The Realms of Ethair Read Online Free Page B

never imagined that she
would witness it firsthand.
    She gazed at the sky wonderingly when Art
appeared at her side. He was looking at them as well. Silence
reigned for several minutes.
    “ Thank you,” Kristina said
quietly.
    She wasn’t entirely sure what she was
thanking him for but he nodded seeming to understand the depth of
her meaning.
    “Aren’t you going to show yourself to the
guys?”
    “Perhaps I will tomorrow. I don’t see any
reason for me to break up the party with my presence.” He sat on
the ground, arranging himself into a lotus position as if preparing
to go into meditation. “They’ve been dotting the night sky since
the new year.”
    “They? You know what they are?”
    “Everyone knows about them. They just don’t
see it or fail to understand these beings. You see them perfectly
though.” He paused. “You perceive them as what they really
are.”
    “It’s still tricky even if I have 20/20
vision.”
    “That’s not what I mean.”
    Kristina looked at Art then. Half of what
he says always puzzled her. This time, though, she knew what he was
going on about.
    “ I’m not a freak,” she said with more
emphasis than she had intended. “I’m a normal person.”
    “No one said otherwise.” He smiled.
    “You’re not going to ask me about ghosts, are
you?”
    “ No. I wouldn’t dream of asking anyone to
see lost souls when they don’t want to,” he replied with gravity.
“From where I come from, we’re warned of the implications of
entertaining them. They can be quite overwhelming when they learn
that you’ve helped one of them.”
    “Have you done that before?”
    “Someone I know.” He picked a dry leaf from
the ground and twirled it between his fingers. “You still haven’t
answered my question.”
    Kristina thought it over. It was rare to find
someone who understood this side of her, even if only for a
fraction. She looked him in the eye. “We’ll only be friends?”
    “As long as you wish it.”
    “Deal.” Kristina stretched out her hand, a
corner of her mouth lifted.
    Art’s hand was warm against hers as he shook
it and produced a smile of his own.
    “Are you always this composed?”
    “I try to be.” He untangled his legs and
stood stretching his arms upward. “You should go back. Your friends
are looking for you.”
    “ How would you know that?”
    “You’re not the only one with a secret.” He
grinned. “Good night, Tina.”
    “Good night, Arty.”
    He cocked his head to the side.
    “ Arty,” he echoed, tasting the sound of his
new nickname in his mouth. “No one has called me that since..." He
smiled in remembrance but didn't continue. “See you in the
morning.”
    Without looking back, he waved his hand
and disappeared around a corner of the house.
     

Chapter 4
Kristina
     
     
    What’s the use of knowing how to heal
when you can’t even save the person you love? Kristina thought, watching the blue energy
ball hover over her palm. It rotated at an angle like a miniature
Earth. It was Friday; the fortieth day of her mother’s death. Her
sister Aly had flown in from Australia to help with legal documents
during the funeral. Their relatives, friends, and classmates, had
attended and offered condolences and assistance. Their father had
died when Aly was eighteen. Now that their mother had passed on,
the sisters were the only family left of each other. But it was
different. There was nobody like their mother to talk about
theosophy and New Age concepts and to explain to Kristina what she
could see in the ether.
    Aly couldn’t stay in the country. She held
a position in her company and loved her work. Kristina, however,
was a struggling writer. She occasionally submitted articles and
short stories to a magazine or a newspaper to earn income. She
couldn’t apply for a full-time job this year because of an unknown
illness.
    The doctors who diagnosed her couldn’t
identify her illness and were baffled by her symptoms: fatigue,
relapses of fever,