Dragonfly Dreams, Part Nine

Frank Mason took another step back away from the large tent which was now housing Janet Jones along with an elderly man and his granddaughter. Only moments before, Frank had heard Janet Jones threatening to kill the girl if the old man didn’t show her the way to some place that she had called Sapphire Falls. The woman was just pure evil. He didn’t see how he had fallen so easily for her tricks earlier on the airplane. She had almost had him arrested for drug smuggling…and then had tried to kill him while he was in the taxi with Chuck. Now…she was heading toward the tent door…and she had a gun.

“I don’t know who’s out there,” Janet Jones called out, “But you have about 10 seconds to pray to whatever God you hold dear….and then you are going to die.”

Frank didn’t have time to think. He just felt the strange vibrations on his back and knew that the large dragonfly there was on the move again. The ground beneath his feet just became a memory as he floated into the midnight sky, leaving the firelight and soft glow of the tent below him. He looked down and saw Janet Jones emerge quickly from the tent. She was looking around wildly…trying to find out the source of the sound which she had just heard. She looked up and at first he thought that she had seen him….but then she just shook her head and went back inside the tent.

The scenery below changed and Frank found himself gliding gently over the rich, dark canopy of the jungle once more. The trees grew together so thick and dangerous making Frank wonder what secrets they kept hidden from the eyes of Man. So high in the air, everything was silent except for the soft buzzing of the dragonfly’s wings. Frank found that he wasn’t afraid anymore. If the insect had meant to hurt him, it would have done so by now. Instead, it seemed intent on showing him things. He wondered if it was taking him back to the village.

The roar of water soon answered his question. The jungle below broke into three parts where the trees were not as thick. He could see water….flowing fast and strong. Soon, the water converged from three separate streams into one large stream that gained speed. He could see the white foam of caps as the water crashed against sharp rocks and made its way toward one of the largest and most beautiful waterfalls that he had ever seen. And in the light of the full moon, he could see the sparkling stones that lay on the banks of the river….sparkling a deep, dark blue….they looked just like…

“Sapphires,” Frank whispered to the cold night air.

Surely, this was the same Sapphire Falls of which Janet Jones had been speaking. Without much surprise, Frank found himself being slowly lowered toward the water. The dragonfly flew him out over the waterfall…and Frank had to gasp. It was beautiful…and terrifying. The roar of the foaming water was enough to kill an entire army of men who happened to be so foolish as to get near the edge. And yet, it was so lovely to look at that one might be tempted to end it all for the brief moment of joy of becoming one with such a force of nature.

The dragonfly was lowering them even closer to the falls. Was it planning on dropping him in the water? He didn’t think so…and then he saw that they were not headed for the water. They were headed for a little cropping of rock that jutted out from the side of the cliff. As his feet touched the rocks, he found that they were slick with the mist from the falls. In front of him, hidden from view until now, was a cave. He knew that the dragonfly wanted him to go into the cave. He just didn’t know what he would find inside.

Slowly he made his way toward the dark crevice that lay before him. It gaped like a dark mouth, waiting to devour him body and soul. And yet he continued his slow and steady trek. He didn’t want to trip and fall to his death.
Entering the darkness, he was amazed at how quickly the deafening roar of the waterfall seemed to disappear. It was as though he had entered another world. And the darkness was alive and thick around him….pressing into his flesh and attaching itself to his clothing….making him feel sluggish and slow. He felt around for the walls and found that he could not find them.

This had been a mistake….he had to get out….he had to leave. He started to turn back toward the cave opening and head back toward the light of the moon and noise of the waterfall. As deafening as it was, it was better than the silent darkness of this tomb. He felt as though the very dead themselves were standing with him….watching him with eyes grown accustomed to such vile conditions.

And then the dragonfly buzzed its wings….sending tingles along his spine.
Small golden sparks flew into the air. They seemed to be coming from the dragonfly’s wings. Like silent moths, they fluttered and floated in the air sending out small but brilliant beams of light into the darkness. It wasn’t much….but in total darkness even the smallest light is a beacon. They seemed to converge into a line in front of him…..and Frank knew. He had to follow the line. There was no turning back.

Walking carefully so that he didn’t stumble over some rock (or dead body, he thought with a shiver), Frank made his way through the cave. The dragonfly kept up its rustling. It was strange, but the vibrations seemed to calm him. He felt that peaceful feeling that he had been feeling earlier. He didn’t know why he had been so afraid of this cave. It was actually a beautiful place. What had he been thinking? He smiled as the dragonfly’s buzzing wings and golden flakes of light prompted him onward.

Soon, he was able to make out another source of light in the distance. It wasn’t much…but then neither were the golden flakes which were floating around him. As he got nearer and nearer to the source of the light however, it grew stronger and stronger. He found that he no longer needed the golden bits of light to help guide the way. As if they had heard his thoughts, they blinked out of sight. The dragonfly’s buzzing wings kept up their comforting vibrations on his back though. He was glad of that.

Soon he was standing in front of another doorway in the cave. There was a strong light coming from the other side…but he couldn’t see clearly. He couldn’t make out what was on the other side. He saw moving shapes but whenever he tried to focus on them, everything got fuzzy.

“Well….I’ve come this far,” he said to the dragonfly, “I guess that I should take just one more step.”

And with that….he stepped through the door….and into bright daylight.
He was in a large, airy room. The walls were white….plaster. The rich green carpet under his feet was thick and luxurious. In front of him was a glass table with black metal legs. On it sat a large crystal vase full of freshly cut lilies. He could smell their sweet perfume floating in the air. But most amazing of all, he saw a woman sitting and reading a book on the large, plush sofa in front of him. She was so absorbed in her reading that she didn’t notice him…at first. Then…..noting a change in the room apparently….she raised her head. Her eyes grew large and the book fell from her fingers and landed with a silent thump on the carpet.

Frank tried to raise his hands and let her know that he wasn’t going to hurt her….but it was too late. The woman started to scream. And honestly….Frank felt like he was going to scream himself. The woman was someone that he knew….someone that he saw quite a bit, in fact. The woman was….Oprah Winfrey.

On his back, Frank felt the buzzing of the dragonfly. It was purring like a kitten….and the louder that Oprah Winfrey screamed….the stronger the dragonfly purred.

Until next week….class dismissed.