, I began to understand the pain that the tree felt each time someone sat on the old rope swing. Its branches were becoming brittle and dry, and it feared losing another limb. I was overcome with remorse, knowing that I had contributed to its pain each time I had jumped on the swing before. It wouldn't accept any of the apologies that I recited in my mind, instead, it seemed like the tree felt it was an honor to watch over me each time that I was swinging or nearby playing. I struggled to understand why I could feel the words of the tree as if it were undulating through me in penetrating waves of light energy. To this day, I can't recall every detail that was relayed to me, and I have never asked another why, but I remember the tree making me feel as though it is part of my purpose and intention. I felt proud, that I should never question this ability, but to guard it closely. Just as suddenly as it began, I was torn from the peaceful exchange by a touch, spreading a pause through me, originating from my shoulder. My vision suddenly jolted back to the present moment where I sat on my bottom, arms extended behind me.

I snapped around to see Alma looking at me, face full of concern.

"Are you alright?" I could see a hint of excitement in her eyes, her question dripping with anticipation.

"I...I fell." These were the only words I could muster as I discovered that I was completely out of breath, still trying to process what just happened to me and how real it had actually been.

Just then, I felt vulnerable. The forest was quiet all around me; it was so quiet that I realized I could hear my own heartbeat thrumming in my ears. My eyes darted back and forth between the trees, searching for anything to explain what just overcame me, and now the complete silence around me. I closed my eyes as hard as I could, trying to replay the events in my mind, when the sound of rustling brush in the distance forced me to leave my thoughts behind for a glance at the source.

In the distance, a massive, black wolf peered at me. This wasn't our first encounter, I had seen this wolf more times than I could count. It stood what seemed to be four or more feet tall at its withers, putting its head at nearly six feet from the ground. The wolf's broad shoulders and skull commanded me to watch it move, as it stepped further into my view with the fluidity of a downhill stream and the grace and ease of a dressage horse. Its fur was ebony, yet radiant, with a sheen that could only be compared to a moon beam. My breath hitched as I stared with my mouth agape. Sensing this, the wolf turned its great head in my direction. Its eyes captured the sun's rays with an emerald green sparkle. We locked eyes for a brief moment… my guardian… He has always been watching over me, and seems to appear when I am startled or scared. Wolves, like dogs, have extraordinarily heightened senses, compared to those of humans. The slightest hint of stress chemicals in my blood could carry on the wind and this wolf would find me, and stand watch as I worked through my troubles. His presence frightened me only once, but my mother was there and quick to explain that he guards me, since I was a newborn. Now I feel joy when I see him, that is, when I'm not swept away by the complete beauty of this creature.

A small giggle and the smell of cherry blossoms hit me all at once.

I cocked my head to see Alma waving the wolf off with her hands. She shot him a smile, then her smile disappeared as she turned back to me.

"I saw you fall from the kitchen window, but you froze in place for about a minute, and I thought perhaps you had hurt yourself, so I came to help you up. What were you doing just now?" Alma saw me. She sensed something wasn't quite what it seemed but she was waiting for me to tell her.

I tried to formulate a sentence, "He is so majestic…" referring to the wolf who had captivated my stare. I almost forgot the wild experience just prior.

"Not him, Maren, you!" Her tone was serious and concerned.

Oh, yeah. "I...it was...the tree… then you…" my mouth couldn't move as fast as my thoughts were, and I felt a laugh escape my throat.

"I see," Alma laughed knowingly. "Come inside and let's taste some of the cobbler I made, it's just the right temperature to warm you up and restore the energy you used. It can be a bit overwhelming and exhausting communicating with trees at first."

I gasped as she helped me to my feet, from the realization that Alma knew what had just happened. She knew! In a moment, everything I thought about the world had just changed and Alma was nonchalantly bringing me inside for cobbler! All of these thoughts flooded my mind at once and I couldn't muster the words to ask questions, let alone speak. I spent a few minutes at the table gathering my thoughts in silence, one hand under my chin as I drew circles on the table with the other.

Alma interrupted my thoughts; "I know it's a lot for you to take in, maybe even scary. I've been expecting this to happen for some time now. To be honest, I'm glad you're just old enough to understand because it can be frightening at first." She leaned on to the table and stared intensely into my face.

"Say it, Maren. Saying it makes it real for you, so say it."

I looked up at her, squinting as I mapped the details of her face. I didn't see that confused little wrinkle on her forehead this time- she somehow knew with certainty that the tree spoke to me. Now she wanted me to tell her, and I was searching for clues that she wouldn't think I had gone mad, and there it was.

"The tree… spoke to me, Alma."

"No," her expression hadn't changed, but her response somewhat surprised me. Had she just made me tell her something that I could barely believe myself, only to make me feel completely crazy?!

"But you said…"

"They have been talking to you since the day you were born, you just couldn't hear them." She was as serious as a heart attack and I was more confused than before.

"They… they? The trees? All of them?" Please tell me I'm dreaming.

"Every tree, Maren. The trees don't use our language- it's rudimentary and dull, they have their own."

I shifted in my seat, swallowing a massive lump in my throat and blinking a few times to make sure that I wasn't dreaming.

She continued: "The trees communicate with their spirit, like waves of energy that can be felt, and only certain...special humans can feel these energies and interpret them."

"Special? What do you mean, what kind of special...how…"

"You, Maren. And me. There are others, many. We are called Spirit Talkers." Maren lifted her empty fork to her mouth, upside down, and tapped her lips in anticipation.

• Wait, what? Her too? Spirit Talkers? We? Many? Like a secret society of people who listen to trees?*

"That...is…" my thoughts were interrupted. She could tell that she just dropped a bomb on me. She stood up and moved behind me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. I knew she wanted to comfort me but I was actually holding in excitement.

"That is SO AWESOME!" I proclaimed, nearly knocking her back as I stood and yelled. "Trees talk to me, I can hear them! You can hear them, Alma!" There was no use in trying to contain my excitement, all I could think about was going back out to do it again. I broke from Alma's embrace and started for the door.

A giggling Alma reached out and caught my hand. "Maren, I'm so happy that you're excited, but spirit talking can drain your energy while you're still new to it. It's important to allow someone to mentor you and guide you so that you can learn how to communicate more efficiently. Once you understand how to use your gift, you'll find it to be more energizing than exhausting."

"Can you mentor me, Alma?"

Her eyes became glassy, as she embraced me in another hug, this time I rested my head on her waist as I stood at barely half her height.

"That is why I am here, beautiful Maren. Everything that I know, I will teach you. You are a special girl and those that knew this, trusted special people to mentor you."