Night Whisperers

"Do you hear them?" Amme asks.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"Their under those trees."

"I didn't hear anything," I say. My curiosity heightens as darkness surrounds me. "Amme, the late moon offers a spectacular view of the stars, and I am glad you talked me into coming out tonight, but the trees you point to escape my eyes."

"I always forget you cannot see as well as I in the dark, although for a human, you see better than most. Most come into the forest carrying flashlights, then lose themselves to its arc of light.

"I like that you're always willing to come in darkness. Crawl under those branches and you'll see them."

"Are you sure I won't disturb them Amme?"

"Of course you'll disturb them, but that's the whole point. It's part of the game our kind play with theirs."

"But you and I are not the same Amme. What are they? Will it anger them if I disturb them?"

"You worry too much, but that is what it's like for you humans. The night whisperers never get angry, although they may cause you some mischief in the future."

"I don't want to mess around with night whisperers, they'll swarm me if I mess with them," I tell her.

"But that's the point. When they swarm, their voices are amplified and you can learn their magic. Hurry and get under there, I see their shadow moving."

"It's too dark for shadows," I say. "Our whole world is in shadow right now."

"When will you learn to use all your senses?" she asks.

"You just said I see better than most."

"You're going to lose your chance if you stay here talking. Go, they have much to teach you. Open yourself to the sounds of their wings, feel the energy in their presence, listen to their message. Now I must go."

Stepping carefully, I duck beneath the branches as Amme said. As I enter the cover of the cedar boughs a strange vibration surrounds my body. The humming is beautiful. As I listen, I hear the night whisperers speaking in one voice. All the world comes alive as the forest is filled with the most incredible light.

Swimming through the water, I feel better than ever. My mind begins to wonder why the water isn't cold, but then I realize this is part of the awakening dream. The message is so simple. We are made up mostly of water. Our world is mostly water. It is time to take this message to everyone, the whisperers tell me. The time has come to take care of the world's water supplies. They can no longer be used as dumping grounds for human wastefulness.

Following clocks

"What did you say?" she asks.

"I said, I can't remember my dreams from the night, but the ones I have when I enter the forest are very clear to me," I tell her.

"What do you mean?" Amme says fluttering beside me on the trail.

"It's the strangest thing, but it used to be that I remembered my dreams vividly. I'd wake up and be unable to fall back asleep as I analyzed my dream. Now I sleep through the night without waking to think about them. Then while father and I are walking through the woods those same kind of dreams appear, but I am awake."

"That's not strange at all," she tells me. "You're a dreamer awakening."

"A dreamer awakening? I don't get it."

"Your kind have been tricked for a long time into believing there is a line between the world of magic and the world of technology. It began with clocks, which your ancestors considered the greatest invention. From the moment humans began following time according to machines their world began to accelerate.

"You are one of the lucky ones because your father is also a dreamer awakened. My father tells me that since humans began following clocks, there have been societies of people that did not follow its movement. In some, the people had to keep it a secret because the Corporation did not approve.

"These people are able to walk through both worlds and can see things other humans cannot. As children, most humans are born with the ability to see the world of magic. As they grow older they begin believing more in the line the clock has created and cast aside the world of magic.

"Did you know that it is rare now that you can still see me at your age, but two hundred years ago many adults could? Even fifty years ago children could cross into the world of magic well into their teens."

"Is that why our neighbors can't see you when they are out walking?" I ask.

"Yes. Now children are set in front of a box and told what to think before they can walk or even talk. Each human is supposed to awaken from the dream world, but the Corporation has gained access to the youngest minds.

"You are at the age when most humans choose their path. But so few children are even aware the world of magic still exists they simply follow into the world of technology.

"In doing so they buy into all that the Corporation sells. You on the other hand have not been influenced by the messages they implant in children. You are a dreamer awakened."

"Amme, I'm only eight. Do you think someday I'll forget about this world of magic?"