The Spirit I Call Home

The boxes were all labeled, and yet it was still unorganized in her eyes. The empty house, gave no feeling of home. White wash walls, plain curtains, and a few simple pieces of furniture occupied it. She sat down in the middle of the room, on the wooden floor. The large airy room, she pictured it filled with people, with furniture, she pictured it as her home and smiled. Her thoughts ended as the doorbell rang.

Sighing, Tala rose from the cool floor and padded on silent feet to the door. Once opened, she stared at the elderly woman who carried a covered bowl, “Hello, dear! I just wanted to stop by and be neighborly!”

Tala stepped back as the woman entered the house, the lady’s exuberant muumuu billowing behind her, “I’ve made a Jell-O fruit salad as a home coming gift!”

The bird adorned muumuu twirled along the floor, forcing the dust to coast through the air, “Did you know,” the woman spoke as she dusted a cushion and sat, “that this house is haunted? It is said that an ancient tether to the spiritual world resides under the back yard.”

Tala nodded her head, but was forced to stay quiet when the woman spoke again.

“Of course you didn’t! With this being a small town and all I’m sure such talk hasn’t travelled far,” the woman studied Tala, “Where did you come from?”

Tala spoke in her soft voice, “Far away from here.”

The lady nodded, “Alright, I can understand if you wish not to speak of it, but I do have one question, why this house?”

Tala took a deep breath, allowing the house to surround her, “It called to me, telling me that it is home.”

The woman nodded, “Must be some Native American thing, the house is silent to me.”

“Well,” The woman said suddenly, "I must be getting home. I do hope the ghosts leave you in peace tonight.”

Tala followed the woman to the door, closing herself in after the farewells.

What the woman didn’t know was that Tala wanted the ghosts, she needed them.

She had to find one in particular.

Searching through the boxes, Tala gathered the objects she needed.

A dream catcher to censor good and bad spirits, her father’s Shaman rug to call the spirits to her, Amethyst, Charoite, Lepidolite, and Sugilite for spirituality, Aquamarine, Amber, Citrine, and Tiger Eye for Success, Blue Quarts and Onyx for heart, incense to bring the Spirits closer, and wood for fire.

Walking to the spacious back yard Tala set the stones in a circle around the fire wood under the moon’s light. Lighting the wood and incense she placed her knees on the rug and began to chant in her native tongue, the dream catcher between her and the fire.

"Oh Great One, hear my plea,
I call upon Thee,
I am daughter and sister,
Lover and worshiper. "

She knelt closer to the ground, lightly blowing air into the fire.

"Oh Great One, hear my plea,
I call upon Thee,
I ask for your spiritual followers,
I ask for your trust."

Still on her knees Tala raised up tall, throwing her hands in the air, chanting a little louder.

"Oh Great One, hear my plea,
I call upon Thee,
I ask for him, in which I seek,
I ask for him, the one I love."

She brought her hands back down and folded them over her heart, her voice growing quiet again.

"Oh Great One, hear my plea,
I call upon Thee,
Please grant my wish,
Please listen to my heart."

Tala closed her eyes and leaned her head back as a tear slid down her cheek.

"Oh Great One, hear my plea,
I call upon Thee,
Grant my wish,
Set me free."

Kneeling on the ground she bowed before the fire, her chest against the grass and her arms stretched before her. As another tear fell like rain from a cloud Tala felt the breeze stir around her, dancing with the fire and smoke. Holding her breath, Tala waited, praying that the Great One would grant her heart’s wish.

“Tala.”

At the deep voice she froze, not daring to look in fear that she was hearing things.

“Tala, my love, I am here.”

Shaking with apprehension and hope, she slowly raised her head, gasping when she saw the man before her, “Paytah.”

The man smiled as he stepped from the fire. He reached down and pulled her to him, finally wrapping his arms around her after so long.

“Paytah, is it really you? I’m not dreaming?” She asked, running her hands over him.

He gave a deep laugh, love shinning in his eyes, “I am not a dream Tala, it’s really me.”

Tears now flew from her eyes, “Oh Paytah! How I’ve missed you!”

Together they laughed and cried, holding each other tightly as the moon drifted slowly through the sky.

“When you never came back from that hunting trip I hoped you were just delayed, but after months of waiting and worrying I realized you weren’t coming back,” Tala whispered into his bare chest.

“Oh, Tala,” he ran his hand through her hair, “I’m sorry to have left you, but it was my time to return to the Great One.”

Lifting her head, she gazed into his dark eyes, “I know, but I just wish we had more time.”

Paytah gave a sad smile, “As do I, my love.”

Stepping back he curved her arms as the smoke began to form in her grasp, coming to life as a wolf pup. Tala drew her breath in, marveling at the creature she was named after, then looked up at Paytah with questioning eyes.

“I do not have long,” he sighed, removing his canine necklace and placing it around the pup’s neck, “take him, and know that I’ll always be with you.”

Tala held the wolf closer and watched Paytah fade away as the moon gave way to the sun.

“Paytah…” she called quietly, her vision wavering with tears as he became one with the smoke.

The fire blew out just as the sun’s light chased the shadows of the night away. Rubbing her face into the wolf’s fur she breathed in Paytah’s smell while she studied her new house. She could see her friends and family here, adapting to the new world that was leaving her old one behind.

Cradling the puppy, Tala left the dream catcher, stones, rug, incense, and blackened wood to cool in the morning breeze. Sliding the glass back she stepped into the house, whispering as the moon made its last descent.

“Paytah, you are, and always will be, the spirit I call home.”