INNEREAL ADVENTURES - ONE

THE THREE ORBS

THE THREE ORBS

   Byron soon discovered that in his innereal world he was never hungry, but he did eat. Eating and drinking were for taste and refreshment, but not for sustenance. So, he would discover things that he knew were food, and he would enjoy eating them, but not because he was hungry. And after quite a while, Byron also noticed that the food he ate did not seem to have any digestive affect on him either. In fact, he never eliminated any type of waste from his body during the entire time that he was in his innereal world.

   About midday, Byron found himself standing at a precipice. Below him was a beautiful valley. In front of him were beautiful majestic mountains. The air was warm, the breeze was crisp and everything around him seemed in perfect order. And, it was at that moment that he discovered the bag in his cloak pocket. He put his hands in the side pockets for the first time as he was gazing out on the beauty of that moment and in the right pocket he felt the little leather bag. So, he pulled it out and examined it. It was soft brown leather with a tightly braided golden thread cord at the top like a drawstring. The bag had weight and movement to it so he carefully loosened the cord and opened the bag. Inside were three gorgeous orbs.

   [“What is a ord, Daddy?” came a question from the back seat. I chuckled and replied, “That’s orb, with a b, and in this case an orb is like a marble. But sometimes, like in poetry, the word orb has even been used to describe the moon or the sun. Basically, an orb is a spherical object. And, speaking of marbles, when we get to Grandpa’s house, help me remember to ask him to get out the marbles that he used to play with as a young boy. I remember being fascinated with them when I was your age. He would get them out and tell us about how he and his friends would play marbles every day after school. They would find a nice hard flat area of dirt and make a large circle on the ground. Then, they would each put a marble or two inside the circle. Each of them had a special larger marble called a “shooter” that they would cup in their curved index finger and then launch out with their thumb. When it was their turn, if they knocked a marble out with their shooter, they got to keep the marble. I’m not exactly sure about all of the rules, except that they shot from outside the circle and there was a fair amount of skill and strategy involved.”

   “But the most interesting thing about Grandpa’s marbles is that they are not made of glass, like yours. His are actually rounded and polished stones called agates. An agate is just a hard rock that can be highly polished. And, they come in these wonderful colors and patterns. There are blue agates and cherry agates. Some have flecks in them that sparkle. Some have swirling colors. And, even the just plain brown ones are beautiful.”

   “So, when we get there, let’s ask Grandpa to get them out. Maybe he will even teach us how to play marbles like he used to when he was a boy.”]

   That is what the three orbs were like that Byron found in the leather pouch. They were smooth and shiny and colorful and each one was different from the others in color and size. But, before Byron could make any more observations about the orbs, he noticed a piece of paper that was also in the leather bag. So, he took it out and discovered that it was folded up into an envelope and sealed with a crystal clear sealing wax. The wax had tiny specks of silver in it that sparkled in the light and there was some sort of design stamped in the wax, but Byron had no idea what it was.

   Byron was a bit hesitant to open it until he noticed that, as he turned it over, his fingers swept across the front of it and created, or revealed, some markings. So, he continued to pass his fingers gently over the surface until the markings fully appeared. What he read on the outside of the envelope was his name in a calligraphy that was as beautiful as everything else in his innereal world.

   So, Byron turned the envelope over and broke the seal, but the seal didn’t actually break. To his astonishment, it merely transferred from the paper to his fingers as the envelope opened up on its own. The first words he read were his name at the top and Jacobis’ signature at the bottom.

   The message in between these two was: “Now you will begin to understand why you are here. These three orbs belong to me. And they are most precious to me. Their care was threatened, so I hid them in the cloak. I knew that you would find them, Byron – your heart is good. All that you must do is return them safely to me. There will be strong opposition to this task, so be on your most careful guard. As you have learned already, things are different here in the innereal.”

   “Byron, nothing can take the orbs away from you. The only way that you will fail to return them to me is if you give them away.”

   “Each of the three orbs has a unique special power that can only be discovered by carrying them and paying attention to them. Their power will be manifested when they are most necessary.”

   “Keep walking, Byron, until we meet again.”

   When Byron finished reading the message, the paper began to flutter and change shape. Each character in each word changed into a feather. Jacobis’ signature changed into the head of a bird and Byron’s name changed into the bird’s tail. The bird then perched itself for a moment on Byron’s finger. Then, it blinked its glassy crystal clear eyes a few times and flew away from the precipice where Byron was standing and on out over the beautiful valley below.

   Byron’s eyes followed the little bird as it flew way off in the distance toward what looked like a large body of water. “Keep walking,” he thought, so toward that area where the little bird flew in the valley below seemed as good an option as any other.